To the Theatahr

I caught a few Broadway shows in the past month courtesy of some amazing friends and guests.

In early August I attended Grease with the Amos family who was in town from Kansas City. I had no idea but Danny and Sandy were selected on a reality show. Sarah filled me in while we were waiting for the show to start so I wasn't completely unaware. I really enjoyed in and behaved myself and did NOT sing aloud though incredibly tempted.

When Alicia came to town we got tickets at the tkts center at South Street Seaport (had never been there either). Tkts has discounted tickets the day of the show. The seats are usually pretty good though its not guaranteed that you'll get to see the show you want so you have to go in with some options.

We went to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I have to say they get the award for best incorporation of the audience into the show. The seats actually look like they're bleachers in a school gymnasium. It was a really cute show and I recommend it to anyone with parents in town. There are some potentially embarrassing parts but nothing like Avenue Q.

Blog Attack!

So I wrote down all the things I have been planning to blog about so I'm going to try to take care of those in the next coming weeks. Watch this space.

I AM A NEW YORKER!

What makes me say this you ask? Is it...

• That I've been living in New York almost a year? No, according to most, you're not a New Yorker unless you've been living in NYC for ~4-7 years (depends on who you ask)
• That I received my New Yorker renewal? Nah, I've been reading the New Yorker for years.
• That I've eaten my 1000th bagel. Sadly, no. I enjoy the NYC bagel but at the rate of nearly 3 a day, I'd be as big as a house.

NOPE!!! I was invited to join a synagogue today. I have never been more flattered. The only way I can think that I got this is that I joined a Jewish community service organization which I greatly admire and they gave this synagogue my address. The invitation is lovely, complete with an envelope for the high holy day reservations.

I don't think I will be taking them up on their offer but I'm so flattered. Sigh. I heart New York.

Pros/Cons of Working Remotely

Yesterday New York City had effectively what could be considered a "snow day". I listened to NPR while getting ready like every morning and they said the 2,3 subway lines weren't running because of the heavy rains and flooding earlier that morning (of course I didn't wake up and knew nothing about it). I thought, "that's fine, west side, whatever". It's not all that uncommon for the subway not to be running.

I get to my subway stop at 86th and Lex (4,5,6 line) and I know as soon as I step off the bus that there are WAY too many people milling around the entrance. Once I walk up, I find out that those trains aren't running either. So I decided to get back on the bus to the west side to catch the C line to get to work but no one seemed to know if it was running.

I get to the west side and the C isn't running and the bus stops are overflowing with people. At this point I realize that I should just work from home and schlepped the x miles back to my apartment.

Several of my friends who couldn't get to work, and couldn't work from home pretty much had a snow day and drank mimosas for lunch. Some others were determined and took 3-4 hours to get to work via several modes of transportation. So, net net. Great that I didn't have to spend half the day commuting, but bummer that I didn't have a mimosa for lunch.

One additional thing to point out, New Yorkers were being sooo chill about the situation. Yes, there was minor grumbling about why the city/MTA/whomever can't get it together to pump the water out of the tunnels but overall everyone was very nice. Several people were offering their bus/subway maps to strangers, and commiserating about the situation.

My Birthday Events

My 26th (ouch) birthday was a COMPLETE success.

Sabrina, Sean, and Sean's brother, Bill came up on Friday night and we headed out for some fun downtown. We hit McSorely's bar (one of the oldest bars in NYC), then a few random bars in the East Village. However, when 1:15 rolled around I determined it was time to head to Barnes & Noble a few blocks away to pick up my copy of Harry Potter when I got some fancy glasses.

Saturday during the day we took in a Yankee game where the "New Yankee" hit his very first homerun. It was great to see how everyone in the stadium gave him a standing O and how excited he was. Awww, New Yankee.

Saturday night we hit Stout to hear my favorite Irish band Scythian play. They were outstanding as usual and I think everyone had a great time. Check out my Flickr Page for pics from the last couple weeks, including my birthday.

From these pictures, I've determined there is a strong correlation between number of drinks I've had and how much I hang on people in pictures. Need to work on my bar posture. I have a goal for my 26th year! Hooray!

4th of July...Finally

Ok, since I'm laid up in bed sick, I figured this might be the optimal time to, 1) catch up on my quest to watch all of the SATC episodes, 2) finally upload my pictures from July 4th-present, 3) update the blog.

Yay! July 4th! My friends Jodi, Nicole and I decided to attend Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest to see the match up between Kobayashi and the U.S. favorite, Joey Chestnut. This seemed like SUCH a New York thing to do so we headed off to Coney Island to check it out.

As I'm sure many of you saw from the ESPN coverage, there were thousands of people there so of course we couldn't see. However, when we could see, we wished we couldn't. Seriously, gross, but we were so glad we went. Even when we waited 45 mins for a Nathan's hot dog. Delicious. Joey Chestnut broke the former record of 59 1/2 hot dogs by 6 1/2 hot dogs! It was impressive. You can see the picture of us at the contest below.


Not surprisingly, guys LOVE that we went to the Hot Dog Eating Contest. Thought I'd throw that out there for all the single girls out there. Competitive eating is a great pick-up line.

Um-buh-rella, ella, ella

Random rant: I hate people with golf umbrellas because if they are of average height, you cannot get around them on the sidewalk. I desperately want a golf umbrella so I can walk without getting wet.

I think I'll just pick up some golashes and deal with my little umbrella rather than self-loathe.

Bypassing the 4th onto J.Crew

Ok, so I really need to blog about my July 4th adventure and since I haven't posted pics yet I'm going to go ahead and skip it then come back to it later.

Ok, J.Crew story. I have a lovely strapless beach embossed dress that I got from J.Crew 2 years ago. After washing it (as the label directed) I noticed that something was poking me. The boning on the dress had come out of it's sleeve and was stabbing me in the waist. Now, this is not all bad as it corrected my bad posture whenever I began to slouch, but not the most enjoyable experience.

My friend Nicole, a former J.Crew employee said I should take it back and see what they could do. So I finally got around to doing this on Friday. They said they could give me the current sales price which of course I thought...$5. I will deal with getting stabbed if all I was going to get was $5. Shockingly, the sales price was $69.99 so I figured, I could get a new one online (they no longer have them in the store).

Today I finally went online to purchase the dress, and due to sales and discounted pricing the dress was only $47. I know it's dumb, but I feel guilty about J.Crew's poor system and taking advantage of it. I've decided the free shipping and extra t-shirt are my birthday present.

This actually worked out because I got the dress in a different color/size so it's like a present.

The Beach

I don't need to go away for the weekend to go to the beach, I can just hop on the LIRR (Long Island RailRoad) which I have decided to start calling by it's phonetic spelling.

Saturday 4 friends and I went to Robert Moses beach which is the first beach on Fire Island. Admittedly, it took awhile to get out there (about 1 1/2 hours) but it was absolutely beautiful. It was probably 80 degrees, white sand, sunny. Gorgeous.

We even had a pretty good time on the train and on the way back we picked up a 6-pack and had Happy Hour. I think will be the first of many trips to the beach this summer. Next time I'll remember to put my memory card back IN my camera after uploading pics. Then I can share the beauty with you all.

Note: I, of Scandinavian descent and pale skin color that makes makeup counter ladies smirk, missed several spots when applying the SPF. Of course the around the ankle area, unreachable back area and around the swimsuit areas were most notably missed. Loose clothing for days...

See you Soon

So, maybe I frequent some places in my neighborhood a bit much. I realized how often today when I show up at Yummy Sushi and the woman asked me how I was doing and when I left, said, "See you soon!" Yeah, you probably will.

I also regularly go to Eastside Grocery around the corner from my apartment. It's actually a bodega, where you can pick up whetever you need if you're in a hurry. Friday night I stopped in there to get a big water for the beach on Saturday and finally asked the name of the guy who is ALWAYS behind the counter, Mohsen. Tonight I was craving some ice cream so went around the corner and he remembered my name, and I his. Then when I left, "See you soon!"

I really like my neighborhood.

Lemonade 10¢

Sunday was a GORGEOUS day, absolutely amazing, so I went to sit in Central Park with the rest of New York City. Besides meeting some interesting gentlemen that I absolutely cannot begin to describe, I walked by a lemonade stand that was run by two little girls. They had quite a nice setup, table, lemonade, cookies, nice little sign.

I was actually going to buy some lemonade, thought it was pretty cute, then I realized where I was walking. Yeah, I was on 86th St between Madison Ave and 5th Ave. For those of you not familiar with the city, these little girls live in a VERY nice neighborhood. I could not bring myself to provide them with any more money. Their combined allowance is probably the same as my salary so the lemonade stand just wasn't as cute.

Am I mean?

Cutest kids ever

YAY! Abby uploaded new pictures of the kids! A lot are from Colin's birthday, but these are by far my favorite.

Thank God for Netflix

Ok, if I've already blogged about this, feel free to send hate mail. I never remember what I've actually blogged and what I just thought was a good blog topic and never actually blogged about.

I have a new plan to watch all of the TV Shows I can think of on Netflix and get the New York references. It never occurred to me the first time around of watching Seinfeld, Will & Grace and others that I wasn't getting the joke. Lately while watching these shows in syndication I realize that they're New York references to Broadway, the subway, parking, that I'm just not getting.

Along with not getting adult innuendo in movies when you're younger I think getting NY references in movies will make me happy.

How Do You Get There from Here?

A favorite pasttime of New Yorkers is discussing their routes to...well, everywhere. It never really occurred to me until I heard someone discussing it on This American Life. This guy from Chicago was talking about life in New York City after his recent move. He said that New Yorkers seem completely preoccupied by discussing their routes to and from work. And I completely agree.

Whenever I meet someone new, you get through the what you do, where you live, where you work, the next logical question is, "Well how do you get to work?". EVERYONE has an opinion on your route, and this is in no way a bad thing. If someone informed me of some magical connection that would make my commute shorter I'd probably kiss them but it's so entertaining to listen to.

Also, when someone asks me directions on or near the Subway (happens a lot - tourists probably don't think that a nice Midwestern-looking girl will rob them) another New Yorker occasionally joins the convo to provide their faster route.

So maybe New York's sub-slogan to I (heart) New York should be, "We'll get you where you want to go". That might be the slogan to some car company already, but I say we steal it.

Early Riser?

Ok, so I've decided I either only need approximately 6 hours of sleep a night or I've become super sensitive to the sun rising.

For the last couple of weeks I have been waking up (different than getting up) in the 5s! I wake up, think "what is the sun doing up", squint at my wall clock, look at my cell phone AND my alarm clock to verify the time, then go back to sleep.

This morning was particularly crazy since I woke up about 5 times before my alarms started going off at 7:05. What's up with that? The bummer is that when I wake up at 5:30 I am completely refreshed. Then after waking up and snoozing for the next 2 hours (yes, I hit snooze approximately 3-4 times every morning) I wake up tired. I would like to experiment one day and actually get out of bed at 5:45 and see what happens. I think you just get lots of stuff done, and maybe go to the gym. I have no idea, I've never had this problem before.

Side note though, I am loving this sun in the morning thing. Since I do not have an air conditioner in my room, I sleep with my window open and my fan blowing on me. It is SO NICE to wake up in the morning with the sun and a light breeze.

My Boring Life

I worried I'm getting used to New York and I don't find anything that exciting anymore. To prove that is not true, here are some fun things I'll be doing soon:

#1 JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge - this is a 5k race tomorrow sponsored by the obvious. 10,000 runners ran yesterday and there will be 10,000 more tomorrow. While I had great ambitions to actually RUN the whole thing, odds are I will be walking briskly most of the way. The best part about it is the Harris Interactive tshirts we got. The back has a big beer mug and says, "Survey says: 99% of people would rather drink beer than run." I concur tshirt, I concur.

#2 Ladies Night at Mo's Caribbean tonight - can anyone say $2 margaritas, 50 flavors? Yeah, I can.

#3 Park laying - this weekend I have a hot date with my book club book to go lay in Central Park and read. The weather better cooperate or we're going to have words.

#4 Room Rearrangement - I am not the more organized person out there as anyone who personally knows me can testify, but I'm trying to make the most of my limited space. Since I purchased a laptop, I am no longer in need of my desk, so I have posted it on Craigslist and I have someone coming to look at it on Sunday. Yay! Saturday I'm carting several bags of clothes and books to the Goodwill. As soon as I'm done with my reorg I'll post new pictures!

Bad blogger

Ok, I haven't blogged for a month. I'm a VERY BAD blogger.

You just get all these ideas and you want to blog about them all, but then it's just too many and you can't deal with the thought of doing them all at once.

Anyway, this first blog is to let everyone know that I upload pictures to my Flickr site of Doug and Stacey (Scott) Langley's wedding and my most recent trip to DC. I had so much fun at both events!

More blogs to come...

Star Spotting: Political Edition

Ok, so while I didn't see this gentlemen in NYC I'm going to do a special "Star Spotting" with the politicians I've seen recently.

#1: Senator John Thune (R-SD)

Last Monday, while waiting for my flight to DC, I saw Senator Thune running for a plane to Washington, DC. When he realized I recognized him he smiled and said hello. Now this isn't CRAZY exciting because I've met him before and shared a little small talk with him. As student body VP, it was my duty to introduce him in the absence of our student body president when he came to speak at my high school.

Regardless, I thought it was cool to see him.

South Dakota Guilt

Ok, everyone at home, if you want to feel guilty, watch, "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee" on HBO. Yeah, it talks about how the Pine Ridge Indian reservation was created. Yeah, depressing.

New Phone Part II

My emotions have been ALL OVER the place today with this phone. First, I couldn't turn on my phone yesterday after it fell on the sidewalk. I assumed it was broken and spent the better part of last night looking for new phones on eBay.

Then, this afternoon, I went to Verizon to have them pronounce it dead before buying a new phone, they plugged it in and suddenly it worked. I knew that the battery wasn't dead but they made me sit there for 5 minutes while they charged it and lo and behold, as soon as they unplugged it, nada, dead. They told me I could get a new phone (Razr...grrr) to replace my old one for $50. I decided not to do it then and there because I would have lost my phonebook and wanted to document my phone numbers before getting a new phone.

And then, tonight, I went to the Verizon by my house and the guy looked at it for one second, bent back this metal piece and turned it on. Yay for a second opinion. Still hate my phone though. :)

East Coast = Bad Luck for Roxie phones

Well, I've been on the East Coast for a little over 2 years. In that time, I've gone through 3 phones. This is not good. Now, mind you, I have been a cell phone owner since 2002, and I was on a good clip of getting a new phone every 2 years until November of 2005. Since then I have:

• Lost a phone
• A phone purchased online croaked (prob bad quality to begin with)
• My Razr died after dropping it

Mind you, I HATE my Razr. I have hated it since shortly after I got it when I realized that the operating system is ridiculously slow and that you can talk for about 60 minutes before it needs to be recharged.

So, since Verizon charges and arm and a leg when your contract is not up, I will probably be buying another phone online through eBay. Sigh.

So, odds are I won't be able to transfer my phone numbers, so if you would kindly email me your phone number, I would greatly appreciate it.

Jeopardy - thee are so wise

I was a little behind on my Jeopardy One-a-Day calendar when I ran across this clue tonight:

A. "It took thirty years for the appliance to be in over 50 percent of U.S. homes; the need to bake a potato in three minutes wasn't pressing."

I won't bother waiting for a response because the question is obviously, "What is the microwave (oven)". See, I'm not so odd. However, the microwave oven was invented in the 50's SO yeah, maybe not having one is a little odd.

Graduation Advice

While scouring the University of Kansas student newspaper I ran across some advice for new graduates joining the real world. I found this point particularly interesting:

Always pick Kansas to win it all in your office pool. It’s the right thing to do. Be really annoying and vocal during March Madness in your office if the ‘Hawks are still alive, especially if you have Mizzou and K-State grads as co-workers.

Um, yeah, so admittedly, I do this every year. I know it's not a "smart" strategy but some day it will pay off. SOME DAY. As for Mizzou/K-State grads, I've only run across a few in NYC so far, and I would gloat if I ran into them. Especially if they came to a KU bar to watch the basketball game. Rude, rude Tiger fans.

Looooove her

I am a huge fan of an artist that opened for Joshua Radin (blogged earlier) whose CD I have been listening to nearly non-stop for the last month or so. Thanks Nicole for burning it for me!

What caused me to blog about it now is that I watched last week's Grey's Anatomy episode last night on abc.com (they should pay me for all my plugs) and one of her songs was featured.

Check out Ingrid Michaelson if you get a chance.

HIMYM - Part 2

Tonight was the airing of Tim's proposal to Jana on "How I Met Your Mother" - I'm sorry I couldn't remind you all, but blogger and I were fighting today. The news cameras were there to capture the engagement party (I was totally there) and Tim and Jana watching the proposal for the first time.

You can catch the news segment here.

Congratulations again Tim and Jana (pictured above with the cast)!

Parker Wedding Extravaganza 2007

The Parker wedding was as much fun as we all expected. Erica was an absolutely gorgeous and glowing bride and you couldn't get the smile off Russell's face. Me being the sappy person that I am started crying about 15 times.

Since they met at the University of Maryland, each of the tables was named after buildings on campus. They went to the campus and took pictures in front of each building and left a large 8x10 picture on each table. It was such a cute idea.

Here is a picture of the happy couple! The rest of the pictures from the weekend, including several from Friday night's activities are posted on My Flickr site - see the link to the left.

Some random comments

1) I love bananas - and the one I just ate was PARTICULARLY good.

2) I'm going to Ocean/Atlantic City for my friend Erica's wedding this weekend! Yes, this makes my 3rd trip there in a year. Woot woot.

3) My mom is hilarious - check this out.

You're the next contestant on the Price is Right

I saw a quote on OverheardinNewYork.com that made me contemplate the price of things in New York. I'm completely desensitized by it after 8 months but this quote made me laugh (edited somewhat for younger readers):

"Dude: I don't think I'll do too well on The Price Is Right. I'm too used to Manhattan. I'd say 35 dollars for a box of Bounce. Then I'd be like, 'Holy crap, five bucks? Damn, Bob, where the %#$@ do you shop?!"

So you all know, Bounce is not $35 but prices are pretty high. My friend Molly in Austin told me that where she shops she can get 2 gallons of milk for $5. Um, I can get one for about $3.58. I did call my dad a few nights ago to let him know that I was it the fancy frou frou grocery store behind my house and they had brown eggs that were delivered fresh every day. You don't buy them in packages, but separately. For $.60 an egg. This is by no means the rule for eggs in NYC, but something I found hilarious.

Group Bonding

I've found that one of my favorite things is to have a really unusual person on the subway car and watching other people's reactions to them.

Scenario #1: Well dressed middle aged woman sitting on a bench on the subway. She begins yelling "I can't believe you! Don't touch me! An old woman sitting here and you sit on her! Don't sit on me!" Everyone starts making eye contact, rolling their eyes and smiling. Then when this other passenger gets up at the stop after be yelled from 86th St. to 59th St. another person sits down next crazy woman and she begins yelling at her. While it sounds uncomfortable, it was really funny and bonded all of the people on the car. Not as much as scenario #2.

Scenario #2: A couple of weeks ago on the first nice day of Spring I was riding the subway and I look behind me and there is an ~275 lb, incredibly muscular man listening to his headphones. Now that is not that uncommon, neither was the fact that he was wearing a wife beater, what was odd was that he was making his pecs dance to the music. Oh, and his music was loud enough that EVERYONE on the car could hear the bass line of his song. Sometimes one would go up, sometimes the other, sometimes both, sometimes they'd just shake. And he was VERY into this and had his eyes closed the whole time. The second I realized what was happening I start laughing hysterically into my arm (on the bar above), trying not to be too obvious, I kept sneaking glances and on the second glance I notice the guy sitting next to him. He is half the size of this guy, dressed business casual, and RIDICULOUSLY uncomfortable. That made me laugh even harder. There were very few people on the train not smiling that afternoon.

Not you too Grey's!

Thank you Grey's Anatomy for trying to freak out all the young single women out there. Addison is 37 years old and finally decided to have a baby after putting her career first for so many years to find out she can't have a baby. She's infertile. Hey...we get it. Alllllll of us single twenty-somethings out there understand. You can stop reminding us now.

Ok, rant is over. Thank you for listening.

However, since the episode is not yet over, there is still hope that the tests were wrong or she'll use some homeopathic remedies. I can't believe that Shonda Rhymes would tee off her base.

Successful Craigslist Experience

I had my very first Craigslist experience today! I've been meaning to get a wireless router forever and checked out the Craigslist postings the other day. I got an (almost) new wireless router for $35! Not sure if that's good but about $15 cheaper than the same one at Best Buy. Sweet deal. The woman I bought it from was super nice and said she'd take it back if I had any problems which makes me pretty satisfied with my purchase.

I'm also LOVING my new wireless network. It rocks!

Downright Refreshing

Today is the best morning I've had in a really long time and it started because I got out of bed when I naturally woke up. For the last two weeks or so, I have been waking up between 6:15 am and 6:45 am without the aid of an alarm. Usually I just think, "WHY AM I AWAKE?!?!" then go back to sleep, no problem.

Well, I'm actually pretty busy at work this week so when I woke up at 6:45 this morning I decided to just go into work early. So I left my house ~17 minutes early, got to the subway station in Soho 25 minutes early (I love empty, early-morning trains), got a coffee at Starbucks, then walked on the sunny side of the street to work. I was actually singing. Now here I sit, 10 mins early for work, my lunch is put away, my flip flops are in a drawer and my heels are on. I might have to do this more regularly.

Oh, something else I love - my new security token that allows me to work from home. I got a jump start on this morning while watching "What About Brian?" on ABC last night. I promise not to get crazy with it, it's just really nice to be able to leave work at 6 if I want to, go to the gym and pick up where I left off if I'm having an exceptional busy week. Flexible work...I LOVE IT.

Star Spotting #5

#5 - and up close and personal! I got in the elevator today to go to the gym and I think, huh, that guy looks like Don Cheadle. I then took off my sunglasses and casually glanced over my shoulder and it was him!

Let me tell you, I'm getting REALLY good at not gasping and dropping my jaw. I played it real cool, to the elevator wall. There were about 5 others in the elevator so I wasn't completely obvious. I realized that there could probably be more star sightings since Miramax is in my building. I thought I saw someone else a month or two ago, but not sure if it was him or not. But of course, now I can't remember who that was.

Anyway - Don Cheadle, Oscar-nominated actor, Kansas City native (thank you IMDb), star spotting #5.

Confessions

Ok, I just realized that there is something that a lot of you don't know about my current apartment. It's something that I thought was completely weird at first, and its now something I've just adapted to.

I don't have a microwave.

I know...big confession. But several people have thought this was really weird when they come to visit. I remember when my friend Molly was nannying in Petaluma, CA and she didn't have a microwave. I recall a good 10 minute conversation about the way she heats things. I just couldn't fathom how someone could exist without one. Now, I heat water in the kettle on the stove, heat up leftovers in the oven or on the stove, everything just takes a bit longer. The gas stove does get hot a lot faster than electic stoves but still. No microwave.

As I write this there is something else you might be shocked by, no toaster either. Not even a toaster oven. You can ACTUALLY toast things in the oven. Who knew?

Stranger than Fiction

If you have not seen this movie, you must go out and rent it. I thought it was very funny, a little weird, but overall fantastic. It contained my favorite quote in a really long time.

Will Ferrell's character Harold (who is an IRS agent) is asked about his love life and says, "I was engaged to an auditor once, but she left me for an actuary." I may be the only person in the world to find this hilarious, but I kept rewinding it and re-watching it. So funny!

How I Met Your Mother - The Proposal

I was going to save this story for another month but I'll just have to send a reminder email when the show actually airs.

My friends Jana and Tim recently got engaged on the set of "How I Met Your Mother". It's one of their favorite shows and since Tim knows everyone, he had an "in" at the show that helped him arrange everything.

Since I happen to be the worst storyteller in the world (too many details to keep track of) I thought I'd leave it to the experts. Here is an exerpt from one of the star's blogs.

Something amazingly cool happened. We had an actual marriage proposal on the set of How I Met Your Mother. I just e-mailed Matt Kuhn to get the details 'cause he's the one who set the whole thing up. Matt is a writer's assistant and one of the masterminds behind Barney's Blog. He also wrote the episode "Columns" this year. Rather than condense, I'm just gonna reprint part of Matt's e-mail. (I'm sure he won't mind. And direct quotes seem to be the theme of this blog.):

"The couple was Tim [Russo] and Jana [Rugan]. They live in Brooklyn. I'm friends with Tim's brother. He called me up and said his brother and his girlfriend were huge fans of the show and wanted to know if they could visit the set, etc. I said, 'Sure.' Then he asked if Tim could propose to Jana on the set. I went to [cocreators] Carter [Bays] and Craig [Thomas] to see if they were cool with it, and then we all realized we could actually work them into the finale. (They're such romantics.... And by 'they,' I mean Carter.)"

Here's the gist (and this is me, Josh, by the way, not Matt): In a rare romantic gesture (I kid), Ted takes Robin out to dinner for their one-year anniversary at the same restaurant where they had their first date, the place where Ted stole the blue French horn for Robin in the pilot. Two glasses of champagne are delivered to the table and at the bottom of Robin's glass is an engagement ring. Well, it turns out the champagne (and ring) were supposed to go to another table where a guy really was intending to propose to his girlfriend. (Was that a terrible sentence? I'm having trouble writing.) Anyway, so we shot a bunch of takes of this scene. Tim and Jana were extras in the restaurant, and everyone on set knew there was this couple who were about to really get engaged. (Everyone except Jana, of course, who's just trying not to make any noise as an extra.) So Pam Fryman, our unbelievably great director, calls "second pass," which was the code, but I was totally confused about what we were supposed to do and actually got scared I was going to ruin the whole thing. Anyway, our prop guys stealthily switched out the prop ring with the actual engagement ring, and we started the scene. At the moment when the other guy was supposed to stand up and announce the ring was his (as he'd done the previous eight or nine takes) Tim stood up and said, "It's mine." He came over to us, retrieved the ring, walked back to the table, got down on bended knee, and said, "Jana, will you marry me?" (Spoiler alert) She said, "Yes." She was sobbing. Actually, pretty much everyone started to cry. Not me, though. I'm tough. Well, maybe I got a little misty. But Stage 22 is pretty dusty, and as I'd mentioned in Blog #1, I have allergies. Damn dust.

It's SUCH a cute story and may even air in the season finale airing May 14th. Regardless, they'll be in the background.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

I'm in love...

Who wouldn't be? I LOVE these shoes and I pass by them every day. I was walking by yesterday morning and decided I had to take a picture. This is the trouble with working in Soho. Beautiful shoes that are not priced so that they make logical sense. They're not just printed in zebra stripe, they're made with some type of synthetic hair. Sigh.



I'm actually in love with all things zebra right now which is very fortunate that it's everywhere! Last night I purchased this weekender bag for 50% off (go me) from Laila Rowe. Not a bad deal for $20. I realized pretty early after my move that trying to navigate a suitcase with subway stairs is not a very good idea.

Unbearably Cute

I think this bear...



Might be replacing this bear...



...in my heart.

I will always love Tai Shan. I remember back when Sabrina and I would stream video of Tai Shan all day and IM each other whenever he did something particularly cute. While I don't yet know of a similar website for Knut, the adorable polar bear, I may have a new obsession.

South Dakota Easter Weekend Extravaganza

My weekend home was really nice and I got to spend lots of quality time with the family. In the house. It was a lovely 20-some degrees on Friday with a windchill in the single digits. Let's just say, I tried to spend as little time outside is possible.

I did manage to stop by the Karpen Grain Auction for a bit on Saturday to say hi to my fam helping out with the auction. It always amazes me the number of people that attend the annual event. The first hint is always the number of trucks lining the perimeter of the shop, the second hint is all the people following the auctionner in their work clothes. As my bro-in-law Matt said, "Carhart as far as the eye can see."

Some exciting developments, 1) I got a new computer, which I blogged about earlier, and 2) for the first time in YEARS I didn't eat my whole easter bunny. And while the reason may be that I put it in my suitcase, and could not access it until 11:15 when I started unpacking, it still counts.

On a sad note, our dog Lucy passed away a week ago. She was nearly 15 years old and probably the best dog I'll ever know.

New Template - Pretty

You're at the right page, I just thought I'd jazz up my blog a little with some circles. Jazz hands!

New Computer!

We went to the "toy store" (what my mom calls the computer/gadget store) yesterday and I came home with a new toy. A NEW LAPTOP! YAY!

The total came to ~$13 less than my refund from New York State so I'm pretty psyched about that. It's a Gateway of course and my 3rd laptop, (2nd functioning).

Today is My Friday

Back in the day when I was selling pancakes at the wonderful establishment that is Perkins, every day someone else had their "Friday". Since Perkins is a 24/7 establishment, full timers would get two consecutive days off in the week. So frequently women would come in on Tuesday and say, "It's my Friday!". Well you know what folks, today is my Friday. Woot woot.

I leave tomorrow morning (pre-dawn) for the great state of South Dakota by way of Nebraska and Iowa. This weekend is not just the Easter holiday, but also the Annual Karpen Grain auction. People around the Jefferson/Elk Point area bring their stuff to my dad's shop to be auctioned off. Most of the stuff is farm machinery, but dad has gotten some pretty cool non-farm stuff in the past. Like our pet dog, Toby, that we got when we were little. So, it's a ceramic dog, we still loved him.

Passover

Please add Passover to the list of Transit holidays that I love. There was no one on the train this morning. The list so far this year is:

1) Week between Christmas and New Years
2) Martin Luther King, Jr Day
3) President's Day
4) Passover

I have a feeling that there is going to be a holiday that I don't get off in May that I can look forward to an empty public transportation system. Woo!

Star Spotting #4

DO YOU SEE WHO THIS IS?!?! DO YOU SEE WHO I SAW GETTING OUT OF A BLACK ESCALADE THIS MORNING?!?! None other than Mr. Kevin Spacey who (I am assuming)was going to Balthazar for breakfast.

Not that exciting of a story sadly, I was walking down Spring St. and the back door of the Escalade opened up and this man in a suit got out. I thought, "Hmmm. Well that is an attractive, well-dressed man this early in the morning is Soho" (black suit). Then when I realized who it was, I did my trademark, tourist, open-mouth complete with gasp. Classic.

Update: Apparently Mr. Spacey was on the Today show this morning promoting his new Broadway play, which explains the suit and the early morning in Soho.

Red Phones are AWESOME!

I saw a belt in the J Crew catalogue recently and I really wanted it. Apparently, so did everyone else. I tried to order it online and it was back-ordered until May 8. I was not about to wait 6 weeks for a BELT so I went to my local J Crew store last Saturday to find it there. They didn't have it either but they directed me to this handy red phone.

APPARENTLY, if you are at J Crew and they don't have something you want on the floor, you can pick up this red phone and it puts you in touch with someone at J Crew. This person then checks availability online and through the catalog and if its on back-order they hunt down your belt at stores. It was AWESOME. They apparently take inventory of what all their stores have, find what I want, and they sent it to me. And it was CHEAPER than had I bought it in the store, apparently it was on sale in Schaumberg, IL. And, I'm pretty sure I didn't pay shipping for it. I received it last night, all wrapped up in a little package.

I LOVE my new belt, and the red phone.

NOTE: I would provide a picture of said belt but apparently due to popular demand, they don't even have it on the site anymore.

October Road

Last night while cleaning my room aka, knitting, I caught up on all the ABC shows I haven't watched in awhile. Instead of making time to watch them, I watch "Lost" and "Men in Trees" on abc.com and if I miss "Grey's Anatomy" or "Brothers & Sisters", I watch these online as well.

Last night, I ran across a show I hadn't seen but was interested in watching, October Road. The premise of the show is that a guy goes back to his hometown after being gone for 10 years. Kind of like "Ed", another show I enjoyed. So after watching previews I saw who was playing some of the main characters and thought, they're WAY to young to be 10 years out of high school.

While watching, the writers were kind enough to provide timelines and the show started with the day he left, it said Summer 1997. Um, I panicked, "Wait, I was in high school in 1997. Wait, they're dressed in period clothing from when I was in high school. Oh my gosh, I've almost been out of high school for 10 years!" Ok, it's been nearly 8, but it was very weird to watch regardless. While home he sees a lot of his old classmates and they have kids, wives, families and again, I think, he's too young to be in this role, but then again, I go home and it's the same. I have a feeling this show is going to make me miss home.

Also, in the show they coined my new favorite phrase, "Where are you going? This night is still in diapers!"

Unnecessary Skills

I've decided to stop using the skills I've honed throughout the years that NYC has deemed unnecessary. This list might grow in time, but as of right now, it is limited to, finger/toenail maintenance and ability to sort, clean, fold laundry.

I was going to do my laundry on Saturday morning and I took it downstairs to my apartment's laundry room to find a sign on the door that said, "Laundry room will be closed till(sic) next week." I had my laundry soap, and quarters so I was just going to go across the street to the public laundromat. Then I said, nope, I'm going to have someone do my laundry for me. I walked over to my nearest fluff and fold (1/2 block) and handed them my laundry. What did it cost? $6.80 for TWO LOADS. For those of you with washers/dryers that sounds outrageous, but it's $1.75 per wash/dry in my laundry room. So if you calculate that with me, it would have cost me $7 to do it myself. Dropped it off at noon and picked it up at 5. And again, I didn't do anything.

As for mani/pedis, I realized that I haven't cut my own nails in awhile. When it's $7 for a manicure what's the point.

Starbucks Employee I Shall Never Be

Before I developed my skills as a full-time employee, I always thought, "If I get laid off, I can always go waitress or work at Starbucks". And while I will probably never have to follow through on that plan, I realize that I could never be a Starbucks employee because of a weird habit I have developed.

There are two parts to this, when I get a hot coffee drink from Starbucks, I must
1) I turn the lid so the lip is directly in line with the Starbucks logo on the cup,
2) I turn the cup sleeve so THAT logo is directly in line with the logo on the cup.

I have tried to NOT do this, but I think it's just so much better all lined up.

And welcome to my world of neuroses. It might be a frequent feature on this blog.

Noootttt Panicking...Must...Breathe

Ok, I saw this on cnn.com and could not believe my eyes.

I am NOT going to freak out yet. As I have mentioned, I rely heavily on L&O as a filler program. I can tune into 5 mins or the whole hour and understand the plot equally well. If they do not keep creating new episodes, how will I watch them on TNT.

L&O - DON'T GO ANYWHERE! I NEED YOU!

Just a few random comments...

1) Happy Bi-annual celebration to me!- Yesterday marks 6 months of me living in NYC! And, I'm not even thinking of where I'll move next! Good signs.

2) I baked cookies last night to commemorate my friend Viv and my bi-annual celebration of working at Harris. I made cookies last night and it pays to follow the directions. I remember just throwing everything for the cookie recipe together in college and while still tasty, a gooey mess. Yesterday's cookies were spot on. Yum.

3) I am enjoying Facebook.com. I signed up a few months ago and am still having a blast. I never got into MySpace although I was told "you seem like someone who'd be on MySpace."

4) I'm getting really excited for spring. It's in the mid-40's today and GORGEOUS.

5) I'm even more excited that my sisters are coming in t-7 days! Whit gets here on Wednesday night and Ab gets here Friday morning. It's going to be so much fun!

Star Spotting #3

Ok, blurry picture, but it was the one that was most accurate to what he looked like when I saw him.

This is Michael Showalter, who I saw getting on the subway as my friends Lauren, Emily and I were getting off at our stop. I of course, thought he was someone I knew, went to school with or was one of my many subway crushes.

It was Lauren, SATC expert, who identified him as Berger's friend Billy from Season 6, episode 7. If you don't recall, this is the episode where Berger breaks up with Carrie via post-it note "I'm sorry. I can't. Don't hate me."

According to IMDb, he is also member of New York-based alternative comedy troupe Stella along with Michael Ian Black and David Wain.

Rollerama!!

I went rollerskating for a friend's birthday party last night for the first time in forever. Well, I think I took Miss Sarah to a rollerskating birthday party when I was in college but let's just say its been some time since I wore skates. Spending 3 1/2 hours on skates led me to draw some observations on skating,

1) Any woman who has the skill to squat in a tiled bathroom while wearing rollerskates has my respect.
2) The movie "Roll Bounce" had a huge impact on a small segment of the population in New York City. There were people there last night that were full on disco dancing in roller skates. I found this to be absolutely terrifying and was really proud of myself when I could skate to the beat.
3) Rollerskating is for everyone! Black, white, straight, gay, young, old, bikers, non-bikers, men dressed like Russell Simmons, it seemed like everyone was represented last night.
4) Rollerskating did not have a significant presence in the lives of several of my friends last night. Some of them said that it was the first time they had gone rollerskating. Now to my estimation, I have probably been rollerskating 20 times. Midwestern thing?
5) I must have had amazing leg muscles when I was little or I'm just getting old. The combination of rollerskating and lots of squats the night before has made it very challenging for me to sit, walk down steps, walk in general. I'm looking forward to vegging on the couch tonight and watching Grey's.

Booty shaking

For those of you that don't know, since moving to NYC I have started, brace yourself, going to the gym. Pretty soon after my move I realized that, 1) I now have the time to exercise, and 2) it's probably good for me so I should.

For the last month or two, every Monday night I've been going to a Masala Bhangra dance class and shaking my booty; well , in Masala Bhangra you shake everything. I tried to find a good description of Masala Bhangra online but eerily there wasn't one. Most of what I found says that MB is a like an Indian Hip Hop infusing traditional Indian music with western rhythms.

I love the class and the more bouncy you are, the more accurate it looks. Unfortunately, I'm still pretty stiff in my shoulders and haven't found my rhythm there yet, but I hope with time I will. It's a great class and it's always packed. If you have access to a Masala Bhangra class, you should definitely try it or if you don't have downstairs neighbors you can get the workouts from Netflix. You feel like an idiot the first time you do it, but it's really fun.

Adventures in Jersey

I went to Ocean City/Atlantic City this past weekend for my friend Erica's bachelorette party. It was a lot of fun and the time flew by. Highlights of the weekend include:

* Awesome beach house that we stayed at in Ocean City - while not very beach feeling in February, it was huge and full of yummy treats that we definitely snacked on.

* Lots of great conversation - Friday night the people coming up from DC didn't get in until 12:45am so we stayed up until around 4ish chatting. Let's just say that 9 girls talking (and drinking) in a room with hardwood floors is VERY loud.

* Dinner at PF Changs - I forgot how yummy it is.

* Dance party at RiRa (sp?) - the band looked punk/alternative with their stocking caps, vintage T's and facial piercings. Then they broke out into covers from the last 10-15 years. It was AWESOME.

* Piggyback ride from guy with mohawk - I don't really have trouble making new friends so when we left RiRa I made friends with a guy with a 6 in high mohawk, tattoos and interesting back piercings. I mentioned that my feet were tired and he offered me a piggyback ride so he walked me over to where our van was picking us up. Sweet deal.

All in all it was a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again in May. I'll post a picture of all of us as soon as I get some copies from one of the 4 girls with cameras.

Home, Sweet, Home

While walking home from the subway the other day I was thinking about how when I need to get out of the city, it's not just "not city" that I crave, it's the openness of home.

I'll be riding in a bus to Atlantic City this weekend for my friend Erica's bachelorette party and while it's nice to get out of the city, there are trees everywhere along the roadside blocking your view. I guess I'm just used to the openness of SD.

For those of you who haven't been to SD, here is a photo gallery of the towns/area around where I grew up (Jefferson). Isn't it pretty?!?! Thanks to Deb Truhe for the link!

New Crush

I'm the worst at uploading photos so here is a publicity pic...

HOWEVER, I thought I'd update you on my new music crush. I went to a Joshua Radin show a couple of weeks ago and he was amazing. I first heard him on the Last Kiss soundtrack that Ashley sent me and absolutely fell in love with his sound. It's very Simon & Garfunkel sounding so if that's not your thing I'd probably avoid it.

The show was a steal, $15 to see him, his girlfriend Schuyler Fisk and Ingrid Michaelson. He was so excited to have sold out the Bowery Ballroom that he kept taking pictures of the crowd and himself in the crowd with his digital camera. I love performers that are new enough they still realize how cool it is to make a living doing what they love.

You can check out his music on his MySpace page and if he's in your town, you should definitely check him out.

Oh the weather outside is...

...really dang cold. The last two weeks in New York have been absolutely freezing, which while compared to SD, it's tropical, but like I've mentioned before. I walk a lot more these days.

Walking around the other day when my jeans started to get stiff because of the cold, I was reminded of this really fun game that my friends and I used to play at recess during the winter. Ok, the game goes like this, We all huddled in a corner of the building, and we sat on our heels really squished together. If you were lucky that day, you were in the middle of the huddle and therefore warm, if not, you worked as the cold barrier for everyone else. I'm not sure how we decided who would be in the middle, maybe we traded off, I hope so. Any of my friends from childhood that could shed light on this would be greatly appreciated.

Not all recesses were like that though, once it snowed so hard we were able to make a snow castle in the snow with kid size ceilings, separate rooms, it was awesome. I obviously was not the architect of this, I'm sure the boys actually made it and I just enjoyed wandering around. Until the teachers broke it because it could "collapse" on us. Dang safety rules!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Nope, not today. But J.K. Rowling announced that the final installment of the Harry Potter series would be released on MY BIRTHDAY! July 21st.

Hopefully, no one will tell me how the book ends since I will likely be celebrating my 26th throughout the weekend of the 21st-23rd and won't get to it until Sunday night.

I'm Famous

...or, I just live pretty far from my alma mater.

I was looking through the KU Alumni magazine this past weekend (after a long happy hour) and went to "Class Notes" which is the closest thing to gossip I get from KU. For those of you who don't know, Class Notes is where they list where people are living/what they're doing, if they've gotten married or had a baby.

I always assumed you got in the class notes by sending the Alumni Association something you wanted to include. Turns out I was wrong. I was scouring the "b'03" listings and I run across one, "Hey! Like me!". No, actually me.

"Roxanne Karpen, b'03, is living in New York City and works as a Senior Research Associate at Harris Interactive"

Turns out they just go through the records and I'm assuming, pull those that live furthest from Kansas. Regardless, I was pretty excited.

Hey. How do I know you?

To my knowledge, I have never been accused of being shy. So, it should not come as a surprise to any of you that instead of sitting and contemplating how I know someone before approaching them, I make them help me figure it out.

This has happened on two such occasions when watching KU basketball in recent weeks. The first person I saw we spent about 15 mins trying to figure out how we first met. We have connections through about 4 different paths but we couldn't remember how we first met. We finally figured it out by her descriptions of my cute, really short hair. Ding. Freshman year English.

The second time happened this weekend watching the Kansas/Texas A&M game (don't want to discuss the result of the game). I saw a guy that I definitely remembered and he had on a Kanas shirt which, of course, led me to assume he went to KU. He lived in Lawrence but went to Baker, a college nearby. After he moved from Lawrence he moved to the Plaza (like me) and yep, lived a floor above me. He lives about 6 blocks away now. Small world.

Random stuff

#1
After watching several episodes of L&O this weekend I hope that once I live alone again that I am never suspected of a crime. I would never have a good alibi.

#2
I am thoroughly entertained by the fact that one of the new UPS commercials has a song from "The Postal Service" playing in the background.

#3
I think the TV show Brothers & Sisters might be my new favorite TV show. It's about a family of 5 kids and their relationships with each other and their mom. Super characters.

#4
HBO OnDemand has some great movies right now. Today I watched, Two for the Money, The Cowboy Way and I watched my Netflixed The Collateral. All good movies. It's funny how much more you understand when you watch a movie as an adult that you used to watch as a kid. The adult references in The Cowboy Way apparently were way over my head when I watched it as a kid. I wonder how many other movies are like that.

#5
I have started taking Masala Bhangra dance classes and it's a great time. "The bouncier you are the more authentic it looks". If you're interested in coming with me to a class let me know!

Christmas Means Carnage

I've been planning on blogging about this forever, but was going to upload a picture to support my findings. If you don't live in NYC, you'll just have to take my word for it.

I got back from my Christmas holiday and found PILES of Christmas trees laying on the side of the street. There were seriously 8-10 trees per pile, about 3 on my street alone. It smelled great but I was a little worried someone would throw their cigarette in the wrong place. Apparently people just leave them by the street and then someone comes with a wood chipper and grinds them up for fertilizer in Central Park. Yay!

The best thing about it is that several people were unwilling to store holiday lights and tree holders. I saw more than one tree with it's decorations still on it. Wonder how those fair in the wood chipper.

Weather Update

Yay! It's snowing in New York! We're getting a light dusting this afternoon but I'm not entirely sure you can call it that when as soon as it hits the ground, it melts.

After the amazing weather we had in December it is suddenly FREEZING in NYC. Literally freezing, like I have step over the ice path from water spilled on the sidewalk. I personally feel like I'm being a trooper, by only complaining about being cold 10% of the time. I told my mom yesterday that it was freezing here and she reminded me that 24 degrees is not even crunchy coat weather (if you know what that means you have two thumbs up in my book).

We agreed that new standards of "cold" have to be created for me since I walk approximately a mile each way to work, whereas I probably never walked a consecutive mile when I lived in South Dakota. Well, except for the Presidential Fitness test.

Ok, this is cute

Since I haven't posted anything about my niece and nephew lately I had to put up this picture.

How cute are they!?!?! Abby blogged about how Gabrielle is getting good at feeding Colin but this is too cute to handle. This will be a favorite picture of mine for a long time.

Law & Order Junkie

I've watched Law & Order for YEARS. And ever since they have been showing reruns of the original and SVU on TNT and USA, these have been my go-to channels when they're nothing to watch on TV. I love when they have marathons of L&O back to back. I was talking to someone about it or reading it, that the best thing about this show is that every show is different, they rarely bring up things that happened in past shows so if you miss one you're fine. They're also so formulaic that if you miss the first half, you can still have a pretty good idea of what's happening.

Lately, I have found that Without a Trace also fits this profile and is ALSO shown on TNT. Sadly I realized that I was watching a Without a Trace that I had seen before. This is the problem I've run into watching L&O for so many years, I think I've seen them all. I think I just need to keep finding shows I love in syndication.

Random rant

Everyone has a special skill. My mother's is that she can spot an expired SD license plate from 2 car lengths away. In SD you are assigned a month to renew your license plates based on the first letter of your last name and it is represented by a sticker in the upper left hand corner, 01 - January, 02 - February, etc. I want to say ours were sometime in the summer, July maybe? They are also color coded by year so if in June she sees a red 05 and the sticker for 2007 is blue then, yep, they have expired license plates.

Anyway, I think my skill is spotting, then telling people, when the string that holds together the slit at the back of their coat hasn't been cut. I know, it's weird, but it drives me crazy when the slit is still sewn together. When they're walking it tends to gape open and look like you have an opening for a tail or something. With all the new coats out there after the holidays I feel like maybe I should walk around with a pair of scissors. Sadly, I have stopped telling most people because they look at me like I'm crazy. Hopefully, the string has not been cut because they don't look at the back of their coat and they don't see it and not that they think it's meant to be that way.

Happy Anniversary Abby and Matt!

Five years ago my sister and brother-in-law were joined in wedded bliss.

Two kids and two moves later they are still going strong.

Happy Anniversary!

I love you guys!

Note: I am no longer allowed to use subtraction before January 15.

Family Heirlooms

This past Thanksgiving my sisters and I started laying claims to family heirlooms from our childhood. Were we fighting over priceless china? Jewelry perhaps? No, we were fighting over a green plastic alligator medicine spoon.

Whenever we were sick as kids (ok, well into our teenage years) we took our liquid medicine from this alligator spoon. He has legs, he's fancy.

I am happy to say that I got the alligator, my argument being, "I was the sick one". I've never been so happy to have been susceptible to ear aches, bladder issues and a variety of other ailments in my life!

To make it up to my sisters for stealing a priceless heirloom I bought them alligator spoons from a medical supply company. If you come visit, I have some spares. Don't you want an alligator medicine spoon, or, "cuchara para medicamentos" of your very own?

Ab and Whit - cereal sugar shaker. It's on.

Resolution #1

Blog more. I've pretty much been on hiatus for the last 2 weeks. If you're still checking my blog you're the best!

I had some issues with Blogger but most of the issues have now been resolved. I think.

I was at home in South Dakota for a week or so for Christmas. I got to see lots of family and friends, attended the 4th (?) annual Casey Christmas party but there was no snow. I was all excited for snow and wintery mix on my flight home and I got nothin'. It wasn't even cold. I know I should knock on wood but there is something wrong with the weather. This week in NYC, mostly low 50's every day. It's so weird.

Movies I've seen lately, The Holiday - two enthusiastic thumbs up. The Pursuit of Happyness - great story but could have held out for the DVD.

For all those who sent holiday cards/pictures and letters - I LOVED them. At some point I will become more of an adult and actually send them out.

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday season and I will attempt to prevent further disappearances on my part.

Word of Caution

Just a little note for my mom..."I'm fine" :)

If...

• You have hardwood floors, and
• They are clean, and
• You're wearing very padded socks, and
• Jingle Bell Rock is playing on digital Cable

Do not go dancing into your living room to get your credit card for purchasing Christmas presents online. BECAUSE, when you bounce on slick surfaces with zero traction on your feet you go flying into the air and hardwood floors are not surprisingly, not a very forgiving surface.

If you can imagine me flying into the air, with my feet above me and landing shoulder first onto the hardwood floor, you have a very accurate picture of what indeed happened this afternoon. I'm sure if anyone else watched it it was hilarious but was home alone. I'm sure my downstairs neighbors were wondering what the heck happened but all is well.

Nothing is broken, my shoulder is definitely in its socket, however I will be wearing slippers or shoes in my apartment from now on. :)

Cheesy NYC Christmas Postponed

After going by Macy's on Saturday we decided to postpone Cheesy NYC Christmas until a weeknight evening, likely this week. The police had to create additional walking areas between barriers because the 15 ft wide sidewalk around Macy's was packed with people trying to take pictures of the windows. Not fun.

I needed to hit up the lingrie department to get a slip for a dress I just bought (Notice: no one sells slips anymore) and it took me 15 mins to cross the main floor to get to the elevators. There was a line at the elevators in order to prevent overcrowding on one of the other 9 floors.

So. Just a heads up, there will be pictures of Cheesy Christmas later this week.

NYC Movies

I went to a free lecture on the history of movies in New York last night. Although moving picture technology was invented in NY (thank you History of NY documentary), once films added audio the production of most movies moved to Hollywood.

At the time, there were a ton of roadblocks preventing filmakers from making movies in the city so even some movies about the city were made on soundstages in Hollywood. There was a run of Oscar winning movies filmed in NY which spurred the mayor's office to streamline the process of granting permits to film in the city. Which then led to a doubling of films being shot in NY that year compared to the last 20 years of filmmaking.

The speaker edited a book of images taken from movies and TV shows filmed in NY. If you know anyone in NY and want to get them a coffee table book, I recommend this one.

He also mentioned how films made about NY in the 80s painted a very dark picture about New York as a dangerous, dirty, scary place which was how the city was sold to the rest of the country. But movies in the 90s and within the last decade have gone a long way to show the city in a nice light: You've Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, Searching for Bobby Fischer, and...others that I don't remember because I've been blinded by the prettiness of the first two.

Shhh...

Weird thing this morning. My friend Erica (from DC, visiting for a meeting) and I were in the Subway this morning and it was eerily quiet. Like, creepy quiet. I dont think a single person on our car was talking. Then, after I get off the subway, I walked all the way to my office and again, no one was talking. I found this seriously creepy.

I spoke to my friend Viv, a longtime resident, and she said that its like someone hits a mute button in New York in the winter. That it's too cold to talk. People better warm up soon because it creeped me out. I'll keep you posted.

Erica - thanks for visiting chica, even if it was for just a short time. You're always welcome in NYC!

Weird admission: Fellow bloggers, when you do a spell check before you post and it says, "No misspellings found" are you proud of yourself like I am? Excellent spelling AND typing abilities. This girl has mad skills.

Super Cheesy NYC Christmas

I have a lot of friends who, like me, are new residents to the city and a lot of friends who are long time New Yorkers. I thought I should bring everyone together and have a super Cheesy NYC Christmas.

This Sunday, barring inclement weather, we will be hitting up all the NYC Christmas stuff like Holiday Bazaar in Bryant Park, looking at the Macy's windows, Santaland at Macy's, Rockafeller Center and all of the store windows around there. I think we're planning to cap the night off with a showing of "The Holiday" apparently a wintery holiday movie.

I'm pretty excited about this if I'm blogging 6 days in advance. I'll plan to post pictures after the event. Maybe that will make me follow through on this holiday extravaganza.

Harry Potter and I...Like This

While I was still recuperating from the cough/sore throat/stuffy nose attack of '06 this past weekend I was very productive. And by productive, I mean I watched every single Harry Potter movie that has been released PLUS sneak previews for the Order of the Phoenix. I'm not ashamed to admit that I watched some more than once. I may have watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire approximately 5 times. However, in my defense HBO was pretty much running it on repeat all weekend. And I didn't watch it start to finish every time, I did clean my apartment, do laundry and run other errands while it was on. I'm not crazy yo. ABC Family and HBO get a big shout out for entertaining me during my ailment, I'm not really sure what else I would have done.

Whenever I read Harry Potter, much moreso than watching the movies, I tend to get very weird thoughts like, oh, well we can just put a spell on the mop and it will clean the floor. Not quite THAT bad but I tend to start thinking along that line. Does anyone else have this issue?

On a completely unrelated issue, I had a productive knitting weekend. I think it is directly correlated to excessive TV watching and I finished a bunch of projects. I finished my beanie cap that I started and ripped 3 times since Thanksgiving. I also finished making a baby hat for the neighbor whose name I do not know (her husband's name is Tom) but am sure would appreciate a handknit baby cap once her baby is born.

Family Heirlooms

This past Thanksgiving my sisters and I started laying claims to family heirlooms from our childhood. Were we fighting over priceless china? Jewelry perhaps? No, we were fighting over a green plastic alligator medicine spoon. Whenever we were sick as kids (ok, well into our teenage years) we took our liquid medicine from this alligator spoon. He has legs, he's fancy.

I am happy to say that I got the alligator, my argument being, "I was the sick one". I've never been so happy to have been susceptible to ear aches, bladder issues and a variety of other ailments in my life!



To make it up to my sister's for stealing a priceless heirloom I bought some alligator spoons from a medical supply company. If you come visit, I have some spares. Don't you want an alligator medicine spoon, or, "cuchara para medicamentos" of your very own?

Ab and Whit - cereal sugar shaker. It's on.

Summer Day in NYC

It's gorgeous in New York today. I'm cooped up at home since I'm feeling under the weather but I left the apartment to mail our rent checks and it's about 70 degrees out. I love that its so nice out but it feels weird to listen to Christmas music in the grocery store when I'm wearing flip flops. Do people in warm weather climates feel the same way? I want to go see the tree at Rockafeller Center this weekend but can you really enjoy Christmas deocrations when it's warm out? Oooh. Just checked the weather, it's supposed to drop 20 degrees Saturday. Phew.

Go 'hawks!

Tip of the hat to the KU Men's Basketball team!

Thank you to everyone who did not rub in the fact that my team lost to (gulp) Oral Roberts a few weeks ago. Regardless of that, the Jayhawks sought their vengence on #1 rated University of Florida on Saturday. While they did lose their lead, several times, they ended up on top after 1 OT. I'm not saying they're the best team out there, but they do deserve some respect.

Saturday was a great day to be a Jayhawk.

B&N Needs New Marketing Department

Hooray for Book Club!

I finished Jane Eyre for book club about a month ago and I really regret never having read it before. Had someone sold it to me as a love story I probably would have read it before now. If you ask me, Barnes & Noble is not doing a good job of selling this book under their "Barnes & Noble Classics" line of books. With this as its description, who would read it,

"Poor and plain, Jane Eyre begins life as a lonely orphan in the household of her hated aunt. Despite the oppression she endures at home, and then later at the harsh boarding school she is sent to, Jane manages to emerge with her spirit and integrity unbroken. She becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she finds herself falling in love with her employer, the dark, impassioned Mr. Rochester. But an explosive secret tears apart their relationship, forcing Jane to face poverty and isolation once again before finding happiness"

Additionally, since Wuthering Heights, which was written by Charlotte Bronte's sister Emily, has to be the MOST DEPRESSING book I have ever read, this also probably factors into why I have not read it. Overall, two thumbs up.

Midwestern Ignorance

Big "Wag of the Finger" (thank you Steven Colbert) to annoying girl in the Minneapolis airport. I know the Midwest isn't the hub of all action, but don't profess your ignorance to the masses of people likely from the Midwest. "I like, totally don't even KNOW where, like Minnesota even is". Not knowing where it is, fine, boasting about it, not cool.

I've Been Bad...

Ok, I haven't blogged for forever and a day so thought I'd get on it.

I'm back in the land of leggings after a lovely trip to South Dakota to see the fam for Thanksgiving. It was probably my most productive trip home in ages seeing a bunch of family and friends. I was barely home which I will blame for the lack of blogging.

For those of you in the Sioux City area, you must go see the new Minerva's. The Karpen clan went there for lunch the day after Thanksgiving and it was absolutely beautiful. Big shout out to my old employers for making it pretty.
Back to the leggings. I saw 3 pairs on my flight, and another 1/2 dozen or so Monday. When the fad began, I absolutely hated it, it's sadly starting to grown on me. Now, I HAVE NOT purchased any leggings. I still can't think of what I'd wear with them besides a long sweater that covers my butt a la 6th grade. Hopefully the trend will be over by the time I am persuaded to buy some.

Name that Rockstar...

Who is this cool girl you say? Umm, that's my little sister Whitney Rose who has been profiled on the SDSU student profiles page. She's pretty much a rock star. This is only ONE of the many publications she's been featured in (no, not Playboy kids) for her mad mechanical engineering/music/dimple wearing skills.

For those of you in the New York metro area she will be making a trip to this fair city in early March. Ms. Karpen is scheduled to make various appearances at bars and restaurants downtown and will be staying at an undisclosed establishment on the UES.

Big Beautiful Brooklyn Bridge

I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time on Saturday. My friend Marc and I ventured out from his apartment in Park Slope (in Brooklyn) and headed toward Manhattan. I've been meaning to go for some time and couldn't have picked a more beautiful day.

We didn't get there until after the sun had set and walking toward Manhattan was breathtaking. (Yes, I'm being dramatic, but it still was). You can see most of the East Manhattan and it's getting easier to pick out the buildings I know. The lights were lit up against the black sky and if you look West you can see the Statue of Liberty in the distance. For anyone coming to New York or if you've never walked across the bridge I strongly encourage you to do this.

Part of what spurred me to action on this was my NYC Documentary series. The last disc I watched (#3 for those who choose to Netflix it) they dedicated about 30-40 mins talking about the building of the Brooklyn bridge. Trivia fact: Did you know that architect of the BB died of gangrene after a runaway ferry boat crushed his foot? This all happened before they had made any headway on the bridge. His son had to take over.

Next NY adventure I have planned...ferry boat to Staten Island. It's free and I hear it's got a beeeee-u-tiful view of the city!

Star Spotting #2

Woo hoo! Star spotting number two. I walked by Mr. Elijah Wood on Spring Street on my way to the subway after work today. The girls in front of me got about half a block away before one of them said, "Was that Elijah Wood?" My idiot grin confirmed it for them. When I was a safe distance from the spotting I called my sis Whitney since of all the people I know she would enjoy the news most.

Deeeeeliveries

Ordering thing online has never been so easy since I moved to New York. All the retailers must have distribution centers right outside NYC to take care of Greater New York. You order something from Barnes & Noble, it's delivered within 24 hours if you live in Manhattan. I ordered from Drugstore.com late yesterday afternoon in an effort to not have to pay RIDICULOUS prices for basic toiletries and I got notice that it's set to be delivered later today. That's bizarre! Even NetFlix has a 1 day turnaround on getting me new movies.

Hurray for Internet shopping! Even though it gets here so quickly, I will still probably have all my Christmas packages shipped directly to Mom and Dad's so I don't have to schlep all my packages all over New York.

Update: Received drugstore.com package at 11:15 am EST. Psyched. That's faster than I can make time to go to the drugstore and buy stuff.

Big Beautiful Blue Wall

Ok, I've been promising forever and thanks to a little prodding from mom I finally posted the pictures of my new blue wall. True, it's at different times of day but hey, you get the idea. It's really pretty when natural sunlight is streaming in but you take what you can get!

Before

After

Totally feels like trading spaces.

Why Doogie?

Doog, it's over. It's been a 16 year love affair. It started in 1990 when I first saw you playing the child prodigy and was cemented upon the purchase of a poster with your smiling face in a blue plaid shirt in front of a hot pink background. Le Sigh.

Yes, you were my first love. But given the fact that you just publicly announced that you prefer men, I have no other choice than to break it off. The picture above should have been my first indication but love makes you blind. It's been wonderful, goodbye my love. (Tear)

Friend Test...30 or You are Out

Kids, it's geography day! Get out your thinking caps, it's time for a quiz! (As an aside, in 1st grade, we actually had thinking caps. It was a piece of paper you maneuvered to put around your head. If you have one of these, feel free to put it on.)

For the rest of you, I have decided that in order to be my friend you should be able to identify at least 30 of the 48 of the states on this quiz. I don't care which 30 but it would be GREAT if you could identify South Dakota. It would mean a lot to me if you could also identify Kansas but since it looks a lot like Nebraska I won't put a lot of pressure on you.

Since moving to the Northeast, I have met a lot of people who refer to the Midwest as "the square ones in the middle". For those in the Midwest, don't act all superior as I have heard the NE referred to as "the little states in the corner". I feel like this quiz is needed so EVERYONE can familiarize yourselves with the rest of the country. Good luck!!!

Thanks to Alicia for originally having this on her blog. Hopefully it won't be too much of a Friday distraction.

Gabrielle and Colin take on Halloween

I can't believe I haven't posted pictures of my niece or nephew yet. It might be because I'm constantly sending you all links to show you how cute the babies are. I thought I'd actually post them in their Halloween costumes so you can see first hand.

Miss G went as a golfer; just look at that fierce stare. The girl is a natural model. She already has the look down.



Mr. Colin went as a cute, little, round, happy pumpkin.



Such cute kids! If you want to see more pics of the kiddies, click here.

Best Show Ever!

Wicked was the most amazing thing I have seen and if anyone is in NYC and going to a show, you HAVE to see it. I laughed (a lot), cried (a little), and it was just amazing. The cast was fantastic.

Ana Gasteyer played Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) and absolutely stunned me with her voice. I only knew her from SNL but apparently she started in theatre. She did an amazing job as did the actress who played Glinda. I had goosebumps for all 3 hours of the show.

I read the book 3 years ago and while the stage takes a lot of liberties with the original novel I think the changes were good and didn't detract too much from the story.

Like I said, amazing. My words don't do it justice.

NOTE: Shout out to Sprint/Nextel for hooking me up!

On Brooooaaaaddway...

Guess who is going to go see Wicked on Broadway tonight. That's right...this girl! My former coworker from Kansas City called and said, "I know it's last minute but a coworker of mine got sick and we're going to see Wicked and have an extra ticket. Would you like to go?"

I admit I hesitated because I had other plans and had to call the person to make sure it was ok that I went. But I'm going and I'm so excited. Woo!

Port Authority's Midnight Surprises

I got to New York from DC at 12:15 a.m. Monday morning and was somewhat concerned about what undesirables would be waiting for a bus there at midnight on a Sunday night. I was so pleasantly surprised by the people that were giving me directions.

I stepped off the escalator and began looking for a sign to get to the street and a man with a disheveled appearance said, "What are you looking for honey?" when I said, the street, he said, "Right up the escalator". Then, while riding up the escalator, another man missing half his teeth asked me, "Looking for a cab?" I said yes and he said, "Take a U-turn off the escalator onto 8th Ave and those gentleman will help you." I'm kind of sad that I still look like a tourist, looking for signs everywhere, but was so impressed by all the nice people! Even in the middle of the night. Sigh.

Today is rather gushy so I might have to wait to talk about DC until tomorrow. Geez.

BTW - if my writing sounds weird it's because I'm reading Jane Eyre for book club and I've found that I'm inverting my sentences and using weird phrasing. For that, I apologize. :)

I'm known!

I was going to wait to blog until I had my pictures posted from the weekend but I still have to add titles so you'll just have to wait for tomorrow!

I'm so excited that someone that I don't know, knows me in NYC. The person who says "Hello" to me every day on my walk to work, or actually, "Hola" sells the New York Post in front of a cafe on Spring St. and Broadway. While I don't think about it until I see him, it's nice to have a familiar face walking around town.

This week has been gorgeous in New York! It's been in the mid to upper 60's and sunny which means I can pull out the jean jacket and fall skirts. Everyone is outside trying to suck what could be the last beautiful days out of Fall. After being in DC this week I forgot how beautiful the trees are there in the Fall but am surprised how diverse the colors of the trees are here. I could go on for another paragraph about how pretty it is to watch the leaves fall from the trees while walking but hey...that's kind of boring and not worth it if you can't see it. So, yada yada yada, Fall is pretty in NYC.