Circus Yoga

Sue and I took our first Aerial Yoga class on Saturday and loved it! I learned about this class after attending a wacky trapeze performance a few months ago and reading the bio of one of the most beautiful performers. I noticed she taught this Aerial Yoga class in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, so we decided to check it out. I thought it would be relaxing. It wasn't. I thought it would be easy. It wasn't. I was totally amazed at how challenging it was. It stretched my back in ways that I didn't know it could stretch. It made me feel uncoordinated and wimpy and totally ungraceful. I am dying to go back ASAP! I want to learn more and become strong enough to pull myself up on the "silks" without having to jump and I want to be GOOD AT THIS!! Nothing like a good challenge to test the limits of your body and your mind. One of the things about growing up is that you seem to be challenged less and less, or at least the challenges are in different areas (relationships, work, children). I like a good 'ol playground challenge every once in a while. Can I still do a cherry crop? A back handspring? I am dying to know.

I also found out there are a few studios in the city that have naked yoga. I will not be trying that!

Sub Zero

It's finally winter here in New York. Dan and I got up early today to hit the gym before work (don't get all "I am so proud of you guys"...this has only happened about 2 times this year) and found out that it was the coldest day of the year. Sub-zero in fact, when you calculate the wind chill. Anyway, the cold air woke us up really fast and made us run at a good clip to the gym....where we ran some more. We don't have much planned for Christmas/Hanukkah this year, which is both sad and sort of nice. We are just staying home-bound and relaxing. Dan's mom will be throwing a dinner party on Christmas for everyone and I will be cooking some famous Nielson holiday favorites. I was just looking over the recipes my mom sent me and noticed that our family recipes all have several ingredients in common:
1. cream cheese
2. sausage
3. CoolWhip!!

Very classy.

Goat-Tastic

If you have been talking to me at all the last few days, you will know that I am OBSESSED with these mini goats! I fell in love with goats while working on the farm with Sue (oh #18, I miss you so much) and now I think that I might be able to have one for my city apartment! Check out these mini goats! My friend Melanie sent these pictures to me. They are of her sister's mini goats in France. All 5 of them are pregnant and will be having baby mini goats in the Spring. I am thinking a trip to France is in order. Can you believe they are smaller than a cat? I am wondering if we could train them to poo in a litter box.

New Lanes in our Hood

Our neighborhood in Brooklyn just keeps getting better and better! I was on the internet searching for live music on Brooklyn when I found....a bowling alley! It is a mere 4 blocks from our apartment and has a great bar with all these fancy beers, foosball and pool. The lanes look really old, which makes it even cooler! I think Dan and I should start our own league. We also found out that our friends David and Belinda are renting a new apartment very close to us, so we will have another couple to join our bowling league. This is so exciting!

Mouth of Fire

I am so impatient with food these days, which has led to many a stomach ache and most recently, a really burned-up mouth! Dan and I went to a friend's annual holiday party at Shun Lee, this fabulous chinese restaurant in the Upper West Side. The waiters started coming around immediately with these delicious looking pot stickers. Of course I had to have one and I put the entire thing in my mouth, which burned and burned for a few minutes while I held my hand over my mouth and tried to cool it off by swirling the food around in my mouth and breathing hard. I didn't learn my lesson because I did the exact same thing with the wontons and then the spring rolls. By the end of the night, the top of my mouth was covered in blisters. Today it is scabby and I can't taste anything, but that isn't going to stop me from going out to dinner tonight!
On another exciting note, I just found out that there is a new bowling alley in our neighborhood! I think Dan and I should join a bowling league.

Just in case you don't believe me....

Edward Scissor Hands and Jasper are the same person!

Giggles in All the Wrong Places

Jenn, Erika and I went to see the Twilight movie on Friday night. We knew what the deal was going to be, so we prepared accordingly. Erika bought sandwiches and Jenn and I bought drinks. We showed up to the theatre 2 hours early and ate our sandwiches while we waited in the line for the 7:30 p.m. show with about a million 13 year old girls. We were tense with anticipation when the movie started, the opening few scenes were great, and then it was all downhill from there. We thought the movie was cheesy, miscast and totally not believable. Was it the powder make-up on everybody's faces that was causing the giggles? The cheesy soundtrack? Edward's grimaced face, or the fact that Jasper always had a look on his face that totally reminded me of Johnny Depp in Edward Scissor Hands? We (the whole theatre) giggled so much that a poor girl in the back had to yell "shut up". We couldn't help it! I am sorry for all of you out there who loved the movie, but I just can't give it a thumbs up...as much as I want to. I am hoping they can get a bigger budget for the next one so that it is less cheesy. But, it was great fun to hang out with my girlfriends for the night and you can be sure that we will see every movie in the series (and I see that they just confirmed that they are making a 2nd one).

I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving this week! Dan and I will be celebrating at his parent's house with my parents! This is the first time that everyone will be together. Let's hope there are no disasters.

2,000 Calories of Goodness

There is a new law in New York City. This law states that every chain restaurant must post the calorie count for every menu item...right on the menu. This new law has been responsible for me no longer eating scones or muffins from starbucks (about 1/4 of your entire days calories, in case you were wondering) and switching from the tuna salad sandwich at Subway to the turkey with no mayo and no cheese on wheat. Dan and I met our friend Jenn last night for dinner at Outback Steak House, which happens to be one of my favorite chain restaurants (2nd only to California Pizza Kitchen). We spent most of the time at dinner talking about how many calories are in the bloomin onion! It has about 2,000 calories and supposedly serves 4 people, but everyone knows that you can eat an entire bloomin onion yourself. I also found that my favorite salad has 1,500 calories and even the grilled fish has 1,540!! They must "grill" it in straight lard. This is why restaurants are so good and also why they make everyone fat. I tried to get a photo of the menu, but it wasn't working out so well, so I just took a picture of Jenn holding the menu.

Our New Apartment

Our new place is still very much a work in progress, but here are some pictures of the place! We are loving all the sunlight we get and all the old features like the moldings, the high ceilings and the awesome parquet floor.

The Perfect Airplane Sleeper

I am really jealous of Dan's ability to sleep perfectly still without his head flopping from side to side. He fell asleep in the living room tonight and slept for at least an hour without moving at all. The only side-effect was that he lost all the feeling in his arms. This ability is also perfect for planes or really boring meetings.

Amy's New Hobby

I am gearing up for 2009 and my new years resolutions. This year I was a Board member of the Metro New York Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association. It is a great organization full of really fun people (many who have turned into personal friends over the years), but it was a super huge time commitment and I am waiting for January 1st when all of that time will be handed back to me to do with what I please. Which means that I need to find a new hobby! Before I was on the LMA Board, I was taking flamenco lessons, which was a super fun and creative outlet (my dance teacher Christina is in the photo on the left)...until I took the classes for so long that they became repetative and sort of boring. Now I need all of you to help me pick a new activity to fill all my free time. Some ideas I have thought of are:

1. Photography class
2. Aerial Yoga (yep, you do yoga on trapeze ropes)
3. Regular dance class or tap dancing class
4. Pickling veggies
5. Knitting or sewing (keep in mind the space restrictions in my apartment)
6. Training to run a few 1/2 marathons in 2009
7. Pester Dan more

Please vote or come up with a different idea!

On another note, being a part of the Board this year has made me realize that I am not a "joiner". I don't like being a member of clubs or organizations and I think that is the main reason I hated going to church. I always dreaded that they would give me a church job that I would hate and then I would have to go every week and there would be no way out and then I would have a panick attack.....you see where this is going.

Pictures of our trip to the farm!

Our New Apartment

We are loving our new apartment! It is cozy and full of love and sunshine, but it is also about 70 years old and has lots of weird quirks. Check out our confusing shower, our 2 spigot sink (very hard to wash your face in by the way) and our ancient stove with faded instructions on how to cook rump roast.

When is that stinkin Twilight movie coming out?!

My friend Teri got me hooked on the Twilight series and now I have all my NY friends hooked as well. We are all waiting for the movie to come out so we can dress up and go on opening night. I guess I have to dress up as Alice!


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Bustin a Move

We found an apartment! Dan was amazing in lining-up apartment appointments last week. I think we saw 15 places in just a few days. We found a great 2 bedroom apartment right in-between the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods of Brooklyn. We met with the Landlords for our "interview" on Sunday (yep, they wanted to meet us to make sure we weren't crazy before we signed the lease). I wore my nicest weekend jeans and a really preppy blazer and my hair in a bun with conservative diamond (well, diamond-like) earrings. Dan wore new jeans, a dress shirt and his sweater vest. I am certain that his sweater vest sealed the deal. It almost always does. We charmed them so much that they said we could move in a few days early. Yay! This apartment has so much character, a 50's style kitchen, pink tiles in the bathroom, curved archways into each room and fab moldings. The only challenge is the lack of closet space (none), which will only force me to go through all my stuff and send at least 1/2 of it to the Salvation Army. Throwing stuff away and organizing is my absolute favorite task, so I am looking forward to this! I reserved my entire Saturday to go through all my drawers and closets. I will be getting rid of everything that I haven't used in the past 6 months (unless it is a fancy dress, which I rarely use..but definitely need). Maybe Dan will let me go through all of his stuff too!

On the horizon for tonight is Yom Kippur dinner at Dan's parent's house in New Jersey. We will be reading stuff out of the prayer books, lighting candles and stuffing our faces with brisket, kugel and other awesome food. I have had about 3 of these dinners lately with 2 more before the week ends. I am getting fatter by the minute. I never thought I would see the day when a family out-cooked or out-ate a Mormon family. My eyes have been opened.

All Good and Expensive Things Must Come to an End

Our lives have been full of big news items these days and we have another piece of news for you today...we are moving...again. High rents, a crappy economy and a general lack of spare money are forcing us to move to Brooklyn. I loved living in Brooklyn, so this is sort of a sweet homecoming for me. Not so much for Dan, who grew up in Manhattan. I will miss my easy commute and our super awesome deck, but will totally look forward to having some extra money to visit Utah more often, take a trip to Italy or Peru and...GET MARRIED!

We were looking at a venue in Harlem for our wedding and thought of a great slogan. Slummin it in 2009...Married in Harlem, Moving to Brooklyn, Honeymooning in Staten Island.

My other hobbies these days have been watching my 401(k) lose money by the second and stressing about how my Fall pants don't fit (aren't you supposed to lose weight over the Summer?).

Boobs

Every once in a while I see something in NY that really turns my head. It doesn't happen very often though, I see clowns on the train and don't really pay attention, I saw a woman painted in silver paint from head to toe walking down the street the other day and she hardly got a 2nd look, but I did see something over the weekend that really turned my head.
I was jogging on the public trail that borders the East River on Sunday. This trail is well-populated on the weekends with bikers, runners, dog walkers and sun bathers. I was jogging behind what looked to be a woman with a baby carriage with no top on! For a minute, I thought that maybe it was a guy with a girl-shaped bum, but when I got closer and craned my neck as I ran by, I realized that yes, indeed, it was a woman. She had giant boobs and a new baby and was walking with her head held high, looking happy as a clam. Dan was upset that the one day he decided not to run with me, I saw naked boobs. So sad Dan!
We have been soaking up engagement bliss for the past few weeks. I was super excited to find out that Jewish folks give ENGAGEMENT GIFTS! Our apartment has had a new gift every day. They also throw engagement parties where I gather you get more gifts. Thank God I had the good sense to marry a nice Jewish boy. We are going to have the best kitchen gadgets! All kidding aside, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends, family and co-workers. We couldn't ask for a better circle of support and love.
A lot of people have been asking about our wedding plans. We still have no idea what we are doing. We are thinking sometime next Summer, but as for actual plans, we have had to go back to the drawing board several times. We were thinking of getting married on a cruise, until we found out that it would cost us $3,000 just to get the wedding party off the boat and to the beach and back. So we decided to get married on the deck of the boat, until we found out that the only deck where you can get married is the rock climbing wall. Getting married in a harness at the top of the rock climbing wall wasn't exactly what I had in mine - even though it would definitely be memorable. Now we are thinking Puerto Rico or St. Thomas. Stay tuned.....

A Wedding, Vegas and a Proposal...not exactly in that order

Thanks to everyone for the super sweet engagement wishes and congratulations! Dan and I have been swimming in all the love. We think we might be engaged FOREVER because this is so much fun (just kidding mom). A lot of you have asked for the proposal story, so here it goes:

Dan asked me several weeks ago for the address to our hotel in Seattle so he could pick a fun restaurant as a surprise. This didn't tip me off at all because he plans stuff like this ALL THE TIME....on a Tuesday...for no reason..on a regular week in NYC. He is really cute with surprises. We got to Seattle on Wednesday night and I called my mom to tell her we made it safely and were on our way to dinner (she already knew he was planning to propose because Dan called my parents to ask their permission the day before). My mom sounded really excited about our dinner plans, but that didn't tip me off either, because she is always excited! Dan acted totally normal during dinner, the only possible clue was that he went to the bathroom for a really long time (he was pacing the hallway). After dessert, I thanked him for such a great restaurant and a nice surprise. He said "the restaurant wasn't really the surprise" and reached into his pocked. All of the sudden noticed that he seemed super nervous and then realized that something was up. He went to grab the ring out of his pocket, which was stuck for about 30 seconds (which he said felt like 2 hours). He pulled it out and said "um, I had something planned but I am so nervous. Will you marry me?" I said "are you kidding?" for about 30 seconds because I was so surprised and then said a proper "yes"! It was so great to be surprised. I had no idea he was thinking about proposing or looking for a ring. All of this is so much fun!

We are looking at next Summer for a wedding date and will let everyone know when a plan is set (we are thinking beachy at the moment).

THE RING

The ring! It's an antique art deco ring from an estate sale and Dan's great grandmother's diamond. WOWEE!! I love it.

Engagement Photos

This picture was taken by the waitress at the restaurant right after the proposal. I look so happy! Dan looks relieved.

Seattle and other surprises

We got back from our Seattle trip last last night after a really long layover and about 12 hours of traveling. We had an amazing time, below are my TOP 10 Seattle Moments.

10. Clam chowder and crab cakes
9. Tour of the underworld of Seattle. Most of the city's history is based on hookers, corrupt police and poop. It was very entertaining.
8. Great bakery across the street where they make some sort of cheese biscuit for breakfast that rocked my world.
7. Dave and Jane's wedding at the farm
6. Bumbershoot Music Festival, where we saw about 12 bands in 8 hours
5. The Shackeltons at Bumbershoot Music Festival. Their lead singer is insane and such a showman. I laughed and laughed.
4. Walking around the sculpture garden with Dan
3. Hanging out with my family!
2. Eating the most amazing dinner with Dan at the Boat Street Kitchen & Cafe...after which....
1. HE PROPOSED!!! You heard me correctly. Dan proposed on Wednesday, August 24th after the most amazing dinner, on an amazing day. It was the sweetest, most thoughtful proposal and I said YES!! I am a lucky girl and totally looking forward to enjoying our engagement together.

Pictures will be posted soon!

City Hall Wedding

I got up bright and early this morning, put on a dress and sparkly shoes and pulled my hair in a bun with giant flowers for a wedding! Yep, I was the witness at a City Hall wedding this morning for my dear friend Jessica. If you have seen the Sex and the City movie and think that is what City Hall looks like, you are wrong. It looks exactly (and I mean exactly), like the crappy DMV. You have to go through security and a metal detector and then wait in line to get the paperwork and then you have to fill it out and slide it under a slot through bullet-proof glass. Then, we had to wait in another waiting room for the Justice of the Peace (JOP) for about an hour. The room was filled with people from all walks of like who were also getting married. It was so much fun to see the happiness on everyone's face. There was lots of laughing and picture taking. The JOP finally arrived (we thought maybe she was off getting iced coffee and munchkins at Dunkin Donuts and we checked for powdered sugar on her lips), saying that she was late because the computer system was down and then she called our name. The ceremony took less than 3 minutes. It was so short that I barely had time to take a few pictures (which I will post shortly) and then we were out the door and the JOP was yelling "NEXT! We don't have all day!". Afterwards, we had a delicious brunch at Balthazar. It was a little fast-paced and NYC rat-race-ish, but it was also really fun and sweet and beautiful in a way. Jessica and Fernando looked so happy and we were all really excited to be a part of all the fun.

Could Have Been an Engineer.....

Anyone who knows my mom, knows that she is an amazing seamstress. She sewed most of my childhood clothes and all my prom and other dance dresses, dance costumes and all sorts of curtains, pillows, chair covers and other cute things for all my apartments over the years. She is really talented, but never wanted to turn sewing into "work", so she always just did it as a hobby. Well....I think we have found her a new career - Prototype Maker!
I was complaining about my camera case a few months ago because it is so bulky and cumbersome. Dan, who creates products, thought that we should create a new type of camera case and then use his friend David, who has several distribution websites, to get the product to market. We found this great micro-fiber fabric and then a cute pucci-inspired trim fabric and then Dan used his professional designer to sew the prototypes. Several hundred dollars later and 3 bad prototypes, we were at a loss of what to do, so I called my mom! We sent her the specs and the fabric and about 2 seconds later, she mailed back 3 amazing samples with all different types of stitching and instructions for the factory. We picked our favorite one, sent it to China to be manufactured and we got them back last week. They look great and fit my camera perfectly and I am totally in love - not only with the design, but the fact that my mom is so talented. Too bad all her talents will end with her. I don't know how to sew or cook or garden or make jam or bread or any of the really amazing things that my mom can do practically with her eyes closed! So sad. Anyway, if you are interested in purchasing one, you can buy them on amazon.com at http://www.bulletproofboutique.com/
If you don't buy one, then don't be surprised if that is what you get for your birthday or Christmas. :)

On another note, Dan and I will be heading to Seattle next week for a friend's wedding and a mini family reunion. We plan to eat a lot, take the Underground Tour, go to Bumbershoot (some wacky music and art festival), go to the fish market and basically relax and have some fun before the crazy Fall rush begins for both of us.

Our Anniversary

Dan and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary last night with an amazing dinner in downtown Manhattan which also included the perfect purple sunset, a sailing regatta in front of the statue of liberty and Ellis Island, and an amazing salsa band playing background music. We spent dinner reminiscing about the past 2 years and all the fun we have had. We are so lucky! Here's hoping we have many more happy years together.

Lazy Sunday

Finally, a rainy Sunday where I don't have much to do and a few hours to read my book Twilight (thanks for getting me addicted Ter Lou) and troll around on the computer. We do have 8 people coming over for a BBQ in 3 hours, but 3 hours of quiet time is more than I have had in a long time.
Let's discuss So You Think You Can Dance. Is anyone as addicted to the show as I am? I have to list Chelsea Hightower as my favorite because she is AWESOME, and she is from my home town. In fact, I think she went to high school with my niece Summer. Utah has been cranking out superstars these days (one of the guys from Project Runway is also from Utah this season...and then there was David Archuletta....I could go on and on). I think the reason is that Mormon's encourage their kids to be very musical and creative from a young age, which is GREAT! I am also loving Joshua and think it's cute how he talks with his braces (does anyone else think he sounds like Mike Tyson?) and he has the "biggest bum on the show". I make Dan watch the show with me. He has gotten to the point where he can critique the dancers pretty well, he knows what "marking" means and he even asks me to rewind some of the numbers so that he can watch them again because they are sooo good! The fact that I am talking about this on our blog will get me into a lot of trouble, so nobody better say anything to Dan about this entry. I don't think he reads the blog anyway. Next we need to talk about Mia Michael's amazing choreography. She's a superstar. I wanted to see her dance company R.A.W perform here in in NYC, but I can't seem to find a schedule of their performance on da internet. Help! I am extremely disappointed that the tour is not coming to NYC. I am going to have to travel to Newark, NJ or to Long Island to see the final 10 perform. Really? They aren't coming to NYC? Doesn't that seem crazy?
Waterfall, the hippie chick who read my aura at yoga camp told me that I need a constant creative outlet in my life. Since I am so busy with work these days, my only creative outlet is watching SYTYCD. Sometimes when Dan isn't home, I dance around the apartment too. I need a new hobby! I just joined the gym and have been taking lots of yoga classes, but I am not so sure that counts as creative. Any ideas for a new creative hobby for me?

Worker Bee

All I do these days is work. I am at work right now, organizing a submission to a legal ranking guide, eating sweaty, left-over cheese from a client meeting this afternoon and listening to Feist and friends at pandora.com (my favorite music website). Since all I do these days is work, I will attached a few photos from a recent work party at the Boat Basin. We had a really fun Luau complete with burgers, hot dogs and margaritas. They also hired caricature artists, tarot card readers and someone who analyzes handwriting to entertain all of us. The Boat Basin is on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, overlooking a beautiful pier and the Hudson River. The sunset from this location is absolutely amazing.

Pictures from our trip to Governor's Island

I've Been Tagged by Ter Lou

Do You REALLY Know Me?
Apple juice or orange juice? Definitely OJ, one of my favorite things in the world!
Morning or night person? Morning, I usually start to fade around 11:30 or earlier.
Sweet or salty foods? Both, I have a big sweet-tooth for things like donuts and cake, but I also love french fries.
Favorite childhood T.V. Program? So many: Kids Incorporated, Silver Spoons, Webster, Different Strokes, Facts of Life, 321 Contact, Land of the Lost.
Do you collect anything? Probably jewelry, since I have a lot of it. And, hair doo dads.
If you could be any animal, what would you be? BIRD! They can fly.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Transport abilities. I could have breakfast in Paris and dinner in Shanghai.
What do you usually think about right before falling asleep? Skiing or hiking or other fun things I like to do. Or, if I am stressed out, I think about work.
What's your favorite color? Blue
What's your favorite animal/insect? Alpacas, Cats and Dogs
Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets? Not really, but I did have a UFO sighting in Arizona.
Do you believe in ghosts? Definitely
Ever been addicted to a video/computer game? No, I hate video games (except for Dance Dance Revolution and Rock Band)
If you were given 1 million dollars, what do you spend it on? I would travel, everywhere.
Have any bad habits? Drinking too much wine...but that's also fun
List 3 of your best personality traits: I can accessorize, I hope I am fun, I can have fun just about anywhere and with just about anyone.
List 3 of your worst personality traits: Critical, irritable and really OCD. :)
List 1 thing you wish you could change about yourself: I wish I wasn't so concerned about work.
What personality traits do you dislike in other people? Being mean, critical and being late!
Are you mostly a clean or messy person? Super clean, I have a wicked case of OCD.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? NYC, and I live there! Pretty lucky.
If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? I would start with Paris and go from there.
List 5 goals on your life's to-do list: Travel more, ski more, save $$ for retirement, do more creative things (dancing, etc.), keep in better contact with friends.
Name 1 regret you have: Not moving to NYC sooner!
Name 1 thing you miss about being a kid: Looking forward to things....Summer, Christmas, Halloween. It's just different when you are a kid.
Name 1 thing you love about being an adult: Not having to ask permission to do things. Having my own money. Being able to do whatever I want.
If you could have 3 wishes granted, what would they be? More wishes!!

Pictures from July 4th weekend at Shelter Island

Photos of yoga camp!

Hippies, Yoga and some Real Good Food!

I just got back from an amazing weekend! My friend Jenn and I went to Lenox, Mass to the Kripalu Center for a yoga retreat. We left work early on Friday, hit the train and made it up to the ashram around 4:00 p.m., just in time to check in and go for a walk and figure out our schedule. This area is amazing, acres and acres of grottoes, meditation spaces, rolling hills and a giant lake. I should have the pictures loaded in a few days. It would take forever for me to describe everything, so I will just hit on the high points.

Things I loved:

• The grounds. You could spend a day just wandering about enjoying nature.
• Yoga classes there were amazing. I am so sore today!
• "Aromatherapy", "Getting in touch with your Authentic Self" and "Ayurvedic Medicine" classes taught by Courtney B., who was super cute.
• THE FOOD!!! Everything was all natural and organic from local farmers. I haven't eaten so well in YEARS. I think I gained weight
• Having my aura read by a girl named Waterfall (seriously). My aura is mostly violet and blue. It means I am balanced. Yay! (I know some of you are snickering right now about the balanced part).
• Spanish band that played on Saturday night

Things that were weird:

• No talking allowed during breakfast
• So many people in toe rings? What's up with that?
• Yoga Dance class where we were told to dance around like our favorite jungle animal and say things to other people in the class like "you are luscious" and "you are powerful". A little too hippie trippy for me, thank you.

I definitely want to go back in the Fall. I feel totally rejuvenated!

The Bronx

I went with Dawn and Jennifer to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx this weekend to shop. They have been going for 8 years and this was my first invite, so I was pretty excited, and honored. We got in the car at Jennifer's apartment in Harlem and then drove to the Bronx. Arthur Avenue is the site of A Bronx Tale, Mobsters and The Godfather. It started out as an old Italian neighborhood and is to this day, an old Italian neighborhood. We visited the butcher, the bread-maker the candlestick maker (kidding). We ate shrimp on the street and had lunch at Emelias and I bought 30 giant ravioli from a 75 year old woman in a pasta shop who has been making ravioli for 65 years. I bought spicy sausages and cheese and wine and onion bread and pastries. I bought 5 giant, heavy bags of goodies for my freezer and refrigerator. Dan was so excited to see my purchases. If you ever want to feel like you have gone back in time, visit Arthur Avenue. It was amazing. Check out the photos below. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to some great bar food and pool at a local pub. It was quite possibly, a perfect Saturday.

Pictures from shopping in the Bronx!

Mini-Vacation and No Pictures

We got back to NYC late last night after:
1. being delayed in Miami
2. not being able to land in NYC due to weather
3. re-routed to Philly
4. wait in Philly for the longest time, on the plane, with no food, and grumpy people
5. eventually make it to NYC and luggage gets stuck in baggage claim
6. finally get to the car after 12 solid hours of traveling

Miami was great! The conference was at the beautiful Intercontinental in Biscayne Bay. I was working most of the time, but Dan and I did get a chance to sneak away for some pool time and a trip to Little Havana for some amazing cuban food. We had the jalapeno appetizer, and a sampler of pulled pork, ground beef, plantains, yucca, rice, tamale and ham croquette. It was more than enough food for 2 people and only cost us $14 total. I love local dive restaurants. The only problem was the stomach ache I had the next day from all the grease.

On Friday night, after the conference was over, we went to Bayside, which is an outdoor mall and restaurant area right on the ocean. We had a great dinner of Argentinean BBQ and then went outside to dance and listen to a great cover band (I danced, Dan listened to the band). It was a beautiful night! On the way back to the hotel, we sat down by the ocean to soak in the beauty, until a giant rat ran past us, then I realized it wasn't that beautiful and we walked quickly back to the rat-free hotel.

No pictures this time folks, sorry...I forgot to charge the battery in my new camera. You will just have to imagine the fun times we had.

Birthday Celebrations

I finally had a chance to post the photos from our birthday celebrations. Dan got me an amazing new camera for my birthday, so notice the quality of the new shots. Ahhhh, so pretty!
The joint BBQ party was a total success, the weather cooperated, everyone showed-up, the food was great (thanks Dan!) and everyone was able to stay until the sun went down. The next day, I joined the girls on Jenn's fabulous rooftop deck for drinks and cake. Again, great friends, and the most perfect sunset I have ever seen in the city.

On a work note, I just got back from Washington DC where I spent several days in meetings for a new project I have been tasked to manage. The reason I got tasked with this group is because they are high maintenance and a "problem". Um, why me?? Actually, the meetings went very well and I get along fabulously with the team leader who is a Mormon from Utah. I played the "Utah/Mormon Card", which I think she bonded with and appreciated. Hopefully that will mean that she will be nice to me. Next week I will be in Miami for an international tax conference. The topic isn't so sexy, but the hotel is amazing and Dan is coming with me, so I am hoping we will get a little time at the beach and by the pool. Plus, we are going to spend a day with Dan's grandpa who lives in Boca Raton. He is the sweetest, most energetic 80ish year old I know. A total inspiration. I am a little tired of traveling for work, but I will try not to complain since my travel destinations are usually pretty awesome. It would be another story if I had to travel to Toledo or North Dakota for work.

Birthday celebration on Jenn's Deck!

Pictures from the birthday BBQ!

Teri Tagged Me - How do you do these things?

How to play this game of tag. Post these rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 3 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
3 joys: Dan, turkey sandwiches, having a great long run on a beautiful day and taking days off of work (okay, that's 4)
3 fears: Being at a boring party where I don't know anyone and not being able to leave, Times Square (way too crowded, gives me social anxiety disorder), the ocean in general
3 goals: Put lots of money into my 401(k), take an amazing vacation OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES with Dan, run another 1/2 marathon sometime this year
3 obsessions: Project Runway (when the new season starts) and Lost, iPod and my Nike iPod chip (or any gadget in general), turkey sandwiches from the God Bless Deli II (see question #1)
3 Surprising facts about myself: I can twirl the baton (even the one with fire on the ends), I do a great impression of Axel Rose, I can flamenco dance!
3 people I tag: I only have 4 blog friends and Teri sent this to me...so I will have to tag the other 3 I guess...Corinne, Shelly and Chelsi

How cute is our deck looking?! Dan has been working so hard on all the plants and the table (varnishing and sanding and then varnishing again). We have even been cooking with our herbs! Last night we had mozzarella, tomatoes and basil with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled over the top. Yum!

Return to Nature

I have been dying for a little nature time lately, so I talked Dan into driving up to Bear Mountain on Saturday. We did a 5 mile hike along the Appalachian trail up to the most amazing look-out point. I got dirty and sweaty and saw lots of trees and caterpillars (gross amounts of them), so I can say that I fulfilled my wish!

On Sunday, we drove to our friends Dawn and Matt's house in Connecticut for a Memorial Day BBQ (more nature). They live in the cutest farm house that is the 2nd oldest house in Westport. They sleep in the hay loft. Seriously. I ate BBQ, slept in the spare barn, got bit by ants and got a little sunburn. It was the perfect weekend.

Dan and I are prepping for our joint birthdays. Mine is on the 3rd and Dan's is on the 6th of June. We are the same age for 3 days and then Dan is older again. Dan will be celebrating his birthday by going to Sammy's Romanian with his guy friends. Sammy's is this dirty restaurant in the Lower East Side that has been around since the beginning of time. They have giant steaks, vodka frozen in blocks of ice, a really cheesy keyboard player and dancing....lots of dancing with the entire restaurant. We describe the experience as "attending a barmitzvah in your friend's 1970's basement". I, on the other hand, will be celebrating my birthday in a very sophisticated way with sunset cocktails on my friend Jenn's beautiful deck in downtown NYC and then a dance performance at the Guggenheim. We will be celebrating jointly with a giant BBQ on Sunday. It will be birthday madness for days and days. I can't wait!

Bloomy Rind

Last night, Dan and I met friends Amy, Scott and Sue at Murray's Cheese for the "Tour of the Cheese Caves". It was a 2 hour class, full of wine, cheese, these great Spanish almonds and a lot of education on how to make and age cheese. After a brief introduction, our teacher Zoe took us down into their 5 aging caves in the basement of the store. The caves all smelled in varying degrees like: dirty socks, pee, toes or rotten hay. Some smelled worse than others, but none of them smelled good. Zoe explained the intricate temperatures and humidity needed to enhance and age each different cheese. We learned about rind washing and bloomy rinds and hard rinds and bacteria and B Linens and all sorts of other sciencie things that go into making cheese. It was awesome. Sue makes her own cheese and has a cheese cave in her basement, so she had the best questions of the night and even talked Zoe into giving her some salt wash and a cleaning cloth for her cave (I guess old, used rags and solutions work best). It's all kind of gross to think about, but also very interesting. I still love cheese!

We're in Grill Heaven

We would be in Grill Heaven, if only the weather would cooperate. Every time we get to the deck and uncover the grill and pull out all the plates, it starts to rain. It is still blustery and wintery and cold here in NYC and I hate it!! I want to be able to sit on the deck in a tank top. I want to have to wear a hat and sunglasses and drink iced tea. I want to sweat a little bit! Even through all my complaining, we were able to get a great BBQ in this weekend before it started to rain. Dan's brother Mike and his wife Erika and their new baby Dillon came over along with our friend Jenn, we ate beef kabobs and potato salad and coleslaw and microwave mac & cheese (which was delicious by the way). I didn't take any photos, so you will have to trust me when I tell you it was real fun!
Tomorrow we are going to a cheese class at Murray's Cheese, this great store in the Village. We will be drinking wine and touring the cheese cave, tasting delicious cheeses along the way. My friend Sue is joining us - she is the cheese master and makes her own in her basement, so hopefully she will have some challenging questions for the teacher. I love learning new things and I love cheese, so this should be a really fun night! I will try to take pictures.

Family Visitor

I love it when family and friends visit me in New York. I go out in the city a lot, but there are certain activities I rarely do...except when visitors are here:
1. Broadway shows - Too expensive to do on a regular basis, and I usually try to avoid Times Square at all costs...but shows are super fun for visitors.
2. Dancing - Nobody likes to go dancing more than Mindy, so I usually save crazy dance clubs for when she is in town. We have been known to close down a place or two. Plus, Dan refuses to dance, so I don't have many opportunities to get a groove on these days (except in the apartment when he is gone...I like to try out old-school Solid Gold moves in the living room).
3. Attractions like the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Chrysler Building, Times Square and the Statue of Liberty. I refuse to deal with the crowds...

We had a great visit with my mom last week. I miss her already! We were able to get out of the city to tour a Rockefeller mansion. It was their weekend country house...all 44,000 sq. ft. The best part were the gardens, which were absolutely amazing. We also saw a great Broadway show, shopped, ate a lot, and had Mother's Day dinner with Dan's parents. I probably won't get home again until the end of the year, so it was really nice to see my mom.

Pictures from Mom's visit to NYC

Our Busy Weekend

Dan and I had a fun and busy weekend. It was supposed to rain the entire time, but we were blessed with sunny, warm days. Thank you Spring!
Friday, we went out with Dan's friend from high school and his wife. Dan's friend is great. He's sweet and funny and really nice. His wife is a different story. How is it that nice guys end up with such brutal, angry, complaining women? I see it all the time and it makes me sad. Anyway, I had a decent time because we went to one of my favorite restaurants Le Sans Culottes where I ate giant sausages, tilapia, pate and had to drink lots of wine to be able to deal with Grumpy Mcgoo who was sitting next to me.

Saturday I got up early and had lunch with my friend Belinda. We went to my other favorite restaurant Fig & Olive. Who was sitting next to us but Ivanka Trump. I got up to go to the bathroom and when I got back, Belinda informed me that Ivanka told her friends her e-mail address while I was gone. So, now I have her contact info. I plan to send her an e-mail that says something like:
Dear Ivanka,
I sat next to you at Fig & Olive on Saturday. You're really pretty.
Love,
Amy

And then I will see how long it takes her to change her e-mail address. After brunch, we hit Madison Avenue for some shopping. We happened upon a great sale at BCBG, which wasn't so great for my budget.

Saturday night, Dan and I went to a fab b-day party in the Bronx. We all met on Arthur Avenue for authentic Italian food. Arthur Avenue is the birthplace of Robert DeNiro in case you wanted a little trivia in today's posting. We walked into the restaurant and this group of guys at the front table gave us a rousing "ey oh, oh ey" (say in Tony Danza accent). Hilarious. We had an amazing dinner, toasted Jenn's 39th birthday and then headed back into the city.

Sunday I had a yoga date with my friend Sue. We signed up for this 3 hour workshop a few months ago and were totally looking forward to some relaxing yoga time together. The class was called "Shoulder, Hips, Core Restore". It was all about poses to open up and strengthen your core. My hips and shoulders are always so sore and stiff, so this class was definitely a challenge. We did 2 hours of intense yoga poses and then 1 hour of relaxing and meditating. Sue had a girl next to her with the worst case of gas. At first we thought the farting was funny, but eventually it wasn't so funny when the farting started to smell and Sue said it was messing up her meditation concentration. We all got a laugh when one of the girls fell asleep and then started to snore and then snored so loudly that she woke herself up with her own snoring. All in all, a hilarious, fun and totally intense workshop. I left feeling amazing and then took my time walking home in the Spring sunshine. It wasn't until later on that night that things really started to kick in and I realized what I had done to my body. I think I released all sorts of toxins from my joints because I started feeling sick and got the worst headache that I am still fighting today. The headache might have something to do with the many headstands we did......not a good idea.

I got home to find that Dan had replaced the deck table and had varnished everything and installed the umbrella. Dan is great around the apartment. He's really handy and has impeccable taste. We sat up there enjoying the weather and all our plants until Dan had to go to dinner. One of his friends was in town from Ft. Lauderdale. I stayed home to watch bad t.v. and nurse my headache.

We are so lucky to live in such a vibrant and busy place like NYC.

Feisty Sue

My friend Sue turned me on to Feist a few months ago. I had heard a couple of her songs on the radio, but had no idea how great she really was until seeing her show last night with Sue. We were totally blown away by her pitch-perfect voice, her cute attitude and her rockin guitar playing. The concert was at Hammerstein Ballroom at 8:00 p.m., so we decided to grab a bite to eat before the show. Here's where the craziness started. There was a homeless and CRAZY woman who kept coming by the restaurant, staring into the window and then knocking until someone came out and told her to leave. She repeated this every 20 or so minutes. I might have felt bad for her if she weren't so annoying. Just as we were beginning to enjoy our dinner, something else outside grabbed our attention. There was a crowd of about 8 people, dressed in all white feathers, walking down the street on stilts. From the view of the restaurant window, all you could see was stilts and feathered bottoms walking down the sidewalk. When we thought the night couldn't get any funnier, a homeless man complimented Sue's bag by saying "damn girl, that is one fabulous bag". A homeless man with great fashion sense. Only in NY. It was a great night with a great friend. If you haven't heard Leslie Feist, you MUST check her out.

The Lanai is open for Business!

The grill finally arrived on Saturday! We paid a heap-load of money to Home Depot to have it delivered, thinking that they would help us get it up the 3 flights of stairs to the deck. No such luck, the delivered the giant box to the bottom of the stairs and left it there. It was way too big and heavy for Dan and I to carry, so we had to open the box in his office and carry the grill up PIECE BY PIECE to the deck. 6 hours later, we had it assembled. Here it is with our first grill meal cooking!

The meal was fabulous! So fabulous in fact, that we decided to throw a BBQ party on Sunday, even though it was cold and rainy. Dan's friends George and Andrew came over along with my cousin Amy, her hubbie Sheff and baby Anderson.

My mom is coming to town next week to spend Mother's Day with us. We have all sorts of fun things planned like a Broadway show, manicures & pedicures, tour of a Vanderbilt mansion along the Hudson river, BBQ on the deck, meeting of some crucial friends and a BBQ party with Dan's parents for Mother's Day. I can't wait! It's always fun to have family in town.

The evolution of The Lanai