Draft Day

Every once in a while I go to 1iota tickets to check for free tickets to shows in New York.  Last week I was excited to see the NFL Draft was one of the events available.  We were confirmed for Friday night tickets & I added this great event to our list!

Here are some pics from Radio City for Round Two of the NFL Draft:

75th Annual NFL Draft

stage is set

our tickets (right in front of ESPN crew)

Mel getting serious (lots of make-up for this guy)

Berman mic'd up (also got to see him air guitar China Rose)

standard Moreland pic

The Podium

Let Round 2 Begin

We cheered loudly (among a lot of boos) when the Cowboys drafted Sean Lee - linebacker from Penn State!  But unfortunately we left before Colt or Shipley were drafted in the third round, which also means we missed Mack Brown announcing Colt's pick.  

It was exciting to see Sergio Kindle & Lamarr Houston go back to back!  So glad we went to cheer and boo right alongside all the other crazy fans! 

Brooklyn Adventure Part 1

We marked 3 things off The List today!  It was quite enjoyable once we got past the stress of navigating the weekend train schedule.

The day began with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by a sweet treat & coffee @ Baked, then Grimaldi's Pizza & ended with a walk back over the bridge.

Here are some of the photos we snapped along the way:

This way to the Brooklyn Bridge

Stephen's ready to start the walk

half way to Brooklyn

Liberty

cars go by

One of the things on our list was to have a sweet & salty brownie from Baked.  It made its way on our list after seeing it featured on Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate" program.  Unfortunately (especially unfortunate since it took us FOREVER to get there), they were out of the sweet & salty brownies & we had to "settle" for this sweet & salty cupcake.  It was delicious & the bits of salt really were enjoyable with the richness of the chocolate!  

sweet & salty cupcake

waiting on the train (again)

Grimaldi's Pizzeria was on the list, because it is often heralded as the best pizza in NYC.  We originally went as we came off the Brooklyn Bridge, but there were tour buses full of people waiting for the restaurant to open!!  When we came back a few hours later the line was still incredibly long, BUT after just over an hour wait, we were seated & thank goodness, the pizza did not disappoint!   

the line @ Grimaldi's

19 old fulton street

the pizza

We thought about taking the train back to Manhattan, but thought it best to walk back over the bridge after all the goodness that went in our bellies!

on the way back to Manhattan

end of a great day

Saturday Night Later

Well - we came, we waited, we will conquer some other time.  Guess Zach Galifianakis is more popular than we thought...either that or we jinxed ourselves by talking about going so much!

Here's a photo timeline of our day trying to get SNL crossed off our list:

no make-up shot in back of cab @ 5:30 a.m.

we got #96 & #97 stand-by tickets for the dress rehearsal

it's a no go for our tickets (i'm apparently a little sadder than stephen)

Unable to cross this one off our bucket list we will try again in a couple of weeks...you know the saying "if at first you don't get live, go back & wait some more".

Year of the Tiger

So the first thing on the list was to attend the Chinatown Chinese Lunar New Year Parade and what perfect timing with my list and all, because Chinese New Year happened to fall on the same weekend!

My inaptitude for being able to read a calendar resulted in a trip to Chinatown two Sundays in a row - the first Sunday, Feb 14th, happened to be the Firecracker Ceremony where the use of over 600,000 firecrackers warded off the evil spirits for the year.  It was way too crowded (see below) to get any good pictures or really a good view period.  Stephen & I just listened to the firecrackers ward those spirits away.

Here are pics from the parade the following Sunday:

one of the many floats

look at that beard & his dog was just like him

regal fellas

taking it all in

prepping for her day

fanned out

the year of the tiger

colorful end

cutest boy

goodbye to chinatown

elaborate masks

Shalom Y'all

Two weekends before I moved to New York I went down to Austin to say goodbye.  While at Trudys indulging in Stuffed Avocado & a Mexican Martini (or two), I stumbled (no pun intended) upon my horoscope in the Austin Observer.  And here is what it said:

Leo Horoscope for July 21-27 2006

The Hebrew word "shalom" is both a hello infused with a goodbye and a goodbye leavened with a hello.  That's why it would be wise and fun for you to make it your word of power in the coming days.  You'll be spinning through a transitional zone in which it won't always be clear which direction is up.  You'll be coming and going simultaneously, embarking on new journeys and ending old ones.  Whenever you say "shalom" whether it's a greeting to someone else or a mantra uttered in solitude, you'll remind yourself that the threshold you're in is pregnant with a thousand possibilities.

Now at the time, and really still to this day, I found this to be the most amazing horoscope ever.  I mean I was moving to NYC and my horoscope not only talks about journeys old & new, but uses the word shalom to do so.  Brilliant. 

Lately I've been thinking about the last line - "pregnant with a thousand possibilities" - and have determined that while I have enjoyed my time in NYC, I have not taken advantage of all the things I should do before I eventually move (I mean you can't stay in a studio apartment with a husband & dog forever, right?).

SO, I got Stephen on board & got one of those childhood composition books & have written out a "to do list" for all the things we want to see, places we want to go, food we want to eat, etc.  A bucket list if you will.

The plan is to do at least one item a week (sometimes more) and also to cross them off while we go (well, actually just a red check beside them, so we can read them later).  So far it is working & so we don't forget, I went ahead and put all the cool things we have done in the almost 4 years we have been here and checked those off, too.

The second part of the plan is to post about each of the things we cross off.  I know this is the part that excites you the most! (yes, sarcasm)...

Any way, I guess the only thing left to say is Shalom Y'all!

this hangs by my front door with the horoscope taped to the back of it 
a gift from Susie to help with my transition