The Visitor's Checklist

Ethan's sister and her friend Colleen drove down from Newport last weekend. We had a lot of fun with them and they gave new meaning to the term "whirlwind visit". We saw more in two days than most people see in two months! Here is our sightseeing list, along with some surprises we encountered along the way.

• Times Square--briefly. All you need to do is see it and go.


• Rockefeller Plaza


• 5th Avenue -- home of the fancy shops like Saks, Coach, Louis Vuitton....not to mention, American Girl Place.


• 6th Avenue Street Fair---The entire street from 50th to Central Park(59th) was closed to traffic. There were fake purses, sunglasses, bedsheets galore! Yes, 600 count sheets for $20. It wasn't exactly the Fremont Fair, but Erin found a cute purse for $23. :)

• H&M--- a trip to NYC isn't complete unless you go to this store. (at least if you are from Seattle, where we don't have an H & M yet).

• Dylan's Candy Bar---candy heaven, they have cupcakes too!

• Central Park
• St. Patricks Cathedral

• Brooklyn Bridge---we walked across, saw a couple get engaged, and saw a huge motorcade of Harley's and other motorcycles cross the bridge. All car traffic was stopped to let the 100+ bikes through, it was pretty cool to watch.

• Little Italy---another street festival going on, lots of food and carnival games. We ate pizza at Lombardis. We also found a young designers market which had lots of handmade crafts: jewelry, hats, clothes, purses. Erin found another nice purse here. :) I will definately be going back to get a necklace or winter hat.

• Broadway --- Erin bought tickets to 'Hairspray' and went to a Saturday matinee. It was very entertaining and Ethan even liked it. And he was the one who wouldn't go see the movie with me. :) Jerry Mathers (The Beav), Lance Bass (N Sync) and Ashley Parker Angel (O-Town: Making the Band), Tevin Campbell (90's r&b singer, Round and Round was his big hit) were all in the show.

• Union Square--- We had some good Mexican food and margaritas at Los Dos Molinos. We went to the Olives bar at the W Hotel down the street and for a second felt rich. :)

• Grand Central Station

As you can see, we had a full weekend but we had a great time and got a lot of exercise! :) Thanks to Erin for making the trek down to see us!

Farm Aid

Maybe I'm just getting old.... but this was the worst concert experience ever. I apologize for ranting about NYC too much on this blog, but honestly, this event was terrible. The music itself was great (Matisyahu, the Hasidic beatboxer/rapper was the highlight), no complaints in that area. The venue however, was a big problem. Imagine going to a concert in a big grass field, sharing the space on an 85 degree day with 20,000 people (90% of whom are high or sloppy drunk), approx 50 port a pottys, no toilet paper, 25 food stands, and one ATM. Sound like fun?


Farm Aid is a great fundraiser, supporting an important cause to save America's family farms. All of the bands perform without getting a paycheck. However, when I pay $60 per ticket, I expect to have access to basic needs without waiting in line the entire day. The food sold, all organic or locally grown, was good but expensive. After lunch, Ethan and I realized we were running low on cash and we may not have enough for dinner and drinks. Ethan went to the ATM, only to find a huge line, 3 hours long to be exact. Needless to say, when he came back to our spot, he was in no mood to have fun. And I wasn't about to wait in line for an hour to use a port a potty. We were fed up and left early. We didn't feel like we missed out on much since we had seen the Seattle Farm Aid show a few years back. (which was awesome, at the White River Ampitheater, a much nicer place with real restrooms and multiple ATM's).




All smiles, before the day took a turn for the worse...

See the guy in the black hat? He was in a trance, dancing with a fly swatter. Note: I didn't see any bugs that day. He was one of the many interesting folks at the show.

A Matisyahu tidbit.

The Vintage A Train

The 75th Anniversary of the A Train was celebrated yesterday with a roundtrip run from 207th St in Harlem to Chambers Street using pre-WWII subway cars. (I wasn't there for the historic run, but found these pics online). These are the cars that my parents and I saw at the NYC Transit Museum. Pretty cool that they still actually work!

A day of exploring....

Ethan and I had a busy day on Saturday. We went to 3 different neighborhoods (one in Brooklyn and 2 in Manhattan). The weather was perfect--not too hot or humid.

Our first stop of the day was in Brooklyn Heights. We got some lunch at Ethan's fave, Chipotle, and then headed down to the waterfront. The Floating Pool Lady is a swimming pool on a barge docked at the Brooklyn waterfront. We went to check it out but since we had other places to stop during the day, we didn't go swimming.

The Parks Dept also turned an old parking lot into a man-made beach. It seemed a little weird, with the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) in the background and truckloads of sand covering asphalt. I'd rather go to the real beach.

On our way to the Chelsea Piers, we saw this building. I was curious and Googled it when we got home. It's occupied by some sort of computer company and was just completed this year. It's designed by Frank Gehry but isn't quite as psychedelic as EMP.

The Chelsea Piers are located on the West Side of Manhattan. It's a huge sports complex built on 3 piers along the Hudson River. You can ice skate, golf, bowl, rock climb, and hit some baseballs all in one location. We decided to try the driving range at the Golf Club. I thought the Inter Bay range in Seattle was fancy but it's nothing compared to this place. We were on the 3rd level, hitting balls out towards the river. There are no buckets of balls used here---the tee operates on an automated, underground system. After each swing, the tee sinks down into the "grass" and like magic, it pops up again with a ball on top. It was pretty cool. Dad, next time you are in town, we'll take you here.

Steve Forbes yacht, "The Highlander" is moored at the piers. It's ridiculously huge.

Next on our agenda was Dylan's Candy Bar, a 2-floor candy shop on the Upper East Side. But along the way, we found the Mac store and had to take a look. This glass cube is the entrance, you walk down a glass spiral staircase or take the glass elevator to get to the store. Lots of glass in this place. The store itself seemed like all the other Mac store we've been to, just a little bigger and more crowded. Once we had our Mac fix, we continued on our way to Dylan's.

This candy store has everything---a soda fountain, gourmet chocolates, and any kind of candy you would ever want. We didn't go too crazy, but did leave with a few treats. Definitely worth another visit.

We had a full and fun day of exploring and I'm sure we'll do it again soon. This weekend we head out to Randall's Island for the Farm Aid concert. (Unfortunately for Ethan, it's at the same time as the Bears game).

Have a good weekend everyone! We miss you all!

Go Huskies!

It's a rare treat when we can watch Seattle teams on TV. Last night, ESPN showed the UW vs Syracuse game in the 8pm slot and we were able to watch the Huskies clobber the Orangemen 42-12. The QB, Locker, was awesome! Good thing he signed with UW and not USC.

We also get to watch the Mariners on TV this week. Maybe they can snap the terrible losing streak and beat the Yankees.

What if your commute looked like this?

glumbert.com - Commuting in Mumbai

Can you imagine? The doors don't even close! I think I'd rather walk...

Squirrels

Yesterday had a squirrel theme......there's a squirrel's nest on a window ledge in my building at Columbia and a squirrel was stuck on the top of a foul pole at the Yankees game.

Big Apple BearHawks

This is our team name for our fantasy football team. We joined Matt's league and had the draft yesterday. It was in Richmond, so we made our picks over the phone. Ethan and I are new to this fantasy league stuff, but we managed to pick a pretty good team. We drew the #1 draft pick and choose LT. Must be beginner's luck! We also have Tom Brady (with Matt Hasselbeck as backup), I managed to sneak in two Seahawk players onto our team (we also got Deion Branch). We are excited to start the season in 2 weeks! This will be a good way for me to learn more about football.

Hot and Sticky in the City

Ethan's college friend Ben and his girlfriend Kelsey came to visit over the weekend. They took the bus up from DC, about a 4 or 5 hour trip, depending on traffic. Their first night sleeping on the air mattress was quite eventful. Luna decided to play on the mattress and I came into the living room to find her pouncing on the sheets. After waking up in the middle of the night on a deflated bed, Ben and Kelsey found a few tiny holes that matched Luna's claws. Ethan got out his trusty bike tire repair kit and patched the holes right up. Luna is now banned from the air mattress.

Saturday morning we headed out to the LES (Lower East Side) to a really good brunch spot. The Clinton Street Baking Co. is always packed on the weekend and we waited about an hour and half. Vivek, another college friend, and his wife, Stuti, met up with us. They live in downtown Manhattan. That's all of us in the photo, waiting for our table. Saturday was miserably humid -the temperature got up to 87, but with the humidity factored in, it felt like it was 100. After a great breakfast of blueberry pancakes and fruit salad, we hit the streets, and met up with Ben's friend Tim, who took the train down from Massachusetts. We walked up to Union Square, stopping along the way to get a Mister Softee. In West Coast terms, this means an ice cream cone from the ice cream man. I ate the cone in record time, so it didn't melt all over my hands and shirt. By the time we got to Union Square, we were all very hot, sweaty and ready to go back to Brooklyn. I think it was the hottest day of the summer.


That night, Ben, Kelsey, Tim, Ethan and I went to an Upright Citizen's Brigade show. It's an improv theater troup, where many Saturday Night Live actors got their start in comedy. It's amazing how fast they can think on their feet and come up with clever stories in front of 150 people. Most of the skits were funny, especially one about a guy who has a blog that no one ever leaves comments on. Not that I'm hinting at anything. :)

The theater is in Chelsea and after the show, we went in search of some dessert. We walked by a HUGE gathering of NYPD cops, cars, and vans. There were black uniforms everywhere! It didn't seem like they were worried about anything, they were just standing around, taking up the whole sidewalk and creating a traffic jam on 8th Ave. Our theory was that a training of some kind was going on, maybe emergency response? I tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out very clear.

We had a fun weekend and saw many new areas of town. We expect to explore some more in September with more visitors. Ethan's sister, Erin, is coming into town with a friend, and Ethan's parents come the next weekend. It should be a beautiful time to see the city, cooler temps and leaves changing color.

Lombardi's and pinkberry

My friend Danica was in town this week for work. I took Friday off so we could hang out in Manhattan and do a little shopping. We headed down to SoHo in the morning and then went to Little Italy for lunch. I took her to Lombardi's, which according to the plaque near the front door, is America's first pizzeria.

It's the traditional NY coal oven pizza and so yummy. We had the white pie, my favorite. After lunch, we headed across the street for dessert. Remember a few months back I told you about the rice pudding place, Rice to Riches? Well, the popular California chain called pinkberry just opened up next door. People in CA rave about this frozen yogurt, which comes in 2 flavors---original and green tea.

There are lots of toppings to choose from (fresh fruit to Cocoa Pebbles). I went with the original flavor with strawberries and raspberries. It tasted like plain yogurt, a little sour, but the fruit helped by adding some sweetness. Apparently it only has 25 calories in a 5 oz dish, so I guess that's why Hollywood folks love it so much. Danica and I were happy to try it out but I think I'll stick with Ben & Jerry's.

Weekend in Richmond

Ethan and I headed to Richmond, VA last Friday to visit his brother and family. Matt and Courtney had a baby girl (Alison) seven weeks ago. It was great to spend time with them and play with the kids.

Peyton is almost 3 and has so much energy. He loves trains and sports --- throughout the weekend he showed us how he can hit a golf ball, bump a volleyball, play baseball, catch and throw a football, make a layup, use a badminton racket and run faster than Ethan. He is such a fun kid!

Alison is precious and so adorable... and thought Ethan was pretty funny. She loves her Uncle Ethan!

We went to the botanic gardens in Richmond. It was beautiful and the perfect place to go on a hot day. The children's garden has a water park with fountains and spraying nozzles. Peyton had a blast.

On Sunday we went to a Richmond Braves game, Atlanta's AAA team. It was a hot afternoon and luckily our seats were in the shade most of the time. It was fun and reminded us of being at an Aquasox game.

Nice hat, Peyton!

The stadium served helmet cups of ice cream and Ethan saw they had 4 teams to choose from---the Angels, Reds, Braves and Mariners! He went to get some ice cream and they were sold out of the M's cups. I think that's a good sign there really are some M's fans on the East Coast.

And in honor of the NFL preseason and fantasy football, we leave you with a message from Peyton (and Ethan).

A Tornado in Brooklyn

The Northeast had some crazy weather this morning. We woke up to a thunderstorm around 5:00 a.m. --the lightning lit up our room and the thunder seemed to be right above our apt. It seemed like your typical East Coast thunderstorm, until the morning commute started.

It took me 3 1/2 hours to get to Columbia....an hour wait to push my way onto a packed F train, another hour to get into Manhattan and then I find out the next train I need to catch is not running. Commuters poured out onto the streets and either walked the rest of the way or figured out what bus to take. I have never caught the bus in Manhattan, so I called one of my coworkers for help. She told me where to go and which bus to catch. I walked into the office at 11:30. Normally, commuting by subway is great, I have no complaints. However, on a day like today, I wish I worked closer to home...

I found out tonight that reports of a tornado in SW Brooklyn have been confirmed by scientists. A tornado in Brooklyn!?! Ethan and I are closer to the NW part of the borough so our neighborhood was spared (and luckily our ceiling didn't leak).

NJ and Long Island

Last weekend, Ethan and I went to New Jersey and Long Island. Ethan's supervisor had the annual squad picnic at his house in Westfield, NJ. We bummed a ride from Ethan's coworker Seamus and his wife, otherwise we would have taken the train and had someone pick us up at the train station. Times like that it would be nice to have a car here, but usually we get around pretty well without. I got to meet some of Ethan's squadmates and their families. Definately not the same comeraderie as the Seattle squad, but they were nice (except for the guy who bugged me about hating the Yankees). :) The war is on between the Mariners and the Yankees trying to win the Wild Card....

On Sunday, we headed out to Jones Beach State Park. It was a bit of a trek. We walked 3/4 of a mile to the 1 train, went 2 stops to the Long Island Railroad (LIRR), got on the train, went 3 stops to the Jamiaca Station, transferred to the train to Freeport, got on a bus in Freeport that took us to Jones Beach. It took about an hour and a half to get there, but it was worth it.

Jones Beach was packed --- I had never seen so many people swimming in the water. We rented a beach umbrella and trekked down the beach to find a not too crowded spot. The photo below is what Jones Beach would look like on a "slow" day. We were there on a very busy day, apparently, the parking lots can hold up to 23,500 cars!

I didn't bring my camera because sand, a camera and leaving it unattended aren't a good combination. So I got this photo from the Internet. We spent the day reading and cooling off in the water. The Atlantic Ocean was a little chilly but not too bad once you get hot enough on the sand. We survived our first trip to a NY beach without a sunburn.

This week, Danica arrives for another NYC gift show. She'll be in town for a week. Looking forward to hanging out with her.

This weekend we head to Richmond to visit Matt, Courtney, Peyton and our new niece, Alison.

Coney Island

For the first time since we moved here, we took the F train south to the end of the line at Coney Island. We thought we should see Coney Island at least once while we are living in Brooklyn. I read about a sandcastle contest going on this weekend so we went to check it out. It was a very hot, humid day yesterday and with virtually no shade on the boardwalk, we got quite sticky and gross. We headed to the water to find a nice breeze. It was my first time walking on a true East Coast beach, complete with lifeguard chairs, long piers and sprawling sand.


We saw another piece of New York history, the famous Cyclone roller coaster. You can see it here behind Ethan. Unfortunately, the 80-year-old wooden coaster was closed. Maybe next time...

What's a visit to Coney Island without a world famous Nathan's hot dog and some lemonade?

Sometime in August we plan on seeing a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game. They are the Mets Single A team and they play at Keyspan Park, which is on Coney Island. And maybe we'll go out to see the Staten Island Yankees play too.