This is how I spent lunch....

Watching a scene be filmed of Sex and the City the movie. That's Sarah Jessica Parker in the wedding dress, Kristin Davis in the black, Cynthia Nixon in the blue, and Kim Catrall behind SJP wearing red.
I cannot say it enough, I LOVE New York.

Still taking advantage of the IT guy's computer....

Welcome to my new(ish) apartment! I finally took some pictures and was inspired by Katherine's informative post about her new apartment, so here it is! I hope you will enjoy the walking tour.

When you walk in the front door (there's no label but it's to the right of that framed mirror) and turn to the right you see this long hallway.

When you walk down and turn left you will see our little kitchen (actually pretty good for NY standards.) Here is Chelsie pretending to cook. :) Please notice the dishwasher. Yay!

Then if you pass the kitchen and continue down the hallway you'll wind up in our living room/eating room. (The kitchen table and chairs are to your right.) Here we have Sarah enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon movie. The couch she's laying on lays down flat into a queen size futon, and the red couch pulls out into a sofa bed. Come visitors, come!! Please notice the window...you'll see the view in a second.

Now I was standing by the couch, where Sarah was. She's enjoying watching Transformers.

Here's the fun view from the eating area, into the kitchen.

Here's the view out of that window. Pretty much just buildings in construction phase, BUT there is that space where you can see the Hudson River. Every day when I come home from work the sun is setting and the sky is gorgeous and the water is shimmering. It lets a golden glow into the apartment and I love it. At night it's all lit up. One night I saw a cruise ship going by. That is the general direction of the Statue of Liberty and if those buildings weren't in the way we'd probably see her. (When I'm walking to the grocery store just a couple blocks I can get a shot of her.) That area of land you see on the other side of the water is New Jersey.

Now we're back at the front door. This is as if you'd just walked in and looked straight ahead.

This is my and Sarah's bathroom. There's like, zero counter space, and only the cupboards that you see, no drawers. I bought shelves and we make do. Gotta love New York and the limited storage.

Okay, let me state that our bedroom is totally crammed, totally thrown together, not cutesy at all. Nothing matches or even really fits (especially that black chair to your right that protrudes out.) But there's just no storage so we just make it work for now. ONE day I'll be able to afford my own place and fabulous matching, nice, everything. This picture was taken as if you walked in and are looking to your right. That's my bed, and general area.

This is taken from the other angle, standing in front of the closet. Sarah was in the middle of doing laundry, so don't judge her mess, haha. That window you see is actually pretend and doesn't go to anything. (Our building used to be an office building, and it's a law that every room must have a window so it's just for looks.) It's really great for sleeping because at any time of day the room is pitch black so you sleep pretty well, but it's rough getting up in the morning.

This was taken while I was sitting on my bed. Like I said, pretty cluttered. I do my best to find homes for things, but it's seriously difficult. Obviously I'm in dire need of Oprah's designer cutie-patootie Nate Berkus to do a makeover. No decorating skills + no space = my bedroom.

Now, we're back standing near the front door. If you turn to your left you'll see the other girl's rooms. This was originally one big bedroom, but that wall was built and it's converted into two. Betsy's room is the first, and as you can see you walk through it to get to Chelsie's room, and their bathroom is attached.

I hope you've enjoyed your trip through my apartment. Like I said, the decorating could use some help, but we're poor and living in Manhattan. Just takes some time. :) I absolutely love it. I'll post some pics of the neighborhood soon!

Happy Halloween!

This last Saturday was the single adult Halloween party/dance in the Lincoln Square building. It was so fun! Here's some of the pictures. (PS Please excuse what looks like a protruding belly! That costume was totally vinyl/plastic-ish, so it wasn't exactly form fitting and not flattering in some of the pics!)

All ready to go!

The subway ride that took forever.

Delaware Taylor and me.

Taylor attempting to teach me how to salsa dance. As it turns out, I'm horrible.

My boys Scottie, Steve, and Mike.

Steve thinks he's a hottie. We go back to 2003 so I can just laugh at him and tell him he's not, haha.

A bunch of girls dressed up as different barbies. They were really cute.

Chelsie and me with our friend Jami, one of the barbies. What a doll.

Chelsie's about to tell me my fortune.

Yes, those are ladies' shorts they bought at DI.

On the subway ride home Chelsie was sitting next to either the largest asian woman I've ever seen, or a transi.....

The great thing about New York is public transportation. It was so fun being out and about and seeing everyone in costume. Sometimes you weren't sure if people were in costume, or if that's just how they really dressed. It was fun though because for some reason being in costume makes newyorkers more friendly. When walking the streets everyone felt the need to say hi if they were in costume as well. It was great!

PS For a FABULOUS costume check out this!

Happy Halloween from Ryan

I stole these from my sister's blog. I miss my nephew.

More pictures from the fire

Here's some more pictures from the fire. These were taken from the backyard of our neighbors directly across the street, Mike and Dana. They have one of the only houses that doesn't have a fence between their backyard and the canyon, so the firemen used their place as a hub.

The flying embers. Scary!


This one is from the side of their house. You can see the fire truck and then the house across the street is my parents'.

So scary.

There's Mike and Dana.

Watering down their deck. This is what most people were doing to keep everything wet so the embers wouldn't catch fire when they landed.

This one looks like hot lava.

After seeing these photos I am convinced it was a miracle our houses were saved. I am so grateful for the fire fighters who came out, and all the neighbors who came together to help out.

To answer Elise's question...

No, I can't post at work again, I've just been abusing the priviledge of the Jamaican IT man who flirts with me and lets me use his laptop at work. There was an awkward moment, however, when I went into his "my pictures" file to upload some of my own and I stumbled upon porn!! (I was sure to delete my photos after I used them!)
PS Di-this reminded me of your hilarious parenting antics....hahahahahahahhaha, I crack up just thinking about that story.

Pictures from the fire

My neighbor Brian Andre took some pictures and emailed them out. These are just a few of them. Seeing the pictures really puts into view what my parents were trying to explain to me. Seeing the pictures is so scary, I really can't imagine having been there. I don't think I could have believed our houses weren't going to be eaten up by the fire. Brian sent the pictures in a timeline, which illistrated very clearly how the fired crept closer and closer, as the hours passed.

This picture shows the line of fire creeping up towards our street.

Brian took this standing on our side of the street. That is his family's house pictured.

This is at the bottom of Glenn Ranch Road. You drive up that hill to get to my neighborhood. You can see the line of fire. As it progresses up the hill it gets closer to the top, which is where our homes are located.

This picture is taken of Foothill Ranch, our neighboring community. It is within the boundaries of my high school and ward so I know many people who live there. Notice the size of the flames compared to the houses. A lot of my friends had to evacuate.

Everyone has been complaining of the smoke in the air. I can see why. In the middle of the picture, a little to the left you can see a little speck. That's a helicopter; kind of gives perspective on all the smoke.

I'm told the heat was so intense, and the sound of the fire was so loud. It was compared to jet engines. I just can't even imagine..... We're now being told the area burned was within 30-50 feet of our homes! Luckily, there were firefighters in the backyards of about every other house, and fire engines about every 3-4 houses. Not to mention, our very own Tony Dominguez, a fire captain for the LAFD! He hooked up two fire hoses to his pool and Erik Larsen, our next door neighbor, took charge of the other hose. The silver lining in disasters is seeing everyone come together to help.

I think this is the scariest picture. That is the Andres' house again. The "snow" you see is actually falling ash. It has been raining ashes for days. I know I keep saying this, but I really can't imagine seeing this in person.

Good news!!!

Guess who's coming into town in TWO, count em TWO weeks??? Chelse!!!! I am so so so so so excited! (Obviously.)


She flies in on a red eye and gets here early Friday Nov 9. Luckily I only work half day that day, and then she'll be here till Tues morning! I'm so happy I work for a bank and get Monday off (go Veterans!) so we can play all weekend!!!!
Can't wait to see you Chels!!!!!

You know that hypothetical question, "If your house is on fire and you have only one thing to grab, what would you get?" Not so hypothetical....

It's not that drastic in the case of my parents' house, but pretty close. Like my friend Missy said, I really shouldn't even speak because so many have lost so much, but many people have asked about my parents' house, so here's kind of an update.
I actually don't know a ton, because the media coverage in NY isn't as detailed on the topic as I wish it was, so I'm going off of what I read online and hear from my family.
My mom called me yesterday after work saying they might have to evacuate, and asked what I wanted her to grab out of my room. My mind started rushing. I have no idea!! I did think of my scrapbooks, journal, and hope chest, which has many things of great sentimental value.
Portola Hills (my neighborhood) has only received orders to voluntarily evacuate, so a lot of people stayed home. I was worried, but kind of figured things would be okay.
This morning I couldn't get a hold of my mom and knew my dad was supposed to be on a flight to Texas, so I got in touch with my sister-in-law Elise. She and Jason live in San Diego so I wanted to get the update on them, and her parents who live in Oceanside. Her parents don't live too close to any open fields so they're okay, and Jason and Elise live in the middle of a city, and right next to the ocean, so they're in a great location. She said she'd heard from Jason, who heard from my mom, that she'd woken up in the middle of the night and my dad wasn't there. She found him across the street helping Tony Dominguez (our neighbor who's a fireman captain) and a bunch of other neighbors fight off fires. What?! I tried calling my dad to see if I could get him on the phone, and luckily I did.
He told me my mom had fallen asleep while they were watching the news, and he was just laying there, so he decided to go outside to see if he could help anyone. Tony had a fireman's hose at his house, so they were using that, as well as some other equipment, I really don't know all the details. There were many there, all trying to help each other out. The houses across the street from mine back up to a big canyon called Whiting Ranch. There is lots of dry brush, so it's not the best thing for fires. My dad said the flames were 75-100 yards away, and about 30 feet up in the air. There were firemen everywhere, and a fire engine about every fourth house. The firemen were directing my dad and the others how they could help. They assured them our homes weren't in danger, because the area leading up to the homes was clear of any shrubbery. My dad said that made everyone feel better, but they were still nervous as they watched the flying embers fly across the street and landing in their (very dry from the lack of rain) trees and grass. Everyone was hosing down their houses and yards, trying to just keep things wet.
My mom said there is so much ash falling, it's like it's snowing. My dad told me yesterday his eyes were burning all day, even though he was indoors, from all the smoke in the air. My brother Jason couldn't go to work yesterday or today because their office was closed.
This is pretty much all I know for now. Oh yeah, the fires in our area are 30% contained for now, and the Santa Ana winds changed to a north direction, which is away from our neighborhood, but it could always change back. Oh, and the most depressing thing, the fires by my house were caused by arson. I can't even think about it, it makes me so sick. I get so depressed looking at the pictures of peoples' homes engulfed in flames.
I hope you will all join me in prayers for everyone's safety, and for the fires to be diminished as soon as possible.
Thanks everyone for your concern.

I hijacked my roommate's computer because I had to show everyone this...

I have felt so much Halloween love the last two days! Yesterday when I got to work there was an adorable little Halloween basket with my name and candy in it. The wife of one of the guys I work with/for made the cute little baskets for a couple of the other assistants and me. I thought it was so sweet! For the most part, being an assistant can be a pretty thankless job (unless you work for my wonderful boss) so it was great to know someone else out there thought about us!
Then, this morning I went to clean the church and then had Enrichment and came home to this little package from my adorable sister-in-law Elise! (Well, it was signed from Jason too, who I know cares about me, but let's be honest, I know Elise was the baker and sender of the cute package.) There was a yummy pumpkin loaf inside! It was so delish and held up perfectly across the 3000 mile trip to my apartment! It literally tasted like she'd just baked it! Thanks so much Elise!
Then, the mail came and my cute Grandma Hope sent me a Halloween card with $5. Love her for still thinking of me. What a doll.
Thanks everyone!
PS Yes, I just realized my address is in the picture.....but I've already posted about my new apartment and where it was located...if you're going to stalk me you can deal with my doorman.

Mac predicament

Okay, sooooo, I have to admit, every time I've used a Mac I feel like they're kind of slow. Everyone who's a Mac user says they're not, sooo, is something wrong with me? I really don't want to buy one if it's going to be slow. (Also, will I ever be able to get past not having a right click? I love the right click. I need the right click.)

My 5 seconds of blog fame

Check out my shoutout here!

Check out who just bought an apartment two blocks from mine

I'm thinking Saturday brunches for Jen and Rae.