Upper East Side New Year

Yet another holiday has come in New York. This year there will be no Times Square for me! My dear friend Vinnie has invited me to a party on the Upper East Side hosted by his friends from Greece. The party was a dinner party - lots of food and drinks, in a gorgeous apartment at the top of a very nice tall building over looking the East River. I have learned that smashing a pomegranate is a part of the Greek New Year tradition as well as hiding things in the food. Inside the dessert is a coin and whoever gets the dessert that has the coin will be blessed for the coming year.



There were lots of people from Greece at the party and I really enjoyed meeting them and spending the New Year party together.

I was even invited to go to Dim Sum the next day with one of the girls - Christina. I did go to Dim Sum in Chinatown and met even more new people - lots of them. I can tell this is going to be a good year for me.

Umbrella in December

I have no pictures for this post. Today is Christmas. I went to the City to meet up with a friend of mine and see a double feature movie. We saw Cheaper by the Dozen II (snooze), and the Family Stone - much better. On the way home, I was on the train and the guy next to me kept looking over my shoulder at my Ipod and watching the TV show I was watching. Eventually he started talking and it ends up we live in the same neighborhood. We got off at the same stop. It was pouring rain - I had an umbrella, he didnt. We live about two blocks from each other, so I told him I would share my umbrella with him. We walked to our parting point and he got my number. So, we will see what happens.

Christmas Eve New York Style

This year is also the first year that I have not spent Christmas with family. With my job being so year end sensitive, it is hard to get approved for time off. So, here I am in New York, alone. My friend Christine went home to see her family.

I have some friends here at work that also were not able to go home for Christmas and one of them invited me out for Christmas Eve. First stop was the Spice Market restaurant in the Meat Packing District. It is an Asian Fusion restaurant. It seemed like a pretty trendy place when I was there and I liked it. I ordered a beer imported from India. Thought I should try something new!

After that, we went to Pastis- a French Bistro also in the Meatpacking District. We went for dessert. I got one of the worst pick up lines ever. This guy in a US Mailman uniform works his way over to our group and eventually tries to get in on our conversation. I got stuck talking to him. He asks me my name, so I tell him. Then he says that I have a really nice Jewish name. I was laughing so much I think I almost peed my pants.

We left and then headed over to Sushi Samba -a Latino Japanese fusion place. We went for drinks and hung out in the lounge. After a few drinks we started a little dancing right there in the lounge of the restaurant. At that point it was decided that we needed to go dancing.

We ended up at a dance club in the Meat Packing District - I think it was called Movido or Movado or something like that. We danced and partied the night away. What a great Christmas Eve.

LUKEC

Good friends Lukec and Chris came to visit NYC from Los Angeles. I love them so much and we have such an incredible time together. We act stupid together and do silly things which is why we have so much fun.

They wanted to see a broadway show, so we went to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Had a cocktail or two during the kiddie show. Only in New York. Went out to an Irish Pub after that - Lukec and I with our blinking Truly Scrumptious necklaces that Chris bought for us. THANKS CHRIS!



We also went out to St. Marks Place in the village and went to another Irish pub and drank and played pool. I had my fluffy leg warmers on. See pic! and stumbled upon Sing Sing karaoke bar. We rented a private Karaoke booth for an hour........ 4 hours later we were still singing, drinking and dancing in our booth. I think we sang every song we knew. Solos, duets, all three of us. We played scary-oke - choosing songs for each other to sing that we didnt think they would know. This was definitely the best night I have ever had in New York City.



We went to Ferraras one night and had dessert. It is an unbelievably great dessert place in Little Italy. It was so so good- lots of chocolate!

On Sunday, we went to a Green Bay Packers Bar in the village to watch the Green Bay/Bears game. The place was crazy. The fans are crazy. They were playing the fight song and "the bears still suck" song. Everyone in the whole bar was singing along. They were all dressed up in Green Bay outfits. It was the most fun I have ever had watching football.

Lukec & Chris I luv you guys! Come back!

Thanksgiving in Long Island

This year was my first year not having Thanksgiving with family. I was invited to have Thanksgiving dinner with the family of my best friend's fiancee in Long Island. It was my first "Italian" Thanksgiving too - complete with a pasta dish!! The food was amazing - so many things to choose from I didnt know what to do. We had some appetizers, a before dinner drink (Brandy Alexander VERY YUMMY, see pic) then a pasta course of meat tortellini and red sauce. After that there was turkey, sweet potatoes, turnips, asparagus, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc etc. Then there was dessert! Several things for dessert and I brought along my cranberry cake. I also brought the famous Hot Buttered Rum that has become a holiday favorite for me which everyone liked to call Hottie Totties. I have posted the recipe below! It is ridiculously fattening and absolutely fabulous.

1 pound butter
1 pound brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 pound powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 quart vanilla ice cream


mix butter, brown sugar, and spices. Whip in ice cream. Whip in powdered sugar. Add hot water and one shot of rum to a tablespoon of the mixture.

Knicks & Chicago

So, went to my first NY Knicks Game at Madison Square Gardens. I had been to the Garden before to see Dave Matthews with my best buddy Christine - but not for a game. The game was fun. The Knicks won so it was double fun. And, I am suprised at MSG. It looks so big from the outside but you really feel like you are up close on the inside. I have been to several stadiums, but none quite like this.

My friends Gregg and Cindy came to visit from Salt Lake. They seemed to have fun while here. We went to see Chicago too. I liked it alright, but it wasn't like the other shows I have seen - not that I am an expert or anything. PS, my fur is NOT Real so dont give me any lectures. And, I dont need any lectures from PETA about how EVEN fake fur stimulates the desire for people to buy real fur.Its not real, Get over it. I love animals. I have two.
Gregg & Cindy checked out many of the sites. It was cold and we took a boat one day - cindy lost the hat she bought about 15 minutes before that. But, it is ok, because we have a picutre to remember it by....

New York City Halloween Parade

So, I had heard stories about the NYC halloween parade. It is kind of interesting that a big city like this gets so into Halloween. The parade is in the village and spans a pretty good chunk of blocks.

Since I didn't go last year, I thought it would be good for me to see it this year.


The parade was really cool - tons of people just dressed up to the nines in costumes. Lots of drag queens which I absolutely adored. I invited my friends from Salt Lake City - three of them. I thought it would be a good "New York" experience for them. We all had a good time - however, I was the only one who dressed up.

Autumn On Hudson

The autumn is here. My favorite smell ever is the smell of leaves in the fall. I don't exactly know why that is, but I have a suspicion. When I was a kid, my brother and I used to rake the leaves in the yard into a circle around this tree. It was our "fort" and we would bring our pillows in from our beds and lay beneath the tree surrounded by the leaves. I remember it being so fun. We also used to rake them into a big pile and jump in them too. Probably the reason why I like the smell. You know, they say that the sense of smell is the most nostalgic.




So, back to the autumn. I took a trip on a boat up the Hudson River with my friend Julia from Salt Lake City. She just got a job assignment here for the next six months. It was a leaf looking tour.. Very nice! Took the metro north train up to Tarrytown and then caught the boat. The boat went up to bear mountain, then turned around. There was a pretty interesting tour guide on the trip - telling all about the history of the area: Sing Sing prison, where the term "up the river" came from, George Washington's battles, and all kinds of stuff. I enjoyed it..

October in Jersey City

I know I haven't been in Jersey City long, so that is probably why I have been obsessed with taking pictures here. Mainly I have been taking pictures of the skyline view (which I can see from my apartment!!) and liberty harbor. Sunrise, Sunset, nighttime. You name it.







Also got a cute shot of Gizmo. He likes to look out the window at the skyline too!

JC

So, I have moved to Jersey City. After living in Manhattan for over a year, I have decided to move very close to my job and avoid having to pay taxes in two states (and one big City!).

Took the doggies to the peninsula at Liberty State Park for a nice walk. It is a strip of land in New York Bay. What a beautiful day. The dogs loved it.

Also, I took some pictures of the new neighborhood and apartment...

My First Engagement Shoot

My lovely and wonderful friend Christine and her fiancee Carl were sweet enough to ask me to do their engagement pictures for them. I was all pumped up. I had shot a wedding a few weeks earlier and was really excited about taking pictures. They wanted to do them in Central Park. I had so much fun taking their pictures. Some of them, I think (and I am obviously biased) turned out really nice...

NYC Scavenger Hunt

As presidente extrodianare of my Alumni Association for the Univ of NC, I planned a scavenger hunt for NYC. My friend Vinnie came up with the idea of having a scavenger hunt, and I brainstormed and thought it would be fun to do a photo scavenger hunt. I was all excited to do this. Sent out invitations and all kinds of stuff. Planned and planned. Several people RSVP'd that they would be coming and it looked like it was going to be a fun day..... until the actual event.

They day of the event came and the only people from the Alumni that showed were me, Christine and the VP, Chris. Christine's fiancee, Carl, was there too. It was so disappointing to have spent time putting the whole thing together and then not have people show up.

Let's just say it, the UNCA people suck. May they all piss off for not showing up when they said they would.

We made the most of it though. Did our own thing and decided to go to Roosevelt Island. None of us had been there before so it was like a mini adventure.

Although we didnt get the turnout we expected, it still turned out to be a fun day (but with no scavenger hunt..) :(

Rudd Country Club

My second weekend in Iowa was with the other side of my family - my dad's side. Each year they have a Golf Open/Family Reunion for the family. This was my second time being able to go to the golf open. Just like the last time, it was a bunch of fun. Afterwards we had a picnic.

I also went up to Minnesota, where I was born and spent 13 years of my life. Got to see my cousin and old friends there. Also went to a Minnesota Twins baseball game.





While in Iowa, we went to my Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Marty's house. We showed them how to make chiles Utah style. Bought Anaheim peppers, grilled, peeled and made the chile while having some martini's and margaritas.

Tractors in Iowa

This weekend I went to my family reunion (Till) in Bellevue, Iowa. It was a lot of fun for me to see everyone again. First there was a cemetery tour in which they pointed out all the graves of our ancestors. My grandmother got to put a flower on the grave of her parents. The cemetery tour was topped off with an accordion rendition of How Great Thou Art, while everyone sung along.



Then we took a tractor tour of Bellevue. We all climbed into wagons attached to tractors and saw the old houses and businesses that belonged to our ancestors. I actually got to sit on one of the tractors. Later that evening there was a picnic at one of our relative's farms. There was food, drink and music. The microphone got passed around while people told family stories.





The next day there was a church service at the church where my great grandparents were married. I went out and toured the cemetery there with my uncle and he showed me a lot of the old graves. Since I am into genealogy it was pretty cool to see all the names that I had researched.



After that, there was a reception with lunch and a slide show. It was nice.



I was staying at my aunt and uncles house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Visited my Uncle Randy, Aunt Nancy and Cousins Kristina and Jennifer. Quite the good time!