Wednesday, February 13, 2013

May 2012


Looking over my photos from May made me realize what a fantastic month it was, despite the disaster that goes along with this Mitt cutout.  My friend Jenna had an engagement party in the city in a building in midtown.  I got to the location at the same time as a bunch of her work friends from the Daily Show and, as we do, we all crammed into the elevator.  I think the event was on the 13th floor.  When we got to the floor, the elevator doors didn't open.  We thought it was strange, pushed the "door open" button, and then tried pushing 14.  We went up to 14, but the doors didn't open.  We pushed the "door open" button again, and then they did, just as we were falling about three floors.  We stopped between 11 and 12, terrified.

As I mentioned, the elevator was packed, and since I was the last one in, I was up at the front near the doors.  This is the point we started pushing the emergency button, and when nothing happened, I called 911.  Thankfully we had cell service in the elevator bank.  I have to say, it seemed like the fire department got to the building pretty quickly.  I think it took less than fifteen minutes, which is surprising when you think of New York traffic.  Every time I see an emergency vehicle trying to get through traffic I feel so badly for whoever is waiting for them.

The part seemed to take long, however, was shutting of the power for the elevators.  Once they were able to do that, they pried open the second door (the door that would open up attached to the building, and then the firemen helped us out.  They counted all of us as we climbed out and told us we just had too many people in the elevator, and that's why the doors wouldn't open; it was a safety precaution to keep the elevator from dropping with too much weight while someone was exiting the elevator.  I don't typically worry about these sorts of things, but I decided to take the stairs when I left that night.  To this day I still feel a little bolt of anxiety stepping in or out of elevators, imagining it dropping.


Mother's Day weekend my mom came out to visit.  It happened to be the same weekend of my first real race, a 10k!  It was the six mile loop in Central Park, which I'd only attempted once before.  I was surprised to find myself nervous for the race that morning.  I'd run more than six miles plenty of times, but there was a little prerace anxiety I wasn't prepared for.  After running more races now I've realized it's mostly just the buzz and energy of a race.

When I ran the loop the one time before I had to walk up the Harlem Hill, but I was shocked to find myself powering up it thanks to all the adrenaline.  Val and I ran most of the race together.


I treated my mom to a yummy brunch at Cookshop to celebrate Mother's Day, and then we walked the High Line, and went to church.


On Monday we crossed off one of my Thirty Before Thirty items and went to Ellis Island and saw my ancestors' names.  This was really cool and I highly recommend doing it once, even if you don't have an ancestor's name to see.


A couple weeks later we took a fantastic trip to the Berkshires.  That's me with the pink noodle in the pool and I spent hours upon hours there on Saturday and Sunday.  It was amazing.  The weather couldn't have been better and there was great company.  I love love love that house.




I spent Memorial Day going to Fire Island with Andrea, Lauren, Jenny, and Ashley, a first for me!  It is quite the trek out there; subway to Penn Station, then a train, then a shuttle, then a ferry.  Going out it was pretty seamless but coming back we had a bit of a wait between the shuttle and the train back into the city.  It took about four hours round trip, so I don't think I'd do it again just for a day trip, but it was definitely worth doing once.  We had such a fun time laying out, going to lunch, getting ice cream, and just relaxing.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Six years

I came to New York for freedom, adventure, and love, and I found all three in the most unlikely places.
Thank you.  I'm crazy for you.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

April 2012


Spent Easter with these nuggets in New Hampshire.  First time I've colored eggs in years.



Strolled through Poet's Walk every morning on my way to work.  Okay, I do this every month but love this photo from April.



Baseball season!!



After years of talking about it finally pulled the trigger and got SCUBA certified.
Also:
-became an auntie for the seventh(!) time when Jason and Elise welcomed little Lincoln into the world.
-went from kind of thinking I could run occasionally to signing up for and training for a half marathon.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

March 2012



Flew to Ft. Lauderdale with Jenn and some of her family and boyfriend (now fiance!!) to celebrate her 30th.  We spent time in South Beach and a day in Key Largo.  My favorite moment of the trip was enjoying this amazing key lime pie on the beach while the sun set.  My least favorite was going to the singles branch and realizing a counselor in the branch presidency was a kid I once babysat.  If that doesn't make you feel old I don't know what will.


Obsessed over the cheery blossoms, including those picture above on my very own street.  Spring is absolutely my favorite season.


Experienced the great city of Chicago for the first time as an adult and absolutely fell in love, while celebrating KP's 30th birthday.  I died over the pizza.


Spent the weekend with Meg and Gina, basically spending 36 hours acting like fools shopping, eating, and painting the town red.  It was the only time in my New York life that I've stayed out until last call.  I felt like such a party animal getting home at 5am.  Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote truly sums up the weekend, and our friendship: It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.


Monday, January 7, 2013

February 2012


Crossed off a bucket list item when I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York with my dad.  To say it was awesome is a huge understatement.  It is baseball heaven.  Even though it was so cold, I'm so glad we went in January during the off season.  We basically had the place to ourselves.  Every time I go to a museum I'm really enjoying I always wish I could be there without the crowds.  It was so nice to take our time and really only see a few other people the whole day.

There's a so much to see.  I think we spent about three or four hours there and could have easily spent all day.  We were beat by the time we were done.  Some of the highlights for me were seeing the following:

-the baseball from the first series of games at which admission was charged, September 10, 1858.
-the baseball hit by Ruth for his final career home run on May 25, 1935.
-the bat used for Ruth's legendary "called shot" home run during Game Three of the 1932 World Series against the Cubbies.
-Lou Gehrig's locker with his Yankees jersey hanging up and baseball hat.
-Hank Aaron's locker.
-Mariano River's spot among record holders for most saves of all time.
-the Yankee's 27th World Series trophy.
-every World Series pin and ring
-Curt Shilling's bloody sock
-signed ball used by the Yankee's Don Larsen on October 8, 1956.  The only perfect game thrown ever in a World Series.

And a couple quotes I loved:

"The fellows not only beat you, they tear your hearts out."
-Washington Senators first baseman Joe Judge, on the 1927 Yankees

"Major league baseball has done as much as any one thing in this country to keep up the spirit of the people."
-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt


It was like a spiritual experience.  It was so quiet and I just felt like the spirits of so many legends could be felt there.  Cheesy?  Maybe, but it truly was an unforgettable experience, and I'm so thankful I could go with my dad.  There were so many things I would have missed had I not had someone with so much baseball knowledge with me.  The night before we watched one of the dvds from the Ken Burns baseball documentary I gave him.  I was so happy we watched it, as I learned so much about the baseball greats in the 70s and 80s.

After we finished up we walked around Main Street.  There are so many souvenir shops with tons of memorabilia.  The people running the shops aren't too busy this time of year and they all chatted with us.  It was interesting to talk to them and hear about what the town is like at different points in the year.  My dad was in the middle of collecting an autographed baseball for the best player in each position.  One of the shop owners told us there's only about half a dozen autographed Shoeless Joe baseballs, as he was illiterate and didn't know how to sign his name until later in life.

I think when we went to Cooperstown my dad only had three of the baseballs he was collecting.  I'm pretty sure he bought three or four more and I don't think I've ever seen him so excited.  He was like a little boy.  While we were having lunch he kept pulling the baseballs out just so he could look at them.  I was so happy to be able to be with him when he picked these out, particularly Hank Aaron.  It was nice to see my dad spoil himself for once.


The following weekend I flew to Dallas to surprise my friend Becky.  Her husband Sean, also my good friend, had asked me almost a year prior if I could come down for a Yankees vs Rangers game.  It was unfortunately the same weekend as a wedding I was attending in Utah, and I couldn't find affordable flights any other weekend.  In February I found a screaming deal, so I jumped at the chance.  Becky was definitely confused by all the scheming from Sean, but I think we pulled off a great surprise.

It was only a quick trip, about 36 hours, but definitely a blast.  I got in late Friday night and was thrilled when I remembered In-N-Out is now in Texas.  Saturday morning I was able to spend a few hours with my cousins and aunt having brunch.  I was so happy to be able to see them all.

Saturday night a group of us got together for dinner at BJ's.  So many of my college friends live in Dallas now, which is so fun.  Tommy and Megan and Will and Jess didn't come out as it was tough to find babysitters, but it was so nice to be able to see my beloved Mikey Perkey, Katie, Toni, and meet her fiance.  We had a total blast.  Tommy and Megan had Sean, Becky, and I stop by after.  It was so great to see Tommy.  On one hand, he hasn't changed one bit from college.  He's still the crazy fun loving Tommy.  On the other, he's totally grown up with a wife, two kids, and a home.  He is the sweetest guy and I'm so happy I got to see him and meet his wife.


Sunday early afternoon it was time to fly back to New York.  Sad.  I had the best time in Dallas.  Seeing Becky and Sean's home they were building, and Tommy's home made me think how awesome it would be to settle down there.  I love Texas.  I love how many of my friends are there and family too.  It would be a fun place to raise a family.


I was so excited to find this hat from an online seller.  It has the very first Yankee logo on it.  I found it in a shop in Cooperstown but they didn't have my size, and no other shops had it.

January 2012


Enjoyed a very mild winter, only wearing my sleeping bag coat once, on this Saturday where I got absolutely destroyed walking the 3/4 mile to brunch.


Went to New Hampshire to celebrate Spencey's first birthday at a pirate party.  Man that kid is squishy!

January wasn't too noteworthy otherwise.  Jan 1 I came off a six week man-fast.  Dating sabbaticals are awesome.  It's such a nice time to regroup, focus on what you really want, and get rid of the riff raff.  My theory was proven that the best way to get someone to call or text you is to delete them from your phone.  90% of the time you'll hear from them.  If you don't, they're not worth being in your phone anyway.

2012


I really struggled blogging last year.  I think the rise in popularity of instagram has in a way satisfied the need to document/share, when in reality, unless you print out the photos (I don't) you're not documenting anything.  I don't like the idea of leaving so many memories to just my memory alone.  I'm going to attempt to post a shortish recap for each month.

The above is a collage I posted of the highs and lows of 2012: Cooperstown, surprise trip to Dallas, celebrating Kelly's 30th in Chicago, Gina and Meg's trip to NYC, enjoying some delicious key lime pie in Key Largo (celebrating Jen's 30th in Miami,) getting SCUBA certified, fun Yankees games, celebrating my 29th in South Beach with Chelse and Becky, my first half marathon with Karli, Kauai with my family, Berkshires trips, prep for the marathon that never happened, completing an 18 mile run, so much knee therapy, Roatan with Ethan, and Christmas at Brad and Nadia's.