Thursday, June 27, 2013

The sunset on my bike ride home last night made for a pretty view of the river and George Washington Bridge. I love the different perspective I get from biking the city. 

Friday, June 14, 2013

Depoe Bay, Oregon. The smallest harbor in the world. 



Thursday, June 13, 2013

Vacation time!

I'm in a new state for me! I am taking a little vacation and visiting Stacy out in Oregon. Yesterday we went to the coast and saw some beautiful sites and lovely lighthouses. It looked like something out of a movie.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Class-less girl

Wooohooo!!!! I just finished my last class for my doctorate! I can't believe it. I can't quite accept it and have a weird feeling that I will suddenly remember a class I forgot to take and will have to start all over in the fall. Haha. 
Just because classes are finished doesn't mean I am out of the woods yet. I still have to do a few things next week and play a final jury and hopefully my lecture recital the week after. But it's super exciting to have finished my classes! So excited for summer break!!!

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Biked the Boros!

Bike ride a success!  Yay!  I felt pretty good during most of it.  If I could do one thing differently I would have worn long pants instead of capris and maybe another layer of shirt.  It was on the cold side, especially when the wind kicked in.  But I had fun and feel a great sense of accomplishment from my day.

There were so many great parts of the ride.  It was amazing how fast we made it to Central Park from lower Manhattan when we didn't have to stop at traffic lights.  Blasting through red lights was fun, as was going up 6th Avenue and seeing iconic buildings like the Empire State Building. Central Park was beautiful in bloom for spring. The views of the city were spectacular, especially crossing the Queensboro bridge with the Roosevelt Island tram passing to my left.  I enjoyed when I was approaching the bridge from the FDR and could look up and see all the bikers riding across the bridge instead of the usual traffic.  It was also fun looking down at the FDR from the bridge and seeing it completely packed with cyclists.

There were a LOT of people participating today.  (Maybe too many.  There were several times we got so cluttered we actually had to stop to space out.) I loved when we went onto the BQE and no one could resist the natural urge to "check to see if any traffic was coming" as we merged from the entrance ramp onto the empty highway.  I chuckled when I saw people in front of me do it, but still caught myself doing the same.  The Verrazano bridge was exciting because it was a tough uphill, but it was the very end, so I knew I could give it all I had left and I would be okay.  I loved going over that last hill and racing down to the finish.

I had a great team of friends to ride with and hope we do it again sometime!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Important Observation

Watch out world: two posts in one night.  In one hour even.  But this is big.
I was browsing my blog, looking back at old posts, etc. I noticed the "labels" to the side and saw that I have only had ONE post with the label "shoes."  HOW. IS. THAT. POSSIBLE???? I'm madly passionate about shoes.  I have a wonderful collection of much loved shoes.  So how in the world have I only written about my shoes ONCE?  I don't know. Maybe I forgot to add the label or something. I should go back and check.  It can't be true. I will tag this post with "shoes" to at least double the number.  Maybe I should feature a pair of shoes a week and write a post about them, since I've been so neglectful.  That could be fun.

Update: 9:44 pm: I was able to find a couple of posts that I could add the "shoe" label too, but it's still pretty pathetic.  This must be fixed.

Bike!

My big ride is tomorrow!  The weather forecast looks great. I got my bike tuned up today and I'm excited!  Last night I went to the Bike Expo to pick up my registration packet.  We wear a snazzy vest with our number on it so they can keep track of all of us.  I heard there are 32,000 people registered to ride.  That is a LOT of bikes! One thing I am looking forward to is riding on some of the major roads that will be closed to traffic.  We are riding on the FDR (big highway down the east side of Manhattan) and the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway - Interstate 278).  I mean, they are CLOSING an INTERSTATE for us to cycle on!  Who does that?  I love it!

Does this look like NYC?
I did a couple of rides this week since I have barely been on my bike since last summer.  I actually rode to work and home on Thursday and then rode down there again today.  I'm excited because it only took a little bit longer to ride than to take the subway.  And after the first 10 blocks or so the ride is completely on the Hudson River Greenway: a path for biking, walking, or running that runs the entire length of Manhattan.  It is completely protected from cars (SAFE!) and runs along the water the whole time.  There are lots of trees (which are full of pink and white flowers now) and benches to stop and rest.  It's really one of the nicest things about NYC.  A lot of people use the path, but it rarely seems crowded or clogged up. I like to ride and see everyone from serious bike riders in their spandex, to families teaching their kids, to grandmas with little dogs in their bike baskets.  Everyone is out to have a nice time, get a little exercise, and enjoy their day. I'm excited about riding my bike a lot to work this summer.  It's so much better to be above ground biking through a park rather than underground crowded on a subway car.

Okay...wish me luck tomorrow!  :)


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

You call this spring?

It is the end of April and it's still in the 40's!  It's COLD!  We had a few nice days in the past couple of weeks, but over all spring is doing that thing it does every year up here...take FOREVER to arrive.  You'd think in my 5th year here I would expect it...even be used to it.  But no, every year I am craving the sun and the warm weather and it feels like it will never get here and stay here.

I am riding the 5 Boro Bike Tour on May 5.  That's under two weeks away!  I really hope it warms up by then.  Because of weather and me being crazy crazy busy I have barely had time to be on my bike. I think I've had it out only twice so far this year.  I hope I can handle the big ride!  It is about 40 miles long and goes all over New York City.  If all goes well, it should be a lot of fun.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

3.14

Happy PI day!!!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

It's a rainy day. I'm on the railroad going out to school for a lesson and to hear a recital. My recital is coming up. Lots of practicing to do before then. Next week is spring break so I should have more time to work. Spring break isn't supposed to be for more work, is it? Oh well. Take what you can get!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

I took this picture at the Met Museum a while back.  I'm really feeling this guy right now.
At least my stress will pass.  Poor guy is stuck like that forever.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Friday, March 1, 2013

Feed me.

Lately I've been so busy that I barely have time to eat!  It's bad.  Sometimes I think if Trader Joe didn't make great frozen meals I may not survive.  I would dwindle away to nothing.  I like to cook and eat, but when I get super busy I forget to make time for it and forget to plan to either take food with me, or how, when, and where I am going to pick something up.  It gets so annoying!  The last week or so was the worst.  I was never even home in time to go to the grocery store, so I was really living off frozen meals, granola bars, and sandwiches picked up here and there.  That gets old!  Finally, this weekend, I have a bit of a breather so I am doing some cooking!  I'm trying to make a couple of things that I can eat from the next few days.  I started tonight with the help of Martha Stewart and made a really good (and REALLY quick and easy) chickpea curry.  It turned out better than I expected - tastes like something I would order from an Indian restaurant.  Leftovers - check.  Thumbs up!
Tomorrow I plan to start the crock pot first thing in the morning and make a chicken soup with gnocchi that I have made before, but not in the last year.  I know it's delicious and will make plenty of leftovers.
Yay for eating! 

Monday, February 25, 2013

Saturday, February 9, 2013

snowsnowsnow

Well, so much for spring.  I shouldn't even think about it.  It's cold and we are now in the midst of a blizzard. It is a blizzard named Nemo.  I didn't know they named snowstorms....must be a new thing.  It's kind of silly, in my opinion.  They do like to make everything dramatic.  I read that this is a "ferocious Nor'Easter" and "the worst storm EVER."  The headlines just can't get enough.  Well...we'll see what happens.  It has been pretty steady snow and honestly looks pretty bad out there.  A little earlier tonight a car did get stuck trying to turn the corner by my apartment.  It was funny to watch because some people have no clue how to drive in this kind of weather.  I heard another car "peeling out" going down my street.  I never realized it before, but my apartment does sit on a slight hill.  Slight hills become more significant when the roads are slick.  Ahh...I actually hear tires spinning outside right now.  This could get interesting!

All of my events for tomorrow have been cancelled.  I'm sad that my concert was cancelled because we worked hard this week to prepare for it and now won't be able to play it.  At least I got to learn some new music.  I do have PLENTY of work I can do now that I have more time.  Lots of practicing to do.  I just have to make sure to get out of the apartment for a little bit or I go crazy.  Maybe I should go out and try to find a good coffee/breakfast spot.  Maybe I should go build a snowman.  Who knows.  So many options.

Monday, February 4, 2013

new year, new place

Wow, 2013 took off like a rocket - no turning back!  I started the year out in a new place, literally!  I moved to a new apartment.  I am still in NYC, but moved from Brooklyn to upper Manhattan.  Although it was just moving to a different part of the city, it felt like moving to another state!  What an adventure.  I have a nice spacious new apartment with hardwood floors, high ceilings, and lots of sunlight!  Sunlight is worth it's weight in gold in NYC!  So many apartments are dark and dingy little caves.  Not this one.  I actually try to block out the sun because there is so much of it early in the morning.  I have a corner bedroom with windows facing east and south.  It's not the most spectacular view in the world from my 3rd floor room, but at least being on the corner, I am not looking right into someone else's window...or at an alley where the trash is collected.  There are much worse views than mine.

In a new neighborhood, it takes a while to figure everything out.  Like which grocery store is the best, which restaurants to go to, where the post office is, etc.  I use different subways than I did before and approach everything from a completely different angle.  The upper west side is my new "hang out" and most everything I need is located there, including my job.  The best part is that my commute has been cut in half from what it was in Brooklyn. Most of the movie "You've Got Mail" took place on the upper west side.  I haven't watched that movie since I moved to New York.  It's fun to watch NY things now that I really know the city, so I should probably watch it soon.  If only Netflix streaming would get with the program.

Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline, 1935