It's Spring!

Well it feels a teensy bit more like it anyway today. I'm wearing a cute new skirt from G's Mom. Things are good here. My friend H from high school was here over the weekend and we did the town up. You should have seen her haggling with the the purse bargainers down on Canal Street. We went to check out the world trade center site as well. I swear I get all choked up every time I see it. That just will never sit well with me. Not that it ever should but you would think upon my fourth visit I could get through it without tearing up.

We went out to yet another very yummy Mexican restaurant last night with G's family to celebrate his Dad's bday. Who knew there would be so many yummy Mexican restaurants in New York? LA still takes the cake but I'm getting much more impressed by the Mexican scene here.

SLY does New York!

She came, she saw, she kicked some big apple butt. That's right, my lovely niece was in town this past weekend with her momma and my parents. We had an amazing time and I think SLY really loved NYC. She took the bus, subway, you name it. She was totally fine with all of it and didn't bat an eye. We all knew she was an out of towner though since she waved and said hello to everyone. :) I was particularly excited since we took her to this cute place called Alice's Tea Cup which she seemed to like. They sprinkled fairy dust on her as we were leaving and my mom got her a fuzzy pink magic wand. I think next time I'll just get one for myself too.

This week I'm trying to lay low since my best bud H from DC will be in town next weekend. I will be playing tour guide again which as you all know I love. It's fun because you get to do and see things you would otherwise not do or see since you wouldn't want to be thought of as a tourist. God forbid! So now I will get to spend the next few days coming up with a tentative schedule of events. G is sitting there shaking his head at how insane I am but hey, what can I say. I'm a planner. I refuse to feel bad about it.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with G's family since it's his sister's bday. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them. And they always pick some yummy place to go. I hope all is well with those who read this and that you are having a great spring so far. Love and miss you mucho!

"We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something."
--Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Just thought this was an appropriate quote for me today. I am feeling more and more how everything is inter-conncected.

For some reason, I feel like today is one of those days I will remember for the rest of my life. Like a corner was turned. I'm shedding the weight of winter and not looking back. Spring is making me feel more awake, alive, fearless. I forgot how great it was to feel Spring. Living in LA you don't really notice the change of seasons very much. Being back on the East coast means I get to have that awakening again. Ah, it's good. Life is good.

Where in the world is Perkidiablo?

Sorry for being MIA for the past few weeks. Work was uber busy and I had lots of bday celebrating to be doing so was remiss in writing. Lets just say I had a fantabulous birthday complete with this awesome new "laptop bag that so doesn't look like one because I'm a hip new yorker" purse you see in the photo. I was spoiled all around by family and friends. Then over St. Patty's day my good friend I came for a visit and we trekked all over the city. I now know more than I ever wanted to know about bargaining for faux purses on canal street! :) We also attended my friend N's engagement party which was lovely. The food was incredible.

Work has been busy but I'm still finding time to play with friends. Tonight G and I are going to some cocktail party being thrown by Rolling Stone magazine. I guess there is free booze which cannot hurt. I am feeling more and more at home here in NY which I'm happy to report. I guess it just takes time for even a change lover like myself to acclimate to a place so big and full of energy. It's hard not to get swept up in it all sometimes but I'm trying to keep myself as grounded as possible. Cooking chicken fajitas the other night helped that. I guess Mexican has really become my comfort food. LA will always stay with me or perhaps it's because my mother loves Mexican so much that I'm surprised I was not born Mexican.

I want to be domesticated! We got our new rug for the living room last night. I love all 5 by 8 feet of it. I'm really digging the blue and brown action. I think we are going to get some blue/white pillows for the couch that will look great with it. I made meat loaf for dinner last night. I really do sound like a 50 year old getting excited about rugs and meat loaf! :) Heck with it, I'm happy so that's all that matters right?

So I already knew I had an amazing sister-in-law but now it's official. C took G and I to see John Mayer last night at Madison Square Gardens. It was an amazing concert and Alicia Keys came out and closed with him. So much fun! I had never been to MSG so it was cool to check that venue out. Check out John and Jessica. I mean, I'm soooo much cuter than her right?

Jack is Back!

You heard me people. Don't mess with Jack "Bauer" aka Dad. Luckily despite the countless terrorist insurgents he had to fight off who were WAY off protocol, pops is finally out of the hospital. Now we can all stop worrying about another nuke going off in Northern Virginia near CTU (Cancer Therapy Unit). har har.

G and I went down to see the family this weekend. I'm really glad we went. I think I needed it as much as my Dad did after over a week of worrying about him. Thanks to everyone for their warm wishes.

Last night we went to the Barney's warehouse sale. We managed to get some pretty sweet deals although you really need to be in the right mindset to be there. Plus went something that is $1500 goes on sale for $500, that's not really a bargain!

Happy Valentine's Day

Faux holiday aside, I wanted to say to all of you who read this that I love you and I hope all is well with you. I'm sorry I haven't written lately. I was in LA for work/play and then adjusting back to the cold NY weather. It was SO great to see my LA peeps. I went with E to Hermosa for the day. Had the eggs California at Martha's, got mani/pedis, had to put on spf 30 for fear of sunburn. God it was great. I missed my hubby and NY so it was good to come home. While I miss LA, every day I realize more and more the things I love most about NY. And I realize that home really is where G is. The scenery just changes and since I love change, that's not a bad thing.

I'm having a touch time this past week since pops is back in the hospital. No big C so thank god for that but it's still been hard to think of anything but him. I hope he knows that I'm focusing all the positive energy I can muster on him getting out. If you all could do the same, I would really appreciate it. Love you!

How was your weekend?

Good, I finally went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. G and I decided to go spur of the moment on Saturday afternoon after enjoying a late lunch. It was amazing. Huge, no way you can see everything in one afternoon amazing. I loved it. So now I of course want to go again. I love going to museums with G. He really gets into it and I practically have to drag him out when it comes time to leave. We even sat for a while in the Great Hall at the bar having drinks, listening to music. Then yesterday we met up with some friends at this British tea place called Tea & Sympathy. Very quaint and very British, whatever that means. We also managed to figure out a little more about our trip to Spain. I'm SO looking forward to it. Now we just need to figure out our hotel for after Granada. Is it June yet? I'm leaving for LA on Thursday and looking forward to seeing friends and getting some much needed sun. I think I'm as pale as I have been in years. Pasty pale.

Celebrate, meditate!

I went with my friend N to my first meditation class last night. And I'm hooked! It was a Buddhist meditation class and we sat for the first 40 minutes meditating and then they gave a lesson on Buddhist teachings. I loved it. I thought I had been sitting for 5 minutes when the little bell rang and it had actually been 40 minutes! I feel so great today and slept really well last night. I'm definitely going back again next week. I never thought I could meditate. I guess I thought my brain was too full of worry and crap to focus long enough but I love knowing I was wrong about it. :) The funniest part about the whole experience was this place is called Dharma Punx and the guy who leads it is covered in tatoos with all these piercings. And there I am in my suit from work with him. The things I love about NY continue to grow.

Success again! We bought a new bookcase this weekend! Our apartment has furniture in it! I'm very excited and now it's on to looking for the coffee table. I'm attaching a photo of the bookcase so you can drool over it's beauty. har har. G and I also spent the better half of the weekend shopping and looking for tickets to our frient M's wedding in Spain. We managed to score some almost free tickets by using miles so we are going for a week in June. I cannot believe it. M is getting married in Granada where I studied in college so I can't wait to take G to my old stomping grounds. Other than that I made a very yummy "Wintry Stew" on Sunday night which we will be having again tonight. I forgot how much fun it was to make wintry type food. Ah, yet another good thing about cold weather!

Success - Entertainment Center purchased!!!

I know, I know, it's a small thing and yes we now have to wait about 2 months for them to make it but we bought our entertainment center this weekend! I know M will appreciate this. As we were walking in I turned to G and said, "we are going to find our entertainment center in here. It will be about $800 and with tax it will still be less than the amount of money we have saved so far. And I kid you not it was $749!!! This is about $600 cheaper than all the other ones we have seen all over NY. I was so excited I could barely contain myself. The law of attraction at work! I have included an image of the center. Keep in mind it's a much darker color but I'm so happy we got it!

Work work work. It's been a busy few days here but I'm kind of digging it after the past few months of boring. I have been spending my nights getting geared up for this weekend. J, H and L are all coming into town from DC and E is here from LA. I mean, talk about a nationwide gathering!

G hung up some of our photos the other night. I now feel like our apartment is coming together and is more homey. When you walk in, it's very inviting. I will have to post some photos up for you all. We are still anxiously awaiting when we can finish buying furniture but we put our feet down and refuse to put anything on a credit card (my willpower is not as strong as G's but one of us has to have a backbone!). Alas this means furniture buying is taking longer than anticipated. So I have decided to spend this time thinking about how amazing our apartment is going to look once we have the entertainment center and desk. We are on our way and being good savers so I'm very proud of us.

This weekend is going to be uber fun. I can't wait to have my peeps in town. We are having Italian, mexican, tongue, you name it!!

"I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure." - John D. Rockefeller

I think I need more pleasure in my life. I try to take pleasure in the little things but lately I have gotten a little off track. I am re-committing to pleasure from this moment on.

Just got a new photo of my parentals with SLY from Xmas. I mean, I know I'm biased but she really is darn cute!

My friend J had this awesome version of ColdPlay's Fix You on her blog. Had to share it here. Gives me an entirely different perspective of the song. I had thought of it more as a young couple figuring things out and realizing that no matter what they are there for each other but know ultimately they can't fix each other. This opened up a whole other door for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u6k-99qcCE&eurl=

I had an amazing weekend back in DC visiting friends and family. I got to see the new bebe TAD. She is beautiful. It's something so incredible to be in the room with a new child. A new family. It's like seeing life breathed into something that fragile reminds you of what hope is. I guess that's why we reproduce is for a chance to see that hope again. I know that is what SLY did for my family. I know C does that for my friend J and her family. Just reminded us all that there are so many doors you can go through. You just have to believe a little more in life and seeing it from a child's point of view makes us remember that we have endless possibilities.

Found it!

My old digital camera that is! Here is a picture of SLY looking rather spiffy. Not that I took this or anything but hey, a very cute photo of her nonetheless.

Things I'm thankful for.

Yeah, I know it's way past turkey day but I can be thankful more than once a year.

I'm thankful for my loving husband who I believe may be one of the finest people I know.
I'm thankful that my dear friend A gave birth to a beautiful little girl yesterday and all is well.
I'm thankful that my family is so wonderful and they taught me to believe in myself.
I'm thankful for my niece who made the past two years of insanity bearable.
I'm thankful for my mother-in-law who gave me almost an entire new wardrobe from ATL.
I'm thankful for birthdays since you get to be the center of attention and not feel bad about it.
I'm thankful for Weight Watchers since it really helps me to keep on track.
I'm thankful for hard boiled eggs because MAN are they good.
I'm thankful for the internet and blogs so I can keep in touch with friends and family.
I'm thankful for my job since I get paid and can use that money to do fun things.
I'm thankful that G and I are becoming more financially sound every day and I'm proud of us.
I'm thankful for the air I breathe and the shoes on my feet.
I'm thankful for one more minute on this planet so I can see one more person smile and remember just how great life is.

Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd. - Edith Sitwell

Not that I'm an aristocrat or a genius. Promise my scholastic tests from childhood and my barely above mediocre SAT score will back me up. But I do sometimes think people think I'm crazy. So it's nice to know I'm not the only one of us out there.

I'm so looking forward to this weekend. Tonight my good buddy J here is making G and I dinner and then tomorrow evening we are celebrating Xmas again with G's familia. Lots of celebrating to be done! Sunday evening we are having a little soiree at V's house on the upper east side. muahahahahaha. That just sounds snooty to me. I will go to visit but happy I live in the kitchen of hell. Sounds much more hip right? :)

So we are back in New York from a great trip home with the folks. I felt of course spoiled once again and I got to visit with friends and family all over northern Virginia. Of course I totally exhausted myself per usual. I guess someday I will learn that I don't need to make myself batty every time I go home but I feel like it's worth it. I had a great time with my parents, sis and the bebe. We went to my favorite crab cake sandwich making place Chadwick's in old town. I had two crab cakes while home. There is nothing really that compares to crab cakes in the chesapeake bay area.

As for this week, work has been DEAD. Just plain boring and I'm having a very hard time making myself do anything remotely productive other than online shopping. :) My friend here at work M gave me this funny list called the SHIT list. It has an offender, what their violation is and my plan of attack. There are little boxes you can check off including, confront, ignore, stew, avenge and my personal favorite - TALK SHIT. :) I think I need to do that more often. ha! Last night my good friend I's brother was in town with his new lady. We met up with them for a drink and she is really nice. I'm very happy for him. Tonight G's friend from college and his girlfriend are here. It's a busy time here in NY with LOTS of people visiting. I have found it hard to really keep up with my exercising so I'm committing to a yoga class on Saturday morning. I think that will help me feel a little more relaxed. I'm about eliminating some of the stress in my life right now. This city is amazing but it can really make you a little insane sometimes.