Parents and Boats

I received the newest email in my parents' series of cruising updates. I love reading about everything they've been doing and their feelings on the trip. Even though I talk to them fairly regularly, it's nice to see it all in writing - I get to see a side of them that I don't normally see. As of last week they've been in Miami. Even though they're all the way down there, it's great to have them back in the states. It feels so much closer just being in the same country. We've been talking and they've decided to leave the boat in Florida for the summer, which I understand (NY-FL is such a long and expensive trip to take, with not too much to see) but of course it made me sad. To me, summer=being on the boat. I love it. Well, my dad is apparently "in the same boat" (hah?) as me and decided to get a smaller boat to keep up in NY. He called me last Sunday asking how the business is doing in his absence. After much assuring he asked, "So I can get my fishing boat then?" I said yes, then Monday I got the call that he put in an offer on one. He's insane. We got bank approval yesterday so it's official. The boat a 31' Intrepid 310 Walk Around. We've never had a power boat like this before, only sailboats until he got the Nordhavn, so this is new and exciting. He said he wants to teach me and B all we need to know and then when he's away it will be ours. What. We will have our own boat. Insane. I feel ok about it, though, because we've been working our asses off! We've definitely earned it. Here are some photos from the brokerage site:

Workaholic!

This weekend has been absolutely gorgeous! 80+ degrees in April, this is definitely my kind of weather! Unfortunately we spent most of it working. It was our choice, though. We stayed all day yesterday and came in for about 6 hours today. I ordered a couple of shelving units from ULINE on Thursday and they came Friday (love ULINE!) so B put them all together and we rearranged EVERYTHING. Well, almost everything. We still have the very front of the store, the back room and behind the counter to organize but the whole front showroom looks like a completely different store! It's amazing what a little bit of organization can do. Also 2 of my sunflowers opened up on Saturday! I've been working so hard I haven't had a chance to take photos but I definitely will tomorrow. My mom asked me to send her some, too, so I have to.

So, tomorrow's work again. Let's hear it for 13 days of work in a row! Woo! At least next Saturday I'm leaving work at 3pm and then heading down to Atlantic City for a little bit of relaxing. Or partying and gambling. Whatever. Oh and this:


When I first found out about the No Doubt tour I was so excited. I wasn't sure if I would actually end up going, though. A few weeks ago I was talking to my friend Christine and she told me her and Nicole were going down for the weekend and staying at her mom's suite (her mom is a serious baller at A.C.). I wasn't sure if it would work out with work and all but I got lucky and it's on a Saturday night. So now a bunch of us are going and it's going to be awesome!

So that's 2 things I can cross off my list:

1. Redesign the store.

39. Go see a live music performance by someone I've never seen before.

And, actually now that I'm looking at it, I can also cross off:

10. Start all of my veggie seeds. (I did that on Earth Day)

40. Go back to California. (well, I haven't actually gone back yet, but I booked my trip to San Francisco! I'm going with Bri for a weekend, we're going to a convention for work but that's only one day so we have time to play and explore. Plus the convention will be fun, I'll get to meet all my west coast friends I deal with for work).

46. Take care of our banana tree. (I flushed it and gave it all new food and with the temperature and humidity going crazy it's doing really well!)

47. Get a hose for our new spigot at work. (I just need to hook it up, it's been in Bri's trunk for the past week)

I still have a bunch more to go!

Citi Field

Last night Brian and I went to the new Citi Field to see the Mets. First let me say that I'm a Yankee's fan first, a Mets fan second. Brian's uncle owns a construction company and helped build both the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. I haven't been to Yankee Stadium yet but I am in love with the new Mets stadium! They have so many great food places, his uncle's seats are AWESOME (not that they weren't in previous years but now they're 5 rows from the field...in right field, which made me nervous but you can see EVERYTHING), and the overall aesthetics are so cool. There's a huge outdoor area like at Cyclones Stadium in Brooklyn (the Cyclones are one of the Mets' farm teams). I went down with Bri after work and met up with Sean, Craig, Brendan, Matty and Christine. We had such a good time. Plus, the Mets won! That's always a bonus.




Also, I realize I've never posted a picture of me or B before. This probably shouldn't be the first one, because he sort of looks like a psychopath and I look like I want to eat his face. Oh well.

Today is Earth Day!

Plant something!

Today I started a bunch of my seeds. Except for my super beefsteak tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, I started 6 of every seed. Just enough so I can keep a few plants and have a few to give away to my grandpa and customers (given they all come up, which they probably won't). If I get stuck with any leftovers I will donate them to the community garden, along with some organic fertilizer I got samples of.

I love seeing what people and companies are focusing on this Earth Day.

• Anthropologie is focusing on the fight to save the honey bees.

• Fresh is offering a sale on their most popular natural products, and donating 10% of the proceeds to the Climate Group, who work to keep the environment and local climates intact.

• Many clothing companies or clothing-sales websites are offering styles that use organic cotton and natural dyes.

• Whole Foods paired up with (and donated to) the Natural Resources Defence Council and its Simple Steps program to design an 80% recycled, reusable lunch bag, which you can get for free with this coupon until April 26th.

D-Day: 10 hours, 4 minutes, 24 seconds

Lent will be over. My chocolate eating will commence. It will be glorious.

To-Do List

I was reading your wishcake (who, by the way, I'm convinced is my west coast doppleganger) and this post totally motivated me to make a to-do list and stick to it! I'm not doing the whole "101 things in 1001 days" part, but I do want to make a list of things I want to do and cross them off as I go. I guess I'll give myself until the end of 2009 to do all of these things, although some of them are definitely immediate future.

1. Redesign the store.

2. Finish scrapbook for Brian's parents' wedding.

3. Rake my parents' backyard and weed the planters. (This ended up not being necessary).

4. Plant veggies and flowers in said planters. (See above.)

5. Find nice prints and have them framed.

6. Re-pot my cactus.

7. Find someone to design our website and put the web store up.

8. Find an artist to make digital images for the warehouse windows.

9. Buy pretty flower pots and plant my bulbs.

10. Start all of my veggie seeds.

11. Get rid of goodwill box in kitchen. (and yet there is already another)

12. Find out fees for farmers markets and try and sell seedlings. (I changed my mind).

13. Buy a new car.

14. Clean the office.

15. Hang up prints I have in the office.

16. File all of my parents' bills/statements.

17. Clean my parents' house so it's nice for them when they get back.

18. Go to New Paltz and explore with Brian.

19. Visit the Science Barge in Yonkers.

20. Go to John's Pizza with my parents at least twice. (I brought them John's when my dad was sick, does that count?)

21. Buy a cute summer dress. And wear it.

22. Go to the new Yankee Stadium. (So many times, plus for when they won the World Series!!!)

23. Go to the city for dinner to a place I've never been before on a weeknight.

24. Finish knitting Brian's scarf that I started 2 years ago.

25. Finish hemming curtains.

26. Buy curtains for the kitchen.

27. Choose photos for 3X frame, print them and crop them.

28. Buy good box for winter/summer clothes storage and actually use it.

29. Dine al fresco.

30. Spend an entire Sunday wandering around our town taking photos.

31. Get glasses.

32. Remember to make a "Day in the Life of..." photo post.

33. Be serious about getting my hair dyed regularly to avoid self-loathing.

34. Write more. I don't know how to hold myself to that because sometimes I'm just not feeling it, but I want to try.

35. Go to Zabar's with my parents on a Sunday morning.

36. Go fishing.

37. Wake up an hour earlier than normal for a full week.

38. Get to a point where both Brian and I have only one basket full of dirty laundry at a time.

39. Go see a live music performance by someone I've never seen before.

40. Go back to California.

41. Go for a mani/pedi.

42. BBQ more.

43. Have a backyard party on a Sunday.

44. Find a new secluded beach to go to, and go.

45. Have a picnic. (Worst idea ever, by the way)

46. Take care of our banana tree.

47. Get a hose for our new spigot at work.

48. Read the books I've been collecting over the past year.

49. Get a new phone. iPhone, bitches!

50. Get my legs professionally waxed.

51. Cook at least one full meal for Brian and I.

52. Go to Mitsuwa.

53. Change the fluorescent bulbs in the warehouse.

54. Take my mom's car out of storage and drive it. (She did this herself).

55. Buy a new winter jacket. Leatha (says Stella from Project Runway) Michael Kors @ Woodbury!

56. Make a new window display for the store.

57. Take more pictures this summer.

58. Find a shelf/cubby-hole for the bathroom, and if I can't find one, make one.

59. Spend more time in the backyard this summer.

60. MAYBE get a new friend for Sammy. (I got two!)

61. Make cucumber lime water in the summer.

Happy Hour(s)

The other morning Brian and I were watching the news and they had a feature on a local business. A couple owned a Japanese restaurant and got so much good feedback on their drinks that they decided to bottle them and open up a vodka company. It's called Me Oko and they specialize in fruit-infused vodka. Right now they make strawberry and ginger. I really wanted to try the strawberry so at about 4pm on Monday I went to the local wine store and picked up a bottle. Standing at the counter a flood of concoctions came to mind, such as Strawberry and Banana, so I bought some 99 Bananas, too. I brought it back to work and tried it and it was delicious! The strawberry vodka works really well with Sprite, too. So good!

Sunflower Progress and Gardening Ambitions

So...my sunflowers. I have been SLACKING. Completely. I honestly can't believe how much they've grown and how fast! I took this picture about 5 minutes ago: I know it's not that great of a shot, I took it with an iPhone. I brought my Nikon with me today to take some photos but I left my USB cord home. I'll upload them soon, though. Anyway, so tomorrow will be a full six weeks from seed. If you look at my first post about them and look at them now it's crazy. Most of them have the beginnings of flowers which is awesome. I turned the lights back to 12 on / 12 off about 2 weeks ago which is generally how long it takes them to realize the days are getting shorter. With the peppers I did in the fall it only took 2 days before they started putting out flowers which was insane, that was a record for me.

As excited as I am for the outdoor season to start, I LOVE gardening indoors. You have so much more of a controlled environment. Even the environment in the store is too uncontrollable for me. The door is always opening, there is so much glass in the front window that I can't really control the photo period 100%, people can bring in pests on their clothing, there are so many things that can happen. Plus I don't have enough space to do everything I want. I have so many seeds I want to start (ok so maybe not the corn...that's a little bit too ambitious for me, that was an impulse buy): ...but with the sunflowers going they're taking up all the free space I have for displays. I can't wait until I own a house so I can dedicate an area or even build an area in the back for an indoor garden. I'm too impatient to wait for the spring.

I even bought some bulbs this year, white and blush calla lilies and pink and yellow dahlias:


I've never done bulbs before. My mom has but she's still down in the Bahamas so I can't have her help me plant them. The good thing is, she's away so I have room in her backyard to garden without her stopping me. I've read a couple of good articles about it, though, and hopefully everything will turn out ok.

The Get Up Kids

When I was in high school I thought I was the most punk rock person ever, and was completely anti-emo. Emo music had just become popular...and by "emo" I mean bands like the Get Up Kids, Saves the Day, the Anniversary, etc...not actual emo bands (think Rites of Spring), more like pop punk. But hey, whatever, I was 16. Anyway, all my punk friends, who previously wore band t-shirts and had spikey hair, started wearing tight jeans and vintage Good Will/Salvation Army t-shirts (this was before shirts were being made to look vintage). I totally made fun of them and boycotted that music. Until I actually listened to the Get Up Kids. What first attracted me to them were the lyrics. They were intelligent and well-written. They were emotional and struck a chord with my awkward, confused, post-pubescent teenage-girl self. I could identify a song with every boy I liked ("You're barely missing me, I'm missing you and everything you do"), every ex-boyfriend I had ("It's easier to say it's over. It's easier, but I might still be pretending"), ex-friends ("Forgive me for running off to find the one thing I have to do"). My best friend moved to Massachusetts for college so lyric-wise "Stay Gold, Ponyboy" was an obvious choice but the title, "A New Found Interest in Massachusetts" worked, too.

Even after being completely over the punk/hardcore/indie/whatever music scenes I still could put on a TGUK cd and it would bring me right back to when I heard it for the first time. Even "Never You Mind" by the New Amsterdams (TGUK's singer Matt Pryor's acoustic project) is still on my iPod.

I just found out that The Get Up Kids are playing in NY on May 1st. I tried to get tickets and they're all sold out. I'm trying every way I can to get them still, though, because I've never had a chance to see them live. B is pretty much refusing to go with me, even though I know he likes them, which sucks because I don't know who I'd go with. I secretly know he'll say ok once I buy the tickets anyway (well, at least I hope he will).

My favorite Get Up Kids song, "Forgive and Forget" from the Red Letter Day EP

Dinner, friends, work, music

Lobster dinner last night was a success! It was so good and I think I might still be full. I was a little nervous because the place got some not so good reviews but our experience was much better! Afterwards we went over to Craig's house and hung out for awhile.

Apples to Apples, hookah, drinks (not for me, though), many almost-dance-parties

Today is my short day at work, which usually puts me in a good mood. I would be, except it's still all dark, windy, rainy and gloomy out, plus I still haven't really woken up yet. I was SO out of it last night, I came home and passed out on the couch, waking up this morning at 9:30am like, "Where am I?" and I'm still a little groggy. I hate that feeling. At the moment I'm not too motivated to do much after work. Usually I mentally plan out my weekends but I have no idea what I want to do. I know tomorrow we're going to Staten Island to see B's family for Palm Sunday, but today I guess we're going to have to play by ear.

Right now I'm just sitting here at work listening to the new Diz Gibran album. It's surprisingly decent. I really like the songs CityLights and Calypso Flow. We should technically be closed right now but I'm waiting for someone who's stuck in traffic. He actually writes songs for a bunch of hip hop artists in the NY area (some popular ones but I'm not trying to blow up spots) and last time I saw him he said he'd bring me a cd. I hope so, I am in desperate need of some new music.

Weekly purchases & wish list

This week I did a little bit of online shopping (I usually don't because I'm impatient and hate waiting for things to get to me) and everything just came this morning. It's not a lot but they make me happy:

Chanel Robertson nail polish collection. The only one I didn't buy is the purple one (Rodeo Drive).

Hellz Bellz Hermes logo t-shirt.

I have a "Wists" page, which is like an online wish list that you can link items from any site (except Crate & Barrel, I've figured out that you can't link them). Here are some of my current wists (my wists tend to be more like delusions but hey, whatever):

Cirrus bedding from Anthropologie. I just need the sheet sets, I already have the duvet and the shams.

Christian Louboutin espadrilles.
Plaid tunic from Anthropologie.

Ruehl t-shirts with their famous Frenchy Trubble on them. Especially the one with the mustache.


Loungefly keycaps with food on them.


Cute kitschy t-shirts.

Work week, lobster dinner

This past week has been pretty much all work and no play. Last night was the first night that we did something after work besides going home and passing out (Wednesday we both fell asleep on the couch at 7pm). Sean's parents invited us over for dinner, which is one of my favorite things ever. They make the best homecooked meals. It totally makes me miss my mom but it's really nice because it reminds me of her, too. Last night they made London Broil, grilled onions and mushrooms, baked potatoes and salad. It's crazy how something so basic can be so delicious and comforting. Afterwards Sean came back to our house and we just hung out and watched TV.

This morning has been such a "blah" morning so far. It's raining, my hair hates it, work has been slow, I had to park in the lot. Tonight at least should be fun. It's the last night of Restaurant Week so a bunch of us are going out for a big seafood dinner (still no-meat Fridays). Restaurant Week is where a lot of local restaurants that are usually kind of pricey make up three course prix fixe menus for an affordable price. Their lunch menus are all $20.09 and the dinners are $28.09. The place we're going is across the river (I love going to new restaurants in towns I've never been to) and I already know what I'm getting. Lobster bisque for an appetizer, broiled lobster tail for an entree and cheesecake for dessert. At least that's what I'm planning for. That might all change once I get there.