Ouch

The security line at la guardia, 4:40am.

Friday Lunch Break

I decided to go to Top of the Rock during my lunch break on Friday
with some co-workers and it was fantastic! Better than the Empire
State Building, even. Here are a few of the photos I snapped from the
top.

Georgia O'Keefe Exhibit @ Whitney Museum

Going to check out the Georgia O'Keefe exhibit at the Whitney Museum tonight since Fridays 6-9pm are "pay what you wish." Photography is not allowed in the exhibit so here is a preview:

Nerd Alert!

Happy belated Halloween! The good ole Empire State Building was lit up creepy orange on Saturday night.

Conor and I geeked it up - a great costume because we got to act like ourselves.

Foggy Metlife and Grand Central

Snapped this shot on my way to volleyball last night. Grand Central at
night is so breathtakingly beautiful.

Sigh. Sometimes I cannot believe I live here.

I Heart New York

Maybe it's the fall, the brisk air, the darker evenings, the changing of the seasons...I feel as though my love for the city is renewed and as strong as ever. There is just so much energy - always something to see, somewhere to go, someone to meet, it would be impossible to get bored with this town.

Sometimes it's difficult to keep up with the fast-paced buzz of the city, but I try to stop, take a deep breath, appreciate the moment, and give thanks that I am here.

It is the little things that make me happiest. Like seeing a couple in love in Bryant Park...

Or walking outside to find a glowing, lavender sky outlining the always-inspiring Empire State Building. Every time it peeks into my view, my heart gets a little jolt.

Sigh... I feel like I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

Vineyard Hopping on Long Island

This should make you smile

SAturday Night

Channeling the hipster look w/ Jim Morrison tee. Thx Dad!

Lord + Taylor Fall Windows

I'll take one of each, please.

Have Fun! Be Nice! Work Hard!

If you have 10 minutes in your day, this video is definitely worth watching. It really puts everything in perspective, and we all sometimes need to be reminded of this!

Yes! Feeling Much Better Today!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I am irritated. Here's why:

A lot of garbage has been thrown around in the media spreading egregious falsehoods about the implications of health care reform. Watching this stuff is infuriating because many people are not educated on the basic facts of the topic.

FREE MARKET:

Critics shout that we should leave it to the free market. Guess what? Health insurance as it stands does not follow the free market system. You cannot choose between health insurers when you get a job; you are forced to go with the option your employer selects. As an individual, you can apply for health insurance on your own, but it is very difficult to obtain, much less for a decent cost. As a senior citizen you most likely have Medicare, a government run program (Surprise! We ALREADY have government run healthcare!).

PURCHASING INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE:

(As an aside: I purchased individual insurance for time between jobs and a) I only had carriers in state to choose from and b) the application and validation process was insanely overwhelming. I had insurance reps grilling me on every instance I had seen a doctor for over 3 hours. They made me feel terrified I would be rejected because I had a simple UTI. And, I'm in great health... I can't imagine what it would be like if you had a history of illness, cancer, crohn's, high blood pressure, etc... you name it. )

ALTERNATIVES:

What if insurance wasn't tied to employers and individuals could "shop" for plans? Perhaps free market mechanics would force insurers to compete, reduce costs, and provide improved services.

Why not have a government or non-profit plan option open to all individuals for purchase? Why not provide access to folks who are uninsured and cannot purchase individual insurance and later cost the entire system $$ when they go to the ER? What would be so bad about private insurers having to compete with the government? (these firms certainly aren't competing NOW for all of the uninsured people with pre-existing conditions)

Why don't we stop trashing the health care systems abroad (e.g. UK), and focus on learning from their experiences? Many European countries have innovate mechanisms for delivering quality care and manage to cover EVERYONE.

SCARE TACTICS:

These ideas/discussions are not being shown in the media. Instead, opponents are using scare tactics: promoting the ideas of "death panels" (completely false), saying that a government program will lead to socialism/communism (ahem, Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran's Health System??), and saying that people will not be able to choose their doctors (have you noticed your health insurer actually has IN-NETWORK/OUT of NETWORK controls to help you "choose" your physician?).

FRUSTRATION STATION:

I'm sick and tired of hearing all of these falsehoods. Not only is It MORALLY right to ensure everyone has access to quality healthcare, it it ridiculous to argue that our health care system as it stands is acceptable. Something must change.

So, I'm postinag this, talking to friends and family, sending messages to my senator, and I've donated some money to support ads for health reform. I encourage you to do the same, or at least GET INFORMED... which leads to my next topic.

LEARN MORE

Whether you agree or disagree, please get educated on the facts. You can learn more online at the following sites.

Factcheck.org (Non-profit/non-partisan factchecking site)

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (non-profit with the mission of improving healthcare for all Americans)

Obama's official healthcare reform site

So this is where it all happens...

The National Mall

I love DC

Natalie welcomes me to dc with a delicious cappucino!

Lunch in Bryant Park

I just love the huge flower planters in Bryant Park. The park staff
does a fantastic job maintaining and landscaping the park. Here are a
few photos. Enjoy!

Veggie Stirfry

Tonight I sauteed some fresh bell pepper, squash, and cherry tomatoes
I purchased for $5 at the Tompkins Square Park farmers market on
Sunday. The veggies went well with brown rice and I have enough for 2
meals! Rad.

Visit to Giverny

When I visited Paris, I took a day trip to Giverny to visit the home and garden of Claude Monet. The experience was absolutely unforgettable, and I could honestly talk for days about how beautiful it was. Since I'm not much of a writer, I'll let the photos speak for themselves, and provide explanatory captions along the way.

First, I rode the train from Paris to Vernon

Next, I stopped at a cafe near the train station to rent a bike. I also ordered an espresso and a jambon (ham) & fromage (cheese) baguette to eat later in the day. To rent the bike, I had to leave behind my driver's license. As soon as the monsieur saw "Texas", he turned around and shouted "Texas! John Wayne! Cowboys!" and shot at me with finger guns. That really made his day, let me tell you. Map and baguette in hand, I began peddling ~5km to Giverny.

Proof I was there: me on a bike about the cross the river Seine (the same one that runs through Paris). It zigzags across France sort of like the Guadalupe in Texas.

When I saw this sign, I thought it meant: Put your cows on a leash! On second thought, I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be a dog.

Giverny looks like a scene out of a movie, with narrow winding roads lined with ivy covered homes.

I made it!

This is the house where Claude Monet and his family lived. The interior has been maintained as is, and still contains original decorations, furniture, and Monet's Asian art collection.

Behind the home is the famous water lily pond. Even filled with tourists, it was incredible serene and calming.

Look! I'm in an impressionist painting!

I could stare at these majestic willow trees for years.

I tried to capture as many flower photos as possible... Hope you enjoy!

Childrens' Garden Part 2

The garden is full of sculptures created by kids aged 5-18. Here is a
sculpture dedicated to Mark Twain.

Mark Twain

"Mark Twain was a man who satirized 19th century society. He wrote of
subjects that he felt were wrong in society, such as the problems of
equality between blacks and whites. Mark Twain proved to have been a
writer who believed in a free society for all."

Childrens' Garden

At 111th and Amsterdam

Eating Vegetables!

Can you believe all those veggies in my stirfry dish? This is my new
favorite lunch. It costs $8 but lasts 2 days!

Scaling the Eiffel Tower

One of the touristy things I did on my recent, brief trip to Paris was visit the Eiffel Tower. The first time I visited Paris, I spent most of my trip visiting museums and skipped the climbing of the tower. This time, I decided it was a must-see, a mandatory requirement, a cannot-miss sight, so I mentally prepared myself for a long line, lots of tourists, and a serious hike up hundreds of steps so that I could say, I CLIMBED THE EIFFEL TOWER!

To prepare, I began with a picnic on the Champs du Mars (the huge lawn south of the Eiffel Tower), sitting in the grass with my baguette, cheese, cherries, and lemon tart.

I needed some carbs to give me energy from the climb! Mmmm baguettes!

Nom, nom, nom...

Before the climb, I put my "game-face" on. LET'S DO THIS!

Next, I walked up a lot of stairs. Gustave Eiffel's face was all over the place.

Here is one of the first photos I took on my way up. (Stopping to snap pictures helped me catch my breath). This photo is facing the Champs du Mars, where I had my pre-climb power meal.

And here are the people down below still standing in line. I probably waited for 30 minutes, but I was reading Journey to the Center of the Earth, so it went by really quickly.

Still going up.... things are looking smaller.

Here is the Champs du Mars again. I was a little scared at this point, being so high up and only protected from falling off the tower by some wire netting. It was also incredibly windy. My knuckles were white clinging to the inside railing on the stairway.

Ah! I made it to the first, and then the second main level via stairs...

...and was greeted by a funny poster of Gustave Eiffel and his tower. He reminds me of Alec Baldwin with a beard.

I love this photo from the first level, where you can clearly see the shadow of the tower over the Champs du Mars.

The actual structure is unbelievably beautiful, even though it's basically just a giant erector set. Originally, it was supposed to be taken down after the world fair, but people liked it so much that it stayed permanently and ultimately became the global symbol of Paris.

Success! I paused and took this photo as soon as I walked out of the south tower (Pilier Sud). Made it back to Earth ALIVE!

I couldn't resist capturing a sunset photo from the ground.

Northwest of the Eiffel Tower is the Trocedero, which is an enormous plaza with fountains that happens to be a great place to enjoy the view of the tower at night. I saved my lemon tart (Tarte Citron) for the lighting of the tower. It was probably the best lemon tart of my life. Could have had something to do with the view... :-)

Finally, the evening ends with a bang! The entire tower lights sparkles for 5 minutes at the top of every hour starting at 11pm (sunset isn't until 10pm). It was breathtaking! Tre magnifique!

Rooftop of Met - Round 2

No one realized we were modeling for an undercover Vogue cover photography session. Just wait until next month's issue...

Rooftop of the Met

On the rooftop of the Met, surrounded by a fantastic metal sculpture, martini in hand, on an amazing day, in the middle of Central Park, on the tiny island of Manhattan. Sometimes I can't believe I live here!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Back in the City

The skyscrapers welcome me home after a long car-plane-train trip.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Whataburger!!!

I ordered old school style: justaburger with mustard only, small fries, and fancy ketchup.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

New shoes!

Coffee in Bryant park with my new shoes! Tres chic! Tres Target!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Breaking News: City Girls go to Target

It's funny when a trip to Target gets you super excited, but when you're living in the big city there just aren't many places you can buy shoes for $20 and a tin of coffee for $2 AND a 64-pack of tampons for $8.

Kate and Amanda rented a car for the weekend so on Sunday we went through the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey, drove through Hoboken (its lame, if you were wondering), and ended up in New Bergen, NJ where the Super Target was open on Sunday. We stopped in Weehawken, NJ to take this road-trip photo. The ESB on the right is at 34th street, so we are probably across the Hudson from the low 50's.

Amanda and her stylish Kia rental.

After 2 hours (traffic was bad), and a stop at Panera, an obvious choice since we were in suburbia, we made it to TARGET.

YEAH!

After a few hours of shopping, we each left with lots of TARGET goodies and Icees. I got the Pepsi and cherry mix Icee. Yum. We really enjoyed Target, but we were more than ready to get OUT of dirty Jersey. We were pumped to get back to Manhattan. Over the George Washington Bridge & $8 in tolls later we were home. Home sweet home. :-)

Brunch at Bistrouge

Last weekend, I finally had brunch at Bistrouge after my roommate recommended it. It's an adorable, new cafe right on my block (literally a few steps away from my door), and it's owned by a husband and wife team who both cook and serve food.

For brunch I had two boiled eggs with cucumber mousse and homemade vodka cured wild salmon and toast. Conor had a goat cheese omelet topped with sauteed bell peppers. Both were amazing! Plus, they were both so affordable ($8 each) that we each splurged for a Kirs ($6), which is a champagne drink with creme de cassis.

Here are the photos...

The Tickets are Pink!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Le Tourbillon de la Vie

Jules et Jim was on the IFC channel today and I loved this song (and the movie). I had never heard of the film, but apparently it's a classic and is often referenced in pop culture. Luckily I was able to find a clip on youtube to post for the blog.

The movie was filmed in 1962 and is in French with English subtitles. It caught my attention because the main character, Catherine, has her choice between two men. They both love her and accept that she loves them both. Further, they allow her to maintain a relationship with both of them, with the three of them even sharing a home at one point. In the story she is married to each of them at some point, and goes back and forth into serious relationships between the two men for the entire film.

I won't give away the ending, but I will hint that it's referenced in Vanilla Sky. It's definitely the most entertaining subtitled film I have seen in a long time. I recommend it with a bottle of French red wine!

More Tulips!

The pink and red tulips are finally out of the ground at TSP! So pretty.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Tulips!

Thank you darling!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Flowers in the Park

Today was the first day I went outside and did not need a jacket. Finally, the weather is coming around to warm spring time. I was starting to get a little irritated with the freezing cold rain... it snowed 8 inches in March. Seriously? Seriously. Let's hope this nice weather stays for more than one day.

Here are some shots I took while running my errands today. The daffodils and tulips are blooming all around Tompkins Square Park and look absolutely amazing. I almost stole these red tulips.

Guggenheim...booooooo

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I updated the blog with a proper post, so I'm trying to get back on track today. NYC is still freezing cold so I've been limiting most of my activities to indoor options. Last Friday I visited the Guggenheim Museum for the first time and it was an...interesting experience.

Right now the Guggenheim has an exhibit called the Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia. Apparently, admission is free for the next few weeks to this exhibit (it was free when I went), which seems like a great deal, but everything was super lame.

The building itself was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is absolutely amazing and worth a visit if only to see that. The art inside stunk. I think I could probably go on a 10 minute nonstop rant about it, but most of it sucked. I'm talking about a completely black square canvas. One of the exhibits was a long piece of paper, folded like an accordian with a crayon stripe down the middle of it. This is stuff that a little kid could make.

What really irritates me is how unimaginative, super abstract, plain stuff is described in the title plaque. (Each piece of art needed some explanation because otherwise you wouldn't have any idea what the point is). Sadly enough, even the descriptions didn't really make sense. I'm a fairly intelligent person and I had to reread sentences that just did not make any sense at all.

The only upside was a room of "real art" (Picasso, Gaugain, Cezanne, Degas, Kandinsky) - pieces that were technically difficult and represented a feeling or a situation without needing a supporting paragraph of explanation.

I'm glad I didn't pay. I may have even asked for a refund.

The best part was a contraption that carried a little plane down from the top of the atrium to the bottom along the spiral railing. Every ten minutes or so, the plane would start at the top and swirl around and around until it got to the bottom where it hit this other machine that held scraps of paper. The scraps would then drop onto a pile of bigger scraps. Yeah, sounds weird, huh? An older gentleman next to me watching said under his breath, "This is the only damn thing worth looking at in the whole place." You said it, mister.

Final verdict: go to the Guggenheim now while it's free. Admire the design of the building, breeze past the art (or have several martinis before to make it more enjoyable).

PS. they wouldn't let me take any pictures. Probably because they don't want everyone to know how much it sucked.

Is it spring yet?

It is finally April and there are a few blooms and buds in Tompkins Square Park.

The bad news: 44 degrees!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

It's so shiny!

I can see my reflection!!!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

It's here!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Yoga on a rock!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Central Park Reservoir

It's finally spring! The snow has melted. YAY!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T