Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Christmas Comes Early!
This morning it was like Christmas at our house :)
We are still recovering from our jet lag, so both Christopher and I were wide awake and out of bed at 5:45am this morning - not normal for us at all! And this morning we were greeted by a healthy snowfall which had accumulated over the early hours.
Like a kid on Christmas morning Christopher was eagerly awaiting a decent hour before he could open his gift - in this case fire up the brand-new snowblower. He sat by the window and anxiously awaited signs of the first neighbor outside with their snowblower and then quickly dressed to join in the fun!
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Movie Selection Methodology
We both happened to be in a particularly indecisive mood which is rare for us, and we were getting a little tired (so sad I know - we're getting old!). So we decided on a very objective method for selecting our movie for the evening - the runtime.
We quickly scoured the back covers of all the boxes:
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 166 min, forget that!
- Watchmen - 163 min, not much better, does anyone make movies under 2.5 hrs these days?!?
- Milk - 129 min, getting there...
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - 90 min, we have a winner!!!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Gloucester Wedding
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Brooklyn Wildlife
Monday, August 10, 2009
Dunder Mifflin & Architectural Salvage
Architectural salvage... basically this is a fancy way of saying building supply junkyard. It was our first time. We were completely & utterly overwhelmed by:
- the volume of *stuff* they had
- the way that everything was sort of organized, yet still seemed like a mess
- the variety interesting things in the inventory - there were from a HUGE marble mantle-type thing at least 15ft tall and must have weighed a TON, to a real boar's head
You can't really blame them for trying to take advantage of The Office popularity. We saw signs for a $35 "The Office" walking tour which takes you to locations referenced in the show. While wandering around the downtown we walked to the Radisson Lackawana Station Hotel. This is the location where Dwight gave his Salesman of the Year speech. While that episode was really funny, the hotel was, well - just a hotel.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Needles
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Evening Dog Walk
These ducks hopped into the water and swam off as soon as we got close to them. They had no intention of being Tyson's dinner! He was watched them intently as they paddled away.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Blog-Block
So I've decided to just skip ahead to today and post about current events, and hopefully this will motivate me to fill in the gaps. My apologies to my faithful readers (all 3 of them - lol) for my hiatus. Be sure to check out my older posts to find out what we've been up to since April :)
Monday, April 06, 2009
Twilight
I never got into the whole Buffy the Vampire Slayer scene, so I was skeptical. I mean really - how much would I enjoy a teen vampire romance novel? ALOT apparently!
After the first book I was hooked. I read it in about 2-3 days. Didn't do much else that weekend. I quickly placed holds on the remaining 3 books at the library. But like an addict, I couldn't just sit around and wait for my next fix. I needed to DO something to make it happen.
I scoured the online catalogs of the surrounding libraries that have reciprocal agreements with our town. I found a copy on the shelf, but it was 8:15pm and the library closed at 8pm. I came *this close* to breaking down and going to Barnes & Noble to buy it, but in a moment of strength refrained (luckily a new episode of Gossip Girl was on that evening).
Was I embarrassed when I went to pick up the book at the library the next day and a girl that couldn't have been much older than 13 asked me if I had seen the movie yet? YES! But I felt a little better about myself when the librarian told me that she had read all 4 books over her last vacation.
I am now in the middle of the fourth and final book. I have put my life on hold for this series - unable to do anything else until I have finished it. Laundry is piling up. The fridge is barren. My in-laws are coming for a visit this weekend so I need to finish the book tonight so I can have some time in the evenings to prepare for their visit.
I have yet to see the movie, but I doubt it will live up to my high expectations. Plus I am a little scared to watch it on my own - even though I know everything that happens, I would still prefer to wait for Christopher to come home on the weekend to watch it with me, just in case I have some vampire-filled nightmares.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Don't knock it till you've tried it
But I had never tried them, so how did I know? In my defense, every other kid I met shared the same impression so how could they all be wrong?
Well - kids are kids and peer pressure is a fierce thing.
The other night I decided to give the anchovies-on-pizza thing a try. And you know what? I actually liked it!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Conference Call Funny
A funny exchange had me laughing out loud
during a conference call yesterday. Good thing my phone was on mute!
Scenario: a question was raised about a preceding slide in the presentation
Presenter: What slide are you referring to?
Meeting Attendee: Slide number 27 in the presentation. It's the one with a picture of a river on it.
Presenter: It's a fjord actually.
LOL - this totally cracked me up. Even today, a whole day later I can't help but smile to myself when I think about it!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Philadelphia
Monday, March 09, 2009
Brooklyn: a Study in Minimalism
The apartment is the perfect size for Christopher and has a comfortable amount of space for a week's worth of clothes, frozen food from BJ's (Costco-equivalent), and the Xbox + games. But moving in there it really made us think about all the "stuff" we have back home. From ski/golf equipment stashed in our attic, to bookshelves filled with paperbacks, and textbooks from our student days. We have even gotten into the habit of buying things like shampoo & deodorant in multiple quantities from Amazon for cost savings
But this suburban style of living - where we can park our car steps from our front door, and we think nothing of buying 4 cases of soda when it's on sale, along with buying jumbo packs of paper towel & toilet paper is definitely not conducive to city living - especially in NYC.
I find it pretty cleansing to have a clean space. Sometimes when I go into our attic and am surrounded by all the clutter it makes my pulse race. And I know that my closet is definitely in need of a good spring cleaning. But when I think about giving/throwing away my stuff, I can't help but feel a little protective... What is it about "stuff", especially the stuff we don't use, that we're so attached to?
Friday, March 06, 2009
Energy Efficiency
I dug out the folder containing our past Connecticut Natural Gas bills and whipped up this chart using my good friend Excel:
Christopher and I are always looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency of our home. From what this chart indicates, it would appear that our gas consumption is significantly lower during the summer months. So, we're gonna look into an insulation blanket for our hot water tank (new in August 2007) since they are relatively inexpensive and we already insulated our pipes last year.
As a side note - I am feeling a mixture of pride in the geekiness of my analysis combined with embarassment of the fact that I am proud. And I did this whole thing on a Friday night to boot - definitely a sign that I'm getting old, or that I need a hobby!
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Ski Weekend
Monday, February 23, 2009
Craigslist Miracle!
Both the job and the apartment were found via Craigslist. It's a Craigslist Miracle!
I know that Christopher wants to come home to CT for most weekends, but I am super excited about having a pied-a-terre in NY. I am always looking for excuses to go into the city and visit friends, and now that I'll have a place to stay it makes it super convenient! Plus the owner loves dogs, so he's cool with Tyson coming for the weekend. Springtime in the city - I can't wait!
While waiting for Christopher to arrive back home on Friday evening I whipped up this sign with some scissors and blank printer paper. I'm pretty proud of my craftiness:
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sales Sirens Call
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Clementines - the devil's fruit
Sunday, February 01, 2009
AT Addict
And what better place to research my ideas than online! This is where I have found my latest obsession: Apartment Therapy! I know I don't live in an apartment, but I just love the style and freshness of their designs. Plus, all the DIY options and budget-friendly solutions are perfect for my frugal nature.
When I first discovered the site I was completely overwhelmed. It has so many interesting posts that I loved that I felt like I needed to read it all. But after about a week of checking it non-stop, I am finally down to only checking it 5 times a day!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Bugger!
Monday, January 19, 2009
...baby it's cold outside!
Here's what we've rented over the past month:
- Get Smart
- Wanted
- Tropic Thunder
- Ocean's 13
- Pineapple Express
- Iron Man
- Hellboy II: The Golden Army
- Kung Fu Panda
- Step Brothers
- Ghost Town
- Night at the Museum
Wow - we have never rented so many movies in such a short period of time before. Every time we returned one we would pick up another - vicious cycle. I think we need to take a bit of a break now to wait for some new releases. Good thing we didn't make it to the theatre much in 2008!
Monday, January 05, 2009
Admitted!
It was actually very nice to be part of this smaller ceremony instead of the main one held for the passers of the July 2008 CT Bar Exam, which took place back in November. While that ceremony would have had over 600 participants, there were only 24 attorneys being admitted on this day.
The ceremony took place in a small courtroom and we were allowed to take pictures afterwards. The judge was also really nice and let people take pictures with her. I got to sit in the jury box to watch Christopher take his oath and to snap some pics to remember this special occasion.
It has been a long four years of JD & LLM school, but you're done now and I couldn't be more proud. Congratulations Attorney Schwartz!