Cupcakes in the City

How have i not written about this yet? What is with me, it' s like the one thing in NYC that i'm really passionate about and have put a lot of effort into...
Finding the best cupcake in the city

New York City may be renamed to the big cupcake and not the big apple. NYC and cupcakes are up there with one of the biggest controversies. Friends who make cupcakes open a business, to become enemies, to steal/take their portion of the recipe, to open new stores, people who work with the enemies who break off open their own business, to create this mecca of cupcake heaven right here in the city. This is the basic story of Magnolia and thus the rest of all the cupcake shops in the city.

My search for the perfect cupcake started back in Halifax with my friend R. Our obsession was quite normal at that point, just enjoying cupcakes whenever we could, but then i started questioning moving to New York and she said, "i'm visiting if you do, i've heard a lot about x y and z cupcake shop and we need to try them". Walk and walk all over the city we did, trying cupcakes. I have settled on my favorite cupcake...which i will reveal in a few sentences.

SO my mom is visiting right now, post birthday visit and girl weekend we are having a great time thus i felt it was important to introduce her to the love of my life, my favorite cupcake shop. Dragging her across the city and claiming i knew exactly where it was. The light shone brightly on the faded pink awning of it. Of course since i was there i bought two cupcakes (bite your tongue, i'm a piggy and i don't care, it's the most delicious thing and you'd do it too!!). She bit into the cupcake (ooey gooey) and ahhhhhhh heavenly angels sung out. (notice the chocolate deliciousness on her lip, le sigh...i want one now!)



Anyways the store i won't shut up about is called Sugar Sweet Sunshine on Rivington St (bw Essex and Norfolk)
My favorite cupcakes are pumpkin spice and lemon yummy. Their originals are fab, but i'm partial to something a bit different, especially when it involves cream cheese icing.




Number 2 is Billy's Bakery followed by Crumbs (but Crumbs may be off the list if something better appears). If anyone has any recommendations of places to try let me know because there are obviously MANY MANY places in the city and i can't try them all...just almost all of them.

SUBSCRIBE or don't

For those who don't get my random reminder emails to read this blog and you check on your own, congrats i'm about to take a step out of your monthly routine.

If you look to your right you will see a very ugly and plain SUBSCRIBE dodad. Try it out. If i get an overwhelming response of "this blows chunks" it's gone! I've read the "stuff" and they "claim" there is no spam associated and they don't "keep my email address" so you should be safe. i have a few blog buddies who have this subscribe thing and so far I've only reaped the benefit of having an email sent to me when they post.

For those who decide it's not worth the risk i get it, no worries, I'm pretty paranoid about spam

ps: i started receiving emails-they are total spam to me- from 365 baby or something like it. Some girl name Shanna (odd as my email address doesn't have my first name) has a very similar email address and just had a baby 5 weeks ago. They keep congratulating Shanna on her/my new arrival and asking if i want photos sent to all my friends. yeah, the closest thing to a new arrival in my house is my new Patagonia Performance Baselayer.

So to all my friends who want to congratulate me on my new arrival, here she be, weighing in at 4.5 oz...my new arrival. Oh but my baby is baby blue

Star sighting

I have this vivid memory of my first experience watching The Labyrinth. The most ridiculous things seem scary to me and that movie really freaked me out. Something about David Bowie's hair, how skinny he was, the singing and his outfit, was it the tights? i have no idea, uh still gives me shivers. anyways, i'm not sure i've watched the entire movie because it freaked me out so much, although i do remember an m.c. escher type of scene with stairs, so maybe i have. meh i don't know. Here is what i do know...or think i know. I saw David Bowie the other day.

When was the last time he made a public appearance? Seems like a while. Anyways, last Saturday night J and I are pretty sure we saw him. Well actually i said oh look it's David Bowie, being the bitch that i am (it was the tight pants) and he said, wait no i think you're right. So we stood down the street and stared and well now if we were really good stalkers and not hungry we would have followed to confirm this finding. But let's just say i did see him and be happy about it. He looks good. Has put on some weight, shaggy, but nice hair...still has those Euro pants going. Where was Iman when we needed her!

Falling behind

The past few weeks have been NUTSO amazing fun! here is a basic overview

1)went home for a few days ie: update my health insurance to ensure if i do get sick i'm covered here ps: each week i start to become sick with something new, but combat it with major doses of Airborn. I've been told this is residual mono effects that last up til a year, yum i can't wait! great seeing friends in a whirl wind visit. oh and my mom made my fav. carrot cake, such a wonderful treat i wished i could bring it back. OH OH and i travel avec Porter Air....the best new thing in air travel my friends, serioiusly great!

2) J and I went to upstate New York and stayed at a friend's farm. Was a wonderful brief getaway to see the fall leaves (which had yet to arrive), hike, tandum bike ride, apple pick, make cider and just relax, laugh and eat.

3)My fab friend J from Toronto came in exclusively to make my dreams come true upon the viewing of the one and only Madonna at Madison Square Gardens!! Madonna is a true rock star and i would pay much much more to see her again.

4) Just got back from Cincinnati where their motto is "Nothing to do and all day to do it", couldn't agree more. I'm sure it's a fabulous city with plenty to do, i just seemed to experience the root of this motto. While attending a clinical hypnosis certification conference we had limited time to get food and darn it there was nothing open just about every time we went out. Anyhoo, i'm home now for a while and am in the peak of paper writing (can't you tell this is why i'm writing a post!).

Just wanted you all to know that while it's becoming much much cooler...nothing like Toronto i hear, the leaves have just started changing , when they are in full gear i'll post pictures!

Almost a year

Who else is surprised...this blog has been in existence for almost a year and i feel like an update about school is necessary. This is why i'm here in the biiiiig apple anyways!

1) still in school, didn't drop out and join the big apple circus...although how fun would it be! After a one month break during the summer we are all back at it.

2)Am still loving NYC, but the realities of living in this city are setting in and the reality of the ending of my time in NYC is creeping in. Let's not think of it yet!!! I'm not, that's forshizzle!

3)Am FINALLY in a hospital interning in Child Life. I'm at Morgan Stanley-Columbia Presbyterian Children's Hospital of New York, it's a mouthful, but up there as one of the best pediatric hospitals! I'm in GREAT hands for learning. Currently i'm there one day a week and in January i'll be there five days a week.

4)Was rereading one of my posts from the very beginning, said something like, this year is not hard yet, but i'm told it's just a break before year two. Um yeah, sooooooo true! Here is how i spend my days, reading, writing, reading, researching and ummmm READING! Good news is the stuff is brilliant and will be sooooo useful. Without trying to be too detailed, I'm taking a play therapy class and an art therapy class. Lots of art practicing and pretty soon we'll be playing with kiddos!

5)I am still a nanny to E and N (who just turned 1 ie: i've been with them for over a year!!!). I only see them once a week because school is just too nutso, but i care so much for those little monky's it's hard to not see them every day. E is as silly and fun as always and N is a big walker and dancer. Oh man can those kids dance, my type of people!!

anyhoo big couple of weeks coming up and i'm waaaay late on writing about some of my summer adventures such as Coxton lake for labor day. Maybe i'll get to them, kinda like i get to old photos who need to get into albums ie: never!

Happy fall
ps: no fall leaves yet, still too freakin' warm. Promise to keep you updated though!

advertisements gone nuts

This is a terrible picture, but i can't seem to find this anywhere clearer unless i take it myself and i'm not brave enough to ask someone on the subway to move so i can take the picture.

Story:
Riding on the subway the other day i see this poster. I read it casually and then all of a sudden i'm like, wtf? what is this an ad. for?

Update:

So i wrote this post ages ago not sure if i'd post it, but i soon found out what it's for...although this is still debatable. Kanye has a vodka i guess...if you drink his vodka you become him. Oh woop dee doo let's all be crazy, high strung Kanye.
check out the commercial. I'm not sure if this is good advertising or terrible advertising. how the heck do you know it's for vodka unless you actually bother to look it all up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndDdNkonRc8
or this one from absolute
http://www.absolut.com/iaaw/?intro=1

Beware of what you ask for

So my old roommate and friend Jack came for a visit last week for approx. 32 hours on his way to Halifax. I'm not sure what it is about a blog, but he was begging me to have a post about him. I told him i only write about things that could be interesting or in times that i had a lot of fun...he had to really impress me. Anyways, the boy sure did try hard.

Begins with a fab morning walking down 5th and Mad. ave, birthday lunch at the Gordon Ramsey Restaurant (including his mild peanut reaction and fight with the manager), delicious dinner/wine and conversation, wrapping it up with rooftop drinks at the Empire Hotel and finally to secure his post on my blog, pizza at my fav. pizza spot Koronet.

Now why does pizza at Koronet secure his spot? because in classic Jack style after warning him the pizza is hot, having him balance a piece much longer than a dinner plate, and greasier and wetter than ummmm, well really greasy, he takes one bit and promptly drops it on the cement right outside the door. Realizing it is very delicious and he will miss out, he turns right around and buys another one. I laughed so hard i almost peed my pants (no joke!)

ohhhh jack, be careful what you ask for...you may not get your expected posting.


pizza on the ground


ohhhh delicious pizza!

how much time have i spent on this?!

I'm messing around on my blog behind the scenes page and it tells me i've posted 61 blogs (this will be 62) WHAAAAAAT?! there has got to be a mistake this means i have spent on average 61 hours of the past 10 months, probably more, writing on this thing. CRAZY!

Question is...who has actually read all 61 posts?!

Fabulous cupcake or gold star will be provided to that person

a cultural day

The other day was"Harlem Week"...or i guess it was week, but we went for a day of it. Same old street fair stuff except it was like the mecca of fried food and vats of lemonade and iced tea. One booth i walked by, Brooklyn Soul, claimed "Best soul food south of the Canadian border". No we didn't try any (snap), but i did/J needed an awkward picture of me standing in front of the sign drinking my togo container of lemonade (seriously, so big i could hardly get my hand around it).

Ps: don't you think that's a big claim to stake and dude a shout out to the Canadian's!!!

this is how lessons are learned

E is currently being potty trained. 97% of the time we make it to the potty, the 3% failure...our fault we don't get her there in time or we don't believe her when she has to pee for the 5th time in 30 minutes. For a 2 year old underpants are the ultimate reward for going pee pee in the potty. Hello Kitty, princesses and the plain colours all get the "aren't my underpants so pretty" and "don't i look so beautiful in my underpants".

Yesterday while getting ready to go out I ask E to put on her underpants and she kept refusing.
E. please put your underpants on
(screaming at me) My bum hurts. I'm NOT putting them on.
Come here and let me check.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...MY BUM HUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRTTTSSSSS
If you don't let me check, i can't fix it

While screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO she proceeds to ball up her underpants, stick them between her checks, and put them in her face in which we got the
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW scream and they were thrown on the ground. YUCKY

How could i not crack up sooooooooo hard and say between fits of laughter, that's where poo poo comes out what do you expect it to smell like? giggle giggle.

really good ad campaign or reality?

I am royally confused and am wishing i had taken a picture to try and better explain what i saw. Walking down Cannal street there was a poster on a telephone booth (yes they still exist) advertising a new beverage called "Tru Blood". The caption said, "All Flavor, No Bite".

I guess this can be explained in two ways.

1) there is a new HBO show about Vampires called "Trueblood" which starts in September...or at least this is what the internet is telling me.

2) there is a new drink on the market called "Tru Blood" it's for the humans who like to drink blood and be like vampires. After some research i learned it's synthetic, but seriously, GROSS!!!

I'm 98% sure it's all connected, but it's such good advertising for this blood drink, which is meant to be had with alcohol, AND has a website and commercials with no links to the HBO show. Check it out and let me know what you guys think. Has anyone else seen this? Kinda makes my skin crawl.

this guy makes me want to hurl!
http://io9.com/5024456/our-tru-blood-taste-test

The Tru Blood Beverage
http://www.trubeverage.com/

The only time i've cheated on a man

I've mentioned this previously, but i am not known to be any good at spotting famous people (anyone other than actors or musicians have zero chance of being noticed). An actor could pretty much walk up to me and introduce themselves as Angelina Jolie before i'd recognize them as famous. This is not to say though that i'm not totally aware of many actors/musicians past and current life works, 'cause i am.

Story:
The other day i'm walking to Whole Foods on a work "mission" and i'm waiting to cross the street.

Aimlessly looking around i make eye contact with a man in a van taxi right in front of me attempting to turn. Nice fedora, i think and i glance at the walk sign. I look back because now not only am i being watched, but ummmm, HOLY CRAP that' s not just a nice fedora, that's BRUCE WILLIS!!!

Side note: Bruce Willis is a pretty sweet thing to spot, i mean, he's no Sean Connery or Harrison Ford of the older gents, but still i'd pick him over....Sylvester Stallone or Chuck Norris....wait no i'd love to see Walker Texas Ranger in person (ohhhhh baby). ANYWAYS!

So Brucey and i were making eyes, he's oogling me, i'm oogling him....we totally eye f*cked and it was faaaaaabulous. Until his taxi driver decided to turn the corner and my quickie ended. Oh and his gf Emma Heming, i believe, was in the car. Nothing like her being involved in my afternoon delight.

Brucey baby, if you're reading this call me, it was great. We can do the taxi street thing again any time, or you can just introduce me to Demi. I'd eye f*ck her too.

nanny stealing

So i was almost stolen the other day...well, approached to be stolen, or so my boss J. thinks so.

Nanny stealing is very common and very very sneaky. You are at the playground or a class, you become friends with the mom, one day the dad is there and you becomef riends too and the next thing you know they are putting down comments like....do you like your job with family X.
My offer was must less obvious, so unobvious that i probably came off so naive they would have loved me.

Story:

N, E, J and I are all at the indoor play gym. N. and J are in a baby music class and E. and I are playing. E has a major melt down and J (the mom) and I switch kids for a few minutes. Now i'm in a baby music class with N. and he is just a crawling machine so i'm just casually following him around.

Mom and dad of child G. ask me as i pass the first time "He's adorable, is he your son?". This question happens all the time when i'm with the kids, my response is,

"oh my no, i'm their nanny. But thanks for thinking i look mature enough to have a child, let alone two. The other woman was his mother" (ps: who looks much more like her children than i do....go figure, she being their mother!)

Pass number two, the father instead of letting N. pass by, picks him up and they are now talking to me at warp speed and looking me firmly in the eyes (because class is currently happening and we are all singing and banging drums and who knows when jen will be back),

"We are looking for a live in nanny. Do you know anyone who may be available...we live in Staten Island", taking N. back and kinda scoffing, "ohhhh no i don't, i'm a full time graduate student and all the people i know have jobs and live in the city...sorry and good luck".

When J and i leave the play gym i mention the conversation to her...her response,
"the nerve, right under my nose they are trying to steal you"
"huh?"
"Before you came in we went around the circle and said a bit about our selves. My comment was i have two children N and E. They knew you weren't his mom, it was a line to bring you in. Shannon, watch out because parents are very sneaky."

Yes i can be naive, but did she really think i'd just sign up to live in Staten Island....dear god no...i'm too much of a snob for them

music in the park

So far summer in NYC has been amazing...nothing really sticks out specifically, but none the less over all i've been doing things i love. This past week though was especially summerific (ya'll like that word?).

A few months ago my friend L and I saw spice girls, then we saw Sarah Bareilles and now we are adding FEIST to this list of fun performances. It's been so ridiculously hot that more often than not there is an evening rainshower, hardcore, drenches everything and usually while it's soaking you through you can see the bright blue sky inching towards you. This is what happened to us on Wednesday night while we were waiting for Feist to perform. First i must tell you that while we were going through the gates to the outdoor venue at Prospect Park security was taking umbrellas and making a huge HUGE pile of them. My bag was so packed with stuff(was coming from work with many changes of clothes) that he looked at the top of my bag and said...is there an umbrella in there....Nope (yes there is)....you sure there is no umbrella in there...no umbrella (yes there is, it's bright green hard to miss)....okay, but i better not see an umbrella from you later....don't worry you won't (yes you will if it pours on us). I walk through the gates still with my umbrella and thank goodness we had it. The skies open up and about 30 people of 3000 pull out their umbrellas and we all crowd under them to protect us from the down pour, my umbrella included. Anyways, she put on a rockin' concert...no rain during her set and of course as it always happens i fall more in love with certain songs. Here is my always favorite, which is now higher up on the list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWrNCCx2p5U


Two days later i was back at the same venue with J. to see Brazilian Girls. I didn't think i knew who they were initially until they started playing their euro/south american techno beats and i knew i had heard them before. It's hard not to dance, and like really really start dancing because it's just so much fun! Some of their more familiar songs are "pussy" and " le territiore", so go check them out....super fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m5ci_Xceo0


I've been told it's because of the baseball All Star game taking place here, but if it was baaaaaaaad job of advertising that. Here are the details-Bon Jovi comes to NYC's Central Park to play a free concert. Free tickets given out during the day, space for 50,000 people, major security throughout the park. I am not a Bon Jovi fan, but i am a fan of free music, chilling with friends and enjoying what could have been a crazy scene. Well it was such a crazy scene that the closest we got to Bon Jovi was across a street in the park with him behind those trees.



Here is what the New Yorks Times have as what it looked like....not sure i wanted to be with 50,000 of my closest friends



You gotta love New York summer music scene!

the 4th

It's tough being a nanny sometimes. I have managed to find a really amazing family to work for who take great care of me...now i don't luck into free dinners to their restaurants, or trips to the Hampton's or Europe, but i'm really happy. Now it is always great to be friends with the gals who do get these things, because i generally get brought along. Such as a time like the fourth of July.

We were in a bit of school break, many of the CLC gals are away working, at home, or just busy with outside NYC life. So 4 of us were around to celebrate the 4th in NYC. The original plan was to go to S and K's apartment for drinks, appi's and george forman bbq grilling and walking over to the east side to watch the Macy's/NBC 4th of July Firework show. What ended up happening was getting invited by one of E's amazing families to the NBC executed 4th of July party in Brooklyn. Here is what an NBC party looks like...free carnival, free booze, free food, free gift bags, crazy stilt performers, bleacher seating in possibly the best seats in ALL OF NYC (they do all the filming for the show here) and all the entertainment that you would have seen on tv.

After booting it to Williamsburg in Brooklyn in record time we were able to experience this amazing NY moment. Well it only got better! Perfect seating was upgraded to the "mosh pit" of the stage to see my fav. TV hottie, Tiki Barber and the gorgosity Natalie Morales....i'm melting she is so amazing (please see picture above). Anyways some other great people we saw in these spots were Gavin Degraw and Katherine McPhee...yeah pretty famous these days, but meh....NATALIE MORALES (i have a girl crush).

The main event was the fireworks, which are set off by 4 barges in the East River timed to music over the ages....that was NBC/Macy phrasing. Pretty amazing stuff and i feel very fortunate...what can top this next year? Anyways, we were rock stars and yeah so great! Thanks E for having such a great hookup!

Here is something random i experienced on the 4th. As a Canadian i often feel very patriotic for days like Canada day and in effect the 4th. Now for this event i wore blue and white (Because i own zero red....doesn't suit me) and when i left that house i looked around for people sporting their red white and blue...NO ONE! No small children in festive outfits....WTF?! I can't be the most patriot and i'm not even that patriotic. Anyways, needless to say when we got to the NBC party there was more red, white and blue but i'm kinda convinced that our wee bits of patriotism is why we were moved to the mosh pit, i'll take that any day!

Getting sick in the USofA

I'm not sure how to write this without it coming off making me either look very much like i've been living in the clouds (which is usually true) and without making me look like i'm not being cared for, which i very much am. I walk a fine line, but i felt this was a brief taste of how different the health care system is here.

Almost every girl in my program is health insurance free, which pretty much means if we get sick it's a big hefty bill to pay or hopefully it can be fixed by the walk in clinic at Duane Reade ie: Dr. Duane as i call them for a mere $95 or $85 if you tell them you're a nanny (way to go childcare!). Dr. Duane can do a lot, but what it can't really do is provide a consistent dr. or at least create that ever so important bond that a patient and dr. can create.

I must preface this story with...i do have health insurance (kinda), it's Canadian emergency travel health insurance which is reactivated every 102 days (or something of the sort). Pretty much the day i leave canada my days count down and then i have to step foot on Canadian soil and it's reactivated. Well i haven't been home since xmas so you can imagine my health insurance is nil as of now and isn't that always when our bodies decide to become ill.

Here's the story:
Went to San Diego for a conference last week of may, came back with a monster gland/tonsil and woke up in NYC rockin' a huge fever. M&D were in town and sent me to Dr. Duane to get checked out.

Tues:Dr. Duane 1 and I talked, discussed symptoms, he looked in my mouth, ears, eyes, poked stomach, did an instant strep test (seriously cool...10 min. results) and moved to "the gland" in which he declared, well other than the fever and the monster gland you are strep free and look perfectly healthy, you must be fighting an infection (enlarged tonsil and huge glad=cell fighting war). Do you have insurance? Nope, okay then, in two days you'll be fine, but if not take this prescription, and if you have any concerns or symptoms change please call me for a consult...here's my number.

Wed.wake up worse...it's just a cold i'll start getting better...i'm sure of it, the doctor says so!

Thurs. wake up worse...call the doc...he's not coming in today, but the med. assistant will call all day and he will get the doc to call back...I decide it's time for the prescription, my body can't fight this alone any more. Pharm say it can't be filled until tomorrow (friday)...no call from the doc.

Fri. still feel like crap, go pick up meds and begin treatment. still no doc call

Sat. crappy crap crap

Sun. what the hell is going on? I'm on drugs now it shouldn't be getting worse but better

Mon. I call Dr. Duane's office. Begging, pleading with the med assistant, i'm in so much pain and the white spots in my throat have me concerned.
Med. assistant calls and says come in and Dr. Duane 2 will check me out again for free
Dr. Duane 2 is a very nice, thorough doc, goes through all the motions and goes to "the gland". Declares a very serious case of tonsillitis and he is very concerned about the infection. Do you have insurance? Nope, okay...one free steroid butt shot and a free prescription of an antibiotic later i'm told i'll start feeling better by tomorrow. phew!

Tues: steroid shot makes my gland/tonsil feel like a million bucks...but still feel like crap

wed: steroid not working anymore...antibiotic not working...call the doc., he's not concerned yet, but says call him friday when he's back in the office to check in.

Thurs: noooo really what the heck is happening

Fri: call number= too many to count, visit 3
He looks in and in great concern says i need to see a specialist. Do you have insurance? Nope, okay, then you need to fly home sooner than thursday and see an ear nose throat specialist.
I freak out, call home and discuss options.
A specialist visit=a weeks worth of a nanny salary even with her "special discount". I need to interject, my parents of course offer to take care of me in these situations, but it reaches a point where flying home for $400 is cheaper than a doctors visit in NYC. The vote is i stay and see a specialist because flying won't be safe until swelling is down...so says my Toronto doc.
Specialist=very expensive 10 minutes, but piece of mind is reached and am now on a boat load of steroids

Sat-Wed=steroids are working, antibiotics are still not...what is going on? I'm like a petri dish of disease

Thurs: home to see my doc and started a new prescription by Dr. Duane 2...maybe it was all in my head but the second those antibiotics hit my tongue i started feeling better....obviously all in my head.

So here is what i've learned 3 weeks later and currently disease and pain free
1. keep health insurance up to date because it changes the way you are treated

2. dr.'s are very conscious about the lack of insurance and will help you as much as they can to a certain point where your health just becomes more important (this is a good thing)

3. treatment in Canada is great it just takes longer and is "free". Toronto doc. response to how i'd be treated differently...i'd have sent you to emerg. they get everything done faster...emergency surgery, drain fluid and IV antibiotics/steroids, done and done, but first an 8 hour wait in emerg. hmmmm i'm not sure which i pick.

Here is what i do know. coming home is always nice whether it's for a doctors appt. or not. i love seeing my family and friends.

whoot whoot jodi (here's your shout out...now leave me alone).

Sweating it out in the big city

I'm sure it's been happening everywhere, but here in the big apple we've all been sweating it out with record highs in the 100's (F) aka 40's (C) ...bruuuuutaaaalll!

Ways you know it's too freakin' hot
1) tar is remelting on the street
2) your rubber flipflops get stuck to the sidewalk if you stand for too long
3) stagnant puddles are electric green with growth
4) cockroaches go swimming at night in any water they find
5) many rolling black/brown outs
6) it's better to be in a way stinky subway tunnel than above ground
7) you can drink 3 litres of water and not need to go to a restroom ever because you sweat it all out before it reaches your bladder (true story)
8) violent heat lightening storms every night
9) sleeping sans pj's just doesn't keep you cool
10) 87F or 33C feels cool

SATC New York style

I keep having people ask me about whether i saw the Sex and the City movie since i'm a big fan of the show (always have been) AND i live in the city where it all takes place. Here is my quick thoughts on it...

capital "A" MAZING.

Not going to lie, saw it twice and loved it both times.

The first time (Thurs night at 12:01 am or does that make it Friday?) was just a beautiful experience for my eyes. The colours, the clothes, the shoes....le sigh....i'm melting just thinking about it (oh wait, maybe because it's a thousand degrees outside, but that's another blog post).

The second viewing was to truly capture the story (ps: obviously not much to it) and because my fab friend R. came to visit and rearranged her plans purely to see the movie with me.

I loved it, but I keep having to defend the movie and it's becoming ridiculous. Yes there were high expectations, but any true fan would agree that there should never have been a movie (and goddess please let there NOT be a sequel). The show was wrapped up in such a pretty bow and having the movie was just a little extra somethin' somethin'.

Anyways i had a fabulous time with six of my lady friends. We had drinks at the Empire Hotel (Ushers back up dancers were rockin' out in the booth next to us....saweet!) and played the SATC trivia game while we waited in our seats...we know our sh^t! Oh and i was asked to be part of New York Magazine or was it TONY magazine's poll on the movie ("how big a fan are you"..."i am here at 12:01 and i ampretty sick with tonsillitis. I'd say i'm a true fan!)

Go see it!

NYC weddings and a trip to NJ

I am currently grieving. In my Child Life class "Loss in children's lives" there is a class on the types of loss people experience and the ways people grieve and they are all valid. Well i just spent the past three days with E and N (the kids i previously worked for) at their new house in New Jersey and once again i have no idea when i'll see them again...oh wait you guys don't know the recent news. They moved to New Jersey a few weeks ago, kinda suddenly because their apartment was too small. Right, so now that you're caught up i'll continue. It's been two and half weeks since i last saw them and when they are that little a lot can change. E is 2.5 and N is about 8 months, lots of growing and lots of forgetting. Anyways, i'm grieving, the three of us hung out so much this weekend because their aunt was getting married and their parents were super busy with wedding prep, and now i'm back to nada, just a bunch of stories and memories. There are lots of stories and i'm not even sure where to begin. Here's an attempt and a bit of story separation.

For those who'd rather read about a classic NY wedding:
This to me was quite the wedding. Bridal party and photos taken at the Palace hotel (ie: where Serena lives on G.G. for those in the know, xoxo) and the service, cocktail hour and reception at the Harmonie Club (they consumed 3 floors of a 7 story building)...all black tie. Oh and did i mention it was three days, yeah big rehearsal dinner, and post wedding brunch. All was fabulous though, beautifully decorated, beautiful flowers, beautiful chuppa, supposedly good food...there was no skimping. Oh and of course the wedding was written up in the New York Times which while i'm told is not AS exclusive i'm told is still exclusive enough i've heard of others being denied.My role as the nanny was to the wrangle the two kids. E. being the flower girl and N being nothing but a cute baby dressed in a suit...seriously cute!! lots of awwwwwing when they came down the aisle. Moral of the story, if this wedding was under 100,000 i would be shocked!

For those who'd rather read about the kids and NJ
I need to first explain that E. and N. are rarely affectionate. No snuggling, cuddling, kisses, hugs nothing (this is the opposite of their parents). It took me months before either of them decided i was special enough to get anything remotely affectionate ie: a head resting on the shoulder during a story, or allowing you to hold/rock them to sleep. I have decided that it's an age thing, but also that they only share when they really really mean it. I'm down with that, it means more and usually makes me cry when it occurs because it is rare and genuine. The other day, we are mid conversation about things we like and it goes like this, E says,"I like my bed, i like my toys, i like to play, i like shannon, i like milk, i like baby beluga"...um reverse she likes me and i'm up there with playing, milk and baby beluga...this is a big freakin' deal!! Also, I'm changing E's diaper and she's having an exhausted meltdown when she says, "Shannon....I love you". I had tears in my eyes as i respond with, I love you too E. K, enough of that because when N. decided to rest his head on me while i was holding him the other day and not pinch or try to back flip out of my arms i was in heaven...i was going to be so sad to not see them again.

And finally for those who'd like to read about both
E. was the flower girl and N. was the cute boy who got a ride down the aisle with their mom and dad. Well E. loved being the flower girl, she talked about it for hours before and after the wedding, i'm sure she is still going on about it. Her role was to put handfuls of flower petals all the way down. Well a two year old could care less, two handfuls later she's at the end of the aisle and dumps the whole basket on the floor. No biggie, but when she was supposed to stand at the front she decided to announce loudly, "E. still wants to be a flowergirl. E is not done being a flowergirl", until i dragged her out of the ceremony before the bride had a meltdown over a two year old wrecking her wedding. After we left she wouldn't stop talking about how pretty she looked and how she did such a good job with the flowers (true she was so pretty and she did do a good job...it's just kills me to hear a two year old brag about it).

Right so that's it...NJ although very close to the city is so very far. It's a bit of a fantasy land, right out of a magazine...or at least where these guys live. They have a lawn, and animals running around (ie: rabbits, chipmunks, and foxes). It's a different world where darkness and silence exist, where stars are visible in the sky, birds chirp when the sunrises and kids play on the street together. It also has E and N and no matter how exhausted they make me, i love seeing them.

Bowling...yes a NYC experience

Bowling is a very normal thing for pretty much every city in North America, but here in NYC finding the space to put a bowling alley is pretty rare. Two places in NY that i'm aware of have bowling, Chelsea piers (child friendly) and Bowlmor (pretty sure children would be scared of the escort looking waitresses). So as a celebration of C's birthday and being done classes we went to the infamous Bowlmor. It's a double decker bowling alley, full bar, restaurant, dance club, yadda yadda yadda. Monday nights are black light bowling or was it just dark and strobing lights, i forget already, they have a wicked WICKED DJ and all you can bowl from 10-2am. ps: 4 hours goes by fast!

Turns out i'm a TERRIBLE bowler, or at least a terrible sober bowler. If i thought you would all be interested in hearing how many times i threw gutter balls in the first two frames i'd share that, but the best part was when i repeatedly bowled leaving one pin standing, seriously like 5 times in a row. This became really annoying, thus making Shannon really annoying. New tricks as to how I could get that last pin, no avail, but i did get a sweet bruise on my knee. anyhoo, i did get a strike, please refer to the non- posed picture...i am obviously very animated during excited moments. And we had a great great time, we will go bowling again.
Next adventure is possibly the Child Life conference in San Diego next week...this weekend is a trip to NJ...whoop whoop!