Sean and I are headed to the great state of Michigan this evening for a marathon of family visits and eating lots of food. We are so excited to finally meet our nephew Hudson who is already (tear) three months old. And on top of that we also get to meet Miriam and Aaron's puppy who I have been facetiming with for weeks (I know, facetiming with a dog...but don't knock it 'til you've tried it!). Before we go, here is the requisite what I am thankful for post.
The big things:
Our wonderful supportive family
Our dear friends, including the new ones we have made in New York and all the old ones scattered around the country and world
Sean and the fact that he still makes the coffee every single morning
Reliable full time jobs that are of course still work, but interesting!
Our tiny little apartment on the Upper West Side that is just perfect for us
The opportunity to travel and explore new places
The little things:
Warm socks
A sturdy umbrella
Central Park in all seasons
Levain cookies
Kale (that's right, I love it)
Coffee and Wine (the nectars of life)
Netflix streaming and how it makes life without TV doable
Whole wheat everything bagels
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Hosting Guests in a Tiny Apartment
Well I have clearly been slacking on my blog duties and a lot of this has to do with busy weekends filled with guests. First Michael came to visit before a job interview (happy to report he got the job and is moving to New York soon!) and then Jocelyn and Cory came to spend the weekend with us. We love when friends and family come visit, but it is admittedly a challenge to host overnight guests in our very small apartment. Hotels in New York are expensive and most of our friends in the city get asked fairly often to host friends, family, friends of friends who are passing through, etc. Of course it's never possible to say yes to every request but here are some things I have found helpful when you're hosting overnight guests.
1. Clean your apartment! I am always grateful for the excuse to do a deep cleaning but this can also just be shoving clutter into the back of the closet/behind the couch/under the bed/wherever guests won't see it. It is easy to feel apologetic and make excuses for your little apartment, but when it is clean and organized, I always feel better about the first impression it is giving.
2. Major points if you manage to clear a space for your guest's suitcase (this is an ongoing challenge for us).
3. Buy fresh flowers and light a candle or two. I always do this when we have friends over for dinner but it does the trick for overnight guests too. It takes the first impression from "wow this place is small" to "wow it's so nice and cozy."
4. It's ok to ask people to bring their own sheets. When Jocelyn offered to bring towels, I thought that was pretty silly, we are well stocked, but bringing sheets was so helpful. It saved us from having to dig in the upper reaches of the closet for a fresh set and drag them to the laundromat afterwards.
5. But if you do ask guests to bring their own sheets or towels, maybe make them a nice breakfast? We like to bake some scones in advance or hello, Trader Joe's pumpkin pancake mix is delicious.
6. Make dinner reservations. I love using guests as an excuse to try a new restaurant. Also, after a long day wandering around New York it's nice to know where you are going for dinner. It eliminates the lengthy "what should we eat" conversation and you don't have to wait an hour for a table to open up when you are starving.
7. Having guests is also a great excuse to do things around the city as a tourist. Visit museums, see a show, or just go for a walk in a new neighborhood. When your apartment feels crowded with three people in it, it's important to get outside, for everyone's sanity.
8. Be honest about your routine. We try to avoid it but we occasionally have guests during the work week. I have found it is much easier to be up front about my morning schedule. "I wake up at X time and I need to make coffee/blow dry my hair/do other loud activities." There's honestly no such thing as tip-toeing around in an under 400 square feet space, so manage expectations for sleeping in right away.
9. Goes along with number 8. We do our best to run errands and take care of chores before we have guests but it is not always possible. Sometimes you have to pick up your dry cleaning and buy another bag of coffee beans. I used to feel guilty about this, then I realized our good friends and family absolutely do not care, and don't mind stopping for an errand with me.
10. But do not take your friends to Trader Joe's in Manhattan. This is reserved for family, aka people you can yell at who will forgive you. Just trust me on this one.
There you have it, my best advice for hosting guests in tiny New York apartments. And now a photo of Jocelyn, Cory, and Sean in our kitchen.
1. Clean your apartment! I am always grateful for the excuse to do a deep cleaning but this can also just be shoving clutter into the back of the closet/behind the couch/under the bed/wherever guests won't see it. It is easy to feel apologetic and make excuses for your little apartment, but when it is clean and organized, I always feel better about the first impression it is giving.
2. Major points if you manage to clear a space for your guest's suitcase (this is an ongoing challenge for us).
3. Buy fresh flowers and light a candle or two. I always do this when we have friends over for dinner but it does the trick for overnight guests too. It takes the first impression from "wow this place is small" to "wow it's so nice and cozy."
4. It's ok to ask people to bring their own sheets. When Jocelyn offered to bring towels, I thought that was pretty silly, we are well stocked, but bringing sheets was so helpful. It saved us from having to dig in the upper reaches of the closet for a fresh set and drag them to the laundromat afterwards.
5. But if you do ask guests to bring their own sheets or towels, maybe make them a nice breakfast? We like to bake some scones in advance or hello, Trader Joe's pumpkin pancake mix is delicious.
6. Make dinner reservations. I love using guests as an excuse to try a new restaurant. Also, after a long day wandering around New York it's nice to know where you are going for dinner. It eliminates the lengthy "what should we eat" conversation and you don't have to wait an hour for a table to open up when you are starving.
7. Having guests is also a great excuse to do things around the city as a tourist. Visit museums, see a show, or just go for a walk in a new neighborhood. When your apartment feels crowded with three people in it, it's important to get outside, for everyone's sanity.
8. Be honest about your routine. We try to avoid it but we occasionally have guests during the work week. I have found it is much easier to be up front about my morning schedule. "I wake up at X time and I need to make coffee/blow dry my hair/do other loud activities." There's honestly no such thing as tip-toeing around in an under 400 square feet space, so manage expectations for sleeping in right away.
9. Goes along with number 8. We do our best to run errands and take care of chores before we have guests but it is not always possible. Sometimes you have to pick up your dry cleaning and buy another bag of coffee beans. I used to feel guilty about this, then I realized our good friends and family absolutely do not care, and don't mind stopping for an errand with me.
10. But do not take your friends to Trader Joe's in Manhattan. This is reserved for family, aka people you can yell at who will forgive you. Just trust me on this one.
There you have it, my best advice for hosting guests in tiny New York apartments. And now a photo of Jocelyn, Cory, and Sean in our kitchen.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
All the Fall Foods
Hello! It has been a while and this mainly because I haven't had anything of much interest to report on. After the long, busy work/school weeks, we have been enjoying quiet weekends without much on the agenda beyond soaking up the nice weather, cooking, and my favorite activity of eating outside in various New York City parks. Saturday morning bagels and coffee in Riverside Park, Magnolia banana pudding in the Sheep's Meadow of Central Park, and salads from Sweet Green while we watch people feed squirrels in Madison Square Park. Side note, why would you want to feed a squirrel? I really don't understand.
This weekend I am aspiring to find a good cider doughnut, roast a pumpkin, and drink some warm apple cider. Despite being a little annoyed by all the pumpkin-everything that crops up this time of year, I still find myself wanting to eat ALL the fall foods. While waiting in line at Starbucks, I even tried to convince myself I liked pumpkin spiced lattes (spoiler: I do not). I was just warming up for my yearly testing of the pumpkin pie theory. I enjoy almost all things pumpkin. Pumpkin soups, cookies, breads, cupcakes (I dream about pumpkin cupcakes from Sprinkles), pancakes, etc. But I hate pumpkin pie and every year I smell it baking and wow it smells so good and I think this year I will enjoy that pumpkin pie. Then I take a bite and hate it. This is similar to my peanut butter cookie problem. When two of your favorite foods are peanut butter and cookies, you would think that you might love a peanut butter cookie, but you would be wrong.
Other things of note, we bought a mum plant last week to keep in our apartment but it has quickly died. We plan to try again, but what gives mum plant? Are mums really that hard to keep alive?
And lastly, if you're looking for a good pumpkin recipe, here's what I'm considering doing with that sugar pie pumpkin sitting on our table begging to be roasted:
Spiced pumpkin soup
http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2010/01/spiced-pumpkin-soup.html
Or maybe pumpkin garlic knots
http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2010/04/pumpkin-garlic-knots.html
This weekend I am aspiring to find a good cider doughnut, roast a pumpkin, and drink some warm apple cider. Despite being a little annoyed by all the pumpkin-everything that crops up this time of year, I still find myself wanting to eat ALL the fall foods. While waiting in line at Starbucks, I even tried to convince myself I liked pumpkin spiced lattes (spoiler: I do not). I was just warming up for my yearly testing of the pumpkin pie theory. I enjoy almost all things pumpkin. Pumpkin soups, cookies, breads, cupcakes (I dream about pumpkin cupcakes from Sprinkles), pancakes, etc. But I hate pumpkin pie and every year I smell it baking and wow it smells so good and I think this year I will enjoy that pumpkin pie. Then I take a bite and hate it. This is similar to my peanut butter cookie problem. When two of your favorite foods are peanut butter and cookies, you would think that you might love a peanut butter cookie, but you would be wrong.
Other things of note, we bought a mum plant last week to keep in our apartment but it has quickly died. We plan to try again, but what gives mum plant? Are mums really that hard to keep alive?
And lastly, if you're looking for a good pumpkin recipe, here's what I'm considering doing with that sugar pie pumpkin sitting on our table begging to be roasted:
Spiced pumpkin soup
http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2010/01/spiced-pumpkin-soup.html
Or maybe pumpkin garlic knots
http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2010/04/pumpkin-garlic-knots.html
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Three Years
This month Sean and I celebrated our three year wedding anniversary. I love anniversaries because they are our own personal holiday. And they give us an excuse to do fun things that we might not have done otherwise (like spend a weekend in Union Square, or go to Hawaii). This year was not terribly exciting. We are saving our pennies for exorbitant holiday flights and Sean has started class again. As usual I spent our anniversary lamenting over the fact that we still haven't put together a wedding album and wishing we had hired a wedding videographer. These are always productive hours. And then I think we watched the Office on Netflix.
We did use our anniversary as an excuse to go out for a nice dinner last weekend. We tried a new to us restaurant on the Upper West Side, Dovetail. It's hidden on 77th street just next to the Shake Shack and we had never noticed it before. I agree with a lot of the reviews which said this is such an underrated restaurant in New York. Walking in feels like entering someone's apartment building, but we were pleasantly surprised by the interior and the service was excellent. They have a vegetable tasting menu (which I appreciate, since being a vegetarian often limits my ability to order the chef's tasting menu) and it was delicious. I was stuffed by the end even though it was spread out over two hours. It was a very fun evening and I'm sure we will be back for special occasions in the future.
This past week we went to the opening night of the New York City Ballet's Swan Lake at Lincoln Center. We billed this as an anniversary present to ourselves because we have both wanted to see Swan Lake for a long time and it is always always sold out before we even think to buy tickets. We got the cheapest tickets possible. Really, there is such a thing as the nosebleed seats at ballets. I was still able to enjoy the ballet once I got over my fear of heights. This time Sean did not fall asleep (as he did when I took him to his first ballet) and we both loved the music and the final scenes which were in a word, epic. Also it was so nice to be able to walk down to Lincoln Center and quickly walk home afterwards. I really am loving the Upper West Side.
Here's an oldie but a goodie from our honeymoon, and cheers to many more happy years!
We did use our anniversary as an excuse to go out for a nice dinner last weekend. We tried a new to us restaurant on the Upper West Side, Dovetail. It's hidden on 77th street just next to the Shake Shack and we had never noticed it before. I agree with a lot of the reviews which said this is such an underrated restaurant in New York. Walking in feels like entering someone's apartment building, but we were pleasantly surprised by the interior and the service was excellent. They have a vegetable tasting menu (which I appreciate, since being a vegetarian often limits my ability to order the chef's tasting menu) and it was delicious. I was stuffed by the end even though it was spread out over two hours. It was a very fun evening and I'm sure we will be back for special occasions in the future.
This past week we went to the opening night of the New York City Ballet's Swan Lake at Lincoln Center. We billed this as an anniversary present to ourselves because we have both wanted to see Swan Lake for a long time and it is always always sold out before we even think to buy tickets. We got the cheapest tickets possible. Really, there is such a thing as the nosebleed seats at ballets. I was still able to enjoy the ballet once I got over my fear of heights. This time Sean did not fall asleep (as he did when I took him to his first ballet) and we both loved the music and the final scenes which were in a word, epic. Also it was so nice to be able to walk down to Lincoln Center and quickly walk home afterwards. I really am loving the Upper West Side.
Here's an oldie but a goodie from our honeymoon, and cheers to many more happy years!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Fall and a love letter to New York City
Can you believe it is already September? Summer seemed to go by very quickly this year. And now the weather is really cooling off which makes it feel like fall, despite my attitude that fall doesn't officially begin until September 22. I am sad to see summer end but am looking forward to sweaters, boots, and pumpkins. And hunting down some cider doughnuts at a farmer's market.
We spent Labor Day weekend in Massachusetts visiting Jocelyn and Cory in their new home. Turns out the middle of MA has some very cute college towns! Unfortunately the weather was horrible so we were cooped up inside but that gave us plenty of time to play Yahtzee and Euchre and watch episodes of the Office together. Also Sean and I conquered cheap East Coast travel yet again by taking the Metro North and then a short leg of Amtrak saving ourselves over $100 dollars in train costs. When you're used to the Midwest, it's easy to forget that there are other travel options beyond cars and Amtrak.
Jocelyn and Cory have purchased a two bedroom/two bathroom condo and wow is it spacious compared with our apartment. It's easy for me to wish we had more space, maybe a backyard, and a car, when we spend time outside of NYC. I can't pretend that I'm not jealous of friends who pay 1/4 of the rent I do in other parts of the country and don't go out for dinner thinking 7 dollars for a beer is a deal. But then I am walking through Central Park on my way home from work or our flight path takes us over Manhattan before landing at LGA and I just feel lucky to be living here.
Despite my strong wish to move to New York after college, when we actually moved here it took me quite a while to adjust. I needed at least six months to get an understanding of the geography of the city and it's only now I can finally say I a strong command of the different boroughs and neighborhoods and all the public transit options for getting there. There has been some adjusting with our new neighborhood (still need a reliable dry cleaner...) but all in all New York just feels like home. A loud, stinky home that sometimes you need to escape, but ultimately you love and are excited to come home to.
This city has given me so many amazing cultural and culinary experiences, wonderful friendships, and work opportunities I would be unlikely to find other places. I love the food, the parks, the busy streets, the buildings, and the bridges. Happy three year anniversary, New York, I think I love you.
We spent Labor Day weekend in Massachusetts visiting Jocelyn and Cory in their new home. Turns out the middle of MA has some very cute college towns! Unfortunately the weather was horrible so we were cooped up inside but that gave us plenty of time to play Yahtzee and Euchre and watch episodes of the Office together. Also Sean and I conquered cheap East Coast travel yet again by taking the Metro North and then a short leg of Amtrak saving ourselves over $100 dollars in train costs. When you're used to the Midwest, it's easy to forget that there are other travel options beyond cars and Amtrak.
Jocelyn and Cory have purchased a two bedroom/two bathroom condo and wow is it spacious compared with our apartment. It's easy for me to wish we had more space, maybe a backyard, and a car, when we spend time outside of NYC. I can't pretend that I'm not jealous of friends who pay 1/4 of the rent I do in other parts of the country and don't go out for dinner thinking 7 dollars for a beer is a deal. But then I am walking through Central Park on my way home from work or our flight path takes us over Manhattan before landing at LGA and I just feel lucky to be living here.
Despite my strong wish to move to New York after college, when we actually moved here it took me quite a while to adjust. I needed at least six months to get an understanding of the geography of the city and it's only now I can finally say I a strong command of the different boroughs and neighborhoods and all the public transit options for getting there. There has been some adjusting with our new neighborhood (still need a reliable dry cleaner...) but all in all New York just feels like home. A loud, stinky home that sometimes you need to escape, but ultimately you love and are excited to come home to.
This city has given me so many amazing cultural and culinary experiences, wonderful friendships, and work opportunities I would be unlikely to find other places. I love the food, the parks, the busy streets, the buildings, and the bridges. Happy three year anniversary, New York, I think I love you.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Pure Michigan
Sean and I recently returned from a long trip to the one and only mitten state. We had a very busy week and a half trying to fit in everything we could and driving over 1,000 miles in our little rental car. I suggested we start a game called Michigan Bingo and award ourselves prizes. On this trip, we definitely would have had a full card. Here are some of the highlights:
-Traverse City! One of my absolute favorite places in Michigan and I got to spend the weekend with two of my best girlfriends from college. Been trying to make that happen for a long time and it was so fun.
-A $20 haircut. I think my jaw dropped at that price.
-Mom's wedding which was lovely and fun and relaxed. It was wonderful to have most of the extended family together again celebrating her and Jack. Miriam and I wore matching dresses because I don't believe that's an opportunity that should be turned down. Also Sean demonstrated his amazing floral skills by making my Mom's bouquet. I helped, barely.
-Lake Huron. We ended our trip with two days on the beach with my Dad and Nancy laying in the sun, reading books, and playing Yahtzee. Perfect.
-There were all the Michigan greats. Oberon, Jimmy John's, Zingermans, local wine.
-Lots of time with lots of family including a stop in Kalamazoo to see Lou, Kathy, and Rick, some relaxing days in Brighton and of course playing outside with our favorite nephew, who remained our favorite and only nephew because the other little guy refused to show his face to the world until two days after we left. The rudeness.
To that last point, now that we are home in New York, we have been enjoying lots of photos of our new nephew Hudson. I don't know when we will be able to go back to Michigan and meet him, but we are still filled with aunt and uncle love and pride. Yes I have been showing his photo to everyone in my office who will tolerate it. What can I say, I love being an aunt!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Summer Adventuring: Brooklyn and Philadelphia
Apologies for the silence, Sean and I have been trying to soak up every bit of summer that we can over here. That is, when the temperature cooperates. We survived another epic heatwave and it's actually been quite nice since then. A few weeks ago we took a little Saturday trip to Brooklyn that involved walking across the Brooklyn Bridge ALL THE WAY and wandering the promenade. I have been to DUMBO and Brooklyn Bridge park but never seem to make it south to the promenade or into Brooklyn Heights. It was lovely. I can see why people move there for the views alone.
Last weekend Sean surprised me with a trip to Philadelphia. We aren't able to take a real vacation for ourselves this summer but he insisted we at least get out of New York for a few days. He knows I am a sucker for U.S. history and French art and we were able to work both of those things into our trip with a visit to all of Philly's historic sites including Independence Hall and a visit to the Barnes Foundation amazing collection of post-impressionist French paintings. We were able to take public transit (cheap!) and stay in a hotel across for City Hall using credit card points making this an extremely affordable getaway. It was nice to get a change of scenery for a few days!
Last weekend Sean surprised me with a trip to Philadelphia. We aren't able to take a real vacation for ourselves this summer but he insisted we at least get out of New York for a few days. He knows I am a sucker for U.S. history and French art and we were able to work both of those things into our trip with a visit to all of Philly's historic sites including Independence Hall and a visit to the Barnes Foundation amazing collection of post-impressionist French paintings. We were able to take public transit (cheap!) and stay in a hotel across for City Hall using credit card points making this an extremely affordable getaway. It was nice to get a change of scenery for a few days!
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