Presidents' Day

Thank you to the February babies who grew up to be presidents. I LOVE having a day off in February. This year, we decided to take a quick day trip to Philadelphia to check out some of our nation's historic sites and honor our presidents by being where the history was made. We had a blast. It's about a 2-hour drive from NYC. The more I explore, the more I love the east coast. I go to Pennsylvania frequently to visit Derek, but I'd never really spent time in Philadelphia. Philly was a beautiful city and I could definitely get used to the cheesesteaks... YUM! Here are a few pictures from our quick excursion.

Me, Josh, Libby and Valerie at the Liberty Bell

A little too chilly to go commando...

Liberty Bell

Who doesn't want to ride a buffalo???

Rocky Steps... I got 'em

Jim's for Philly Cheesesteaks... AMAZING!

Spelling Bee

We had a stake singles spelling bee for FHE last Monday night. I thought it was a really great, creative activity. Unfortunately, I got out in the first round..... DANGIT! I misspelled G-R-A-F-I-T-T-I or wait, is it G-R-A-F-F-I-T-T-I, or G-R-A-F-F-I-T-I... stupid double consonants. oh well, at least I got an apple for effort. I still remember the word I misspelled in the AZ state spelling bee when I was little. I even asked for the origin of the word because my Dad and I had been practicing the different endings of words based on origin. (Sidenote: I know that I was and probably still AM a dweeb... not a newsflash for me) The word they gave me was Austere. I asked for the origin. They said it was French. I was so excited because I remembered many of the French endings and I was CERTAIN that I'd get it right. So I spelled... O-S-T-I-E-R-E. IERE??? what in the world was I thinking. I am pretty sure I thought a little too hard for my own good. (Something I do all too frequently) And that was that. They dinged the bell and I was out. I was heartbroken. At least this go-round I got an apple to drown my sorrows!

spelling my word

Jasmine and I waiting our turn

Special Delivery

I briefly mentioned before that NYPD delivered a package to my front door from Amazon. Apparently they found the package on the street a few blocks away and decided to return it to its rightful owner. Imagine that. Two NYPD officers show up at your door, "Surprise! it's the NYPD and we're here to deliver your... book of poetry???"

Well, I am glad that they brought it back to me because it is a book of poetry by one of my favorite poets- Ella Wheeler Wilcox. I've been reading through it and though I'd share a few of my favorite poems here- some that I was already very familiar with and some that are new to me. Enjoy!

--------------------------------------

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.
for the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is one that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent,
When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it's only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honor of earth
Is the one that resists the desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen,
Who had no strength for the strife,
The world's highway is cumbered today;
They make up the sum of life.
But the virtue that conquers passion,
And the sorrow that hides in a smile, -
It is thee that are worth the homage of earth,
For we find them but once in a while.

----------------------------------------------

“One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.
Like the winds of the seas are the ways of fate,
As we voyage along through the life:
Tis the set of a soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife. ”

--------------------------------------------------------

There are two kinds of people on earth today,
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.

Not the good and the bad, for 'tis well understood
The good are half bad and the bad are half good.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift-flying years
Brings each man his laughter and each man his tears.

Not the rich and the poor, for to count a man's wealth
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.

Not the humble and proud, for in life's busy span
He who puts on vain airs is not counted a man.

No! The two kinds of people on earth I mean
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.

Wherever you go you will find the world's masses
Are ever divided in just two classes.

And, strangely enough, you will find, too, I ween,
There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?

Or are you a leaner who lets others bear
Your portion of worry and labor and care?”

------------------------------------------------------

“There's one sad truth in life I've found
While journeying east and west -
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.”

-------------------------------------

AND- a great quote from her...

"A weed is but an unloved flower"

HAPPY MONDAY!

My Christmas Newsletter

A Tale of Two Trains

Oh my... normally I love being able to take the subway to work. It is actually very efficient. I walk out of my apartment, over one block, and there I am. When I get out of the subway I walk 2 blocks and I'm at my office. I love it!

Yesterday, however, everything was thrown out of whack. I cursed the subway after yesterday's commute. I got on the B local train at my 86th street stop. I always have to take the local to begin with because the express train doesn't stop at my stop. When I got to 59th street, I had to get off the B because it doesn't go to my office, so I was hoping there would be an express A train there that I could just jump on to get to the office quickly. I saw the train as we pulled into the station and I was stoked... the stars were aligning for me! I got off the train and just as I was about to get over to the express, the doors closed... No big deal... there would surely be a local C train that I could hop on in just a minute. I wasn't too upset because catching that A train would have just been an added bonus. I could still get to work on time if I caught the C. Sure enough, the C train came about a minute later. I got on and squeezed toward the middle. I looked up just in time to see an A train pulling up to the station which would get me there about 5 minutes quicker. so I pushed my way off the train and ran over to the A... they closed the doors right as I got there. I turned around and saw that the C was just pulling away as well. I missed my shot. I had to wait for another 10 minutes for a train to come that I could take to work. I kept thinking about how stupid I was for getting off of the C train to catch the A train when I knew that there was a chance that I might not make it. So, I got off of a good train to catch a faster one and ended up missing them both. Insert your own life lesson here, but I thought a lot about that incident yesterday and how it is played out in so many ways in my life... I ended up being late to work when I would have been just fine had I taken the "slower" train that I didn't want to be on.

On a more interesting note, NYPD delivered a package from Amazon to my front door yesterday... Random! Only in NYC!

Home Sweet Home!

I thought I'd post a few pictures of our apartment. I LOVE it! It's great to have a comfortable, relaxing place that you can come to after work and really feel like you're home!

Our apartment is on the 4th floor of a walk-up building with a cute little stoop out front. we live right across from a grocery store and around the corner from the 86th street subway station. There are AMAZING restaurants all up and down our street and we are 3 blocks away from the Museum of Natural History. I think that the most alluring restaurant that I visit probably once a week os Shake Shack.... LOVE IT! I really need to stop though, my jeans don't love it as much as I do..... :(

This is what you see when you walk into our apartment. We have two long hallways. Off to the right there is a hallway that goes to Libby's bedroom. this hallway leads to the living room and front bedrooms. It passes our *spacious* kitchen..... It's more like an alcove but MUCH better than most NYC kitchens...
This is our dining room as seen from the living room. Off to the right is that hallway that comes from the front door. We have one of our bathrooms on this side of the room as well.
Our lovely Living Room. It's finally finished!

This is y bedroom. It is almost done... I just need to finish making my duvet cover and some more pillows. I'm going to put a loveseat in the corner also. I LOVE my room!

Another view of my room. My windows face Columbus Ave. I get such great sunlight in my room and can see the coolest water towers all over the upper west side every morning as I'm waking up in bed.

Concrete Jungle

Well, it's official.... I am now a New Yorker. I have been living in the city since August and am still adjusting to all of the random characters I see on the subway during my commute, the rats that scurry around the streets at night, the dog urine that seems to coat all of the sidewalks, and the seemingly constant rain. BUT, I have to say that I am IN LOVE with my apartment, my neighborhood, Central Park, the INCREDIBLE restaurants that seem to be on every corner, The Shopping!, and all of my new friends here in the city. Yep, I'm falling in love with the Big Apple! It was definitely an adventure finding an apartment here but we got lucky. We found a beautiful 3 BR, 2 BA on the Upper West Side on 85th and Columbus. We're about a half a block away from Central Park and the subway. We have almost completed decorating the place and it finally feels like home.

One of my favorite things about where I live is how close I am to my brother and his family. I've been able to go out and spend a few weekends with him since the move. I am excited to spend Thanksgiving with the whole family in Pennsylvania.

Even though my life seems like it's all work at times, I've been able to squeeze in some really fun things.

During orientation at Citi they took us to the New York Stock Exchange and we got to be on the floor when they rang the bell. I felt really lucky to get to do something that hardly anyone gets to do anymore. I even got to execute a few rapid-fire high-volume trades while on the floor.

I fulfilled a lifelong dream and spent a weekend at the US Open. I took the subway with the Marshalls and the Smoots to Flushing, Queens and basked in some of the most beautiful tennis I've ever seen in person. We saw the men's semifinal matches and the women's finals. I thought Roger Federer was trying to give me a heart attack at times, but luckily I made it out of the match without being rushed to the emergency room... Roger, on the other hand, didn't fare so well... he lost that one.

I survived an earthquake and a hurricane in my first week of work. When the earthquake happened we were at work and I saw something I never thought I'd see... tons of traders on our floor running for the fire escapes. It made an interesting second day on the job, that's for sure. We hunkered down in Libby's apartment in the financial district during Hurricane Irene and watched as the rain and wind beat down on us. We even ventured out to Battery Park during the eye of the storm to see what the damage was like. Needless to say, we got soaked but enjoyed the chance to play in the "big kid size" puddles.

To give you a feel for my new home, watch this video... I LOVE how it really portrays so many different aspects of the city.

A Year in New York from Andrew Clancy on Vimeo.