Birthday weekend.

Friday (my birthday) I had to work : (... So goes the life of an adult I suppose. For lunch I got to go get KP (kosher pizza) with two coworkers, which was a delight. The KP was really good, I had white pizza and mushroom. After work I went with Robert for drinks at one of my favorite places around times square. It is a Scottish place and all the bartenders wear kilts. On the walk to Grand Central we passed the I in the sky photo booth. You get your photo taken in an old time photo booth and they animate the pic and then show it on the top of a 2,500 sq foot electronic sign in times square. I don't know if I will be lucky enough to see myself, but someone will. I then met my friend Matt back at my apartment and we went to dinner at a cute little Italian place not far from my apartment.

Saturday was cold and windy, but sunny so I didn't mind the wind as much. After having coffee with a few friends Matt and I hit the TKTS booth a half hour before matinee time. We got tickets fro Avenue Q and hurried over the the theater grabbing food from "Chicken Bar" on the way. I highly recommend Avenue Q but maybe don't go with your parents. Half the characters are puppets and it is kinda a racy Sesame Street. They touch on almost every taboo topic possible. It was funny with very catchy songs.

After the show we headed done 7th avenue to Macy's so I could do some quick shopping. I had seen Macy's bags everyone saying "Macy's flower show" but really didn't know what it meant. I thought it was like their spring sale event. Well it was an actual flower show. The entire arcade area where they sell makeup and perfume and purses was covered floor to ceiling with flowers and plants and flowering plants. Amazing! The scent of the flowers was wafting through the air and they were even giving flower tours. And for those of you in DC Macy's had their own Cherry Blossoms! (the pic below doesn't capture half of the experience) I bought a shirt and a jacket by Buffalo, David Bitton, one of my new favorite brands exposed to me by the ads in NYLON magazine.
After Macy's we head back uptown and to Pinkberry frozen yogurt. I got mine with kiwi, raspberry, and strawberries... so good. Then back to the apartment before going out dancing.

Sunday we go NY bagels for breakfast, with walnut and raisin cream cheese (my new fave) and headed down to the villages to walk around. Then NY pizza for lunch! Now time for napping before heading back to work again!

Bunny Cake

hippity hippity hop

NYCares

Last week my registration finally got straightened out for NY Cares. NY Cares is a volunteering organization which has relationships with tons of organizations and sets up projects. So you can do one project with on organization and the next doing something completely different. So I volunteered on Saturday to paint murals in a homeless shelter in the Bronx. The murals we painted were in the school part of the shelter. I helped on one that was the New York Public Library with a big sun. I did the big sun. This mural was on the wall of a staircase... so it was extremely awkward to paint and somehow a thing of paint fell on my shoe and all over the place. It got my jeans, shoe, sock, a few spots on the stairs.... it was a disaster. so I took my shoes off and the artist called me "shoeless Joe" for the rest of the day. After I finished the sun I moved onto a ocean scene. I mixed the perfect sand color and added low lights. Then painted some fish, seaweed, etc.. My brilliancy with the sand can be read below in an email from the team leader:

Hi, Courtney,Thank you so much for your help today! You did a great job on all that you worked on. After you left, Jeff remarked again about how great the sand looked! Thanks for so enthusiastically helping with the other mural when you finished your first one. I was missing 4 people from the team today, so I really appreciate your continuing You were an excellent team member!

After 5 hours of painting I was heading home. I stopped in a Bodega to get a diet coke and the following conversation occurred:

Cashier: $1.25 you don't live around here do you?

Me: No

Cashier: You should move here.

I continued home and saw the news alert that a crane fell on some buildings destroying them not too far from my apartment. YIKES!

Also in news this week. I have a new governor. I hadn't really paid too much attention to the old one until this week. Turns out Spitzer is a real hypocrite. Everyone seems to like Patterson, he is from a political family in Harlem and was formally in the state senate, so maybe good things are to come.

New York Poetry

Hole in the Ground
Commuters Abound

You might Make it

But your Bag won't fit

Electric Fountain

With the weather in the 50s when I left work today I decided to walk home. I walked through Rock Plaza and saw the Electric Fountain. It's on display for a limited time.

Chandelier

I've been talking about wanting a chandelier for awhile, but not wanting to go buy one. I've been looking in thrift stores with no luck. Beth got me six chandelier crystals for Christmas and Kristen recently sent my some pictures of some chandeliers that looked easier to make. So a few Saturdays ago I set out to find something to create mine with. I don't know if I wasn't feeling very creative or there really was nothing at Home Depot, but I left there deflated. I googled craft stores on my phone (having not seen a Hobby Lobby, JoAnns, nor Michaels since I moved here) and found "Lee's Art Shop Inc" which was actually a large store, but I soon found out that only the entry level had supplies the other levels had furniture and lighting. I found jewlery wire and thought I could make something with it. When I got home I scouraged through my supplies and found some beads that I had left over from other projects. This is what I came up with. I haven't decided if I am going to take it apart and start over, add to it or leave it be. So please help me with my decision by voting in the poll on the side!

What was this homeowner thinking?

Spotted on 71st between 3rd and 2nd ave

Other CP

The Bow Bridge

Today the bright sun was a little deceiving as the temperature was still quite cool. I took advantage of the clear sky and took a walk through Central Park. I most recently saw this bridge in the movie PS I Love You and decided I needed to find it today. The Bow Bridge apparently is one of the most photographed spots in Central Park. It is made out of cast iron while most bridges in the park are stone.

Ola Mae in Manhattan

A store in NYC contacted Kristen wanting to sell her underwear. I went in undercover to see if it was there... Needless to say my covert phone camera taking skills aren't very good, but as you can see in the top photo Ola Mae's underwear was there for sale.

John's Pizzeria

One of my favorite pizza places is John 's Pizza. I guess there are three locations around town, but the only one i have been to is in the Theater District on 44th b/w broadway & 8th. This location is in what used to be a church. We sat in the balcony in the corner (we figured they thought we were celebrities and wanted to be left alone (which celebrities you ask? Uma Thurman and Jennifer Connelly)). We ate so fast that there was only one piece left when I had the idea to take a picture. The other is a pic from our table towards the giant mural of Manhattan that covers one of the walls.