whirlwind

i can't seem to find the motivation to write and i've been really bad about taking pictures as i go. boo on me, i know.


i joined zipcar which allows me to rent a car when i need to go to target, ikea, trader joe's all in one day (actually, within 2.5 hours) or when i need to run around town to buy air conditioners off craigslist. i didn't think i would miss driving as much as i have. the first thing i did was put the radio on npr hoping that car talk would be on. oh the days of driving up and down i-35. 


met up w/ some friends at parkside lounge before seeing david garza at mercury lounge then headed to the bell house for apollo run. man, that was a fun night. i've been a fan of david's since was 15. 


brunch at cornelius w/ a.s. and j.m. followed by a stroll around park slope. dinner at seoul garden w/ a few climbers from chelsea piers. 


ray prim was in town on his east coast tour and stayed w/ me for a few days. somehow d.w. was able to convince me to cook for them (it helped that ray does NOT like to go out to eat) so i had a small dinner party. i miss my dinner parties in austin. can't wait to move to prospect heights so getting to my place will be a little easier so i can continue cooking for peeps. 


ray wanted to play at an open mic at caffe vivaldi in greenwich village/west village. since we got there way too early, we took a little tour of the area. we hit magnolia bakery for a famous cupcake, bleeker street pizza for a mushroom slice, and papaya dog for some hotdogs and a corndog. ray remembers this place from a movie so he just had to eat there (twice). we also met up with denitia odigie who is also a super talented musician and is on tour now so check her out if you can!

ray was playing at googies above living room and, again, we got to the area super early so we hit verlaine for some chicken wings and lychee martinis. everyone that came out headed to epstein's after for some 2 for 1 drinks. by the way, denitia saw this awesome thing in the bathroom at googies. it was meant for me.

on ray's last day, we hit the streets trying to find him some glasses. but of course, food first. ray went to papaya dog and i stopped in at vanessa's dumplings for some...dumplings.

we hung out at union square and chinatown (where he found some frames) then headed to ground zero. i went into st. paul's chapel and the 9/11 memorial and museum. i got a little choked up at some of the items they had on display. highly recommend visiting the chapel.

i'm growing my hair out so it's in that weird in between period. i just needed a cleanup and someone at work recommended astor place hairstylist. this place is funny. there's probably about 30 people working at any one time and it seems like it's more for men. i'm so used to getting pampered since i used to go to jr salon in austin and this was quite a different experience. oh well, it was cheap but i don't know that i'd go back. 

r.l. told me about republic restaurant before i left austin and i finally went last week. this is their version of a bento box. it was good. 

hung out w/ d.l. and k.l. for some 80s dancing at pyramid club. fun! fun! fun! ok, i'm tired of thinking.

xoxo,

p.

thank you, 8 lbs 6 oz sweet, sweet baby jesus. it's spring time!!!

i know the weather affects my mood but i didn't realize just how much until this past week. the weather has been close to perfect and i've been able to get out a lot more than usual since it's still light out when i get home from work.

yet another first to add to the list: climbing. i went to brooklyn boulders w/ d.w. and had a fabulous albeit painful time. i have the blister on my hand to prove it. i went up the top rope wall twice. 

and the boulder wall twice. 

i needed a beer and some food after so we went to pacific standard for some good beer and ordered some sushi from jpan for some good eats.


i walk around madison square park a lot and there's been a new addition to a corner along w/ a few buildings. there's these new statues everywhere of a naked man. it's actually sculptures of antony gormley and they're apparently true to form. you can read a little bit more about it. i was only able to get a good picture of the back and but in the front, he's definitely uncircumcised. 

i've wanted to hit the brooklyn flea market for a while now since i read about it and i finally got my chance recently. this is definitely not the flea market i'm used to. there was no tejano music. no fruit or vegetable tables and definitely no dogs for sale. this is the brooklyn flea.

it was super fun and i would definitely go again since i got some jewelry that i've already received compliments on. gotta love that!

there's also a new brooklyn bridge park that everyone is making a big deal about so i made my way then walked across the brooklyn bridge to manhattan. 

from there, i made my way to union square for the new york pillow fight day.

and since i was in union square, of course i had to hit the farmers market. i got some yummy cookies.

so far, spring time in nyc is pretty awesome.

xoxo,

p.