The Attack of the Giant Flowers

Don’t Worry! Little Shop of Horrors has not taken over the East Side. No my friends, these are not alien flowers looking for blood and total earth domination. These are beautiful 25 foot flower sculptures on the malls of Park Ave from 57^th to 67^th. “The Roses” by Will Ryman decorate beautiful Park Ave giving us hope of spring (and we are ready for it!)

So sleep sound my friends, we will not be hearing the soothing voices of plants begging “feed me Seymore… feed me!”… but if you do, you may want to get that check out…

A Presidential Excursion

Well, since we had a long weekend, I headed out to the homeland for fun with friends and family. Ah yes… New Jersey. Home of the Jersey Shore, Giants Stadium, and yours truly.

I had a lovely dinner at my parents house and spent a good amount of time at a friends house in the ever-so-busy Blairstown NJ. Our plans were to go hiking on Presidents Day. However, do to lack of sun and 6 inches of snow fall the night before, our hike was put on hold and HG TV was our entertainment for the day. We did go out on to Main St in good old B-Town and walked around. So in today’s photographs I bring you Blairstown in are patriotic red, white, and blue.

Brooklyn

".. Ah Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

Are you aware the shape I'm in?

My hands they shake, my head it spins,

ah Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in..."

Avett Brothers, I & Love & You

Mermaids

After many years of searching… I found it… a mermaid. Ok, not really.

But when I was a little girl I had one dream… to become a mermaid. As Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid was desperate to get out of her oceanic world, I was desperate to get in it. I would swim in my pool with my ankles crossed pretending they were fins, look for seashells and try to wear them as a bra (cause apparently that’s the correct mermaid attire), and grow my hair long, wishing it were red. I learned all the songs Ariel sang to Eric and I imitated that one scene, about a million times, where she lifts herself on to a rock when a huge wave comes up behind her, right at the peak of her song. Epic.

But alas, I have two legs used for walking more than swimming, realized wearing a seashell bra was not only ridiculous, but painful (you know you tried it), and came to terms with the fact that a girl who has a Chilean mother, will never have natural red hair.

Just like Ariel, I’ve come to grasp with my reality of where I belonged, her in the sea and I in New York City. **Side note: I wasn’t living in the city when I realized I would never be a mermaid. That would mean I held on to the idea of being ½ woman ½ fish for 25 years… Come on people.**

But whenever I come across an image of one, like this one a in vintage store front window on West 25th St, I can’t help but smile as I hum to myself the chorus of A Part of Your World.

I hope everyone is coping well with there post-valentines-day-sugar-withdrawal.

In Honor of Valentines Day Weekend.

I bring you rice, in the shape of a heart.

Ah yes, the day of St Valentine is upon us. The day where an incredible amount of flowers, chocolates, and overpriced cards are purchased for those we love. Why? Because it’s V-Day and from a young age, we are taught, nay, encouraged that this what you do on V-Day.

Remember the days when you were in school and you made V-Day cards for everyone on the class? Mine usually consisted of Saved by the Bell themes with Zach Morris or A.C. Slater on the front of it…oh Zach Morris… my 5^th grade crush. Oh, yes, those were the days. And of course you made one for everyone in the class so no one was excluded. But as a friend of mine reminded me over lunch today that the “cool girls” always got the huge, elaborate ones, while everyone else got generic ones. But that didn’t matter. When you looked in your 3^rd grade makeshift Valentines mailbox at the edge of your desk, you have one from the cute boy in the class. (as did everyone, but still…)

Alas, we are no longer in the 3^rd grade. No more cards with Screech asking you to be his Valentine, no more checking your designated cubby for those peto-chalk hearts with hard to read message on them.

However, if you go to a Thai restaurant on the Upper West Side on the weekend of Valentine's Day, you can get a little V-day surprise in the form of heart shaped rice. And let me tell you … it was delicious.

Happy (pre)Valentine’s Day Everyone!

Fools

This was a sticker on the side of an emergency police and fire call box. How could you not take a photo of this?

….till tomorrow!

Incase you were wondering…

They grind their own beef.

Do to the lack of the Internet service over the past few days, I haven’t been able to post. So to make it up to you, I give you the photograph of the “We Grind Our Own Beef” restaurant… you are welcome.

I’m not normally on the Lower East Side but my new yoga class is on St. Marks Street, a pretty sweet part of town that’s… well, kind of trippy. While on my way to the class that will make me topple over in due to my lack of balance, skill, and grace, I passed by this local burger joint. I thought to myself that I was glad that I now have this new bit of information about the beef grinding and I knew it would make a huge impact in my day… that’s a lie. It won’t. However, I was happy to find out that after an hour yoga class I can run across the street, get a few piercings, a quick tattoo and devour a delicious home ground beef burger all on the same block.

You know your mouth is watering.

p.s. Please note how awesome that cow is!

They’re Here!

Last week I ordered my new Five Finger shoes. And today they came!

Can I run in them? Yes. Can I do Yoga? Yes. Can I hike and climb and swim in these babies? Yes. Is my best friend annoyed at the mere sight of them? YES! (which in my opinion is an added bonus) In my attempt to get healthier this year, I am planning on running a few races with friends of mine. So in order to get ready for these healthier changes, I got these new shoes and a yoga mat. Now that I’m equipped with… well, my “equipment”, I will be attending my first Hot Yoga class tomorrow after work. I’ve done Yoga before, but never “Hot Yoga”. They’re going to be cranking up the heat up to about 90 degrees and make you sweat it out while doing ridicules poses… oh and don’t forget to breath.

So anyway, if you interested in learning more about these awesome shoes that define all of my lovely toes, go to this website:

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/barefoot-sports/

You’ll looove them too.

Super Bowl!!!!

Well, if you’re a true blooded American.. or a ½ blooded American... or someone just here , you were probably watching the Supper Bowl last night. I hope you enjoyed the pizza, the ½ time show (oh Fergie Ferg), the game, and of course, the commercials. I must say, the one with the kid dressed like Darth Vader was one of my favorites. Oh and the one where the Doritos bringing things back to life…. Classic.

Any who, this picture has nothing to do with the supper bowl. Sorry true blooded Americans.

It is however; a picture is a giant Hulk, wrapped in a tarp in an ally. Obviously.

Just for Kicks

Sickness has taken over my body, and I have been in bed for pretty much most of the day. So, instead of taking a picture of the inside of my messy apartment, I leave you with a photo that I took a while ago in Salem, Massachusetts.

I know, it’s weird… that’s why I took it.

Enjoy.

And behind door #11….

I know today’s picture is a door, just a normal door. And it’s not even a great picture of a door. But what I want to tell you about is not the door itself, but what is be hind it, and the answer is…..

A Rooster…

Yes , I said a rooster..

...a living, breathing, crowing animal which you normally find on a farm. Did I mention that it likes to make loud noises at early hours of the morning? It does. At first, I didn’t believe it was a rooster and thought I was making up noises in my head. Then I thought it was just a rooster alarm clock continually being snoozed. Then my doubts were laid to rest one morning when I was walking down the stairs. Apartment 11’s door opened and although I did not see the bird with my eyes, the sounds were loud, real, and clearly identified as farm birds crowing, bawking and flapping wings. I stopped in hesitation for a few brief seconds in slight disbelief and considered for a moment, which Arrested Development chicken impersonation would be the best for this situation.

You may ask, “Wait, I thought you live in the city?” Yes, you are correct. I do live in the city. I live in a big, crowed city, in a pre war building, up 4 flights of stairs…above a rooster.

…. Am I alone in this?

Covered in Ice

This morning, I woke to the sounds of freezing rain hitting my window. Then I walked out into the freezing rain, wadded in curbside puddles and climbed over mountains of piled snow with an inch thick layers of ice over everything. I walked about a block or so and thought, “Nope… in need rain boots”. So I slipped back up to the slippery top of my block and walked back up the 4 floors to my apartment and changed my normal boots for a pair of waterproof rain boots to take on the rugged terrain. Then headed back out onto the sheet of ice that was my sidewalk. All the while, thinking…. I wish I were in my warm bed. But alas, I made it to work and made it back home after work.

I bested you ice! I walked all over you today and you did not affect me… ­victory!

… Although because of your low temperatures and constant precipitation, I’m now sick….

You win ice…. You win.

Question: What to do with an old sock…

Answer: …you throw it out.

OR you could do what these ladies did and make a living out of it.

I was walking down the street and I came across these women setting up shop on the curb. I asked if they would mind if I grabbed a quick picture of their stand and they were nice enough to let me. Now you may think, “Kyle, (an old Boy Meets World reference) why would I want to keep an old sock around?” I’ll tell you why. Because you can make a sock puppet out of it… or better yet, you can just throw yours out, give the nice ladies on 86^th & Broadway $30-$50 and buy one that is already made for you with a clean sock. Ah yes… behold the difference, a clean sock... and they have those fun googly eyes, which I feel is the difference between a sock puppet and SOCK PUPPET!

Well-done sock puppeteers! Well-done!