New York Revisted {Part 3}

top of the world again

The good.

The bad.

The ridiculous/silly/fun/not really ugly at all.

Here’s a simple list, just to finish off sharing my trip to NYC with you.

IN NYC YOU CAN:

1) Climb up a huge rock, that looks way bigger in photographs, and feel really cool. (see above!)

2) Have a standoff between a lobster and a chihuahua. (Melissa has this little pet… Brutus… he and I don’t see eye to eye.)  (Also- Sea food on the coast… bring it on. Sea food in New Mexico? Kind of creeps me out.) …and eat some realllllly awesome food, cooked by the Williams kids.

guess who won

YEAH MAN (Chris making more delicious food… he’s the best cook I know)

Melissa and her GF crabcakes… YUM!!

3) Take a picture, all the while, your feet are soaking wet. Literally, soaking. But you don’t care so much, because you are in an awesome beer garden and listening to a live band.

we failed to dance :( but YOU try when your feet are sopping wet

4) You can take the train all the way back to the airport. After riding it a few times a day, every day. I like the public transportation thing, but it’s hard to handle the crowds and the noise. Am I a wimp?

goin home

There you have it.

Good night folks. This non-city gal is going to bed, to dream of quiet backyards and ratless sidewalks.

But I miss my sibs-in-law, always.

And because of them, a little part of me will always, actually, love New York City.

<3 Lou

 

 

 

 

 

 

New York Revisited {Part 2}

Yesterday I showed you the good.

Today I’ll be showing you the bad.

Tomorrow- you guessed it!- the ridiculous (ugly… but really, I like the word ridiculous more! And more silly things happened than anything else.)

I’ll say it again:

New York City can be bad. It’s not my favorite place. I’m not into buildings that block my view of the sky, rats on the sidewalk, loud and crowded spaces and overpriced everything.

Plus, it seems to bring me bad luck. (We had days of rain, and there was a record breaking 4 inch downpour on Central Park… you’re welcome and you’re welcome, for booking my plane ticket. I told you some record breaking awful weather was in the works…)

Case in point:

yup

I seriously considered naming this blog

The Bird That Sh*t On My Head

but I changed my mind. (the * stands in for an A, not an I, just so’s you know)

This happened our last morning in the city. Greg and I had the morning to ourselves, we were going to a small coffee shop in walking distance, through a cute little park, and I was thinking, “Okay, NYC might not be so bad. I mean, look at this nice morning I’m having.”

Then, a bird pooped on my head.

Or rather, on my forehead.

Okay, face. Let’s just say face.

It was in my bangs, on the inside of my sunglasses, on my eyelashes, and my smile immediately turned into a frown.

“Oh, no, Lou!” Greg exclaimed.

“What the &*$?@!” I said right back. “Did that seriously just happened? How much bird poop is in my hair?”

To this, Greg didn’t respond right away, which worried me. There was a lot and he didn’t want to say it. I was fairly certain I’d get a disease, since some of it was so close to being in my eye. We turned around and I had to walk about eight blocks … the walk of shame if there ever was one.

“Do you want me to take a picture for your blog?” Greg asked me.

I said I’d rather not. I did, however, take a picture of the sunglasses, just as proof.

I showered and got ready for the second time that day and before we left the apartment Greg said, “Do you want to bring an umbrella?”

I didn’t respond.

SO… it seems NYC loves me just as much as I love it.

Another less than great fact: we had to take an overnight flight to get there. This is the girl who cannot sleep in cars, planes, or even really take a nap very often. This mask didn’t help one bit. But at least we didn’t have to change flights along the way!

eh

With the three days of full rain and wind, the bird poop, and lacking some sleep, this trip had more good than bad, I’m very happy to say.

Thanks for not laughing at me. Or if you did, thanks for also sympathizing…. with the girl who got sh*t on.

Love, Lou

 

New York Revisited {Part 1}

metro card

This past week of my life can and should be divided into three parts.

The good.

The bad.

The ridiculous. (and kind of ugly)

Today I will focus on the good.

Yes, I’ll admit it. NYC had a few good qualities. A few good traits.

And just like last time, one of those traits was family. I love my sibs in law. Chris and Melissy are the best and they were great hosts.

Another is the museum. I finally had a chance to walk around the MET. This art museum could takes weeks to walk through.

My favorite room was the Degas room. I grew up with his paintings all over the place and I was once a dancer, therefore, add on the nostalgia. His work is beautiful.

no flash allowed!

When we were standing among all the ballerina paintings, I exclaimed, “This is my favorite room!”

And Greg, almost in unison with me, said, “This is probably my least favorite room.” 

Go figure.

Anyway.

Another GREAT thing NYC has to offer? An outstanding farmer’s market. Chris, Greg and I walked around, bought some honey and strawberries, and sat in the grass to eat it all up. What a wonderful afternoon!

happy as a clam

you know I <3 my honey (finished the jar while I was there. no joke)

Next up on the good things about NYC list…. LATTES WITH FOAM ART!!! woop woop  I can’t get over it. You could call me easily pleased.

so pretty!

It’s become a tradition for me to get a bag of roasted almonds. I love these little guys. Do I want to think about how old and/or unsanitary these nuts just might be? Not really. So I indulge once a year and enjoy every last sweet and salty nut.

yes, I am nuts 4 nuts

Who knew? A beach in NYC? Call me an idiot, but it had never really occurred to me that the Big Apple was a place where bikinis showed themselves and ocean waves covered your feet. I only picture a dirt city. Being that there is so much coastline available, however, I came to realize that one great aspect to living in this city is, in fact, the beach. The weather was perfect. We played catch with a football. We had a blast!

melissy aka mermaid

I finally got to pose like this:

yay

NYC is the only place where I can truly enjoy jazz music. (otherwise, you couldn’t really call me a die hard fan of the genre) We went up to a bar called Dizzy’s, listened to live music, had THIS VIEW the entire time, and I drank the best dirty martini of my life. That, my friends, was a lovely night in the city. I must give credit where credit is due.

so prettttty

In order to have more to talk about in the upcoming NYC blogs, I will end here:

I LOVE THE FACT THAT YOU CAN WALK TO SO MANY PLACES!!!

I love walking. LOVE IT.

The train, not so much. But whenever we strolled a few blocks, had a few miles to go on foot, I had a smile on my face.

walkin with meliss

That’s all for now, folks.

Love, Lou

NYC, It’s Time to Redeem Yourself

I’ve been to New York City twice.

And it was never on my list of places to go. Ever. 

However, The Big Apple earned a spot on said list when my sister-in-law Melissa (aka Bills, aka Melissy) moved there. And yet again when my brother-in-law Chris (also aka Bills) moved there, too.

I love the Williams kids.

I love them! Chris, Greg, Melissssy

My first NYC trip was filled with love/hate.

I LOVED spending time with Melissa. She is funny, witty, puts me in a good mood, and I can truly say she has become a sister to me.

mel w and mel w (kind of weird, our names are only different by TWO letters.)

I HATED being freezing cold. This may have been my own fault. I didn’t exactly pack enough warm clothes (a constant problem of mine and I never seem to learn…) but I hadn’t expected for the weather to break records. Yes, it was a record breaking cold weather weekend for good ol’ NYC.

I’m freezing and wet

again, freezing and soaking wet

But another thing I did enjoy…. seeing the restaurant from YOU’VE GOT MAIL!!!! One of my favorite movies. Here I am, just feet away from where Kathleen Kelly waited and waited for her e-mail penpal.

yay YGM

And I liked seeing the restaurant from Seinfeld. That was pretty cool, too.

I’m hearing a bass guitar….

Oh, and I hated breaking a “bench” that actually turned out to be a shoe rack.

broken bench. we left.

And this creeper, who awkwardly posed behind me in this picture, where I’m wearing a new pair of rain boots… since, yeah… it was raining the entire time.

hey, man

I thought I’d never return. I was done with the city. The train was a little too loud… the pace was a little too fast…

But return I did. The second time I was with Greg.

And again, the bad weather broke some kind of record. I was freezing. Possibly even colder than the first visit.

Greg and I got lost in Central Park and had to walk 80 blocks to make up for it.

I could feel my bones freezing.

BUT…. I cherish the time I got to spend with both Chris and Melissa. THAT made the trip worth it.

subway

I love these two brothers, who have a very special relationship.

<3

I liked climbing this tiny boulder, that looked huge in the photo.

on top of the world

I liked eating ice cream (I know, we were crazy to eat ice cream in the freezing cold) in Brooklyn. I sort of felt like I was in Newsies. Minus the paper route. Plus the ice cream.

yum

I reallllly liked being there with family (both times.)

oh, the bright lights

And swinging in Central Park.

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

New York may be too loud, busy, impersonal and freezing cold/wet, but I’ll give it another try because two of my very favorite people live there.

So…. I’ll be going there in less than a week.

I’m ready for New York to redeem itself.

(I hear there’s a cidada infestation that only happens every 17 years…. I’m pretty sure this is happening only because I booked a ticket)

Hopefully this time I won’t break anything, I’ll be warm, and I won’t get 80 blocks lost.

I’m comin’ for you.

And can’t wait to see you, Bills.

sisters 4eva

Love, Lou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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