Girlfest 2009

23 days and counting until our move back to Tulsa! We still have a lot to do to get ready but we are definitely looking forward to our return to the midwest! In the meantime we've been keeping ourselves busy. My girlfriends from Kansas City came for a visit over Halloween weekend and we had a seriously good time. Gregg especially. Sharing 300 square feet with 4 giggly girls all weekend long. Best weekend of his life I imagine. We did have an insane amount of fun showing them around the city. Highlights included a fabulously fallish stroll through Central Park, seeing Chicago on Broadway, getting dressed up for Halloween and bar hopping through Greenwich Village and laughing our way through a variety of other must see sights throughout the city. The girls came prepared with complete Halloween costumes in their suitcases (Little German girl, gypsy and cave woman) while Gregg and I waited until 15 minutes before heading out the door to pull together our costumes. In the end, I transformed into Ginger, Jazzercize instructor from 198_ and Gregg a construction worker (or uber sexy member of the Village people) Upon exiting the subway to watch the Halloween parade we were greeted with a downpour of rain and while it may have deteriorated our costumes, it did nothing to our spirits and we enjoyed blending into the sea of ridiculously dressed New Yorkers for the remainder of the evening.

The following morning was the New York City marathon and mile marker 16 was literally right outside our door. Therefore, we were greeted early the following morning to the sounds of cheering fans, loud music and much more energy than we were prepared to deal with after our late night out. It was very cool to see the marathon and inspired Gregg to start planning his next big road race.

Aside from their recent visit our lives have been filled with lots of waiting, job, tenant and apartment hunting. Gregg's job search is off to a good start. He has had one phone interview so far and has made some promising connections with a few other companies in Tulsa. Our search for a new tenant is going slower than we'd hoped and is responsible for a majority of the anxiety in our lives at the moment. We're remaining optimistic that everything will work out. Lesson learned: It is unwise to sign a two year lease if you only plan on living in the apartment for 4 months.

Given yesterday's World Series outcome it has become obvious that either Gregg or I (though I suspect it is the latter) have the power to ensure a World Series victory for the team of whatever city we choose to live in. Last night's win was much different than our experience the night the Philly's won the World Series, last year. I was completely unaware the Yankee's had even won until the following morning when I read the paper. When the Philly's won however we watched the entire city pour onto the streets of every intersection in the city yelling, drinking and flipping cars. If only Tulsa had an MLB team I could work my magic on as well.

We hope everyone else had a nice Halloween and look forward to seeing as many people as we can during the upcoming holiday season!

Megan, Katie and I strolling through the park

Riding the Staten Island Ferry

Times Square!

Gregg with his ladies

Getting lunch in China Town

Getting ready to watch Chicago

So ready for Halloween!

What happened after realizing he had a construction hat in the closet 15 min before heading out the door...

All bed and no floor

Homeward Bound

Brrrrrrrrrr! Hopefully the heat will come on in our building soon so that I will be able to continue writing these posts. If it gets any colder my fingers are going to freeze in place mid-word. Our biggest news lately is that we've decided to move back to Tulsa at the beginning of December and resettle ourselves in a land with warmer weather, more friends and family, exponentially more spacious apartments and more job opportunities for engineers(you know, the half of this relationship that pays the bills). While our stay in New York seems to be over before it has even started we both decided that we are going to be happier in Tulsa and we're counting down the weeks before we can move. Gregg's Tulsa job search is off to a good start and hopefully the next few weeks will prove Tulsa to be a better match for Gregg's engineering skills than New York.

This past weekend we took the bus to DC to stay with our friends Ryan and Emily who recently moved to DC and had a great time spending time with then, drooling over their huge apartment, visiting the National Gallery of Art and meeting up with Dave, Mallory and Rob who was also in town. It was a much needed morale booster and will hopefully have given us the encouragement we need to once again relocate ourselves across the country.

In other news, Gregg has joined a co-ed flag football team and has already secured his role as team MVP by scoring three touchdowns in the first game. His team has some awesome people on it and it will be an enjoyable part of our last few weeks here. My birthday was a week and a half ago and it was splendidly New Yorkish. I spend the day dragging Gregg around to various shoe stores in search of black boots (one of his favorite past times) and that night we had dinner at a French crepe restaurant and saw the entertaining off broadway muscial Alter Boys.

Stay warm!

-Libby

The biggest apple of them all

New York has a parade for everything, even Columbus Day

Ryan enjoying the "art" at the National Gallery

Gregg in annual beard face mode

Inside of the Modern Art Gallery

Mallory with Cooper, their new dog

Everybody say "Cheese!"

The Finer Things

Hey Hey Hey,

Well folks, I guess I should start this blog by saying that Libby and I just finished watching the season premier of the Amazing Race - the season on which Libby and I should have been contestants. We anticipated the start of the season to see who in the world could possibly have come between us and being on the show. Within the first minute, we received the answer. The first couple listed was a newlywed couple (although not as newly wed as Libby and I, but I don't want to rant) that more than likely stole our spot. The newlywed couple was an interracial couple featuring a former Miss American winner. Not just contestant - winner. There's just no way for Libby and me to compete with that. So we're not too bummed that we didn't make it...

Libby recently got to meet her favorite author, Philippa Gregory, at a talk/book signing promoting her most recent book "The White Queen". Libby loved it, I endured it. Also, another recent trip to the Upright Citizen's Brigade theatre (or the UCB as we seasoned New Yorkers call it) proves once again that you never know what to expect on any given day in this city. We enjoyed watching a relatively entertaining comedian perform but were takenslightly off guard when he invited two members of "Puppetry of the Penis" onstage to close out the evening. The final ten minutes of the show involved two men wearing nothing but capes demonstrating their "creative flexibility."

In NYC news, this past weekend, my parents came to visit, and we had a blast. We pretty much had about as exciting of a weekend as you could possibly have. There were Broadway plays (yes, plural!), good eating, spectacular views, and using up 2 seconds of our 15 minutes of fame. The night they got in, we stuck around the Times Square area, where my parents were staying. They found a hotel that they could stay at for free (thank you Holiday Inn points!) that had a view of the Times Square Ball. They stayed on the 45th floor, and it was cool to see the city from a little better perspective than street level!

The next day, I arose early to join my parents in the crowd of the Today show. We took up a position in the second row of a fenced off area, behind some people with a poster for Al Roker and the rest of the world to see. Little did we know that the little girl in front of us had a broken elbow, so Al Roker couldn't help but come and interview her and place her on live TV - with us right behind - gawking and grinning like idiots. So if anyone saw that brief interview - my parents and I were there and are desperately searching for the footage. A couple of items of note - I spotted John Krysinski (aka Jim from the Office) gallivanting around the lobby of NBC news, and in person Meredith Viera is kind of scary looking.

My parents were also kind and generous enough to take Libby and I to two (yes, two!) Broadway shows. We sat in the orchestra section for both Shrek the Musical (funny with amazing sets and all around cool) and South Pacific (sing-y with a talented cast and a subtle story). My parents were also generous enough to provide food for Libby and I in return for guidance and showing them the sights (Rockefeller Center, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Central Park, etc.) Libby and I would like to take this chance to publicly thank my parents for their generosity and their willingness to go where we decided to take them.

In other news, I continue to be a stay at home consultant, although a recent hire at my previous place of work has put that status in jeopardy, so stay tuned and I''ll let you know how that turns out. Also, as you may know, Libby received an internship through the Guggenheim Museum. Recently, Libby was ecstatic to learn that with this internship she gets in to any museum in the city of New York -FREE. Sometimes even with a guest. Awesome!!

The true NYC experience for my parents - the Subway

Matt Lauer is actually on 8" tall in real life - true fact.

Hangin' Out in Times Square. Yep, just us and 10,000 other people.

Hooray for Liberty!!

Friends, Funds, and Filmmakers

Over the past few weeks Gregg and I have trying to find a balance between not spending a lot of money and taking advantage of living in Manhattan. It's a constant struggle because all of the cool restaurants, theaters, bars, shops cost lots of money that is currently being eaten up by a detestable little piece of paper called the rent check. Still, we are determined not to be defeated by the expense and exhaustion of life in this city and are in constant search during our non working hours to take advantage of the city. A few weeks ago for example we ventured over to Chelsea to peruse the cities most highly concentrated number of art galleries. Who knew that the art world had an off season and just like football did not have its home opener until the beginning of September. Most of the galleries were closed and we'll have to go back sometime soon.

We have already had a few visitors since arriving. Our friends Josh and Olivia stopped by from Princeton to check out the city for the day. That night was Tulsa's first game of the season and Josh was able to contact some TU alum whom we were able to meet up with and watch the game in a spacious apartment just a short 30 minute train ride north of the city.

Gregg is working hard as a contractor for his Philadelphia employer which is very fortunate since the job market in New York for engineers in his field seems to be non existent at the moment. Not that he's complaining. Who wouldn't want to make Auto Cad drawings from the couch all day with their favorite TV shows playing in the background.

My job is also going well. I'm learning all about children's books and books for young readers but am not impressed with every publishers misconception that teens are only interested in books about sexy vampires. Some of the perks of my job that I am enjoying are 50% off all items in the cafe and the ability to check out any hard cover book from the store to read and return. So if you are looking for a book to read and don't know what to read... consult me!

This past weekend Dave and Mallory came to visit and experience New York for the first time. The four of us spent two nights squished onto one bed and two couches with only moderate discomfort. We took them to Central Park yesterday afternoon and while walking through a particularly narrow path we came across Woody Allen walking inconspicuously with his wife. Seriously, we could have reached out and touched him had we not been the respectable and non intrusive fans that we are. Our reaction was instead overt gawking followed by giddy repetition of the phrase "OhmygoshIcantbelievewejustsawWoodyAllen!!" for the next half hour.

And to wrap things up I found out today that I did get the internship position with the Guggenheim and will be working as a teachers assistant every Wednesday at a school in Queens beginning in October. I'm excited! Hope everyone is enjoying the start of Fall.

-Libby

An adorable family picture in front of 30 Rock

An even MORE adorable picture in front of 30 Rock

Two men in the act of creating art

The best advertisement picture for a street vendor hot dog ever

Documenting our encounter with a commercial shoot featuring famous...Old Navy mannequins

It was purple, I couldn't NOT get it

Not sure

Chillin with the bull on Wall Street

Close Encounters on 3rd Avenue

Two weeks in and Gregg and I are still gradually adjusting to life as New Yorkers. After being ignored by the 20+ art related jobs I've applied to during the month of August, I began passing out my resumé to retailers around the city and less than 24 hours after an interview with Barnes and Noble I jumped on the schedule as a full time employee. Easy enough. Right now I'm stationed primarily in the children's section and have begun important tasks such as helping clueless fathers find gifts for their children and installing colorful and densely packed Halloween displays. Apparently its just around the corner.

In other news on the job front, I was asked to come in for an in person interview at the Guggenheim Museum fancy I know regarding an un-paid, once a week internship position in which I would be assisting a teaching artist with a class in one of the five boroughs. The interview turned into the final round of a Miss America pageant when myself and the three other interviewees in the room had to pull a piece of paper out of a box with a challenging situation we needed to explain how we would handle. Only instead of answering questions about world peace or our stance on gay marriage we had to explain that if little Johnny wanted us to do his work for him we would explain to him that then it wouldn't be his work and that he wouldn't be as proud of it. Or something like that. Lets just say I found the experience a little excessive for a one day a week internship. Still waiting to hear back.

I have always been cynical of how in movies shot in Manhattan chance encounters with unexpected acquaintances change the out come of one's life, or at least one's day. I am no longer a cynic. On Saturday night, Gregg and I were standing on a subway platform with plans to roam the streets of the Upper East Side in search of a relatively affordable restaurant when we heard someone say his name. Before I go any further, keep in mind that there is only one single person who lives in the entire city that Gregg has met prior to moving to New York. His sister's college friend, Chris, whom he met briefly at her wedding over a year ago. So who could possibly be saying his name on the subway platform? The same Chris, who happened to be standing feet from us waiting for the same subway. What the odds? I have no idea. Very slim I'd say. Regardless we met up with him and some of his friends later that evening at a bar in SoHo and had a fun time. So maybe the movies aren't so far off.

Another fun surprise for us came last Monday night when we headed over to Chelsea for an improv show at the Upright Citizen's Bridgade theater. The venue is famous for giving many famous actors and comedians their start and we wanted to check it out. The theater was tiny and by the time we got there the only space available was standing in the back directly behind a couple who felt comedy shows were the perfect time for snuggling and eskimo kisses. I disagree. The surprise was that one of the comedians was an actor on 30 Rock, one of our favorite TV shows. The show could have been made better only if Alec Baldwin himself had appeared and autographed Gregg's bare chest as I anticipate Gregg would have requested.

So we are doing pretty well so far. It is not so hot that we need to take three cold showers a day to stay sane. Things are looking up.

-Libby

And now presenting Times Square!

New New Yorkers...Yorkers

New City. New Blog. I think Gregg and I have been busy enough over the last few weeks to fill 5 blog posts. Since our last update we have enjoyed a visit from my parents, packed up our philadelphia apartment, drove a U-Haul to Manhattan and carried all of our belongings up to the 4th floor of our un-airconditioned and elevatorless building. Not an easy or enjoyable task. Which may explain why after two days of attempting to fit four rooms worth of our stuff into one we took off and drove to the midwest for two weeks to enjoy time with our friends, family and space!

Incase you were wondering it is an 18 hour drive from New York City to St. Louis where we stayed at a friends for the night and an additional 4 to Kansas City where we enjoyed four days eating cheesecake on the Plaza, eating hot dogs at a Royals game and eating caramel brownies at my house. We also had the privilege of being schooled by my Grandma in Rumikub and loved seeing my cousin Stephanie and Aunt Virginia who came down for the day.

Next up was Tulsa where we had a great time hanging out with friends and drooling over the spacious houses everyone seems to have acquired during our year in Philly. Gregg was reunited with his real true love, racquetball and I enjoyed painting toe nails and having gigglefests with my girleypoos.

Our final stop was Dallas where Gregg begged me to take him to the Dallas Museum of Art. Fine Gregg, but just this once. We also got to visit a very cool aquarium that once again confirmed my belief that octpuses octopi? are the most horrific looking animals in the sea. The rest of our stay was spent in the swimming pool, enjoying authentic margaritas and preventing a curious cat named Puma from chowing down on a tiny, defenseless hamster named Squishy.

After two weeks of traveling the Midwest on vacation it was very weird to go home to New York City and get back to real life. Upon coming back to the city our apartment seemed hotter and smaller than we remembered it. The loft bed we purchased to save space is too hot to sleep in and has become nothing more than a storage unit for our bed during the day. We drag the mattress to the floor each night and surround ourselves with fans on full blast. We finally installed some window blinds in an attempt to cool down the apartment and prevent the sun from waking us up hours before our alarm clocks would even consider making a sound. It truly is hot out here and were are often tempted to ride the subway up and down the city just to enjoy the air-conditioning.

We're getting used to things and are having a good time exploring not only the area we live in but the rest of the city. One area I would prefer never to "explore" again is the DMV where we spend 3 hours in line to get NY Drivers Licenses. Now that we have internet securely installed we are full speed ahead on our job searches. Gregg is going to be doing some consulting work for the company he worked for in Philadelphia which is really fortunate and I have applied to about 80 million jobs and am expecting a call any day now from at least one of them.

We hope everyone has had a good summer and we'd love to hear from you!

-Libby

Movin' On Up

We're In!!

Barely...

Avoiding the giants playing badminton in KC

A long awaited reunion

Obligatory cousin picture

Can you guess which one is the true Royals fan?

Kansas Citians + some weirdo

Three girls, a margarita, and Gregg about to hit the floor

The most girly evening EVER

Romos!

Enjoying the wide open spaces of Woodward Park in Tulsa

Gregg and his family at an aquarium that looks eerily like Jurassic Park

Us enjoying the great outdoors.....while inside...

FINALLY!! WE FOUND NEMO!!! Quick. Someone call Marlin