a brand new start of it

Hello!!! I apologize for my extended absence from the blogosphere...here's what's been happening:

In the wee small hours of the morning on August 25th, Dan and I said our goodbyes to my family and started off on our adventure to New York City!!



my dad and me hugging at o'dark thirty in the morning

After seven hours in the air, Dan and I ended our once Oakland fog-trodden day with Manhattan's finest humidity in Times Square. We ate dinner at Sbarro's Pizza and sat amongst a ridiculous amount of people milling about downtown on a Tuesday...if only Danville could experience such a thrill!



no worries, we got some sleep that night and proceeded to look a little more normal again the next day

We crashed with one of Dan's friends from Juilliard whose girlfriend oddly enough knows Aubrey! I love that in such a big city, you can still find the small world. Marty and Meredith were too kind and let us stay at their place for about a week while we looked at probably 25 apartments. The realtors here are bizarre. First of all, they TEXT you. My parents (real estate peeps as well) were just as baffled as I was! Our guy Adam wasn't exactly the brightest bulb but eventually we found the perfect apartment for us! We live in Inwood which is the northern part of The Heights (northern most neighborhoods on Manhattan). My address is on Broadway....albeit 180 blocks or so from Broadway Broadway but still, I'm basically amazed. We live right next door to a lovely park which is probably a good thing considering our building is practically on top of Carrot Top Bakery! We are only about a 25 minute train ride to Juilliard on W. 65th which is great for Dan's upcoming commute to school later this week.

Already we went to the Central Park Zoo with my childhood friend Lindsey and her boyfriend Jordan, met some of Dan's Juilliard friends, and have hung out with our mutual friend Erin who graduated with Dan from Chapman---it's unexplainably nice to see familiar faces amongst the sea of New Yorkers. Speaking of which, these city folk are quite interesting. Firstly, there are way too many young moms slamming their strollers up and down the stairs to get to the subway..shaken baby syndrome, hello! People either run/walk here or they mosey around at the pace of a snail. The humidity (thankfully) has gone down A LOT since we first got here but it's still rather hot. I am told to enjoy it as October will start the colder season. They call the subway the train. They eat dinner past 9pm or 10pm on the regular. But they are also fairly nice and helpful when the two white kids in the Dominican neighborhood need a little assistance.

Dan and I moved in to our little apartment earlier this week and just finally got the majority of our furniture...after going to Ikea three days in a row! Mind you, it's not like driving to Ikea where you know you can shove all of your goodies in your car. Oh no, it's a 45 minute train ride from our northern tip of Manhattan to the very southernmost end of the island and then a 20 minute water taxi ride to Brooklyn! (We pass by Lady Liberty on our water taxi ride which is kind of the coolest thing ever.) Then, after hours in the store and in the restaurant (meatballs and lingonberry sauce galore!), you are forced to carry whatever goodies you buy back on the water taxi and back through multiple turn styles in the train station back to your apartment. They make you work for those inexpensive and fantastic home items! Alas, we finally got some bigger items delivered and our apartment is almost finished. For now, I'll post the blank pictures of our 6th floor, elevator building, laundry in the basement humble abode :) We're so looking forward to art for the walls, curtains for the windows, and the rest of our things to arrive from California and Idaho! Until then, roll the pictures!



entry closet with the old door to the apartment that is sealed...this adds a 3rd closet to our space!



kitchen! we bought a bookshelf for next to the fridge for our microwave and other appliances. the opposite side of the kitchen has a window and room for a table and two chairs...a separate eat-in kitchen is slightly rare here so we lucked out!



our living room. the two windows let in so much light and we have a view of the train and the Harlem River...aka trees!



bathroom...lucky to have a window in the shower! our vanity is a pale lavender which makes me laugh a little, oh the joys of renting



our bedroom has deep his and her closets and two windows for lots of light and actually a lot of space, too!


"These little town blues are melting away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it in old New York
A-a-a-nd if I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York!"

~Frank Sinatra