goodbye upper west side

well friends. it’s been a busy couple of weeks filled with friendship and laughter and love. had a fantastic time at robin and ceppos's weddings these last two weeks. i'll do a separate post on them so as to do them justice.

next up is my move to brooklyn heights on sat (aka sept 1!). am starting the packing process tonight which i hope will give me enough time to get packed up, as said movers are coming at 8 am on saturday morning. i'm looking forward to having it behind me as i have all these ideas of things i want to do with the apt but i really can't make a decision until i'm actually in the apt and see how things work. wish me luck.

it’s time to write my traditional ode to my apartment with a list of things i will and won’t miss about the UWS.

things i’ll miss:

• my rent (super cheap!)
• the location – hello 2/3 subway line
• the proximity to central park – i especially have liked running around the reservoir in recent weeks with the sun setting over the nyc skyline beyond the trees of central park
• matsu – an amazing and cheap sushi place on 82^nd and columbus
• nails by young – an amazing and cheap nail place on 72^nd and broadway
• the dead poet – an amazing and cheap bar on 83^rd and amsterdam and one of my favorite bars in the city
• emack and bolios - a new england ice cream chain that has a couple of nyc locations including the UWS. it's like a taste of home when i get a strawberry ice cream soda. 

things i won’t miss:

• having a roommate
• my roommate's cat
• having a bedroom window that looks out on an air shaft

if the list of things i won't miss weren't so much more important to my general happiness i'd probably stay put as i've really liked living on the UWS. then again, brooklyn heights isn't that different so perhaps i won't miss it as much. i'll report back. 

words mean things

So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. -Dead Poets Society

a tale of two coasts

weekend update - was in nyc this wknd for the first time in a long time. the weekends are longer when you aren't coming and going all the time but i still would have rather been somewhere else. fortunately the next three weeks are crazy - so i'll get my wish!

had a great time hanging out in LA with kevin last wknd - went to a local dive bar by the venice pier and had some late night beach hanging out time after i had dinner with a cape friend. kevin initially told me an address to meet him at after my dinner which i assumed was his apt but quickly realized it wasn't when i got to the house and found it dark and some person looking at me like i was crazy when i rang the bell and said i was looking for kevin and standing on the sidewalk with all my worldy possessions in a suitcase. fortunately we sorted it out - kevin had been at a party at the house but they had left to go to the bar but the text hadn't gone through so i didn't get the update. we all had a good laugh and i went to meet them at the bar. i essentially always end up staying up to 5 AM or so EST when i'm out there - the time change causes the most trouble at night in my opinion - and while i'm def good for an all-nighter now and again two nights in a row often does me in.

saturday we went swimming in a friend's backyard pool and then for a bike ride up the coast from the venice pier to the santa monica pier. it's been unbearably hot and muggy in nyc for the last couple weeks but it was gorgeous on the west coast - felt almost like september out here - warm sunny days and cool nights. it was a blessing to have a bit of a break from the humidity. we went for a swim in the pacific and as i was floating along in the beautiful briney sea it was like this is really my life?

saturday night i met a guy at a dartmouth party - turns out he went to high school with my cousin in maryland and now is in LA doing an urban planning degree at USC. i definitely have a type and it's engineers and track guys (he pole vaulted in hs). we had a great time hanging out (he made me breakfast to frank sinatra on sunday morning. i chopped the tomatoes and olives.) and seems like we may stay in touch. if there's one thing i'm good at it's parlaying one night stands into relationships. we'll see but it's made me really happy all week. :)

this past weekend we went to see mulley's play on friday night - several of the nyc usual suspects came out including megh and pollypocket - was fun to see them. sat night was the dartmouth club of nyc event at the mets - we went to hear the GM of the mets (a d '69) speak and then to the baseball game. things went well and it was really gratifying to see folks from different classes interacting and getting to know each other. glad to have it behind me so i can get on with weddings, fun and friends! heading up to providence, ri on friday with katie and karla to meet up with swanny, maynard, whit, skips and laurak for robin's wedding. hooray for usual suspects, weddings and weekends in new england.

lastly it's just about my 7 year anniversary of living in nyc. how did it get so late so soon? i'm moving in 3 weeks and i cannot wait. i'm sick of my roommate, my roommate's cat and my apartment being too hot all the time. ready for what's next.

play something country

there's been a ton of great country music lately. here's my rundown (in no particular order):

• eden's edge - too good to be true, skinny dipping, amen, who am i drinking tonight? - clever lyrics and catchy tunes
• rascal flats - banjo
• little big town - pontoon
• pistol annies - hell on heels
• josh turner - time is love
• jake owen - the one that got away, and heaven
• miranda lambert  - fastest girl in town
• dierks bently - 5-1-5-0 - great get hype song
• zac brown band - new album out (uncaged) - i like jump right in, natural disaster, last but not least
• carrie underwood - new album out (blown away) - i like cupid's got a shotgun, good girl and the title track 
• mark mcguinn - mrs. steven rudy - not a new one but so so good. check it out on youtube (it's hard to find)
• luke bryan - drunk on you - 'i'm a little high on you and drunk on summertime'
• keith urban - long hot summer
• eli young band - even if it breaks your heart
• kenny chesney - come over

and lastly eric church - springsteen - there's a reason this song is at the top of the charts - it's amazing. brings back a lot of memories of summer on nantucket and being in love. :)

baby is it spring or is it summer
the guitar sound or the beat of that drummer
you hear sometimes late at night on your radio
even though you're a million miles away
when you hear born in the usa
do you relive those glory days from so long ago

when you think about me do you think about 17
do you think about my old jeep
think about the stars in the sky
funny how a melody sounds like a memory
like a soundtrack to a july saturday night

Pics from the Cape

Thank you instagram :)

welcome to brooklyn

hello from LA - i'm out here for a few days for work (my boss likes to take me on eating tours when we travel - so far we've been to randy's donuts, in-n-out and then drinks at the W hotel with a client) and am staying the weekend to hang out with kevin. still kind of can't believe i'm in LA - i've been all over the place lately - but i'm rolling with it.

so sorry to leave you hanging with that last post - took some time for things to sink in. basically what happened is i promised myself when i took my new job that if i was going to stay in nyc for a couple more years i was going to invest in finding an apt/making an apt that felt like a home. i was keeping an eye on craigslist for sept/oct apt options. i'd been to brooklyn heights to visit rowena and will and liked it and it was on my list of places to explore during my apt hunt. saw a posting for two apts in brownstones in brooklyn heights and emailed about checking them out. i get back to my desk the next day after a meeting and there's an email asking if i can come check them out at 5:30 (aka in 30 minutes). i debated for a second but seven years in nyc (yes seven!) and more moves than i care to remember paid off and i ran into my boss's office, stammered that i had a chance to go look at an apt and she told me to go so i ran out of the office and jumped on the train to brooklyn.

loved loved love the neighborhood - like all the things i like about the upper west side even more so - and got to see two apts and decided to go for the apartment i liked best. i had my letter of employment in hand and i got the cash deposit out then and there (it wasn't amateur hour) and went over to fill out an application form that night. met the management company and loved them (their office was in a vintage motorcycle showroom) and by monday i was signed, sealed, delivered and moving to brooklyn heights. easiest apt leasing process i've had yet.

was planning to pay double rent for september, since my uws lease isn't up until october, but i mentioned this to my roommate and he found someone for sept 1. so just like that i'm moving in 30 days. and i can't wait.

it's going to be a change from living in manhattan but i love the area and i'm excited for something new after all this time in nyc. it's a large studio in a third-floor walk-up in a brownstone right near henry and clark streets. just about every major subway line is there. i'm going to have to get creative on storage and furniture purchasing - it basically has no kitchen - but i have lots of ideas and it's going to be fun to get everything organized and make the place feel like a home. i really can't wait. people keep asking me if i'm going to become a hipster - rowena's response to that was 'tell them you're moving to the yuppie area, not the hipster area'. besides, can you see me as a hipster? :)

in other news, had two great sigma delt weekends - one for ceppos's bachelorette party in nyc and the other for our big sis/little sis reunion weekend on the cape. had a great time boozing and having some laughs with each other for ceppity's bachelorette - really wonderful to reune with cody, brogiin and diana and meet some of ceppos' friends from bschool. had a blast getting all dolled up in 80s gear for rubix kube and calling ceppos out all weekend so everyone knew she was getting married. the wedding is in a few weeks out in greenwich, ct - going to be a blast.

last wknd celeste and little kristen and i drove up to the cape to meet diede. unfortunately the weather didn't really cooperate, but we did a lot of shopping, walked on the beach, got ourselves some lobster, and had girl time. our class years go '05, '07, '09 and '11 (and we're co-opting jill for a '13) so it really is kind of unusual that even though we weren't on campus with diede and little kristen we're still friends, but it was so nice to speak a common sd language, share our experiences and celebrate us.  celeste goes off to three years in chicago for her jd/mba at northwestern and little kristen is starting med school in nj but we're going to try to keep doing big sis/little sis reunions. it's pretty special. :)

i'm bummed i'm not going to make it back to the cape anymore this summer but excited for weddings and the move and the next chapter of my life. keep thinking about the storypeople 'feels like some kind of ride but it's just turning out to be life going absolutely perfectly.' :)