let's hear it for new york

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today, august 9th, we've lived in new york city for 1 year.
year 1.
i heart nyc.

late on august 9th, we pulled up in our car, having already traveled across the international dateline (from japan), flew into dc... then drove the 4.5 hours to nyc. we were subletting, getting to know our neighborhood, harlem and struggling with the worse jet-lag we have known. somehow we found an apartment in a week, ben was able to function in law school (the first and hardest year!) and i was able to find a job within a couple months.
all miracles.

or maybe the biggest miracle was actually moving into our fifth floor walk up - we hired movers but one of them didn't show up and we've never been that sore in our entire lives.
also remember when we bought our beautiful brown leather couch and we decided just to move it up the stairs ourselves? just the two of us. with a big couch. and a narrow winding staircase.
other fun things...
we were silly and we used to "quickly" go enter the book of mormon musical lottery... like every single day.
we were stoked out of our minds to get unlimited ride subway passes.
realizing once we had seen handfuls of celebs - that it's a common occurrence and no biggie.
we ate harlem soul food when we signed our first manhattan rental lease.
grocery shopping is a whole other planet experience in the city. especially when you have to carry the groceries up many many many stairs.
it's funny how we thought we knew the city fairly well when we moved here, but we have learned something new everyday (mostly good).
we've built a lot of new favorites, new memories - not all based on our old memories from when we would visit on weekends.
we still love our apartment.

side note... no matter how much i love this city, there are still some things i will never love. dirty streets and subways. that the subway is 20 degrees hotter in the summer than it is outside. being in such close proximity of dirty, smelly strangers EVERYDAY. rats, mice, roaches, pests in general!
that is all :)

with that...

the first year at something is always tricky... you're trying to find your groove. but i feel like each day gets better here... and i have a feeling each year will also just get better.

AND, well... we believe it's best to always be a tourist in your own city. otherwise, you may miss something.

the wedding of jeffy

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happy couple married at the mormon lds temple in logan, utah.
groomsman brandon, groom jeffy, groomsman ben
smiley heidi // the quintessential jeffy face
mmm cake
groomiesmen
come hell or high water we were able to make it to the wedding of jeffy this past weekend.

basically what went down was we originally bought our tickets to fly to utah, come to find out there has been a slight miscommunication as to when the wedding ceremony would be. then by some miracle we were able to change our flight without a fee (those pesky fees). and then came the day we were to fly out (thursday night) and our flight was delayed, delayed then cancelled. a cancelled flight is a billion times worse than a delay.
we stayed overnight in the classiest place in jersey - newark (and if i can help it, i'll never fly out of newark again!). then flight the next morning, cutting it awfully close, but we did in fact make it to the ceremony and wedding reception party of jeffy.

jeffy (aka jeff) is our friend from college. one would say a close-breast-friend type.
ben and jeff were roomies/housemates at one point, as well as great friends. and jeffy and i were just inseparable. we did a lot of after school hanging out and we (jeffy + i) both attended uvsc together before we both transferred to byu. we had institute class together. oh man the memories. jeffy is just full of goof, fun and happiness.

and i am oh so happy for jeffy.
and heidi, the new wifey of jeffy.

i know they will be great together. and to be honest, i haven't felt that happy for someone in a long time.

jeffy, we love you long time.

beautiful women in my life

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foxy ladies (plus some babies)
emilys squared
emmy + linny
em + si + baby kai (who didn't want to be photoed)
seesters
mamma and seesters

a huge treat i get when i/we go to utah... is i get to see some of the beautiful women in my life. many of them, in fact.
i felt lucky to see all these women - especially because being in utah was such a whirlwind of events and seeing people and driving places and getting things done.

i'm glad i got to baby-shower-it-up for my favorite emily (besides myself, of course). and oooo and awww about a lot of pink clothing and a lot of tiny baby things. tiny baby things are the cutest things.
i'm glad i got to talk with old friends like we're still old friends.
i'm glad i got to hang with sister + her fam and my parents, eating food, talking about travel and just sort of soaking up our time together.
i'm glad we got to stay with sister-in-law at her new house, have pool time, have pancakes.
i'm glad we got some aggie ice cream, with just enough time to rush it and enjoy it.
i'm glad we got to be
in utah
in summer.

not pictured (but i saw): linda, katie, christina. we should be better about taking photos together! let's make it our goal.

to have a friend

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over the weekend, lindsay come to visit.

we have been friends for so long that i don't even remember what it was like to not be friends with her. linny left her cute family behind for the weekend and came to play in the city.

we were able to visit some of the best museums, MoMA and guggenheim (i guess it's cool to call it the goog). we ate pizza, burgers, curried rice, smoothies (at home), really big cookies, thai food and frozen yogurt. we saw the famous rock.e.feller. tree.

we saw once...you've heard of it right? that musical? that i've seen 4 times? yeah, that one. one of my favorite quotes from the show is, "love's all very well, but in the hands of people it turns into soup." then one guy asked another if he's married, "yes." "still in love?" "yeah." "fair play man...good soup."

we also got our nails did. linny's first manicure! 

and upright citizens brigade. that great improv comedy place. we went to the assscat 3000 show on sunday evening (the 7:30, $10 one) - because it's the best and something about a ninja with bad gas and someone getting pulled over for singing katy perry too loud in arlington, va.
so. funny. we laughed our guts out. 

and we got to take a sunday nap. oh bliss.

but what i wanted to say is i am grateful for friends. and grateful for linny. to have a friend - that knows me, that knows the back story, that knows that i am still middle school emily, high school emily, spanish class and yearbook emily, college emily-insecurities and all, top-bunk emily...and just that it's ok that even though i've grown up and moved away and i have strong opinions on feminism and social issues and church and life --- we understand each other. 

a little holiday market

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i convinced ben to leave our apartment for a couple hours yesterday. i wanted to visit the union square holiday market.

ben lost all of his reading days because of the hurricane :( and so he had class all last week and is starting finals tomorrow. not so fun for him but i knew he needed a break and i knew he wanted to share a mini cannoli with me. and i know he's going to ace his finals.

the holiday market was fun - with a cool poem of hanging words, spices and wooden bowties. it wasn't amazing --- but mostly it was awesome to get outside in the pleasantly not-so-cold weather and have a little break. there is also (ending today) an art installation in union square park --- a projection of war veterans being interviewed (and some family members) onto the statue of abraham lincoln. i feel lucky to be perpetually surrounded by art - not just the cutesy and pretty but also profound and important.

and
this has been a strange holiday season for us because we have been exceptionally busy and crazy. we bought our christmas tree at midnight (thursday, november 29) and didn't get it decorated for about 5 days. ben hardly even participated too...and i have barely listened to any christmas music. it all feels like a blur but in a few days or a week or so i think i will start feeling more holidayish. if anything, i am always willing to splurge a little more on my electric bill in december. you can't take those christmas lights away from me. 

Glens Falls temple plans 2nd annual Latke Fest

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The iconic pancakes, with sour cream

GLENS FALLS -- Get your latke on, folks. It's that time of year.

The 2nd annual Latke Fest, a competition and celebration of the iconic potato pancake, is set for 2 to 5 p.m. next Sunday (December 9) at Temple Beth El.

The holiday event will pit 10 people competing in two categories -- traditional latkes and twisted latkes, the latter a reinvention of the usual potato-onion-egg-matzo meal combo -- with appropriate garnishes.

The winner will be determined by a popular vote of those attending to hear the klezmer music, watch dancing, participate in contests and children's events, and scarf down latkes.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children 12 and younger. Reserved tables for eight are available for $100. Temple Beth El is located at 3 Marion Avenue. Details and reservations: 792-4364.

Final 2012 Mohawk Valley Farmer's Market

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AMSTERDAM -- The final "Taste of the Mohawk Valley Holiday Farmer's Market" of the year is scheduled for Saturday, December 15.

The indoor event, set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will be held at the Alpin Haus business, 1836 Route 5S opposite the Target Distribution Center.

The market will feature 14 or more local farmers and producers. Admission is free.

Farm fresh meats, dairy products, soaps, custom made gift baskets, winter vegetables, alpaca yarn, and more will be offered for holiday sale.

Anyone wishing to participate as a vendor is asked to contact Toni Christman at 853-4015.