a very sad day

Matt and I had tickets for tonight to see the music of Danny Elfman and Tim Burton at the Nokia theatre, which is in Los Angeles, where I currently am not.

The two of them have made beautiful music together for decades. Danny Elfman himself is going to be there to sing the songs from A Nightmare Before Christmas. 

I almost want to cry.

there's grass in my front lawn

Sneak Peek. More things coming eventually...

 My hero.

Once we can actually stand on the grass I'm totally gonna have a picnic on it. Just you wait.

i got a new coat and other new york things

I do enjoy living and working and overall being in New York City. There's honestly no place like it in the world. I was asked a few times over the weekend if I would consider moving here and no, I wouldn't, but I do enjoy the life I have now where I get to come here for work and live and love the place while I'm here. Especially because oddly enough I have a wide range of old friends that have moved here and whom I get to see while I'm here. I even have a family member! Here's a few photos in no particular order and a sentence or two to explain them.

Erlinda, one of my old bests Alex's sister moved here almost 11 years ago and it was another one of those evenings where we yakked so long that we were the last at the restaurant. Then we visited Serendipity 3 which was luckily open late. Neat little place.

Banksy NY: All City.

Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate. 

Banksy: This is my New York Accent.

Sharon is my CBB: coulda been besties. We knew each other from church and we were about 3 years apart around the time when three years is a big deal. Now we're like peas in a pod. Last time I was here we had one of the longest dinners of my life and we spent all of Sunday hunting Banksys and talking fashion and life. She showed up in that hat and I had mine in my bag waiting. What Coulda Been!

Banksy: Blocked Messages.

After pizza, sure, lets stop by Shake Shack and buy fries and a shake. That won't come back to bite us in the ass at 4am, great idea.

Going to bed early on Friday night  led to waking up early and a nice run in the park where there was nary a tourist to be found.

Your average layered EvY in the city look.

 We got off the island to find Banksys and ended up at Roberta's in Williamsburg. Outta control.

The ice rink is up in the park.

The weather dipped a lot more than I was prepared for and I had to get myself a warmer coat and went with this one. It's perfect. I only wear t-shirts underneath it it's so warm. Plus it has top pockets for your sunglasses! Also see how good my bangs and hair look? New York water baby.

I saw an episode of Louie (one of my new favorite shows) where they go into this deli and proceed to make what can only be described as food porn. Enjoying the food on an orgasmic level is what I mean. I had to check it out. I had a black and white cookie and bam. AMAZING.

Banksy: The Musical.

Andy moved to New York about 2 years ago. He's my ex-husband (AP Economics class, though I don't think we ever filed divorce papers, we might still be married, I think we had a kid too) and also would copy off of me in class and ended up going to NYU and getting a masters in something fancy. He's lived all over the world, speaks four languages, and works for the Clinton Foundation and is still single somehow. Ladies?

Belvedere Castle in Central Park.

My ovaries don't grow three sizes at things just willy nilly but the thought of bringing my kids to Central Park someday does fill me with a sense of not horrified.

Banksy: Dog.

My phone died during my run and I had to finish it without music or without it tracking my miles. Grr.

There was a 5 mile marathon happening in Central Park on Sunday and I wish I'd known about it beforehand 'cause I might have been crazy enough to try it. 

And of course, nice as it is,  these faces are waiting for me at home and nothing compares to them.

I've decided that when my nieces Angie and Lyla are around 8 or 9 I will tell them that if they get good grades, when they're 10, I will bring them to New York City and show them around just us. Catch them right before they become teenagers and show them a little bit of the world and that if they apply themselves in life they can do anything. I assume Em and Jay will take their girls all over the world but I'm not sure my sisters will ever be in a place where they can do that for their daughters.

I promise someday I will.

actual nyc weekend plans

So originally we were going to have a crazy week of prep here and be shooting this weekend but our job has pushed the shoot 'til next weekend (maybe?) so we've had a nicely paced week and will have the weekend off. I would rather we would have worked this weekend and gone home as originally planned but, oh well. I don't wanna do much, kinda tired but this is my third trip and I really just want to walk the High Line. It's this crazy cool park that was built on top of a railroad and supposed to be quite an experience. I'm dragging my high school pal Andy on the walk, he lives here now and he's never been.

On Sunday, after brunch I assume, we're gonna try to go on a Banksy NY hunt. 

And for the weekend and rest of the time here: stuff my face with ramen. We did Momofuku the first time and Ippudo this week but we hope to check out a bunch of other places while we're here. We are crazy for ramen.

Have a great weekend everybody, see you Monday.

mi amor

Matt is doing something pretty great while I'm in New York. He's fixing up our front yard. We will cease to be an embarrassment to our neighbors and will have a front lawn that has sprinklers and grass and dirt that will be ready for the eventual planting of shrubbery and such.

Both our dads are helping out. As if poor Dan hadn't done enough remodeling and hard work with his yard, there he is again. Helping out. Let's give it up for my honey pot pie.

bedding time

We pulled the trigger on the new bed and purchased a California King sized mattress. EPIC. Matthew then kindly reminded me that now that the mattress is on its way, ahem, we'll need bedding. 

And it isn't just sheets! New mattress pad. New flannel sheets. New duvet cover. New coverlet. Ugh! I like an awful lot of bedding from West Elm, yay them for making mostly white/grey/navy which is what I want for the room. I just got a set of flannel sheets from Target and a set of normal sheets from West Elm. I'm not quite ready to commit to a duvet cover or a blanket yet.

I am usure as to if the back pillows are supposed to be king sized with a sham and the standard pillows are supposed to be with the standard pillowcase? Michelle?

Oh about the BED... uh... haven't ordered that yet. It's an upholstered bed so I have a choice in fabrics and ordered the swatches but until I see what the fabric would look like against the wall color, I can't order the bed. It'll be a top priority when I arrive home next week.

new york run style

Its so easy to run in a big ole park. Everyone is out and since the NY marathon is next weekend I bet there's quite a few New Yorkers in training.

My new goal now when I run in new cities is "don't get hit by a bicycle."

- mobile blog post. spelling irrelevant.

things i think i collect: salt and pepper dispensers

I mean, they're the single most important ingredients to anything. Hermajesty taught me that sometimes, most of the time actually, it's all you need. Here's some pretty ones I find myself browsing in stores and online. 

I didn't realize I spend a lot of time checking out salt and pepper dispensers. Hmm.

wearing clothes in new york

I did not pack the right stuff for New York the first time I went. I packed like a Californian, casual & colorful. People there dress like they mean it, like they're going for a job interview or first date every day they leave their house. I should have realized that before I left but meh. It was in the summer and the job was laid back enough where we had time to shop and shop we did. By the time I left I was properly attired for NYC.

The second time was this winter and it was cold as balls. Dressing up in the winter is easy because all you need is some dope coats, a scarf, a cute hat and boom you're done. And you actually get to wear a sweater with a purpose! Warm sweaters. I'm always one to throw something in my outfits that's just a little off kilter so the high top sneakers were it for me. 

I meant to wax poetic about the style of New York vs the Los Angeles look but meh. You got it right? Dress up. Every outfit has to be polished. Invest in the good shiz. No frumpy. Lots of black. Layers.

I'm drawn to things that mix the dressed up and the casual like a dress with chucks but I'm going to TRY really hard to wear heels this time like a boss. If you can't be balls out there then where can you?

I also have an excellent set of bangs that are working as an accessory to all my outfits.

And yeah I put them all together already, they're sitting in our room waiting to be shoved in a suitcase.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'll be flying out of Burbank to New York on Sunday night and will be back on the 29th. I'll try to have some content while I'm out but I can't promise nuthin'. Fuggedaboutit, I'll probably be busy stuffing my face with bagels and such.