Thursday, July 18, 2013

Epic Road Trip: Part II

Hello dear readers!  Things have gotten pretty busy around here and I haven't kept my word to you about writing over a span of three days.  Luckily I have a little down time as I wait for our new apartment to call me back about some paint questions I had, so I will continue this saga...

Caroline Survives NYC

When I was in high school, I had big dreams about attending NYU, being a theatre major, and ending up on Broadway.  Somewhere along the way, I realized not only was life putting me in a very different (and amazing) direction, but I also developed some sort of irrational fear of New York City.  I mean, never, ever, ever wanted to visit NYC ever, ever, ever.  Seeing Times Square on TV on New Year's Eve is more than enough to give me the heebie-jeebies.  And then Isabelle and David moved there.  And Lillian lives in Buffalo, and has been to NYC many times.  And Aunt Lynda lived there for two weeks last summer while she attended an artists' master class.  And Joseph simply loves NYC and would like to live there for a little bit...someday...in the future...

So you see, I pretty much had no choice but to go.  One day.  In the future.  And as it happened, this trip provided the (almost) perfect opportunity to finally take this trip.  Joseph was at a bachelor party; I was in the DC area on my own for a few days; Isabelle was in town long enough for me to stay with her.  The one minor catch was that Joseph returned from the party the same day I left for NYC.  Oh well!

Photo Credit: Isabelle Selby
 Isabelle is the most amazing speed tour guide you'll ever meet in NYC.  I had about 26 hours total, we stayed in Brooklyn the majority of the time, and I now feel confident to visit the City again (and I'm even excited about it)!




Photo Credit: Isabelle Selby
 We went to eat lunch at a very cool diner, and I can't remember the name of it now.  But it was yummy!  I had the duck hash.

 I got to meet my new best friend, Charlie, who hates me.  We had some great conversations.  After settling in, we walked to the flea market by the East River.  And went to Rosamunde's where I met Isabelle and David's friend, Harper.  We later met up with her for dinner and to watch David play at the BET Awards.

Photo Credit: Isabelle Selby

Photo Credit: Isabelle Selby

We had dinner at Pauly Gee's in Greenpoint.  In order to get there, we had to ride the ferry.  The sunset was amazing, the weather was perfect, and of course the view of the city was incredible.  As we walked to Harper's, we passed lots of graffiti murals, so of course I posed for each one.  You can see more photos on Facebook.  Isabelle said I was a good sport :)
Photo Credit: Isabelle Selby
Dinner at Paulie Gee's
Paulie Gee, as you may have suspected, is the owner of Paulie Gee's.  He's an elderly man who walks around the restaurant and speaks to each of his customers.  At first, you have no idea who this old man is walking up to your table with his coffee mug (he didn't have the mug the night we went, though).  We ordered two pizzas, because that's their specialty, which were amazing!



The next morning was a little rainy, but not uncomfortably so.  Isabelle and I brunched at The Rabbit Hole, another great place to eat.



My homage to Isabelle's photos of coffee at The Rabbit Hole


Croque Madame with fresh fruit and coffee


Best tour guide ever!



 Here are some things I left out about my visit to NYC:

  • Met Tolga who owns a coffee shop around the corner of Isabelle's apartment
  • Ate a second lunch at Rosamunde's because it was vacation and the wild boar sausage sounded good
  • Met Rich, but not Naomi
  • Went to Videology, a renovated and revamped video store-turned-bar with moving screenings in the back
  • Saw lots of Hassidic Jews in the neighborhood, as well as a school bus with writing all in Hebrew
  • Watched the pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica for the third time... and fell asleep during it for the third time :)


Sunday, July 14, 2013

Epic Road Trip: Part I

Hello dear reader!  I'm finally back, but as we're moving in a few short weeks, my posts will probably be fewer and farther between until we get settled into our new digs in Atlanta.  In the meantime, over the next three days, I will fill you in bit by bit on what Joseph and I were up to these past couple weeks.

We left for Virginia on the afternoon of June 26 so that Joseph could attend Jamie's bachelor party.  For those of you who may not know, Jamie was Joseph's best man at our wedding, and he asked that we play the music at his wedding.  So in the days preceding our trip, here's what I was up to:

Transcribing "Blackbird" tabs for guitar
Transcribing "Blackbird" for flute
 We were so grateful and excited that Jamie and Hally allowed us to choose the majority of their ceremony music, and as such, we wanted to give them the most spectacular soundtrack for their wedding. I'll elaborate more in my next post, but here's the setlist for now:

  • Blackbird- Beatles
  • Here Comes the Sun- Beatles
  • Ripple- Grateful Dead
  • The Way I Am- Ingrid Michaelson
  • Suite: Judy Blue Eyes- Crosby, Stills & Nash
  • Obladi Oblada- Beatles
You might see a theme...


However, despite our best laid plans, this was The Summer I Got Poison Ivy.  It especially stung since I swore up one side and down another that I'm not allergic, never have been allergic... Ugh.  You live, you learn.  It's finally clearing up, four weeks later... (no picture for this one because it was gross).










While Joseph was at the bachelor party in WV, I stayed with his mom.  It was actually very nice to just relax, do yoga, and we got mani-pedis together <3
And that's all for now!  Next up: Caroline Survives NYC!