Some Things I Feel You Should Know About

During my blog hiatus, I've basically been compiling a list in my head of things to tell you guys. I have like 300 things to talk to you about but figured I'd start slow with this introductory THINGS I FEEL YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT post. Also holy crap did you know I could change the color on this thing? I just discovered that I could!
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People's Pops is a delicious popsicle  establishment on Union Street near 7th Avenue. During the summer I basically want to go there every day for a sour cherry popsicle even though one popsicle costs about as much as an entire box of popsicles would cost me at the grocery store.

The brilliant people at People's Pops realized though, that no one wants a popsicle when it has been snowing for four straight weeks and you can't dig your car out of the frozen tundra that has encased it. INSTEAD they rented out their shop to the proprietors of Winter Warmers (I love that both of these places are alliterations). I need you to know that we now know about the business situation of both of these shops because John and I were so intrigued that he asked the guy behind the counter what the deal was. We are now those people.

Summary: go to Winter Warmers and get one s'more to share with your husband and get a small hot chocolate WITH the giant marshmallow for yourself (seriously do not share it). I know it seems like a lot of marshmallows but I swear its not and you will thank me.

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When you go to Carnegie Hall there are these giant dispensers of Ricola hard candies. I know this because last month I went to see my friend, Jared, conduct there. I know, right? So cool! The Ricolas are meant to soothe your throat and prevent any coughing during the performance. I had about six.

FULL DISCLOSURE: 14 hours after consuming my last candy, I came down with a crippling 24 hour stomach/fever/flu situation. I whined for a full 24 hours while rolling around in our bed and alternately sweating and shaking with chills.

I don't want to blame the Ricola, but I feel like I have to. Consume at your own risk.

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I am now going to be a typical Park Slope asshole and talk about brunch for a minute. I KNOW I'm sorry.

Here's the deal: there is a diner in our neighborhood that we go to pretty frequently. I'm not telling you the name and you'll see why in a minute. A month or so ago our recently sworn in Mayor, Bill DeBlasio (a Park Slope resident), mentioned in an interview that he loved this diner. DINER RUINED. We now cannot get a seat for late breakfast OR brunch OR late lunch. Its basically the worst, and while I'm not totally sure I can blame the Mayor for this one, I'm going to because it makes me feel better about the lack of diner eggs in my belly.

Luckily, there are a bunch of other options in our neighborhood including one of our favorites, Applewood. Everyone raves about Applewood and their farm to table food, blah, blah, blah. Everyone also raves about their biscuits. I am here to tell you DO NOT EAT THE BISCUITS. Just don't do it. They are awful and John and I have tried them three different times to verify that they didn't forget an ingredient or that we got a bad batch. The biscuits are terrible. But they do give you milk for your coffee in this adorable bottle and the drinks are delicious!

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Thus ends this week's edition of Some Things I Feel You Should Know About. You're welcome.

Holly Does Brooklyn

A few weeks ago, my parents went on a cruise and left me and my sister home. Something about it being their 35th wedding anniversary and going away with their friends? Needless to say, Alyssa and I were pretty offended.

Instead of staying home by herself in Pennsylvania, Alyssa and Holly came to stay with me, John, Mim and Dilly for the week!

Holly isn't really used to going on big walks (she doesn't like them) so Alyssa and I spent their first night here training her to walk on the sidewalk by making her walk all the way to Prospect Park. Joke was on us though because we were halfway home and she just sat down. She sat down, looked at me and basically said with her eyes "I am done! It is too hot and I am tired. Carry me!" And so I threw her in my tote bag and carried her all the way home. Kate: 0 Holly: 1.

Holly got the hang of the walking pretty swiftly though the next morning. So much so that we were able to walk her all the way down to 4th Avenue for some bagels at our favorite place, Bagel Pub! She was such a good puppy girl!

During her stay, Holly and Mim also solidified their relationship as girlfriends. Seriously, neither of them would eat breakfast or dinner unless they got to eat it next to each other.

By the end of the week, Holly was a certifiable city puppy.  My Mom said that when she got home, she slept for about three days. So did Mim! They really tire each other out with the playing and the licking and the barking and meowing at each other!

Come back soon, Holly!

MoMA Rain Room

The first weekend in June, John's sister Laura came to visit! I love when Laura comes to visit and I especially love when she visits and wants to do fun things in the city!

I had been dying to go see the MoMA Rain Room for weeks, so clearly this was the perfect weekend to do it! John bought a MoMA membership for the explicit reason of being able to line up two hours before everyone else. Despite our VIP status, we still waited for what seemed like 6 hours but was actually more like two.

We were so, so, sweaty and gross. Thankfully the last part of the line is inside the actual Rain Room, which is dark and air conditioned...thank you, MoMA!

Here's what the Rain Room is! Its a room where you walk under falling water, but you don't get wet! Before we got to the Rain Room, John was pretty positive that the rain was actually light. I told him that I had read a bunch of blog posts and articles about the Rain Room and I was absolutely certain that it was real water. I was right!

I really loved the Rain Room and I would go again before it closes on July 28th if it wasn't for the line (we can get $5 tickets because we bought the membership, otherwise tickets are $25 per person).

Its things like the Rain Room and bringing out of town-ers to it make me extra excited to live in Brooklyn. Sometimes the city is annoying...like on days when I have to move my car because of alternate side parking, or when its very hot in the subway or when I want to drive to a Target to accidentally spend $100 (why no Target that is not filled with humans, Brooklyn?). But I really do love living here and having people come for the weekend make me love it even more.

The Heat Makes Me The Laziest Blogger on Earth (Or At Least in Park Slope)

I hate the summer in New York. There I said it. I do not want to sit outside at our favorite bar, I do not want to lounge in the park, I do not want to traipse around the city in flip flops in a dress. I hate the summer in New York.

Here's what happens around New York in around February. The holidays have ended and Valentine's Day is over. Suddenly, everyone is in a chocolate heart induced funk and people start proclaiming "I cannot wait until the summer!!"

Let me tell you what I say in February. I say "I wish it was colder! I wish it were cloudier! I LOVE THAT IT IS DARK AT 4:42 PM!"

And then the inevitable terrible thing happens. Memorial Day Weekend comes and goes and suddenly it is the summer and I want to murder Dilly for sitting on my lap after work because SHE IS A TINY FURNACE and our house does does not have central AC, which is literally the only thing I want in life from May-September (the rest of the year its a dishwasher).

In case you were wondering, this is a tiny fan that I had to buy at the KMart on Astor place because for a week my office was actually 90 degrees. I have never been prettier, let me tell you.

Now I would like to tell you some other reasons I do not like the summer in New York City:

• The subway is hot. Its so hot that when I'm waiting for the F train, I long for the gust of approaching subway breeze because its moving air. That is just a puff of dirty air coming at me very quickly, not a refreshing breeze. I disgust myself 
• Sometimes its so hot out that your mascara melts off. Did you know that happens? I didn't until my sister pointed out my mascara-less lashes on the subway home last week. My naked lashes thank you for shaming them, Alyssa!
• There are too many people with skin exposed that should not be exposed (I neither want to see your under boob or your butt cheek)
• I can never get our iced coffee to taste as good as the bagel place's iced coffee and my iced coffee budget has ballooned as a result (because who wants to have hot coffee on their morning commute at this time of year?)
• Seriously our cats are tiny furnaces. I want to snuggle them when I get home but when I hold them I literally feel like I'm going to combust into a ball of flames 
• Why can I not get my hair do look nice in a pony tail? You know those girls that have beautiful pony tail hair? Its full and not flat on the top but doesn't look like she has a Bump-It under there? I can't get my hair to do that. As a result, my hair is constantly on top of my head in a mess because it can't touch my neck! 

When I get home, I want to lay in front of the fan. I do not want to blog. I do not want to talk to my Mom on the phone.  I do not want to cook dinner. I don't even want to crochet if is more than 78 degrees in my house (which it often is) because touching the yarn makes me hot. 

But here's the thing: I think in blog posts? Like when I'm on the subway or walking to work or laying in bed at night, I think about my day in terms of blog posts. Titles, first lines, pictures to include. 

And so, I'm back! 

Also, because I missed your lovely faces and comments and I can't justify watching Law & Order: SVU marathons without doing something at least mildly productive. 

Onward, July! 

What Our Weekend Looked Like

On Saturday John and I took a leisurely walk in our neighborhood and happened upon this great Flea Market on 7th Avenue and 1st-ish Street!

Then we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Applewood, for lunch. We got the sunniest table in the whole place and we shared a salad and a fancy grilled cheese and fries. Then we went home and I took a 90 minute nap on the couch with Mim.

Then we had a major Mim/Dilly breakthrough!

Saturday night I went to babysit for a few hours in SoHo and then John picked me up and we went to my Bestie's Birthday Party! But for some reason I have no pictures with the Birthday Girl? I'm the worst at parties, I should work on that before November...

John and I left around 1:00 (because we are old) and headed home. We had to wait FOREVER at Canal for the A train so I took these gems!

Once the A train finally arrived, I realized I was RAVENOUS because whoops the last thing I had eaten was lunch 14 hours before. So then we went to the diner!

On Sunday my Crocs and I took a walk to pick up bagels...

And then we made brunch in our kitchen!

Brunch was followed by time with friends and dinner at Nanny's house with my parents and Holly! All in all it was a glorious weekend...hope your's was, too!

Me vs. The Brooklyn Public Library

I have a problem. A first world, book problem, but a problem none the less.

This is the problem.

The Park Slope Library is causing me IMMENSE stress as it gets in ALL of the books I have requested at once WITHOUT TELLING ME THEY ARE ALL THERE. Two weeks ago, I was nearing the end of my (self prescribed) reading queue so I went on my Goodreads and I found a whole bunch of new books I wanted to read. I requested all of them at the library and kept reading the last few books on my list. Six days later, I got an email from the Brooklyn Public Library that told me ONE of my books came in. I was thrilled!

I arrived at the library to find EIGHT books waiting for me on the shelf! Problem #1: I had to carry them all home. Problem #2: The Brooklyn Public Library only gives you three weeks to read your books. And I can never renew anything I get out because other dorks throughout Brooklyn have also requested these books!

Needless to say I spent this weekend reading like a maniac and have made it through three of the eight...who said reading is supposed to be relaxing? I love me a deadline!

Miscellany from My iPhone

One of my least favorite things about living in Brooklyn (after kids on scooters) is the grocery shopping. The stores are always crowded and John always wants to split up which I hate because he always forgets things and also I can never locate him after we leave each other to "get out of the store faster." Which inevitably means we are there longer and I am sweating upon our exit because I think he's been kidnapped. A grown man. Kidnapped. From a grocery store in Park Slope. In my head, we're instantly in the movie Taken, John is a victim of human trafficking and I am going to have to carry our groceries home alone.

The savior in this situation is not is not Liam Neeson but Fairway. A heavenly store located in Red Hook with a produce section that has grapes (WHERE ARE THE GRAPES PARK SLOPE GROCERY STORES) and prepared foods that you can take to your Aunts' house for the 4th of July of Labor Day! AND A PARKING LOT.

It was totally put out of business by Hurricane Sandy but AMEN BABY JESUS the store is opening again on Friday. I will buy a million grapes in celebration and also some buffalo chicken salad. But not this weekend because John and I have to go to Pennsylvania for Pre-Cana. More on that later.

Is new mulch not the smelliest thing in the world? I'm pretty positive my Mom told me she loves the smell of new mulch but it actually makes me want to vomit. Sorry if that's graphic, but seriously. It is the worst.

I left work last night and it was still light out! And the sun was shining beautifully even though it rained all day and made my hair ugly. Ignore my finger in the upper left corner, I was in a hurry.

My Mom is going to read this post and tell me I copped out because there are so many pictures and such little substance. You should know that Mim fell in her poop last night. That should get me off the hook for the lack of substance.

More meaty posts soon, I promise!

In Which We Finally Have a Functioning Kitchen

Until three weeks ago, we did not have a fully functioning stove or oven. And by not fully functioning I mean that only one burner worked. And the oven was totally dead. And it was older than Fiance.

One burner plus a microwave and barbeque worked out pretty well for the summer and early Fall months, especially since Fiance started working nights again and I eat a lot of soup and grilled cheese. Its the dinner of champions, I tell you!

But then November rolled around and we realized that Sidesgiving was quickly approaching and we definitely needed a more substantial cooking situation! My aunts offered to buy us a new stove (which was the most helpful ever) and after 15 minutes in the stove store we had one picked out! We scheduled delivery the next Thursday morning, but because of Hurricane Sandy, the gas guy couldn't get to us for four days.

So now we had TWO stoves and TWO ovens, but still only one burner. Seriously could I make this stuff up?

The gas guy finally came on Election Day before Fiance left for work. He disconnected our old stove and connected our new one. He even took our old one to to that big stove heaven in the sky (wherever that is). He and Fiance realized real fast though that something was wrong...

Apparently we had a insert stove? I don't even know what that is, but I'm pretty sure they stopped making them in 1963. An insert stove requires a platform (see photo above) but since our new stove was a regular stove, we didn't need a platform. Because we had a platform, our stove bruners were currently to my shoulder, which is not conducive for cooking. Fiance and I psyched ourself up all day for the platform demolition and decided to tear out the platform while watching Election results later that night.

Then I did what I always do when I get psyched up for a political event...I fell asleep on our couch. At 9:00PM after one drink and a grilled cheese (at Happy Hour, guys...I love grilled cheese) with friends. Before they even called Ohio I, a person with a Masters Degree in American Politics fell asleep. NOT ONLY did I sleep through Ohio, NOT ONLY did I sleep through the flip out on Fox News as they called the Election for Obama, I SLEPT THROUGH THE REMOVAL OF OUR PLATFORM NOT 25 FEET FROM MY HEAD.

That's right guys. Fiance came home at 11:00PM and using a power drill, hand saw and hammer, tore out our stove platform. And I slept through it. Not some of it. Not half of it. The entire endeavor...I was out cold.

I'm not even sure how that happened, but have I ever told you the story of when I was in college and fell asleep at a party in a room where a drum set was being played? Because that actually happened.

In any event, now we have a stove! And an oven! And a fully functional kitchen! Lesson learned: you don't need a stove platform, Fiance is the handiest, and the nicest...and I have narcolepsy.

The End. 

And a Happy Thanksgiving to You

I know, I know, I KNOW.

SILENT it has been on this here blog...FOR WEEKS! "No one is going to read anymore, you know...they'll be mad at you," my Mom told me the other day. What I really think she means is she is mad at me for not keeping this up, but to any of you who might actually be mad...I am sorry.

Things have been moving right along though. In the past few weeks I've: booked a photographer for our wedding, asked nearly all of my bridesmaids to be bridesmaids (Fiance took a special something upstate with him this weekend), gone to happy hours and brunches, watched our President get re-elected (amen, baby Jesus), saw my baby cousins get Bar Mitzvah-ed (and wept the whole day) AND bought a wedding dress. More on all of this in future posts I swear.

BUT ALSO, Fiance and I hosted Sidesgiving! I noticed a lot of people on Facebook this weekend seemed to be doing Friendsgiving. Sidesgiving is a lot like Friendsgiving except that there is no turkey. Strictly sides. And it was glorious...dare I say it, the best we've ever had.

The key to a dinner party like this is paper everything, you guys. Accept that the environment hates you for one night and embrace the paper plates, plastic utensils and paper tablecloths. The last thing you want to be doing after you have 20 people over is any sort of extra dishes (even if you do wake up the next morning to your friends doing them for you...thank you, Brian). Also, I suggest participatory table cloths and crayons, they are a real crowd pleaser.

Thank you to my Twin, Tammy, for this picture...LOVE YOU

All of this is to say I have tons and tons to be thankful for tomorrow, and everyday really. Chief among them are my family, friends and my soon to be husband. And our kitty cat, who I swear I love more each day, there I said it.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and thanks for reading if you still are! 
xxo,
Kate

The Lucky Ones-Hurricane Sandy

We are the lucky ones.

Fiance, Alyssa, Dilly and I made it through the night with only a few power flickers and snacks. Though we did receive this notification on our cell phones last night accompanied by a siren ring...which was mildly terrifying.

Alyssa and I were able to venture out of our house this morning to take a walk and survey the neighborhood. Park Slope seems to have gotten away relatively unscathed...some trees down and some store awnings ripped away, but otherwise we are so lucky.

A lot of neighborhood restaurants and coffee shops are open with lines out the door (do not mess with our coffee supply) and people here, thankfully seem to be in pretty good spirits.

Fiance and I just got notified that our jobs are both cancelled for tomorrow and our phones seem to be on the fritz. I had an appointment to try on wedding dresses tomorrow but I'm guessing that's not happening! Probably a good think because we've been eating snacks since Sunday. Woops.

Hoping that you are all safe and sounds and sending good thoughts to the people who weren't as lucky as we were.

Blog Return: Here Comes SANDY!

Friends! I have returned!

My beloved Macbook was tremendously broken and for the past six weeks I've been using my tiny graduate school Dell Netbook to blog. Which was making me insane because a seven inch screen is helpful for NOTHING! But my Macbook is BACK after a painless trip to the MacOutfitters in Pennsylvania (NO lines, NO reservation, NO Roosevelt Field Mall) and a new harddrive (thanks, Mom!).

But as I make my glorious return to blogging, I cannot guarantee it will be for long because the world is ending? Like for real ending? Like work was cancelled today and we just found out its cancelled for tomorrow AND Fiance's job even closed? AND my sister is here because her college is closed and one of her bigest fears is flash flooding (I kid you not).

So here we are in our pajamas (NEW pajamas after showering because who knows when we will be able to shower again) watching A Baby Story because how many hours of the news can we watch? And we are basically waiting for the power to go out. For days, Mayor Bloomberg is telling us. I am so unexcited.

Yesterday Fiance and I went out to breakfast and ran some last minute emergency errands...

There was a 40 minute line at CVS. I think the two poor people working behind the Pharmacy counter wanted to kill everyone.

Then we did some laundry because who even knows if we had enough underwear for this situation?

Last night our landlord came over and helped us weight and tape down our garbage cans and cover our outside entrances to the basement!

And now we are waiting. This morning it was just a little rainy but now we are waiting for THE BIG ONE! Stay safe, friends!

A Debate Viewing Party

 Did you all watch the debate last night?

We were all pretty excited in Park Slope, let me tell you! Especially because Ashley made maple cookies...she is a wiz on the Pinterest. 

That's Hofstra's President, Stuart Rabinowitz. He's a pretty cool guy AND he has his own private bathroom in his office. Which let's face it, is my ultimate career goal. We'll forget having my own office or getting a doctorate or being my own boss. I want my own private bathroom. And I want it to be attached to my office. Rabinowitz style.

What was my sister doing while we were all eating cookies and watching from Brooklyn you may be asking? Well she was sitting with Anna Wintour, obviously. Also, sending me a million pictures and texting me her location in the Debate Hall so I could attempt to locate her on ABC/NBC/CNN/MSNBC/CSPAN. I saw her nowhere. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the night! Cutie Brian Williams (WHO I LOVE) fading into the Hofstra Arena! I nearly died I was so excited...two of my favorite things/people on one screen!

 It was a pretty exciting night in my living room and an even more exciting night for Hofstra! If you'll excuse me now, I'm going to find a binder to throw my resume in and hope that someone gives me a promotion.