saying farewell

to the grandma cart....

The grandma cart

So in New York the majority of people don't own a car. This is okay when it comes to just getting from point A to point B. It's not okay when it comes to grocery shopping. Some people choose to go grocery shopping more than once a week and carrying the groceries home in trendy reusable bags. A lot of people, us included, use a grandma cart. 
Any who, we go grocery shopping once a week and completely depend on the cart to get our groceries the 10 blocks home. Our cart is just over a year old and since we shop for 4 1/2 people there are quite a few groceries and we fill it up each week.

Last night we went on our weekly grocery run and ending up buying some pretty heavy items. A 5 lbs bag of potatoes, around 6 lbs of apples (it is fall after all), a gallon of milk...the list goes on. Ted and I were in change of the groceries while Mark and Juliana were tasked with getting dinner at Atomic Wings. Ted and I were about 2 1/2 blocks from the apartment when the worst happened...one of the front wheels fell off. Ted and I stopped and he stuck the wheel back on and we pressed on. I was pretty concerned about the ice cream melting more than it already had. We made it another few yards when then unthinkable happened. The front wheel base and axle completely died. We tilted the cart back, trying not to crush the eggs and Ted jimmy rigged it so that we were able to go another couple of yards before it broke again. This time one of the back wheels came completely off. Ted again jimmy rigged it together and he was able to push it using just 3 of the 4 wheels.  Mark and Juliana caught up with us at this point and Juliana and I took few bags out in an attempt to lighten the load but after another block the other back wheel came off. We were a block and an half away from our apartment with melting ice cream and figured the cart was beyond saving. We doled out the remaining bags in the cart and left it at the corner by a trashcan.

So we parted ways with our grandma cart at the street corner. Luckily they aren't expensive and maybe next time we'll go easy on it.

Visitors

One of the greatest things about living in New York is that most people are more than willing to come for a visit. Mark's aunt and uncle were in town last weekend and we spent a great afternoon with them. We walked around Central Park and stopped in at the Natural History Museum and ended the day with a great dinner at Patsy's and dessert at Magnolia Bakery.

~A side note on Magnolia. I know most people go there for the cupcakes but the banana pudding is truely the best thing there.

It was really great seeing family and being able to show them around a bit.



oh and I got a hair cut.



ahh fall...

Fall brings many things to New York. Cooler temperatures are always the most welcome along with lower humidity. Working for Columbia my daily commute is inundated with new and returning undergraduates and being the people watcher I am, I enjoy the sometimes silly parade of people.




Is that really necessary?

I love the different fashions that make an appearance this time of year. There is the fresh from the country/yacht club look for men. It's a classy shorts with loafers and a polo shirt look. This is a look that I will never understand. I guess since the weather isn't as warm they can't justify wearing sandals but loafers?! Without socks?! I don't get it. This look is intensified by the occasional popped collar. Granted the picture I've chosen to illustrate this is an exaggeration, you get the idea (on a side note my old roommates and I created a band in Rock Band named the Seven Popped Collar Cool Band. It was awesome.)



It's all about the colors and layers.



Another oft seen fashion is the European look. This look is characterized as chic and effortless and because Columbia has a very diverse population there are a lot of people sporting this look. I like this one, mostly because I wish I could pull it off as easily as people seem to. I tried to pick up as much of this as I could while I was living in France but I'm afraid I'm only half there so the whole effortless aspect of this look does not apply to me.

There are also the occasional student rockin' a t-shirt or sweater from wherever they did their undergrad. I have to resist the urge to stop them and let them know they go to Columbia now and it's time to accept it. There is also the hipster that makes an appearance from time to time. Most hipsters attend NYU but we have a few that choose to represent the Upper West side.

For the most part I am really enjoying the change in seasons. There is always so much to look forward to and interesting people to see.

I am going to endeavor to write more often. I have started noting blog ideas as they come to me so hopefully I will have something to say. 

Winter

Growing up in the Willamette Valley there wasn't a lot of snow fall in the winters. I remember one winter I came home from college and it rained almost every day. I was home for 28 days. That's what happens in Salem during the winter. It rains. There have been a few years that snow actually reached the ground. The Christmas of 2008 for instance. It snowed liked crazy, airports were closed down, power outages were common place. I wasn't there. Even last year in France we got some snow, enough for me to decide that I don't like driving in snow, but nothing really consistent.

This winter is totally different. Since Christmas we have had 5 big snow falls. Pretty much one storm a week. We are currently in the middle of another one. This one is gross though, freezing rain, sleet and a few inches of snow accumulation. Not really something that feels winter wonderland-ish.

Last week we had a storm that included thunderdsnow. Yes, it's a really thing. Here's an article on it. Let me just say it's one of the more bizarre things I've ever seen. We ended up with almost 19 inches of snow with that particular storm. Most of the snow is still on the ground.

This is on my way to work.

I will admit, I am really enjoying the consistent snow. Never before having experienced a winter like this I'm ok with all the snow. Let's just hope it doesn't last too long.

Why I love New York reason #132

When I first came to New York in high school one of the things our choir did was sing at St John the Divine Cathedral. It was a really cool experience and when I was able to come back for another visit while I was living in DC it was on my list of places I wanted to see again. I was so excited when I found out I would be living just a block away. It is located on Amsterdam between 110th and 113th. It is a beautiful Romanesque/Gothic church and I get to walk by it ever day on my way to and from work.

I took these two pictures yesterday.



They keep peacocks on the Cathedral gounds and yesterday when I was walking home Juliana and I spotted the white one. We had to chase it down but I eventually got a picture of it.

Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

fall!!

Fall has arrived! It is so wonderful in New York in the fall. The nights are cool and they days are crisp. My favorite part of fall is the the sudden abundance of apples. Nothing beats biting into a perfectly ripe Golden Delicious apple. We have planned a trip upstate to go apple picking next weekend and it's going to be fantastic. I'll try to be more diligent and post something about it up here.

Oh, in other news my sister-in-law Kristiina had a baby girl early this morning! I am so exciting to have another niece. The girls are most definitely out numbering the boys in our family once again.

and the rains came down

...but not really. As Hurricane Earl made its way up the east coast there were expectations for rain and wind. It was terribly humid here last week and I think everyone wanted a break from it all...I don't think we got one drop of rain Friday night. There was some wind but that's about it.

The good news the beautiful weather we've got now. Hopefully this means the summer is ending, I am so ready for fall.