Phone Update

Sadly, the phone thief did not man up and return my mobile device. Luckily, our friends were generous enough to let me have their old one and everything was synched up and restored. Whew. It was pretty easy to do, actually; too easy. You can steal a iphone, ditch and replace the sim card and have it up and running within minutes. I think that it should be possible to report a stolen phone's serial number to apple/att&t so that it can't be activated by a shady crook. Apparently, they do not blacklist serial numbers. When a customer's iphone is stolen, they get to charge him/her big bucks for a replacement. 

I don't think this was as bad as the time my car was stolen on the eve of Christmas Eve. Yeah, that was a lot worse. 

Moving on...

Losing Stuff

For the most part, I try to keep this blog on the positive side; we all have bad days and experience negative and horrible things sometimes. I don't like to vent on here. But I'm sad and angry today.

I woke up and realized that I lost my 30 day metrocard (which is what you swipe to ride the subway and buses), which is almost 100 bucks. Luckily the MTA was able to issue me a credit since it was purchased with a credit card. They were also able to deactivate it so that no one else can use it. It was totally my fault because I had stuck it in my back pocket rather than put it back in my wallet where it belongs. Besides being a bit of an inconvenience,  it ended up not being a huge deal.

A few hours later, I lost my phone. Whoever found it is a sucky person, because instead of contacting one of my contacts or turning it in, he/she ignored my text and phone calls and checked my e-mail. I know that someone found it because my email accounts were accessed on the phone after it went missing. I don't know exactly how it disappeared; I was shopping in the housewares section at TJmaxx and 2 minutes after I left, I realized that it wasn't in my bag or pockets. I had to have dropped it or set it somewhere- either that or someone reached down in my bag and grabbed it? Unfortunately, it wasn't locked and so this shady person was able to access all of my shhtufffff. I can guarantee they didn't find anything interesting or scandalous, and I've changed all of my passwords. My service has been shut off. A friend is going to let me use his old iphone. It's the principle. It makes me sad that a lousy person happened to pick it up.

Fall Visitors

Over the weekend my cousin and his husband flew in from Des Moines and I had the pleasure of being their host. It was great hanging out and exploring the city with them. They're big foodies, which made it that much more fun. Daryl had to work most of the weekend but was able to join us for dinner each night. 

We got a lot accomplished in 2.5 days and had many food experiences. Here are the things I can think of off the top of my head: 

Bouchon Bakery

Ray's Famous Pizza 

La Maison du Chocolat 

Ess-a-Bagel

Ippudo Ramen

Shake Shack 

Chinatown Ice Cream Factory 

Chelsea Market  (Fat Witch Brownies and Ronnybrook Milk Bar)

Amy's Bread 

Kashkaval 

Larry also indulged in Bouchon Bakery by sneaking into our room and eating the top of Brian and Chad's brioche muffin. The next night, he stole apricots from their bag, and on their last night, he broke into their zipped backpack and ate a bag of almonds. That was two days ago and the almonds are still making their way out...apparently he swallowed most of them whole. Pretty disgusting. I guess the ninja misses his pantry. 

About to eat fancy Ramen at Ippudo. This was the only group shot we got.

At the scene of the crime. 

Hi Brian and Chad!
There's a great view of Manhattan from the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights.

They did a great job of documenting their trip on camera. You can visit Brian's blog to see more pics.

We Carved Our Pumpkin

Her name is Shirley. I roasted her seeds with olive oil, a sprinkling of cumin and a dash of salt. Yum. 

Pantry Thief Thwarted

I've been on a cleaning/organization streak this week. It's shocking, really. Last week I ordered a hutch online so we could maximize our kitchen storage. It arrived this morning in a 100 pound box comprised of 50+ pieces. I put that sucker together with my own two hands. It took 5 hours. 

Our pantry problem (no doors, very narrow)

Our other pantry problem (takes advantage of doorless situation)

Thanks thatre degree/stagecraft class, for teaching me about screws. There were many different kinds of screws involved in this project.

The final product. Who needs a man when you're this handy? 

He's sad because he doesn't know how he's going to reach the oats now. Or the honey. Or the baking powder, soy sauce, tahini, and all of the other pantry items that he was fond of stealing.

Columbus Day Pumpkin Patch

On Monday we visited Stony Hill Farms in New Jersey for some pumpkin picking and corn maze fun. I had never been to a corn maze before. If they have them in Texas, I don't know about them. The weather was beautiful and the foliage was just beginning to turn. I'm really excited about carving a pumpkin this year. I haven't done one in years; not since I moved to the city. Since we rented a car for the day, we got to partake in some of my favorite suburban delights: Wal-mart, Chilis and Dairy Queen. It was a good day. 

Yeah, what the sign says...

We picked fresh vegetables. Yum. I brought home some yellow peppers, tomatoes and apples. 

I picked this pumpkin.

This is Tracy's dog, Koda. Adorable. Larry couldn't go because we couldn't hide him in a tote bag.

Serious pumpkin picking.

Hayride! It transported us 30 yards for a dollar apiece...but we made it seem much more exciting.

Welcome, October.

Hi! Sorry it's been awhile. The truth is, life has been a little crazy lately. In the past few weeks we have been presented with moments of extreme joy and at the other end of the spectrum, there has been some heartbreak, too. I'm reminded how lucky I am to be in good health and to have an incredible husband, family and friends who are loving and supportive (not to mention an awesome dog). It's what really matters. And as brutal as NYC can be sometimes, I feel fortunate to be able to wake up every day and give it a shot.

Fall is my favorite season. I look forward to seeing what it will bring.