Getting to Know Our New City

So yeah, moving is AWFUL. As I mentioned in my last post, our tiny apartment is being overrun with boxes, I'm spending my days sorting and organizing and filling said boxes, and it's awful. The only upside is that I stole boxes from our Dunkin Donuts downstairs to use for packing, and now our living room smells like Munchkins. So that's something.

 The current state of my living/dining rooms

Not to mention, I have been terribly sad about leaving this place. I love this apartment and this neighborhood. We have anything we could possibly want within walking distance, and I just love it. It's going to be so strange to go back to having to train into the city before we can do things like see a Broadway show, wander through Times Square, or relax in Central Park. I know it will be fine - when we lived "in D.C." we actually lived just outside the city, in Arlington, Virginia. Our neighborhood was nice, but if we ever wanted to really do much of anything, it involved a train ride first, but we never thought anything of it. It really was no trouble at all. I've gotten spoiled by the walkability of our current location, but I know it's just a matter of readjusting my mindset. It really won't be a big deal.

But, I'm still sad to leave.

To try to get myself hyped up, I've been reading up on our new city and I want to share a little about what I've learned. Hoboken is only one square mile in size, but it sounds like there's lots of fun stuff crammed into that small space. (Plus, there's my beloved Target just south of Hoboken in Newport, so that doesn't hurt. Oh, the shopping I will do!)

For instance, I have told you about Washington Street, that charming little street that I fell in love with right away (also home to that amazing Grimaldi's/Crumbs combo). It reminds me a lot of Old Town Alexandria, which I loved when we were in D.C., and I can really see us spending many afternoons wandering down that street. Even though I knew it was awesome, I didn't realize that Washington Street has actually been named one of the Top 10 Great Streets in America by the American Planning Association, who gives this description of it:

Vibrant and lively, Washington Street's unique sense of place is defined by its seemingly endless row of historic storefronts pressed against the edge of sidewalks; cross street intersections affording views of the Hudson River and New York City skyline;  concentration of popular restaurants, lounges, shops, and boutiques; and connections to  the Hoboken waterfront.

 Washington Street (photo taken from here)

In other "best" news, Hoboken was also named Best Dining Town in New Jersey (not sure how many great dining towns there ARE in New Jersey, but hey, sounds good!), and it sounds like there are tons of great restaurants for us to try once we get settled in. Apparently Hoboken also recieved an Honorable Mention in the Bicycle Friendly Communities Listing by the League of American Cyclists, which will come in very handy as we prepare for our Five-Boro Bike Ride! Also, although I am sad to move away from Central Park, Hoboken's Pier A Park was listed as one of the top 10 urban parks in the country by the Urban Land Institute. I would say we'll be closer to Pier A Park than we are to Central Park now, so I will be all set for a place to go relax on a blanket (with my beloved Kindle) in the warm weather months.

We took this picture of Pier A Park last summer when we visited Hoboken

More views of Pier A Park

As far as stuff to do, it sounds like there is way more to do than just sitting in the nice parks and eating at the nice restaurants and walking on the nice streets and standing in line at Carlo's Bakery. In fact, the City of Hoboken even went ahead and put together a nice little "Hoboken To-Do List" for me on their website. Some of the things I'm most looking forward to include scoping out Frank Sinatra's birthplace, enjoying the Hudson Riverfront Walkway (we will be living right along it!), taking in the view from Castle Point Lookout, kayaking on the Hudson River, enjoying the Arts and Music Festivals, and watching Movies Under the Stars in the summer. Not too shabby, right? All that right in our hometown, AND we'll still just be a 10-minute train ride from Manhattan!

Also, did you know Hoboken even has it's very own St. Patrick's Day celebration? Apparently they have a big ol' parade and party the week before St. Patrick's Day, which means that really we get TWO St. Patrick's Days! I enjoy St. Patty's, so I'm psyched!

So it sounds pretty nice, right? Even though I am still incredibly sad to leave our home in Manhattan, I do think Hoboken has a lot to offer us. I was sad to leave D.C., too, and look how that has worked out! I just need time to say goodbye to my current home, but I know that once we get settled in to our New Jersey digs we'll feel right at home and will be loving it in no time.

Now if only someone would come pack the rest of these boxes for me...

Our Valentine's Day

Yesterday, I had a rather busy day that turned into a very nice low-key Valentine's Day evening!

I spent my day basically running around midtown Manhattan in pursuit of discount Broadway tickets. The box offices for both Wonderland (which I saw in Tampa last month) and Anything Goes both opened yesterday, and both were having great promotions for preview tickets. Wonderland was offering $25 tickets for their preview shows to the first 100 people at the box office, and Anything Goes was selling $10 tickets to their first four performances to the first 600 people. I am all about a Broadway deal!

The Wonderland box office opened first, at 10:00 a.m., so Eric and I left around 9:00 to head over to the Marquis Theater to get in line. Eric hung out with me for a few minutes before he had to go on to work, and I was plenty early enough to be one of the first 100 patrons at the box office so I got great orchestra-level seats for us on March 25. Score!

People in line at the Wonderland box office (photo Twittered by WonderlandBway)

The Anything Goes box office wasn't scheduled to open until noon, and the line at Wonderland had been so small, so I figured I had some time to kill. I went wandering through Times Square a bit, checking out a couple of things they had going on including a Valentine's Day art installation called "Light Hearted," and a Live Ken Doll display. I also ran some errands (including picking up Eric's silly Valentine's Day gift) before heading down to the Steven Sondheim Theater.

"Light Hearted" art installation (read more about it here)

Live Ken Dolls on display in Times Square

The Wonderland line definitely gave me a false sense of security, because the Anything Goes line was LONG. I mean, LOOOOONG. I got in line around 11:15, and as I mentioned, the box office opened at noon. I finally left with tickets in hand at 2:00! It was insane. I didn't get a picture of the line, but I did find this video on Twitter that really shows you how long that line was (and yes, I'm in this video, about 19 seconds in. I'm wearing a blue coat, with a white bag on my arm, looking down at my phone!). It just moved soooo slowly. They did give us fetching hats, though.

My free Anything Goes sailor hat!

I had a pretty crazy experience while in line for this show. The older gentleman behind me was, well, crazy. He did NOT want $10 tickets; he wanted to buy regular-priced tickets. Yet he chose to wait in line for over two hours. Like, dude. Take yourself home and order by phone or internet. He claimed he didn't want to do that because they charge you $10 in fees, which I get, but seriously - isn't your time also worth something? To me, it would be totally worth it to pay $10 more to not have to wait in that line. Or if you must get tickets in person, come back tomorrow, or even later in the day, when this line has gone down! Craziness. Then, to add to it all, as we were almost to the front of the line, he fainted! He was leaning on a wall and then just fell backwards onto some steps. The people behind him in line revived him and he insisted on standing back up, but was leaning on the wall again and you could see his legs wobbling and shaking. Another person in line alerted line security, who came to bring him some water. He then passed out again! The theater manager came out and brought him a chair and they called 911. An ambulance came and they checked him all out. He was fine, and as soon as he felt well enough they let him go in and buy his tickets, but again, THIS IS NOT WORTH SAVING $10 IN FEES. It was madness.

But, I did get my $10 tickets. They're terrible seats, but hey, they were $10! So we've got that scheduled for March 11 now. I'm pretty psyched that we got tickets to two Broadway shows (four tickets in total) for only $70, which is about what you'll pay for ONE discount ticket at the TKTS booth. What a steal!

Although the ticket prices were awesome, the best part of the afternoon was that Eric came to meet me at the Anything Goes line, and we had a quick lunch before I went back home. It's always a nice treat to see Eric midday!

Back at home I worked on organization for our move to Hoboken ONE WEEK FROM TODAY. People, this is happening fast. Our apartment is in shambles but the packing has officially begun. I hate every second of it.

Eric worked a little late last night, and he paused to take some pictures of interesting things on his way home, including a fashion show in the Audi store on the ground floor of his office building, Rockefeller Center looking nice as always, and the very festive Empire State Building.

Fashion show at the Audi store

Runway set up in the Audi store

Rockefeller Center at night

 Empire State Building lit up red, pink and white for Valentine's Day

When Eric arrived home at last, I had set up a lovely dinner table for us. He cooked a wonderful meal (shrimp scampi) and we drank a bottle of wine and some champagne. For dessert, we had Crumbs cupcakes, because no better dessert exists. We also exchanged small gifts (Godiva truffles for me from Eric, and an awesome Nintendo controller belt buckle for Eric from me) and spent some time talking and enjoying each others' company.

My handsome husband making us a delicious dinner

Our Valentine's Day table (and a moving box trying to sneak in the picture on the left, because they are taking over our lives)

And that was our Valentine's Day! Now, back to these moving boxes that are totally invading my personal space...

Each Day I Love You More

  Happy Valentine's Day!

Are you all celebrating the ones you love today? I know people have mixed opinions about this holiday - some boycott, some go all out, etc. Personally, I don't see much need for expensive gifts and the like (believe it or not after my roses post from yesterday), but I do think it is nice to have a day to remind you to reflect on how lucky you are to have those you love, don't you think? Whether they are significant others, family, friends, co-workers, even pets (shout-out to Achilles!), it's nice to remind others you love them. I hope you all have a wonderful, love-filled day!

Eric and I don't really do much to celebrate, but we will probably share a nice meal together at home tonight. And of course, I will spend some time reflecting on how grateful I am to be married to such a great man. Eric really is awesome and I'm lucky to have him as my forever Valentine! Happy Valentine's Day, my love!

For you see, each day I love you more

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.

~Rosemonde Gerard

Raising Your Valentine's Day Expectations

Now THESE are long-stemmed red roses.

Spotted yesterday at a florist in our neighborhood

And now if any of your significant others bring you "long-stemmed" roses tomorrow with anything less than a five-foot stem, you can tell them you've seen better. That's the Valentine's Day spirit!

Action Shot

I was trying to capture more awesome Achilles tongue action, but he got excited by me coming over to take his picture and got up from his nap, giving me this mid-yawn, mid-stretch shot instead:

Happy weekend, everyone!

"Just Go With It" Premiere

Tuesday night Eric and I went out to the Ziegfeld Theater to celebrity-watch at the Just Go With It movie premiere. It was utterly freezing outside - the day started off deceptively warm at 40 degrees, but by premiere time the temp had dropped to about 21 degrees, and the wind was really blowing in from the west so it was BRUTAL. But, hey, for two more weeks we live in a place where we can walk a few blocks east down our street and catch a movie premiere, so we're going to take advantage. Plus, no matter how cold we get, we can always say we have been colder before. Nothing will EVER be as bad as New Year's Eve 2008-09!

 The Ziegfeld before the premiere

 Waiting for the stars to arrive

So anyway. We went to this premiere, and added 10 new celebrities to our sighting list: Adam Sandler, Andy Roddick, Bailee Madison, Brooklyn Decker, Dave Matthews, Josh Mostel, Keith Urban, Kevin Nealon, Molly Sims and Nicole Kidman. We also saw two we have already seen before: Jennifer Aniston and Andy Samberg. So, it was a success!

Andy Roddick arriving for the premiere

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban

Dave Matthews

Josh Mostel, who played King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as the principal/wrestler in Billy Madison and the social worker in Big Daddy

Jennifer Aniston waving to fans

 Adam Sandler

(All of these people have been added out our Celeb Sighting List, so be sure to check it out!)

I realize our pictures are pretty lousy. We got really good pictures at the Dinner for Schmucks premiere at the Ziegfeld this summer, but that was easier because 1) it was summer, so it was still light outside, and 2) it was summer, so it was a million degrees warmer. Because it was so cold, Jennifer Aniston was the only red-carpet-walker who came across the street to greet the crowds when she arrived, and she only stayed out briefly. Eric ran down to where she was to grab a picture, but the crowds were so crazy that it was just impossible to get a decent photo (this was the best we could do). Ah, well! So, we were left to try to snap photos as they finished up the red carpet and went into the theater, which were also dark and you had to be FAST with the photo snapping to catch them. Stupid winter just ruins everything!

Enjoying the View

If you hate pictures of our view, brace yourselves, because I'm planning to share as many as I possibly can for the next 13 days. We are officially under two weeks until our move to Hoboken, so you better believe I'm taking a bajillion view pictures before we lose it forever. For the next two weeks, I might even take more pictures of the view than the dog, and that is quite a feat, my friends.

On Sunday, the Empire State Building was looking rather sporty in honor of the Superbowl. They had the north/south sides of the building lit up green and yellow for the Packers, and the east/west sides lit up yellow and black for the Steelers (although I'm never sure if it's actually possible to "light it up" black, or if they just leave it dark?). I love when the Empire State Building gets excited about sporting events!

Superbowl Empire State Building

As we all know, the Packers did win the Superbowl, which made me happy. As a Cleveland girl, I have been taught to Just Say No to all things Steelers, so YAY for The-Team-That-Isn't-The-Steelers and their Superbowl win! On Monday, the Empire State Building lit up ONLY green and yellow in honor of the Packers, but the rain came in before we could get a picture of that so you'll just have to trust me.

Since I whined about the lousy weather inhibiting my view enjoyment, we actually have had a few very clear days and nights and I have been soaking up every second.

The Empire State Building lit up red and yellow for the Lunar New Year on February 3rd

A fuller look at our view, when the Empire State Building was lit up in orange and blue for World Cancer Day 2011 (and/or the Gators) on February 4th

Eric's view of the sunrise as he gets ready for work in the morning

Beautiful sunset light reflecting on the buildings

Looking northeast on a clear afternoon

Beautiful blue sky and fluffy white clouds!

Don't make me leave this apartment!!!

Idina Menzel & the New York Philharmonic

Saturday night I had another one of those moments where you just stop for a second, and look around you, and you think, "Wow. Is this really my life?" And you are just overcome with gratitude.

Eric and I went to see Idina Menzel in concert with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch at Lincoln Center on Saturday night. This concert was phenomenal. Exceptional. Fantastic. Incredible. Whatever descriptive word you want to use, it doesn't matter! We loved every single moment.

We walked to Lincoln Center (how cool is it that we can still do that?) and arrived in plenty of time to check in our camera (which was a little bit of a mess) and find our seats in the third tier of Avery Fisher Hall.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center

Inside Avery Fisher Hall

The concert began right on time. The orchestra got set, Marvin Hamlisch came out, and then Idina joined him. She looked gorgeous in a long white gown, with bare feet! She explained that her bare feet keep her grounded when she gets nervous - she's not "like Beyonce" (her words!) running around in heels!

The whole thing was so well put-together. Idina sang songs from Rent, Wicked, Glee, and others, including a mash-up of "Love for Sale" and "Roxanne," a Barbara Streisand medley ("Funny Girl" and "Don't Rain on My Parade"), a couple of her own songs, and a medley of songs she and her husband Taye Diggs have written for their son Walker (I had heard a couple of those before - click here to see!). In between numbers, Idina would tell stories or banter with Marvin Hamlisch. And, she was very funny! For example, when talking with Marvin about all his many awards - four Emmys, four Grammys, three Oscars, a Tony (EGOT!), three Golden Globes, and the Pulitzer Prize - she asked why he was not able to win the Heisman Trophy. Ha! She also talked about being a big Jets fan and having a crush on Mark Sanchez, which I found funny, because her husband is Taye Diggs. I mean, let's not get greedy, lady.

We were good, rule-abiding people, so we did not take our cameras into the concert with us. Others, however, did break the rules, and I'm so glad they did because some of my most favorite moments from the concert have been preserved on YouTube, and now I'm able to share them with you. I'm going to try to keep myself under control and not post EVERY video here, but I make no promises. Watch the following videos at your will!

Probably my most favorite moment from the whole show was when she sang "No Day But Today" from Rent. She spent some time before the song speaking about Jonathan Larson, and how he created such a masterpiece but passed away suddenly right before the debut. She talked about how that experience has kept her grounded, and reminded her to live in the moment and appreciate it all. As I had just been having my "what an incredible life" moment, this resonated with me. She then sat on a stool and sang a gorgeous rendition of "No Day But Today" that moved me to tears.

VIDEO: Idina Menzel performing "No Day But Today" at Lincoln Center

She then followed up that poignant moment with something much more lighthearted: Lady Gaga's "Poker Face," as she performed it on Glee! She was just adorable during "Poker Face," as she kept interrupting herself to talk about how ridiculous it was, and how she was glad to have gotten the call for Glee because she had just had her baby and didn't think she would ever get work again, and then they wanted her to play the mother of a "16-year-old" played by a girl who is really 24. Not a good day, she told us!

VIDEO: "Poker Face"

Another one of the most incredible moments was at the end of the show when Idina dropped the microphone and sang "For Good" from Wicked a capella. Gorgeous.

VIDEO: "For Good"

And finally, when she returned to acknowledge her standing ovation with an encore, Marvin Hamlisch suggested she sing one of his songs. She took her seat on the stool again, and he accompanied her on the piano for "What I Did For Love" from A Chorus Line, which is another one of my favorites.

VIDEO: "What I Did For Love"

There are many other videos on YouTube, but I have already shared twice as many here as I planned. So, if you want to see more Idina, check out these links:

• "I'm Not That Girl" (from Wicked)
• "Love For Sale"/"Roxanne"
• "Funny Girl"/"Don't Rain on My Parade"
• "Defying Gravity" (from Wicked)
• "Tomorrow" (the very last song she sang, dedicated to her mother)

I just can't even tell you how much we enjoyed this concert!

Us with Idina!

After the show we stuck around for some pictures around Lincoln Center, which is honestly one of my most favorite places in NYC. It's just so pretty at night!

 At Lincoln Center after the show

 Isn't it beautiful?

In front of Avery Fisher Hall

Self-taken photo, after a great night!

It was such a fabulous evening!

Where the Magic Happens

This weekend my friend Lauren posted photos on her blog (A Modern Day Wife's Journey) of where she actually blogs, and invited other blogger friends to do the same. That made me realize that I have been rambling on and on to you since April of 2008, and you have no idea where the magic happens. Of course, Lauren put me to shame with her pictures of her cute little desk space, and I don't blog in any nice, organized area like that.

I blog on my couch, under a blanket if it's cold, with my beloved Mac on my lap and my crazy dog by my side.

Of course, this may change in 16 days when we move, but for now, this is it, and it has served me well!

P.S. In other news, HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY to my dear friend Megan! I've had the honor of being her friend for 22 of those 30 years, and she's amazing. Happy birthday, Meg!

Go Big or Go Home

I've mentioned a couple of times here that within the past year or so, Achilles seems to have forgotten how to keep his tongue in his mouth when he sleeps. In his defense, he DOES have a crazy long tongue.

At first it was novel and really funny, now it's just getting ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, it's still rather funny. Especially because as time wears on, he seems to let more and more of that tongue slip out, and he's less and less in a rush to put it back in his mouth when he wakes up.

The "Over the Shoulder" tongue

 The "I See Nothing Wrong With This" tongue

It seems like every day he sets a new record for Most Tongue Out of Mouth While Napping. Way to reach for the stars, Achilles!

I believe THIS tongue is the current record-holder!

He's such an overachiever.