Ant suggested an impromptu trip out to Coney Island during Labor Day Weekend. I jumped at the opportunity because a) I’ve never been and b) this may be the last year before it turns into condos and a mini-mall or some such nonsense. We had a blast hit all the usual hot spots like the Cyclone (kind of scary!), the Wonder Wheel and of course, Nathans. But the highlight was giving all of our tickets to a kid who looked a lot like Nicky, he was very excited.
It’s been awhile and I have some catching up to do. Anthony turned 32 recently and I baked him a cake (and bought this cute Martha Stewart cake stand from KMart to place it on).
One of his presents? Tickets to the Yankee game. So I have officially been to Yankee Stadium now.
For Jess’ birthday we made the journey out to Queens to visit this crazy place, Water Taxi Beach. It’s on the East River and has a beautiful view of the Manhattan sky line. It’s a huge clearing on the edge of the water with sand, picnic benches, volleyball, hot dogs and beer. What more could one ask for? Here’s Ant enjoying the sun and sand and looking extra cute. Oh, and even though it looks like they are with us, we don’t know those two randoms.
So, I’m able to cross off another one of my have-to-do-while-you-live-in-New York things. Sunday, Ant and I made the trek across the Brooklyn Bridge. The whole thing took about an hour and we think it was somewhere around 3 miles. We had planned to have dinner at Grimaldi’s and taste this legendary pizza, but the line was unbelievable so we took the subway home. It was a lovely night and the sun was setting so I got some pretty nice pics. The bridge does offer great Manhattan views. The only problem was all the tourists, who got in our way and just generally irritated us. But it was worth it to get another satisfying check on my NYC to do list. Stay tuned to see what we get into next.
Just last week, on May 1st, I was enjoying a quiet afternoon, waiting for Ant to come home from work. I heard some loud noises that didn’t seem to stop. I went out on the balcony and saw this;
It was, as you can see, a protest march for immigration rights and it was pretty exciting. Loud chanting, a make-shift maching band, and when the cops showed up and detained one of the protesters, everyone else gathered around chanting “let him go!” This all occured directly under our balcony so I really had a front row seat to all of the action. Just another reason living in New York is so unbelievably awesome.
Not that I ever doubted it, but it’s always good to have a little first hand reminder.
Mark and I went to see Dave and Tim Reynolds at Radio City (My third concert at Radio City in the last nine months). We had great seats thanks to Markie. The show was amazing, not a surprise to me at all. And, in an exciting turn of events, Dave played my fave tune (see video). As you’ll hear, I tried to get a little footage of Mark reliving his college days but it didn’t work.
Side note: this is my first video post! I know it’s blurry and dark. But also super neat.
To the east side-ish.
Big day yesterday! Ant and I put in an application for an apartment. For our first apartment. The place is unbelievable. Huge 2br (we can have a home office!), 1 and 1/2 bath, real separate kitchen with full size appliances including dishwasher, private baloncy, laundry room, gym and roof top deck with pool and saunas. If you don’t believe me, check out pics and floor plan here. And feast your eyes on what may soon be our new home. (for floor plan click apt. D) It’s on the corner of Mercer and Waverly which is a little further east than we originally wanted but kind of exciting also. Maybe now we’ll actually venture over to the East Side. There’s enough space to have people over and we even think we can fit Ant’s table so we can sit at a proper table and eat dinner. I don’t want to get overly excited (although I think it’s too late for that) but this place is pretty perfect. (or purrrfunction to you sis)
Stay tuned to see what happens…We should find out if we’re good enough to live there in 7-10 days.
A rooftop pool?! Overlooking the city?! This is insanity! Pure insanity…
When you live in New York there are these places, be it a restaurant, shop, bar, street corner, whatever, that you abslutely have to go to. Almost like a rite of passage. These celebrated places become part of the New York City story. Magnolia bakery, McSorley’s, Tiffany’s on 5th Avenue, a trip to the top of the Empire State Building, to name a few.
Katz’s deli is another one of these “institutions.” From what I’ve read they have the “best” pastrami and corned beef in the city (although some argue Carnegie is better). They are also known for their salami (most notably; the “send a salami to your boy in the army” they offered during WWII, which is a service they still offer). Katz’s was the location of the famous fake orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally (“I’ll have what she’s having” duh duh chhh). The salami and When Harry Met Sally were enough for me. Not to mention, I really love the feeling of being able to mentally check a visit to one of these places off of my imaginary things-to-do-in-New-York list.
Saturday lunch seemed like a good time to chek it out. They hand you a ticket at the door right when you come in. Do not lose this, it is a cool 50 beanies if you do. I held onto it for dear life, because losing the ticket is most certainly something I would do. The set up was not exactly organized and Ant and I are not good with awkward, unfamiliar ordering scenarios so we were a bit confused. Flustered, I even offered to run away if he wanted to. But we remained calm, and we had taken a cab down here so we needed to make that 10 bucks worth it. Once we scouted out the table service option, we opted for that. The sandwiches were stacked incredibly high and were simple; meat and bread (mustard was on the table). Ant’s pastrami was unbelievable. As a southern lady I am new to the world of pastrami and this was by far the tastiest I’ve tried yet. It was full of flavor and tender, not fatty either. My salami was quite good as well but I would switch to pastrami if I ever go again. The coleslaw and potato salad were fine, a little forgettable. The broccoli knish we shared was yummy though. For some reason it seemed only appropriate to wash all of this down with (diet) cream sodas.
Katz’s is full of that irreplacable New York City charm. We left with full bellys and the satisfaction that we (well, really I) could check off Katz’s deli from the list of New Yorker-ish things I have to do before I leave. What’s next? Maybe soup nazi? Stay tuned…
P.S. Sweet jesus, don’t lose this. I think they probably yell at you if you do.
So, I’ve been thinking maybe I’m too tolerant when it comes to customer service, maybe I don’t get upset enough when I am treated poorly. Anthony has an entire section on his blog entitled “Businesses that suck, where he vents about recent experiences with customer service that was not up to par. His friend Marty has a “ban list” where businesses that have pissed him off in various ways wind up, never to see his business again. I was always of the school of though that life was too short to care about these things (such as a mis-made coffee drink or a ridiculously long line) not to mention I always felt bad for the people that have to take shitty jobs at Starbuck’s or Bed Bath and Beyond. I work in a cushy office and often play on the Internet for a good portion of the day. Side note: I’m currently reading Nickel and Dimed which definitely illuminates the fact that living on minimum wage is no place I want to be. Another side note: I did “live” on minimum wage for the first six months I was here but I had some money from selling my car and I have a pretty nice pair of parents.
But maybe Marty and Ant are onto something. Maybe I should be more particular with whom I give my business too. Plus sometimes the customer service crime is so outwardly heinous that I simply can’t just take it in stride. Take for example a recent trip to the CVS on Christopher street (see Exhibit A, above). I wanted to stop in and buy a cheap red lipstick for a photo shoot the next day. I rarely wear lipstick (more of a gloss girl) and never wear red so I wanted to pay as little as possible. I took a quick stroll up and down the make-up aisle checking prices. I decided my best bet was probably a cheapie Wet n’ Wild. I located said brand but unfortunately there were three HUGE plastic bins blocking the entire lipstick selection. I tried to stick my hand behind the bins and grab the lipstick but a) my hand wouldn’t fit and b) I couldn’t even tell what colors were where. At that very moment an employee walked past. In my nicest voice I asked “excuse me, can I move these bins?” I assumed she would not only say yes but help me to move the bins. But, this, my friends, is not what happened. She took a long look at me, then a long look at the bins and with disdain in her voice said “if you move them back,” and walked away. I stood, somewhat stunned for a moment and then, I felt it. A surge of anger. Ummm, I am trying to purchase something from your store and I cannot reach the products that you sell. I walked, nay, stormed, out. I even let out a few audible sighs so they would know I was really pissed.
I guess the lesson is, everyone has a breaking point. And take a note; CVS on Christopher Street is the first official place on my ban list.
