"Tropical Storm" Irene

As I'm sure you heard, the hurricane that swept the east coast this past weekend got demoted to a "tropical storm" when it hit NYC.

The reported "over 100 mph winds" were actually around 30 mph when it finally arrived Sunday morning.
I feel bad for people who were more affected by the storm, but I'll be honest, also feel slightly cheated out of my first hurricane experience.
One great thing that came out of the weekend (besides no floods and stuff) was that work and just about everything else was cancelled so we literally got to stay inside and do absolutely nothing for the entire weekend.
: )
We sat around, watched movies, ate and...um....yeah that's it.
And have you heard of the "freshman 15?"
I think I gained the "hurricane 15."
Something about being locked up inside all weekend made me want to stuff my face.
Anyway, here are some pics we took.
Most of them are taken from the exact same spot, because like I said, we didn't really move for 48 hours.

The night before the storm was supposed to arrive we took a walk and were shocked at how DEAD the city was. It was seriously like a ghost town...
Closed Subways
Empty Streets
Even Times Square was literally empty
I wonder when was the last time the city that never sleeps was so quiet.


Here's what it looked like during the storm:



And here are some 'after' pics:


It even turned out to be a beautiful day!

hurricane madness!!!

Earlier this week we experienced an earthquake (at least that's what I'm told...didn't feel a thing), and now we are being threatened by a hurricane.
Excellent.
If I had known there would be this much excitement on the east coast I definitely would have moved here sooner.
This city is going crazy!
People are running around with all of their precious belongings, the subways are shutting down tomorrow at noon, and all sporting events and Broadway shows have been cancelled.
I don't think this has ever happened before.
Our little neighborhood in Manhattan is right near the Hudson River so a mandatory evacuation is in place.
We don't want to be those people who ignore the evacuation and then die and then other people in the future use us as examples of what not to do during natural disasters.
But we are kinda bugged that we have to leave.
Some of our friends have offered us their apartment in midtown so we are planning to spend the rest of the weekend inside with our 72 hour kits in hand, ready for anything!
At least we'll have a good view of the storm, right?
Come on, Eileen!
I mean, Irene....

our royal wedding?

I couldn't help but notice all of the hype this week surrounding Kim Kardashian's wedding.
People were calling it the 'Royal Wedding of the U.S.'
K, that's super embarrassing for us.
But in all honesty I was anxious to see the wedding pics just to see if it lived up to expectations.
And then I saw THIS:

And I was like WOW
Why did you choose to put those weird jewels on your forehead?
And it made me think of THIS:

Do you remember that movie? The Never Ending Story?
Maybe THIS will jog your memory:


Hey Kim K...
You BLEW it.

the mom and sister visit

Lucky for me my Mom and Sister came to visit us this past week!
I haven't seen them since May...I believe this is the longest time I have been away from them.
I have been looking forward to their arrival for weeks and now that they are gone I have nothing to keep me going and my life doesn't feel worth living.
Jk I'm not THAT upset but I do miss them : )
Here's what we did:

Shopped. Like a lot. We considered it our service towards stimulating the economy.

Ran. We ate so much good food that we forced ourselves to workout every morning. BTW...if you ever consider going for a run around Central Park BEWARE! The ginormous hills nearly killed me. Who knew?

Brooklyn Bridged. My favorite thing to do in the city is eat pizza at the famous Grimaldi's in bklyn and then walk across the bridge at night. So we did it. And my friend came with us.

Went to a Broadway Show. We saw 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' staring Daniel Radcliffe. I'm not a Harry Potter fanatic but it was still cool to be in the same room with such a huge star. The play was fantastic and I highly recommend.

Other highlights from the visit include mom walking around with her shirt completely unbuttoned for who knows how long until I noticed and
mom walking around barefoot (gross!) because her new Kate Spade shoes gave her blisters.

COME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

week in pics

Bryant Park Yoga
Adventures in New Jersey

The subways in NJ have these really classy neon lights everywhere.

Oh you know, just a pet snake in his back pack. Normal stuff like that.

Looking at NYC from the NJ side.

Dinner at Creperie NYC


I really think this is epitome of 'hole in the wall' restaurant dining.

The "special."
And it was just that.

Today with Commentary Part Deux

Today I...
Wore black skinnies to work
(Stupid. It is SO hot.)
Rode in a crowded subway car smashed against a big guy with B.O.
(Why did I even shower this morning?)
Did Yoga in Bryant Park
(Least flexible person. Ever.)
Had a PB&J for dinner
(It was a tasty delight.)
Talked to my lil Bro on the phone on his way to Russia
(Here is his blog.)