A little late

We finally took down our very dead wreath today from our front door, something we've been meaning to do for a few weeks now. We even took off a snowflake/ball cluster and intend to use it as an ornament in the future, so we can remember the wreath we were so excited about. Once it was down and in the trash:

Me (sadly): Goodbye Christmas.

Scott: Hello February.

25 random things...

There's a thing going around on Facebook where you're supposed to write 25 random things about yourself. It took me all day to do this. If you're on FB, you've seen this already probably, but if you're not, here you go. 

1. I wore sneakers to work today, even though it's against the rules.

2. I am still learning to call them sneakers instead of tennis shoes, which is the accepted term in the South.

3. I would rather eat chips and ranch dip than sweets.

4. My mom is one of my best friends.

5. I hate getting wet unless it's intentional. (aka, I almost always have an umbrella with me)

6. I'm not sure I ever want to have kids.

7. But if I do, it'd better be a cute little curly red-headed girl or I will toss it back.

8. I am nosy. I'm not sure if I'm a journalist because I'm nosy or the other way around.

9. I don't drink. I don't have anything against it (as long as you're not getting drunk), I just don't like how it tastes.

10. I've never gotten anything less than a B in a class, although I have failed a few tests in my time.

11. I've moved five times in less than five years, and I'm about to make it six moves in less than five years.

12. I'm allergic to bananas and aspartame.

13. I cannot stand to be micromanaged. But then again, I don't know many people who can.

14. I have a bad habit of chewing on my fingers. Yes, my fingers, not my fingernails.

15. My blog will be a year old on Feb. 25.

16. I much prefer Coke over Pepsi, but I'll drink it if that's all there is.

17. I can drive a stick shift, but it's been a long time.

18. I don't like coffee.

19. I don't have much of a Southern accent, even though I grew up in Georgia.

20. My bedtime is around 3 a.m.

21. I'm one of those people that needs 10 hours of sleep at night.

22. I have an innate ability for proper grammar and good spelling (although you'll never catch me claim I'm perfect).

23. When I do actually sit down to read a book, I'll read the whole thing in one or two sittings.

24. I hate scary movies. But if you can get lucky enough to convince me to watch one, it has to be in broad daylight.

25. If I didn't already have a German Shepherd, I'd want a Scottish Terrier or a Wire Fox Terrier.

Late-night TV

Have you seen that finallyfast.com commercial? If you haven't, it's basically a commercial for a website you can go to download something or other that will "check for viruses" and other stuff slowing down your computer, and then allegedly make your computer fast. Only, in the small print, the commercial says it's not for Macs, only PCs (which is fishy anyway if you know that Macs rarely get viruses). But there are four or five people shown on computers during the commercial, and AT LEAST TWO of them are on Macs! Uh, way to go, geniuses.

Also, I'm sitting here watching an interview, and methinks Blagojevich is certifiably crazy. And yes I can spell that without looking it up. Even more fun to fit in a headline.

I also want to know why a collection of 50 state quarters costs $29.99 (which of course is the sale price, down from $70!) when 50 quarters clearly only total $12.50. If you'd had the foresight to collect them over the last few years, you could've earned $12.50 instead of spending $29.99.

These are a few of my favorite keys

So I was looking at my keyboard this morning, and noticed a few keys are more, uh, well-loved than others. My favorite keys on my laptop are:

S - used a lot for my name

E - also used a lot for my name, and I think the most frequently used letter in the alphabet (no, I didn't do any research to back this up)

tab - I always use it to move around a page as opposed to clicking all over the place

ctrl - I don't have a mouse, so control is essential for right-clicking

space bar - Pretty self-explanatory I think, unlessyouwanteverythingtolooklikethis.

On my keyboard at work:

F5 - a common key command used in Quark, the design program we use (send to back/bring to front)

F7 - another popular key command (show guides/hide guides)

tab - combined with option key for quick key command to right align

0 (that's a zero) - probably because I type in the numbers 0 and 0.118 a lot

enter (the one in the number pad) - Closest enter/return key to my right hand when it's on the mouse

ABCs of NYC

Apparently audience participation is the way to get you guys to leave comments. Noted. Every movie quote was answered correctly except one. Number 6 ("Mumbler!") is from the more recent version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka repeatedly tells Mike TV he's a "Mumbler!"

So back to the real post. I'm stealing this idea from Kari. These are the ABCs of our life here in New York/New Jersey. And I even got Scott to contribute. My answers. His.

Apple. And it's a Big one.

Apple computers. Probably No. 1 most used appliances in the home.


Blocks. We walk a lot of these.

Bagels. Fresh daily and best on the planet.


Charly's. My favorite quick dinner delivery place when we're at work.

Connecticut. New York’s neighbor to the north is great for weekend getaways.

Dentist/Doctor. Still need to find these (just for routine checkups...hard to keep up when you're always moving).

Downtown Veterinary Associates for their willingness to work with Thunder.


Expensive. Duh.

Energy efficiency. Bit of a fiend about saving electricity.

Forefront. The church we've been going to. When we go to bed early enough to get out of bed early enough...

Fresh Direct. Hooray for online grocery shopping and home delivery.

Grove Pointe. Our new home as of next month.

Gap. Specifically, Gap jeans. Not really a New York thing, but discovered them here and it’s wonderful to find jeans with an inseam that doesn’t require hemming.

Hudson River. It's what separates New Jersey from Manhattan.


Home improvement and lifestyle television that is on possibly all the time.

I heart NY. (C'mon, had to!)


Ikea, which will likely be furnishing our new apartment.

Jilted. How I feel when the train comes FOUR MINUTES EARLY. Hmph. Seriously. When you're there on time, you should not miss the train.

Jersey City. Where we live.

Keys to our new place in 25 days.

Kannekt.com. Local website for reviews and information on services and places of business.

Lupa. Our favorite restaurant.


Liberty State Park. Lots of open green space.


Macy's! (Also as Scott pointed out, Metro, which is what brought us here.)


MoMA. Museum of Modern Art. Awesome.

Newspaper. It's what I do.

Neue Galerie. Museum for German and Austrian art. Second favorite museum.

Odor. Can be very distinct in some stations.

Organic milk from Woodstock Farms. Tastiest milk ever.

PATH. The train between NJ and NY.

PATH (Port Authority NY/NJ). Subway we ride into Manhattan every day.


Quarters. Can't wait to have my own washer and dryer so I can stop hoarding these. And because I don't like to share.


Quaker Oats. Perfect remedy after a winter morning walk.

Rats. Big ones. Eww.

Radio streams from the internet.

Subway. Not the sandwich place.


Sports. I’m just going to put this under one listing. Most of my favorite pro teams are based in NY, so now I have more opportunity to enjoy them, either live or televised.

Tourists. Always getting in the way.

Takeout. We eat a lot of it.

Under the river (on the train). Can really be a pain on the ears, and is especially fun with a sinus infection.

U2. Longest-tenured member on my favorite bands list.

Visitors. We don't have enough of these.


Van Vorst Park. Nearby park to walk the dog in.

Wall Street. Where the office is, and the NYSE is less than a block away.


Walking. We do a lot of it to get anywhere. I enjoy it.

X-cited about what the next year holds.

EXchange Place. Best view of the Manhattan skyline.


Yankees. Everything in this city is Yankees. Blech. Go Mets!


Young Frankenstein: the Musical. My first taste of Broadway. Hated it. Experience gave me a headache. Ruined a movie I’m very fond of. Set design was good though.

Zero. How much I wanted to come to NY. But it's OK :)

Zeitgeist. It’s like the Holy Grail for writers/journalists.

Ready, set, PLAY!

Alright here's the deal. These are quotes from 11 of my favorite movies (in no particular order). You guess where they're from. I'll cross them out when guessed correctly. No Google or IMDB cheating!

1. The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made. Emma

2. The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. Moulin Rouge

3. Come. We must return. Those two fools who run my theatre will be missing you. Phantom of the Opera

4. When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. When Harry Met Sally

5. My father was an excellent swordsman, monsieur. He taught me well. Now hand me that key or I swear on his grave I will slit you from navel to nose. Ever After

6. Mumbler!

7. You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. Pride and Prejudice

8. Weiners! I got hot weiners! Never Been Kissed

9. Did I mention, my leg is 44" from hip to toe. So basically we are talking about 88" of therapy, wrapped around you for the bargain price of $3000 dollars. Pretty Woman

10. You idiots. We've all got swords! Aladdin

11. I know something of a woman in a man's profession. Yes, by God, I do know about that. Shakespeare In Love

One year, one month

One year: I don't remember the exact date we were told New York or bust, but it was around now, cause we looked for an apartment all through February. It was a really trying time for us. We didn't want to come here. We loved Philly. We loved our church there, and our friends. New York held nothing. Except work. But when it comes down to it, that's what pays the bills. Much as we tried to wiggle our way out of it, the door opened so wide, all we could do was step through it. More later as we approach a year of actually being here.

One month: One month from today we get the keys to our new place. I mentioned it before, but the new place is just down the block from here. It's 741 square feet, which is about 241 more square feet than we have now. It's in a 1-year-old high-rise luxury building. It has a walk-in closet, so Scott can actually keep his clothes in the bedroom too, stainless steel appliances, a gym and pool in the building, and a WASHER AND DRYER IN THE UNIT, which I'm totally stoked about (first thing to move in: dirty laundry). Oh, and one thing I neglected to mention before: It has a view of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Don't worry, I'll post photos and gloat later. :)

iPhoto is dead

At least mine is. The good news is that I recently updated my operating system to Leopard. I'm enjoying it so far, and it's made things move faster. AND I can use one browser for everything and not have to switch back and forth between two of them. Unfortunately, though, the update blew up my iPhoto. Well, it didn't blow it up, it just won't run on the new operating system without an iPhoto update. So that's on order, but Apple hasn't actually released it yet, therefore I'm not exactly sure when it will get here. But until then, I'm mildly photographically challenged, because I need iPhoto to upload my pictures from the camera. Only mildly because I could upload my photos to Scott's newly resuscitated computer (he hasn't updated to Leopard yet ... coming soon) and post from there, but I'll reserve that for if I have something I really absolutely must post. Until then, it's just words, words, words...

Say cheese

Every day as I walk to work and accidentally (or sometimes purposefully if I'm in a hurry) step in front of tourists taking pictures, I have to wonder: How many tourists have photos with me in them? Just another New Yorker in the background. Phase II of the Snow Globe Effect, I suppose.

Hello, 2009

Happy New Year. Hard to believe 2008 is gone, and that it's really almost been a year since we've been here. And that this blog is almost a year old, but that's another post. We move again in a month and a half. (Gotta love this nomadic lifestyle.) Actually, our new place is just down the block from our current place, but it's bigger, brighter, and has a washer and dryer IN the apartment. This apartment has suited us well though, and it will go on our list of past residences we actually have fond memories of. (Not so fond, see: Philadelphia, first try.) I can't help but think that us finding this nice apartment after a much-maligned search wasn't us at all. We must've made the right decision to come if He provided us with such a nice place to live under impossible circumstances, right? That said, 2008 was a big year — a HUGE year — for us. Neither of us ever imagined last New Year's Eve that we'd be spending this one in New York (well, I guess we could've come to see the ball drop or something, but I digress). It was a big decision and big deal to come here, but I feel like since last March, time absolutely flew by and I can't believe it's 2009 already. I have to say I'm looking forward to this one. We're doing well. And I'm sure there will be bumps along the way, but I'm excited about what this next year has to offer. In New York. Here's to a happy and healthy 2009, for us and for you. Cheers.