For those of you who have never been to our home, we live in what might generously be 500 square feet in a brownstone that was built in 1904. It's a fantastic apartment with hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, a lovely (albeit non-working) fireplace, hissing radiators, and, at the moment, an insidious pigeon infestation. We love it. What it lacks in space and modern conveniences it more then makes up for in charm.
One of the things we don't have is a washer and dryer. There isn't even one in our building. We drop our clothes off at the laundry place down the block, where for $1.00 a pound they wash, dry and fold all our clothing and intimate apparel. Once you get over the fact that some stranger is pawing through your unmentionables, it's actually one of my favorite things about New York. However, it does leave me with a problem on occasion when I have delicates that need to be laundered. See, while the Chinese Laundry is great for most all our clothes, there is no escaping the fact that they dump all our clothes in an industrial washer, add some industrial detergent, and then industriously pound them into cleanliness. For anything that needs a little more TLC then that, I wait until I have a shopping bag of clothing to be hand washed, and then spend an hour washing it in the pedestal sink in our bathroom, and rinsing everything in the bathtub.
I tackled a huge amount of hand washing today...it was just time. After washing tights, pajamas, swimsuits, sweaters and lingerie, I then had to find a way to dry it all. It looks like a closet exploded in our small bathroom today...there are clothes everywhere -- hanging on the shower fixtures, draped over the curtain rod, covering our one small drying rack. Since our little bathroom has no ventilation, a set up a floor fan to blow in there, and then turned on the vent to pull out all of the humidity. It's like one of those really expensive drying cabinets you can buy on those fancy schmancy dryers. Only it's my bathroom...and it's free! Sometimes I marvel at my own genius...and level of boredom.
Anyway, I thought I'd give all of my friends out there in large apartments and 3-4 bedroom homes a reason to smile, sigh a big sigh, and thank God for your laundry room.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
I've got nothing...
You know, for the last month I've thought at least once a day, "I should really write a new post on my blog." And the reason that I haven't is that I have got absolutely nothing to say. I have opened up a new post a dozen times, typed a few lines, rolled my eyes, and deleted it. Why waste your time and mine saying nothing? My sis-in-law Kelly got on to me for it. A self-proclaimed "blog stalker", she loves seeing what we're up to, and all of our friends too. I have to say, we have friends with some pretty darn adorable kiddos. Your blogs are way more fun to look at then ours. Anyway, Kel says that when I don't write she doesn't know what's going on with us. I know how she feels. When I visit my friends blogs and they haven't changed, I feel like they are still where they were when they posted last...kind of stalled in that moment. Then, when they post something new, I'm excited to see they've been doing something! So, accordingly, I have been stalled on April 25th for nearly a month now. Which, I guess, isn't too far from the truth. I might as well still be on April 25th, as I feel like I've done very little since then.
Spring has come to New York, and the weather is holding steady in the 70's. Now that it has warmed up, I can run in Central Park again without feeling like I'm breathing in ice crystals. It's magical to watch the seasons change in the park. The cherry trees blossomed and shed their blooms in the space of 2 weeks. If you blink, you miss it. At their peak, they are so extravagantly beautiful they almost hurt your eyes.
We had dinner last week with Nate, a friend of ours from Pepperdine. He lives in DC, and was in town for an event with Rudy Giuliani. He invited us to join him for dinner with a couple of the staff members from Giuliani's campaign. You know, government and politics are pretty impressive until you realize that it is mostly run by "kids" our age. I can't decide if that makes me hopeful or scares me to death.
Mother's Day came and went, and I was awestruck yet again my the amazing mothers around me. Not just my own and my husband's...who are both remarkable women AND amazing mothers. But also my friends who are the most extraordinary mothers. I am sure that Kevin and I will have children one day, and I am overwhelmingly blessed to have these moms in my life as examples. I have the chance to watch them be moms, friends, wives, homemakers, and career women simultaneously. They may be occasionally overwhelmed by what they must accomplish in a day...but are always overwhelmed by the blessings in their lives. They have been generous enough to honestly share their joys, burdens, friendship, frustrations, and blessings with me...not to mention their children. It is a gift I hold dearly, and do not take lightly.
Our friends Amber (one of those amazing moms) and Audra came to New York this past week, and crashed on our couch/floor for 3 nights. They saw the city from top to bottom, navigated the subways like pros, and partied like rock stars in the Meatpacking District until 4:45 a.m. These girls know how to make the most of a vacation! On Friday night they didn't even go to bed! They stayed up until they had to catch a cab to the airport at 6:00 a.m. Kev and I were impressed! Having people visit NYC for the first time always makes me see the city with fresh eyes. I am thankful for that.
It's a lazy Sunday afternoon. Kev is reading Conde Nast Traveler and dreaming of our next vacation. (Though, if you know Kevin, you know there aren't many times when he's not dreaming of our next vacation.) I'm writing this much delayed post, surfing my friend's blogs, and looking forward to a nap. (By the way, if you have the time, check out April Spicer's blog. Another one of my remarkable mom friends, she just had her second baby last week and has the sweetest pics on her blog.) None of these things were sufficient for a post on their own...but I guess they work okay together.
I hope everyone had great weekends, and are looking forward to Memorial Day next weekend! Hmm...maybe I'll have something to write about then!
Spring has come to New York, and the weather is holding steady in the 70's. Now that it has warmed up, I can run in Central Park again without feeling like I'm breathing in ice crystals. It's magical to watch the seasons change in the park. The cherry trees blossomed and shed their blooms in the space of 2 weeks. If you blink, you miss it. At their peak, they are so extravagantly beautiful they almost hurt your eyes.
We had dinner last week with Nate, a friend of ours from Pepperdine. He lives in DC, and was in town for an event with Rudy Giuliani. He invited us to join him for dinner with a couple of the staff members from Giuliani's campaign. You know, government and politics are pretty impressive until you realize that it is mostly run by "kids" our age. I can't decide if that makes me hopeful or scares me to death.
Mother's Day came and went, and I was awestruck yet again my the amazing mothers around me. Not just my own and my husband's...who are both remarkable women AND amazing mothers. But also my friends who are the most extraordinary mothers. I am sure that Kevin and I will have children one day, and I am overwhelmingly blessed to have these moms in my life as examples. I have the chance to watch them be moms, friends, wives, homemakers, and career women simultaneously. They may be occasionally overwhelmed by what they must accomplish in a day...but are always overwhelmed by the blessings in their lives. They have been generous enough to honestly share their joys, burdens, friendship, frustrations, and blessings with me...not to mention their children. It is a gift I hold dearly, and do not take lightly.
Our friends Amber (one of those amazing moms) and Audra came to New York this past week, and crashed on our couch/floor for 3 nights. They saw the city from top to bottom, navigated the subways like pros, and partied like rock stars in the Meatpacking District until 4:45 a.m. These girls know how to make the most of a vacation! On Friday night they didn't even go to bed! They stayed up until they had to catch a cab to the airport at 6:00 a.m. Kev and I were impressed! Having people visit NYC for the first time always makes me see the city with fresh eyes. I am thankful for that.
It's a lazy Sunday afternoon. Kev is reading Conde Nast Traveler and dreaming of our next vacation. (Though, if you know Kevin, you know there aren't many times when he's not dreaming of our next vacation.) I'm writing this much delayed post, surfing my friend's blogs, and looking forward to a nap. (By the way, if you have the time, check out April Spicer's blog. Another one of my remarkable mom friends, she just had her second baby last week and has the sweetest pics on her blog.) None of these things were sufficient for a post on their own...but I guess they work okay together.
I hope everyone had great weekends, and are looking forward to Memorial Day next weekend! Hmm...maybe I'll have something to write about then!
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