Identity

Does this street view of Grace Court look familiar? Yes, it does to me too. This picture was taken this morning as we're having a snow day, again. Chirping birds singing their spring song seem to be gone too.

Earlier this week my colleague Nikki had given me this issue of Time Out New York with a smirk. Where do you belong? Ah, the eternal question.

According to the quiz, I am "Manhattan leaning", though to be fair the Brooklyn that Time Out reports on is a lot more pioneering and hip than that part of Brooklyn I live in. And there really aren't any questions that would indicate any type of Eastern Long Island/Caifornia Coast/South Florida leanings either!


Above are two pictures of my Jetta arriving in Brooklyn Heights early October, and one taken in September right before its 3,000 mile road trip from San Clemente. I realized last weekend during my Brooklyn driving tour with Stacy and Logan that I currently orient myself according to Manhattan, not Brooklyn. Part of this I'm sure is familiarity, and the majority of my friends who live there, as well as my office. I also feel very close to Manhattan, as I literally see the island from every window in my apartment. Maybe once I get the hang of Brooklyn I will stop thinking I am facing north instead of west?

Where do you belong? I am not sure. I do really like Brooklyn Heights, and New York feels where I am supposed to be right now. Though winter has been long and somewhat uninspiring these past several weeks, and I have been dreaming of sea air, sunshine and the ocean, which has seemed very far away.

The entire time I lived in California, I think I subconsciously oriented myself to New York. I love California and never thought I was going to leave, but I also also never wanted to change my 917 cell phone number, and kept a New York drivers license for 6 of the 6 1/2 years I lived there (mainly, though, out of laziness, and reluctance to take the written test). In California, friends thought I was "East Coast" though several friends and co-workers in New York think I am "very California." And now back in New York, it's strange to me to have a 718 home phone instead of 212....though also strange not to just leave the house in flip flops, without having to bundle up in a bunch of layers, hats, gloves and snow boots.

In an effort to commit to a place, at least for now, I had made a date to go to the DMV this morning, and register my car and get a NY drivers license again. I was also facing a deadline of my California registration expiring -- ironically, when I'll be in California next month, on the same date of my 6 month anniversary of living here.

My friend Karen had tipped me off that the DMV at 11 Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan wasn't that crowded, and its really not crowded on a snow day when NYC schools are closed and even my local branch of Citibank is shut.


Not the most inspiring of places but, it came with a bonus!

Here's Karen, one of my best friends, who was on her third visit back to the DMV with some missing paperwork.

So now I am trading this...

For this...
And with some reluctance, as the California script makes me think of the golden west, and somehow fits a cute white Jetta that cruised around in a SoCal beach town. "The Empire State" seems like it would belong on a sleek, impressive car, in power black.

Well, another bonus of the day, in addition to seeing Karen and my car having a new identity, is that I'm supposed to fly to Florida on a last minute trip, weather permitting. So while the long term is still a little hazy, and the path unclear, for the short term, I will be able to wear my flip flops outside of my apartment, get my dose of sea air, see my family.

And come to think of it, an easy weekend trip South was a big reason why I moved back East to begin with.

Happy Friday everyone.

Here Comes the Sun!

Last weekend I heard something I haven't heard in quite a while - birds singing in the trees. When I lived in San Clemente, with the risk of sounding like a fairy tale princess, that's how I used to wake up every morning -- to the sun streaming in my bedroom window, and birds chirping loudly in the big redwood in my backyard.

With the amazing sense of spring just being right around the corner, my car got some love as I filled it with gas for the first time since I arrived, gave it a car wash, and went on a long-awaited driving tour of Brooklyn yesterday morning with Jason's hand map, Stacy as my co-pilot and Logan as backseat commentator in his carseat. Later this week, going to have the pleasure of going to the New York DMV with the various paperwork to register the car in this state, in an effort to both cope and commit.



Small dirty clumps of snow are starting to thaw, the sky remained sunny and blue all weekend, and birds seemed to be in chorus every time I walked down my block. Both the Beatles and Nina Simone versions of this song were in my head: "...Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces. Little darling, it seems like years since you've been here. Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right..."

DSF

Today is my friend Dave's birthday, who passed away unexpectedly in August of 2008. I wrote about him a few months ago, back when I was in the process of relocating back to what he referred to as "The Colonies".

Here's a short video of images and music that we created for his memorial. I watched it today, laughed at many of the highly assumptive Dave-isms, and thought about how he continues to remind us to be brave, think big and just have an adventure.

Bob Costas

So in case you're missing any Olympics coverage, my godson Connor and his friend Henry have started their own website.

Connor is very much a numbers guy and enjoys figuring out the answer to such questions one might think about such as: "In the history of the winter Olympics, what country is the most winningness." (A: Norway). Apparently this involved legal pads, totals of all sports, all countries, in the history of the winter games.

A couple weeks ago during International Game Night, we played How Well Do You Know Me. Turns out Connor's favorite thing - favorite over puzzles, miniature golf, and the World Series - is 'getting up early.' What Connor does when he's up early is search sports scores on his mother's computer.

Since he is 9, I have been reduced to 'standing hugs' with him - meaning, I hug him, and he stands there, arms down. At some point I started complaining about the lack of affection and he told me that I could get a real hug every 6 months. The other day I spontaneously got a hug from him and he told me it was the 6 months mark.

He keeps track of things like that...

Part of his Christmas present is dinner, movie, sleepover and sports stats clinic with me (the last part was his addition). Due to some 'scheduling conflicts', we haven't had our date yet.

Can't wait to test my new knowledge out at some cocktail parties.

Declare your love

Snow wisdom from Oak Park, Illinois

Snow day (again!)

While I lived in California, for the most part I managed to avoid East Coast winters. Outside of a few trips to Park City and Michigan, I primarily traveled to South Florida during cold weather months, so over the course of six years I had pretty much donated the majority of my professional, evening and cold weather clothes as I never wore them. Slowly I've been recreating a wardrobe appropriate to wear in New York City. Pencil skirts and little black dresses aside, I think my smartest purchase of the last 4 months here has been snow boots!

Snowball fights on Grace Court.

Joralamen Street with a carpet of snow.

Tony the super at my building created this lovely lady with creative use of a mop!

Snow days are also very cozy. Carly came over later in the day and we made heart shaped mostly organic chocolate chip cookies to share with her brothers. I didn't have a heart cookie cutter so we improvised but as they say, it's what's inside that counts!

Give Love

I was talking to my friend Jen last night, who I'll see next month at Natural Products Expo West (and is also planning a trip to New York this spring). "I think you need to try to discretely snap some pictures on the subway in the morning. I need to see some grit."

Hmmm...well, there's plenty of grit here in the Big Apple, though somehow the filter on my camera tends to seek out beauty (and sunshine), where ever I can find it.

I received my second Valentine of the season over the weekend, from someone who is also an aficionado of beauty, as well as the power of accessorizing....

This was taken late last fall, when I just moved in. Carly had come over to see me, just throwing on a little something for a Saturday visit.

Carly is very much a girly girl -- Hello Kitty, Princesses, American Girl, Hannah Montana, unicorns, rainbows, crafts and lots and lots of pink at all times. Her mother Stacy isn't quite sure where this came from. As you can imagine, Valentine's Day is Carly's holiday!

She and some of her little friends were creating Valentine's for family and school over the weekend, it was like a big factory with stickers, pink and red construction paper, multiple markers and sparkles everywhere. She proudly presented me with her first.

Stacy started a nice tradition a couple years ago (that I think, truthfully, was born out of a "Something's got to give" moment during a hectic holiday season when she was 9 months pregnant) by sending out Valentine's cards to their former December holiday card list. What began as a time saving strategy is now something special to receive mid-Winter.

Jason commented on the activity: "It's never a bad idea to tell someone you like them," he said, wisely.

"Failure"

Two things I enjoy nearly every single day are açai bowls and smoothies, and coconut water. One company I used to work for, and one company I know from the natural products industry.

Earlier this week I was surprised and delighted to read the news that Madonna invested in Vita Coco! I know the founder and some people who work for the company, and certainly they manufacture an outstanding product. Undoubtedly this investment will be wonderful for them, for both star power awareness and the resources required to battle the 'war at shelf' that's very real and quite challenging for independent companies. What I love is the story behind it...How a college drop out creates a company, works hard to make a superior product (I'm sure not without considerable struggle, and a few moments of staring into the abyss) when out of nowhere an unexpected door opens.

A few weeks ago, I read a story in the Economist called "The Harry Pottery Economy": "...The recession of 2008-2009 has been accompanied by bold claims about businesses' economic importance. As car makers teetered many people put it about that one in ten American jobs depended on the industry. The figure turned out to include taxi drivers. Similarly adventurous claims have been made for telecoms and road-building. As a single-handed creator of jobs and wealth, though, few can match the writer Joanne Rowling..."

When the first Harry Potter came out several years ago, I remember reading J.K. Rowling's personal story -- how a single mother was struggling with bills and debt, and sitting at a cafe with her child to warm herself as her home lacked heat, when the entire Harry Pottery story just popped into her head. And of course she then completed the crucial next step by then reaching for the gift -- she sat down and wrote it.

J.K. Rowlings' very moving commencement speech at Harvard University is worth listening to for the 'fringe benefits of failure.'

TGIF

Even before my Aunt passed away last Friday I was feeling restless and irritable.

I took these shots walking to the train last week. We had morning flurries in Brooklyn Heights that were gone by the time I reached Chelsea.




Pretty, but...

The same day I had gotten an email from my yoga teacher in Laguna with this shot. Sigh.


So I am California dreaming but this seems to be the closest I've gotten to that lately!

I stayed home yesterday to recharge a bit and work in the afternoon. I was talking to my colleague Adam later in the day, mainly rehashing the same ol' same ol' conversation about a potential client that has remained 'potential' for nearly a year! It's been annoying and mainly Adam and I amuse ourselves with the latest on what he tells us. Though yesterday I was just over talking about it it and said,"Adam, I have to go. I am going to get a pedicure and go to yoga. I'm taking back California." Adam said, "I see that..."

So while I padded to class in a down coat and boots, mentally pretending I was in flip flops and wearing a lot less clothes, I thought about my promise to myself of maintaining a California lifestyle in New York.

This morning a miracle happened. I felt the urge to stop in Perelandra on the way to the train and discovered an amazing juice bar in the back. There's a Whole Foods across the street from work, which is wonderful to have, but there's something about small independent natural products stores and cafes that are inspiring to me. This one -- product and staff -reminds me a lot of Mother's Markets, a wonderful indie chain in SoCal.

I loved Perelandra's handwritten juice bar menu, the interesting recipes the juice bar guys were telling me about, and the sense of pride they had, and just plain ol' good vibrations there. After some time debating the wonderful choices, I decided upon a "Green Goddess" smoothie. And as I left the store sipping it, even in 20 degree temperatures, I felt like a green goddess once again.

And then it hit me. It's finally February. TGIF!