Logan Circle Holiday Homes Tour

The Logan Circle Community Association hosts a Holiday Homes Tour each year. I heard about it last year but was busy for most of the day. This year I purchased my tickets early and convinced my friend Matt, who was visiting from Texas, to join me on the walk around the neighborhood.

There was a mix of old and new homes on the tour. The "Holiday" portion of the tour was a lot less than I was expected. The only tours I'd been on in the past were in Missouri and they were always Christmas overloaded. There were a few touches here and there including some carolers at one house and a man playing Christmas tunes on a grand piano.

The first apartment didn't look like much from the outside, but ended up being really, cool and my favorite. It had some subtle decorations like rudolph below.

On house was very proud of itself. They had notes all over and the guides were trained to tell us how they were so environmentally friendly. I'm all for the environment, but these people were a little over the top.

does neon save energy?

reclaimed wood countertops

Two of the apartments were in a newer building that I pass by all the time. Little did I know they had a great people watching spot in their living room. Both places were very modern and the penthouse apartment had an amazing outdoor space.

After the tour we stopped back at the Studio Theater to collect our wassail and snacks. They were playing holiday music and the wassail was delicious.

The tour was $25 a piece and took us about two hours (we skipped a church that was on the list).

Hurricane Sandy

I was out of town this last weekend and luckily my flight wasn't cancelled and I arrived back in DC around 8 pm last night. I took a cab back to my place because it was already raining and I didn't pack any rain gear for the Texas desert. 

When I got home I looked in my fridge and decided that hurricane or not, I needed to do some grocery shopping. Luckily the run on Whole Foods happened before 9 pm and I almost had the store to myself. Whole Foods aren't you normal grocery stores so I decided to document what people by in preparation of a Hurricane at a WF. In addition to the normal run on bread and water the following things were in high demand:

yellow onions

berries... especially strawberries 

mac & cheese (the fancier pastas were also in low supply)

sparkling water

My office is closed today so I'm chilling at home and relaxing from my wonderful weekend in Texas. Sandy has brought rain and wind, but nothing too bad yet.

Pride Parade

Saturday afternoon I was getting ready to go for a run and I heard cheering coming from outside. After a moment of confusion I remembered that the Pride Parade was Saturday and was probably going through my neighborhood. So I headed outside to watch for awhile (I happened to be wearing a rainbow striped tank top and fit right in).

I was impressed by the length (over 2.5 hours), quality (lots of elaborate floats), and community involvement (lots of politicians and churches).

drag at the judges table

golden men

confetti!

Zola Kitchen + Office Art

DC has some great lunch places. Lots of innovation I don't remember in NYC. This week I ate at  Zola Kitchen for the first time.

Lamb burger with caramelized onions & a side of caprese salad. Gourmet at a walk up counter. They bring it to your table, which is pre stocked with a pitcher of water, which is amazing.

DC has a new TJ Maxx downtown. I ducked in just to check it out. Very nice store with the Runway section. I ended up trying on a few suits and buying a dress and some decorations for my cubicle. I'm not one to buy canned art, but the deal was too good and I figured I can always create my own art over this canvas if I get inspired. Now I feel like I have a window.

Moving in

I moved in to my new apartment today... well kind of moved in.  I won't move the majority of my stuff for another week.  Even so I had a pretty great day.  Why you ask?

1. I woke up to coffee and pancakes waiting for me (thanks cousin Dave).  

2. I received several hugs from my snuggly first cousins once removed (thanks Nathan and Maggie).

3. I found my new church! 

Just kidding, this is the church of Scientology, I stumbled upon it while catching the bus...

4.  DC Bus, I've heard great things about the DC buses and I hoped aboard one to make a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Target.  I didn't have to wait long and we covered the distance in record time. I've always enjoyed the bus, but the traffic in NYC was always a drawback. Today that wasn't a problem.  Only issue was a group of like 20 greek tourists (not Greeks, but like sorority/fraternity greeks) decided to ride the bus and pay in cash.

5. Target! I think it took me less than a half hour to get to Target (walking, waiting for bus, riding bus, walking).  In NYC I was spending up to an hour to get to a Target.

6. My apartment has a washer/dryer...  Not a washer and a dryer, but a washer/dryer combo machine.  I tested it out right away, not sure if I'm doing everything right, but the clothes did come out smelling clean and feeling dry.  She's Italian, I may have to come up with an Italian name for her.

7. Whole Food's fall display.  I went to Whole Foods twice today, once to grab a snack and then I went back to do some grocery shopping.  The first trip the fall display took my breath away.  When I went back, all the pumpkins were gone and the mums were picked over, but it was still fabulous.  The store was also a ton more crowded the second time, so I'll have to remember that when picking my shopping time.

8. Neighborhood architecture and history.  There are lots of cool buildings and houses in the neighborhood.  I can't wait to explore all the streets.

9. Leaves turning. There are trees in DC and a lot of trees in Maryland!  They are starting to be gorgeous and I can't get enough of them.

IRENE!!!!

My first real hurricane... not real excited.  As channel 7 just said, "she's putting the motion in the ocean".  I was spreading the news at work today about "knowing your zone" and preparing evacuation kits and filling bathtubs (I guess I'll fill my sink, I don't have a bathtub).  I dug out my flashlights and stopped by the grocery store tonight.  What are people buying in NYC?  Water, bread, peanut butter, chips, and beer seemed to be the top sellers.  The craziest thing yet is that MTA is shutting down Saturday at noon.  I'm in zone B, which means I'm not being evacuated, but only a few blocks away from zone A, which was told to move to higher ground.  The building I was living in last year at this time is being evacuated and they are warning people above the 10th floor to move down.  

Anyway the weather was pretty lovely today and I have several magazines and knitting to keep me occupied.  

And something that makes me happy everyday on my way home...  When entering the subway and you swipe your metro card it may tell you one of four or so things.  1) Please swipe again 2) Please swipe again at this turnstile 3) Insufficient fare or 4) Go  Well the middle turnstile at the northwest corner of 41st and 7th ave tells you...

GOO

Makes me smile every time.

Mizzou family

I tell anyone who will listen that I play football.  Well usually the conversation goes like this:  

Boss/Coworker/person in the elevator:  Got any big plans this weekend?

Me:  Not really, playing football on Saturday (or Sunday).

Boss/Coworker/person in the elevator: Oh really!  Where do you play?  Who do you play with?

Me:  All over the city, randall's island, roosevelt island, riverbank state park, etc..  I play with my Mizzou friends.

But really they have grown to be more than my Mizzou friends or my football friends to being my Mizzou family in New York.  And two weekends ago I was lucky enough to attend the wedding of the Captain and the Quarterback (aka Susan & Sean).

They wed in Madison Square Park, which is one of nicest little parks in the city.  Home of the original Shake Shack and always has art exhibits going on.  On their big day the park also had the Fonz (aka Henry Winkler) walking around and taking pictures.

the flat iron building and park art

the mister of honor, officiant, groom, and best man waiting for the bride

After the wedding we walked to Blue Smoke for the reception.  The meal was delicious.  I had brisket, pulled pork, blue grits, hushpuppy, salad, and green beans (I regretfully left the ribs and wings on the buffet). There was music, dancing, and cake!  

Tigers in wedding attire (and yes the bride and groom played the next day)

What happens to snow in NYC

The snow hasn't completely melted since the after Christmas storm. Its been melting some and then snowing some and been pushed around and salted and sanded and well mixed with trash. With all of that you get something that looks like this:

oh Spring, please bring us some pretty

In related news, melting snow caused my power to go out for several hours yesterday. I'm proud to report I was able to cook dinner on the gas stove, shower, and get ready to go out with only a little help from a flashlight.

Out my window

I haven't posted a good "out my window" picture in awhile. But this sunset last week deserves to be seen!

Happy Birthday America

Every year I am surprised by how much red, white, and blue you see on Puerto Rican Day... and how little you see on the 4th of July in New York City. So today determined to see plenty of 4th of July spirit I headed to Coney Island.

First on the agenda: Hot dog eating contest

I arrived in Coney Island right before noon and right into a huge crowd ready to watch. After 50 minutes of spectacle the eaters were off! The whole thing was a bit like a soap opera, especially with Kobayashi trying to rush the stage.

I didn't have the best view, but the big screen gave me a close up to the action

This guy was crazy. The MC and I think he is the chairman of Major League Eating. Here he is saying something like "Eating hot dogs is our Destiny"

Stage show included a Nathan's dance team and dancing hot dogs

Second up: Boardwalk and beach

I don't know how the rest of the US is fairing, but there is a bit of a Northeastern heat wave going on here. I barely survived the boardwalk.

The beach was crowded and full of umbrellas

#3: Luna Park

Luna Park is the new amusement park that opened this year in Coney Island. Luna took over the area that was Astroland. I didn't ride but there were several rides that looked pretty fun.

Fourth stop: Freak Show

Everytime I've been to Coney Island I've been intrigued by the side show, but I've never gone before. Once because I was scared, once it was closed, another time the others in my group weren't interested... well today I wasn't going to let anything hold me back. I bought my ticket and went inside. The show included:

Nail and drill in the nose

Sword swallowing

Fire eating/spitting

Snake dancing

Mouse trap on the tongue (yeah...)

Electric chair girl

Self proclaimed Seal boy

Verdict- I don't know that I needed to see any of that. The nail in the nose was definitely the hardest to watch.

Fifth item: Spot some Red White and Blue

Not as much as I would hope, but I spotted some awesome outfits. No pictures, but my favorite male outfit goes to the man on the Q train wearing a red and white gingham shirt with Chambray shorts and brown topsiders. Favorite female outfit goes to the woman on the times square platform in a very cute dress that was red and white stripe on top and blue on the bottom.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Thanksgiving Day

My first ever attempt at pecan pie with homemade crust. It was amazing.

Matt toasting our meal

We weren't able to get very close at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but could still enjoy the balloons

Elf

Snoopy

Mickey

Fireman

Doggy

SANTA!!!!

Looking down Central Park West after the Parade had ended for us

Take my hand we'll make it I swear

Jello... its often the little things that set you back in NYC. On Friday I stopped by the Food Cellar to collect the last ingredients I needed for my family's legendary cranberry salad. I had been invited to a pre-Thanksgiving party and decided to bring the cranberry dish. Those in my family will know that something everyone loves and we use it to test the new comers in the family (try it- we like you, refrain from tasting- you'll have to work a little bit harder for us to like you). So back to the jello. The dish requires apples, an orange, can of crushed pineapple, bag of fresh cranberries, little sugar, and two boxes of lemon jello. The Food Cellar had everything but the jello. When I asked if they had it somewhere hidden, customer service responded that they only had it already made. Saturday morning came and I still needed the Jello. So I set out on a trek to Key Foods, a 1.3 mile walk away (I acknowledge there were other options a store 1 mile way, checking the delis, heading into Manhattan). I had wanted to walk over to Brooklyn anyway, so it was as good as excuse to go. Key Foods did have the jello (they have everything!).

View looking towards Manhattan from the Pulaski bridge

Mid bridge

Back towards LIC

Toll booths for the midtown tunnel

Art along the bridge

Success! It turned out great. And there was at least one new believer at the dinner party.

Bontaj Brooklyn

Wednesday night I was the lucky recipient of a coworkers extra ticket to see "BonTaj Roulet" staring Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band at the band shell in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. We arrived a little late and entered during the lull between the opening act ending and Bonnie Raitt starting. After walking past Keri Russell we found a place in the back to spread a blanket. Bonnie came on and sadly she was the size of an ant from where we were sitting:

But out of nowhere a girl comes up to me and asks if we would like to move to the reserved section up front, that they were trying to fill up the front a bit for Bonnie. She gave us four tickets and to the front we went. New view from our chairs:

Bonnie was amazing and feisty. I knew more of her songs than I thought.

After Bonnie played for awhile "Taj Mahal" came out and played with her. He was pretty awesome and very expressive. They played off each other marvelously and had the entire crowd (all older than me) up and dancing in the aisles. To top the night off I successfully rode the G train down and back, and it wasn't half bad.

A former Manhattanite attempts to ride the G train

Warning: this sign is incorrect... apparently it never extends. I ended up riding the G one stop to Court Square and barely get off in time before it turned around and went back.

Maintenance train in the subway station.