NO MORE BLOGGING!!

Well, at least for the next few days. I took Friday and Monday off and we're heading up to Canada to visit Mike's Grandmother, Trudy. She lives in Kingston, Ontario which is about a 6 and 1/2 hour drive from NYC. We're renting an SUV in New Jersey tomorrow morning and heading on up to the great white north. This will be Cooper's first trip to another country! He got a haircut and new outfit for it and everything!

I must say Mike and I are both very excited to drive again. We sold Mikes car before we moved out here and my car is at Mike's parents house in Roseville. You really do not need a car here. Having one would be more of a headache then an asset. Everyone told us that before we came out here, but it's one of those things that you don't really get until your here and you see the crazy honking angry drivers. Roadways are battle grounds here. It's worth then anything that I have ever seen -- ever. A bottle neck on the Cal Expo Curve or I-5 is like a breath of fresh air compared to average daily traffic flow here.

Having said all that, I am so looking forward to getting behind the wheel. Once we are outside of the city of course! :)

Hope you all have a great great weekend!!!

Love,

Jen

My Day On Strike With the WGA

Everything you are about to read is true, and all it shows is pretty much how I have no shame...

So Jen tipped me off today that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) were having a big strike rally down in Washington Square Park at noon. Members of SAG and other unions were supposed to be on hand. I figured it was a good time to go get some more pics of celebs...

So I head down to the park and the rally is already going when I get there (about 10 minutes late) and the first speaker is none other than John Edwards...

So I whip out the camera, only to discover..the battery is dead....

After cursing Jen's name for several seconds (thanks babe, for not telling me the battery was shot!) I hustle over to a little store, buy some double A's, and come back...

Now, here's where the battery misfortune actually turned out well...as I walk back (with my camera in my bag, kinda stealth-like) a WGA member stops me and says "do you want to wear a Support WGA button?"

Well sure, so I put it on...and go get some pics of Senator Edwards, and as he's walking away, I shake his hand (because hell, if I could vote, he's actually the one I'd vote for)

Now here's where it gets good...

With my WGA button on, and camera still hiding, I slip up the back side of the park and find myself standing behind the podium where the speakers are talking to the rallying WGA members...I look around, and notice, hey, there's a bunch of celebs and local politicians and stuff just over there...

Now, other people are trying to get where I am, but they are being turned away, even the press, so I'm just standing there, pulling out my camera every now and then to take a shot of some celebrity, but mostly just playing the part of striking WGA member, so as not to arouse suspicion...

that parts easy, cause all you have to do is cheer at the right times, and clap at the right time...no problem...everybody thinks I'm just another WGA member....

By the end of the rally, I had shook hands with Tim Robbins, Danny Glover, Anthony Edwards, Joe Pantoliano, John Slattery (Mayor Victor Lang from "Desperate Housewives"), Michael Emerson (Evil Ben from "Lost"), Julianna Marguiles, Edie Falco, and a couple of other mini celebs...

But the kicker...I got a hug from Kristin Davis (Charlotte from "Sex and the City")...

Why all the handshakes and hugs?? Cause I said one simple thing to each of them as they walked by me...

"Thanks (insert celebrity name here) for supporting OUR cause..."

How's that for ballsy??

In my defense, I AM a writer.....but the celebs were soooo nice once they figured I was some writer not getting the money I deserved...hence the hugs, handshakes and kind words.....

So there you have it, my day as a striking WGA writer....I'm glad all my celeb friends are out there supporting us....

Here are some pics from the day....

That Guy From Law & Order

Anthony Edwards

Danny Glover

Tim Robbins

John Slattery (Mayor on Desperate Housewives)

Kristin Davis and Summer's Dad from the O.C.

Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost)

Edie Falco

Gilbert Goddfreid

Senator John Edwards

Mike (you just KNEW this was a Mike post)

Happy Thanksgiving! ( A Jen Post)

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. This was our first Thanksgiving on our own. Before the Bic City move, Mike and I would alternate years with our families, except for the year I lost my mind and wanted to make Thanksgiving dinner by myself for both of our families. Anyhow, needless to saw we're big family people so it was really weird to be by yourself on a family holiday. We had a really fun time though.

We got up early on Thanksgiving morning and went down to central park to watch the parade.

So, picture 2 million people in one area. Now, that's really hard to picture because I was amazed by how many people were there. So, imagine how you feel when you are de-boarding a plane. You can't really move, but everyone wants to move and you are all trying to move in the same direction. Ok, now imagine that on a city street, but not quite as orderly and some people pushing and shoving through those attempting to be orderly. And welcome to the streets lining the parade route. If that's not a good enough visualization for you- picture 130 packed arco arenas. (That's from Mike)

The parade began around 78th street and it was really bad and crowded from there until about 68th street. We got a great spot right near the ABC building on Central Park West between W 66th and W 67th streets.

We were about 3 people back from the street and really enjoyed ourselves. When the parade started I got tears in my eyes. I know that seems lame, but it was just so cool to see live and in person the parade that I've watched every year on TV from as far back as I can remember. It was so fun! BTW the people on the floats don't perform the whole time. They just preform at certain locations, mostly they just wave. However, the marching bands and dance troops preform all the way down the route.

The balloons were so huge that they blocked the sun most of the time. It was amazing.

After the parade Mike and I both had to go into work. We got off around 7pm, went home and heated up our Turkey Dinner for 2 from whole foods market. It was good!!

Here are some pictures from the parade

Don't "F" With Cooper's Dad

So Cooper had his first run-in with a mean old neighborhood lady...and by "Cooper" having the run-in, we mean "Cooper's Dad" had a run-in.

So I took the Coop Dog out to do his business in the morning, and we were on our usual walk around the block, and without getting too graphic, he stopped to poop up near our building. So I'm getting a poop bag out to pick it up and throw it out, and some old geezer walks by with her umbrella, and I hear her say, with a sign of resignation, "Oh geez..."...

so I look up to see her rolling her eyes and walking away disgustedly....which I can't figure out because in our neighborhood, dogs do their business wherever and 99 percent of the owners are right there to clean it up (yours truly included) and everybody is fine...

But whatever, I'm trying to blow it off, and chalk it up to maybe the old bat didn't take her medication or something today...and Cooper finishes and we pick it up, and proceed to finish our walk around the block...

But now, we have to pass the old lady, and as we get closer, Cooper runs up to the lady, wagging his tail and doing his, "Hi, I'm Cooper!...Hello! Hello!" routine...not jumping, but just being happy, and the woman leans down a bit and says in a bit of a whisper..."get away from me!"

Now.....

Had this been anyone under the age of 50, it would have been go time between them and me...this woman was probably around 107, 108 years old, so I couldn't take a swing at her or anything...

So instead, I got RIGHT in her grill...like six inches away from her face and said, somewhat menacingly, "What did you say?"

Now her eyes widen a little, and says "huh?"

I get a bit closer, if thats possible, because maybe I'm talking into the ear without the hearing aid, and say again, a little more irritated, "What did you say...to the dog??"

She thinks for a bit (probably wondering why she decided to leave her can of mace at home), before answering, rather quietly, "I just was talking to the dog."

Too which I responded by getting even CLOSER to her, then breaking out into a bit of a crazed grin, and say, "Well, I hope it was something nice!"

And walked away....

So the moral of the story....you don't have to like Cooper (though I find it hard to believe anyone couldn't like Cooper), but you DAMN sure won't disrespect him and be mean to him...or you will FEEL THE WRATH OF HIS FATHER, BY GOD!!!

Even if you are on the loose from the nursing home...

Mike (totally a Mike post)

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

...and just when we thought it wasn't actually going to happen...

the original prediction of the first snowfall in our area for early last weekend never materialized, but I learned at work Sunday night that there might be some light snow through the overnight hours...

So I finish up and leave CBS at about 430 in the morning Monday morning, and sure enough, as I walk out the doors, its snowing...not enough to stick to the ground, but enough to stick to my jacket as I walked the five blocks back to the subway station...

I swear, that was the best five block walk I've had in awhile...just stared at the snow falling in front of the street lights with the stupidest grin on my face...its a miracle I wasn't mugged or something...

Anyways, finally...after 25 years, I'm back to a place where snow is a part of living..and I couldn't be happier...I'm home.... =)

Mike (shockingly, its a Mike post)

Snow

It's supposed to snow on Saturday!
Our first NY snow! Well, everyone else is calling in flurries.. but snow is snow!

Cooper is supposed to go to a Cocker Spaniel Meet-up group party near central park tomorrow.
I hope in doesn't get snowed out!

I'll update you all tomorrow on how are first snow goes!

Think of us in Sunny CA!

Love, Jen


PS- I got a winter jacket- It's cute and warm!! It's Michael Kors... check it out.
Thanks for all the great how to stay warm advice!

Day 44: Celebrity Spotting

I have to tell you, I'm becoming very conflicted with this whole celebrity photograph thing. I'm a journalist...I've interviewed everyone from Gerald Ford to Jenna Jameson and have never thought twice about the fact that they are "famous" or whatever...its just part of the job...and so far, that has continued during my work in the NYC Metro office.

On the days off, though, all that apparently goes out the window and I've become an amateur paparazzi, camera in hand, stalking celebs like its a wild animal hunt in Zambia or something...

I keep telling myself, "ah, its just to make the blog more entertaining...everybody likes pictures.." yeah....thats the ticket...

OK, well, time to get over it, and go on about who we've seen...not a ton has gone on since the last posting in terms of work for either Jen or I...though Jen's been caught up in the OJ thing, which I still can't believe he's going to trial for...lucky for him this country seems to have an affinity for not allowing him to be punished for ANY crime, so he'll get off...and can get back to his real job of finding the "real killers," who he apparently thinks play a ton of golf....maybe they're hiding in the sandtrap on the 15th at Riviera...but I digress...

Jen's sister Rebecca and her boyfriend Gabe were out last weekend...that Friday night we went to a comedy club called Comix down in the Village because we had bought tickets to see the Sklar Brothers (the ones who do the "Chopper 4" routine in an earlier blog post). Anyways, they were hilarious, very funny, and an overall good time. Jen and I took pictures with them before the show and chatted with them for a bit.

Now here's where it gets wierd...Saturday night the four of us are on the subway riding down to 42nd Street because Bec wants to take Jen out to dinner as an early Birthday gift, so we're heading down to one of Bobby Flay's other restaurants, and the subway stops at 59th Street, and a bunch of people get on, and I've got my head down but I can see that there are a few people standing in front of where we are sitting because its crowded, and all of a sudden I hear Bec say "Hey, we saw you guys last night!" and I look up....and its the Sklar Brothers! Riding the same train, in the same car with us, and standing right in front of us...what are the odds of that happening? A million to one? A billion to one? So we talk some more, and they actually try out part of a new bit on us because they're trying to re-work some stuff in their act, and it was just too funny that we actually bumped into them again.

The rest of the weekend was a lot of fun, minus me having to work for 6 hours or so on Sunday as an extra shift (boo!), but Jen and Bec got to spend some quality time together which was great.

The Desjardin-Weisses left Monday morning...Tuesday and Wednesdays are my day off, so I went down towards Jen's work with her Tuesday and hung out by Regis and Kelly to see who was on the show. Emeril Lagasse came walking out, but I didn't have the camera ready (dammit...what kind of paparazzi am I?) so no picture of him, but here's a snap of the other guest that day, Jessica Alba...who could have jumped into the SUV they pulled up for her, but instead patiently signed a few autographs and chatted with people before she had to go

Wednesday was more of the same....though there was a bigger crowd because Alicia Keys was preforming and I guess she tries to shun the photographers most of the time. The problem with that was there were several people, including a few young girls, who just wanted an autograph from her...but she was never seen...they backed up a car for her, closed the gate, and when it reopened, she sped away without saying anything to anyone...

So to recap...Jessica Alba, sweetheart...Alicia Keys, diva bitch...

I'm not fond of taking pictures of what APPEARS to be Alicia Keys in a car, but you can't really tell, so no picture there....but while waiting to see if I could catch a glimpse of Kelly Ripa after the show, one of the regular paps pointed out that John Bon Jovi had just walked out of the building kitty-corner to where we were...I guess he and a few other celebs actually live there...so I snappeed a shot of him as he was crossing the street with his kid, but I don't think he was very happy about it...shook his head and sneered at me as he walked by...oops...

Thats it for this week...Dave Knight rolls into town today and we're going to do a bunch of touristy things over the next four days...

But finally, if you're a celebrity out there and you're reading this blog, (and frankly, which celebrity isn't reading this blog for posts about the "windshield factor") trust me when i say that any picture taken of you by the pasty white guy with glasses is just going up on his blog, and won't be sold to US Weekly...

....unless I can get some real money off it.....

Mike (well, how about that, its a Mike post!)

Wind Chill or Windshield- Updated!

Wow. I just learned tonight that it's "wind chill factor" not "windshield factor"

Has anyone else thought it was windshield?

Mike's been rolling over laughing for about 10 minutes now.

Who knew?

And by the way... I googled "Windshield Factor" and a ton of things came up. I'm not alone! :)

Just to prove to all of you that I'm not alone I found this on the internet under commonly mispronounced words...

windshield-factor n.
This particular misconception I've encountered only among females of my acquaintance - I don't know why.The very first time I heard this one, I managed to get her to say it three times - just to make sure I hadn't misheard (I wanted to give her a chance. Really I did.). Then I asked her why she supposed the phenomenon was called windshield-factor. The answer I was given (I'm paraphrasing) was something along the lines of "Well, you know when it gets so cold, and all the windshields get frost on them?" Okay, makes sense to me I guess. When I very gently and (and as matter-of-factly as I could) enunciated the actual expression, her eyes opened wide with surprised glee and you could see the lightbulbs suddenly turning on over her head. I think for her it was a moment of epiphany. Finally, after all those years!!Anyway, later that same day, after relating this cute anecdote to a (girl)friend on the phone, I was met with silence, and when enquiring if anything was wrong, was greeted with an abashed and astonished admission - and I quote - "But I always thought it was windshield-factor too." Oops

Times Square Blows...

...hmm, wonder who is writing this post??

Just a quick rant to tell you how much I hate Times Square...for one reason and one reason only...TOO MANY $^@%$@ TOURISTS!!

Its true...I've only been living here nearly six weeks, but I've taken the prevailing attitude that most NY'ers display towards Times Square and the gazillion people that seem to wander around there aimlessly on a daily basis...

In the latest incident, we were making our way through with Bec and Gabe after eating at Junior's restaurant (Slogan: "If the sandwiches don't kill you, you're not eating nearly enough!") and as we tried to get back to the subway, I must have bumped into 47 people, mostly because everyone walks around Times Square with their head peering straight into the sky. Well thats great, but you know, some of us RESIDENTS don't give a flying %^#@$ about the big ESPN Zone sign or the lights on some other building, or what not...we stare straight ahead, because we've got a purpose...we have to get somewhere...quickly

Reminder when I got smacked by the old lady for "dawdling??" I'm totally with her now..I still amble around other parts of the city, but when I'm in TS, I'm moving forward, and for the love of Christ, stop taking pictures of Brian Williams' big-ass head on a billboard and GET MOVING YOURSELF!!!

Love,

Mike (whaddya know, it was a Mike post!)

It's COLD!!!!!!! (A Jen Post)

I had an epiphany today... I realized that people don't wear scarves because they are cute or because they match your outfit. They where them because it's flipping cold outside and scarves keep you warm!

I can't figure out how to keep my eyelids warm though... that's the one thing I can't cover with an accessory.

Mike tells me that it's going to continue to get colder, like way colder, like 4o degrees colder. That's pretty damn cold! Tonight it was 37 degrees.. Now that's flipping cold and it's supposed to get worse?!?!?

I'm Scared!

In Sacramento, it got to be like in the 30's, but it was only a few times a year and it's not like you went outside in the cold. You got in the car and drove somewhere and then walked inside. You were in the cold for a few minutes max. Now, I have to walk to the subway in the cold and then I have to walk from the subway to work in the cold. That's a lot of time in the cold. It sucks!

I miss California and it's not even half as cold right now as it's supposed to get. This is one thing I didn't really think about with this whole "hey let's move to New York" thing.

Another thing that sucks is when your down waiting for the subway-- its super hot. So then you have to take off your jacket and your scarf and your hat and your gloves while you wait for the train. Then you have to hold all that crap while you ride the train and then you have to put all that crap back on before you come up to the ground before you start walking in the cold again.

Life here is a lot harder!

Having said that, winter clothes are really cute!

So I leave this post with a plea-- please comment and provide suggestions on how to stay warm!

Yours in coldness,


Jen

Mike and Jen star in a Jib Jab (a Mike post)

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!In the spirit of full disclosure, we totally copied this from Katie Neal

Day 34: Maple Leafs, Alec Baldwin and Giada

Time once again for another posting. Jen seems to think that we should mention in the subject lines who is writing the post (Jen Post or Mike Post), but you know, I think most if not all of the people reading this blog can figure out that anything titled "New Hair, New Look" or whatever isn't coming from yours truly....
Its been awhile so some catching up to do...during the last weekend of October, Jen got us tickets from the Maple Leafs - Rangers game at the Garden...first time at MSG and its everything its cracked up to be...really cool arena and amazing to look up into the rafters and see all the banners (from when the Knicks and Rangers were..you know...actually good)..more importantly, I was able to wear a Leafs jersey and cheer for my team, and not feel like I was going to get tossed from the second deck by angry Rangers fans...pretty respectful...who would have figured...

The Leafs won 4-1, making it a good night all in all...now if we could just start winning some other games....sigh....

The birthday dinner previously mentioned in earlier posts was spectactular...great restaurant run by Bobby Flay...in fact I don't think we've had a bad meal out since we've been here...we do have our Zagat guide (our restaurant bible) and we're slowly eating our way through Manhattan and the boroughs....at this rate, I'll be 486 pounds when I come back to CA next....

Halloween was fairly uneventful. We attempted to go down to the annual parade that runs through Greenwich Village, but it was WAYYYY too crowded, and just not interesting enough to hang around for more than 30 minutes...I wonder if we got any trick-or-treaters at our apartment while we were gone?? Should we have left a bowl of candy on the stoop?? Now I feel bad....ok, not really....

While walking in the Village earlier in the week I noticed signs posted on trees and poles saying cars needed be moved from the roadway by Thursday morning or they would be towed. A closer look revealed the reason: they would be filming scenes for Law and Order on Thursday! I had heard from my sister's friend that this is fairly commonplace around town, that you'll wake up and all of a sudden, one of the Law and Orders will be shooting in your neighborhood. How many Law and Orders are there these days?? 14? 22? I think this one was Law and Order: Yard Duty Patrol....

Anyways, I went back Thursday after work to see if I could watch some of the filming, but by the time I got out of work and got down there, they were wrapping up and putting cameras back in trucks and all that...oh well, its not like I won't have another chance while we're here...

I did manage to catch a TV show filming this past week...I was wandering down around Rockefeller Center when I saw a large crowd gathering around the ice rink...so I strolled over and asked a burly security guard what was going on...he said they were filming scenes for "30 Rock" the NBC show...and sure as anything, there was Alec Baldwin in a Christmas sweater doing some scene...never got to say anything to him (what would I have said? "You were great in BeetleJuice!!" yeah, probably something like that) but was neat to see them set up every shot and film them at different angles or so...I didn't have the camera with me (a problem I no longer have now that the camera is firmly entrenched in my bag for future celebrity sightings and such)

One last celebrity run-in, but this one was planned...as I was walking the streets during the week, I was handed a flier about the Bon Appetit Supper Club events going on, including a book signing by Giada De Laurentis on Friday (she's the one with the big teeth of Food Network fame)...I thought, "Hey, Jen and I watch the Food Network religiously...I'll swing by and get her autograph"

So I show up and I'm planning to have Giada make out the book to Jen, cause that seems like the nice thing to do...and Giada's being real sweet, taking an extra minute with everyone to talk to them (about what, I don't know...cooking rigatoni, the issues in Pakistan, the Jets quarterback controversy...its anybody's guess).....though you're not allowed to take pictures with her (maybe her big teeth would screw up your flash, I don't know)...but you can take pictures of her from a little ways off...but you can't use your flash (SEE, it IS the teeth thing!!) so I have one stalkerish picture of Giada that Jen will post for me at some point within this writing...I'm not that talented to do that...

Anyways I get up there and say hi, and tell her "you know my wife and I watch the show a ton" and she's appreciative to hear that, and she sees from the post-it note inside the page that I'd like it made out to "Jennifer" and she says "well, I know you're not Jennifer." And so I introduce myself, and she's signing the book saying " thats great you both watch the show, and so does your wife do most of the cooking??"

And I think for a minute and say, "Well, no actually...I do most of the cooking. I'm not quite sure why I'm having you make the book out to Jen!"

She laughs and says "well, I'll make it out to both of you...thats easy."

So then I tell her, "real quick...I don't want to take up too much time, but we just moved here from California last month, and we're always looking for good places to go eat, and you HAVE to have some favorites..." So she ended up spending an extra minute or so just reeling off her 3 or 4 favorites...couldn't have been nicer...overall a good experience...even if I couldn't take a picture with her and had to settle for the paparazzi version...

Of course, I tell Jen the story and the first thing out of her mouth is "Well, did you tell her that the reason I don't cook as much is because I HAVE TO WORK INTO THE EVENING EACH NIGHT?!?!?" Ummm...nope, didn't tell her that. So now Jen thinks that Giada thinks that she's a horrible wife and cook....yeah, I'm sure Giada is lying awake at night going "that poor pasty guy I met in NY...his wife never cooks for him....maybe I should send him some Stouffers meals or something..."

This past weekend was fairly uneventful for me (I was the one who DIDN'T get their hair done and post 49 pictures about it..) Picked up an extra shift at work on Saturday and then we took Cooper for a long walk on Sunday and had a mellow dinner before I went to work for my overnight shift...work is going well, though I miss the camaraderie from the Sac Metro office...

While we're here, a new segment in the Mike posts...

THINGS I MISS FROM SACRAMENTO: the Metro office people, our Kitchen Aid mixer, being able to let Cooper out to go to the bathroom by just opening a screen door, lunch at BJ's with Dave Knight, my car (ok, more like Jen's car), Emily Mae Martin, Emma King and Anisa Yavrom Huthman (my three favorite children that don't actually belong to me...great, now I sound like a pedophile...I DIDN'T MEAN IT THAT WAY!!), not wanting to cook dinner and being able to call Mom and tell her we'll be over for dinner, Katie Neal cheating at every board game known to man, and all of our friends and family...

Celebrities spotted: I think we covered that fairly well above.

People coming to visit: Bec and Gabe will be here Thursday to Monday (also just learned that Jen's cousin Jake and his fiance Carrie will be in town at the same time, so it'll be like a mini-family reunion) and then Dave comes Wednesday to Monday of the following week...can't wait for all those people...everyone else, start booking your trips dammit!

Fun fact about New Yorkers: I'll try to hit a vocabulary lesson every now and then with these posts because Lord knows NY'ers have their own language (most of the time usually involving 37 variations of the F-word), but today's word is:

Straphangers

No, its not the name of some gay porn title, its what people who ride the subways and buses are called....as in "straphangers are upset over the MTA's plan to increase fares on subways." The name obviously comes from the days of yore when people actually held onto straps in buses and subways, but even though those items have gone the way of the dodo and Ben Affleck's career, they are still called "straphangers." Every newscaster in town calls them this, all of my fellow writers at Metro call them this, and now I'm supposed to call them this...

Thats about it for now...I'm off to do loads of laundry and get dinner made (because you know I'm the only one who makes dinner around here...hahaha!!)

Mike (hey, its a Mike post!)

New Month, New Hair (A Jen Post)

Wow! It's November? Where has the year gone? Remember when you were a little kid and a year seemed like an eternity. The holidays, your birthday, summer...whatever it was you were looking forward to seemed so far away. Now that I'm older time seems like it goes by so much faster.

Anyhow, enough rambling... let me start off by thanking you all for your nice comments, emails, and phone messages. It makes me happy to know that you all are enjoying our blog and care enough about us to keep reading it. It makes me more excited to post when I know that you are enjoying it. Having said that, please don't be offended if it's taking me awhile to get back to your emails.

In order to keep this post on track I'm going to give myself an outline or as Mrs. Gatewood taught us in English class....a thesis. :)
The highlights of my week that I'm going to share with you are my new haircut, my trip to the UN, my scarf exchange, Greenwich Village, and Old Ladies in department stores.

First NY Haircut

So, my hair was so in need of a new cut. Unless you have short hair you may not understand how bad it was, but my hair had totally grown out of the cut and it made it very hard to style. All week I had been wearing headbands.. which are great and all, but after the 6th day straight the back of your ears start to hurt a bit from the headband. Any how.. ever since I have been in NY I have been stopping people on the street who looked like they had good haircuts to ask them who they go to. Well, last weekend I was at the Benefit Counter at Bloomingdale's and all the girls there had super cute short, stylish hair. The best part was, they all looked different, the didn't all have the same cut and they all had fun hair. So I asked who they went to and they gave me the card of their friend and stylist Jennifer Pinney. Now, I had been going to the same stylist in Sacramento for like 6 years so, it was so it was soooooooo hard for me to find someone new, but I'm so grateful to the ladies at Bloomies because I got my haircut today and I love it.

Here are my before and after pics.

BEFORE

AFTER

Didn't she do a great job! I love it!! It's so fun and sassy and cute! Thanks Jennifer, I can't wait for my next appointment. I'd say I'd refer people to her, but I need to make friends first!

UN Trip

So, one of the requirements of my job is that we get UN press passes. We had a month to get them and were all supposed to have them by Nov. 1st. Guess what day I went down to go get mine? Yep, Nov. 1st! Anyhow, I was jamming down to the UN before work one morning. Which is nowhere near where I live or where I work and on the complete opposite side of the island from both. Yes, Manhattan is an island, something I didn't realize until we moved here.

So, I'm dressed in work clothes with my NFT map book (thanks Barb, we love it) clutched in my hands trying to figure out how to get there as quickly as possible.

I took the A train (which is right next to our apartment) to 42 street (The Port Authority) I walk 3 blocks in this underground tunnel to the Times Square station and took the 7 train to Grand Central station. I get upstairs and am amazed because it is beautiful. The walls are all marble and it looks like it does in the movies. I was so bummed that I was in such a hurry to get to the UN that I didn't have time to look around and ogle. So I go outside to 42nd street and I see all these awesome stores and then I'm even more bummed because I'd so rather go shopping then go to work. I get to the sidewalk and realize that I have no idea which way is east which way is west or which way I'm supposed to go. SO, I hail a cab.

I get in the cab, and say "The UN please." I'm feeling all sophisticated in my cute Ann Taylor skirt and sweater, wool jacket and brown leather boots. I'm thinking he must think, I'm a smart delegate or something and that's when he tells me that I should get out of the cab and walk 2 blocks towards all the flags and that's where the UN is. I felt kind of dumband excited the car.

I proceeded down the street, saw the 1000 flags and realized how close I really was. I walk up to the guard and said, I need to find the press office, he told me to keep walking down the street towards the visitors center. I said, I'm not a visitor, I'm a member of the media he gestures towards the left so, I keep walking down the street and see another guard. He tells me to walk across the street to the credential office. I walk across the street and only see a security guard and road construction. I ask the third security guard and he points me to the other side of the intersection to a building with a blue awning on it that seemed remarkably nondescript. I walked in and a 4th security guard asked me if they could help me and I said I'm hear for my press pass. I must say that it was the nicest group of government employees that I have ever met. They were all so friendly and when they saw my California ID and realized I was new to the city they could not have been nicer.

I left the office wearing my new UN press pass and the 3rd security guard stopped me and asked to see my ID, told me it was a cute pic and then asked if I new how to get back to the subway. Maybe it was the map book clutched in my hands that led him to believe that I didn't.

Anyhow, the UN was huge!!! It was lined with tour buses and I so wanted to be one of the people going on the tour. Instead I had to go back to work. I can't wait until I get to back and use my ID to get inside. That will be so cool!!

My Scarf Exchange

One of the coolest things about NY is all of the street vendors. Fruit, handbags, scarves, jewelry...you name it- they sell it. I've been, wanting/ needing a scarf for awhile now and after I left my haircut on the Upper East side of Manhattan I decided I was going to look for one. I saw this scarf stand with a sign "$10 for a cashmere scarf." They had a ton of colors/ patterns and I couldn't decide if I wanted a cream & yellow colored one or a red & black one. I was going back and forth and bought the black one. About an hour later, I was in a department store and looked in the mirror. I was wearing my red wool pea coat w/ my new black & red scarf and I realized I had made a horrible mistake. I should have bought the cream colored one!

I went back to the scarf man on the corner of 59th and Lexington and said (while giving him that puppy dog look that I do so well )"excuse me, but I was just here about an hour ago and I really regret choosing the black over the cream, any chance I can exchange." He couldn't have been nicer and said he builds customers not his wallet and I could do whatever I wanted to. Sweet! I now have a cute new scarf.

The bummer though.. when I got to 59th and Madison there was a street fair on Madison Ave. from 59th street to 42nd street and they had a ton of scarf stands and they were going for $5 each. I saw the same scarf I had paid $10 for a few minutes ago going for $5. Lame, huh? Oh well, I bet those vendors were not as nice as my scarf man! I will definitely be going back to him for any future scarf needs that I have.

Greenwich Village

Well our loyal blog readers voted a few weeks ago and you picked Greenwich Village as our next neighborhood to explore so we went to dinner there on Friday night. I found this really cool restaurant called INNLw12. The name sounds weird, but it's really cool. It's basically called "The Inn" and it's on the corner of a street actually called "little west 12th st." How cute is that? Anyhow, it's run by a Canadian and the have all Canadian beers. Mike was in heaven. The also have Poutine, another Canadians dish which is really good and really bad for you. It's basically french fries smothered in something we had the ones smothered in Beef tips, red wine sauce and blue cheese. Ok, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Anyhow, the village was really cute. The streets were paved with cobble stone bricks.. the light fixtures had that quaint old town feel to them and the people were all foreign. Lots of Europeans there and all the women had real Louis Vuitton's. No fakers! Anyhow, we'll have to go back during the day sometime. It was really nice. We're going down there next Friday with my sister and Gabe to see a comedy show at this place called 'Comix'. We're seeing the Sklar brother- they're hysterical. Watch this clip. TV friends you will especially like it! No offense to my KCRA buddies, but it sooooo reminds me of Tripple Doppler Radar and Live Copter 3!

I'm so excited for my sister and Gabe to come next weekend. They'll be our first real visitors!

Older Ladies in Departmet Stores

Have you ever shopped at Loehmann's before? Well, at Loehmann's they have this thing called "the backroom." It's for woman only and everyone just changes there in front of everyone else and it's normal. Well, as normal as it can be, I always have felt kind of weird there.

Anyhow, 3 different times since I have been in NY now, old woman just start taking off their tops in the middle of department stores and try stuff on. Isn't that strange? And it's not like they are even wearing a tank top or an undershirt. They strip to their bra's! Seriously, it's the most bazaar thing. It happened once at Ann Taylor, once at Bloomingdale's, and once at this discount store called Filene's. It's so strange. The woman I've seen do it are usually 65 or older and overweight. I guess when yo get old you can do whatever the hell you want!