A taste of NYC

NYC is a place of variety. There are choices for everything from entertainment to religion to food. And there are many good eats. Before we left, I scoured sites like yelp.com, about.com for New York and Brooklyn and other places by neighborhood and wrote them in a little book that I carried in my purse. In that book, I also had places of interest by neighborhood, and when I could, I had subway directions. It was a really handy thing to have that we pulled out often.
There are markets all around, so if you want a fresh salad or piece of fruit, they are easily attainable.

There are also food carts everywhere during the day (by evening, these folks want to go home, but some were still out in Times Square in the evening). As you can see, a lot of fruit and veggie cart were set up, so if you wanted to eat an apple in the Big Apple, you can. There were carts and trucks for everything you could think of from burgers to kabobs to bagels and pastries.

We started out our first day in Macy's on 34th street - because I love the movie "Miracle on 34th Street." We found a Starbucks on one of the upper floors. Starbucks was all over NYC, so if that is your favorite place, you will be happy. There are several other coffee houses around as well, so if you don't like Starbucks, you have a choice - after all, it's New York.

There are well known places like the Soup Man - do you remember the "No soup for you" quote from "Seinfeld?" We didn't eat here, but if we had more time, we probably would have tried it....or the corner diner that they use to hangout in.
We did end up at this place on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. This is a street that isn't as touristy as other places in the city. And there are really cool shops that you can get great things like vintage records, cute fashion...and food. 

We ended up here at Faicco's. I was in heaven.

We ordered the $10 Chicken Mozzarella cutlet sandwich with pesto to go and grabbed some drinks there too. Then, we headed to Washington Square Park to share our picnic. I wish I had taken a picture of the gigantic sandwich. They put four chicken breasts on my half! (No, I didn't eat it all, my husband ate three for me).

Some of my favorite moments come from just buying random food from vendors. I bought two churros from a woman with a cooler in the subway. They were a deal for $1 considering that up on the street with the carts they were $3 for just one.

 (Music in the subway)

I also had to have a pretzel from a cart. It tasted funny....like smoked pork rinds? I couldn't wrap my head around the taste because I kept having to tell myself that it was a pretzel.

On our first night, we ended up at an Irish place. The waitress was the only kinda rude person we encountered in the city. I wouldn't recommend going to this place. The portions were small and the food was just okay.

 But then, we went out to the street and found a bakery and got dessert!

The best dinner we had was off the beaten trail, but a very famous place. Katz's is known for the "When Harry Met Sally" scene where she proves that women fake...well, you know. And the woman next to them says, "I'll have what she's having."

And this is what I had...Matzo ball soup and knish. YUM! I also had a chocolate egg cream. It was...different. I'm glad I tried it, but I don't think I want another. Or maybe I will have one, but not with this kind of soup?

One of the most memorable food moments was at the Chelsea Market in the Chelsea neighborhood. I had a small hot chocolate and it was like molten chocolate without any milk. I didn't like it at first, but it soon grew on me. It was sort of pricey, but it was made with high quality chocolate and a small one was the perfect amount.

So, when in the city - taste everything. Try new things. It will just add to the memory of your time there.

Getting around NYC

I grew up near Los Angeles, so big cities are exciting to me. I looked forward to going to NYC for several months. Yes, the main reason for the trip was to see one of my best friends and her family, but this was going to be a biggie too.
NYC is vastly different from LA and yet they are very similar.
I love that there is a variety of people, food and experiences in both. I love that there is something for everyone in both places.
But in NYC, people walk or take the subway everywhere. In LA, people drive. Maybe because things aren't really close together and there are mountains?
Anyway, I digress.
I LOVE NYC- LOVE. LOVE. LOVE! And surprisingly, my husband who left Atlanta one summer to be a cowboy in Montana because he was tired of the craziness of the city, loved it too!
Day 1 discovery:

Rainy and foggy. We decided to go on a tour bus that you can get on and off to get around the city and get our bearings. We've done this in several other cities and it's a great plan. But the bus tours offered in NYC really didn't cover what I had hoped. They didn't point out movie and TV locations. And they didn't offer as many stops or choices that I had hoped. We would get off at one point and walk around the area, then have to hoof it back to another point to get on the bus. We did A LOT of walking. And the tour that we used didn't mark it's locations well. You had to have the map that they give you and try to figure out the street address.
If you have a hard time getting around or are easily overwhelmed, do the tour. And stay on the tour for the whole loop. They offer one that doesn't stop. They say it takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I think it would take longer because of the traffic.
We did part of the tour over the course of two days, but ended up figuring out the subway system and just did that instead. It's faster and pretty cheap to get around.

A few times, Gerald and I were completely lost. We had several New Yorkers come up to us and offer to help give us directions or help us learn the subways. We never did come across the "rude" New Yorker. 

One of the best deals in NYC is the Staten Island Ferry located at the South end of Manhattan. It's free! Yes, that's right. It's like one of the only free things in NYC. It goes past Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. You can ride over, get off and get on another ferry to ride back. I think it took about 20 minutes to cross. And it takes some time to wait for the ferry to show up. But it is a really neat experience. 

If you do the ferry, try to do it during the day and then return for a night ride. Both are amazingly beautiful. 

And finally, since it is a place where you do a lot of walking (visitors often remark that they never see overweight New Yorkers), head over to the Brooklyn Bridge. It's a pretty bridge. There are nice views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. And I liked hearing the musicians and watching the artists along the way. If you do walk, stay on your side and watch out for bicycles. 

On the go

I have put a lot of thought into what I want to say and do on this blog. It has been a long time since I wrote anything on here. Last time, my husband use to laugh that I was taking pictures of food that I made or things I did with our son. It became sort of a projects blog. But that's really not much of who I am. Yes, I am a stay-at-home mom, homemaker and wife, but there is so much more to me than that. Do you ever feel that way?
My favorite things are traveling, taking pictures, serving at church, shopping, simple crafts, and -of course- being Mom and Wife. I do a lot of volunteering too. They say you should write what you know. (I don't know who "They" are, but "They" usually have great advice). So here we go!

Above is a picture of our dog Maggie. I think she is making sure we pack her for our next trip. Most of the time, she goes to my parent's house. It's a great place for her with a front porch that she loves to hangout on.

My husband and I just got back from New Jersey, New York City and Philly. I'll be writing posts and opinions about that trip soon.

Marco! Polo?

Friends, sorry I've been M.I.A.  It's been a very busy summer.  The picture here is of me at our Shake It Up Cafe VBS.  It's a long, tiresome week that I compare to sorority RUSH.  We're in and out of town a lot too.  But perhaps the biggest reason why I'm not on here blogging is because I'm back to writing for the paper.  And when I write for work, the last thing I want to do in my free time is write some more.  I'm also reconsidering the direction of this blog. What do I want it to look like, feel like and be?  Perhaps you can give me feedback and let me know what you enjoy the most?
I probably won't be around much, so I wanted to let you know, just in case you missed me :) I hope you have a great rest of the summer. I will probably return when football season starts back up.  That's when I become a football widow (wink).
Until then, God bless you!

Gelatin Poke Cake

Here is a true summertime favorite, Gelatin Poke Cake.  A friend from church made this for potluck.  Recently, I made it for a ladies group.  It's super yummy, moist and easy to make.  This recipe can most likely be found in church or community cookbooks.  I found mine online at Duncan Hines

Ingredients

• 1 Small Box of Strawberry Flavored Gelatin or other favorite flavor ( You could do orange and do a pineapple/coconut topping with the whipped cream).
• 1 Box Duncan Hines White Cake Mix
• 1 1/3 Cups Water
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil or Apple Sauce 
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Cup Boiling Water
• 1 Cup Cold Water
• 1 Container  Light Whipped Topping
• Sliced strawberries or sprinkles for topping

To Make

Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box and pour the batter into a 13" x 9" greased baking  pan.   Bake as directed. 

After it is baked, take it out and allow the cake to cool.

As the cake is cooling, you can prepare the Jello. 

To do this,  dissolve package of gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water.  Then, add 1 cup of cold water. 

Now, you want to take a skewer (some people use a fork) and poke holes all around your cake.   Pour the gelatin mixture evenly over the cake.  Now, cover and put in the frig for a couple of hours to set. 

When you are about to serve the cake, top it with the whipped cream and berries or other decorations.  Enjoy!

After the storm

Yesterday marked the 2 month anniversary of the terrible outbreak of tornadoes in the South.  Today, I watched workers put a new roof on my neighbor's house.  

Authorities have said that three tornadoes started in our little town...an F1, F3 and F4.  On April 28th, my son and I spent much of our day sheltered in a coat closet. 

Waves of warnings went on throughout the day.  But it was the last round of the storms that hit us.  A good friend who is a meteorologist gave me a heads up two days earlier about the rash of storms that were going to hit.  The day of the storms, he updated me when to take cover on Facebook.  Brian warned me that the later storm would be the worst one of the day.  Our cable went out around 6 p.m. and we lost our TV and computer.  We still had our lights.  Just after 8, I was putting Ben to bed when our lights flickered and our TV did a weird zap thing.  I heard the wind blow really hard against the wall I was leaning against and something inside of me told me to grab Ben and go.  My husband met us in the hall and told us to get in the closet quick.  My ears popped and I heard the wind howl along with snapping of branches outside.  It was all over in under a minute.  When we emerged from our closet, we were scared of what we might see.  But we were blessed, our roof, walls, windows were all there!  We walked over to a big window in our living room and saw the transformer outside blow.  It looked like the 4th of July right in our front yard.  Later, we discovered that a phone line snapped in two also. By then, all of our lights were out and we went around the house with our flashlights.  Adrenaline rushing through our bodies, we were excitedly going through the house making sure it was OK.  Then, we headed outside to check on our neighbors and see if we could see what happened.  By then, it was pitch black outside and we couldn't see a thing.  Early the next morning, we saw the damage. 

(Literally knocked off it's rocker)

(City and County crews were on the scene right away)

(Our yard...and our driveway is under there somewhere)

(One of several phone lines)

 The Weather Channel along with other authorities said we were hit by the start of what turned into an F4 tornado that ran up the mountain and into the next town, killing four people.  For the rest of the week, friends from church stopped by and helped us clean up.  When he saw our house, my friend's son said angels were all around us and the church.  

I felt that was probably the best answer and most reassuring thing I heard that day. 

Here are pictures of that day. I have tried to match up pictures of today to compare. 

(Looking at our house and our neighbor's, street view)

(These were replaced in a couple of days!)

(No more house.... 

There was a barn there as well, but the storm blew that away, so it's not in either picture.)

(There was once a line of Bradford Pear trees between us and our neighbors. This was the only one left after the storm. It's not there anymore either) 

And here are some other pictures that I didn't know where to place in this piece, but they are interesting. 

(I was told this was an 80 year old tree)

(One of our maple trees that I hope we can save.  I cried when I saw how badly damaged our trees were. It use to be HUGE.  And in the fall, it has the most brilliant color.  It seems silly that I cried over trees when others lost so much more.) 

(Strangely, the smallest middle tree had the least amount of damage)

(Our neighbor's garage was blown away.  

They had a brand new 1-week old riding mower in there!  Guess what, the mower was just fine.)

(The garage was blown to the other neighbor's yard)

The Chattanooga Times Free Press has written several stories about survivors and the towns hit.  They had a heartfelt piece in Sunday's paper about those who were killed. Here is a link to part of the story Chattanooga Times Free Press "We all lost so much."  Here is another part of the story that really touched me: "Precious Lives" 

So, where were you during the storms?