Welcome to NYC

As a tribute to the upcoming holiday of LOVE, this is just going to be a post of loves: things I've seen or done or people I've run into or general things that have made me happy since the move to NYC.

LOVE.
Jenna Torres 

Singer/songwriter. Amazing wonder woman, talented writer, beautiful spirit. Introduction by the one and only Scot Sax. So pleased we will be working together, Jenna! Find out more about Jenna here. 

LOVE.
Pipsqueak Chapeau 
I grabbed one of these alpaca wool kitty cat hats in light pink for my little girl from this designer in Brooklyn. This little hat turns heads. Lots of beautifully-knitted clothing and accessories for both kids and adults.


LOVE.
Eclipse NYC 

My new friend, Simon, from Eclipse NYC measured, ordered, and installed shades within one week for my large and largely unprivate bedroom windows. Nice guy, great work, and very affordable. Get in touch if you need privacy or just want a bit of drama. 

LOVE.
Auer's Moving & Rigging
These dudes are studs. If you want to hoist something through your window, book 'em. A team arrived yesterday to bring the piano into the new apartment. Perfect execution. Not a scratch. And super nice to boot.

LOVE.
Doma Cafe & Gallery
In the West Village on Perry Street. Great vibes. Check it out.




LOVE.
Gramercy Park Hotel
Speaking of drama...after a night out or if you just need a wee little break during the day, stop in and have a seat in the lobby of this celeb-chic hotel. The piped-in aromatherapy, grand fireplace, and people-watching opps make it a worthwhile, "take a load off" kind of place. You never know who you might run into...Julia, Uma, or in my case, "weird, bipolar lady" nodding off on the opposite end of the couch. Just another typical day in NYC.

Life's Five: Entry 20

We are moving! More to come soon...

Life's Five: Entry 19

Live. Hubs and I watched It's a Wonderful Life (IAWL) last night for the first time in years. Who doesn't love that movie? Its theme never grows tired for me: the hopes and dreams we THINK we have for our lives may not be the ones we're really MEANT to have, but we have to pay attention to WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE to grasp that. 

See, we set up these big ideas in our heads, just like George Bailey did, of what we are going to do with our lives, where we're going to go, how famous we'll be or how much money we'll make. These grand ideas (or delusions) never really allow us to BE HERE in the moment. We're always THERE thinking about how we're going to get it, become it, make it, taste it, buy it, decorate it, see it, slay it, etc. When we're THERE we don't sincerely respect and appreciate all that we have RIGHT NOW...before us...for what it is...in all its glory. And that attitude assures us that we will NEVER GET THERE. Why? Because tomorrow is made up of everything you put into today. If you plant a disrespectful, unappreciative seed today by looking at the present as a means to an end, you will only reap the same kind of harvest tomorrow. Plant seeds of joy, contentment, and gratitude instead. Because it is from those things, my friends, that dreams are made.

"Most people are prisoners, thinking only about the future of living in the past. They are not in the present, and the present is where everything begins." Carlos Santana

Laugh.  Dave Barry's Year in Review: 2009

Learn. CAUTION: Picking up balls of wadded-up wrapping paper can be hazardous to your health. After spending three hours in the emergency room yesterday thinking I had a kidney stone, when I was really having horrendous back spasms that made labor seem like a paper cut, I have decided I should start working out a bit more. Well...more than once every quarter. On Saturday after Christmas, while simply bending over to clean up wrapping paper weighing the same as, oh, say, an air bubble, I tweaked something, I guess. So, after my back is all healed up, it's back to the gym for me, soon after which I hope to be lifting paper towel rolls and cans of beans with ease...and without an ambulance.

Like. I like it when you give a Christmas present and the recipient really likes it. And you know they really like it because they put it on immediately, or better still, they put it to use when you're not even looking. That happened this year with this cake pan and its 13-year-old-pastry-chef-in-the-making-recipient. I really like that cake pan. It makes these cute, little, miniature three-tiered cakes. I showed great restraint by not buying one for myself. Maybe my little pastry chef friend will read this blog and bring me one of the cakes instead...

Love. I love business peeps who give back to their communities. It's really the way it should be. Just like IAWL's George Bailey and his old Building & Loan, my money is in your house, and your money helped grow my business, and really we're all in this thing together, right? So let's keep the circle in motion by GIVING.

That's exactly what my talented friend, Kristen Kalp, of Essential Imagery in Wayne, PA is doing. A Main Line Philadelphia Children's Photographer, Kristen started a project called GIVING IS AWESOME in 2008 that gave back to her community by offering free heirloom photography to a needy family. Her gesture set off a domino effect, leading to hundreds of photographers joining in the effort across the country and the WORLD! This year, Kalp and her photographer friends are repeating the sounding joy and even more folks are jumping on board.

You still have a chance to nominate a deserving family for Kristen's prize (deadline is Dec 31 for her) if your nominated family lives in her area, but if not, you can go to GIVING IS AWESOME's website and find a photog that makes geographic sense for you/your nominated family.

To read more about the project, check out this feature written by Cheryl Allison of Main Line Media News. You can also view Kristen's beautiful work on her website, essentialimagery.com.

Life's Five: Entry 18

Live. Hot chocolate by the fire is one of my favorite activities. Add friends, a movie or a book to the mix, and I'm in heaven. I like mine with whipped cream but marshmallows will do in a pinch. Since I mentioned "pinch" I can tell you I've definitely felt pinched for time lately. Now only a few weeks away from our move to NYC, I believe there will be quite a shift here at Life's Five. I expect to be blogging a lot more often. I'm sure I'll want to share all my new excitement with you once the crazy dies down. Maybe you'll come see me over the winter months and we can share the fun over that nice cup of hot chocolate I mentioned. Check out the top NYC places we could go for cocoa, listed in one of my favorite blogs today: Top Spots for Hot Chocolate in NYC 

Laugh. Yesterday morning my sick daughter, having had fever the entire night before, decided to let me find her in her room playing dead with her eyes wide open. I did not find it funny because I didn't even know she knew that game. I freaked, especially when she continued to lie still for a few seconds after I freaked. When she decided to snap out of the dead-deer-in-the-road-look, her expression turned into a smile. I was relieved she felt good enough to play a prank, but then I had to ask her, "Why would you do that?!" She said, "Because I thought it would be funny!" I gave her a tickle and laughed along with her...after I told her to NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. 

Learn. Never buy energy-saving Christmas lights unless your theme is "Nightmare Before Christmas."

Like. I'm just now sorting out the "Listmania" stuff at Amazon.com. I made my first list of recommended items on there today. Admittedly, one item hardly makes a list, but I think it's a pretty cool item. I hope our nephew likes it too. Since I'm posting it on my blog, it's good that he can't read yet. Well, even if he could read, I'm pretty sure I have no 5-year old male readers in my visiting demographic. For that matter, I'm not sure I have any readers in my visiting demographic. :p Stuff I Found That You Might Like

Love. I adore the Christmas season, the true meaning of Christmas, the lights, the friends, the cooking. I just absolutely love, love, love this time of year. In the midst of all the schedules, parties, deadlines, cleaning, and wrapping, I hope you will find time to sit by the fire with your family. Drink a hot cup of cocoa. Read a Christmas story to your kids. Pet the dog. Kiss your man or kiss your girl. And just let the pine needles drop from the tree to the floor and STAY THERE. You can get them tomorrow. Suck out every drop of goodness from this delicious month and you will be better for it in the new year.

Life's Five: Entry 17

Live. I lost a good friend late last week to pulmonary fibrosis (pulmonaryfibrosis.org). Too young to go, too sick to stay, I'll miss you, Stu. You were a good man, good doctor, and a good father. I enjoyed knowing you. So glad I got one last chance to talk to you before you left us. You will be missed. (People aren't around forever. If somebody's been on your mind lately, call them, email them, stop by, or send that note.)

Laugh. One sermon I think this Mom will never forget: "Dear Lord," the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "Without you, we are but dust." He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter (who was listening!) leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mom, what is butt dust?"

Learn. I like to think I'm just a little creative. It's fun to make something out of nothing, isn't it? Whether it's taglines, lyrics, clay, or paint...true creativity occurs when what's inside of you is simply turned inside out. I am amazed at this video. It started with the composer looking at a photograph in a way no one else had before. Do you need to look at things in a fresh, new way? I know I do at times. Super duper really very much extra medium wish I'd thought of this first: Birds on Wires  

Like. Great blog for mommies in NYC. I'm gonna need you, Mommy Poppins! 

Love. Could you live off the grid if you had to? Modern Day Cave Dweller

Life's Five: Entry 16

Live. We found an apartment!

Laugh. A converted industrial loft, it is virtually soundproof so we can laugh as loud as we want to. I'm envisioning lots of belly laughs...the ones you can't control.

Learn. There are awesome people in our building, including little girlfriends for Isabelle. 

Like. It's steps from three of our favorite parks, great restaurants, and Isabelle's new preschool.

Love. We love the space. We love the building. We love the neighborhood. We love that the search is over.  And I love that I can start functioning again. I am in need of a shower. Exercise wouldn't hurt either. But more importantly, my fun Hunter rainboots arrive today. (I admit these boots have nothing to do with this blog post, but fun new boots don't require an introduction.)

Moving + Loft + Preschool sorted + Hunter Rainboots =
Big Happy Butterflies

This is the living room area of our loft. The huge windows make me giddy.

My new rainboots are being delivered today...ahhh. (Ooh. I think FedEx is at the door now!)

Be good. Be blessed. And please...write it down.

Life's Five: Entry 15

Live. "Our life is frittered away by detail...simplicity simplicity, simplicity."

~ Henry Thoreau

Laugh. "Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis. 

~ Jack Handey, "Deep Thoughts" (Saturday Night Live)

Learn. "There is no oil without squeezing the olives; no wine without pressing the grapes; no fragrance without crushing the flower. So when you are pressed, God is just bringing out the best in you." 

~ Author Unknown

Like. "Getting people to like you is merely the other side of liking them.” 

~ Norman Vincent Peale

Love. "It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship."

 ~ Henry Ward Beecher