SATURDAY STROLL

We set out today to explore Riverside Park, which extends both north and south of our apartment. First, we went to lunch though - back to our Mexican place up the street. For the third time in a row, I received a lukewarm entree, so I had to nix our return forevermore. Because it was chilly outside, we went home before our stroll so I could get a jacket. We weren't in the apartment for more than a minute when our buzzer sounded, which means we had a package delivery. It turned out to be our bedroom rug, which turned out to be even better looking than what it did online. It works in the room perfectly. I have to say that my two purchases made online (the bedroom rug and the bedroom curtains) have both far exceeded my nervous sight-unseen expectations. With the rug squared away, we headed out. We decided to walk north, and it was such fun. We saw soccer games, we saw a woman in her 50s learning to ride a bike, we scoped out the accessible big hills for future sled rides, we saw dog runs, and then while heading back on 116th, we stumbled upon Columbia University. We walked the campus and tried our best to pretend we were students - we figured we could pass for graduate students. (Adrian was even carrying his backpack!) The weather forced us to come home as it was getting windier and colder by the minute. Now we plan to relax on the new sofa and watch us some "Entourage".

MUSIC ALL AROUND

I've always enjoyed listening to music while showering and getting ready, but it takes some researching to find a good shower radio/CD player. I've had an assortment in the past that either broke too quickly or had really bad sound quality or couldn't play burned CDs. However, I think I may have found a winner. This is my new shower radio/CD player...though I should just call it my new portable home stereo, as I have also already used it while cooking in the kitchen and organizing in the guest bedroom. It's great looking, plays burned CDs, has excellent sound, and is able to move from room to room. I couldn't ask for more. On a musical side note, last night at Mark's birthday party at Blondies sports bar, we watched the Giants get killed one booth away from Trey Anastasio, an original member of the band Phish. It's not going to get an official CS ranking as I had no idea who he was - someone in my group pointed him out.

NYPL

It feels that much more like home now that I have a New York Public Library card in my wallet.

CS/2

We wanted to get Slaven and Karin a thank you gift for letting us crash at their place for almost a month. We decided they deserved a night out on the town, so we looked into fancy-schmancy restaurants here in the city. We settled on celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's eponymous restaurant, Jean Georges. After picking up a gift certificate there, they called us to tell us that we needed to return because they had given us too many receipts, so we decided to just eat lunch there to try it out. We didn't actually eat in the formal dining room, but in Nougatine, the more casual "cafe". We both ordered the exact same prix fixe meal: squash soup, grilled hake, and chocolate cake. I was facing the room at large and was surprised when I actually saw Jean-Georges come out to greet the table behind Adrian. (I knew who he was because he was once on a Martha Stewart Apprentice episode.) I'm not sure who the couple was at the table, but a few more chefs came out to chat with them during the course of our meal. The funny thing was that about two minutes after getting our desserts, a random server brought an extra dessert out to our table, saying it was "compliments of the chef" - we took it, but then noticed the table next to us, who were also eating the prix fixe dessert, hadn't gotten one. We then wondered if the server was supposed to have brought it to the table behind Adrian - the one with Jean-George's friends. A yummy oops.

BACK FROM CALI

Highlights of the week in California include: seeing good friends (the Novotneys, the Sousas, the Dvoraks) and family (Santa Maria time, Pasadena time, and now Avila Beach time); bonding with our nieces and nephew (both Santana and Liang sides); shopping in Union Square - oh, the old stomping grounds; and of course, SyLee's wedding in Long Beach which was simply beautiful and memorable...except I don't remember some of it (damn those tasty Long Islands), but of what I do, it was perfectly radical.

CS/1

I figure since we'll be in New York for at least two years, I should keep track of any and all celebrity sightings we have. Our inaugural sighting is such a good one too. Yesterday, we were eating lunch with Adrian's dad at a restaurant in our neighborhood known for its organic fare. Adrian spotted Kyra Sedgwick running in from the rain and not two minutes later I saw Kevin Bacon come in from the side entrance and meet her at a table in the back. A celebrity couple enjoying some food on a rainy afternoon, just like us.

WE'RE IN

Yesterday, we moved into our new home! We came bearing our suitcases and assorted shopping bags, picked up our keys and mail (we already had mail!), and crossed the threshold of our apartment. We came early and spent all day cleaning - Adrian worked on the bathrooms, I worked on the kitchen. Unfortunately, it was long and arduous. It was obvious the owner of the apartment didn't feel the need to deep clean before getting new tenants. I can't speak for the bathrooms, though they look clean, but our kitchen is spotless. It is so beautiful now that I almost don't want to put anything in the cabinets or use the appliances. We're already figuring out the quirks of the apartment. Our master bath shower exploded on Adrian while he was in there, so now we're using the guest bathroom until the super comes in on Monday. I think our washer has a mysterious red sock hidden inside it as a pair of Adrian's white gym shorts turned pink today when I did a load of wash. There was nothing remotely red in the load. We slept in our new bed and stacked our mail on our new dining room table, and Adrian played his new Xbox on his new TV. We didn't have any chairs until today when we bought two cheap folding ones - but we did just order real dining chairs late this afternoon. The best thing is that I completely unpacked our suitcases and our clothes are now on hangers and in closets - and clean. We are no longer living out of suitcases! Of course, we leave for California in five days, but that just means I get to ship out all our other clothes. It'll be like Christmas with every box.