I'm Awake! And... Blogging!!!

 It is no secret that I am smitten with NYC. But what no one knows is the few unanswered questions I have in my noodle each day, frolicking, running, or day dreaming my way through the city.

Unanswered Question:

1.WHO is my cab driver talking to? And HOW do they have that much to say to be talking and driving all day it seems.. my gosh man..aren't you all talked out yet? Don't you just want to roll your window down, listen to some Enya and bliss out awhile? Perhaps not. Or perhaps I just flag the chatty cabies?

        ***Funny Story*** After a late night dinner with a (gay) friend of mine, James (who is dating anther gay friend of mine). I hugged James goodbye and got into the cab.. My cab driver turns completly around grinning from ear to ear to ask:

 "Soooo...How was your date!?"

To which I replied,

" ...well... he is gay sooooo".

He burst out laughing and said,

"We can't win them all sweetheart!"

I said,

 "No, no.. I know he is gay".

He about dies laughing again and said to me,

 "Girlie you've got more problems then I thought if youre knowingly going out with gay men.."

After this comment I was a) no longer charmed with our banter and b) puzzled...who ever said that was a date dude.. mind Yo biz-nass.. Don't you have calls to make!!

2. Just how filthy are the rails, seats, floors and ok air on the subway trains anyway??? or is that one better left unanswered? I can't decide. All I know is, the sting of hand sanatizer is both now a routine and comforting burning smell when "riding the rails".

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MM on the subway

3. How much Joes coffee and teas is too much? Becuase I am certain that this place is a must on my way to work in the mornings, or in the afternoon...or um.. *cough* on any small break. :/ I love them though. It is my favorite little coffee joint that I have found so far in the village. I guess they opened another one, but I love their little corner shop. Large creeking door and wooden floor. Local art, live plants, pet friendly, and always filled with (what I assume to be) bloggers, writers, and of course. the early morning over achieving joggers.

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Pictures of West 4th neighborhood from my spiffy new iphone camera app!

outside of Joes

Across the street with the skeleton on the roof.. thats the Slaughtered Lamb.. its  bar we frequent.

The Duplex on my way into work...

The Duplex on my way home from work in the wee small hours of the morning

and I can't leave out my Harlem!

HEY YO! Marilyn is everywhere right now.. The movie..the books..the calendar I bought for the new year (LOVE seeing her each morning in all her curvacious glory cheering me on as I get ready) ..and what with the new SMASH tv show (addicted! Debra Messing how A and I have missed you so. Thank you for being back in my life you wonderful ginger you)

I couldn't help but to snag a few indulgent Pinterest moments looking at this beauty...

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Pssst.. who do you think makes the better Marilyn?? Leave a coment and let me know!

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If you haven't seen already - your under a rock! Ahh quick crawl out! becuase Banana Republic has a MadMen collection you don't want to be stuck under a rock for! I suggest if one has an extra ninty eight buckaroos you get the pearl clutch..one would love that would't one.

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Right now I am reading a wonderful book called "New York Diaries (From 1609-2009)" it. is. facinating! I've been reading on the subways, in the bath, in bed, anywhere I can! I can't decide though.. should I read from page one on... like you normally read a book, or should I read one days worth of entried for that day and make the book last? I'm giving myself the rest of "Janurary" to decide.

So yes.. the book is written with random and interesting, some funny, or sad entries from people like Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, and Edgar Allen Poe. Some are from the diary entries of socialits, military men,  bloggers, artists, clergy, or even George Washington.. anyone who kept a diary during a time they lived in New York. I love this idea as I am now a New York addict. You'd think living here would be enough but now I have that dang New York pride thing where I want to literally eat sleep dress work read and breath in New York.. well..maybe not BREATH in New York.

If you have been here/lived here then you know that you can be walking along having a wonderful thought..maybe your listening to your new favorit song on youre iPhone, and then BAM! Youre assalted with smell.. musky street smell.And thats.just.not.cool. yuck. you gag, hack and look around in shock to see others doing the same for that one space where "the smell" lingers.. bummed you continue forth, and slightly judge those who did walk through it and didn't react, apparently they didn't mind the smell.. Are you THAT used to bad smells that you can open mouth breath past that area dude? No no. I will never be that New Yorker...I love my nose and mouth too much.... bleck!

Entry from NY Diaries:

                                                         May 19th, 1953

King Street is one of those dark, quaint vestiges of old New York and the route to it from the cafe is dank with garbage pails and "the yellow smoke that curls".

Bahahaha.Well said Judith Malin...well said.

I literlly just flipped the book open to this page and looked down and read that line. How perfect!

Also on this Page:

May 15th, 1842

Sally hatched another bird.

-Augustus Van Horne Ellis

Riviting stuff here Augustus..

May 18th, 1842

Both {Sally's Hatchlings} Dead. Dick {her mate} killed them.

-Augustus Van Horne Ellis

May 20th, 1842

Shot a cat dead, dead, dead.

-Augustus Van Horne Ellis

LOL what the Hell Augustus! lol geez! what a violent past few days you had!

May 5th, 1976

And so I am a Pulitzer Prize winner.

-Ned Rorem

Aaaaallllrighty then Ned. You seem thrilled! Are ya thrilled Ned? Are ya?

Quick entries that made me Chuckle:

March 28th, 2009

No calls, missed or otherwise, tonight. The blistering honesty of technology.

-Staying Pinoy in New York

April 17th, 1907

A high wind this morning and the pranks of the gusts about the Flatiron Building at Fifth Avenue and 23rd St. was interesting to watch. Woman's skirts flapped over their heads and ankles were to be seen. And a funny thing, a policeman to keep men from loitering about the corner. His position is much sought, I suppose.

-John Sloan

October 23rd, 1963

Fortieth birthday. I can no longer die young.

-Ned Rorem

February 2nd, 1867

My experience is that a man cannot go anywhere in New york in an hour. The distances are too great- you must have another day to it. If you got six things to do, you have go to take six days to do them in.

-Mark Twain

Boy, it was true then and it is true now. If Marky Mark needs more hours in the day then I feel less guilty myself for needing them!

But my two favorites still...

May 22nd, 1947

Today I arrived by train in New York City, which I'd never seen before, walked through the grandeur of Grand Central Terminal, stepped outside, got my first look at the city and instantly fell in love with it. Silently, inside myself, I yelled: I should have been born here!

-Edward Robb Ellis

March 11th, 1978

I had a lot of dates but decided to stay home and dye my eyebrows.

-Andy Warhol

LOL I love it! I did the same thing yall and stayed in a few nights ago and colored my hair a dark auburn brown color again. I love it

B.

The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Yesterday {on my day off} I woke up a grouch. I moved like a sloth over to my bathroom and angerly brushed my teeth, vigorously washed my face, and hastily brushed my hair.. ok it was more like two passes with a large comb.. but the effort was there peeps.

I moved through the still house quiet with shifty eyes looking for signs that ass hat was there or gone...

was any one else home?

no.

Did that change the fact that I really just wanted to leave and never return?

no.

So I headed to my sisters place.

I was cranky.. and in no mood to stay in my warm and muggy room with bright sun coming through the window. "Uck.. its soooo sunny! Stupid sun.. alll sunny" I hissed at the beautiful day out side like {yes I'm sooo going there} like a vampire {and  not even a really stunningly beautiful one.. just a greasy haired blotchy faced one} and made my way to my hot and steamy car.. eck. We Arizona folk are not used to ANY humidity. So I am really grossed out right now at the outside world.

With my giant celeb shades {or as my brothers call them.. bug glasses} I made my way quick, and cat like on the freeway to her house.

As soon as I opened the door and the cool circulating air hit my face and my shoulders dropped and I felt some peace. I opened her bedroom door where Marlee the adorable was asleep. She lifted her head from her little princess bed to look who made all that noise, saw it was me, and unimpressed she lay her head back down.

Cool.

She wasn't in a hyper "Play with me! Love me!" mood.

Good deal.

I went to her freezer where she stashed some left over M&Ms from my last visit there, picked out a fluffy  blue blanket from the basket in the living room. I crawled onto her bed exhausted and defeated like I had been swimming in the ocean and just crawled ashore onto land for the very first time.

I layed there atop her giant bed and among her massively fluffy pillows.

My pillows are flat. Smooshed. Sorta crumbly in old cotton clumps.

Her fan was on low and sent a nice refreshing, steady breeze that made the hairs on my face tickle my cheeks.

My room was hot.. and loud. Two fans pushing hot steamy cat hair around and around and around.

I listened waiting for the other shoe to drop.. loud neighbors? Noisy trucks? Car alarm? But nothing. It was quiet and peaceful.

My neighborhood was riddled with load trucks being fired up, the mail mans squeaky breaks ect ect ect.

Clearly this was an awesome idea!

When the Sister Sue texted me to see how my day off was going {see.. a peach!} I told her I was layed up in her bed chillin. I told her I wouldn't turn lights/tv/ac on to not add to her eclectic bill. But she quickly responded in protest. "Nooo turn the tv on! if its hot turn the air down. I'll be home around 6:15.. Subway for dinner?"

 Ummm yes please! My day got a whole lot better from there. My sis has a stack of books she is reading right now {like mother, like daughter} one of those books is The Happiness Project. I picked up at the library and started it today at lunch. I am really enjoying it so far! I recommend :)

Around 8pm full from our sandwiches and chips, I crawled back up into her large bed and settled in with MORE Grey's Anatomy {enter my need for a support group} while she read under a soft light in the living room. She gasped in horror reading her scary novel and I chuckled at the silly characters on my show. Each quietly enjoying the space in two different ways.

I closed my eyes and thought "what if?". What if she and I lived together? Would this be what it is like? Quiet nights in our own corners of the world, and radios blasting and curling irons blazing on nights getting ready to go out? Will this be similar to what it will be like to live with MGrace in NYC? i hope so. I think so.

I believe so. I know so.

"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

(from the book)

What makes you Happy?
Greys Anatomy and baking blogs make me very very happy :)

Ballin on a budget

thank you weheartit.com

This weekend is filled with GOOD! no, GREAT! Things Ladies.

I am feeling so happy and positive these days and there is no telling why.

Work has been the stresser of a life time. I blame each and ever distinguished gray hair on my head on them. And sure sometimes I cry leaving the parking lot, and my pillows have never been fluffy from my beatings.. but you know what? Looking forward to this weekend has made me untouchable today!

For starters my sisters candle party is this weekend! Umm a room full of friends, ladies who lunch, and smell good feel good candles? Yes please!

thank you google

I also plan to make Chocolate raspberry topped tarts for the event.. who knows I MIGHT make more then needed and end the day with one in bed? Shhhh I wont tell the diet Gods if you dont ;)

thank you weheartit.com

I plan to lay in bed, fix my computer, and load my iTunes back into good graces on the new phones..

then. rock out.

thank you weheartit.com

I also plan to just buy the Tina Fey BossyPants book because I have that much faith in my joy while I read this. I love her. Can't live with out her. So why do I think my book collection could? I know right.. silly me. The book comes home with me.. {and my tart} and into bed. {Warning: I'll take just about anything to bed.. thats what she said Boo ya!}

Today is Thursday no longer "hump day" and not yet WHOOO HOOOO Friday!!! But Thursday non the less is a class act. I can not wait for many things I have shaping up in my little life, and thinking about it has made me check back into life as a positive and happy person. My sisters can do that to me though. After a HORRID day at work where I spent more of the time resisting the erg to pluck out eyes {all Kill Bill Style} and have one of those amazing I QUITE! walk outs we all dream about from time to time.. I spent that night laughing. my.tail. OFF with my two sisters. I don't think I  could laugh any harder until one of them says the next thing that makes me do a "I have to pee" dance but dont want to leave and miss anything .."thing".

I love my sisters dearly and am SO thankful to my mom that she gave them to me. My brothers are cooler then cool. But my sisters? they are the most amazing and talented people I know. I find so much comfort and wisdom in them. {are you hearing this older sis? ;)}

I have also come to terms with some plans to move to NY. Soon to come I am sure once I have ironed them all out n the 'ol noodle..

Well ladies. May peace be with you on this classy Thursday.

eat * pray * love

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As you may or may not recall from a previous post, I am trying to read for pleasure. Right now I am at "Pray" in Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I love this book for so many many reasons! I love the way that she writes, I love that she is honest to the core, and I love that for the past few weeks I truly feel I have been eating gelato in Rome right along with her. Finding my own way to seek pleasures, and now thinking about how it is that I pray.

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Of course I can not wait for the movie to come out later this month with the beautiful Julia Roberts! I have tentative plans to meet with sister, friends, and mothers for the show. Giant plates of Italian food to follow so we can talk about the movie and book of course.

My favorite passages so far in reading the book, are the two below. I have a good feeling there will be plenty more!  :
Page 141

"The resting place of the mind is the heart. The only thing the mind

 hears all day is clanging bells and noise and argument and all it

 wants is quietude. The only place the mind will ever find peace is

 inside the solece of the heart. It's where you need to go."

 
Page 75

"I look at the Augusteum and I think that perhaps my life has not

actually been so chaotic after all. It is merely this world that is

chaotic, brining changes to us all that nobody could have anticipated.

That Augusteum warns me not to get attached to any obsolete ideas

 about who I am, what I represent, whom I belong to or what function I

may once have intends to serve. Yesterday I might have been a glorious

monument to somebody true enough- but tomorrow I could be a fireworks

depository. Even in the eternal city says the silent Augsteum, one must

always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation."

  Below is a picture found using Google image search for the Augusteum :

 

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VVV!

A Few days ago I found myself with time to kill! This almost never happens, as I am usually spinning in motion trying to get from work to clinic to..wherever on time (which also almost never happens). But this day client cancelled on me and I had the afternoon to go home..or not! Excited with my "free time" I admittedly ran some rather boring errands. On my way to fill my power card I stumbled upon a book sale!



I have never really enjoyed reading. I have always much rather being outside, listening to music or taking in a movie. When I was a child I had my favorites, but as a young adult I just couldn't see why people read for their own entertainment. When I moved out on my very own (just me, my cat and dog, and three pots too many) I decided on an "Adult Movement" if you will, where I would read for pleasure and no longer leave dishes out, or the lights on when I slept. Regrettably the dishes remain on the side of the sink.. never in? Anyways, I did however start to read more. I began with mainly short fluffy novels and haven't moved on since (included the entire Twilight Sage... (cough) twice!)

And so in my seek for more adult material I rummaged through the $1.00-$3.00 books. Clearly these had to be donated for the cause, which was to raise awareness about Prostate Cancer. And since I only paid $1.00 for my slightly risky-yet funny book called "Going Down: a New Yorkers Tale". Here is more information if you so care to indulge.

Here is a count down of my top 5 favorite titles strewn about the display:

5. "Can You Say Potty?"

-who me?

4. "Greet and Cheat"

-I can only guess lol

3. "Peter Pan: The Untold Story"

-Really?

2. "Vegan. Virgin. Valentine."

-wow lol I did almost get this one for the title alone

1. "Bachelors and Babies"

-This you had to see the cover of to really appreciate the title. It was a mustache clad cowboy with a baby strapped to his chest. But while looking for a picture of it on Amazon to share I found this on instead:
Say it with me... WTF?