Battery Gardens Wedding

Today I attended a Jewish wedding for the first time. Fernando invited me to go with him. It was held in Battery Gardens. I always think it is nice to go to weddings outside of your own beliefs - it's fun to see what everyone else's traditions are. It was a beautiful wedding outside overlooking the harbor. The bride and groom were a very cute couple. Some of the nice traditions I got to witness: The families sharing a cup of wine, the breaking of the glass, the wedding contract, and of course, the dancing with the chairs. A great experience.

Sophie and I went shopping to pick out a dress to wear, this is what we decided was the best. I really am not normally much of a yellow person, but this one I liked and it seemed very Spring-ish. Nice for an April wedding. I always remember that the rule of thumb at a wedding is not to wear black (morbid), white (only the bride) or red (just too showy). So, I thought a nice muted yellow would be perfect. Apparently that rule has gone out the window in Manhattan. Pretty much everyone was wearing black. Me: Tall and Yellow - Like Big Bird. And cue the seasame street song... "One of these things is not like the other...." My yellow dress and Marco's black eye, and the fact that we were taller than everyone else of our genders made us stand out like sore thumbs.

Public Transportation

I would like to interrupt my normally bitch free blog to show you this public service message. This sign has been absent for quite a long time at the World Trade Center path stop. It used to be posted at the north entrance a few years ago, then it disappeared. Since the station obviously did'nt open on time, I was always on the lookout for a new sign. Then, while heading into the city last week I saw it. They hjad closed the north entrance and opened a west entrance to do construction. I got excited when I saw the sign, thinking that I would finally know when the train I wish I could take every week would be up and running again. Instead the NYC MTA decided to post this old sign on the brand new entrance to the path. Still no idea when the damn thing is going to open back up. Why bother putting this sign up? I don't understand.

Happy Birthday To Me

This weekend was my birthday! Another year older, but probably not another year wiser. I think that when you are a kid - you know 8 or 9, you get increasingly smart with age - learning new things. I'm not talking about life experiences. And then, I think there must be a peak. I feel like the older I get, the more things that I had learned I forget. My life experience knowledge grows, but all the other stuff seems to get mushy-er. (Is that a word? Well it is in MY WORLD, And that's how I'm gonna spell it dammit).

Case in point: Over the last few weeks I have been working on really crunching some raw data at work to establish a means of evaluating productivity and trending performance and growth as well as creating a measurable way of looking at risk. Blah Blah Blah, I'm so important. In order to do this I had to sit back and take the time machine into the year 1993. 15 years ago. It wasn't that I didn't understand my data or anything like that, I just couldn't remember coefficients, means, medians, standard deviations, regressions, etc etc. UGH. Here it is folks... you know that stuff in class in High School and College Math and Stats that you think you are never going to use ever again? Remember how your teacher said that it could be applied to practical everyday things? Remember how you sat there in class and thought... Yeah RIGHT! Well, I am here to tell you that it is true. From the recesses of my brain I painfully retrieved what I could remember and then had to refer to the abundance of topics on the Internet to fill in the gaps. Shh.. .don't tell anyone. Yes, we all know how much RELIABLE data there is on the Internet. God help me, hope I picked the right sites to refresh my knowledge.

So, needless to say, as I get older, I feel like I get dumber in the Academic sense.

So, on to more important things.... What Did I do for my Birthday? Well, I took a half day off work. Went to the spa and got my nails and stuff done. Then went to Fernando's house. (Side Note: Something you should know about me, I use the word HOUSE to mean any of the following things: apartment, condo, town home, single family home, duplex, igloo, hut...) I arrived to Happy Birthday balloons on the front door. After arriving, Fernando opened a bottle of Champagne and we had some cheese and crackers with the bubbly stuff. Then it was on to dinner - Chicken Parmesan, Broccoli and Garlic Bread. YUM. It was really good! Fernando gave me a Mets Hat, Softball Glove, and two cool books. I loved all of it! Then, there was cake! He tried to use trick candles but I spotted their flickering immediately. I AM THE PRO OF THAT. He thought he was being all tricky but that is MY TRICK so I knew immediately what he was trying to pull. That didn't stop me from trying to blow them out. (Coulda been the Champagne and Wine too that caused me not to stop trying).

My favorite quote from Bday Weekend: Gabriel my neighbor says to me "29 are the best 10 years of a woman's life". I've been 29 for a while now. Like the quote. Made me laugh.

So, in summary, it was a great birthday. Yippee.

Yellow Carnations and a Black Eye

The two in the title really have nothing to do with each other. It was more a title usage to make people wonder what I am going to be writing about and read the post.

First, I want to show everyone how sweet Fernando is by bringing me flowers. See pic.

Secondly, on Saturday we went to play Football (2 hand touch). The crowd was rough!! One of the guys ran into Fernando who is built like a brick house and the guy just hit him and fell to the ground. Somehow Fernando ended up with a black eye. We lost. Due to injuries to the both of us sustained during the game, we will not be continuing our membership in the league. Sticking to the less violent sports like running and softball.

4/20 4:20

So, this weekend was like several of my past weekends where I have found myself in Central Park. This weekend was a little different though. Fernando, RickyBobby and I were throwing and hitting a softball in one of the ball Diamonds in the park. As we were playing around, the distinct smell of smoke - and I'm not talkin about the legal kind - kept wafting over into the ball diamond. This kinda thing happens a lot in NYC, just like other big cities. You wander down the street and get a nice whif of the ganja. Today was a little different. There was a crowd plopped down on the grass. It was a large group of the stereotypical portrait of pot smokers. I'm not exactly sure how much of it was probably sitting about twenty feet away from us, but I probably had a contact high. And then RickyBobby made a profound observation. He checked his watch. It was April 20 at 4:20. Fernando and RickyBobby came up with a theory that there must have been a craigslist post or something similar to gather the masses for this annual event. I'm picturing it as something akin to the Spring Equinox for Pot Heads.

As a side note, I learned about the unspoken rules of playing softball with few people. I'm sharing for all of you who do not know. To avoid having people be bat hogs (always wanting to hit but not pitch or field) the batter is supposed to lay down the bat horizontally in front of home plate. The fielder, after catching the hit ball rolls it back in to the batter and tries to hit the bat. If the fielder hits the bat, they get to come in and hit. Thems the dirtmound bad news bears rules. Live by them.

Our Nation's Capital

Milestone: MY 200th POST!!!

Is there something wrong with me that EVERY time I think of going to DC I think of Forrest Gump? Don't answer that. So, Fernando invited me to go with him to DC to spend the weekend with him and his family - his mom, two brothers, their wives, and their kids. Naturally, I was flattered that he asked me to go. He must like me enough to continue to introduce me to the rest of his family. I was happy to go.

Now, I know I am a complete sap, but I really enjoy family events. My family on my dad's side has a golf open every year in Iowa. I don't get to go every year, but I really enjoy the times when I do get to go. And, my family on my mom's side always does a 4th of July celebration which has the nice hometown feel that I like to experience. Both of these events are in Iowa each year. Like I said, I don't get back there often, but when I do it is all worth it. Family holidays in the past were tough to coordinate - mostly because I didn't have the cash to ever go and make trips to see my mom or dad. Things are a little better now and I am able to go and see them more often - now its those damn vacation days that I need more of!!

So, doing the family thing with Fernando was really fun for me on a few levels. First of all, I like to meet new people - especially people that are loved and respected by those I care about. I had seen pictures and heard a few stories, but it is always ten times better to meet them in person. Second of all, I like to hang out with kids... they are funny and have very little inhibitions. His nieces and nephews were no exception to the rule. Also, you get a glimpse into someone's life. I got to hear bits and pieces of the history and experiences of Fernando. You learn more about people from their family.

A rundown of what we did. We left for DC on Friday morning. When we arrived, Fernando and I went for a 3 mile run. It was TORTURE. Hill after hill after hill. I was ready to kill the concierge who recommended the trail. And, no water fountains. Bad bad. Will someone please donate some money to the city of Arlington so they will put in some functioning water fountains on their trails? After our run, we went to dinner with his family.

I was a little quiet at dinner. For being the seriously extroverted person I am, I sure do seem to get quiet when I meet "important" people. You know, the people you actually care what they think about you..I mean, I can meet the CEO of my company in the elevator and have a conversation with him about salads, but you give me my boyfriends family and all of the sudden I'm quiet. Hmmm.

Well, you know me... I wasn't quiet for long. Next day I had soaked it all in and was ready to go. And then I was myself. Not that I hadn't tried to be myself the night before but I guess I WAS being myself. Circular Reference. If you understand what I just said and meant, then you are also probably a person like me who spends way too much time with Microsoft Excel. (Yes, I know that was super geek - If you know about circular references you may as well be in the geek club with me).

Day 2 - Saturday - we went to the Cherry Blossom parade. Then to the street festival. The favorite character from the street festival was chillin in the plaza with a jug of milk. See photo. After that, Fernando and I went for a run. It was a pretty cool run. We went from the Washington Monument to the Capitol, back to the Washington Monument, then to the Lincoln memorial, then the Jefferson Memorial. I may have the order wrong, but you get the picture. I ran it once... Fernando ran it twice. After all the running I think I did close to 6 miles. Maybe I am exaggerating. I know it was more than 5. Fernando is training to run a marathon - hence his motivation. My motivation: to tighten up those flabby thighs.



Not sure what it is about running. The first two miles always seem brutal. The third gets a little better, then after that it is like I am coasting. Getting better at it each time. We will see, maybe one of these times I will run the whole way with Fernando.

After our run we headed back to the hotel with his mom (she waited for us while we ran) and then had dinner with his family. Fernando and I slipped away for some Cold Stone Ice Cream... deserved it after that run!

Day three - we went to the museum of Natural History and saw the Imax Dinosaur film and the Butterfly exhibit. The dinosaur film was in 3d. Is it just me or do those things give everyone a headache? I always feel cross eyed wearing those 3d glasses. After the museum we headed back home.



I hate the trips home soley because it is a return to reality. Thoughts about work start to creep back into my head. Responsibilities start to come back to you. Even though it was only a little weekend getaway, it was enough to escape all of that. These are the things I live for. The little escapes. I know I wouldn't appreciate them as much if I had them all the time. They make you grateful for what you work toward and thankful for the time you get to spend with others.

But, even though the trip home was not without fleeting thoughts of upcoming projects and meetings, I did manage to block most of it out listening to music with Fernando and his mom. Im not talking about listening to music...Im talking about LISTENING to music. Discussing it. Trying to figure it out - almost like when you would read Shakespeare for the first time in Lit class. Those elusive lyrics that could mean a thousand things.

I have this theory... You know how back before electricity, television, radio, and other forms of media all people had to entertain themselves were books, the company of others, and live music? It used to amaze me how old letters and writings always quoted books and poems. People knew their favorites by memory and could recite it on demand. I got to thinking about music today and how we are very much like that still...just in a different way. Our favorite songs we know by heart and can recite all the words on demand. I used to think that maybe we all lost a bit of that type of "poetry" and "culture" but I think it has just changed mediums with the times. Our music is poetry. Don't get me wrong... some of the stuff out there is just crap. But some of it is so amazing me that people can be so definitive and creative: those who can master putting into words the common denominations of human existence and evoke emotions with just words or songs.

More Visitors

I have to say that when I lived in Utah NO ONE came to visit me except my wonderful and loyal friend and "sister" Christine. Love you Christine. Now that I live in NY - everyone wants to come visit. Ok ok, I'm not complaining. I like to have visitors come to NY. I know that no one else gets to see these people because they all live in not as fun places as New York and I am very thankful that I get to catch up with my peeps.

This time, my old roommate from many moons ago (Dave) came to visit with his wife Julie.

One of my favorite things about chillin with old friends is reliving the "glory days". You know the song...Cue Springstein, "Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, well time slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but boring stories of glory days". Dave and I know each other from back in the Trucking Days. Dave was an Owner Operator at the company I worked for, and I worked in the office. Those weren't the glory days though. The most memorable event from our roomie times was our trip to the Rosebowl. Two of my roomies were heading to LA to see the Washington Huskies play in the Rosebowl. Not sure how I was able to swing it, but somehow this group of guys invited me, the token girl, to come along. I was flattered that they would actually invite me to go, and excited. I had never been to a bowl game - and never been to Cali.

I was recently single at the time, so all the better to take my mind off all that crap by going on vacation for New Years. We had a great time at the game. We painted logos on ourselves and yelled for their team. I was ambivalent to who won, and just happy to be there. The five of us were not rich and we all stayed in one hotel room to save money. Pretty funny when I look back on it.

Most memorable event of that weekend: the boys wanted to go to Hooters for dinner. Go figure. While there, they decided to lie to the waitress and tell her it was my birthday. I remember having to stand on top of the table while everyone sang to me. I got a shirt and hat out of it- and free dessert. Triple whammy. Can't beat that.

So, I digress (like I NORMALLY DO). Dave and Julie arrived on Wednesday. We caught up and reminisced about the Glory Days. I showed Julie the funniest picture I have of Dave (in a purple dress) - hey, that's what those kind of pictures are for. To show to significant others. I would post that pic, but I think Dave would probably be slightly unhappy with me.

So, we hung out... they met Fernando. I think they approved. And that was it. I left them to fend for themselves in my apartment because I was also going on a little vacation: To DC. Next post!

Invinceable

This weekend I had an amazing experience that was four years in the making. For those of you who know me well, this will shock and amaze you. And, you will know what it truly took for me to have enough courage to actually do this. This weekend I drove in New York City for the first time.

A little background. I think that my fear of driving started after a couple of friends/acquaintences were killed in car accidents, friends were seriously injured in car accidents, I worked in trucking and heard horror stories about accidents, and was a passenger in a few. Really, most of the time there was no good reason for my fear - mostly irrational. Those accidents mostly happened due to circumstances - those that were killed involved alcohol or drugs. Those that were hurt involved very bad weather. And my experience as a passenger, well, those were legit but not serious accidents at all. Although, my brother was REALLY mad when my ex borrowed his truck and crashed it (I was in the passenger seat).

So, this fear of driving has loomed with me for many many years. When I moved to Salt Lake City, I thought it was such a big city and was scared to drive there. I guess after living in a smaller place in North Carolina anything seemed big. The first year I lived there my ex and my dad drove me to work and picked me up every day because I was afraid to drive in the traffic. If it snowed, even worse. Looking back, it seems completely ridiculous. I thought Salt Lake was this huge metropolis. And yes, it is big, but nothing like where I live now.

After moving to New York, I didn't have any need to drive. I think that in the first two years I lived here, the only driving I did was when I went home to family in Iowa once for a family reunion. Does a tractor count?

Then, I moved to New Jersey. Things weren't quite as accessible as they were in New York, and about a year and a half ago I signed up for Zip Car. It is described as a time share in a car. You pay an annual fee of 50$, then you can rent a car online whenever you wish for about 9-12$ per hour depending on the type of car. It includes 125 miles per use, all of your gas, and insurance. Considering I hadn't paid insurance or a car payment for years, it seemed like a pretty good deal. It started out slow, I would rent once every couple months to do big errands. I got used to driving around my little corner of the world in Jersey. I even ventured into PA with my mom when she was here. She wasn't so convinced of my driving skills. I was a little rusty back then.

Since then, I have rented cars to drive home to North Carolina. Maggie had a car and would always let me borrow it so I really got used to driving. But never in the city. One time, I accidentally turned into the lane for the Holland Tunnel. I think I almost hyperventialted until I realized that there was a side lane where I could get back into NJ after paying the toll. Phew.

So, I rented a car this weekend. Fernando had offered to make me dinner in Queens if I wanted to drive over there. Nothing more motivating than a person you really like cooking you dinner to help you get over the fear of driving through New York City. I decided to do it.

All the way to the Holland Tunnel from my house I had to take deep breaths. I was so nervous about the whole thing. I hit the tunnel and then realized as I was going through that it wasn't so bad. When I hit the end, I was overcome with emotion. You know those times when it feels like your emotions run through you and flush from your head all the way to your toes in a hot rush... well that's what happened. As soon as I saw the "Manhattan" sign. And then, as if a switch went off, I was an old pro. I think it really helped that I had taken car service home about 5,000 times from work when I lived on the Upper East Side because I knew exactly where to go. I made it to Queens without a problem. Got lost going back home... but that's another story.

Planet of the Apes

Fernando called me to ask if I would like to go see Planet of the Apes (the original) on the big screen at the Ziegfeld. For those of you who don't know, the Ziegfeld is a famous theater in New York that seats about 1200 people and was built in the 1960's. It is considered a "Movie Palace"... big chandeliers, plush surroundings, etc. I though it sounded like fun - I have never seen Planet of the Apes (old or new). The large theater had maybe 30 people in it, almost like we were having a private screening or something.

The Ziegfeld shows classic movies regularly. I saw advertised that they were showing E.T., Goldfinger, etc. I think this is pretty cool to be able to go see a movie like that on the big screen.

And that's it. My whole blog. Must be suffering from writers block.