Happy Birthday!

I decided to keep the boys birthday party really small this year. I just invited our cousins in Harlem. The last thing I remember saying to Rob before I went to bed on Friday night was, "Shouldn't we plan something for tomorrow. For the boys party?" He replied, "Naw. It will work itself out." Here's the only thing I planned going into the party.

1. Starts at 4pm.
2. Eat pizza at Patsy's.
3. Ice cream at Serendipity 3
4. Call it a "Transportation Party" and get everywhere by using different modes of transportation.
5. Give the boys MTA trains  or something similar.

That's it! I never imagined it would go so well. With surprises along the way!

First Surprise: On our way to Patsy's, we happened to catch the vintage 1920's subway car sponsored this month by Boardwalk Empire. The sound of riding a subway with the windows down, the way it felt to sit in the wicker seats, the hooks, the ceiling fans, the light bulbs. We were in awe.

The pizza at Patsy's was great! No surprises there. It's been around since the 1930's so they know exactly how to make a pie. We ordered two! When we got out, we tried desperately to find a minivan taxi cab to get to our next destination: Serendipity 3. No such luck. Enter the next surprise: An impromptu party game. Boys against girls: Who can get to Serendipity 3 first? The boys caught the first cab, but the girls were able somehow crush them in the end!

Serendipity 3 had a whopping 1.5 hour wait, so the kids went to a nearby playground. While there, they discovered the Roosevelt Island Tram. Surprise #3! The whole ride took a standard subway fare and round trip was around 10 minutes. Best part: Sweeping views of the city. I felt like I was in the Peter Pan ride at Disney World. It goes so high up and has surround views. I really felt like I was flying! Incredible. Go now go!

We finally got our name called from the wait list at Serendipity 3 and got to eat gigantic sundaes! So good. Tip: Get a sundae, not their famous frozen hot chocolate.

For the record: Forms of transportation used at my very thought out party: our feet, a vintage subway, taxi, tram, bus.  Pretty good!

Happy Birthday boys! I hope you had fun!

Lombardi's

Here's a bunch of pictures starring Owen and a Lombardi's pizza. Lombardi's is known as the birth place of NY Style Pizza. Ah, yes, another assortment of pictures I post on my blog to give the illusion of bliss and beauty. Enjoy!

Congratulations for strolling this far down!  Now for your reward, a dose of reality: After we ate our pizza, we took the kids to a nearby playground, and Oscar crapped his pants. Rob cleaned it up in a Port-a-Potty. Luckily, Oscar's jeans were sparred. We carried on. 15 minutes later, while waiting in the subway station, Oscar started to complain about a stomachache. And that was that. The $30 dollar cab ride home was totally worth it. Stinky, but worth it. We couldn't stop laughing! The poor kid.

How a Fat Rat changed my weekend plans

So much I want to show and tell! This post could take all week.

I was taking pictures of my kids on the lawn at Lincoln Center on Friday. I decide to tweet Natalie from Nat the Fat Rat my location, she tweets me back that she's on her way, and minutes later I see her walking around the fountain towards me. She's with her baby Huck and bloggers Susan and Ez. Why hello! Hp flew Susan and Ez out to see the Project Runway show. So awesome. We were chatting and suddenly they get the idea to add me to the guest list to the Project Runway Reunion Party. Really? Me? I'm in? Not out? Hooray!

Later that night we ditch the kids and we all meet up again.  This time blogger Megan from Not Martha joined us too. These women are incredible.  We head to Times Square to shop at Forever 21. I found the perfect dress for the party for a whopping $26 bucks! I added a metallic vintage belt from Susan's closet and I felt up to par for the party.  I was so so excited for Saturday night.

So finally, the party! It had a guest list and my name was on it! Can you imagine? There was a red carpet with bright lights and cameramen. Of course the photographers didn't want to have anything to do with me, but I didn't mind.  By the end of the night one of the photographers took a pity shot of me and Natalie.  Ok, you got your shot, time to move it along, girls. UPDATE: here's Hp's flickr stream :)

What else can I say about the party? The designers were really nice and approachable. I would compare them to successful/talented bloggers.  Totally nice people that are flattered when someone is a fan of their work.

Here's some of my favorite parts of the night:
*The party was held on the roof at the Empire Hotel. Stunning views of Lincoln Center!
*I ate almost every hors d'oeuvre that was offered to me. Tacky? Are there rules on this?
*All I had was my camera phone with about 20% of it's battery. Whoops. It died of course.
*I was shocked that hardly anyone was smoking outside. I smelled pot for a second. But that was it.
*It was sweet that Chris March wrote a quick note to my niece.  She's in the second grade, just got her first sewing machine and adores him.  

Perhaps for some people, nights like this are common place. But for me? I'll be bringing it up for years! Thanks Natalie for checking your tweets and Susan and Ez for putting my name on the guest list. It was one of the best nights of my life. Oh! I forgot to tell! I met my fashion icon: Betsy Johnson!!! I adore her. I hope to grow old just like her.

It was fun to meet and see all the people from the Project Runway, but  my favorite people I met were the bloggers. See us all in the picture to the left. When I started my whole blogging shenanigan, I wanted it to be a place to work on my writing skills and eventually use it as a portfolio to get a writing job.  Over the last few months, surprisingly, I've met friends from it. I feel so lucky to have stumbled into this NYC blogging world!

September 11th Memorial

photo via

Since moving to the city, I've been able to talk to people about their personal experiences with September 11th. They all mention an eery silence. A smell. A grayness that blanketed the city. The loss.

I discovered the Staten Island September 11 Memorial when I first moved here. It's titled "Postcards". The large white envelopes framing the city skyline always have an impact on me. The silence does too.

Shouting Farewell to Summer on Top of the Empire State Building

The finally moments of Summer Break 2011 was spent on top of the Empire State Building. Yesterday was the cloudiest night and the world was white from the top. But the kids didn't mind. I love that it was empty. We screamed our goodbyes for all to hear. On the way out bought the only appropriate thing: Empire State Building school supplies. May their King Kong pencils bring them straight A's for life. Good luck kids!

Thank you New York City Vacation Packages for sending me a ticket to see the Empire State Building. :)

How did you wrap up your summer? Let the next stage of life begin! Yay!

Macrobiotics at the Natural Gourmet Institute

Remember when I went to Ithaca and dicovered Macrobiotics? When I got home, I emailed the Natural Gourmet Institute and asked if they would let me take upcoming Macrobiotcs Demonstraton for free if I promised to write up a post. The school agreed!

While I watched and listened to the instructor Jill, I felt like I was at a live taping from the Food Network. Jill and her five assistants preformed a smooth dance of sliding dishes in and out, into the pot, onto a plate, then straight back to the sink to clean. Jill weaved stories and tips and food philosophy as she effortlesly prepared 9 recipes. As I sat there, I wondered for moment why I wasn't just watching a cooking video. And then! The food started to steam up. I could smell all the vegetables, vinagers, and flavors in the air and I knew I was exsperiencing something completely different than the TV offers. I could hear everything simmering, and finally, got to taste the food! So satisfying. My favorite recipe she made was the Quick and Easy Pickles. The flavor was light and the vegetables had a great crunch. The secret ingredients? The Umeboshi Vinegar and Sweet Brown Rice Vinegar! Pictured below.

So the Macrobiotic Diet.  It has a lot a large list of approved foods. Even it's own Food Pyramid. And while Jill touched about all those things, she also was adamant about making sure that we didn't become too dogmatic about our food philosphy. Whether claiming to be Vegan, SouthBeach or Macrobiotic, or (insert whatever I call myself--I'll eat whatever), she wanted us to eat in a way that made sense.  She stressed that it's important to hear everyone's point of view because there's many pros and cons to every approved eating styles. Her approach to food was forgiving and unjudgmental. I was worried about that before going into this class about Macrobiotics.  I was surprised that rather than feeling weighted down with the feeling that everything I feed my kids is killing them, I came out of the class feeling uplifted and motivated.

The most practical advice Jill gave was about soup. She makes them all year long because soup helps slow everyone down. Basically, she says, it's hard to eat hot soups quickly. I like that. Since taking the class, I've tried to incorporate more soups in my family's diet. Even if it's from a can. It has actually helped to slow us down a bit.

I completely recommend this class if you want to learn how to add a few Macrobiotic recipes to your diet.  This hands-on class looks great too. Or this seasoning class. And doesn't this Artisanal Bread Workshop look tempting? Mmmm. Thank you Natural Gourmet Institute for letting me take a class! I hope to go back again!

Weekend Approved Project: Ride a NYC Carousel!

Labor Day Weekend: What are you going to do? I say ride a carousel! Here's a list of carousels in all the boroughs. But I think you should ride this solar powered Carousolar in South Seaport. It's FREE and only running until September 6th. We went yesterday and rode it 4 times. No line! Although one time we had to wait 10 minutes for it to charge. Hurry up Sun!

I was curious about the carousel and why they white washed it. Turns out it's a vintage 1920's carousel that was destined for the dump. GE saved it, white-washed it, and made it solar. In three weeks. What do you think of the white paint? Did they cheap out by not truly restoring it? Perhaps they should have used hot pink? Neon Green? Regardless, I think it was a clever marketing idea. The video below explains more.

 Enjoy these last few days of summer. Eat an ice cream cone. Ride a carousel. Say Farewell to Summer!

ps The car is fixed! Strollers are getting delivered tomorrow!  

Hula Hooping in the The Lower East Side

Over the last few months, I've gotten a crash course in blogging. Here's something I never knew was happening: Companies host parties to promote their products and who's on the guest list? Bloggers! I'm sure this type of marketing compaign has been going on forever, but I hadn't a clue. On Wednesday, I was invited to an event hosted by GoGo Squeez. Since I haven't monotized my blog yet, I decided to go and get paid in party favors, hamburgers and apple sauce!

I loved the location they had the party.  The landowner turned his vacant/garbage filled Lower East Side lot into what's known as the Timeshare Backyard. Anyone can rent the yard by the hour. It's the perfect mix of urban and suburbia! Love it. Such a good find.

It's the last week until school starts! We're gogo squeezing in all the summer fun we can.  They told me to say that. Ha, just kidding. That's all me. The end is really near though. It feels like just yesterday I was writing this post.

High Line Picnic Lunch

Ever see this video on Symmetry? It shows things that go together like peanut butter and jelly, a cat and a mouse, etc. But it's missing one match: The High Line and Chelsea Market. These two attractions are a must do together when visiting the city. Buy a boxed meal at one of the many Chelsea Market restaurants and eat it anywhere on The High Line. And look at the sweet lunch baskets you can buy on your way out. Only $3!

Not to be missed

I took a break from the job hunt to do something fun.
 The Big Piano at FAO Schwarz never disappoints.

Follow Up: My Job Hunt

Thanks so much for the advice yesterday. I spent a lot of time checking out the links you suggested and sending out resumes. You know what I learned? I have the best readers. Period.

I was also stoked when Liz Jacob over at Course Horse contacted me. She thought it might be helpful if I took one of the classes offered through Course Horse. And she even gave me a coupon for $100 off! So nice, right?

As I checked out the site, I was looking classes that could teach me skills that prospective employers want to see. Out of the many I found, the one that stood out was the Intro to Excel class. Perfect. Almost every position I've seen is looking for Excel skills, a program I haven't used in years. But then...

But then! I stumbled on a Friday night Couples Cupcake Decorating class! And it's within my $100 budget! I couldn't resist. Please don't be too mad at me for signing up for it. I'm absolutely hopeless.

Ella's Fourth Birthday. Cupcakes! 

At least I know that after taking the cupcake class, Rob and I will always have jobs waiting for us at Magnolias. There's something comforting in that. Sort of. 

location location location

I'm almost positive raising my kids in NYC will have an effect on them. I know it's changing me. But are kids just kids? Will they grow up to be whatever they want to be despite the location they were raised?

I was raised in Florida, on a beautiful lake with the occasional manatee and alligator in my backyard. We  had a canoe, a hammock and a swimming pool for as long as I can remember. I loved it.  I had no complaints, until my teenage years of course. It was then I started to realize I was a city kid. So I sought after the closest city I could find: Sarasota. I loved Burns Court Cinema with it's limited parking lot and foreign films. I adored the museums and dreamt about going to college here.  I found any excuse to go. Even if it was by myself.  Sarasota gave me a slice of the city life I was craving.

What about you? As an adult, are you living in a place much like the location you grew up? Or did you move away someplace totally different? How does it measure up? While I did move far away, there's a familiarity and connection I still have with living by water. I do miss that. Right now my view is the back of another building and some sky if you crank you neck hard enough. Oh my so called "sun drenched" apartment.  I love it for so many other reasons.

I wonder where my kids will escape, what kind of places they will be drawn to live as they get older. As for me, I can't think of living anywhere else but NYC. Not after a summer like this. And it's not even over yet!