chased by a bear

HM training week 3

2012-02-12T17:35:00.005-05:00

total mileage = 15.5, plus speedwork (repeats).

monday - rest
tuesday - 3 mi (treadmill) plus core
wednesday - 6x 400m @ 5k pace (treadmill)
thursday - 3.5 mi (treadmill) plus core
friday - rest
saturday - 3 mi
sunday - 6 mi

struggled a bit with repeats on wednesday, i preferred last week's tempo run. maybe i took the tempo run too easy. perhaps i'll try to pick it up a little in this week's tempo run.

race report: gridiron classic

2012-02-05T11:55:00.001-05:00

very fun race today! it was colder than i was expecting and i should have worn my gloves, but my hands did eventually thaw out (around mile 3ish i think). looking back, i think it was actually colder this year than at last year's race. but last year we were still tight in the grasp of an icy winter, and getting around central park that day was like being in the ice capades (as someone wittier than i phrased it).

last year i finished in 35:05 with a pace per mile of 8:46.

this year i finished in 32:12 with a pace per mile of 8:03. new personal record! and a new bib pace (by a whopping 2 seconds, but still). YAY!

now if the giants win the superbowl, my day will be complete. :)

HM training week 2

2012-02-05T11:27:00.000-05:00

week 2, total mileage = only 10, including a 4-mile race, plus a tempo run, which i rather enjoyed (surprise). i switched the schedule a bit to accommodate the gridiron race on sunday and to get in at least one outdoor run this week.

monday - rest (still need a "stretch & strength" plan, probably yoga (thanks marisa!))
tuesday - 3 mi (treadmill) plus core
wednesday - 3 mi
thursday - 30 min tempo (treadmill) plus core
friday - rest
saturday - rest
sunday - 4 mi race!

bib pick-up: gridiron classic

2012-02-04T12:40:00.002-05:00

the gridiron classic is a 4 miler on superbowl sunday. i did this race last year, it was my very first NYRR race. it's a fun race, last year i was very anxious though and i thought i would freeze so i was way overdressed. looking forward to doing it again this year, to see how far i've come. (now watch, i'll be slower this year than i was last year -- ha!)

the shirt is a long sleeve white cotton tee like last year's, but i like this year's logo better!

HM training week 1

2012-01-29T19:44:00.001-05:00

first week of higdon's half marathon intermediate level training plan. total mileage = 14, plus a speedwork session (this alternates between intervals and tempo runs). this was my first foray into speedwork. i'm really interested to see how/if it pays off for me over the whole program.

monday - rest (should be "stretch & strength" -- i need to come up with a plan for this)
tuesday - 3 mi (treadmill) plus core
wednesday - 5x 400m @ 5k pace
thursday - 3 mi (treadmill) plus core
friday - rest
saturday - 3 mi
sunday - 5 mi

this plan has long runs on sunday rather than saturday like the last plan i used. part of the idea is to get used to running on 'tired' legs. we shall see how this works out.

training plans

2012-01-16T11:10:00.001-05:00

after researching different marathon training plans, i'm thinking about following one of hal higdon's plans for the NYC marathon. i got the plans from his website, and i also ordered his marathon training guide, which should arrive next week.

in order to test out the plans and figure out which level to use, i decided to use one of his half marathon plans to train for a half in april. this also has the advantage of giving me a shorter term goal to focus on, since i won't start marathon training til july. (most marathon training plans are 18 weeks long.) and training for the half will help me increase my base (fitness & mileage) so i'll be better prepared when i do start marathon training. it's a win-win-win situation.

so, beginning january 23, i start training for the more/fitness women's half marathon in central park on april 15! i'm going to try out higdon's intermediate plan, which incorporates some speedwork -- my first foray into that kind of training. wish me luck!

race pic: kleinerman 10k

2012-01-12T13:42:00.000-05:00

if anyone had told me a couple years ago that i would not only be running 10k's for no apparent reason, but enjoying it this much, i would've laughed derisively.

race report: kleinerman 10k

2012-01-07T14:53:00.000-05:00

i always get the feeling i'm doing something vaguely illicit when i get up and sneak out of the house before dawn to go to a race.

after convincing zoe that it really wasn't time for a walk, i headed out this morning into the cool quiet dark. routine stop at dunkin donuts, then down to the train station. saw a few other runners on the platform too. usual bathroom stop at grand central, then onto the 6. today's race start was all the way up at 102nd. tons of runners on the train and sidewalks en route to the park. i guess the nice weather brought out lots of same-day registrants.

ah, race day. port-a-johns stretching to infinity, the constant sound of slamming doors.

quick stop atop a hill to shuck my extra layers, down to bag check, then off to the start. barely made it into my corral before the national anthem. bit chilly but not bad at all. i opted for capri tights and a long sleeve shirt, which worked out perfectly.

this race was one loop of central park, counterclockwise. because we started so far up, we hit the harlem hills within the first mile or so, which was nice to get that behind us. i tried to keep a steady, easy pace, i was not going for a PR or anything like that. i haven't done a 10k since last june i think, and haven't run more than 5 miles in i-can't-remember-when.

the miles ticked by pretty smoothly. early miles were quite crowded but people spread out well by mile 3 or so. hurdled an errant cone somewhere on the west side. almost ran over a dumb lady who decided to cross the course with her dog. also saw a dumb guy on a bike try to *ride* across the course and almost hit two runners (they were ok).

i haven't figured out how to download my garmin data yet (maybe later today?) so i don't know what my splits looked like. come to think of it, i didn't mark my miles during the race so i'm not sure i'll even get splits. we'll see.

mary herself was doing commentary near mile 6, i thought about heading to that side to get a high-five but didn't think i could pull it off safely. then into the finish. all in all, a nice race. except for the brown water at the end, not sure what was up with that. official time 56:30, for an overall pace of 9:07.

runners doing some post-race debriefing

bib pick-up: kleinerman 10k

2012-01-06T20:34:00.001-05:00

bib pace still 8:05, since last may i think. maybe next year's goal will be to work on that. or i may try to do the NYC 5-borough half-marathon grand prix (a half-marathon in each borough) next year instead! we'll see.

anyway, green bib, d-tag and clip, long-sleeve navy cotton tee (they were all out of smalls so i got a youth large), and a bag of emerald nuts breakfast mix (likely left over from last week's emerald-sponsored midnight run?).

8am tomorrow, central park, first race of 2012! woohoo!

i'm in!!

2012-01-05T17:23:00.000-05:00

this leaves me almost exactly ten months to panic! and i will probably need them all.

goals for 2012

2012-01-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

* finish the marathon upright. i have a "moon" goal time in mind -- as in, i'll be over the moon if i make it -- but my main goal is to finish.

* run at least one organized race per month

* learn to make a proper bermuda fish chowder (not running-related)

i don't have specific pace goals or overall mileage goals this year. last year, my primary goal was to qualify for the marathon (done!), and i had a side bet going with myself as to whether i could get my race pace down to 8 min/mile. i did hit 7:59 before the end of the year, but it was only in a 1.7-mile race, so i give myself partial credit.

joined the garmin-verse

2012-01-03T20:25:00.000-05:00

santa brought me a new garmin forerunner 210! woohoo! looking forward to using this baby. i think it will come in especially handy when i need to get training runs done while i'm traveling. no need to map out specific routes in advance, just find a trail, park or road and go!

reinvention, the four-quel

2012-01-02T22:43:00.002-05:00

so i am back, with yet another new focus. a few years ago, i got bit by the NYC marathon bug. yes. i know. i used to say i'd only run when chased by a bear. so i guess i found my bear. i've been slowly working at it the past couple of years, and today i applied for the 2012 NYC marathon. i have guaranteed entry, so barring injury or crippling fear, i will toe the start line on the verrazano bridge with 45,000+ of my closest strangers on november 4, 2012. yes.

week13: bunnies

2010-03-31T11:38:00.002-04:00

i picked up these floating bunny head candles while shopping the other day, purely because they are so freakin' weird! can't wait to light one and take pics, hahahaha.

i might need to turn this pic into a new blog header, actually.

week12: guinness

2010-03-24T11:34:00.000-04:00

i thought this would be fitting after last week's post. i ordered this tin sign to be part of the "gallery" i plan to create on one wall on our living room.

week11: saint patrick

2010-03-18T14:27:00.000-04:00

Sean & I got to walk in the St Patrick's Day parade. It was the 249th annual marching of the parade in NYC. I took a few pics.

week10: entry hall

2010-03-11T17:50:00.003-05:00

i actually completed this project and took the pics a couple weeks ago but am just getting around to posting. here's the redo on our entry hall. as a reminder, the before:

tragic 80s light fixture and blank boring neutrality. plus ugly brown floor tile!

seriously that light fixture is horrendous.

first i bought a huge round rug to cover as much of the floor tile as possible, and then bought and re-covered a gossip bench to place alongside the wall for dropping keys & cell phones on and for putting on/taking off shoes.

then recently i replaced the light fixture (hallelujah) and finally hung some art on the wall. (also cleaned and repaired the doorbell.) i still need to hang casing trim around the closet doors, but so far it's looking pretty good.

the new light fixture is from schoolhouse electric, and it is gorgeous!!

week9: cookies

2010-02-28T10:29:00.004-05:00

another new recipe this month based on one i found in CL. the CL version is called chocolate cherry heart smart cookies, but i wanted to bake something right away and i didn't have cherries or chocolate in the house (believe it or not) so i subbed cranberries and almonds. these are delicious!

Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookies

1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbs. unsalted butter
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. dried cranberries
1 tsp. vanilla (or almond) extract
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine first five ingredients (flour through salt) in large mixing bowl and whisk together.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan on low heat. Remove from heat, add brown sugar and stir until smooth.
4. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture and beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. (At this stage, my batter did NOT look at all like cookie batter, but I pressed forward and everything turned out great. So don't panic.)
5. Add cranberries, vanilla/almond extract and egg; beat until combined. Stir in almonds.
6. Drop tablespoons onto cookie sheets (use cooking spray or silicone baking mats).
7. Bake at 350 for 12 mins. Cool on sheets for 3 mins, then remove from sheets and cool completely.

Makes 30 cookies. The original version (with cherries and chocolate) has 94 calories per cookie and only 3.2 g fat. It also has 1.5 g protein and 1.3 g fiber.

snowday the sequel!

2010-02-26T18:51:00.002-05:00

we got another big snowstorm, and they closed our office right at the last minute this morning, so we got a second snowday this year! here are a few pics...

to give an idea how deep the snow was...

a couple snowy branches...

and some random close-ups...

and some snow dog to finish up.

week8: ring repair needed

2010-02-23T18:46:00.003-05:00

i discovered this morning that the stone was loose in my engagement ring. :( i must have snagged one of the prongs on something and pulled enough to loosed the setting. thankfully, the stone didn't come out entirely!! i think i found a jeweler who can put it right for me, just need to get there and show it to him. the week's snowstorm is limiting my mobility!

look at the top left prong...

week7: tulips

2010-02-21T21:33:00.003-05:00

bought some pink and white tulips because i am feeling ready for spring! they are so pretty!

i took one flower out of the bunch and put it in this cool vase i got from my mom for christmas (thanks mom!).

barbecue chicken sandwiches

2010-02-15T11:24:00.003-05:00

my new recipe for february actually came from the november issue of cooking light: black pepper and molasses pulled chicken sandwiches. yum!

according to cooking light, the recipe was supposed to make enough for four sandwiches, but they'd be really small sandwiches. so i increased the amount of chicken here (to 1.5 lbs). alternatively, i'd use 2 lbs to make six sandwiches, which is how many kaiser rolls come in a pack anyway. this recipe is pretty forgiving, so you can alter the amounts of flavorings and sauce ingredients to suit your tastes.

3 tbs ketchup
1 tbs cider vinegar
1 tbs prepared mustard
1 tbs molasses
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 kaiser rolls
dill pickle slices

1. combine ketchup through chicken in medium saucepan. bring to boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 23 mins or til chicken is tender.
2. remove from heat, shred chicken with 2 forks.
3. split rolls, pile on chicken and sauce, top with dill pickle slices.
4. serve with coleslaw and wavy chips!

(i prefer mayo-free coleslaw to contrast with the gooey barbecue sauce -- just toss the shredded veggies with bottled vinaigrette dressing.)

week6: snow day

2010-02-11T14:56:00.001-05:00

big snowstorm this week! we got a snow day from work, so i documented the snow accumulation from home. started snowing around 4am i think.

by 830am we had this:

945am:

1045am:

1130am:

1245pm:

145pm:

215pm:

345pm:

445pm:

830am the following morning:

week5: awwwwwwww!

2010-02-06T11:51:00.003-05:00

sean wanted to listen to some new CDs last night, but i was watching TV so he decided to use his headphones. the cord isn't very long so he had to sit on the floor near the stereo. naturally, zoe took this as an invitation to sit in his lap. i had to snap some pics.

week4: bathroom art

2010-01-28T20:18:00.005-05:00

i'm finally starting to hang things on the walls here in unit 12. STARTING. i'm really looking forward to having at least one room in this place finished, yaknow? one day soon. anyway, with the wall stuff, i decided to start in my bathroom because... well, it's the closest to being done i guess. half of it is anyway. (the shower and commode are in one room, while the sink and vanity are just outside. very 80s.) both halves are pretty small, and the sink half is sort of stuck at the end of a short hallway without a proper door or anything. it's all a bit weird. anyway, the bottom line is, it's small and slightly awkward. oh, and all the hardware & finishes (save the faucet) seem to be original to the condo (vintage: 1981). blah blah boring ugly brass faded wood neutral. ugh. not helping the smallness or awkward-ness of the space at all.

so. i decided to go the complete opposite direction. i wanted lots of color and pretty touches to make the space feel special and intentional, fun and personality-ful. (i just made up that word.)

for this bathroom my inspiration came from the packaging of a bottle of soap that my sis gave me a few years ago. i just loved the design so much! (see it here) so the shower half got painted the medium teal tone, as well as the walls around the vanity in the other half. the hallway got the lighter, minty green. and the final touch is red for the accessories. there's also plenty of white and silvery metal.

the whole bathroom isn't done yet, unfortunately (though the remodel is on the short list). but the shower half of the bathroom is almost there. (i still need to replace the exhaust vent, the switches and the door hinges, and also paint the ceiling & trim and touch up the walls. but anyway.)

so i recently added some art and little decorations. which is where this whole post started. now, to the pics!

teal wall, small white shelf, round red plate (which cost all of 98 cents thankyouverymuch), and the inspirational body wash package itself.

teal wall again, two small prints in white frames. on the left, a postcard print by yoshitomo nara, and on the right, artwork by yours truly. (it says "this is how i roll!". silly, i know.)

somewhat wider view. the bathroom had ugly sliding doors on the shower when we bought it, which we promptly removed and replaced with a curved shower rod and nice white curtain. please disregard the ugly exhaust vent and teal paint oops'ed on the ceiling. i also need to replace the switches, which are some kind of almond color with paint swiped all on them. sigh.

anyway, that's all i got so far. hoping to get the rest of the bathroom done soon, as well as the second bathroom too!

blackberry sleeve

2010-01-25T15:43:00.002-05:00

this was a little project i cooked up out of necessity. about a week or so before christmas, i lost the small faux leather sleeve that came with my blackberry. looked for a replacement online, but unwilling to pay $25 or more for one. enter my new sewing machine, an awesome christmas present from my parents! hadn't used one myself in years, so i needed a relatively quick and easy project to get started with the new machine. thus, i decided to try to make a small sleeve for my blackberry.

i of course turned to google for inspiration and instruction, and read through several tutorials before picking this one from sew mama sew to use as a base. i had fabric scraps and batting lying around from other projects, and thread in my small stash of sewing supplies, so this project cost me nothing. even better!

i simplified sew mama sew's pattern a little more to make it easier on myself by omitting the flap that folds over the top and also the button & elastic closure. instead, i made mine like a little pocket, open at the top. (that's how the original one was so i figured it would work ok.) i also modified the measurements to fit my phone exactly so it would be snug in the pocket.

other than the fact that i cannot sew a straight line to save my life, i think this turned out pretty well! especially considering it's the first thing i've sewn all by myself since high school (or maybe earlier). i was also able to finish it in an afternoon, including time to set up the sewing machine and read the instruction manual, plus a little practice stitching.

week3: entertainment center hack

2010-01-20T20:11:00.003-05:00

this week's post will be about some modifications we made to our media console. we got it from west elm, it was the perfect size and style that we wanted. but it was actually intended to be a sideboard or buffet, so it did not have any accommodations for cables, cords and wires. this is what our setup looked like:

cords all over the place, speakers on the floor, components in disarray. oh, and a hinge on one of the doors came off, leaving a hole in the side. yeah.

so the plan was simple: drill two holes in the back to allow for cords: one near the outlet and one near the top (for all the cords that connect to the tv itself). reconfigure the components so they could all fit inside. place speakers on new speaker stands (which were a christmas gift). and fix the hole in the side and reattach the door. i also took this opportunity to replace the outlet and cover behind the console.

we used a cordless drill and a 1.5-in spade bit to to make the holes. (we practiced first on a piece of plywood to make sure the holes would be large enough for the plugs/cords to pass through.)

then we sanded down the edges of the holes to eliminate any splinters or rough edges.

sean reconnected all the components, including some that were formerly on top the console. and we assembled the speaker stands that he got for christmas (warning: this was much more difficult than expected and involved some colorful language).

finally, we fixed the hole where the hinge needed to attach using toothpicks and wood glue, then reattached the door. ET VOILA!! much better!!

as an extra bonus, we get much better sound through the speakers now that the carpet-muffling effect is eliminated. nice!

week2: recipes

2010-01-14T22:17:00.003-05:00

recipeeeeeeeeeees!

made 2 new things from this month's cooking light. leek and potato soup from jamie oliver's latest book and "grown up grilled cheese sandwiches" from CL's enlightened cook section. both were good. the leek potato soup isn't much different from other recipes i've made though. *shrug* the grilled cheese sammiches were really good though, and fast and easy too!

Leek and Potato Soup

2 leeks
6 c chicken broth
2 tbs olive oil
3 c coarsely chopped onion
1 c chopped carrot
1 c chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 c cubed, peeled yukon gold potatoes
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt

1. discard roots, outer leaves and tops of leeks. cut remainder in half lengthwise then slice into half moons. rinse thoroughly in cold water; drain.
2. bring broth to broil.
3. heat oil in dutch over. add leek, onion, carrot, celery and garlic. partially cover and cook 20 mins or until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally. add hot broth and potatoes; return to boil. cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 mins or until potato is tender. season with salt & pepper. Serve chunky or puree with immersion blender.

Grown Up Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

(i modified this one somewhat)

cooking spray
1 c sliced red onion
1 large garlic clove, sliced or minced
8 slices bread
spicy brown mustard
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 c spinach leaves
8-12 slices bacon, cooked

1. spray skillet with cooking spray and heat; add onion and garlic and cook til golden brown and tender, about 10 mins, stirring occasionally.
2. spread each of 8 bread slices with mustard; sprinkle 2 tbs cheese each over 4 of them. top those with 1/2 c spinach, 2 tbs onion mixture and 1+1/2 or 2 bacon slices. sprinkle with 2 tbs cheese; top with remaining bread slices.
3. heat skillet and coat with cooking spray. cook each sandwich 3 min per side or til golden brown and cheese melts.

gossip bench

2010-01-09T20:59:00.003-05:00

not too long after we made an offer on the condo, i became obsessed with finding the right piece of furniture for the entryway. i wanted someplace where we could drop our keys and the mail and don/doff boots and outerwear, especially in the winter. after seeing a post about gossip benches on apartment therapy, i was hooked and began trolling craigslist and ebay for the perfect bench.

well, it took a few months (and a brief but torrid dalliance & infatuation with some old theater seats), but i finally found my bench on ebay! sean and i drove out to stratford CT to take a look and bring it home!

(pic from ebay listing)

it could stand to be refinished, which i may/probably will do one day, but it's solid and has lovely lines. i gave it a good cleaning then placed it in its new home.

(pics from our entry)

a few weeks later when i had the time, i removed the seat, which still had the original upholstery, and recovered it. i wrapped it in batting (for cushion) and a fun fabric, leaving the original upholstery intact underneath.

i'm pretty happy with it! and it's perfect for putting on/taking off shoes on our way out/in. (we don't wear shoes in the house.) gotta love a quick and easy project! refinishing it, on the other hand, will probably be a bit more time-consuming.

2010 week1

2010-01-07T22:53:00.001-05:00

ok, enough oh-nine recap, i think it's time to talk about oh-ten.

here are some things i want to do this year:

1. learn to use my new(er) camera better, and post photos every week.

(that would be my camera's instruction guide)

2. keep on running! i kinda quit doing this after we moved, but i want to get back into it. i'm debating signing up for a half marathon this year but not ready to commit to that just yet...

(training watch and book about the nyc marathon, both of which i got for xmas)

3. make one new recipe per month and post the recipe and photo.

4. project posts! i have plenty of projects these days, just need to post about them when i do them.

so there they are. wish me luck!

dear future homeowners (doorknob edition)

2010-01-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

[i know we won't live in the condo forever, so i wanted to take the opportunity to fill in the future owners of unit 12 on a few little details. you know how you move into a place, and you think, "why on earth did the previous owners do THAT?" or "well, THAT would have been nice to know BEFORE i cut a hole through the drywall"? yeah.]

so, the doorknobs. this past weekend, the first of 2010, i replaced most of the interior doorknobs in the condo, because the previous ones were old, ugly and mismatched. the deadbolt on the front door also needs to be replaced but i haven't done that yet. also, the key to the lower doorknob also opens the storage unit, fyi.

regarding the interior doorknobs:

1. the right-hand screw on the knob to the closet in the master bedroom doesn't match. i'm sorry. if you noticed this already, i'll give you five bucks. apparently the internal threads on that side were borked, so the screw that was supposed to go there would not go in all the way, and it looked dumb sticking out. not to mention posed a threat to our knuckles. so i used a shorter screw from one of the old doorknobs instead, which is bronze-y instead of silver-y like the new door hardware, to secure the knob. i hope you can forgive me.

2. the knobs on the french doors from the living room are dummies.

3. i also replaced the handles on the bifold closet doors in the entry and hallway. (the old ones were really ugly. maybe i should make a little time capsule for you and hide it in the attic somewhere. i could include all the vestiges of the condo's former life. it would be weird.)

that's all for now!

yours,
truly

2009 week one revisited

2010-01-04T19:24:00.005-05:00

In my first post of 2009, I mentioned a few goals for the year, and before I get too far into 2010, I thought I'd check back on my 2009 goals and see how I did. What can I say, I like to live dangerously.

Keep in close touch with family and friends.

i'd give myself a C on this. I'm not sure I did much better than I have in the past. There's room for more improvement. But just for kicks, here's a shot of this year's holiday cards.

Go see more music.

I don't get more than a C on this either. The condo mess kinda got in the way of things like this, so it's not entirely on me, but still.

Eat dinner at the dinner table.

I get an A for this one. Most nights we eat at the table, though we still cheat and use the coffee table in the living room sometimes. OK, maybe I get a B+.

Finally, I hope, when I start getting the Christmas stuff back out again, it will be in our very own house!

A+, mission accomplished. :) And we got a real live Christmas tree this year:

Next up, my 2010 "goals"...

long time, no blog

2010-01-03T22:25:00.003-05:00

i think it's safe to say i did not succeed at my weekly photo project last year. mid-year, we finally closed on the condo and moved, and i just couldn't get into a regular groove of taking pics and posting them after that, so i sort of called it quits. but i'm back and i'm at it again, giving project 52 another shot (get it?).

also in the works, i revisit my new year's resolutions from 2009 and then kinda maybe sorta think about a few for 2010. i also have pics from a couple of small projects i did in the condo last year that i'd like to post.

let's see how far i make it this year, shall we?

week thirty-four

2009-08-23T19:31:00.001-04:00

EWWWWWWWW GIANT CICADA! ON OUR LANAI! *shudder*

It totally wants to burst through the screen and eat my face off. So gross.

week thirty-three

2009-08-23T19:30:00.002-04:00

Apparently week 32 also got lost in the shuffle. Huh. Sorry about that. I don't even have something good for week 33 to make up for it, just this silly pic of me.

week thirty-one

2009-08-23T19:25:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, week 30 got lost in the shuffle. Oops.

We must have gone car shopping, cuz now in week 31, we have a car! It's a 2002 Subaru Forester. I have named her Tina.

Yes, she has 158k miles. Giddy-up!

Also, Zoe is settling into her new abode quite well.

week twenty-nine

2009-08-23T19:23:00.002-04:00

Came home to find there was no power. Screw-up with the electric company? Blown circuit? Nope, turns out a transformer down the road blew up. No power for about 6 hours I think. Good thing I was able to find the candles in one of the oodles of boxes.

week twenty-eight

2009-08-23T19:22:00.002-04:00

Moving day! Tired but happy. Our movers were maniacs and they did a fantastic job. Best money we've spent so far.

week twenty-seven

2009-08-23T19:20:00.002-04:00

This enormous snapping turtle was hanging out on the road going up to Sean's parents' house. There aren't any streams or anything close by, and she was heading uphill. No idea. She wasn't there when we came back.

One of Sean's friends says turtles are good luck so we'll take it a good sign.

week twenty-six

2009-08-23T19:17:00.002-04:00

Wow, so it's been a while since I posted. We closed on the condo and moved and have been pretty busy. So I actually missed a couple of weeks of pics, but I'll post what I have and just move on from here. :)

In week 26 we closed on the condo! Here we are after the proceedings. No idea what we've just gotten ourselves into.

week twenty-five

2009-06-27T20:29:00.001-04:00

Slow week around here. It's been raining for what feels like forever. But we are getting some gorgeous flowers as a result. Check out this trio of lilies.

At long last, the closing for our condo is scheduled! Stay tuned next week...

week twenty-four

2009-06-27T20:28:00.001-04:00

Almost forgot to take any pics this week! Yipes!

week twenty-three

2009-06-16T15:34:00.002-04:00

Guess where I went for a work conference this week?

week twenty-two

2009-06-07T20:12:00.003-04:00

I really hoped we would have closed on the condo by now, but no. So instead, I have some more pretty flowers for this week. Now with more raindrops!

not sure what those are called, but they are beautiful. they remind me of candy canes.

that one's a rose

that one looks like a leopard

no idea about that one

pretty sure that's a peony

another mystery, but it looks tickle-y and makes me feel like i have to sneeze

some kinda leaf

week twenty-one

2009-05-31T14:34:00.002-04:00

I decided to spiff up my mis-matched ugly plastic plant pots this weekend. A couple bottles of spray paint is all it took. Once (if?) we move to the condo, I'll figure out how much sunlight the lanai and landing get and choose some plants accordingly.

Big surprise, I chose black and blue for the pots. And yes, this concrete slab serves as my workspace. Just wish there was a little (read: any) shade!

Bonus pic for this week: our landlord's cat decided to have a refreshing sip from the kiddie pool.

week twenty

2009-05-20T22:17:00.002-04:00

STREET FAIR!! Always fun. :)

check out the sea of people!

duck guy

balloon hat guy

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Williamsburg Savings Bank (it's condos now, sigh)

canine fairgoers

this little girl set up her lemonade stand in the middle of all the booths, how cute is she?!

some classic cars, love 'em!

a "REAL" iguana!

we brought Isodoro the iguana home for Zoe to play with

she wasn't impressed

week nineteen

2009-05-14T20:06:00.001-04:00

Some pretty spring flower pics for this week!

week eighteen

2009-05-11T19:37:00.001-04:00

Enjoyed some stoop time while we're still living in Brooklyn. See how Zoe likes to sit on the steps?!

week seventeen

2009-05-11T19:21:00.006-04:00

Congratulations Jaime & Blake! The wedding was beautiful!

Rehearsal dinner:

(all my rehearsal dinner pics are here)

Wedding:

(full set of my wedding pics here)

A few pretty wedding details:

(a few more wedding details available here)

week sixteen

2009-04-22T00:06:00.002-04:00

Not many pics this week. We headed up to check out the condo.

Check out the short(ish) brick building on the left. The top terrace will (hopefully) be ours.

Got another crooked tree pic as well:

Next week is Jaime & Blake's wedding so I'm sure to have some pics from that!

week fifteen

2009-04-21T16:49:00.003-04:00

You know that famous quote about the only certain things in life being death and taxes? Well, I'd like to add laundry to that list. This weekend we did our taxes and our laundry, and neither was particularly fun. Not even with Frank's help. (Frank is my bear. He looks quite dapper wearing Sean's cap, doesn't he?)

Oh, and I also sewed on a few buttons that had fallen off sometime in the past year or so. Thrilling weekend, right?

week fourteen

2009-04-09T20:14:00.003-04:00

Back in VA this weekend to hang with the family. It just so happened that the cherry blossoms were in full bloom this weekend, so we went into DC to have lunch with Dad and see the cherry blossoms! I took a ton of pics (although I kept running out of storage space on my memory card and forgot to bring extras -- note to self: buy bigger memory cards!) and about half of them were pretty good, I thought. I have them all in my Flickr collection but will only post a few here. The full Flickr set is here, if you'd like to see them all.

week thirteen

2009-04-07T19:22:00.002-04:00

Spring is peeking out here in NYC, and I just can't resist taking pics of flowers.

I bought a flower bunch for the house this week too; I think they were sweet peas? They smelled so pretty!

Finally, I am not sure what kind of seeds these people planted, but WHOA!

week twelve

2009-04-07T19:16:00.002-04:00

It seems I have fallen a few weeks behind in my posting! Oops! I have been taking pics though, so no worries. Week twelve I took Zoebean to the vet. She had a strange growth/owie on her right elbow that was concerning me. The vet gave us some antibiotics for Zoe to take for the next few days. She also suggested we put a tshirt on Zoe to help cover the elbow so it wouldn't get irritated. (The elbow is very difficult to bandage; the bandages pretty much just fall off.) So I took a pair of scissors to one of Sean's old tshirts to modify it for Zoe. It sort of looks like a bolero jacket. Marisa suggested we call this BOLERO BEANS! I thought it turned out pretty cute but Zoe wasn't a big fan. So in the end we didn't make her wear it too often.

That look on her face in the second pic says it all, doesn't it?!

week eleven

2009-03-21T14:41:00.003-04:00

Headed down to VA and WV for a long weekend to visit the fam, get my bridesmaid dress altered, and go to Jaime's bridal shower. Of course, my camera batteries crapped out right before the shower, so I didn't get any pics there. *sigh* So all I have is a couple random shots of the dress fitting and a purty fleur outside the Oakton post office. Enjoy!

week ten

2009-03-08T23:49:00.005-04:00

A most unusual week.

1. We have reached an agreement to buy the previously mentioned condo! Contracts pending. But very exciting all the same.

2. I fainted. Late Saturday night, I fell asleep on the couch watching tv. Sean woke me up so we could go to bed. We headed to the kitchen first to put away the dinner leftovers and the dishes. I was putting the leftovers into a container when I started to feel not-very-well. I told Sean, "I don't feel so well." He was washing dishes next to me. Then I guess I said, "I think I'm going to pass out." And then I did. Went completely out, fell flat on my back on the kitchen floor and banged my head pretty good. I was only out for a second but it scared the crap out of both of us. I guess the transition from sleeping on the couch to putting away leftovers was just too much for my poor lil brain. Felt ok the next morning except for a stiff neck. Whiplash, maybe?

3. I just can't get on board with daylight saving time beginning in MARCH. When we had like 9 inches of snow a week ago. It's just not right.

4. Zoe got a bath and nail trim. See pictorial essay below, featuring the lovely purple bow she received.

5. I am off to VA/WV for the weekend for Jaime's bridal shower!

week nine

2009-03-05T20:15:00.000-05:00

Not much to report this week. Had dinner out with friends on Friday, then Saturday Sean and I went to Lowe's to scope out appliances for our possible future kitchen renovation. Sunday night it started snowing...

and snowing...

and kept snowing through a good part of Monday. Our biggest snowfall of the season. This seems to happen pretty frequently -- a big late winter storm, right around Presidents' Day or early March.

So for the most part, we've been laying low.

week eight

2009-02-26T21:18:00.000-05:00

So, we had the inspection last weekend and I have a few pics to share.

First, the good: the view from the terrace.

And the sorta cool spiral stairs (note lucky shoe!):

Next, the bad: poor electrical work in the attic storage area.

And finally, the ugly: the kitchen. Clearly a complete redo.

We are still negotiating with sellers, so no telling if this place will end up being ours or not. This process has shown me that I am extremely impatient.

week seven

2009-02-19T21:32:00.000-05:00

So after a few slow weeks around here, things are really picking up. First of all, my niece Dalton Marie was born on Lincoln’s birthday! Welcome to the world, little D!

And of course this weekend was Valentine’s Day. I made something special for dinner: grilled steaks, creamed spinach and sweet potato fries. Turned out really well, though the fries didn’t get as crispy as I would have liked, and Sean’s steak was a touch too rare.

I also made homemade mocha chip ice cream for dessert. This turned out SO well! Might be my favorite of the ice creams I’ve made so far (the others were fresh strawberry and mint chip).

We actually had our Valentine’s dinner on Sunday. I hope it still counts. Saturday we were out looking at houses again. I wore my new hipster shoes (gray Chuck Taylors), now known as my lucky shoes for reasons I shall explain shortly.

[Side note: Zappos totally rules! I ordered two pairs of shoes on Thursday afternoon and they were waiting on our doorstep when I got home from work on Friday. Killer!]

So anyway, on Saturday we decided to check out a few condos in addition to the single family houses we had been looking at so far. And what do you know? We really liked one!! All credit to our agent for finding it! After discussing thoroughly, we decided on Sunday that we wanted to make an offer on the condo. Monday we went to the bank for our preapproval (wearing my lucky shoes of course), and that night we put together an offer with our agent. Tuesday morning, our agent presented the offer (wore my lucky shoes again). Wednesday night, the sellers countered. Thursday morning, our agent presented our new offer (yep, lucky shoes!). And Thursday afternoon, the sellers accepted! So we are on our way to being homeowners! We are working on scheduling our home inspection ASAP, and I will be sure to wear my lucky shoes to that as well. Oh, and I’ll take some pics for next week’s post.

Thanks, lucky shoes!!

week six

2009-02-13T22:49:00.002-05:00

I'm a tad late with this post, but it's no less sincere! Promise. I took a day off this week, needed a mental health day. I scanned in some old pics and posted them on Facebook, ran a few errands, got my nails done, bought some lovely flowers, and baked some peppermint chocolate chip cookies. It was a good day. Here are some pics to prove it.

pretteh

yummeh

On migraines

2009-02-07T16:44:00.012-05:00

I woke up with a migraine this morning. Not a particularly bad one. But it inspired me to write a post all the same. I've suffered with migraines on and off for most of my life. I remember having them as a child. My mom had them as a child as well, so she recognized them when they cropped up in me (and my sister). I guess I had a form called cluster headaches. My mom gave me brewer's yeast supplements (four gigantic, brown, ugly pills a day) and taught me to massage my temples to help alleviate the headaches. At some point, I outgrew them.

I remember them coming back in college. I took lots of aspirin but it never really helped. They would get worse and/or more frequent for a stretch, then taper off again. More of the same in grad school I think. It never really occurred to me to see a doctor about it.

After grad school, one of my jobs required a lot of field work. I started noticing a few things. (1) My headaches were much more frequent on the weekends. (2) In the field, we'd spend the morning working outside, frequently in uncomfortably hot or cold weather. I'd be fine until lunchtime, when we'd go inside to more comfortable temps. Within 10 minutes of going back outside after lunch though, BAM!, headache. It seemed clear that stress and atmospheric changes were two of my migraine triggers. (In addition to red wine, dehydration (even mild dehydration), changes in sleep patterns, and low blood sugar -- all of which I identified over the course of the next few months to years.)

My headaches also started worsening. I'd wake up with a headache on Saturday morning and it would last all weekend, sometimes getting so bad that I would vomit from the pain. Vomit until my guts were empty and there was nothing left to bring up. Then I would have dry heaves. Not even water would stay down sometimes. And of course, the retching would make my head throb and pound even more.

Finally I mentioned this to a doctor. She sent me in for MRIs, because with sudden onset of severe headaches, they like to rule out neurological causes (like tumors, obstructed blood flow, etc). MRIs are pretty scary, that was the second time I've had one. This time I had a contrast and a non-contrast scan. Contrast is worse because they inject you with some nasty dye that makes your mouth taste like blood and copper, makes you feel like you have to pee, makes you feel weak and trembly, and generally is extremely unpleasant. The MRIs came back clean, and the doc diagnosed migraines and prescribed some kind of NSAID-sedative combo (I forget the name). These did help, mainly because they knocked me out while the painkiller took effect. But taking them basically put me out of commission for the day, as much as the migraine did. Over time, I needed to take more and more of them to get relief. Not good. Eventually they stopped working altogether.

Back to another doctor (I had relocated in the meantime), who suggested I should see a neurologist. DUH. Neurologist checked my MRI scans from before. ran some other tests, and prescribed some triptans. I tried a few different ones, many of which did not help. One did a little. But like the NSAID-sedative combo before, it really knocked me out. And it took longer and Longer and LONGER to bring relief. Then I noticed that after taking the triptans, my headache actually got worse before it would get better. And the headaches were increasing in frequency again, to the point where I was having them more often than I was allowed to take the triptans. (There's a limit on how often you can take them because frequent dosing can cause rebound headaches.) I started looking for other treatment strategies. Lying down in a dark, cool room with a cool damp mask or cloth over my eyes seemed to help a little, but again, took me out of commission. I found some peppermint infused eye masks at Bath & Body Works that really helped a lot, but of course they stopped making those. In addition, I started noticing that my headache never quite went away. The triptans would, after some time and much pain, take the edge off, but within half a day or so, the headache would be back, full-strength. Oh, also, triptans are EXPENSIVE, and my insurance would only allow me to receive a certain number in one prescription. Neurologist said the next step would be taking a daily medication to help prevent the migraines. However, there are no drugs currently available that were specifically developed for this purpose -- docs prescribe other drugs that seem to have secondary effects on migraines. These include beta blockers, antidepressants, anti-seizure meds and other heavy-duty drugs. Each of which, of course, has its own warnings and side effects. I was not keen on this idea.

Something had to give.

I spent some time thinking about what could have changed that suddenly caused my headaches to worsen so drastically, but couldn't think of anything. Until one day, I realized that the worsening sort of coincided with a new piercing I had gotten in the cartilage at the top of my ear. It couldn't be that, right? Right?! But the piercing never had healed up properly anyway, and I was desperate, so I took it out, just in case it was related to the headaches. And what do you know? Within a few weeks, the frequency and severity of my headaches was diminishing noticeably. I quit taking the triptans (which I never really liked anyway) and instead bought some OTC Excedrin for migraines. I was pretty shocked when it actually worked. I threw out the rest of the triptans and quit seeing the neurologist. The OTC drugs didn't knock me out or make me fuzzy all day, and they actually got rid of my headache completely. I was quite encouraged by my new success in treating my headaches, enough so that I pressed ahead in looking for a way to reduce them, or even eliminate them altogether.

I did some research online to find out the latest info on more natural, less distateful migraine prevention. I found a few studies that suggested that magnesium and/or B2 can help to "buffer" the expansion and contraction of blood vessels in the brain. (Blood vessel contraction, or vasoconstriction, is associated with migraine headaches; in fact, the NSAID-sedative drug I took for a while also included a vasodilator.) So I decided to give it a shot. I did some more research on magnesium and B2 supplements to find out which types and doses might be good and headed to the drugstore. I'm actually not a big proponent of across-the-board vitamin supplements, but I thought this would be worth a try. Whereas I was definitely not hip to taking daily doses of prescription meds (particularly off-label, and for a condition that I thought should be addressable with less drastic means), I was willing to try these daily vitamin/mineral supplements.

After a few weeks, I started feeling like I had fewer headaches. One major mistake I made is that I never kept a headache journal. This is really good idea, especially if you are evaluating various therapeutic or preventive strategies. In the most basic version, you simply record each headache that you have, date/time, any treatments undertaken, and the results. It is helpful to make notes every day, even when you do not have a headache, and to also record things like what you ate and drank (and when), time of onset of any headaches, headache severity (using any scale you like, as long as it is consistent), and anything else that you think might affect your headaches (stress level, atmospheric variations, etc). This can help you identify new triggers and assess the effectiveness of any treatments or preventions you may be using somewhat more objectively. In any case, I did not do this. Regardless, I definitely felt better. I was having headaches less often, they were less severe, and often a single dose of Excedrin for migraines would bring lasting relief, in less than an hour. So I continued with the supplements.

After a few months, having a headache became the exception rather than the rule. At that time, I noticed that if I didn't take the supplements one day, then I would have a headache the next day. But now that it's been a few years, I can skip a day or even two without necessarily having a headache. I wouldn't say that I am cured, but I will say that I have been able to successfully control my headaches for a few years now. They are much much less frequent and severe than they were, and when I do get one, I can usually knock it right out with some OTC NSAIDs and a quick nap, very manageable.

Can't tell you why I felt the need to write all that down, but there it is.

week five

2009-02-05T07:41:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been another quiet week around here. Winter doldrums I guess! Last weekend we went house-hunting, and I had hoped to have some photos related to that to post. But it didn't go quite as planned. So I thought I would share some of the things about our apartment that are making us so eager to get our own house and move already...

Our kitchen. *sigh* Yep, that's the whole thing. Wide-angle lens and everything. Without the island that we added, we'd have a grand total of about 4 sq ft of counter space. Yeah. Also, there is only one outlet in my entire kitchen, and I can't use it because the island blocks it. Ain't that a kick in the teeth.

Peaked roof. Our upstairs floor (bedroom and bathroom) is a converted attic, so we have this sloped ceiling. I know some people think it's cozy, but those people haven't hit their heads on this ceiling every week for 5 years. We aren't even tall!! (Note the skylight on the left side and the bathroom door on the right -- more on those a little later.)

Also, there's no closet upstairs, so one side of our bedroom looks like a clearance rack at a department store:

Plus? Those skylights? They aren't sealed, let alone insulated. See?

They let the heat and cool air right out, and the noise, bugs and rain right in. There's no door closing off this floor from the rest of the house either, further encouraging the noise and heat/cooling to flow freely to and from the front door.

Bathroom. I'm sure it's terribly rude to be posting photos of my bathroom online, but oh well. Our bathroom is the worst. For one, it's right in our bedroom (it has a door but no hallway to separate it -- and it's the only one in the apartment).

It's tiny and the ceiling slopes sharply -- if you stand up straight at the sink, you can't see your face in the mirror above it.

Also, our shower is beyond tiny. This is with a wide-angle lens.

OK, one more then I'll stop.

General lack of maintenance. Our landlords just don't bother dealing with repairs. Here's one example.

This house dates back to the 1890s and has these lovely tin ceilings. Lovely, that is, except where they are falling apart. This particular spot seems to be associated with a leak in the roof (a whole floor above), which is also causing a not-insignificant leak around a nearby window.

Maybe it doesn't show up too well, but that bath towel is soaked and dripping. You might think the landlords would be concerned about this. But you'd be wrong. We've brought it up several times and nothing's been done.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Maybe next week I should balance this out with a post about some of the things we like about our place.

week four

2009-01-28T22:33:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a slow week at Chez Monica & Sean. The house hunt continues, and work every day. In between, though, we've been enjoying one of our Christmas gifts: xbox! Even though we've never been big gamers, we're pretty hooked.

dueling controllers

Our current fave is Lego Indiana Jones. It's an adventure and problem-solving game that follows the story of the Indiana Jones trilogy in Lego form. It's great for co-op play, meaning Sean and I can play together. So far, we have completed all stages of the first movie (Raiders of the Lost Ark) once through and have gone through a second time to pick up some of the items you can't get the first time. We've improved a lot already. At first we couldn't figure out how to jump! Ha. Now we actually find we prefer playing xbox to watching random crap on tv.

lego indy!

Since it's a work-together type of game, I've noticed a few interesting things about how we work together, at least when playing this game. First, Sean will always pick Indy, leaving me with the secondary character from the movie (frequently a woman or child -- Marion, Willie, Short Round, etc). He says it's a man thing. I think it's also a former archaeologist thing.

Second, Sean and I have very different approaches to problem-solving. I look for clues and try to make a round of the whole area before deciding what to do. Sean, uh, doesn't. ;)

Third, we get frustrated by different things. Sean gets frustrated when we can't figure out what to do. (Well, we both do, but he usually gets frustrated first.) I get frustrated when he takes over and won't let me do stuff, or when he doesn't listen to my suggestions, or won't come over to help me figure things me out in the game. We both get frustrated when we get blasted repeatedly by random soldiers when trying to complete the missions. Or when there's a part of the stage that we can't complete yet. (As you go through the levels, you earn more characters. Each character has different abilities, and you need lots of different ones to complete every single piece of each stage.)

Fourth, this game really works your ability to work together. We have to communicate with each other, when half the time we don't even know what we are talking about. "Move that thing to the other thing." "No, the thing, not that thing!" "Move, let me do it."

We're getting better though, both at playing the game and at playing together.

week three

2009-01-20T19:08:00.000-05:00

The previously promised Jury Duty edition! But first, let me wish you all a Happy Inauguration Day!

Supreme and Family Court - State of New York

I headed to the Kings County Supreme Court bright and early Wednesday morning. Turns out, you are not allowed to bring cameras into the building. So after passing through security, I surrendered my Canon to an officer at the personal property desk in exchange for a yellow slip of paper. I found it somewhat puzzling that they confiscated my camera but let me keep my cell phone and laptop, both of which have cameras of their own. But whatever, I wasn't about to speak up and lose my phone and Macbook. I abided by the spirit of the law, if not the letter, by not using any of the cameras inside the building. Most of the people in the court didn't seem to have brought their senses of humor with them, so I figured I should behave myself as much as possible. The upshot is that I don't really have any jury duty-related photos to share!

After sitting around in a large waiting room for an hour or so, we got to watch a riveting video about jury duty, emcee'd by Ed Bradley and Diane Sawyer! w00t! Then we waited some more. An exasperated court employee (clerk, I think?) talked us through the process of filling out our jury summonses. Then we waited some more. But hey! Free wireless! Could have been a lot worse. Bunches of people got called behind the closed doors, presumably to be questioned for inclusion on a trial. I was not one of them. Then we got dismissed for lunch. I got my camera out of hock and headed outside.

Since the court is located in downtown Brooklyn, an area I haven't spent much time in, I took a stroll at lunchtime to see what I could see, despite the sub-freezing temps. First off, I found a bodega and bought some Excedrin (R) for my aching head. I was intrigued by the claim on the packaging that a drinking cup was included. How can this be, I wondered.

DRINKING CUP INCLUDED

I opened the package and found not a drinking cup, but a small white paper envelope. Maybe the drinking cup is in here, I thought. But no, it was empty. Then I turned the envelope over, and lo and behold! the envelope WAS the drinking cup! Courtesy of Convenience Valet, evidently! Because they were thinking of ME!

thinking of YOU

Awesome, and so useful. Note to Convenience Valet: just because it can hold water for 2 seconds without leaking, it is NOT in fact a drinking cup.

Anyway, I set off sightseeing and saw some lovely buildings, amid quite a lot of decay.

Joseph J. Jacobs Building

this one looks like a castle!

not sure who this golden lady is

such pretty details

specials - delicious

dilapidated roof

1890 - Offerman Building - 1891

nice turret

Old Brooklyn Fire Headquarters

What I did not see was a wealth of food-supplying establishments for my prandial requirements. Stopped at Starbucks for a coffee, then after some more fruitless wandering, ended up joining the construction workers and traffic cops at Mickey D's.

value meal #3 with a Dr. Pepper

Then back to court, for more waiting. A few more people got called in, but still not I. Just before 4pm, another clerk turned up and told us we were going to be dismissed, after they handed us back some paperwork. This clerk was also quite rude, even calling us "a bunch of idiots" at one point. Unprofessional as well as unnecessary. The clerks' attitudes were easily the worst part of the day, at least for me. Anyway, in the words of the Indigo Girls, I got my paper and I was free! I was home by 430pm and am now off the hook for 8 years. Not a bad deal. Aside from the clerks' rudeness, my headache and some post-McD's queasiness, the whole shebang was pretty painless and quick to boot. Really can't complain!

week two

2009-01-12T20:04:00.009-05:00

Our local weatherpeople promised us a "plow-worthy" snow storm last weekend, so I figured that might make for some great shots for my project here. But of course, the reports of snow were greatly exaggerated, and in fact we only got about an inch or two, followed quickly by lots of rain. YUCK. Here are the best pics I got, anyway -- they'll just have to do!

our stair railing

not quite a snowman, more a snow-mound, that the kids next door made. kinda reminds me of jabba the hut, but jauntier.

melt, freeze, melt, freeze...

Stay tuned for next week, when Monica goes to Jury Duty and will almost certainly have something to say/show for that!

week one

2009-01-07T22:04:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's not quite fitting to start this new project with the aftermath and cleanup from another big event, or maybe it's entirely appropriate to begin with a transition. Glass half-full or half-empty type of thing? In either case, the big news around here this week is putting away the Christmas decorations. I am torn, because while I love Christmas and all my holiday items, they take up visual space, cluttering and cramping our already-too-small apartment. So it's time to put them back in their boxes til the end of the year. In putting them away, though, I am put in mind of reflecting on 2008 and realizing a few things I'd like to do better in 2009.

stack of holiday cards we received

Keep in close touch with family and friends. Holiday cards are great but not enough.

munched-up drumsticks

We use these to hold finger puppets in our stockings, thusly:

stockings

Go see more music. It's one of the reasons we live in NYC after all.

Christmas dining table

winter dining table

Eat dinner at the dinner table. Lately we've been eating on the couch in front of the tv. Maybe if we eat at the table like grown-ups, I'll actually use all my pretty dishes, etc. Plus it'll encourage me to keep fresh flowers around too (once the weather gets a little warmer). And if we get really crazy, we could even invite other people to come over to have dinner with us!

Finally, thinking about our small apartment, it seems appropriate to mention here that I hope, come the end of this year when I start getting the Christmas stuff back out again, it will be in our very own house!

lumper or splitter?

2009-01-04T17:27:00.002-05:00

this is basically a programming note of sorts.

you may (or may not) recall that i had three different blogs last year: a run-of-the-mill blog, a photo blog, and a blog dedicated to my various craft projects. this is because i like to have a place for everything and everything in its place, so i figured i should have different blog places for each of my blog interests. recently, though, i realized there is no reason why my blog interests can't all share the same blog place. so, i've decided to reverse my split decision and lump everything together here. i already imported my former craft-blog posts here, and soon i will be adding my journal-blog posts as well.

lumping and splitting are two different approaches to ecological taxonomy. taxonomy is, in one sense, the grouping of organisms according to their relatedness. relatedness is a continuous variable rather than a discrete variable, however, and there is not always a clear relatedness threshold for demarcating groups of organisms as different or the same. in this sense, taxonomy is somewhat subjective. some ecologists tend to allow a relatively high degree of variation within a taxonomic group, effectively 'lumping' organisms into fewer groups. others draw the group lines more finely, 'splitting' organisms into more groups.

i find the concepts of lumping vs splitting to be applicable to many types of organization, not just taxonomy. not surprisingly, i walk the line between lumping and splitting, as evidenced by my change of heart regarding my blog organization. what about you: are you a lumper or a splitter?

august mosaic

2008-12-29T22:32:00.002-05:00

YAY I'M DONE!!!

august 31: jam!

2008-12-29T22:31:00.001-05:00

I made strawberry freezer jam! It's so good.

august 30: carnation

2008-12-29T22:30:00.001-05:00

Another week of flowers. I need to find a new flower source so I can keep this up in 2009.

august 29: hmmm

2008-12-29T22:29:00.001-05:00

I have no idea what this is or where I was when I took the pic. *shrug*

august 28: gadget

2008-12-29T22:27:00.001-05:00

I will be pretty impressed if anyone can correctly identify this thingy. I found it in my desk drawer.

august 27: tough

2008-12-29T22:26:00.001-05:00

Apparently Zoe had a rough day, she’s practically banging her head against the coffee table.

(P.S. Yes, actually, I *do* vacuum, but I can totally understand why you don't believe me.)

august 26: height

2008-12-29T22:25:00.001-05:00

So glad this isn’t my job! Yikes. Spotted this guy hanging from the elevated subway tracks while taking Zoe to the vet this morning.

august 25: patchwork

2008-12-29T22:24:00.000-05:00

Our landlords are having some of the floors redone. Look at the different layers hiding underneath the carpet!

august 24: bruise

2008-12-29T22:23:00.002-05:00

OUCH. I slipped climbing down a stepladder today and whacked my knee pretty hard. This bruise is just getting more and more colorful.

august 23: fuschia

2008-12-29T22:23:00.001-05:00

More dark pink flowers this week! These didn’t last very well though. Oh well.

august 22: no

2008-12-29T22:22:00.001-05:00

But no what, exactly? No zombies walking dogs? No dogs sitting? Your guess is as good as mine.

august 21: RIP

2008-12-29T22:21:00.000-05:00

Found out today that LeRoi Moore passed away. Very sad.

august 20: grocery

2008-12-29T22:20:00.001-05:00

Nice graffiti mural.

august 19: smiles

2008-12-29T22:18:00.002-05:00

Uber-creepy two-fer.

august 18: pillow

2008-12-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

These throw pillows live on our bed. I just love swirly patterns, I can’t help myself.

august 17: flowers

2008-12-29T22:15:00.002-05:00

My mother-in-law made this weekend bag for me as a birthday gift. So pretty!

august 16: stack

2008-12-29T22:15:00.001-05:00

I had fun wrapping this baby shower gift for my friends.

august 15: reflections

2008-12-29T22:12:00.000-05:00

Went out for dinner with friends after work, then met Sean for a drink. Too bad I didn’t frame this well enough to get both reflections of the lamp in the shot. Oh well.

august 14: pose

2008-12-29T22:11:00.002-05:00

I made Zoe pose for another one. Poor dog. The paparazzi just mob her.

august 13: trompe

2008-12-29T22:11:00.001-05:00

I love quirky little details like this.

august 12: reflection

2008-12-29T22:10:00.000-05:00

My train home got delayed, but at least I got a cool shot out of it, this reflection of the Statue of Liberty and a church steeple floating over Brooklyn.

august 11: puff

2008-12-29T22:09:00.001-05:00

Weeds can be pretty too! This one sprouted behind a bench out in front of the house and must be 3 feet tall.

august 10: slowly

2008-12-29T22:08:00.000-05:00

My new perfume, Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier. I adored the packaging, even before I sniffed the scent. Turns out, the scent is awesome too. So yay!

august 9: curtains

2008-12-29T22:07:00.000-05:00

New curtains in the living room. I think I have managed to photograph all my recent Ikea purchases now.

august 8: hello?

2008-12-29T22:06:00.000-05:00

Street art. Think she’s ordering a pizza?

august 7: sour

2008-12-29T22:05:00.001-05:00

Sean’s dad likes sour candy, so I decided we should keep some around. These are yummy.

august 6: jar

2008-12-29T22:04:00.001-05:00

Zoe's treat jar.

august 5: lonely

2008-12-29T22:03:00.000-05:00

This little chair looks so lonely sitting here by itself.

august 4: black-eyed

2008-12-29T22:02:00.000-05:00

Sean’s parents brought us these black-eyed susans. So pretty.

august 3: setting

2008-12-29T21:58:00.001-05:00

Sean’s parents came over for dinner so I set the table nicely. A couple more pics, just to prove it:

august 2: daisy

2008-12-29T21:55:00.000-05:00

This week’s flowers.

august 1: rose 3

2008-12-29T21:54:00.001-05:00

The last in my series of photos of these poor roses. They are like parchment at this point.

i take it back

2008-12-29T16:38:00.003-05:00

soooooo, the new website that i mentioned below? just didn't work out the way i wanted it to. it loads SUPER SLOWLY (if at all), and i can't add it to my google reader. so i'm coming back to blogger! i plan to add posts for my daily pics for the month of august, which completed my project365. i would also like to do some retrospectives on my year of photos, but i don't know when that will happen...

because i am planning a new photo project for 2009: project52! a year's worth of weekly photos this time, instead of daily. some weeks will probably have more than one photo. maybe i will try to have my photos really reflect what i did each week, rather than just random things around me. we'll see. i plan to launch project52 at the start of 2009, so please come back soon!

and do check back for my last month of project365 posts. :)