Long time no see (or read)

Goodness it’s been forever since we’ve written. So really not much has happened since last time. Thought I’d share some NY observations with you so you get to know our new hometown a bit better.

-       The subway is convenient since you don’t have to drive, however you can be stuck in “traffic” just as well. If you take it during rush hour, there are delays because so many subways are operating at the same time so yours just might stop half-way between stations to let others pass by. So if you jump on an express train, you won’t always get there faster. Oh and they call subways “trains” here.

-       People who live here and are used to the streets and traffic are always in a hurry. If you are visiting, try to walk on the right side of the sidewalk to stay out of their way, otherwise they’ll bump into you quite a bit.

-       Brooklyn, which is where we are living, is much more mellow than Manhattan. We can take the subway into Manhattan and be there in about 10 minutes, so it’s nice to have either option. Our neighborhood is also very family-friendly and you’ll see more kids and families here than in busy Manhattan.

-       Everyone sells Red Velvet Cakes here. I don’t know what it is but you’ll find them everywhere.

-       The heater is regulated by the city so you can’t mess with the temperature of your heater in your own home. You either turn it on (at full blast) or turn it off completely. If you get too hot, you have to open the windows even if there’s a blizzard outside.

-       Trash is picked up twice a week and recycling once a week.

-       If you are getting rid of furniture, you can set it out on the curb or sidewalk and either someone takes it or the trash guys pick it up (as long as it’s small). Even if you have random house stuff you don’t want anymore such as clothes, electronics, books, etc., you can place those in a box outside and by the next day, they’ll be gone. It’s like free garage sales.

-       There are plenty of flea markets to choose from and really cool things to buy as long as you have the money.

-       Most buildings don’t have outgoing mailboxes so if you want to mail your bills or letters, you have to find a public mailbox on the street.

-       Almost every building has an intercom system so strangers can’t walk into the building without being buzzed in.

-       You can meet both friendly and rude New Yorkers. Just keep in mind that people are usually on the go and are rushing. If you respect that, you’ll have no problems with them.

-       If you are renting a place here, the rent price is always negotiable. You can even try to get the landlord to pay for certain utilities.

-       Eating out can get quite expensive. In our neighborhood there is only one McDonald’s and all others are bistros, cafes and restaurants. That means if you have lunch or dinner at those, you’ll pay over $20-30 per couple. Do that a few times a week and you’re broke.

-       In the winter, all women wear knee-high boots, along with coats and hats. It’s like the city uniform.

-       You can turn a corner and end up in a totally shady neighborhood. Always stay in crowded or busy neighborhoods if you don’t know your surroundings.

-       If you get a house phone, you will be endlessly hassled by telemarketers.

-       You are also hassled by people buzzing at your door about donations and charities.

-       There are rats, bedbugs, mosquitoes and roaches to watch out for. It’s a big city with many people and many critters. Use common sense and currently, try to stay out of the movie theaters and public seats that are cushioned, since many have bedbugs in them. If you take those suckers home, good luck trying to get rid of them. Also, there can’t be any standing water anywhere in the city because of the mosquitoes and West Nile virus. Wanted to get a birdbath for our yard and am not allowed.

-       There are many great things about the city too, it’s not all warnings. J There are many places to see, shopping to do, a gazillion restaurants to try with food from all over the world and events to attend.

-       Central Park is beautiful to walk around in in the middle of the city, surrounded by sky scrapers.

-       Public transportation is abundant and cheap.

-       People are willing to help you and you get to try food at certain markets before you buy it, think samplers.

-       There are definitely four seasons here and it’s beautiful to watch them change.

Think that’s all that comes to mind now. We’ll provide another update soon. Take care everyone.

Boxes!

Yesterday we received our first shipment of SD boxes, which contained clothes, some of Mark’s shoes and a few random house things. Boy, it was like Christmas, opening boxes. Can’t wait until the other boxes arrive. At least we don’t have to wear the same outfit everyday anymore.

This Friday the couch we ordered is supposed to come in as well, so we’ll have something else to sit on other than the two dining chairs. Slowly but surely our place is coming along.

The weather is nice again and we’ve been taking advantage by running more errands. Another IKEA visit yesterday…

Not much else to report. We tried a sushi spot right around the corner from our place and it was great. Cheap too so we’ll be regulars there.

There are so many restaurants even in our Brooklyn neighborhood, we don’t have to eat at the same place twice for a while. No more same old Cheesecake Factory dinners.

We’ll let you know what other goodies we stumble upon.

It’s Snowing Again

Last night was our first night in our new home. This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. Our bed is placed up against the bedroom window so when we looked out, everything was covered with snow. Last week it was warmer than San Diego and today we wake up to beautiful fluffy snow. It was still snowing hard by the time we got up so we went for a walk in a park that’s 10 minutes away. The park was inundated with dogs and their owners having a great time. It was awesome walking through the snow, watching happy-go-lucky dogs have a blast. I thought of Pepper and how princess would be cold. These dogs were definitely used to the snow.

Anyways, today we’re assembling more furniture and buying small things (coffee maker, etc.) at Target since we didn’t make it there yesterday.

If any of you feel winter nostalgia coming on, we’re just 5 hours away (or 8 if you are reading this from Germany).

View from bedroom window 

Typical Brownstones 

Dogs ahead 



In Our New Home!

Yes, we finally made it. As of today, we are officially moved in. We are still missing some furniture but slowly we are adding to the bed and dining table now in our possession. At least all the utilities are working, the cable and internet too and we can work from home. We are waiting for our boxes to arrive from SD and then we can really fill in the gaps.

Today we’re still going to Target and IKEA to pick up random things, and can’t forget the groceries. Boy, we’re pooped.

Think I’ll leave it at that for now. Hope everyone back home is doing well and we look forward to showing you our new home. Until you come visit, we’ll post photos.

Times Square Finally

We finally made it to Times Square. We've only been here almost a month...
It is awesome. The lights, the people, the action and the energy can't be described, you have to experience it in person. Since we were starving, we decided to celebrate our arrival at the square with Olive Garden. I know, my favorite place (note the sarcasm) but it was right in the middle of everything and dinner was actually very good. We had to wait for a table so we got wine at the bar. The waiter brought the bill before we were seated for dinner and the wine came out to $20. That's a little less than what I'd hoped to pay for dinner. Everything was pretty much $5 more expensive on the menu than at Olive Garden in SD. You pay for the location...
Nevertheless, dinner was good and we had the nicest waiter ever. The location really couldn't be beat and it was wonderful walking off the meal in the area afterwards.
Let's see, what else have we been doing since the last entry? We have been buying furniture (the delivery prices will get ya) and setting up utilities, etc.. As usual, taking care of business. We even did that on Valentine's Day. However after that we had a very affordable dinner at a Japanese Ramen place by our house and shot pool/darts also at a local bar. I can safely say that both of us had one too many beers. Hope you had an equally fun V-day. :-)

NY Pricetags, ha ha!

So it’s time to buy furniture and we haven’t made it to IKEA since the subway to or from that direction is under construction. Ah, public transportation… Anywho, today we walked around our neighborhood and Soho and popped our heads into whatever furniture store came our way. We saw some really nice things, some really crappy things and some in-betweeners. The last store we both went to was tres chic with a price tag to match. We fell in love with quite a few items, particularly a chair (normal sitting chair, not a lazy boy or anything like that) and asked for the price. The lady said it sells for $9,000. That’s right, you’re not reading a typo. She mentioned it’s the most expensive chair in the store. That’s the kind of taste we apparently have. Here I was ready to buy two, but never mind. As Mark said, that’s the price of a car. So most likely, when you all come to visit, we’ll lounge in possibly pimped out IKEA stuff. If not, it will be just regular IKEA stuff.

Let’s see, what else is new? Finally made it to the laundromat, hooray, clean clothes! A lot of places here have either self-service, where you do your own laundry, or drop-off service, where you drop your laundry off at the place and they wash/dry/fold it for you. Sometimes they even deliver it to your house. Sounds nice but on a regular basis, that gets expensive. So we did our own laundry, forgot softener, dryer sheets and change to actually operate the machines. We were obviously the only rookies there. The Chinese guy washing/drying/folding someone else’s clothes helped us out. We were there a couple of hours which was kind of nice because it gave us a chance to do nothing else besides read and relax. And do crossword puzzles.

Thanks for taking the time to read the latest about us. For now, that’s all folks.

Taking Care of Business

This weekend started out very busy. Now that we have the keys to our place, we have to buy cleaning supplies and straighten out the place. Thankfully it's mostly clean because it was renovated before it was even listed by the broker. Just have to clean the floors and touch up the kitchen and bathroom.
This morning we took a couple of suitcases with half the clothes and some books to the apartment. Thanks to my terrible sense of direction, we took the subway going the wrong way and ended up in a not-so-nice part of Brooklyn. Tried to take the subway going the other way and it was out of order. That’s NY for ya. After schlepping the luggage around for 15-20 minutes, we were finally able to hail a cab and make it to the new home. We had no more energy to actually clean the place so we grabbed lunch with a friend, explored the neighborhood a bit and then went grocery shopping before coming back to the old home. And that’s a wrap for today.