Camping in NY

Camping a few hours away from NYC was a completely new experience for me. Past my quite California and European camping trips, there's something to be said for NY camping. Here's my positive spin on it....

 

• You show up at midnight and your campsite is already brightly lit by your neighboring campers ultra bright lantern.
• You set up your tent to the base of rap music coming from the campsite 2 sites down, with a metal swing set on it.
• You meet George, the firewood delivery guy who manages this campsite, and is somehow living your quasi-dream-life.
• You watch in amazement as your friends swiftly build a fire, a talent you never knew they had.
• You can hear a slight babble from the creek you sleep beside, over the music and crackling fire.
• You realize that the motor homes on the campground may have been there longer than just a few days, as their Christmas lights and turf lawns spot the landscape.
• You can walk to get another bag of ice when you run out.
• The local store you buy ice at is also the town's DMV.
• Your hike for the day includes of a mile and a half long walk along a highway with no sidewalks.
• You hike up to the top of Mt. Temper Tantrum, which takes about 2.5 hours, exposes beautiful views of the entire Catskills Park.
• Your dip in the creek after your hike feels a fresh and cold, but it doesn't quite "clean" you off.
• Waterfalls are note the easiest places to pee in the water.

Why don't they just leave sports broadcasting up to the experts?

I've been trying to catch every last bit of the Olympics that my schedule allows. Sadly, I love the coverage but can't seem to stand the commentators. Aside from a few past athletes that are reporting on behalf of NBC, many of the reports seem to lack any hope or aspiration for the game. The negative tone, and lack of knowledge leave me saddened, and missing my ESPN sports reporters.

Unfortunately, I usually end up so frustrated with the commentators that I have to turn the sound off and watch the swimmers motor through the pool to a Jack Johnson tune, or gymnasts tumbling across the floor to the sound of Rancid. Life is usually better with a unique soundtrack anyway.

Screaming at the TV makes the Olympians work harder

Maybe it's because I was raised as an NFL fan and althlete, but I'm part of that special slice of Americans who believe yelling at the TV will make a diffrence. Luckily, I wasn't raised to scream slurs at the opposing team or player, but I certainly feel like hollering at my own team to "go, go, go," gets them there faster. Despite some tough losses, I don't think anyone can disprove (or prove) my theroy....so I'll keep doing it until my throat is sore and my lungs hurt. Just be happy you're not in the room with me when it happens.

Rancid - Round 1

I survived a Rancid, Sick of it All, and Bloodclot concert last night. Of course, that was only round 1. Round 2, which includes one of my all-time favs, Westbound Train, is tonight. Round 3? That's Sunday. Hopefully I'll live to blog about it.

The Lock Out

So, for the first time since moving to this wonderful city I locked myself out of my apartment last night. Technically, I didn't lock myself out, my brain damaged mind locked me out.

So, I bought a new work-out bag on Monday to encourage more frequent trips to the gym. But, on Tuesday while giving the bag a trial run I decided to test out all of it's many pockets and cubby holes while rushing to get ready for my spinning class. Obviously, not the best idea in the world...but really, who would be stupid enough to loose something in a bag they are carrying on their shoulder?

I would.

So, after a fun-filled work-out I jumped on the train home (yes, sweaty and all) and barely climbed the subway stairs out of the 125th Street station. By the time I made it to my door at 8:45 the exhaustion that I'd been fighting off for hours swept over me. I unloaded myself on to my stoop stairs and began searching for my keys. I searched through my day purse and continued searching through: the outside mesh pocket, the inside mesh pocket, the outside long pocket, the inside small pocket, the hidden key pocket, the water bottle holder pocket. No keys.

I tried buzzing my neighbors to no avail. I called my boyfriend who didn't answer. I even called the gym to ask if they had my keys and they didn't.

I sat on the stoop and waited. 20 minutes later some of my braincells started firing again and I decided to shake my bag and listen for my keys. I heard them (enter shining light music). I poked and prodded around my new bag until I found another zipper. The large side pocket zipper. I opened the pocket and found my keys....feeling like a complete idiot.

So, at 9:30 I walked up my stairs and began my evening at home. I found an amazing recipe in Jerome's Food and Wine Magazine for a triple tomato sauce (sun-dried, fresh and paste) that actually complimented our watermelon and feta salad amazingly well. And of course, watching the men's 4X800 relay in under 7 minutes made the evening even more divine.

So, it turns out my evening was not a complete waste :)

Fall in August?

Fall-like weather took over NYC this morning. Although the streets still give off their very own heat, I think I'll exercise outside today instead of heading off to spinning class with my colleague as planned.

Perhaps I'm just a bit stir crazy. I moved into a new office last week, a window-less office. It has all the perks my last office was missing like foot-traffic, my own space and a full-sized desk but lacks the ever important...sunlight.

Gearing Up for SF

I'm gearing up for another trip to California this week. This time, I'll be headed to my homeland....the Bay Area. Among the things I'm excited about are hanging out with Grandma Alice, mom and dad in Golden Gate Park, seeing M&M and hearing about their trip to Japan, taking a cap-nap on my parent's back deck, watching my friend Serene get married and having a drink with her after, squirming around in my feminine side while getting ready for the wedding my lovely friend Jenny, hearing all about my amazing friend's adventures and life-changes like Shi who recently moved back to SF, Ashley who recently moved into the city, Heath who is slowly building my dream home in San Rafael and so on. It's always a rush to see everyone and catch-up but I still can't wait.

See you on the flip side....

Two More Favorites in the LES

I'm undergoing another East Village and Lower East Side phase, which seems to be cyclical with warm weather. We met up with 8 friends in the LES last Saturday night for dinner and discovered 2 more favorite spots. The first, a Cambodian noodle bar called Kampuchea (75 Rivington Street at Allen) offered us easy-to-enjoy cocktails, a tropical like setting, and wide long tables which made sharing food easy. We dined on amazing Cambodian crepes, which actually came with lettuce leaves and chili sauce for fun-food dining, seasoned corn, perfectly prepared noodles, pork "sampler" sandwiches, tiger shrimp and some tasty white wine. It's now been elevated to one of my favorite noodle bars in the city. Perhaps next time I go I can talk them into turning on the AC and abandoning the tropical feel of the great outdoors.

After dinner we headed to Nurse Bettie's (106 Norfolk St. at Delancy) which my colleague recommended a few weeks back. It was a perfectly relaxed, mid-to-small sized space that actually had their AC pumping (thank gawd!). It felt like a neighborhood staple with charm, as all the pin-up girls looked down on us sipping cocktails in one of the small booths. The melting pot crowd had a positive drive and all seemed to be enjoying their relatively cheep drinks. It will be added to my list of "fun bars."

Dying to see The Dark Knight

So all the buzz on the newscasts and "around the water cooler" is about the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. While I've always been a comic book fan, I've never really been the first one to run out and catch the blockbuster comic book movies. In recent years, I've loved the different versions of Superman along with Ironman and Braveman thrown in there, but I have not been enchanted by the Batman movies of the past. But, based on what I've heard, this version will blow me out of the water. Here's to hoping I'll get to see it soon :)

Ai Chihuahua

The illness of 2008. The illness that nipped at my ankles for days like a frenzied chihuahua before moving up my legs to grab a hold of my calves with its lock jaw has finally subsided. The chihuahua, or kidney infection as my doctor liked to call it, took hold of me during my trip to San Diego last week.

The beast attacked me full-force on my return to NYC, including a few nice days of involuntary sweating (followed by some unpleasant ice-cold baths), the shakes, the shivers, a sore back and an overly sensitive belly. I don't remember being that sick since I was a kid, although I know I've used that line in the last 4-years.

Now that I have shaken the chihuahua back down to my ankles I can make fun of it again.....daydreaming of the day when it will be completely gone.

Ai Chihuahua that was close.

San Deigo -- July 4th

It felt like a wave of stress was flying me into my July 4th vacation. Now that it's melted away, I can't even remember what I was so stressed about in the first place. Isn't that how it always goes?

Anyhow, visiting Brian, my brother, in sunny Southern California always mellows me out. So, I was ready for the trip and welcomed it with open arms. The first couple of days, sinking my toes into the sand and swimming out into the crashing waves I wondered what in the hell made me even think to leave California.

Midnight swims, sipping cocktails overlooking the sunset and driving everywhere (oh wait, maybe I just remembered why I moved to NYC) all offered us good times. But, as many of you know, I am not much of a sun-bather or "modern settler" as I like to call them. You know what I'm talking about, those fantastic mellow people who can lounge all day outside without a-care-in-the-world and do...nothing. I occasionally accomplish this on my couch, but somehow it's different there (I blog, and somehow, sadly that makes me feel as if I've accomplished something).

So by day-three Jen, my travel mate from SF who also flew down for the weekend, and I were ready to try our hat at surfing. We had a tough time, but caught some waves and grew an amazing amount of respect for surfers before our arms got too sore. We also talked Michael (Brian's room-mate) and Brian into takeing us up the coast on their motorcycles. Although I wondered a few times if my brother was trying to kill me for something I had done to him in the past, we all made it home alive.

T'was a great trip, checking out his new diggs(a brand-new-god-only-knows-how-many-square-foot home that sits a mere mile from the beach), partaking in far to much debauchery, and getting to know everyone in his life a little bit better.

If only NYC and San Diego were closer.....

Summer Visitors -- 2008

Summer always brings a wonderful influx of visitors to NYC. Our first round of visitors this spring were Ian and Kim, visiting from LA for the weekend. They won the award for "Amazingly Agreeable Visitors," sharing our interests and tastes throughout the city; they were a blast to have and easy to please. We took them to the enjoy the intensity of Fuerzabruta, my favorite "show" in NYC, to experience some amazing sushi and sake at the underground sake den, to eat hot-dogs, and sandos along the way and hit up some crazy bars around town. Overall, it was a blast to have them.

A couple of weeks back, my parents also dropped by NYC for a week-long visit en route to California from Newfoundland and Boston. Mom and Dad, the happy, traveling, "country mice" (mom's words), arrived in NYC on a Monday after 3-solid weeks on the road. After settling in, to their priced-just-right accommodation they surveyed their new Upper West Side neighborhood. After multiple visits to NYC throughout their lives, including yearly visits since I arrived here, they have a great comfort level with the city and all it holds. Which, as a host in a city, gives you great comfort for your guests but also presents you with a problem. What new things and experiences can you introduce to them on their trip?

Throughout the year, in between my parents visits, my daily adventures in this city reveal so may cultures, ambiances, experiences and opportunities I want to share with them. So, I tend to....how do I say this, "over plan" many of their trips. I never thought of myself as a "planner" until my parents started visiting 4-years ago. Now I'm the go to resource for many of friends who have heard of my "famous" 10-day itineraries sure to exhaust any reasonable human being. Before this last trip began, I willed myself to leave plenty of wiggle room in our schedule which worked out surprisingly well.

We experienced some new adventures including different neighborhoods, attractions, and shows, along with some old hauts such as favorite restaurants, shops and strolls. Of course, the new experiences are the memories that have stuck.

Perhaps the most outlandish was The Slackers show at Irving Plaza in Union Square. The two-parts-SKA, one-part-Rock NYC band always puts on an amazing show. They draw fans and skankers of all ages, which made it a fun show to rock-out at with the folks.



The rest of the top-4 list included: the NY Botanical Gardens, with picturesque rose gardens, and perfectly manicured laws littered with Moore sculptures for the summer; a trip down Arthur Ave. for some real no-menu-needed Italian fare; and a viewing of the acclaimed Broadway play, August:Osage County, which was a life-changing experience and quickly entered my top-5 best plays list before the curtain fell.




Surprisingly we tried on some new restaurants for size, like Hakana Grill, Stone Rose Lounge and my personal favorite out of the bunch, Cafe Nior. The old staples like Da Andrea, Saigon Grill, Calle Ocho, Dinosaur BBQ, Republic, Paladar, Corner Bistro, etc. all made re-appearances for good reason.



We toured the city by foot, subway, taxi and occasionally, bus. We caught-up, chatting about their month-long journey to India, 3-week long trek through Newfoundland and New England, and our recent mini-trips to Vegas and New Orleans.

It's like food to the soul....

Squeezing in Relaxation

Memorial Day weekend this year came at just the right time this year. The week before I'd exhausted myself at work, including a painful business trip that included a 9-hour delay at the Charlotte, NC airport. I needed some rest....but I rarely listen to my body at times like this.

Luckily J was in the mood to relax this weekend too, so as much as I wanted to run outside and take full advantage of the sunshine and less-crowded local hauts I was coarsed inside onto the couch for most of the weekend. Of course, I did enjoy a fun-filled BBQ where Jerome and I staged a less-than-valiant drink off and some good old catch up time with old friends via phone. But, most of what I did for a full 3-days was rest, relax and clean. Now that I'm gearing up for a friends wedding in Vegas next week and a my parent's visit the week after I'm happy I took a little bit of time to just.....chill.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day looks like Easter and feels like silk. It's one of the only "Hallmark Holidays" that actually make me warm and fuzzy inside....but that's more of a testament to my mom than Hallmark. My mom is one of those women that amazes those around her and never seems fazed by slight downturns in the road. I can't tell, from the stories her brothers and sisters tell, if she was always such a kind, generous, witty, even-tempered woman, or if my brother Brian and I drove her to that state.

She had to endure a lot when Brian and I were growing-up and somehow manages to only cling to the happy memories from our younger years, which she tells in her half-laugh-half-talk voice when we go home and visit her and dad for Christmas. She rarely snapped and never looked disappointed to see us at the end of an entire day of teaching high school kids (which in retrospect seems more like a superpower than a characteristic). She empowered Brian and I to do it all, which seems to have worked if two happy and quasi-sane grown kids count as success. Sometimes I wonder if she regrets telling us to follow all of our dreams down every rabbit hole, or reaching for the top until we had smiles plastered on our face. Sometimes I wonder if Brian and I were less ambitious, travel-hungry fiends we'd still live close to home and be around for the Saturday tennis matches and Sunday BBQs.

She'd never raise her kids like that, which I suppose answers my question. But I still wonder as I sit here in a coffee shop in NYC and think of her on a slightly foggy day in San Francisco with her mom and all of our cousins and aunts and uncles gathered around one table.

I miss her smile :)

Ambitious Andrea

I'm feeling very ambitious about my weekend on this rainy Friday afternoon. I've been really crazed at work all week and finally hit a mini lul...which feels amazing. So, with this wonderful piece-of-mind I'm going to ride on into my weekend.

I'm going to spend my Saturday papering my apartment, with an Andrea-style cleaning (pause for laughter) from kitchen to bathroom and meal including fresh salsa and fish tacos. Then Sunday, I'm going to take care of myself, with a pedicure, jog and financial plan that will hopefully help me save money throughout the remainder of the year. I may even get a chance to pull down my spring and summer clothes and do laundry if I plan right.

Oh Ambitious Andrea, do not be drawn to the green couch that resides in your living room, or the bright sun that floods the open fields in the Park. Do not spend half your day making pasta sauces and roasted veggies for next week.

YOU CAN DO IT!