Keeping Busy

My poor husband has been working absolutely obscene hours at work lately. It started a week or two before we moved, and has only gotten worse this past week. It's sad when getting home before midnight constitutes "leaving early." But, such is the life of a lawyer, I guess. Poor Eric.

Because his weeks have been so busy, I was glad the he was able to take some time to do fun things this past weekend. Of course, there was the St. Patrick's Day Parade, and on Sunday he and his friend/co-worker David went to Chelsea Piers to "play Pebble Beach" in the golf simulator. From what I understand, they had a very nice time. Eric said it was a very interesting way to practice--they give you ball speed, trajectory, etc.--especially if the weather isn't nice (which it definitely was NOT on Sunday night). Really, Eric is always happy to do anything related to golf!

I'm told this is the 18th hole.

Dave and Eric at the golf simulator

While Eric has been at work all hours of the day and night, Achilles and I have been keeping each other company and staying busy. The other day it was nice and sunny out (although still quite chilly - the wind is brutal here in Hoboken!), so we went out for a little walk around town. We walked along Washington Street, past the lines in front of Carlo's, then over the water, through Pier A Park and up to the little park right by our apartment. We explored that park for the first time (it's really nice), and Achilles even met a wooden dog. That was very funny, actually - we walked up on the hill where this wooden dog silhouette is placed, and as soon as Achilles saw it from a distance he perked right up. He clearly thought it was a real dog. So, I decided to let him check it out (even though dogs aren't allowed on the grass, we're rebels). He approached it so carefully! He planted his back feet some distance away from it then crept forward with his front feet, stretching himself way out to try to get a sniff of this dog. Every time the wind blew, the dog moved a bit, and Achilles would jump back and then start the whole process over. Eventually he did get up his courage to approach the dog, and then he sniffed its rear end! Oh, dogs.

Achilles and the wooden dog. I wish I had a video of the whole thing, but alas, all I have is this pic from my Blackberry.

Aside from the wooden dog encounter, we really just spent our time taking in the view.

 Achilles on the pier at this park

See the two helicopters?

 Beautiful blue sky over a beautiful skyline

And then, Achilles crashed as soon as we got home. Too much excitement!

He is just tuckered out.

Other than that, things have been quiet. We're settling in and gearing up for a busy month ahead. We have things going on every weekend now through the first weekend of April, so there's a lot to look forward to. Just yesterday we finally booked our flights to Florida for Eric's friend Ryan's wedding on April 1st, so we're looking forward to that trip! Plus we have two Broadway shows, a walking tour, and another half marathon for Eric on the agenda. I would definitely say we're keeping busy!

Hoboken St. Patrick's Day

Well, we survived our first Hoboken St. Patrick's Day! Hooray!

When I first heard that Hoboken had it's own St. Patrick's Day Parade, I was psyched. I love me some St. Patrick's Day. I'm a proud Irish girl myself, and I love parades, so what's not to like? However, as Hoboken St. Patrick's Day approached, we learned more about what this day really means for this city - it's no family friendly holiday, my friends. Rather, it's more like COLLEGE SPRING BREAK WOOHOOOOOOOOOO!

Our first clue was the ZERO TOLERANCE posters hung in nearly every bar, restaurant and shop window around town:

Sometimes the posters were decorated with festive shamrocks and such, but the message was always the same. They also made announcements over the PA in the train station. And, our apartment complex sent out a full-page memo to all residents that included the following paragraph:

We will have zero tolerance for any of the following: loud oversized parties, public drinking, intoxication, property damage, physical confrontations and/or harassment. I have informed our security/concierge staff that this letter is serving as every resident's first and only warning for unacceptable behavior. Any problems or issues that arise will result in your gathering being shut down immediately and if necessary, contacting the Hoboken Police for assistance. Any property damage or physical confrontations will result in the Hoboken Police being notified immediately and charges filed. The Hoboken Police have been given special authority by the Hoboken City Council to issue individual fines up to $2,000.00 per incident on Saturday.

You know, it's just not that often that you get both underlined and bolded text in one paragraph. They mean business! Plus, they rearranged our lobby on Saturday to force people to walk past the concierge desk and sign in:

Usually one of the couches is on the other side of the coffee table, so you can get to the elevators without walking right in front of the concierge desk. Not today, though!

So, although we were still looking forward to the whole thing, we also sort of braced ourselves for some madness. And really, it wasn't so bad.

Our day started, however, when I woke up at 7:15 a.m. to the first sound of a group of people yelling outside on the street. They get going early for this shindig! Eric went for a quick run in the morning, then we went out to check things out around 12:30 that afternoon. We spent about a half hour wandering along Washington Street, taking in the atmosphere. There were lines out the door for every bar, green as far as the eye could see, and tons of little stands to buy all the green paraphernalia your little heart might desire. (Also, they decided it would be a great idea to sell those vuvuzelas you might remember from the World Cup. And they were very popular. So, whoever decided to sell those obnoxious noise makers to thousands of drunk college kids is now my MORTAL ENEMY.)

People arriving en masse from the train station

Carlo's Bakery employees sporting festive shirts for the occasion

A rather green souvenir stand

People lining up for the pubs

The parade was scheduled to begin at 1:00, so shortly before 1:00 we found a curb and settled in. It was such a difference from parades in NYC, where you need to arrive hours and hours before start time if you want to be anywhere near the street to see the action. Here, we just wandered up and plopped down on the curb right at start time. That was glorious! As we waited for the parade to reach us, we were treated to another sighting of the Hoboken Batman, who was out in full dress for the occasion.

Green stripe down Washington Street! So festive.

Waiting for the parade to start

Batman!

We didn't have to wait long before things got underway. As the parade go started, more people emerged from the bars (and started hanging out apartment windows) to watch. It was a very nice little parade, with several bagpipe bands, a couple marching bands, some fife and drum groups, some floats, an appearance by Honorary Grand Marshall Buddy Valastro of TLC's Cake Boss fame (although this was somewhat contested - an Italian grand marshal of an Irish parade?! Blasphemy!), and a performance by "Sinatra Idol." And of course, the Hoboken Batman circled around for a few more appearances. (He even stopped at one point to do a jig with the bagpipes behind him - check out the video here.)

 People watching the parade from apartment windows

Here they come!

Bagpipers

I just love the sound of bagpipes.

A float

I loved these fife and drum people.

"Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro

Keep an eye out, Cake Boss fans - judging by that camera in front of him, this will be on an upcoming episode!

A festive drum major

Pink fire truck on a beautiful Hoboken day

Here comes Batman again, followed by another pipe band

Cute.

Fancy wheeled action

Sinatra Idol

VIDEO: A few highlights from the parade

After the parade, we did a little more walking up and down Washington Street to take in the atmosphere. It should be noted that the day started out with absolutely gorgeous weather for a parade: 55 degrees and sunny! As the parade wore on, however, it clouded over a bit and the wind picked up, so it was a little chilly by the end.

Me amongst the shenanigans

Post-parade crowds on Washington Street

Lines to get into the liquor stores

City Hall

We did see a little bit of the police crackdown. For one thing, police were EVERYWHERE. And not just uniformed officers, but undercover officers were out in full force as well. Very sneaky - that big guy next to you in the bar wearing the crude St. Patrick's Day t-shirt could very well be a cop. We witnessed a couple disturbances while we were out, but all seemed to be handled rather quickly.

Cops ready to go

A few people under arrest, and two of the three cops were undercover.

(Faces have been blurred to protect identities - innocent until proven guilty and all that.)

It was while we walked along Washington Street after the parade that I started to really feel old. I just kept thinking, "ugh, why would anyone want to pay a $20 cover to get into a super crowded bar to drink overpriced green beer and get shoved around all day?" So yeah, I'm officially a grouchy adult. I have been out of college for almost seven years now (holy cow), and clearly my days of all-day partying have long passed (not that it was a habit or anything, but you know what college is like). As I had these grumpy old woman thoughts I could feel my inner former party-self simultaneously mocking Current Me and weeping at what I have become. Sigh. But, time marches on, my friends. And this old lady just wanted to get out of the madness and go home and read a book on the couch. WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THAT? Leave me alone, Former Self!

Yet, those crazy kids got the last laugh. Eric and I picked up lunch (cheeseteaks, yum), ate at home in our not-filled-with-a-wild-party apartment, and then settled in with our respective books for a quiet afternoon. That is, until the building's fire alarm went off, along with the little voice that comes into your apartment and says "A fire has been reported on your floor! Please evacuate immediately! Use the stairs!" So, we gathered up the dog and evacuated. Nothing much came of it, but the sirens continued through the town all night long. (I found this list of all many of the various calls for ambulances/police that was a moderately interesting read.) Eric and I joked that all the sirens made us feel like we were back at home in New York City. Those siren sounds were actually comforting as we tried to sleep, which is so sick and demented that it's probably a good thing we moved out of Manhattan when we did.

Fire trucks at our building

My evacuated boys

And that was our Hoboken St. Patrick's Day! All in all, we really enjoyed the parade and the atmosphere, although we didn't partake of the day-long drunkenness. Old people can still have fun!

(There are more pictures on my photo share site, if you didn't get enough here!)

The Paris Theater

I have been so caught up in telling you about Hoboken for the last week and a half, that I have yet to tell you about our last full day as Manhattan residents. Eric and I took a break from packing to head out into our neighborhood, enjoy a last Hell's Kitchen meal, and cross something off my NYC To-Do List: see a movie at the Paris Theater.

On President's Day, Eric and I went to see The Last Lions at the Paris Theater. A Groupon had popped up the week before for two tickets for $7 each or something, which is about half the regular price. I bought it, and we went.

Sex and the City fans may recognize the Paris Theater from the episode in which Carrie is "dating the city," and she goes to the Paris Theater to see "Joy For Two, for one." She claims, "one of the most amazing things about living in a city like New York, is that any night of the week you can go to Paris." Oh, New York!

But really, the Paris Theater has a long history in New York. The theater opened in 1948, and is the nation's longest running art house cinema, with an affinity for showing foreign films. They only show one film a week, and there is only one screen in this theater. It is incredibly charming on the inside, with soft old seats, a small concession stand downstairs, and balcony level seating.

The Paris Theater, taken from across the street. The theater is across the street from the Plaza Hotel, right by the southeast corner of Central Park.

The view from the balcony level. (We sat on the ground floor, but Eric went up to check out the balcony view!)

The movie itself was also good. It was a documentary about a lioness whose mate is killed and she is run out of her territory by a new pride of lions. She must take her three cubs to new land and try to survive. Some of it was very beautiful and very neat to see; it made me really want to go on a safari, and get a lion cub to keep as a pet. So cute. But, there were some parts that were just heartbreaking. Of course, that is to be expected in movies of this nature - circle of life, and all that. But there was one part that had me so upset, I nearly left the theater. I'm glad I stuck around, because it did have a happy ending, but man, it was rough there for a while. (If I haven't scared you off and this movie sounds interesting to you, you can watch the trailer here.)

All in all, we had a very nice afternoon at the theater!

Outside the theater after the movie

After the movie we stopped for an early dinner at our favorite (formerly) local Mexican restaurant, El Centro. It is just a block away from our old apartment, and other than Daisy May's BBQ, it is probably the local restaurant we ate at the most during our time in Hell's Kitchen. We first tried it because it was so close to us and was always super crowded (usually a sign of a good restaurant!), and we ended up taking many of our guests there to eat, as well. So, it seemed to be a good place for our last meal out in our neighborhood.

El Centro, on the corner of W. 54th St. and 9th Ave.

Don't ask why I'm looking at the menu, I always order the same thing.

The bar, complete with Corona chandelier

Rather understated decor, no? All kinds of thingamajigs stuck into the wall!

I had my usual chicken fajitas (adventurous, I know), Eric had quesadillas, and we shared a half carafe of sangria. Mmm.

Farewell, neighborhood!

And that was it! That was our last outing as Manhattan residents. We went home then to finish up packing, and bright and early the next morning, moving day was underway.

Although I still miss it terribly, I know I was so lucky to live in such a cool place for the last 2.5 years. I know that many people never get that chance, and it is an experience I will always treasure. And, although I am excited to explore Hoboken and all it has to offer, the New York City fun isn't over yet!

I'm a Sucker For an Orange and Blue Sky

What can I say? As a former Florida girl, I'm a sucker for a gorgeous sunset. And as a Florida Gator girl, if that sunset is orange and blue, all the better.

And we have had a couple of fantastic sunsets the past two nights. Although I miss our Manhattan view, nice sunsets like these are certainly easing the pain.

Last night:

And tonight:

Not a bad sight to see, I must say.

Proof of Hoboken Friendliness

I mentioned last week that one of my first impressions of Hoboken is that everyone is so friendly here. To provide proof of this claim, I give you the following picture, taken during our explorations this weekend:

A map of Hoboken along the River Waterfront Walkway

Even the graffiti is friendly in Hoboken.