Playing Catch Up

Wow. I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted. Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind of activity. Here are some pictures and a recap about what we've done:

Attended Broadway play: Of Mice & Men

Okay, hands down, best Broadway play I have ever seen. Better than Wicked, but hard to compare two very different genres. Of Mice and Men started James Franco (George), Chris O'Dowd (Lenny) -- love him -- Leighton Meester (Curly's Wife) and Jim Norton (Candy). They all truly won our hearts.

After the play James Franco came out to greet us...

James Franco

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...and 500 other people...

Crowd of young women trying to meet James Franco

Sophie did manage to elbow her way through the crowd and get her Playbill signed.

---Playbill pic to come (just to prove it)---

At the play, we also made some new friends. A mom along with her daughter and daughter's friend sat next to us at the play and we started chatting. They were so friendly and fun that we all went out to dinner together after the show. They hail from Rochester in Upstate NY.

Our new friends

Traveled to Ithaca to Visit Aunts, Uncles, Cousins...and My 101-year-old Grandmother

On Friday, June 19, we drove to Upstate NY, where I grew up until I was nine. This is Sophie's 4th time to Ithaca, but was too young to remember much. We stayed with my Aunt Betsy (my dad's sister) and Uncle Joe who live on Cayuga Lake -- one of the Finger Lakes.

For me it was another trip down memory lane. For Sophie, it was great to connect with many of her distant cousins and relatives and learn more about the "Fox" side of the family. As we drove into town, we drove around Cornell University, went to my old neighborhood and stomping grounds. Then we drove to Trumansburg where my aunt and uncle live, had a nice dinner and caught up.

Saturday, we attended my Great Aunt's memorial service -- Laura Hunt. Her husband is my dad's uncle (my grandmother's brother). While the occasion was a sad one, it was great to re-connect with distant relatives. After the memorial, my Uncle Joe drove us through all the beautiful farm lands in the area. I love that my Uncle Joe can name everyone's farm -- not only who lives in them now, but who lived in them in the past and all the history. Upstate NY is absolutely gorgeous.

Before the memorial service, we visited my Grandmother. She is 101...and a half. Her vision and hearing have diminished and she has dementia. Other than that she is as strong as can be. When we went to visit her, I wasn't sure what we were going to get. Sometimes she pushes people away or has gets very upset. However, she was doing really well that day. She loves to hold hands and give kiss. A lot of what she says is jibberish. But she still likes to tell stories -- she's always been a great storyteller -- but now we have no idea what she is saying. The fact that she told me that she loved me, makes me believe that she knew who I was. I hope. She also loved Sophie. When we stopped by again on our way out of town and it was time to go, I said, "We need to go now, Grandma," and she said, "Okay," and then she took Sophie by the hand and she said, "But she's going to stay."

On Sunday, my Aunt Betsy threw a picnic at her house (she is notorious for having big get togethers with all the relatives - so fun). Most of my cousins where there along with most  of their kids. On this side of the family there are five cousins that are Sophie's age. Last time they were all together they were all 3 years old. We hung out at the lake cottage and the kids got out the jet ski (first time this summer) and Sophie had her first jet ski ride! The weather was perfect all four days we were there.

We love our East Coast family and already miss them.

Here are some pictures from our trip to Ithaca:

"Grandma Great"

Aunt Betsy & Uncle Joe

Northeast Elementary: My old grade school 

The house I lived in until I was 9 

Deer everywhere. This one was in my old neighborhood

Sophiegirl on the jetski

Uncle Joe and Alanah, his and Betsy's great granddaughter. They eat breakfast together almost every morning. 

My Great Grandfather was the pastor at this historic church long ago

The church

Miscellaneous Stuff, HelloFlo and a Yankee Game

Most of our free time in NYC we've been spending walking around the different parts of the city and taking the subway. I'll tell you what, we love public transportation. It is so easy and, after a few snafus here and there of getting on the wrong train or getting off at the wrong stops, we're finally getting the hang of it. So much so, that people actually are asking us for directions. But what's even cooler, is that many times, we know the answers. The other day I was in the subway station on 34th and some 'tourists' asked me for directions to the 9/11 Memorial. I told them how I would get there. Problem is, I have no clue where the 9/11 Memorial is in relation to 34th. Good Lord, I pray they got there.

Here are some random pictures:

We walked from our place to Columbia University. This is inside Riverside Church, which is near the campus.

Riverside Church with Sophie standing at the alter. Gives one perspective of how massive it is. Stunning.

View from my friend Susan McPherson's rooftop deck in Brooklyn. We went over to her place of a sleepover one night. Fun!

In other news...Sophie started her nanny job in Brooklyn. They are a young couple -- both entrepreneurs. They have a 3-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, who are a-dor-a-ble!! Sophie is in love with them. She rides the subway from our place in the Upper West Side all they way to Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn. Fantastic neighborhood filled with brownstones and great shops and restaurants. Very vibrant.

David, the father is the founder and CEO of Ord.in. They provide software for restaurants and companies that allows restaurants to apps with take-out ordering capabilities.Very cool company that is really taking off.

The mother, Naama, is the founder and CEO HelloFlo, which delivers tampons, pads...and candy to your door based on your cycle. Yes, she is the force behind the two videos that went viral in the last two years: "Camp Gyno" and "First Moon Party." First Moon received 7 million views in 24 hours. Now that's brilliant marketing. Here's a link to both:

Camp Gyno

First Moon Party

Last Sunday we went to a Yankees game. Who knew that Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki played for them? Well, not us. But we had a great time. It was against the Red Sox, a huge rivalry. We got popcorn and cotton candy.

We took the subway to the Bronx. Yikes.

Yankee Stadium!

Cotton Candy!

Jumbotron!

Popcorn!

View from our seats!


OOPS! We were sitting in the wrong seats.

View from our real seats!

Big Storm in the Big Apple

A big storm hit NYC on Wednesday night. Sophie was in Brooklyn at her nanny job and I was in TriBeca having dinner with friends. It was a crazy night, but we both made it home safely. The next day we were walking around Mid-town. It was sunny. Occasionally we'd see women in Wellies with skirts. We commented, "Holy Mackerel, it's 90 degrees and 90% humidity. What are they thinking? There must be pools of foot sweat in their boots." We jumped on the subway home and by the time we got to the Upper West Side it was pouring. I'm not talking Oregon rain pouring. I'm talking torrential downpour. Water gushing down streets. People hiding out under door canopies. NO ONE on the streets. Except us. Water gushing out of our shoes and wet outfits stuck to our bodies. And the women with the Wellies. They probably had smirks on their faces and were giving us the middle finger for questioning them earlier in the day.

Click here to see more pics: Storms take Manhattan

No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn

Brooklyn Bridge

 
Or in Sophie's case, I should say, "Sleep in 'Til Brooklyn." Yesterday morning I let Sophie sleep in while I worked. I didn't go for my run jog because I was sore from all the walking, carrying heavy suitcases up 4 flights of slanted staircases, and my jog (I'll call it what it is) the day before. One thing that we've notice about NYC is that most everyone is in good shape. You rarely see an overweight person except for tourists. We noticed the same thing in London. The reason finally dawned on us. It's because they walk -- everywhere. They have to. They go to the grocery store and carry their bags home. They walk to the subway or the bus.  Even if it's just a few blocks it makes a difference. When they get to the subway station they have to go up and down stairs and negotiate the crowds. I thought of my lifestyle in Lake Oswego and it goes like this: walk from my house to my car in the driveway (about 10 steps), drive Sophie to school, walk from my car in my driveway to my house, go to my office and sit and work. Go out for an occasional tennis lesson or a walk or jog. Drive to the grocery store, walk around the store pushing a cart. That's about it. Not much exercise. New Yorkers are getting more exercise each day without even trying -- just living their lifestyle of walking everywhere. Something to think about.

We took the Hop-On Hop-Off bus to Brooklyn. To get to our bus stop we took the subway to Chambers Street -- way down at the bottom of  "the island" near the 9/11 memorial. From there we had to go to 250 Broadway, so we entered the address in our phone and let Siri guide us to our bus stop. She told us to walk up three blocks turn right, go another block, turn right again, then walk three blocks down to our destination. Okay, do you see what's happening here? She made us walk six extra blocks in a circle when we could have one block to our destination. We both agreed that we must have done something at some point to piss Siri off -- like ignored her directions at one point, or asked her to many dumb questions to see how she'd answer. So this was her way of getting back at us -- her way of saying, "Eff you. Don't mess with me because I could make your life miserable." Yikes.

We boarded our bus (We had VIP passes, which meant we get on first -- ha!) and went over to Brooklyn and hopped off on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights. When we got there, we felt like Dorothy going somewhere over the rainbow and landing in the Land of Oz. No there weren't munchkins or flying monkeys -- so don't get all excited. It just felt like a place we always dreamed about: beautiful brownstones with tree-lined streets, people sitting with their neighbors on their front steps talking and laughing, kids riding their bikes, mothers pushing napping babies in strollers, quaint shops and restaurants. Yes, an urban paradise. We loved it. And what's really super cool is this is the neighborhood where Sophie will nanny starting in July. Lucky duck gets to come here four days a week while I sit in the apartment in UWS (upper west side) with droopy floors, slanted stairs and a mysterious landlord. Story of my life.

Oh, and by the way, back to my Siri story. While I was riding on the bus to Brooklyn, it dawned on me that Siri wasn't messing with us after all. I had the app set to 'driving' so she was giving us directions as if we were driving to our destination. How many times have I done this? Countless. You think I would learn.

Sophie at Chez Moi

We had lunch at Chez Moi -- a cute and casual French restaurant that my friend Susan, who lives in Brooklyn Heights, highly recommended. We sat in the front window and got to watch the Brooklynites go by and secretly wish we were one of them. Sophie had the most gorgeous hamburger -- yes, a hamburger can be gorgeous, we just witnessed it -- and I had the risotto with charred asparagus and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Delightful.

MetroCard = Key to the City

We headed back to our bus stop to catch the bus and finish our tour to find out that their were no more buses. Tour over. But that's okay -- we had our 30-day, Unlimited Ride MetroCards, which give us the power to go anywhere at anytime. We walked a few blocks to the subway station and caught the R train to Jay Street, got off, crossed the platform to catch the C train to take all the way back to our place. Super cool. Super easy. I love public transportation. What was also super cool about this subway ride is that it'll be the same commute that Sophie will take to her nanny job in Brooklyn, So it gave us some practice and allowed us to get familiar with the surroundings.

It's only day three and we feel like we are starting our transformation into New Yorkers. A matter of fact, we must look so confident on the streets and subway that people ask *us* for directions. But you know what our typical answer is? "I'm sorry, I don't know." But once that answers changes to, "Go three blocks down to 84th and take a right, you'll see a coffee shop on the corner, go three more shops down and you'll be there," we'll know that we know we've been fully transformed.

WWJD (What Would Jackie Do)

This is the view from my "run" on Sunday morning -- around Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. I put "run" quotes because I thought I was running...until everybody and their dog (okay, actually there were no dogs, they're not allowed on the reservoir track) started to pass me. I guess I was "jogging." How humiliating. But then I think, "What would Jackie do? She'd straighten up, hold her head up high and keep on running jogging." Anyhow, this place is so incredibly beautiful. So beautiful that I had to stop and catch my breath take a photo of the moment. I also stopped by the tennis courts to catch my breath watch some folks play tennis. We found the tennis courts the day before and they are fantastic...and popular. To get a court, you have to show up at 6:30 a.m. at the reservation office onsite and make a reservation for that day. No problem for me -- I'll stop by during my morning run to catch my breath make a reservation for later in the day. Court fees are $15/hour...but you need a permit, which is $200/year...but they sell permits to those under 16 for $10/year...and Sophie is under 16...and they said I can use her permit. Score! I love NY!

Later that morning, Sophie and I played tourist and got on a Hop-on Hop-off bus to tour all of downtown Manhattan. The bus goes to all the sights -- Empire State Building, Flat Iron Building, SoHo, Canal Street, 9/11 Memorial, Wall Street, Battery Park...you get the picture? Along the way you hop off the bus and walk around the area (kind of like a cruise ship touring the Caribean Islands...but there's pavement and the smell of garbage instead of sand and ocean breezes). Our hop-off stops: Macy's and Bloomingdale's, cuz that's how we roll in the Big City.

From Bloomingdale's we walked all the way up the East Side (59th Street to 86th along Lexington Avenue) and then across the Park (Central Park, that is, but we're now on a first name basis). The Park is filled with people -- not tourist per se -- but young families playing on the playgrounds, men playing basketball on the courts, softball teams on the fields, people picnicking, walking, biking, running, walking their dogs (NYCers love their dogs), and sitting under trees reading books. It's really something. It's a real community of people. It's not scary, it's not skanky. It's a super cool place and we're anxious to be a part of it.

Home Sweet Home

On Saturday, June 14, we made it to our apartment. It's cute. It's small. The floors droop in odd places and the stairs leading to the 4th floor, our floor, slant and you feel the need to hang on to the railing. Hey, but it's home, at least for the next 7 weeks. We've never met our landlord, Dov, but we know he lives just above us on the 5th floor. He is a man of few words. We've e-mailed and text. We talked on the phone once. He has a heavy accent. We hear him (or someone) walking around upstairs. We hijack on his Wi-fi connection because ours is not working. But that is all we know. He is "Dov, the Man of Mystery." Aside from the apartment, the neighborhood is exactly what we were looking for: tree-lined streets, quiet, a neighborhood deli, grocer, florist, and laundry mat. Big plus, Central Park is just a 1/2 block away. Tennis courts are just a short walk into Central Park. Subway station is just at the end of our street. While some things may be a little lopsided, we think it's perfect. It's home.

Off Like a Bride's Nighty

On June 13 -- yes, Friday the 13th -- we started our NYC adventure: Living like New Yorkers for 7 weeks in Manhattan. Things went smoothly until thunderstorms and flood warnings hit the East Coast and our plane was delayed by 2 hours...meaning we wouldn't arrive in Newark until 1:30 a.m. and wouldn't make it to our hotel until 2:30. The good news was, we couldn't check into our apartment until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. This gave us the excuse to sleep in and take our own sweet time