More Than Useless

This is my new day planner. I love this company - your first thought is that the books are recycled, but they aren't - this company uses post consumer products, so these journals and unique books don't even use the energy that it takes to recycle paper. I am even sending in my coil from my appointment book last year so my book will be made completely from previously used materials!

You can find out more info and see these amazing books at papergeist.com.

Safe in the City

I took a big step this year and put my name onto a lease for an apartment. Although, to be frank, I was somewhat apprehensive of this at first. Finding an apartment in The City was not an easy task. After a restless red-eye from LA to NYC we decided to go out the first day at about 11 am to start the hunt. We looked at about 8 places the first day and could only talk ourselves into considering one of them as a possible place of residence. We agreed to get up early and try again on Friday, and if nothing else turned up we would choose the place from the day before. Friday turned out to be another crazy day schlepping around New York running up and down countless flights of stairs.

It was starting to near the end of our second day - we only had two appointments left. We arrived at W 55th Street to meet Mike who was over 15 minutes late and as he shook our hand kindly said "I do not have a key to get into this building." You could imagine the frustration "what do you mean?? We love this area and want to see this place" I did not say those exact words, and started with "oh, that's okay." When really I was thinking "This trip was pointless and a waste of time."

Then out of nowhere Tom and Otis come into the picture. A current resident (and his cute dog) who has overheard the conversation and invited us into his apartment in the same building with the same layout as the one we are interested in. In my head "does this happen?" Answer: Yes. He was very friendly and we liked the inside of the place enough to agree to meet Mike back at the apartment building an hour and a half later - with the condition that he would be back with a set of keys and a bottle of wine for Tom.

When we arrived back at the infamous apartment building I was surprised to see Mike on time and waiting for us with keys in hand and ready to go. We walked up four more flights of stairs and right into a perfect little apartment. We knew right away that this was the one we wanted. We filled out the paperwork and were into our new place in a matter of days. Thanks Mike!

As we started meeting people in the building we came to find out that this actual building had been very recently the location of multiple robberies - one of which happened to our neighbor. "Uh... scary" - especially considering that CohenSmithChang (the agency through which we got our apartment) conveniently lost a set of our keys on the day we moved in. I started not feeling as safe as I had hoped I would in my first legitimate apartment.

The moving process was a little hectic. We had absolutely no furniture - so the hunt for that began immediately, and I quickly found a chair that I really liked. As Pasha and I were opening the front door to our building, with humongous chair in hand, three men approached us. "Do you need any help?" At first I did not want any random people coming into my new place because of the key situation and robbery mentioned earlier. I took another look and realized that these were just the type of people whose help we could use - Mormons. I don't remember the two brothers' names, but Elder East-Hope (who didn't look old enough to be an elder to me) seemed a very fitting name for a Latter-day-Saint who helps people move furniture. Next came Lou - the big guy from Queens who helped us move the 20 ton media cabinet we thought would be a nice addition to the living room. Big Lou really liked to talk. As I sat in the back of his burgundy van with no windows I learned a lot about old New York and all the old buildings and how much money the city makes from giving people tickets. Lou was a really funny guy - when I tried adding to conversation he would look extremely bored, but as soon as he could talk again he would get so excited. He was not shy to tell us that we had the second to worst piece of furniture that he had ever had to move in all of his days as a "Man with a Van".

After a week I finally got the guts to take the lock off the door (that's right me and a screw driver and a door) all by myself. I took every single piece (it was pretty heavy) to the "Lock and Key" guy down the street and he re-keyed it all for me in no time. I put it all back on the door and now can say I really have the most perfect apartment in New York City. It is simple, safe and comes with its very own StairMaster!

Now, the only thing I really still need is a couch.

Hands

Sometimes people (myself included) do not take enough time to appreciate the simple things. One of the goals that I set for my summer in LA was to go on a double date with my beau, my forever best friend and her new husband. With time running out and no double date having happened yet we decided to have a best friends marathon that would conclude in the long anticipated double date. For the date we wanted to do something fun, different and memorable. I know it is crazy - but despite the nearly three years we have been with both of our significant others we had yet to go on a double date. My boy came up with Ethiopian in the nearby Little Ethiopia and it was quickly agreed upon and decided that it was the perfect double date.

The date was great. We spent all of our time appreciating the company and laughing loud at the simplest of jokes. Sitting in our tiny chars in a circle around the huge basket where our food would soon be placed we were not thinking about controversial topics but just about being together and happy. When everyone's food came it was all on one plate which was set in the basket which we sat around - we all took a piece of injera (the yummy squishy bread) and, with only our hands, all communally ate off of the same plate. The corresponding couples also partook in the Ethiopian tradition of feeding food to someone who you love.

It seems so simple, but sometimes the little things that you do not think about when they are happening are the things that can make you feel the most whole - like laughing with friends that live across the country as if there is not even a mile in between your friendship.

Ticket to Ride

I went to the Orange County Fair this summer and had quite a time taking pictures of the typical fair festivities. Since we went on discounted Thursdays we were there with the even more than creepy normal carnival going crowd.







At the end of the day my carnival experience was quite a good one. There is not a better day than riding kiddy rides with old friends, eating ridiculous amounts of fair food and then binging on some fatty desserts before a long ride home in the back of a tiny car with a huge stuffed dog named Poncho.

The Sound of Silence

This past week I spent a lot of time with friends. And as is expected we talked a lot. We talked about everything from relationships to Shakira's new wolf video and religion to the amount of cheese on a stick you can eat to be considered lunch. But just as we spent a great deal of our time talking we also spent a lot of time in silence.


I think friendship is the most true and honest when you can be with someone else and not feel forced to say anything at all. To just sit there in silence and be comfortable without any worries or awkwardness is one of the most satisfying feelings in the world. I encountered this multiple time with multiple people this week and am sincerely thankful for all of them. Whether it is sitting on a huge rock looking at the freezing cold lake and listening to waterfalls or just driving in the car together with nothing too important to say to ruin the quiet.

It is delightful to think about the friendship and times spent together without forcing conversation or wondering who will speak next. If silence comes the next time you are with people who you consider true friends, I encourage you to embrace it and feel an abundance of security in the absence of sound that can simply be thought of as a peaceful and cozy friendship.