The crazy month is almost over

Well it's mid-week in the hot last week of May and looking back over my calendar of the past month and the next couple weeks still slightly stresses me out. Did all those things really happen? Am I really already that scheduled for June? Whatever happened to empty weekends where the only real plan was to lounge in the park and perhaps partake in some tea and scones?

For example, last Saturday J and I woke up early (so I could do laundry) and then headed to Long Island, where we picked up her car (and some Panera!!) and drove back into the city. Managed to shove some furniture in her car from our friend's place and take it to the new apartment. Then we (and C+C) drove out to flushing for dinner and it was magicallll. Like, my bowl of noodles seemed to have never ending chunks of meat in it and everything was just SO CHINESE. Too bad it is so far from Manhattan :( Then I managed to get us lost on the drive back from Queens to Brooklyn, but hey we made it AND still had time to go out that night. Whew.

This week has been all about publishing, because of the big BEA book fair going on here. Last night there was a cocktail party followed by a wine and cheese party at a bookstore, where I was promptly invited to more after parties... but alas had to decline in order to go home and pack. I can't stress how glad I am that our landlord has already given us the keys and is letting us move stuff in technically before out lease starts. It takes some of the stress off for this weekend when we'll have to rent a Uhaul and bribe our friends to move furniture, though of course I am still stressed in general and just want it to be next freaking weekend already so I can chill out in my new wonderful apartment (specifically on my new wonderful bed!).

Anyway, I'm hoping to score some swag at BEA tomorrow but I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, since most publishers have cut back on all things free lately. At least I get to go out to lunch with my coworker afterward :) And meet at least one awesome author that I know of, hopefully more. If I am not super lazy as usual perhaps I will post pictures here of the event. Chances are that won't be until after the move though... and I can't make any promises that I won't get complete swept up in June and neglect this thing then too... Oh summer! Always here and gone in an (hot) instant!

100th post!

I came home last night to find both J and TK packing. Packing!!?? Well, TK leaves in a week so I guess he really does need to get on that. And I guess there really are only less than three weeks before J and I get to move back to Manhattan, so that's really not that much time especially considering how much stuff we have.

List time. Things I need to do before June 1 in no particular order:

• Cancel Cablevision.
• Switch addresses for ConEd billing.
• Order a new bed.
• Take measurements in new apartment to find out what all can fit and what needs to be chucked/sold.
• Celebrate birthday.
• Attend clothing swap and get rid of old stuff and find some new stuff.
• Write something.
• Call current landlord to make sure we'll be getting our security deposit back.
  

Fun times! At least we've got the new-apartment-finding part taken care of. And the surprise birthday party for Cynthia was successfully completed last Sunday! She was totes not expecting/suspecting anything!

I don't know what is going on with this weather, but last week I was wearing skirts and tshirts to work and my hair was frizzy with humidity, and now it's back to black jackets and pants all around. Also I am slightly sickly again but of course it COULD be allergies, but then again maybe not because it's just cold out so maybe it's a neverending cold?? Ugh.

Just bought a half priced frappuccino so I could survive the rest of this afternoon. Isn't it the weekend yet?

busy

People are coming and people are going. Birthdays are passing and apartments are changing. That is to say, locations are changing as we all do the annual apartment shuffle. Manhattan to Brooklyn, Brooklyn back to Manhattan, uptown, downtown, east side or west side? Things are busy but I haven't started feeling stressed until recently, when I realized we're actually going to be looking for a new place to live in a couple weeks. May is going to be crazy. But before then:

Took a walk in the northern part of central park yesterday, around the bridal path where all the cherry blossom trees are currently blooming. It was a little chilly and started to drizzle at one point, but still very pretty. Now that I've got my summer haircut too, I'm ready for the wonderfulness that is the "good weather" months in NYC. (Or maybe I should say weeks instead of months.) When one can wear a tank top and skirt and sit outside on the cafe sidewalk sipping a margarita, or lounge in the park in the evening listening to a free concert, or read a book on a blanket with friends while dog-and-people watching.

Madre is coming to visit this weekend and boy do we have plans. These plans involve eating. And eating. And sight seeing and eating. Shopping... and then probably more eating. I have promised myself to take actual pictures this weekend, so I'm sure there will be evidence of this anticipated eating. Mmm.

V is for Visitors

(Whatever happened to that alien show, btw?)

So this weekend was craziness. We had friends from Ohio, Providence, and Texas all visiting and all meeting up on Friday at CC Music Factory's housewarming party. Good times were had by all. Then Saturday some of us had a recovery lunch party at Momofuku Noodle Bar. Finally, I had an excuse to spend $16 on a bowl of ramen, a bowl that I had heard so much about and been meaning to try for ages. Behold:
Mmmm porky deliciousness! We all decided it was very good, if a little salty, but not so amazing that we would be returning each week. Plus we had to wait like an hour for a table. But I'm glad we went! The hamachi and foie gras we all shared was also delicious.

Saturday night was slightly more chill. Sunday was for brunch! Went to a little restaurant near our apartment and had to wait again... for like an hour. Grr. I'm starting to not be a fan of eating out during the day on the weekends. Luckily we were smart and made a reservation for dinner (Soho Park! Such nostalgia for my old neighborhood again!) and it worked out very nicely, considering there were 10 of us and that's usually not the greatest number to go out in.

I'm very much looking forward to the end of this week, weather wise. A repeat of Prospect Park playing on Saturday seems imminent. Tonight should also be awesome, as our (mine and J's) wife (Danny) is making us paella for dinner and we have that to look forward to when we get home from our long, wearying days at work. And sangria? Perfection.

I tweeted this

but I will post it here for my non twittering friends (no pressure! it's just another giant time suck, I swear you're not missing anything!)

Things I am Excited About:
--Spring weather (slash Mister Softee, obvi)
--Friday's party
--Depositing my tax refunds once I get those checks
--Friends visiting this weekend
--Mom visiting in April (which means, therefore: Tim Burton exhibit, Eating Tour, Top of the Rock, and eatingggg)
--Books 5 and 6 in the Sookie Stackhouse (aka True Blood) series that are sitting on my desk, waiting for me to read them on the train
--Having next Friday off of work!

Thing I am Both Excited and Terrified About:
--Finding a new apartment and having to move out

I know there's still a week of March left, but my calendar for April is already filling up and it's going to be awesome. Can't wait. Let's fast forward to Friday night, shall we? Kthanks.

Happy St Patty's day!

It is a fine and sunny 60 degree day in NYC, and the revelers are already out in full swing. But I thought I would commemorate this Irish holiday differently... with POETRY. That's right kids, here's some WB Yeats for your Saint Patrick's Day pleasure. My favorites:

HE WISHES FOR CLOTHS OF HEAVEN

HAD I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with the golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams beneath your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams...

THE OLD MEN ADMIRING THEMSELVES IN THE WATER

I HEARD the old, old men say,

"Everything alters,

And one by one we drop away."

They had hands like claws, and their knees

Were twisted like the old thorn trees

By the waters.

I heard the old, old men say,

"All that's beautiful drifts away

Like the waters."

(c) William Butler Yeats

What I wouldn't give for a pint of Magners and to be traipsing across the Galway coastal countryside right now....

Dear Real Estate Market,

Please stay crappy for at least another three months. Or, better yet, get crappier! Because we have our hearts set on moving back to Manhattan, and if this cannot happen because rents are once again over-inflated and impossible to manage on an assistant's salary, well we will be very sad. And please don't send any brokers our way that would like to swindle us out of money, in the form of a broker's fee or any other hidden fee crap. We will not stand for that.

Prepare to be hit come early May! Prepare to be conquered! If only you knew how much I want to get this over with RIGHT NOW... but alas, we must be patient. And as the air turns warm and the sun shines on our faces with the promise of spring and rejuvenation, we rub our palms together in anticipation of the task before us. We set our brows with determination! We scour the Craigslist ads until our eyes blur the images of renovated kitchen tiles and stainless steel appliances and exposed brick all together! We calculate and recalculate rent and utilities costs and still, probably, end up weeping at the thought of all the moneys lost to simply dwelling in a dwelling!

Bring it.