Catching up...

It is an unbelievably beautiful day here--low 80s, sunny and breezy. So I have spent the last 6 hours walking around NYC, and I feel like my legs are made of wet noodles. Over to Fifth, up to Central Park South, back over to Ninth and down again. Stops along the way included Sarabeth's for lunch, Ferrara's gelato, and a thrift store in Hell's Kitchen. Saks and Frederick Fekkai teamed up to give away free product today, so I stood in line for my free volumizing spray. While on the way, I got a text from Larry that the chemo is working--no new tumors and the old ones are shrinking. Hip, hip, hooray! So I went to Mass at St. Patrick's to celebrate. I walked in on the tail end of the noon Mass, with Bishop Dolan celebrating Mother Teresa's 100th birthday with about 30 Missionaries of Charity. They're all tiny! I also spent some time in the Park today, reading and then napping on a park bench. Lots of interesting people to watch and eavesdrop on.

The last few days here have been chilly and rainy, so I haven't explored much. I've been pretty good about the workout thing, though: did Pilates on Tuesday and ran into Peter. We walked back to 23rd together and chatted on the corner about this and that. Ran in the gym on Monday and Wednesday; walked what felt like 20 miles today. Tomorrow, I plan to investigate the ice rink at Chelsea Pier, although if it's as nice tomorrow as it was today, that may have to wait for another day.

I'm on a search for a pair of boots that are comfortable enough to walk miles in. I went to the shoe dept. while I was at Saks today and found some really cute ones but they weren't quite comfortable enough, so the search continues. (I'm also hoping not to have to pay $450 for them, which is what that pair cost.)

Jason Wade was in town last night, so after we ate dinner (at Lasagna Restaurant--giant portions, mediocre food, very limited wine list), we met up with him at the Westside Tavern. I got to hear some more stories about Hollandpalooza. We stayed out till 1:30 or so--Jason had a 5:30 shuttle to the airport this morning, God love him. I slept till 9.

I've been talking to Pablo Gomez about a consulting gig. He may be getting hired by a university that needs marketing help, and while he has the marketing expertise, he doesn't know anything about admission. So I'd be consulting for the consultant. :) It sounds like it'd be about a 30 hour commitment (total, not per week) which might be fun. I've never done anything like that, so I get nervous thinking about it. But that's probably a good thing, getting out of my comfort zone. Ed thinks I'm nuts to do any work at all, but it sounds like something interesting, and I've known Pablo for half of his life, so I'd like to help him if I can.

Just started reading Cloud Atlas today, which Ed recently finished and thinks I'll really like. It's odd so far. The first section was a portion of some guy's diary and ended in the middle of a sentence. The second section has started out as a letter from one guy to another, neither of whom are the guy from section one, as near as I can tell. I'm confused, but still interested...

Yesterday morning was spent exploring the Mac. I had a one-to-one appointment on Tuesday, and she told me how to import my music. (It didn't work, so back I go.) I installed all my photos on iPhoto, and spent the morning tagging and organizing them. It was fun to look through them all, and funny to see the "smart" computer suggest that a statue I photographed at the Met and my Ethiopian nephew might be my blond haired, blue eyed girlfriend.

Nap time. More later.

Week one, part two

TGIF! Although I can't believe it's already Friday...

Things I've done this week:
Finished reading Catching Fire (Edward, I'm looking forward to next week, when the final book comes out!)
Took a 3 mile run along the Hudson
Cooked dinner twice (that's a record for one week in NYC)--there are good recipes on the Whole Foods website...
Ate lunch with our niece, Mary Elizabeth, at Fishtail by David Burke
Had dinner and drinks with Beth at 5 Ninth (seeing a friendly face from home was fantastic!!), only to get a call from Ed who'd locked himself out of the building. :)
Went for drinks at the Westside Tavern, and met Justin's wife, Jessie, who recommended I read Thunderstruck
Saw a butterfly in the middle of the city
Had to spend an 45 minutes at the Verizon store, because my phone wouldn't ring when I got an incoming call. All the other sounds worked, but not that one. So no more Jewell email on my phone...

Time to cook dinner...

Week one

Since I tried (unsuccessfully) last year to keep a journal of all the things Eddie and I did as denizens of the Big Apple, I thought I'd try blogging about it this year. We'll see if I'm more faithful to this genre than the other...

So I've been a New Yorker for all of two days now. New experiences on day one included ordering my groceries online from Fresh Direct (amazingly cost effective!), and ordering stuff from Container Store to help with the unpacking and organizing. (Lots of boxes on the way.) Once that was done, I headed to Hudson River Park to read. Edward gave me a copy of Catching Fire for my birthday, so it came along. I found a park bench and read until I thought I would melt in the humidity. Fortunately for me, I looked up and saw the storm-from-Jersey headed across the Hudson, and made it safely inside before the rain.

Eddie and I took advantage of Restaurant Week and had dinner at the Fig and Olive (www.figandolive.com) in the Meatpacking District. The chicken samosas were fantastic, and the chocolate pot de creme we had for dessert was ambrosia.

Today, I did Pilates on the High Line. They have a class every Tuesday at 10am, so I now have something on my to-do list each week till September. MC has been raving about it for years; I've never done it before. It was really fun, and I ended up in a photo shoot afterward. If any of the pics are worth seeing (or even have me in them) I'll post 'em later. I met two very nice older ladies from Stuyvesant Town on their first High Line trip who welcomed me to the City.

Eddie called to see if I was up for lunch, so we went to the 2nd Avenue Deli. They were one of the restaurants in the eat.shop.nyc book Trina gave me for my birthday, and Ed's always looking for a good pastrami sandwich. This one ranks as the best he's ever had, apparently. The host was incredibly friendly--he had been to KC for a fundraiser for a Jewish organization there; he attended a Mandy Patinkin concert at the Midland, stayed at the Muehlebach and explored the Plaza.

On the way home from lunch, I stopped off at DDC Designs to look for a lamp. (There's no overhead lighting in our living room.) Shopping for items for Ed "I'll know it when I see it" Gramling is a bit of a challenge, but they do have beautiful, modern things. Desmond was knowledgeable, helpful and promises to send me more pics of lamps for Eddie to see. I did a little random shopping on the way home, but I didn't find much.

Am waiting patiently for my Container Store delivery...More later.