We finally got some snow here in NY! It was pretty, it accumulated about 9 inches here, and now the sun is out and everything is fine. Its quite slushy outside but not a big problem. Surprisingly, NYC public schools had a snow day yesterday. I always thought New Yorkers were above snow days.
Last night during the storm Laura and I went over to the bar and stayed much longer than we meant to and drank a little too much. Whoops! What is it about 773?
Since 2004 I have sent out a daily e mail each day of the Olympics called Your Hot Olympian of the Day. Each e mail highlighted a good looking Olympic athlete participating in the games and came with around 3 pictures. This year I decided to make it a blog so that people can forward it and share it and to keep them all in one place. I'm very excited. Both that blog and the new header on this blog were designed by my friend Kirstin at Purple Monkey Designs. If you ever need any web design or similar service I highly recommend her work.
Your Hot Olympian of the Day
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Fancy Hotels and Cheap Chocolate Candies
Another working weekend has passed for me. Both Saturday and Sunday we had birthday parties at the studio and it was fun and insanely busy. Best part: sometimes we get tips and sometimes we get cupcakes!
Last night was the Superbowl and after work I met up with Laura and her college friends India and Meredith. Meredith was in town from NC, where she works, for business and just happened to have a room at the Waldorf-Astoria. We thought it would be fun to watch the game in sweats there. The hotel was beautifully appointed as far as the lobby was concerned but the room was just a really nice hotel room. The windows and window dressings were ornate and remarkable and it had a really nice bathroom and a mini-bar which I've rarely seen, but otherwise it wasn't as shockingly lavish as I'd hoped.
Today Sarah came over and we made chocolate suckers with a kit I had gotten at work. I had a babysitter when I was in elementary school who made chocolate suckers for every occasion as a little cottage industry and I couldn't resist the kit when it came in a shipment of Valentine stock. Decorating the suckers was much harder than I anticipated, but the project was totally fun and the candy is as good as I remembered it.
Laura is home now and we just had leftovers from Rachel's feast and will soon be watching The Bachelor and playing Trivial Pursuit. I love Monday's off. Unfortunately I'll soon be trying to get temp jobs for all my weekdays off.
Please keep you fingers crossed that Jake can get a bus up here for the weekend. I don't really know what the bus route looks like, or what precautions the New Century bus service uses or what kind of cancellation policy they may have. I just know that its going to be the Olympics AND Valentines Day and I really want Jake to be here for both things. I'm really worried that the weather might hold him up.
Last night was the Superbowl and after work I met up with Laura and her college friends India and Meredith. Meredith was in town from NC, where she works, for business and just happened to have a room at the Waldorf-Astoria. We thought it would be fun to watch the game in sweats there. The hotel was beautifully appointed as far as the lobby was concerned but the room was just a really nice hotel room. The windows and window dressings were ornate and remarkable and it had a really nice bathroom and a mini-bar which I've rarely seen, but otherwise it wasn't as shockingly lavish as I'd hoped.
Today Sarah came over and we made chocolate suckers with a kit I had gotten at work. I had a babysitter when I was in elementary school who made chocolate suckers for every occasion as a little cottage industry and I couldn't resist the kit when it came in a shipment of Valentine stock. Decorating the suckers was much harder than I anticipated, but the project was totally fun and the candy is as good as I remembered it.
Laura is home now and we just had leftovers from Rachel's feast and will soon be watching The Bachelor and playing Trivial Pursuit. I love Monday's off. Unfortunately I'll soon be trying to get temp jobs for all my weekdays off.
Please keep you fingers crossed that Jake can get a bus up here for the weekend. I don't really know what the bus route looks like, or what precautions the New Century bus service uses or what kind of cancellation policy they may have. I just know that its going to be the Olympics AND Valentines Day and I really want Jake to be here for both things. I'm really worried that the weather might hold him up.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Zabar's
I can now say I have lived the Upper West Side Life: I've shopped at Zabar's. No I don't live on the Upper West Side, but I work there and have been learning a lot about UWS culture. For a reference point: think Seinfeld. Tonight after work I met Rachel and we had to go and get ink for the printer at the portrait studio. The plan was for Rachel to make me dinner (she is a student at the French Culinary Institute) at my apartment in Brooklyn. Since we were already off the Subway and weren't sure Met would be open when we got home we ended up going to Zabar's. Fancy! Expensive! Yikes! Rachel was running around like a kid in a candy store grabbing mushrooms, spices, pancetta, a whole chicken! We were both shocked when the total came up! Oops! So right now Rachel is cooking me a dinner that cannot be beat. Can't wait to taste it.
I've been hearing loads about the huge blizzard in Virginia and its making me so homesick. I can't even explain why. I'm just longing for that snowed-in nowhere to go feeling usually accompanied by, well, company! Not that I'm lonely, I just miss my family! And home friends! And boyfriend! I mean really!
Also some really bad news: I had my work hours cut back drastically and now will have to find a second job. Not my favorite. Nothing bad happened, they just don't need to have as many staff on at any given time now that the Holiday rush is over. I'm really sad as things were so good with my employment status, but I'm glad I still have the job and and scouting out opportunities of all kinds.
I've been hearing loads about the huge blizzard in Virginia and its making me so homesick. I can't even explain why. I'm just longing for that snowed-in nowhere to go feeling usually accompanied by, well, company! Not that I'm lonely, I just miss my family! And home friends! And boyfriend! I mean really!
Also some really bad news: I had my work hours cut back drastically and now will have to find a second job. Not my favorite. Nothing bad happened, they just don't need to have as many staff on at any given time now that the Holiday rush is over. I'm really sad as things were so good with my employment status, but I'm glad I still have the job and and scouting out opportunities of all kinds.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
An Appreciation of my Galoshes.
Something interesting I learned the other night is that when it snows its as quiet outside in Brooklyn as in Strasburg. That is something I never would have believed before living here. Tuesday night it snowed and the ground was white when I got up yesterday morning but it was all gone by the time I got to work really. I hear they have quite a bit more snow back home.
About five years ago I bought purple paisley rain boots on a whim while shopping at the mall in Towson. We were there because it was 'Michael's mall' and I always thought of those boots as my Michael's Mall Boots. I had the boots all that time and never wore them. Too much hassle to have to change shoes when all I ever needed was to get from the house to the car and the car to wherever. Sometimes I even felt bad having them when I didn't need them. I'm so glad I held onto them though, now I couldn't do without them. Rainboots are a must in NY. The puddles are deep here, even days after a rain and that's not just water pooling there in the street. You don't even wanna know what it is! I do so much more walking in weather nowdays. Thank you purple boots! And thank goodness rain boots are in style these days.
Today is my day off, so of course its sunny outside. Hope everyone in VA is safe and warm and has plenty Milk Bread and Toilet Paper. :)
About five years ago I bought purple paisley rain boots on a whim while shopping at the mall in Towson. We were there because it was 'Michael's mall' and I always thought of those boots as my Michael's Mall Boots. I had the boots all that time and never wore them. Too much hassle to have to change shoes when all I ever needed was to get from the house to the car and the car to wherever. Sometimes I even felt bad having them when I didn't need them. I'm so glad I held onto them though, now I couldn't do without them. Rainboots are a must in NY. The puddles are deep here, even days after a rain and that's not just water pooling there in the street. You don't even wanna know what it is! I do so much more walking in weather nowdays. Thank you purple boots! And thank goodness rain boots are in style these days.
Today is my day off, so of course its sunny outside. Hope everyone in VA is safe and warm and has plenty Milk Bread and Toilet Paper. :)
Monday, February 1, 2010
We Are The World!
A couple of nights before the Hope For Haiti Now telethon and concert aired I commented to Laura that this would be an excellent time for the stars of today to come together and rerecord We Are The World. The lyrics to the song are completely applicable and I have been thinking for a while that its time we brought back the charity pop/rock collaboration anthem. So I was thrilled when I finally got up today and was greeted by a note on the bathroom mirror from Laura:
We Are The World for Haiti being released today :)I remember when the first We Are The World music video came on TV when I was a little kid. I remember watching the whole thing and loving Michael Jackson and feeling so excited and I remember going to the dining room after and finding my dad's old pair of giant earphones by the hifi and putting them on, swaying and singing a chorus of the song, pretending to be one of the artists. I do not remember if this imaginary performance was private or if I did it for the benefit of mom too.
Today I've been watching the internet eager for updates on the artists and format of the new recording. I can't wait for the actual release and watching the video and reading the Wikipedia entry about the original I hope the new one has everything we love. I intend to buy the single and I hope it makes history just like the first one. I hope that it raises lots of money for Haiti and I hope it spurs a resurgance of the charity power anthem. I'm so excited!
Sunday: The New Friday
Everyone else's weekend is ending on this Sunday night, but my weekend begins now. I usually have Monday and Tuesday off and this week is the same. Weekdays off are fun and different than standard weekends. I get better tv, and its not as though work prevents me from going out on weekend nights if I like.
Friday evening I met up with Laura DeWitt and some teachers she used to work with at a bar and grill called Delta in midtown. The place was southern themed, with barbecue and gumbo and po'boys. It was pretty good although, don't go to NYC if you want to eat really good barbecue. I'm just saying. The company was great though and the atmosphere was fun.
Saturday morning I got up extra early to go to the Doctor in Harlem. Laura DeWitt met me for coffee at whole foods in Columbus Circle, which is where Trump Towers is. Whole Foods is a grocery store but this one was super fancy and had about a trillion different kinds of breakfast breads and a coffee bar and cafeteria seating off to one side. Then I went into work. I ended up doing three shoots!! First was a family with a 3 month old baby girl and a dog. We worked and worked but didn't get the greatest shots ever. Next was a couple with a little girl that they had been bringing in every month since she was born. They gave her lots of toys and it was a disorganized and distracting photo shoot with the parents shouting from every direction in the studio and not letting us manage things. I didn't finish this shoot because my boss called me out to come help edit the previous shoot and give me some pointers about getting better shots. It was really helpful to see what she was talking about. Third was a shoot with a sweet baby girl and her mom and dad. I got the best pictures of the day from them.
Last night Laura and I went to a party over at Sarah's. Her sister is moving in with her and it was a sort of housewarming/welcome for her. It was so bitterly cold out and I was tired of long underwear and jeans and sweaters so I decided that despite the freeze I was going to wear a cute dress. I wore regular tights, then socks up to my thighs, then a pair of boxer briefs on my bottoms. I wore a tank top, a slip, a long sleeved t-shirt, then the dress as my top. Then I wore a jacket and then my coat, hat, scarf and gloves. Then I put my hood up. I was still cold. It was fun though to wear an outfit for a change. Work is casual and some of the girls wear cute stuff but mostly I just wear the standard Katy dress and lately its the standard Katy three or four layers as it is always cold in the shop and on the walk to work. Anyway the party was fun and it was nice to go do something a little different.
Today I worked again. When I got to work they were having a huge birthday party for a one year old. The family of the birthday girl had hired a children's musician and while he performed in the studio my boss photographed the kids and their families and the reactions to the performer. Each child got to take home a print of themselves in a frame with their name on it. While they had cake etc they all watched a slide show of the photos from the performance. We have several different party packages, based on the age of the party people but this family pulled out all the stops, bringing bagels and coffee, cheese trays, a gorgeous cake and cupcakes for the baby guests. They had a catered meal too. Manhattan mom's crack me up because they all have beautiful cakes at their kids birthday parties but they don't let their kids eat cake, apparently even on special occasions. Unfortunately the family took all the leftovers with them when they left. All the leftovers except one bottle of wine they had opened. Oops. After that I got a $25 tip from helping with the party and the store pretty much cleaned out. Shannon and I finished out the day and the bottle of wine and it was kind of fun being in the store while it was quiet and having some wine.
Something awesome that also happened is that a woman from one of my good photo shoots last week came back. They had bought a pretty sizable package right after their shoot but she came back to the store to buy another $150 of extra prints. She loved them and was so happy with them and I am so happy with them and I'd had a little wine, but I just couldn't help but feel great about it.
Friday evening I met up with Laura DeWitt and some teachers she used to work with at a bar and grill called Delta in midtown. The place was southern themed, with barbecue and gumbo and po'boys. It was pretty good although, don't go to NYC if you want to eat really good barbecue. I'm just saying. The company was great though and the atmosphere was fun.
Saturday morning I got up extra early to go to the Doctor in Harlem. Laura DeWitt met me for coffee at whole foods in Columbus Circle, which is where Trump Towers is. Whole Foods is a grocery store but this one was super fancy and had about a trillion different kinds of breakfast breads and a coffee bar and cafeteria seating off to one side. Then I went into work. I ended up doing three shoots!! First was a family with a 3 month old baby girl and a dog. We worked and worked but didn't get the greatest shots ever. Next was a couple with a little girl that they had been bringing in every month since she was born. They gave her lots of toys and it was a disorganized and distracting photo shoot with the parents shouting from every direction in the studio and not letting us manage things. I didn't finish this shoot because my boss called me out to come help edit the previous shoot and give me some pointers about getting better shots. It was really helpful to see what she was talking about. Third was a shoot with a sweet baby girl and her mom and dad. I got the best pictures of the day from them.
Last night Laura and I went to a party over at Sarah's. Her sister is moving in with her and it was a sort of housewarming/welcome for her. It was so bitterly cold out and I was tired of long underwear and jeans and sweaters so I decided that despite the freeze I was going to wear a cute dress. I wore regular tights, then socks up to my thighs, then a pair of boxer briefs on my bottoms. I wore a tank top, a slip, a long sleeved t-shirt, then the dress as my top. Then I wore a jacket and then my coat, hat, scarf and gloves. Then I put my hood up. I was still cold. It was fun though to wear an outfit for a change. Work is casual and some of the girls wear cute stuff but mostly I just wear the standard Katy dress and lately its the standard Katy three or four layers as it is always cold in the shop and on the walk to work. Anyway the party was fun and it was nice to go do something a little different.
Today I worked again. When I got to work they were having a huge birthday party for a one year old. The family of the birthday girl had hired a children's musician and while he performed in the studio my boss photographed the kids and their families and the reactions to the performer. Each child got to take home a print of themselves in a frame with their name on it. While they had cake etc they all watched a slide show of the photos from the performance. We have several different party packages, based on the age of the party people but this family pulled out all the stops, bringing bagels and coffee, cheese trays, a gorgeous cake and cupcakes for the baby guests. They had a catered meal too. Manhattan mom's crack me up because they all have beautiful cakes at their kids birthday parties but they don't let their kids eat cake, apparently even on special occasions. Unfortunately the family took all the leftovers with them when they left. All the leftovers except one bottle of wine they had opened. Oops. After that I got a $25 tip from helping with the party and the store pretty much cleaned out. Shannon and I finished out the day and the bottle of wine and it was kind of fun being in the store while it was quiet and having some wine.
Something awesome that also happened is that a woman from one of my good photo shoots last week came back. They had bought a pretty sizable package right after their shoot but she came back to the store to buy another $150 of extra prints. She loved them and was so happy with them and I am so happy with them and I'd had a little wine, but I just couldn't help but feel great about it.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
STELLA!
Today I braved the Laundromat once again and got all my laundry done. I had also planned to clean up my whole room now that my bed has fresh clean sheets and all my clothes are clean but instead I threw out my back lugging the laundry cart up some steps and now I can't move. Nice. So tonight I'm laying on my heating pad and watching TV with Laura.
Speaking of TV, my friend Rachel lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and showed me some pictures she took of Tom's Diner when she first moved in. You know, Tom's Diner, that 'restaurant' neon place from Seinfeld and also the inspiration for the Suzanne Vega song? I was excited to see it and planned immediately to eat there with Rachel as soon as possible. It also inspired me to start recording Seinfeld episodes. Seinfeld reruns have been on since before the show even went off the air but I pretty much only watched the show in its original airing. I thought watching them now that I'm a bit older and also living in New York would be interesting. Anyway tonight Elaine threw out her back and took some muscle relaxants, reminding me that I have some muscle relaxants so I just took them. Hope it works soon and also hope I don't embarrass anyone by yelling STELLA like Elaine did because she took too many.
Speaking of TV, my friend Rachel lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and showed me some pictures she took of Tom's Diner when she first moved in. You know, Tom's Diner, that 'restaurant' neon place from Seinfeld and also the inspiration for the Suzanne Vega song? I was excited to see it and planned immediately to eat there with Rachel as soon as possible. It also inspired me to start recording Seinfeld episodes. Seinfeld reruns have been on since before the show even went off the air but I pretty much only watched the show in its original airing. I thought watching them now that I'm a bit older and also living in New York would be interesting. Anyway tonight Elaine threw out her back and took some muscle relaxants, reminding me that I have some muscle relaxants so I just took them. Hope it works soon and also hope I don't embarrass anyone by yelling STELLA like Elaine did because she took too many.
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