west, east

i have been up all night packing. emily and i are moving tomorrow.

i will certainly miss our little home, our charming bedford street (lined with antique shops, bakeries and the most divine restaurants) and, maybe even, our (cute and polite) neighbor boy.

but i must not get too sentimental. 

after all, we are only moving down houston street.

umbrella

on monday, it was raining (cats and dogs) and it was strikingly windy. leaving work at night, every garbage can had at least one broken umbrella in it. and the city sidewalks were speckled with ones that were inverted - every couple of yards. people just gave up on their umbrellas mid-block. it was a rather peculiar sight.

grand

a month ago, i wrote how weekend time was practically perfect. well, i found something even better. grandparent time. similar to hours spent on the weekend, everything is at a leisurely pace - except with an abundance of food and stories about the good ol' days.

i spent the weekend with my grandparents, who live fairly close by in brooklyn. it was wonderful! i haven't spent time alone with them at their house since i was seven, it has always been with my entire family. this visit was long overdue. i would say meals lasted hours, but they really lasted the entire day. (lindsey, would you like scrambled eggs for breakfast? yes! would you like a bagel? yes! would you like waffles? no! would you like another bagel? no! ice cream?...) i heard many lovely stories about the first dates my grandparents had together and what my mother was like when she was younger. they kept my mom's room fairly similar to how, i imagine, it was when she was growing up, so there were tons of drawers to explore and pictures to look at. and it was all at a very slow and thoughtful pace.

then i traveled happily back to manhattan, toting an assortment of treats (including lovely embroidered handkerchiefs, knitted shawls and various symphonies on record).

and, the pièce de résistance, nana re-enforced all of the buttons on my coat! love!

imperative

on the drive into manhattan last year, about to move into my new apartment, my parents were giving me some pretty standard safety advice. always be aware of your surroundings, do not walk home alone at night, lock your windows and your doors.

and then, in all seriousness, my father warned me against the bohemians in the west village.


a year later - i am still alive! still employed! and not in any way a gypsy. so, i suppose, this is some of the best advice i have ever received.

me + you

i like to think that those who have their (name/initials plus+ another name/initials) carved in the sidewalk with a heart around them - are all still wildly in love!


(even though mine are and i most definitely am not)

stroll

it has been terribly cold in new york for the past few weeks and i have been spending as little time as possible outdoors. i don't know how i lived and thrived in vermont for so many years, i am such a baby when it comes to chilly weather. my earmuffs are the most essential part of my wardrobe and during the winter months, i can barely remember what it feels like to ever be warm. but, somehow on saturday, the temperature was up in the 40s and the sun was out shining. the emilys, richard and i spent our entire afternoon wandering around soho and the lower east side. soho is a wonderful neighborhood to stroll through, the buildings are all beautifully unique and every person on the street is dressed beyond stylish. you can't help but to feel fancy and love manhattan. i was even able to wear my most favorite royal blue shoshanna autumn jacket - which always puts a smile on my face.

sweet treats

dreamy

sunshine

and once again, i am ending this weekend with a feeling of wild love for my city, the endless adventures it provides and for my perfectly fun friends.

a new home

in two weeks, it will be exactly one year since emily and i moved to new york city. we went out last night together and talked the whole time about how lucky we are. it takes a lot to move to here - it isn't and wasn't easy. for a while there was no end in sight and everyone around us was saying "you'll never actually move there! you'll never get jobs in this economy! it's too expensive to live there!" but what did we do? we were hopeful, we found wonderful jobs and we moved to the fanciest little gem of a neighborhood in all of manhattan (albeit, we have the tiniest apartment). everything aligned just perfectly.

i remember sitting on my bed the final semester of college while emily was at my computer looking up cities to move to after graduation. we had lived together for two years at that point (with five other lovely friends!) and all of the sudden we both said "we can't live apart!" we first were thinking of austin, then our plan was savannah and then one day after graduating, i called emily up, slightly afraid, suggesting new york city.


emily and i now feel so comfortable here. we can't imagine living anywhere else. we have favorite places to get pizza, sandwiches and cupcakes. we can help tourists with directions and have absolutely no problem using the subway. we have such wonderful friends that i am very thankful for. i have met so many great people here and it's really amazing how our friend circle is so intricately interconnected. i'm friends with people here from high school, college, hebrew school and summer camp - and somehow they all seem to know each other too.

so here we are a year later - getting ready to move out of our apartment and into our next. a new home to have new memories in. emily and i will always look back on our apartment on the bedford street with love (and love and love). the west village is the perfect first neighborhood to live in. it is very charming and safe-feeling. it feels like you're on a movie set. we would often find ourselves in long conversations with the sweet old neighbors on our street (resulting in being late to work on many occasions!) and i don't know how we got so lucky to have blue ribbon bakery on our street corner (best brunch in all of new york!) but now, we feel we are ready to move on.

there is (thankfully) nothing like apartment searching in new york city. looking at many, many apartments (most you could never imagine yourself in) and when you do find one you love, you have to act lightening-fast. handing over tax information, pay stubs, bank statements and thousands and thousands of dollars. i don't think there is a way to go about this process and not stress out a bit (or a lot).

emily and i have spent the past week looking for our next place to live and we have signed a new lease. it's hard to believe we have lived here a year already. i can't imagine packing up our apartment in two weeks. i can't imagine walking down other streets to get home (though we are only moving down houston street). but i am excited. the second chapter in our new york city story. emily and lindsey take on the lower east side.

localvore

while living in burlington, i became very good at buying groceries that were grown and made locally. bread, cheese, honey, chocolate, vegetables, eggs - everything. now that i live outside of vermont, my habit has continued and i still buy local. except local to vermont and not new york. my heart is in the green mountain state and when i see its products in the aisles of my grocery store i can't resist!

rose

at work today, a pink rose was given to everyone. a lovely way to start a monday morning.

first job, first year

emily and i sat on my bed last tuesday night and i couldn't help but get a weird and dreamy feeling about all this year has been for me.

january fifth of last year was the first day of my first job. i can't believe it has already been one year. i think back on how much i have learned since then and all of the wonderful things i have experienced. like being part of the creation of a new fragrance and traveling to europe for it's launch and having meetings with perfumers and making presentations. i only know that my knowledge will continue to grow. it really is wildly thrilling to think of the future.

the first day of work, my boss told me that this job is a learning experience, a chance for me to figure out just what i want to do in the fragrance industry. i am forever grateful for this. i am just starting to figure out what it is that i want to do. i sincerely feel that i am building a strong foundation for the future, and that is a true gift. i still feel like this is the very, very beginning. i am so lucky to work for such a wonderful company that i am so proud of and lets me explore.

i am endlessly appreciative.

diana

it's here! it's here!

today was a wildly exciting day - my diana f+ camera finally arrived. this excitement is only going to multiple by a hundred million when i get my first rolls of film developed. these cameras take the sweetest looking pictures. it's a simple, plastic camera from the early 1960s that is prone to light leaks - making pictures charmingly out of sorts. it will be such a treat to see how the photographs turn out. this is my first film-requiring camera. a new adventure for me - lomography!

wonderland

the hostess

annie is letting me tell this story. i couldn't stop laughing when she told me of her day's adventure but, it also twists into some message, kind of. i hope i can explain this well. here goes!

annie's after-college-plan was to travel around south america. she left for argentina in the middle of october. she returned at the end of june. as she says, she went down there to enjoy and live her life. and she did. she had an internship, but it wasn't incredibly serious and she spent most of her days frolicking around buenos aires. making eyes with the cute candy vendor on the street, traveling the continent, entertaining visiting family and friends, learning spanish with her boss's mother and gallivanting around the city with her lovely new friends.

after her south american escapade, she returned to maryland and immersed herself in craft projects and visits to thrift stores. which was a perfectly fine time - until it wasn't. and she was ready to start the daunting after-college-job-search.

so she begins her day looking for jobs on craigslist. while browsing, she comes across a job posting for a host. a nationally televised chef, also the owner of five restaurants, is looking for a host. "how exciting," thought annie. and it was a perfect position to apply for, because she had been a server at one of the chef's local restaurants last summer. so she begins the process of writing a cover letter. two and a half hours later, she rearranges her resume to fit the particular job and her cover letter is perfect. very thoughtful, connecting her experience as a server at this restaurant to the attributes that would make her a delightful addition to his cooking show. (and i must say, that as long as i have known the girl, she has had a serious love for the food network - so a career in hosting her own show may be in her future.)

she thinks positively and sends her resume and cover letter to the office. a short time later, she receives a phone call.

"annie! we didn't know you were back from argentina! you should have told us! of course you can be a hostess! we can work you into the schedule!"exclaimed her old boss at the restaurant. this host position was not for television.

this is a cockeyed situation for several reasons:

• a person usually gets a hosting job when they are young. usually in high school. annie has already been a server at this restaurant (and others). that is steps above in the restaurant world. she just demoted herself.
• and she wrote a very contemplative cover letter expressing her desire to be a hostess. even using words such as "integrity" and "enthusiasm." she wrote how her experiences as a server (again, steps above this position!) will help her become a host. a job without usually much on one's resume - let alone a position that would require a cover letter.
  
• and she can't tell anyone at the restaurant about this mishap because she would look absolutely batty. one would likely assume that a "host" position in this situation would be for a restaurant, and not one for television.

but it is just one of those silly situations. that once you realize what's going on, you see that you were thinking in the complete opposite direction of what was meant. very common. "it is one of those moments where you think the whole world is focusing in on you and you can't see the logic. i don't know... it's absurd," annie said. but i don't think it's that absurd. it's a different view, really. seeing things in a different way. a friend and i were talking a few weeks ago, about seeing a ballet performance in the orchestra seats or from way up in the balcony- and we concluded that there is no better or worse way to view. there are many angles in a theater, you can see the lovely, sparkling details or you'll be able to fully grasp the grandiose scenery. it's a different look - all to be enjoyed.

it is having a different view on the world and recognizing that sometimes it's important not to take things too seriously. annie did not feel dumb, she instead felt a bit silly and was able to laugh. what a mistake to make! she simply thought in the most colorful and extravagant direction. her view puts a bit of pep into things, no?

anyway, in good spirits, annie is thinking of taking up the offer. after all, she does need a job and could use a little money for a vacation up to burlington, a true wonderland, in a few months.

eve

new year's eve was perfection. 

the very gracious kate hosted a party at her apartment on the upper east side and so many dear college friends flew in for it. i haven't seen some of these lunatics since graduation. we all have such different things going on in our lives now. new jobs, new locations, new boyfriends. new everything. but somehow, everyone is exactly the same as i remembered. except this time we were all in one of the greatest cities in the world. it was such familiar fun.

10 , 9 , 8 , 7 , 6 , 5 , 4 ...

3 , 2 , 1