Saturday in the City

I'll never forget our first day in the city. We headed out about 4 hours after we got to our apartment that day (after a nap), and went to the nearest grocery store. And almost had heart attacks. Because the food, oh the food, was sooooo expensive. I remember gasping rather loudly when I saw the price of a 2 liter of pop was $3. A quick look at each other, a nod, and we were out of there having only bought the necessities: toilet paper, cat litter, tissues, etc.

We've been going back and forth since then about how in the world do you eat cheaply here? Buying your groceries at the store and preparing your own lunches (something I've done for 12+ years or so) is just not going to cut it. And while the street vendors are cheap, if you want some veggies or any kind of fruit, they just don't have it. What's a couple who are trying to budget supposed to do?

And that's where the best market in the world steps in. I had been doing some research online and found a Farmer's Market about 2 blocks from us. We headed over yesterday just to see what it was like because we had pretty much decided to just eat out going forward. The Farmer's Market had a corresponding "Meat Market". And I have to say folks, we are in love. The Meat Market is not just a Meat Market, but an entire CHEAPLY PRICED grocery store. It has a small selection (maybe 10 kinds of cereal instead of 40), but what it does have, rocks.

All the delicious meat

Vegetables and fruit too

For less than $50, we got a pineapple, 3 cucumbers, a head of lettuce, the fattest tomato I've ever seen, an avocado, 8 bananas, a lime, a lemon, a package of baby carrots, a 2 liter of Diet Mountain Dew, 12 cans of Budweiser, a loaf of bread, 3 fat steaks, hot sauce, BBQ sauce, a package of turkey bacon, butter, and a huge bottle of EVOO.

*Cue music*

We have a busy week coming up, so we decided after our grocery expedition to take it easy yesterday, and just headed down to the Hudson to take a look at the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier.



We were slowly walking back to our apartment afterwads, and spotted a bowling alley. We popped in to take a look but decided to save that treat for another weekend, and instead, ended up back in the game room of our apartment bldg, meeting some new people, shooting pool, watching the UK basketball game, and drinking our Budweiser.

The Bowling Alley

The Game Room

All-in-all, a pretty fantastic day.

We do have super exciting plans coming up on Monday and Wednesday this week, so make sure to check back on Tuesday and Thursday to see what we were up to!

--K

1 Massive Catch-Up

I promise, after today, I will be posting regularly with what I've done *that day*. But, I do need to do a massive catch-up on everything that has happened since we moved here. Can you believe we've been NYC residents for almost 3 weeks now?!?!?!

To start with: our apartment. It's a small space. SMALL space (is it any oxymoron if I capitalize small??? Anyone?) So small in fact that we no longer have a couch (a long story or a loooooooooooooooooooong story), but instead have erected a "pillow fort" on the floor. Exactly what it sounds like - we dumped all of our pillows and blankets on our little rug, and now we use that instead of a couch.



The view is fantastic though - it almost makes up for the view we gave up in San Francisco. Our view also includes Captain Sully's Landing Strip (aka the Hudson), and a giant Penthouse Executive Club billboard sign. Blondie is happy to say the least.





Second: the week we moved to NYC. I didn't have to work and it was seriously the best week ever. How great would life be if we got to do what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it?




Some highlights from that first week: 1/2 price tickets to "A View From the Bridge" - a beautifully done play starring Liev Schrieber and none other than ScarJo!!!! I thought Blondie was going to have a heart attack when she first came onto the stage - it was seriously like *heavy breathing* "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". It was my first time seeing a Broadway play on Broadway, and really enjoyed it. And let's just say our 1/2 price tickets were none too shabby, and if we had paid full price, we still wouldn't have had a better view.

Atlantic City - 36 hours after we landed in NYC, Blondie proposed a little trip. Since it was a Wed night, the Greyhound was nowhere near sold out, so they gave us tickets for $1/each (roundtrip) and then the casinos tossed a $25 gambling credit at us. Our rooms were comped (Go Gambling Gerners!) and the guy before us checking in at the casino was a real asshole, so when we walked up super polite and laughing, she immediately upgraded our comped room to an oceanside suite. Which, for those keeping count, meant that 36 hours after we left the Pacific Ocean, we were looking at the Atlantic Ocean. Greyhound also does a deal where the return ticket part doesn't have to be taken when you originally booked it for - so if you happen to be on a super hot streak and want to spend up to 30 more days in AC, you can. We were on a hot streak, but we only ended up staying 1/2 day more.



Museum of Natural History - Yes, they have dinosaurs. Yes, it was worth every penny we paid. And the Upper West Side kind of rules too.



Bryant Park - Tim Gunn is my idol, and I want to adopt Heidi Klum and be BFF's with her. So I've kind of made Blondie hit up Bryant Park on a regular basis because you never know who you might run into. Okay, not them yet, BUT we did get to see the tents for Fashion Week being put up and worked on. So that pretty much ruled.

Movies - Blondie and I both have a love of movies, one that was put on hold in San Francisco. The theaters were conveniently located by my work in San Francisco, but it was not convenient to get home in the evenings after seeing a movie (due to the train/bus combo, and the bus only running every 30-45 minutes after rush-hour). The movie-going is now BACK ON BIZNITCHES! We've seen Sherlock Holmes, The Lightning Thief, From Paris With Love, and New Moon since we've been here. And our local theater (4 blocks away) only charges $6/ticket if you go before noon!

City Walking / People Watching - I HEART SARAH JESSICA PARKER, and am determined to meet her before I leave this city. She lives in Greenwich Village here in the city. Last weekend, Blondie and I walked the 30 blocks from our hood to hers (which also happens to be home to NYU) and just hung out for the day - no, we didn't see her. We hit up some college bars, watched some bball, saw Chinatown and Little Italy, and got to just generally enjoy a day in the city. That was one of my all-time favorite days we've spent here so far.

Chinatown

Blondie strolling the streets of Greenwich

Cobblestone streets! In the city! In Greenwich!

The weather - It's not a highlight b/c I'm cold all the time. But it's been pretty cool seeing snow again. And I got a "snow day" already (left at 3 pm). The last time I had a snow day? Well, I honestly think it's been about 12-14 years at this point. GO NYC!

Public transportation - I want to lick it I love it so much. It kicks MUNI's ass. I could honestly just ride the subway trains all day and be happy (have I turned into my father or what?)

Work - Ugh. Why am I back already? I don't fit into the whole style of my new company, as I'm the fat chick always talking about food, and I don't wear primarily black (although this might be a NYC thing, and not a work thing). But everyone is super friendly, and I've worked with them all for 3 years now, so I don't have that dread (oh the new girl!) The hours are long, the job is hard, but OMG, I live HERE!

From now on - you'll get daily updates/stories as they happen. I promise.

--K

Catching the blog up

We've been here almost 2 weeks now and I have a lot to write about. We just got internet access yesterday so I will be filling the blog in, with pictures, over the next 3 days. Check back often!

The Big Move

The hard parts:
1) Saying goodbye to our friends.

2) Saying goodbye to our kick-ass apartment.

3) Saying goodbye to owning a car.

4) Packing 2 howling, hissing, growling cats into their carriers, taking them to the airport, going through security with them, listening to them for 2 hours before the flight takes off, riding with them for 6 hours on a plane, riding with them in a cab for an hour in morning rush-hour commute to our new apartment, waiting 45 minutes in the lobby of the apartment building for the office to open so we could actually pick up the keys, and then listening to them freak the f out for a week until they got used to the new place.

The good parts:

1) The 24 hour dining options.

2) The view from our apartment.

3) The 24 hour dining options.

4) My new boss.

5) The 24 hour dining options.

6) Living in a city that doesn't go to sleep at 10 pm.

7) The 24 hour dining options.

8) The cats have shut up.