Mapping it out

I'm a nerd. I like to learn stuff. And for a long time I've wanted to learn more about the design programs I can only semi-use. So the other day I managed to spend some time sitting with the art director at work and he showed me how to make a map. I made a practice version just for you!

It started out as a map of my favorite places, but then I decided to include work for reference, so, only mostly my favorites.



1. Home
2. Uno Chicago Grill - a chain restaurant, but they have good fish and chips and a killer shrimp and crab fondue appetizer
3. Five Guys - another chain, discovered in Philly, but thankfully they also have them here. Best hamburger, hands down.
4. Work - nuff said.
5. Lupa - my favorite restaurant and the one non-chain restaurant we've repeatedly visited
6. 5th Avenue Apple Store - honestly it's usually too crowded to enjoy this store, but it's fun anyway

Earth Hour

Tonight at 8:30, we turned off all the lights in our apartment. (Thanks to all the non-Earth Hourers though, we didn't even have to light a candle.) If you're not familiar with it, there's an annual event called Earth Hour, where for one hour, people and businesses and cities across the globe are asked to turn off the lights for one hour in basically a show of solidarity as much as it is to conserve energy. You're probably thinking, "Well, you're on the computer." Yes, but I charged it before Earth Hour, so at the moment, I'm not plugged in. Smart, eh?

At 8:20 - Everybody on


8:28 - Chrysler building goes out


8:31 - Everybody out (well, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building)


Other landmarks participating in New York: The New York Public Library, the UN headquarters, City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. Even many of the signs in Times Square were supposed to dim at 8:30. While we can't see Times Square, we can see the light that comes from it, and the sky is dark.

9:34 - Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building are slowly coming back on.

The littlest buskers

Today on my way to work, as I walked across the plaza, I heard the erratic beat of a snare drum. As I crossed the street, I could see the source of the sound: what I'm guessing is a family musical group. Only they're probably all under the age of 16. And the youngest, the drummer, is probably about 5. The lead singer was the lone girl of the group. Two more older boys rounded out the guitar club. Honestly, they were really awful. But at least they were awfully cute.





Then as I turned the corner down toward work, I noticed a group of people all dressed in black, all holding umbrellas, and standing in formation together. One guy had on a red scarf. One guy was holding one of those things you snap together and yell, "Action!" And there were cameras. And another guy was wearing a sweatshirt that had the name of a film school on it. So I guess they were filming a project. Anyway, it's not every day you see people dancing in formation together down Wall Street.




And I've never really mentioned the flutist, but every time I walk past him, I think, "I should blog about him." Anyway, he appears to be an older man with a fluffy white beard, and he's playing an old not-so-shiny flute, usually "Glory Glory Hallelujah," but sometimes "Amazing Grace." Depends on his mood, I guess. Sometimes, he's so flat, I want to show him how it's done. But really, you couldn't pay me to touch his flute. I'm sure he's just a nice man, so I don't really want to dig on him, and I feel like we're sorta connected in a way, him being there every day, me being a flutist too. Anyway, today he was talking to some people, so I pretended to take a picture of Federal Hall, but made sure to get him in it.




It's been a while since I had a pretty New York-centric post. Glad to oblige.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

From the Empire State Building

The sweetest thing

This is actually a screen grab from last week, but sometimes it's nice to see your work enthusiastically thrust into and waved about in the air, as opposed to torn and trampled on the ground by a million shoes. Of course, we'll never know if that's where this paper ended up.

When ATL freezes over

Last week, Scott and I went home to Atlanta. Well, I went home to Atlanta. Scott came with. We got in on Saturday, and on Sunday, the impossible. It snowed. In Atlanta. For hours. At my parents' house, there was only an inch or two, but other areas got a lot more and many of the surrounding counties closed schools on Monday. We were supposed to go visit Meaghan on Sunday, but the snow and ice kept us in the house. I tried to get a few shots...

From the back door




Out the front windows



On Monday, Mom and I finally made it up to Rome to see Meaghan and her super-cute kid, Logan. I forgot to take any pictures while we were there, so I'm stealing some from Meaghan...



It was kinda all downhill from there, unfortunately. On Tuesday, I came down with something, and I still haven't shaken it. On Wednesday, we tried to go out to lunch, but I couldn't even eat or sit up hardly and ended up at the clinic and then back home in bed. On Thursday we did some shopping and running around. We didn't want to go back to the house and sit around, so we ended up at Kennesaw Mountain (which, for those of you not from Atlanta, is a Civil War battleground site).











Dad took us out for dessert that night and I got chocolate pie that looked great...wish I could've tasted it. But I'm sure Mom didn't mind the leftovers. On Friday, we packed up, had lunch at Chick-fil-a, and headed to the airport. I'm pretty bummed that I was sick most of the time, but at least I was in a familiar place and knew where to find a doctor. Guess I'll just have to step up my efforts to get my parents to come visit sooner!

Belated

I missed it, due to moving and vacationing and whatnot, but as of Feb. 25, it's been one year since I started Little Peach Big Apple, and as of March 8, one year since we moved to New York. Happy birthday to my blog!