It's My Party....

.....And I'll Smile If I Want To!!!

Today was a pretty good birthday considering it was a work day and a Monday at that. My co-workers discovered the secret I was trying to keep quiet when my parents lobbed a secret flower-bouquet bomb to my office. My cover as incognito birthday girl was blown instantly.

My parents wanted to see what the flowers look like so I'm posting the picture for their benefit. Thanks, Mom & Dad! They are very pretty and they smell divine. Love, luuuuv the calla lillies.

My hubby just came home from his day in Houston. The company flew him there for meetings today and thankfully he was able to catch an early flight home. Only 4 more days of work left for Kyle. Hallelujah! This crazy schedule is coming to an end, our vacation to California is within reach and all is fine and dandy in the Land of Bethancourt....

Four Seasons & Other Weekend News

I was sitting on the couch when Kyle came home last night. He was on the phone and all I heard was: “That’s great news…you just made my day!”…..with only one week of work left, Kyle’s boss verbally extended him an offer for work after graduation. Details on the offer will come next week. So all those late nights/early mornings was well worth the major effort Kyle put into it. Congrats, Kyle!

Last night we went to see the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the movie since reading the book. The book (and the film too) was set in New York and it was fun to recognize the background scenery in the movie as places around my office. The building where the lead character works is an actual building one block away from my office. Whenever I commute in from Philly I pass by that building. In fact, the friendly bagel men I buy breakfast from have a food truck set-up in front of that building.

Tonight we celebrated my birthday a few days early. We went to a restaurant called Four Seasons (www.fourseasonsrestaurant.com).

Warning: Architectural nerdy details...this restaurant is in the famous Seagram building designed by Mies van der Rohe and the interior of the restaurant was designed by Philip Johnson (architect of the Bank of America, Pennzoil Place, & Transco Tower buildings in Houston).

Four Seasons Recap

This place is such a classically elegant restaurant and thanks to Kyle’s 10 week in advance reservation we were escorted to one of the best tables in the house.….right next to the white marble bubbling pool in the center of the restaurant. The rock star table! The pool looked like a Jacuzzi hot tub…very inviting. But since I knew the paparrazi were just waiting for me to embarass myself so they could get their tabloid pictures I restrained myself from diving in.

Kyle observed that a lot of the people in the restaurant looked like they didn’t have a pulse….meaning, once again we targeted a restaurant with a clientele median age of 95 and one foot in the grave but nonetheless the food and ambience was EXCELLENT. I wasted some calories on a foie gras appetizer thinking I would enjoy it but, frankly, it left much to be desired. Note to self: foie gras ain't all it's cracked up to be.

The people behind us ordered something that looked like ground up hamburger meat and the waiter was mixing it up and seasoning it and adding a bunch of sauces and spice junk to the meat. Kyle and I kept thinking he was going to light up a fire and cook up the meat tableside. NO. Those brave souls ate the meat RAW! Steak tartare. RAW as a cow grazing in the pasture! It was frightening. We couldn't believe our little eyes. Would you eat a hamburger patty before it hit the fire? No thanks.

This is a big special occasion restaurant so a lot of people got what I got at the end of our meal….a giant humongous ball of pink cotton candy with a teeny weeny birthday candle on top. The ball of fluff was bigger than my head. I've never been intimidated by a sugar puff but this did it.

Overall we had a really great time. I'm thinking today will be one of my best birthday memories for a long time!

Holy Toes! Kyle's Home Early

Speaking of dressing disasters....I met Kyle for dinner last night and
noticed his socks just didn't go with his outfit. He claimed he knew
what he was doing but I have a sneaking suspicion that the weird
lighting in our apartment was the culprit.....Strike Three! in the
dressing department. Kyle and I will have to be eachother's mirrors
from now on.

So yesterday was a great day. It turns out Kyle was able to leave work
after we ate. Rare is the occasion when he is free at the early hour of
7 PM so I was happy to have him come home instead of leaving him to
finish his work. We had a fun, relaxing sunset dinner by the Hudson
River....I almost forgot how much fun Kyle and I have when we're
together. He cracks me up!! We headed home to watch Project Runway
(which has become one of my favorite TV shows).

On the way home I stopped in this store across from our apartment called Sabon (www.sabonnyc.com). I am obsessed, OBSESSED with their products. You can smell the store about a 1/2 block away. They sell soap, body scrubs, lotions...girly things galore...the ingredients in the products are all from the Dead Sea. When you enter the store the sales people make you wash your hands with the scrubing salts and BOY is that the best sales technique ever! I could've bought the whole store but I settled for a body scrub so I could give myself home pedicures. Straight from the Holy Land to my little toes! Feet get gnarly in this city and a girl's gotta do something about it!

Dressing Disasters & Retailercising

So I had a couple of dressing disasters in the last few days. I’ll attribute this to the fact that there is not nearly enough light or full length mirrors in our rectangle of a living space. As a result, I have no real way of knowing to what degree of clown-y-ness I appear as I head out into the world each day. From makeup to apparel...it’s a real toss of the dice here.

Monday morning I was looking forward to wearing these new pants I bought the week before. I put on my pants in the morning and head to work only to realize (3 hours later?!?!?) that, in fact, I had not donned my super cute new pants. No. I had hastily put on the old tight nasty pants I was avoiding. The pants that are on the verge of eviction (the hit list, if you will) from my closet. Then today I visited the restroom at work (a habit that has become part of my morning routine in an attempt to avert these types of disasters) and noticed a sticker declaring the size of my shirt was still stuck on it. This whole ordeal triggered a flashback of when I was 7 years old. I was at school. I went to put something in my pockets when I noticed my little red elastic waistband pants were on backwards. How embarrassing. So apparently dressing disasters are nothing new to me...but it’s been a while...

Today I started my new exercise routine...I call it retailercising (a combo of retail window shopping and exercising). I got off the subway one stop before my regular stop which put me 10 short blocks & 2 long blocks away from the apartment. I walked down 5th Ave and since it’s blazing hot I would go into the stores to get air-conditioned then leave for the next store until I slowly made my way down to the apartment. It was nice and I didn’t buy a thing. It was purely about exercise. Maybe I’ll try a different street tomorrow?

Kyle is out at a bonding event...a cooking class with his fellow NYC Wharton interns. He should be home soon...maybe around 10 PM? That's early by our standards! :)

Kara is IN, Kyle is OUT

What a weekend! It was really great to see Kara this weekend. It was the perfect weekend for her to come because Kyle worked the most he's worked on any weekend since we've been here. Friday night he didn't come home until 5AM Saturday morning. Yes, that was very nearly a full 24 hours he was at work....

After brunch on Saturday, Kyle headed back to work and Kara and I saw a Broadway show, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which was SO funny. We really enjoyed it. I laughed and laughed till the tears were streaming! In the afternoon we joined Kyle near his office and went on a ferry ride that took us out into the Hudson River and we had an AWESOME view of the skyline. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera so I don't have pictures to post but the view was beautiful....you'll just have to trust me. It may be one of the best things we've done so far. We had dinner with Kyle then left him to finish his work while we went home.

Sunday Kyle joined us for church and then went back to work....surprise! Kara and I entertained ourselves at the Museum of Natural History which neither of us had visited before. Kyle wrapped up his weekend when he rolled in this morning at 3 AM.

All in all it was a fun weekend. I just wish Kyle could have enjoyed a few more things with us or at least just had some time to breathe for one moment. Only one more weekend left in this gig and I think we'll all be happy when it's over!

A New Blog on the Block

Happy Bastille Day, Everyone!

You probably had the same reaction I did upon this declaration in our morning meeting. What? Are we in France? That's like someone in China saying "Happy July 4th!" Doesn't carry quite the same excitement.....
But it is Bastille Day so enjoy some French fries or French toast or French roast coffee in celebration!! Oui, oui!

Kara's coming to visit this weekend!! I'm excited to have a friend in town. Tomorrow she and I are going to see "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" on Broadway. Jonathan Pryce is in the show. He plays Keira Knightley's father in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies so I'm excited to see a movie star on stage.

Kyle and I haven't done much at all to speak of. Our lives are super duper boring these days so I'll redirect your attention to Cami's blog. Phillip and Cami just moved to Lou-a-vull, Kentucky and Cami has a great blog going about their adventures in thievery and questionable "blue" cinema....

www.bethancourt.blogspot.com

M' Harz on Far!!!

You may have heard of the Upper East Side building explosion/fire yesterday....well, I almost started my own Chelsea area fire this morning. I was using my combo brush/hair dryer when I noticed smoke in the mirror. At first I thought my hair was on fire but then realized the cord on the hair dryer was bubbling and melting off. Definitely something wrong....so I turned the machine off and was left with ratty hair. At least I didn't electrocute myself.

Back to the weekend recap: I had Kyle to myself all weekend. It was nice that he didn't have to work either Saturday or Sunday. An amazing thing to note, indeed. On Sunday we went to the MOMA. Kyle gets free tickets at several major NY museums with his corporate ID badge so that's a nice perk. We also saw the lastest Pirates of the Caribbean movie which was not as good as the first one but it was still worth seeing. I would recommend it.

I am sure enjoying getting off work at a decent time these days. I didn't know what to do with myself when I left at 5:30 yesterday. The day seemed too short?! But I'm not complaining. This weekend I'm looking forward to Kara coming into town and possibly our Philly pastor's wife will join us on Saturday. It should be a fun weekend!

Shopping at Barney's & Seeing 'Pirates'

So Kyle FINALLY had a Saturday where he didn't have to either work from home or at the office. It was nice having him around. We went to the Guggenheim Museum and then we walked along Madison Ave. and went into some ritzy stores including Baccarat, Hermes, & Barneys. We were up on one of the Barneys floors and Kyle spotted one of the Olsen twins from the 90s sitcom Full House. Not sure which twin it was? She was browsing the Jil Sander section. We were two of about 6 people on the floor with her and I noticed a big burly guy by the elevators with an ear wire behind his ear who was watching her closely which must have been her bodygaurd. As we left the store we saw a paparazzo hanging out by the entrance ready to pounce her, I'm sure, when she left. There must've been several famous people in Barney's b/c there were about 5 black Escalades lined up outside. So that was a pretty exciting celebrity sighting for the day.

I better sign off for today. Kyle and I are off to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at the movies tonight. I'm SO excited. I'm a big fan of the first movie so this one better not disappoint!

A DAY OFF!

What a relaxing day! My team at work had the day off since we had already worked a 60 hour week by yesterday evening. I slept until 11 AM this morning and enjoyed every second of it! I did a bunch of laundry then walked around for about 4 hours. Somehow I always end up in Soho when I go out but it was a really pleasant day today so I was just happy to be out walking. I did make one purchase....only one. I bought myself some diamond stud earrings to wear for this evening's dinner at Del Frisco's Steakhouse. Yes, fancy $8 CZ earrings but we can keep that between you and me.

So when I got home a little after 6 PM Kyle was home and told me he saw a news crew filming in the subway station by our house. Apparently ANOTHER person (besdies the chain saw wielding maniac from yesterday) slashed a guy's face in the subway about a half hour earlier. EEEKS! What is going on here?! So I felt safer taking a cab to dinner (which was excellent by the way). It was about time Kyle got some steak in him. We ended up going to Morimoto on July 4th when Scott was here instead of going tomorrow as originally planned. I'm glad we did too because Scott likes sushi so he and I pretty much ate most of the food but Kyle did try a little bit of everything so I was proud of him.

But back to tonight....we took a pedi-cab home from Del Frisco's since the subway wasn't an option for me at this point. I was always a little leery of pedi-cabs (they're the bikes with covered seats in the back). They don't have any sheilding between you and the street and the people who bike the pedi-cabs go in between the cars and it's a little freaky. But I must say it was really pleasant riding home in one, we went through Times Square and had a lot of cabs honking at us which made me laugh and laugh but overall it was great fun!

Sweatshop Saturdays & Restroom Follies

Well it's been an exciting weekend...sort of? Scott came into town Saturday morning. Unfortunately Kyle and I had to work both days this weekend so Scott has been along for the ride. I spent both days working in a sweatshop....literally. The building doesn't have AC on the weekends so I really thought I was going to die a slow, heated death. Even having the windows up didn't help. Next time I'm bringing a fan.

One of the first things I did Saturday morning was go to Duane Reade, our local drug store. As I was getting a price adjustment on my Vitamin C an employee from the back of the store paged the manager in a panic. Next thing I see is the manager chasing a guy out of the store with the clerk yelling that he had something stuffed down his pants. As I stand there dumbfounded watching this COPS moment unfold, the clerk who was helping me barely batted an eye and just rolled her eyes and declared that it was "way too early in the morning for an emergency like this". OK?!

So I have been given permission to share this next story involving my dear husband:
After dinner on Saturday night, Scott, Kyle, & I walked past Morimoto (the famed sushi place we have reservations for this weekend). Kyle wanted to go inside the restaurant to take a look. As we step inside Kyle declares he's heard they have heated toilet seats so he wants to visit the restroom. Sure, it's Saturday night, what else do we have planned but to quality test restrooms in the Meatpacking District?? The three of us head to the restroom. I was intrigued by the toilet I encountered. I think it was the most complicated toilet ever. As I sat on the toilet I was pleased, indeed, with the heated seats. There was a little machine on the wall with lots (and I mean LOTS) of buttons. Thankfully I pressed the right button for flush and I was outta there. So as Scott and I are waiting for Kyle to emerge, he comes out a little frustrated. Kyle apparently got a little crazy with the buttons, pressing every one to see what happened. Little did he know that one button activated the bidet function which sent Kyle leaping off the seat with cat-like agility only to soak his pants and shirt in the process. I think I quit breathing for about 5 seconds I was laughing so hard.

I have scored reservations to Iron Chef Morimoto's restaurant. Sitting at the coveted Sushi Bar, no less. It is supposed to be one of the hottest sushi place in NYC (maybe tied with Nobu). The word on the New York streets is that one must call exactly one month to the day at 9AM for reservations to get in. I think it was easier to get reservations since it was the weekend after July 4th. We're told a lot of people go to the Hamptons during summer weekends so NY is less crowded with locals these days. Good for us! We'll see what the hype is about and report back. Neither Kyle and I are terribly big sushi fans but why not start now? Especially if you're eating the best & freshest sushi in town...

I have recently developed an addiction to California Rolls which I think is not technically sushi since there are no raw fish components?? I absolutely luuuuv CRs. I eat them for dinner almost every night. The market on the corner makes them fresh daily and my mouth starts watering for them. It's fast, easy, healthy, no mess, no fuss and no prep required. EXACTLY what I need when I get home late these days.

Not much else going on. I'm going to Philly on Thursday for work. I can't wait to see our apartment. It seems that our Philly home is so large compared to our little rectangle in New York! Kyle is working hard....only 4.5 more weeks for him. His friend, Scott, is coming into town this weekend for the 4th of July holiday so I know Kyle is looking forward to seeing him and taking a break from work hopefully!

Well hello there! It's been a while!

We are alive. It's been a crazy week as usual. Unfortunately I got sick this week and had to miss work on Friday. It was really a bummer I was sick this weekend because my dear childhood friend, Veronica, was in NYC this weekend. Now here's a good believe-it-or-not story for you: Veronica told me she was coming up to New York with her boyfriend to visit boyfriend's sister for her(the sister's) birthday. To make a short story short, it all comes together that Veronica's boyfriend and his sister went to high school with Kyle and his older brother and everyone knows everyone so what a teeny weeny world this is, huh?!

We all got together last night and then went to a Yankees game today so we had a good time despite the rainy forecast this weekend. Tomorrow is a work day and we have a big deadline coming up on Friday so I may not have much to say this week but I just wanted to check in. Kyle is up at work as I write this. He is doing such a good job and I'm proud of his commitment to do his best even though the hours are quite demanding.

Here's Kyle and I at Yankee Stadium

and Veronica and I in da Bronx after da Yankee's game

Weekend In a Nutella-shell

I've been delinquent! I have been working late nights lately. Not as late as Kyle but late for me. 7 or 8 PM-ish. Call us Mr & Mrs Serious during the week but come Friday Mr & Mrs Funtimes come out of weekly hibernation.

On Friday night, we went to this restaurant called Buddakan in the Meatpacking District. It was a very hip scene. Super cool interior. Lots of beautiful people. Naturally, Kyle and I felt right at home ;) Actually, our waitress told us there were a bunch of models there that night...I guess that explains the beautiful people....

Saturday I took part 2 of my ARE test. I think it went OK? Hard to tell. After that Kyle and I went to the discount theater ticket booth in Times Square and got last minute tickets to see The Producers. It was a pretty good show. However, Wicked and The Drowsy Chaperone still rank at the top for me. Also Kyle's cousin, Jim, and Wendy were married on Saturday so we were thinking about them and wishing we could be in Houston. Congratulations to them!

Sunday we went to church and Kyle had to go into work. I should've gone into work too but I locked myself out of the apartment while running up and down between the apartment and laundromat. So that turned into a mini-fiasco and I got fed up with trying to make it to work so I went shopping in Soho instead. I know, tough choice: work or shopping....but after all my studying I deserved a little break, right?

Last night I left work around 7PM yesterday evening to go meet Kyle for dinner. I noticed a police officer riding the subway with all his gear on which is weird b/c they normally don't ride on the subway. I thought something was up because he appeared to be vigilant, not just hanging out for the ride. So this morning I freaked out reading this news article. A crazie went on a subway stabbing spree yesterday. One of the stabbings was at the Rock Center platform which is the one I take to get home! Yowsers! Yeah, not feeling very safe so I took a cab home tonight. Hmmm....come to think of it, one also puts their life in mild danger riding in a NY cab. I suppose you're not too safe anywhere. Anyhow, I just saw on the news that they caught the stabbing spree guy so tomorrow I will be riding the subway again.

Correction: I will excitedly be riding the subway tomorrow to receive my June bonus which is the best and most delicious bonus of them all. It's the one based on performance and profits and this year we're told, with an abundance of graphs and charts, was the most profitable in the firm's entire 40-odd year history so I'm expecting good things. My company is having the Bonus Day party tomorrow evening at The Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. Good times. The theme is "Rock Star" so we're supposed to dress like rock stars.....only my company would come up with this cheese....not sure about seeing the veeps all dressed up like Billy Idol but if my company can do anything it's throw a rockin' party!

A Message from God....(literally)

So I haven't had much blog-worthy info these days. It's been a pretty hectic week with work and studying and after a few downer rainy days I just was feeling a little overwhelmed by it all.

So I trudged onto the subway tonight after work (possibly a teeny-weeny bit mopey) sat down on the plastic seat and when I looked up there was a girl sitting straight across from me wearing a black t-shirt with bold white lettering that read "Too Blessed to be Stressed". Hello, Lori?! This message is for you! That t-shirt put an instant smile on my face and was plastered there the whole way home. I hope the girl didn't think I was all nutso smiling at her goofily but whatever...it's the subway and people are goofy (and nutso) on the subway. Funny how the Lord puts things in our path right when we need them. I am too blessed to be stressed so "get over it!" I said to myself. Things could be much worse. And that was the end of my mopey-ness.

So that got me thinking...wouldn't it be so crazy if you went through life and every once in a while you'd spot people wearing black t-shirts with white-letter messages written specifically for you? Like this morning when I was going to work it would have been helpful if I would have passed someone wearing a t-shirt that read "You left your cell phone at home". That would have been useful but admittedly not quite as encouraging as the subway T-shirt.

I hope you are blessed today!

Le Cirque, Le Rectangle, & Le Nutella

It's been a long couple of days....

We escaped The Rectangle and had a great dinner at Le Cirque on Saturday night. Kyle was able to secure reservations for the grand opening weekend. He was really excited because it's supposed to be one of the fanciest restaurants in New York. The original Le Cirque closed 2 years ago and re-opened last week in the new Bloomberg Building on theUpper East Side. The chef was Martha Stewart's personal chef while she was under house arrest (what a thing to have on your resume? I guess??)

We spent a leisurely 2 1/2 hours (yes, when you live in a rectangle you will prolong any time spent outside the rectangle) dining under a chic fabric-draped circus-inspired tent top (if that makes any sense??). One reason Kyle wanted to get reservations is that the restaurant reportedly is the most expensive restaurant interior design construction cost at $15 million. After seeing the place I figured most of the $$ was in the exotic wood paneling and Baccarat chandeliers because the place was quite tiny.

So now it's back to work. Kyle is on a project that is keeping him busy and up at the office late. I miss my Wall Street hubby. No fun when he gets home at bedtime and then leaves again early. My new evening best friends are my ARE study guide and Nutella. I think I'm gonna cut Nutella out of the picture soon because who wants to be best friends with anything that makes your hips bigger? Not moi....

Good news: I met Kyle for dinner down in the financial district. It was nice to see him for a little while, even if it was just dinner. We sat outside by the harbor and watched the sun go down and the dinner ships sail by. It was actually quite pleasant except for the fact that Kyle didn't come back home with me!

For your enjoyment I jotted a sketch of The Rectangle where I live....(this is the most accurate representation since Kyle is usually at work)

It's cuddle time with my study guide.....and.....where's that Nutella???

Rainy Days Are Laundry Days

Today is a very rainy day in New York. I decided to do laundry for the first time here which meant going to the Laundromat. Thankfully the Laundromat is basically in the same building so I didn't have to go far but it was a pain lugging all my stuff down there and keep checking on it periodically. And it was $4 (in quarters) per load. YIKES! why? but whatever....it's imperative that we have clean bed sheets and undies, right?

Oh, our friends Brian & Tammy had their baby yesterday.....CONGRATULATIONS!!! They named their little bundle of joy Kendall. It's a beautiful name just kind of ironic....that makes 2 different friends of ours who had their babies in the span of 2 weeks and named their babies Kendall. Any other of our preggie friends, if you're reading this and have yet to come up with a name, how about we suggest Kendall? That way we don't have to commit too many new names to memory. Streamlining the process is good. Because it IS ALL about us?!

That's all folks. Kyle just got in right now. It's a little after 11 PM. So I'm going to say goodbye to you and hello to him.

Memorial Day

So I woke up Memorial Day with the romanticized idea of jogging to the Chelsea Piers since it's a few blocks from our apartment. I would jog with the wind in my hair along the Hudson river and enjoy the park by the water. I would jog and jog for miles because that's what joggers do. However there is one teeny weeny fact---I am not a jogger. As soon as I started my jog I realized I made a bad decision. Running is painful. Running is NOT fun. Why did I even think it would be a good idea to pound the pavement, jarring my bones. On top of that, why did I think it was a good idea to do this at 10:30-11:30 in the morning when the heat of the sun on the first really hot day is blazing fiercely? What was I thinking? Kinda like the lady with the shopping cart in BBB but not as embarassing. (If you don't know this story scroll down to the post from a few days ago)

Anyways, despite the morning trauma yesterday evening was delightful. We went to a restaurant called Vento in the Meatpacking District with our friends James & Adelene. We stayed at their place the first few nights we were in NY. The restaurant is situated on a triangular island in the middle of an intersection (kind of like Times Square has the part where you can stand in the middle of the street) and we were seated at a prime people-watching location right at the tip of the triangle. We didn't notice anybody famous but my celebrity antennaes were down because I was trying to be polite and visit with our company.

I'm off to Philadelphia this afternoon for a meeting but I'll be back this evening. Toodle-loo....

Celebs in the Meatpacking District

This morning started out on the very wrong foot. Kyle turned on the shower and there was no hot water. We periodically kept trying out the shower over a period of about 45 minutes with no luck. Finally, we decided to ferry in microwaved water bowl by bowl so that we could shower. What a nightmare. I was so annoyed.

We tried out a new church called The Journey which was really great. I enjoyed it a lot. Lots of young people and a very hip praise band. Although a bit loud but we tried to sit far from the speakers. Since we're nearing our 30s we need to protect the hearing.

This afternoon we walked around Battery Park and watched all the sail boats running around in the harbor. It seemed everyone was enjoying the holiday weekend. There is a nice long meandering tree-lined path we walked on to enjoy the harbor views.

After dinner Kyle and I went to explore the fashionable Meatpacking District.....where everyone is way, WAY too cool for their britches and every type of fancy car imaginable is lined along the cobblestone streets. We stopped at a bakery to grab a dessert and then strolled up 9th Ave taking in the scene and people watching (the celebrity attenaes are always up for me) when all of the sudden I spotted Julianne Moore, her husband, and their little black dog eating at an outside table at Jean Georges' restaurant, Spice Market.


I tugged on Kyle's arm that I spotted her and he seemed to be confused and stopped and stared and wanted to about-face and walk right past the table again but I maintained that in order to not look soooo painfully obvious we had to continue down the street at least a few blocks more and then turn around. After all, I AM a professional celebrity stalker?! Hello....celebrity stalking ettiquette?! She has way more freckles than you see in the movies and was wearing zero makeup but it was definitely her. Kyle was more amused with a fancy Ferrari that was sitting outside the restaurant....go figure.... to each his own....

Two celebrities in two days. I'm on a roll!!

Our First Saturday in The City

Ahhhh, home at last....I feel like I've been walking all day. hmmm...probably because I have been! I realized today that I could not live in NY without baby wipes and Yankee Candle air fresheners. The air fresheners are working REALLY well. It smelled beautiful in our place today. Also, I love the baby wipes because I come home and wipe down my little feet from all the dirt and grime of the streets and slip on my pink fuzzy house slippers....good smells and fuzzy slippers....this must be heaven......small pleasures but that's all I got here.

So this morning I walked down my new street to the hair dresser to get my hair cut. I was walking on the sidewalk and I noticed a woman taking her dog for a pee. I was trying to avoid the pee and as I got closer I thought the lady looked quite familiar. Just as I was passing, I heard her talk to her dog and my suspicions were confirmed...it was Susan Sarandon. Hey neighbor! I almost stepped in her dog's pee and walked right by her. I played it cool. She had big white sunglasses on and kinda turned sideways as I passed. I'm sure she wouldn't want to be bothered looking like The Grunge at 9:30 AM. I know I sure wouldn't. That's my first official celeb sighting (no the Today Show people don't count anymore).....at least a real movie star within a 2' proximity. So this one counts big.

Kyle worked from home until about 5PM and then we went up to Central Park to walk around since he was getting a bit stir crazy being inside all day. There was a little street fair going on down the street which we enjoyed. And that was our first free non-working day in NY.

When Shopping Carts Fly

Oh boy…do I have stories to tell.

First off, I must say the glamour of living in our fantabulous apartment is wearing off. The experience is still fabulous but the living is a bit below Kyle and I’s posh standards. Our apartment is still OK. I think I had over-hyped it in my head after seeing so many dud places. The building smells like the funk and the highlight of my day was buying about $30 worth of Yankee Candle air fresheners and candles. Last night the cable went out and as I write this 24 hours later still no cable. At 11 PM last night there were firemen going into the building across the street and a fire engine parked out side our building which had us falling asleep to annoying red flashing strobe lights in our room. The loud obnoxious garbage men & their trucks woke us up periodically throughout the night, as usual. And this morning poor Kyle took a cold shower. I haven’t had a cold shower experience but I sure felt bad for Kyle.

I’m sure it sounds like I’m complaining but I’m really not. This is only a ten week gig and it’s definitely worth the cramped, old environment for the experience. It’s like CAMPING! “Roughing it”, I’d say…..

Ok, so go to the bathroom now because I have a story that may make you pee your pants.

Kyle and I are at Bed, Bath & Beyond buying the smelly goods to keep this place from smelling like the funk. We’re looking at some items and I round the corner to look down to the lower level of the 2-story store. In front of me is a lady at the top of the escalator who apparently needs to get to the first floor. Well, instead of looking around for an elevator that could accomodate her and her cart I guess she decides to make an executive decision to try out her own method of transport. I notice she’s balancing her shopping cart (as in the large grocery store-style push carts) ever so delicately on the first escalator step and before I knew what was happening she just releases the cart as it is balancing 2 wheels on the escalator and 2 wheels in mid air. My jaw drops to the ground. Is this woman an alien from another planet?! I see her hand fly to her mouth (she must've realized at this moment sending her cart down an escalator was a very bad idea) and my hand flies to my mouth in horror. We watch the cart go handle over wheels down the escalator …BOOM….KABOOM….BOOM….SPLAT! Everything in her cart AND the cart itself tumbles to the 1st floor. Thank goodness no one was on the escalator or at the bottom! She was super embarrassed and I was trying OH SO hard not to laugh as she turned to see if anyone saw her. Oh, yeah, lady...I saw the whole thing!. All the BBB employees were rushing to the scene of the stupidity and as I slinked away I started laughing so hard I was crying and one of the employees who passed me knew exactly what I was laughing at and started laughing uncontrollably as well.

Kyle and I laughed and laughed all the way home…the things you see in New York!!

A Fishy Experience

Yesterday Kyle got off work at 6 PM (miracle of all miracles). It was a good thing too because Aunt Jan was in NYC for a convention so we got to have dinner with her and she saw our place. We enjoyed visiting with her and we went to a restaurant on Union Square called Blue Water Grill. I've been hearing about BWG from so many different people in the span of one week so I was curious to try it out. Now I'm not a big seafood fan but the waiter said the Chilean Sea Bass in Ginger Soy Sauce was a best seller so.....when in Rome.....

I'm glad I ordered it because it was the most excellent fish I've EVER tasted! Take that for what it's worth since I don't eat a lot of fish I probably don't have a large pool of selection but this was amazingly delightful and I couldn't stop talking about it. Every bite was delish. Even Kyle liked it and he is not a big fish fan either.

Speaking of Kyle....he ate sushi which is amazing considering his narrow food selections. Granted, it was a type of steak sushi, no fish involved....but still it was on the menu as sushi wrapped in the tempura rolls with veggies. We're all branching out these days!

So today there was a big power outage on the trains up here. Good thing I wasn't travelling today. My boss was stuck in this jam (click here for the story). He was in one of the trains that was stalled under the Hudson River....uh, can you say claustrophobic?! I almost had a panic attack driving into Manhattan on Saturday when we had to just drive through the Holland Tunnel. It seemed like the tunnel went forever. My worst nightmare would be to get stuck on a train in a tunnel. Let's hope that never happens.

These Vagabond Shoes....

Let me just preface this blog by saying...how did I get wrapped up in this situation?? Moving around like a homeless woman? What kind of sideways adventure has my husband conned me into? I realize back in the day Kyle flew to London with nothing but a suitcase and no place to live. But that's when Kyle was taking care of Kyle. Now there's a Lori in the mix and somehow I got suctioned into the vortex that is my husband's wacky lifestyle....but so be it....I am amused and I am spreading my wings....like a mighty eagle....(but I am not bald, let me clarify)
Now to the story:

The vagabond gig is up!! We made our FINAL move last night and are now in residence at our REAL summer sublet! I spent yesterday evening packing up our stuff. Kyle got off work around 11 PM so that's when we made the move. We had made it at our temporary place without seeing any of the neighbors these past few days. Which is perfect because I don't like looking shady and a woman carrying all sorts of suitcases and bags up and down the elevator 4 or 5 times just looks like Shadyville, Population: 1 (that would be me). So last night just as I was moving out our stuff the neighbor across the hall came home at the same time....BUSTED! I really didn't want to explain why I was making 5 trips in and out of the apartment to line our stuff up in the lobby. Thankfully, he didn't seem to care even though by appearance it seemed as though I was wiping his neighbor's apartment clean....but whatever....

However I'm not sure if I would rather trade one more night in the creaky, rickety strange-noise apartment or being driven to the new apartment by a crazy, and I mean CRAZY!, driver. Kyle's company orders a car service to drive him home if he has to work late (which will probably be every day). So last night the car driver that brought him home also moved our stuff to the new place and I believe this driver came in on the first bus from Wackyville. I guess we were a good combo.....the lone resident of Wackyville driving the lone resident of Shadyville (and her husband) the heck outta Dodge! It was like we were in a terrifying real life video game. He kept jerking the wheel around and making bizarre lane changes. It was scariest when we were in the tunnels....more than once I thought we were going to ram the sides of the tunnel. And who goes 40 MPH down a tight one lane street with cars parked on either side?! Let me count the opportunities for disaster.....oh, wait I don't have that many fingers.

Kyle and I were genuinely frightened for our lives and I hope that driver never ever drives Kyle home from work again.....EVER! I've ridden in NYC taxi cabs and this was 10 times worse. There was something wrong with this dude. But we did make it home safely only to freak out because we had 4 keys and none of them seemed to open the front door of the apartment. A situation that I could have done without at this point in the story. After all it's past midnight now and key problems aren't making the Lori happy. I did not get this far to sleep in the hallway of some old brownstone with 20 bags around me. But we finally figured out the locks and all was fine in Casa de Bethancourt. Today I am super tired and praying that Kyle has lots of energy because we barely got enough sleep last night with the whole fiasco.

Creaks, Bumps, & Noises!

So all homes and building structures have their own personality & quirks. Especially if they are older, as are most of the places in New York. The place we're staying now is particularly interesting because you can hear other people moving around on the creaky wood floors in other apartments. It sounds like they're in our apartment.

Last night I came home late and Kyle wasn't home yet. I am paranoid in unfamiliar spaces so I checked all 3 levels of this little place (yes, 3 levels....sounds spacious but they are 3 very tiny levels). I checked in the bathtub & closets for boogey men, up in the loft sleeping area, and downstairs. I was in the clear. Kyle came home and BOY was I glad he was home because we were sitting on the couch and this horrible noise started which sounded like either:

A) Someone trapped in the wall trying to get out with an ice pick
B) Someone shimmying up a very unsteady and loud fire escape outside
C) Someone trying to hack themselves out of the wardrobe dresser that is upstairs in the sleeping loft

Seriously. Those were the only 3 feasible options to me. Kyle and I sat very still on the couch and were looking at each other with shifty eyes. We weren't sure what was going on but we were quite distressed for about 30 seconds. My brilliant husband realized it was the heater/AC unit making noise (yes, it's those smarts that got him to Wharton). I guess it was the pipes in the wall that were making the horribly loud racket like a trapped Big Foot in the wall? It was scary for a brief moment but thank goodness Kyle was with me otherwise I probably would have thrown my jittery self from the fire escape in a panic because apparently I do wacky things when faced with stressful situations. It's something I do need to work on. So try not to have any serious medical issues when you're alone with me. I can't guarantee sane responses.

AND....OH MY GOODNESS...wouldn't you know as I'm writing this blog at 7:30 AM, the noises just started again?!?!?! Thank the Lord I knew what to do and didn't freak out this time. It really does sound like a large animal is trapped in the AC/heating unit trying to get out!! I'm so glad we're outta here tonight!

We're Heeeeerrrrreeee!

We made it. We left Philly early this morning and made it to New York by 11:00 AM. Let's just say driving a car in Manhattan is quite a challenge. I'm glad it was Kyle doing it and not me. It appears that standard driving procedure is making right and left turns from the farthest lane. We saw plenty of buses and taxis crossing all lanes of traffic to make a turn! Totally illegal....

We dropped off our stuff at the temporary place we're staying until our place is available on Wednesday. We're on the Upper East Side right now. After dropping off our bags, we went to a Chili Cook-Off sponsored by the NYC Aggie & Texas Exes Clubs. We met a few Ags and had some chili. This evening we walked around Central Park and discovered a nice little area called the Shakespeare Garden. It was really cute...my favorite new place in Central Park....I hope I can find it again. CP is enormous. We've been watching and 8-part DVD series on the history of NYC (looove Netflix!) and they said something like "NY would not be a livable place if there was no Central Park" and I totally believe that. It's so nice to see grass and ponds and water and trees. How sad would New York be without the Park?!

We're going to turn in for the evening. Tomorrow we're going to try out The Redeemer Church. Good night!

Start spreadin' the neeeeeewwwws.....
....I'm leavin' todaaaaaay.....
....I want to beeeee a part of it!
New York, New York

(You can't see us but Kyle and I are doing "jazz hands" & leg kicks at this part)

These vagabond shoooooes.....Are longing to straaaaay......

And make a braaaand new staaaaart of it!!!!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!!!!

Yankee Stadium

Today was one of the most difficult working days I've had so far. I know you'll feel great pity for my harsh schedule......I worked half a day in NY this morning and then at noon I absolutely had to leave to attend a Yankees game with our consultant and 2 other co-workers. I must say it was a beautiful day for a ballgame.

On the way to the game I discovered the art of walking down a crowded street very quickly while having a conversation with my co-worker and dodging people all at the same time. For an uncoordinated soul such as myself I was just happy to not trip and hit the pavement or body-slam someone on the street during the rush.

But back to the game....the Yankees played the Texas Rangers. Last night Kyle struck the fear of Moses in me to not root for Texas or even have the slightest appearance of being a Rangers fan or I would surely get beaten up. Apparently the Yankee fans are a tough crowd. So I was very quiet during the game, cheering silently inside. I'm happy to report the Rangers won the game 6-2 and I left the stadium with no black eyes or profanities yelled at me. I would say it was a successful game.

The Gypsy-Turtle Travel Diary

I was on Cloud 9 after receiving my pass letter Monday evening.....so me and my happy cloud floated all the way to NY that evening to celebrate. My friend Kristen was in the city for a short business trip and I had to work at the NY office on Tuesday anyways so I decided to go up Monday night and stay in her fancy hotel for a NY slumber party!! We at least got to hang out for a few hours in the evening and it was nice to see a familiar friendly face!

I arrived in Philly last night, exhausted & weary, with a heavy overnight bag slung over one shoulder and lugging my overflowing breifcase/work purse in the other hand. I got off the train and headed to the taxi line outside 30th Street Station where I soon realized there was no such line? Whaddya know there was a taxi strike! (let me just say: what is the deal with strikes?!)Just my luck as I'm tired and dragging my entire world on my back like a turtle I now have to figure out how to get home from the train station. FOILED!....by the nutty cab drivers! I ended up taking the subway line (which was just across the street) that drops me off a few blocks away from our apartment. Certainly not an ideal situation but I was very grateful that we live in such a central area that I had an alternative option. It could have been much worse........(especially if had run into a cab driver in a dark alley......it would be a shame if my heavy bags happened to squish some unsuspecting striking taxi driver)

We're planning to move on Saturday. I'm really hoping it doesn't rain because moving in the rain is never very pleasant.....well, I suppose moving isn't pleasant in general but the rain doesn't help! We will be gypsies for a few days living under bridges and in abandonded buildings until our apartment is available on Wednesday. No, not really..... just making sure you're paying attention.....we're actually staying at Kyle's classmate's sublet since his friend already has access to his sublet but will be on vacation for a few days until he starts his job at another company.

Oh, the drama!!

I may not blog for a while due to our schedule of packing, gypsy-ing, & eventually moving into our sublet so keep an eye out for the 1st official NY blog of the summer!

Oh, and I am a bit late on this but Kyle and I would like to send a HUGE "CONGRATULATIONS!!!!" to all the new graduates in the family.....Cami & Chad are the newest Aggie graduates (WHOOP!) and Katie Rose has finished high school and is headed to t.u. [although it's sad to see one slip away to "the other side" we do wish her very well!]

The News We've All Been Waiting For....

...at least the news I've been waiting for....I know you're on the edge of your seat....I got my letter from the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners today.....and......

I PASSED!!!!!! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!

(that silence is the sound of me doing a little jig of joy of here)

I am so relieved and I already scheduled my second exam for the beginning of June. The positive momentum has started.....just push me on down the hill!

Saturday at the Main Line

Kyle and I started off our Saturday with mundane house chores however our evening turned into a social extravaganza. We went out to to the suburbs to have dinner at Kyle's boss' house. We ventured out to the Main Line (click here for Main Line history) which is the fancy pantsy collection of communitites just outside of Philly. Whoever said Philly is a boring city hasn't been out here I'm sure! There's nowhere in Houston that compares to the Main Line area. The landscape is beautiful....tons of trees and hills and houses on acres and acres of land. The highlight of the house was the pac-man arcade they recently acquired. Kyle and I were all over that thing. Pac-man brings back great early 80s memories, before X-Box & Playstation there was good ol' simple Pac-man!

Anyways, dinner was great. We had brisket, beans, pecan pie, & margaritas....a good Texas meal. Kyle's boss is from Texas, an Aggie in fact, so he knew what to cook up to make us feel at home.

Then we visited our French neighbors down the hall who had a house-warming party tonight. They just moved one apartment down the hall from their original apartment but it's an excuse to have a party, right?!

So now we're headed to bed. Too much partying for us :)

And still no word on the Arch. test. I'm thinking it may take a while b/c my results are sent to the Texas board of architecture and then sent to me so I'm not holding my breath.

An Idea Is Born

It is Friiiiidaaaaay again! Kyle and I went out on a date tonight to our new favorite ice cream place (no, we haven't replaced dear, beloved Rita's). Scoop de Ville is the Saks 5th Avenue of ice cream places and attended for special occasions only. The concotions they brew up there are deadly. I can do without ever knowing the calorie count of the "Ooey Gooey", which is what we split. The "Ooey Gooey" is chocolate ice cream, marshmallows, peanut butter, hot fudge & carmel syrups. Yikes, it scares me to even write all those ingredients.

We proceeded on to Rittenhouse Park to discuss the impending move to NYC and it was on a park bench that Kyle hatched a brilliant idea...we will embark on a tour of the world via the restaurants of New York! Back in February, my studio had a white elephant exchange where I ruthlessly stole the famous 2006 Michelin Guidebook (New York Restaurants & Hotels). I'm glad I ended up with the book because it will be our guide to visiting restaurants. (Finally a white elephant party where I left with something useful!)We've decided on the following cuisines:
American, Brazilian, Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mediterranean, Thai

Now this may not sound adventurous to some people seeing as our guide does have categories including Moroccan, Egyptian, Scandinavian, Turkish & something labeled "Gastro-Pub"(scary). However Kyle and I are not the most adventurous of eaters, subsisting on mostly hot pockets & Rita's water ice, so this'll be a stretch for us...trust me. I suggested to Kyle that we dress in themes appropriate to the country and take pictures before our night out. Then I could post the picture along with the restaurant review on the blog so you can take this journey with us....ummmm....the more I think about it I'm not sure about the themed outfits. That may be a bit much.....

But anyways, this will be a blast!!! Stay tuned...

The Numbers Are In....

Kyle's grades were posted today and he did very well with two DS', the highest score in the bizarre Wharton grading system. Way to go Kyle! Still no word on my Arch. Test even though I religously check the mail everyday, just as predicted.

Today I went into NY for work. I passed the plaza on my way into the building and noticed a very petite little woman behind a big table set up for cooking. My suspicions that it was Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network were confirmed when I spotted her signature cleavage-revealing self from 50 yards away. I like her show, Everyday Italian, however it's an old joke between me and friends that watch the show that ol' Giada is always wearing a top that is a little too looow.

Kyle went to a Phillies v. Mets game tonight with a friend. Sadly, the Phillies lost miserably. I spent my evening doing the treadmill and studying for Part 2 of the Arch. Exam. As you can plainly read, it appears that we both had a deleriously exciting evening.

Weekend with Mom

The weekend was great. I took the 1st part of the architecture test on Wednesday. Not sure how I did so, PASS or FAIL, I'll be surprised. I'll be obsessed with the mail for the next couple weeks.....but that's no different than any other day. I luuuuv getting mail (except for the bills)

Kyle finished finals on Thursday so he is completely finished with the first year!!! His grades are slowly trickling in but for some reason the professors are not in much of a rush to get them out.

My mom came in town Wednesday night and we went to NY on Thursday and
Friday. We toodled around....saw a Broadway show (The Drowsy Chaperone) that was soooo funny, people watched in Central Park, went to the Met Museum, ate a lot and walked A LOT more. Our legs were dangling from our hips by their last ligaments by Friday afternoon. Ouch!

We went to Longwood Gardens on Saturday. Kyle's friends, Santiago & Sherry, came into town from New Jersey and joined us for that. A good time was had by all especially enjoying the BEATUIFUL weather. I love spring. I'd like to bottle it and sell it. I think I could make a small fortune and retire early.......

So I missed my friend, Juliann’s, baby shower this weekend. I made invitations for it and was super upset to not be there in person. Last night I called her to see how it went and we chatted about the gifts she got and we discussed other scary and mysterious things about pregnancy. She’s due in mid June. WELL, a few hours after we talked I got a text message in the middle of the night saying that she went to the hospital at midnight last night. Thirty minutes & three pushes later Baby Kendall came into the world almost 6 weeks early! I couldn’t believe it. But baby and mom are doing very well. I’m so happy for them!

And that’s all for today...it’s back to a regular week for us.

Slowsky Outtakes

For those who love the Slowskys as much as we do.....some outtakes from their commercial shoots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhxlMkK5qfI

Weekend Wrap-Up

So the weekend's over. Thankfully the books didn't keep us from enjoying Saturday just a little bit! It was just too beautiful to stay indoors and study while the sun was out. On Saturday we committed to study in the morning and in the evening for several hours and in between we ventured out to the museum area. It takes about 45 minutes to walk there (one-way) but it's a very pleasant tree-lined walk with a couple of parks and large fountains on the way over there. It reminds me a bit of the museum area in Houston....with all the trees in Rice Village.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art backs up to Fairmount Park, which is one of the largest urban parks in the country (besides Central Park, I assume). The Schyulkill River runs thru Fairmount Park. (The way you pronounce that river is Skoo-gill....the word looks funny). We stopped and watched some people fishing in the river. I really dislike fish so I kept my distance on a balcony above the fishermen while Kyle chatted with them about their bait and fishing stuff. Despite my dislike for fish, it was pleasant watching them cast their lines out into the river and see what they could get. One guy reeled in a Shad (?). I'm no fisher-woman so I'm not sure of the spelling. It was a decent sized fish about a foot long. That was exciting to watch.

Then we walked through an azalea garden that smelled of fertilizer. It was pretty but pee-ewww! We topped off the afternoon with a trip to Scoop de Ville. A funny little ice cream shop near our place. Yummy! Then it was back to the books.

This is going to be a great week because Kyle finishes his finals and I have a short 2-day work week! I'm taking Wednesday thru Friday off. My test is on Wednesday and my mom arrives that evening for a mini vacation. I'm looking forward to having her around.

So, my friend Square that lives in New York had a SUPER exciting weekend. I think she saw more celebs in one weekend than in her entire 9 months in NY?! She was EVEN rubbing elbows with the elusive offspring of Julia Roberts - (the famous yet oddly named twins) Hazel & Phinnaeus! See her blog for more details.....

Bethancourt Study Mode

Check out my new weather icon to the left of the screen. As of this writing, it is 70 degrees and sunny in Philly. I met a friend for lunch and we took tortilla wraps to the park. Rittenhouse was teeming with all sorts of people and we had a pleasant time visiting and people watching. Even the mail men were out enjoying lunch in the park. I decided I really do like Spring and will miss it when we head back to TX.

Kyle and I were discussing packing a dinner picnic and heading to the park. We made some yummy turkey burgers last night that would transport well. Kyle helped me out by preparing most of the patties, taking great care to make sure each was of equal size. I was impressed with the end result. Last time I made turkey burgers it seemed there was an abundance of burgers and whatever I used to spice up the burgers wasn't worth ever repeating again. This time the flavor & texture was just right and we didn't end up with enough patties to feed a small army. So I think Kyle should be in charge of dinner from now on since his food tastes better & he understands portion distribution :)

I haven't written much lately because our little family has, frankly, become quite boring. Kyle is studying for finals which start on Friday. I work all day and then come home, work out (which is a new part of the routine), fix dinner, & then I buckle down to study myself. My first Arch. test is on Wednesday. That little sucker just snuck up on me so quickly! I've been taking practice exams and am not doing as well as I hoped....I'm becoming disillusioned. This weekend our house will be a super nerdy study zone!

Chocoholics in Hershey, PA

It was just another another road trip weekend. Our friends, Dee & Chris, came down from Connecticut to visit us. Although it was dreary and rainy, we still managed to do everything we planned. Somehow it seemed that we were eating the entire time? Upon their arrival, we immediately took them to Rita's for some famous Italian Water Ice & Mistos. Saturday we went to Hershey, PA and took a little Disney-like tour of how chocolate is made (complete with animatronic singing cows).


Towards the end of the tour they drug you by pumping chocolate scent through the air system, something snaps and you go crazy with the need for chocolate?! At the end of the ride, they dump you out into a store that sells every Hershey candy product known to man. And since we'd been hypnotized with chocolate air, the four of us scattered like rats and headed for the sweets, only to regroup with armloads of candy. Needless to say, the car ride from Hershey to Longwood Gardens (the 2nd destination of the day) made me feel like we were a bunch of renegade 7 yr-olds who just struck it rich on Halloween night....somehow Dee & I were too busy stuffing our face with chocolate that we totally missed the giant sign telling us a Pottery Barn outlet was in the vicinity. And would you believe our husbands both saw the billboard and conspired to keep quiet until we had passed the store. RASCALS!!

Longwood Gardens was (of course) the second destination and I took lots of pictures again. Surprise, surprise, I know....The tulips were out in full force....

Click here for the pictures

This morning we toured the historic area and had a YUMMY cheesesteak before they headed back. So all in all it was a great weekend despite the rain!

A Recipe For Disaster

Well it's been a good week for me I must admit. I'm sort of light on the work load (for now) which is well deserved after a brutal couple of weeks there. As of today Kyle has officially wrapped up classes! Finals are still looming for the first week of May so he's got some studying ahead but it's goodbye to Year One at Wharton-Land. HALLELUJAH! I can hear the angels singing. And that popping noise is me ferociously drop-kicking this academic year into the soon-to-be very distant past.

Today is also a very special day because it is my dear husband's BIRTHDAY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! Last night Kyle went up to NY to see his brother, Phillip, who was in town for work. They went to The Old Homestead restaurant for a celebratory dinner where Kyle had a Kobe Beef Burger. I'm sure everyone has heard Kyle talk about the legendary Kobe beef he had in China (I believe it was??). Yes, he indulged quite well for his birthday. I, on the other hand, ate cereal for dinner and then, with a big heart and grand intentions, attempted to make an angel food cake (Kyle's favorite) from scratch . Oh, what a miserable mess. I 'm not sure where it all went wrong but it turned out to be the densest, most flattest angel food cake ever. As I peered in the oven I was expecting it to rise and get all fluffy at some point.....that never happened and I retrieved a ridiculous-looking cake from the oven....the tiniest thing you've ever seen. The recipe called for a strawberry cream filling which I made but apparently since my cake was in miniature, I had about 4 times more filling than my little cake could hold. Yet another kitchen disaster. We'll taste test it tonight but my expectations are in the gutter.

Our friends Dee & Chris are coming into town for the weekend. We visited them when we went to Newport, RI last month and now it's their turn to visit us. So much for keeping the cake humiliation between me and Kyle, now I have to share it with others!

I had problems posting the pictures in this blog so see the pictures on the blog below. The severely retarded cake measures 7" across and about 1" tall....that's a matchbook in the first picture, for reference....

A Recipe For Disaster (Cont....)

Spring Fever!

Kyle and I have officially been diagnosed.....

I now realize why people up here get so excited about Spring. It becomes the topic of conversation that the trees and flowers are blooming. Never really paid attention to this in Houston but here it's like a little gift to see flowers fighting to come up out of the ground and being able to wear sandals again. All you want is to be outside and enjoy the mild temperature.

I was definitely feeling on edge yesterday so after work Kyle and I took a much needed break, grabbed a Rita's and walked aaaalllll the way down to Penn's Landing (at the Delaware River) which is a good mile and a half from our apartment. We explored the historic area called Old City and meandered through the cobblestone streets of Society Hill (this is where the older homes of Delancey Street are). The oldest homes (probably in the whole nation) are in these neighborhoods. Almost every house has a plaque by the door or in the window that tells who built the house and who lived there. The oldest house we saw was built in the 1730s! That's before the signing of the Constitution! We happened upon the former home of President James and Dolly Madison. What's so funny is that you can see inside the homes and regular people live in them now and most of them are updated very nicely. It's still a very prestigous part of town (as it was then) but it is also makes you feel like you've stepped back in time. There are horse drawn carriages trotting down the street giving rides so it really does feel like another era.

I was disappointed that I didn't have my camera because the flowers and trees that lined the streets made the scene even more quaint. I am disappointed it has taken us so long to discover this area but I'm glad we know about it now. We'll just have to take more evening walks. Needless to say, I was zonked when we came home 2 hours later. I still had some studying to do for my architecture exam and I was fighting to keep my eyes open.

Here's a good link about Society Hill

Discovering Delancey

Last night Kyle and I had a great evening. Kara invited us and a few others over for a fantastic Easter dinner. She made stuffed flank steak, mashed potatoes, beer bread and a chocolate cheesecake that was to die for! Since it was such a beautiful day, we dined outside on the patio of Kara's landlord's home. Kara lives in a separate 4th floor apartment of a Univ. of Penn. professor's historic Delancey Street brownstone. Kyle and I walked down Delancey Street 8 blocks, from where we live all the way down to Kara's place and were so excited to have discovered such a lovely residential street! See this picture of a portion of Delancy St.

All these homes were built around the time of the Civil War in the mid-1800s. As we walked back home at dusk we caught glimpses inside these million dollar homes. Some of the super ornate furnishings and architectural details inside the homes were fascinating. A lot of the homes had been updated but still retained their unique 19th century charm. Most had window boxes with colorful flowers blooming which just made them even cuter! It was so pleasant out and we enjoyed the leisurely stroll. Apparently, Delancey is one of the oldest streets in Philadelphia. We were touring Delancey west of where we live however the homes to the east are even older, built in the 1700s and some of those homes are historically preserved. Kyle and I are going to explore those homes too in the next few days. With all this cold weather behind us I think we have a lot more exploring to do in the evenings!

Here's an article with more on the history of Delancey Street

Happy Easter! and Rachael Ray Tries to Maim Me

Hi there! I hope everyone is having a Happy Easter!! We had a church-wide brunch this morning. I made Granny's Egg Casserole Recipe that turned out to be a hit. Kara dyed 2 dozen hard-boiled eggs upon request from Ms. Bobbie (the lead elder spokesperson/coordinator/appointed grandmomma & die hard Philly Eagles fan of the church body). Ms. Bobbie is a character. She usually sits in the row in front of us and is usually picking on Kyle b/c he is a Dallas Cowboys fan and frequently claims jealousy when Kyle gives me big kisses at the greet-your-neighbor portion of the service. We love Ms. Bobbie :) I worked in the nursery this morning and we made paper crosses with the kids and had an Easter egg hunt.

So last night was busy with laundry and house to-dos since I've been away and working crazy the past 2 weeks (deadline is OVER! hallelujah!). Kyle picked out a recipe from my Rachael Ray 30-minute cookbook and we went to the store to get ingredients. The recipe called for a jalapeno. I decided to gut the jalapeno of the seeds to make it less hot.

7:30 PM: I scraped the seeds out over the garbage and proceeded with the recipe.

8:30 PM: We're eating dinner and I feel my hand burning a little. I mention to Kyle that some jalapeno juice residue must still be on my skin. Ha ha...that silly jalapeno is pretty hot.

9:15 PM: We come back from Rita's and I mention again to Kyle that the burning seems to be oddly intensifying.

11:20 PM: I start preparing the egg casserole for tomorrow and notice that my hand is still pretty hot but I'm broiling bacon so I'm just probably hot all over.

12:10 AM: As I lay in bed my hand seriously feels as if it will spontaneously combust. It's so uncomfortable. It was the worst feeling and I couldn't sleep. I tried to ignore it for a while but it felt like I had placed my hand palm down in a skillet coated with oil! Horrific

12:45 AM: I try a few different home remedies. Slather my hand in butter, pour milk over my hand, wash my hands repeatedly, wrap a washcloth around my hand....all only provided temporary relief until the fire came back

1:15 AM: I decide to check on the Internet for there must be someone else in the world who has run into this and found a remedy. I find one person used profanity to describe the pain, another person claimed their burning sensation lasted 3 days! After reading a bunch of different commentaries I decided to rub my hands raw with baking soda. Since it's a mildly abrasive cleaning agent I thought it would get the embedded traces out of my skin. I then squirted lemon juice on my hand and halleluja it worked! The burning went away. It was about 2:30 AM before I finally made it to sleep.

So that's my story. Stay away from ge-lap-enos.

Karaoke Kyle

So have you gotten to know The Slowsky's yet? I mean, the Speed Bump Picture Collection(!) ....are you not rolling on the floor with those captions?! What a riot. Speaking of riots....check out our friend's blog regarding a St. Patty's day spelunking adventure in Newport involving Chris and my dear husband Kyle. Alas, the allure of the sea was overpowering for these two.....got a little too close to Mother Nature. One, closer than the other.

I've gotta pack tonight. Headed to NY again! I am so ready for this weekend. It will signal the end of the Tyranny of Work era (for now, at least).

I've been studying for my architecture exam too. super boring. YAAAAAWN! Reading about contracts and stuff. I have all these contractual documents I'm told make up the majority of the test questions. fabulous. Too bad I'm not fluent in Legalese so it's making things difficult here. I find myself re-reading things several (thousand) times.

Rita's is open for the spring and of course Kyle and I can't get enough. We got our fix tonight since I'll be out of town for the next few days. It's addictive, I tell you.

Kyle tells me since I'll be out of town tomorrow night he's going to attend his class' Karaoke party. Okay! I have never EVER seen or imagined Kyle karaoke-ing and now I'm going to miss this once in a lifetime event. Apparently, my husband turns wild in my absence! But he deserves it because in a few short weeks the first year of this MBA program will be over and we will be halfway through our time here...HALLELUJA! HALLELUJA!

I'm off to pack my flight attendant rollie suitcase. You'll hear from me in a few days, dear readers!

The Slowskys

I'd like to introduce you to Bill and Karolyn Slowsky. If you live in an area where Comcast Cable is not available you probably don't see these commercials but they sure crack me and Kyle up. They are a married turtle couple that prefer DSL to Comcast because DSL is obviously much slower, thus preferred by turtles. I'm adding their blog to my list because I just love it so much.

Here's the website:
www.theslowskys.com

I would first visit the link that says "Watch Us on TV" so you can see the commercials and then visit "Bill's Speed Bump Collection"
Hilarious.

Our New York Abode

Here are pictures of our place in NY. It looks much better in person but it'll give you an idea. If you're reading this and are surprised that we have a place in NY read the blog below from yesterday regarding the weekend's activities.

This is a picture of the entry hallway and kitchen. The bathroom is behind the kitchen.

Here is the right wall of the kitchen and part of the living room....

Here is a view from the bedroom through the living room towards the kitchen. Basically the apartment is a big rectangle....

Here's a view of the bedroom, with curtains that you can close off from the rest of the apartment....

What City Am I In?

WHAT A WEEK?! It's been a whirlwind. Lots of news:

I went to NYC on Tuesday expecting to come back Thursday but they decided to keep me another day until Friday. And then I scheduled a last-minute apartment viewing on Friday night so Kyle came up and we stayed with some friends since we had a show to see Saturday afternoon. Phew! I was so unprepared to be away from home and from my hubby for so long!

We scheduled a bunch of apartment viewings for Saturday morning before our show. This morning was a cold and rainy nasty morning. We went to our first appt. and were excited about the location (super close to the subways), really liked the couple that was subleasing, and the apartment was furnished nicely and it was clean. This was the 3rd (best and cleanest) apartment I had seen and the 1st Kyle had seen. We found out the price and were immediately excited because it was less than what we were expecting to spend. We left and decided we would take the place. We called the guy back not 5 minutes later and there was already someone else looking at it! QUICK, Bethancourts: Take Action!

After the other people left we hussled it back, left a deposit, and the deal was done! We successfully navigated the New York real estate market and have a sublease for our summer in NY! It's an adorable little brownstone on a residential street located between Chelsea and Greenwich Village. Near Union Square, 1 subway stop from Kyle's office and a few subway stops from my office. It's cute and perfect for the two of us for the summer. We are SO glad that is taken care of. It was so time consuming to schedule appointments and since I've been working from 9 AM to 10 PM there was no chance of scheduling appointments for the days I was in the city for work. That task is crossed off my list!

We went off to see Three Days of Rain with Julia Roberts. I would have to give it a C+ I suppose. It was average. Seeing Julia Roberts on-stage was exciting. And one of the guys from Alias, Bradley Cooper, was in the show as well. It was fun to see real movie/TV people up close. The show was kind of serious and the characters were a bit crazy. Hard to explain but it wasn't what I was expecting. The second act was definitely better that the first act. So that's all. I'm pooped. Goodnight.

Here are pictures of our trip to Longwood last weekend.

That's it -- it's called Bubble Tea!

Bubble tea is what I was trying to describe last month when I mentioned the fun milk tea with tapioca balls I had at the Shabu place in NY. In case you missed my vague description, see that blog here. Well, to my delight, there is a bubble tea location in Philadelphia. I went there tonight with some friends, it's called The Bubble House. Looks weird but fun to drink! It kinda gets addictive--trying to suck the tapiocas through the fat straw. You just keep wanting to do it over and over....like an addict to the drug. We were running late and Lisa hadn't finished getting all her tapiocas and she just couldn't put the drink down. Kept wanting to catch her tapiocas. I know the feeling. The Bubble House is right near the Penn campus along with a bunch of other cool little restaurants and shops. Now I see that Kyle has been keeping all of these fun Penn hot spots hidden from me! More places to explore :)

So we went to the restaurant before we headed to a free string quartet concert on campus that Lisa told us about. Kara, Lisa, Laurie and me enjoyed a nice little mini concert of classical music. I've decided our child should play the violin. I really like that instrument. Who knows, maybe I'll decide to take up the violin! Since I have so much free time.....

So yesterday I mentioned that going to NYC twice in one week is my limit well the warning light has gone off, the siren has sounded, I've exceeded the limit because I'm going in tomorrow for the THIRD time this week. I'm trying to keep the cranky grump at arm's length but I feel her creeping up. At least it's Friday. (insert big long sigh here) I had to cancel Kung Fu for the second Friday in a row. One of these days I will Kung Fu and report on it. And one of these days I will make plans during the week and not have to cancel at the last minute due to my weird work schedule.

Birthday Wishes and a Quick Update. Goodnight.

First off, Happy Birthday to my dear Dad! I called early this morning to wish him a happy birthday and he claimed he had forgotten it was his birthday! ;)

I had a busy day in NYC. Next week I'm going for 3 days to help with the deadline that is fast approaching! I've been cleared to get a hotel (phew!). I turn into an emotional no good crank when I commute more than 2 days a week so the hotel will be good for my sanity.

Kyle officially accepted his summer internship offer today. We are on the prowl for a housing arrangement now.

I'm pooped. I've hit my commuting limit this week. I'm going to bed.

Hasta manana amigos.....

This Is It!!

Today I jumped in with both feet and an inflatable raft. I have scheduled my first exam of the ARE (Architecture Registration Exam) YIKES!

I am telling everyone because now I have to be accountable...so, please, feel free to ask me how it's going. This test is part 1 of 9. It's a slow process but I'm excited for the challenge and the opportunity to say "I am a registered architect!" My first test covering Construction Documents (thrilling!) will be on May 3rd. Don't worry, I'll remind you when it gets closer to the date. I'll need the prayers of everyone I know going into it. I chose one of the easier (I hope) tests to take first to give me some positive momentum going into this thing.

I'm watching an amazing documentary on the Discovery Channel about high season for Alaskan King Crab fisherman. The deadliest job in the world. It's so intriguing. The dangers! The thrills!

Speaking of dangers and thrills. Kyle and I ventured out tonight for a Rita's Water Ice!! I'm not sure if I've mentioned it but they're open for the season!!! I had tropical punch flavored ice. Sooooo yummy! Kyle had a Fudge Brownie Misto---the usual. I forgot how much we like this place!

Kyle received his official offer letter today. He should be making an acceptance soon.

Well, after this documentary is over it's bedtime. I'm headed to New York tomorrow.

Things That Are Unneccessary

So what do YOU think when you see this picture:

Alarming isn't it. Well, imagine my shock when I tapped out CNN.com on my keyboard for my daily news dose and I was confronted with this intimidating picture. At first glance, I decided Armeggedon was here and the US had just been attacked by a nuclear warhead, fumes quickly spreading throughout the country and we're doomed. I mean, was this picture really necessary? I fired off an email to CNN's "feedback team" to tell them I thought this picture was highly inappropriate. Yes, I did.

On to other news of the day:

I'm a little concerned about my project at work. We have a major deadline on April 17 (which is also right after Easter weekend) and it turns out that 2 of the main people organizing the project plus the project manager will be out on vacation. That's great news. Everyone's been asking for the deadline to be pushed back since there's been so many major changes to the project but it's not happening. It should be an interesting few weeks. I'll be breathing a sigh of relief whenever the deadline passes.

SO....what's a girl to do at lunchtime but head to my 5th Ave playground. My two options in immediate proximity are Saks (across the street) or Banana (next door). Saks is great. Nice eye candy but the selection of items within my budget is weeeee-tiny. So when I do actually need items, like today, I hit BR with a fervor. They have a really huge selection and a great sale rack. I needed some lightweight pants for the spring. I love pants. I wear them all the time because they cover my whitey un-toned legs. I've noticed lately that some of my pants are a little snug. I blame this on the dry cleaners. Surely I'm not plumping......no, it must be the dry cleaners. They always mess things up. I have been forced to buy new pants!

It'a All Coming Together!

Friends and Family,
Thank you for all your prayers. We have great news to report! Kyle had an interview today with a big investment company in NY. They offered him an amazing summer position that he is really excited about. He described it as a hybrid between investment banking and private equity. I'm not sure what that means? But probably it means a lot of time. Best of all, in addition to his salary, they offered a living stipend to cover expenses for an apartment in NY!! This is so great because now we can be together and both work in New York for the summer. I am pumped!

Now this part makes a great blog story: Last night we had resigned ourselved to the fact that Kyle would most likely work in Houston and I would stay in Philly and were kinda getting used to the idea when Kyle looked over to me and said, "should I just cancel the interview for tomorrow?" and I told him he should just go ahead and see what happened. I even offered that he should spend the extra $40 and take the Amtrak back to Philly instead of the slower regional train that he took last time. And just look what happened!! Plus, the company offered to pay for his train ticket anyways! HA!

So I was in another boring technology meeting this morning. Thank goodness I didn't fall asleep on my donut. I was able to stay awake by dreaming of ice cream and puppy dogs. I finally got a hold of Kyle in the afternoon and he was describing his great day to me over the cell phone when he saw someone famous walk out of the Mandarin Oriental hotel and into a Rolls Royce. Turns out it was rapper Jay-Z, otherwise known as Beyonce's bootylicious boyfriend.

I was just lamenting to my train seat partner last night that I have never seen anyone famous in NY besides Katie Couric, Al Roker, & the elusive Matt Lauer. But they don't count anymore because now I have seen them too often since they are constantly in Rock Plaza.

More good news: Kyle got his grades back for this semester and he made 3 HP (high pass) and 1 DS (distinguished student). DS is the highest grade. And his teacher in this class sent him a really encouraging email:

Kyle:
I just wanted to send you a quick note to say congratulations on doing so well in BPUB/LGST 621 this year. The truth is, having first-rate students is what makes teaching so much fun, and as you can likely tell from your grade in the class, I thought that you were exceptional. Not only was it my pleasure to share a classroom, but equally, I thought that you really contributed a lot, and this is something that not only I really appreciate, but something your classmates are likely equally grateful for. You pushed me to do a better job in the classroom, and I think that you really pushed your classmates to think harder in our class discussions.

Congratulations on a terrific quarter!

Welcome Spring!

Today is the first day of spring (which I am most looking forward to) and we awoke to flutters of snow?! What?! Yes, snow. Not a blizzard or anything but definite flutters of precipitation that wasn't mist or fog but little minute particles of snow. Weird. Kyle said he spotted daffodils blooming in Rittenhouse and the trees were starting to get green again. And a trip to Longwood is in our near future. This MUST mean that Spring is just around the corner!

This weekend was pretty boring. Friday was the highlight because we had our neighbors, the French people, over for dinner. We had been trying to connect with them for several weeks and finally we settled on a date one month in advance and, as usual, I panicked about what to cook for the entire month. I settled on spaghetti and meatballs which I made on Friday and then again on Saturday since I was scheduled to deliver a meal to our church friends that just had twins. So, if anybody needs meatballs I have a refrigerator full. Anyways, back to the dinner party.....by the end of the night, after 2 bottles of wine and the brandishing of Sandra's shiny new blue Kung Fu sword, I found myself volunteering to attend a Kung Fu lesson this Friday with Sandra. She says Kung Fu helps her release and manage her frustrations with work in a physical and controlled way. Sounds like something I could use! Plus, physical activity is always good.

Kyle's been tackling a daunting week with lots of tasks to accomplish: studying, papers due, more internship interviews, etc.We are still up in the air about what is going on this summer although it appears that a Houston job seems to be in the lead! It would be tough to be apart from Kyle all summer but since I am a list person and a preparation nut, I have begun to prepare myself by making lists of things I could do while Kyle is away and all the exciting things to look forward to in the summer (mini-milestones to mark the passing of time).
We'll keep ya posted!

Newport, Rhode Island: A Summer Retreat

JJBeezer--this one's for you!

The above picture is of a little light house Kyle and I visited around sunset on Friday evening, our first evening in Newport. It was a little difficult to get to but we finally found a foot path leading to the light house. Our short trek from the car to the lighthouse had all the makings of a scary movie. Walking through brush......near dusk......on a muddy path. I felt that at any moment that creature the townspeople of the movie "The Village" were all scared of was going to come busting out of the woods and kill us. Thankfully, there was no beast and we enjoyed a nice sunset.

Newport is where a lot of the early-century big shots built their summer "cottages" here on the edge of the east coast. Our favorite "cottage" (160,000 square feet) we toured was The Breakers built by the Vanderbilt family as their summer retreat. The scale of the home was so huge it was unimaginable to me that people lived there. It looked like a museum! Here is a picture of the gate in front of the house .....

And the back of the house---the view that faces the amazing ocean and back yard

Can I just say this backyard is a 7 yr old Lori dream....I mean, consecutive cartwheels for a 1/4 mile?! Need I say more?

Kyle & I met up with our friends, Dee & Chris, on Saturday to tour the mansions and the 4 of us spent the afternoon walking along a pedestrian trail called Cliff Walk that runs along the top of the cliffs on the shoreline behind all these magnificent mansions . It was really fun to visit with them and enjoy the beautiful day. We even got a nice 60 degrees that day to enjoy nature! Kyle and Chris were very adventurous and decided to climb the rocks down to the water to explore. Dee & I, being women of discernment, stayed a safe distance behind so as not to be washed upon the rocks. Kyle's adventure to the Atlantic Ocean was most exciting since he proclaimed he had been to both the Pacific & Atlantic coasts in one week. An amazing feat, indeed.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Newport, Rhode Island!

Click here to see the Newport Mansions!

Coming Soon...Newport Recap

Hi friends! We've been super busy lately but I just wanted to let everyone know we're still here. We had a great time in Newport, Rhode Island this weekend. It was our Spring Break getaway before Kyle starts his last quarter of the first year! It was nice to have another vacation to look forward to. I really liked being near the ocean, touring the Newport Mansions, and seeing some quaint little New England towns. I'll post pictures soon.

Kyle is in New York today interviewing with 2 companies for summer internships. Hope we hear some good news soon. I'll write more later!

The Best Surprise Ever!

Back in January I planned a trip to Houston this past weekend to surprise my mom for her birthday. My dad and I were co-conspirators in crime. He knew I was coming and did a good job keeping the secret mum.

I woke up at 3:45 AM on Friday (yowsers!), boarded a 6 AM flight and arrived at 9 AM in Houston. My dad picked me up from the airport and I waited for my mom to come home from work around noon. When she arrived, I opened the door and yelled "SURPRISE!!!" and I thought she was going to have a small heart attack. She really had NO clue and was so excited to see me. We all got to hang out and mom and I did girly things on Saturday and then I returned to Philly Sunday night. She proclaimed it was the best birthday ever so I have to say my plan was a success.

Unfortunately, since I had planned this trip way in advance and my clone wasn't available this weekend, I missed out on the trip to California to visit the new Carmel house. Boo! Kyle is on Spring Break this week and found a great rate to CA so he flew out there where his parents put his young, muscular body to work by helping them move heavy furniture items into the new house. But hold your sympathy right there. Last time I checked he was playing golf at Pebble Beach so I think he's holding up quite alright. Kyle also declared to me that he sees no reason to ever go on another vacation again since Carmel is the most perfect place ever.

So last night was spent alone in the Philly apartment, watching the Oscars by myself and deciding I find the excess of celebrity self-appreciation a little annoying. It's a lonely apartment without my dear husband's presence around. I really miss coming home from work and being greeted with a big hug and smiley face. Come home soon, Kyle!!!!

Today is a yuck day at work. My computer connection is fried and I am not able to work which is really frustrating and makes for a horribly boring day. I've done some stuff by hand but it's time to get my machine up and running and no one seems to be making that a priority. Looks like I'll be headed to NY tomorrow (big sigh)

I'm a creature of habit.....

....in case you hadn't noticed. There's something in familiarity of routines and things that comforts me. That's just me and despite all the change that's happened over the past six months I have broadened my horizons in BIG ways and managed to find new familiar things to keep me happy. One obvious example is what used to be the almost daily $2.75 hoagie from the food truck at 20th & Market. Since moving offices, that food truck is too far. This little lunch luxury is no more and as I write this I am getting sad so let's move on to my new familiar habit. These days, going into NYC I look forward to the BAGEL food truck MEN. I discovered a breakfast food truck on my way to work and two of the friendliest, most happy men you've ever seen at 8 AM always greet me with a smile and present me with the fattest most beautiful cinnamon raisin bagel with about a 1/4" slab of cream cheese for $1. Yes, ONE dollar! Yummy!

Today I practiced my patented subway balancing act. Don't you wish you could've seen it?! It started with the usual subway puuuush into the car and I was left in the middle of the crowd with no way to hold on to any bars or poles or anything. I was floating like a fishie in the sea. Thankfully we were packed in so tight there was no chance of me moving more than an inch in any direction....

By far the worst thing I've seen in a while was on my taxi ride home. We came to a clog in the intersection and as we detoured I turned back and saw a woman lying in the street surrounded by people. It looked like she had been hit by a car maybe or had a heart attack in the street? The ambulance hadn't arrived yet. Oh, it was horrible. I said a prayer for her because it really looked bad.

On the lighter side, I feel like I've really accomplished a lot at work this week. That's a great feeling for me. Kyle has been having lots of finals. The last one's tomorrow. He won't hear back on his results for a while but I know he was succesful. He is now very intently watching the aTm v. t.u. basketball game and I'm signing off to join him. It's a close one!