2011 update

I posted about my New Year's goals a few weeks ago. As today is the last day of the month, I decided to check in and see how the first month went.

For 2011 I have planned to do the following throughout the year

• Start and finish seven or more books: 2 down, 5 to go
• Drink 8 glasses of water everyday: So far so good but could be drinking a little more
• Continue taking the stairs to my apartment: For the exception of groceries and laundry, this goal is in full swing
• Gain a new client each month: New client for January, check! Working on a new project now. More to come on this later
• Maintain a consistent work out routine: Feeling better than ever, gaining strength and endurance
• Cook more often/eat out less: Definitely eating out less, but not really cooking more. This one could use some work. I've been turning to Progresso Light soup, Lean Cuisines and cereal
• Make a bigger effort to stay in touch with friends: Can't happen over night, but have been keeping up with emails and sending out cards
• Find a great apartment in my neighborhood that is a little bigger but still in my price range that I can move into by the time my lease goes up August 1: Still a little early to work on this one

Well, this is the one month update. I'm happy with it so far. If anyone has a good page turner to suggest I could really use some ideas. I can't find a book that I really want to dive into.

right now

After watching the snow fall for hours upon hours you have to go out and enjoy it. Even if it's just for a few minutes, and especially before it turns to large piles of brown slosh. This is just another reason I love living next to Central Park. I tried to snag some pictures that would convey the amount of snow we got. I think you have to see it to believe it, but here is an insiders view. Take a look.

If I hadn't pointed out the bike, do you think you would've been able to find it?

P.S. there are two cars on either side of the Range Rover being shoveled out.

My neighbor, the Dakota.

Still playing the sax in the snow.

Winter in Central Park at its finest.

And I have to show you the picture of kids making an igloo/fort. Snow ball fight at 2 o'clock if your in the area!

most snow ever

New York City has already had 56.1" of snow this winter and we are only half way through the season. This month alone we've had more snow than any other January on record. This is the point that I don't mean to gloat, but it is really, really nice to be working from home. More on the numbers from WABC:

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A public information statement issued by the National Weather Service at around 1:30 this morning revealed that the snow associated with this current storm has now put Central Park, Newark, LaGuardia Airport, Bridgeport and Islip over the top in terms of being the snowiest January on record. The old record in Central Park was 27.4 inches back in 1925. This month's total in Central Park was 32.3 inches as of 1 a.m. -- obviously, more is going to be added to both this storm's final tally as well as to the monthly total.

For more, click here.

Pictures from Central Park and my neighborhood coming later today, but check out the progression of snow in the past three days.

Tuesday, January 25

Wednesday, January 26

Early Thursday morning, January 27

flashback

Yesterday, walking home from the gym I had a flashback to my life circa 1996. As I was getting ready to leave the gym I was sweating a lot, so the last thing I wanted to do was put on a big puffy coat. My resistance to putting on the coat was the flashback. I can remember playing basketball at the local YMCA for my grade school and being so hot after a game or practice but was forced to put my coat on because if I didn't, I would inevitably catch cold. Well, mom and dad, your tactics stuck. I was not the one people were staring at on the street for wearing shorts. Seriously, it's cold, put on some pants.

spades not hearts

These little beauties from Kate Spade would make me smile this Valentine's day.

Signature Spade Studs

The Journal Newspaper Clutch

Artist Portfolio Prints: Spring Series

matchbook

Check out this new online magazine that launches tomorrow, January 25, 2011. Get the premiere issue and cozy up with your iPad and trenta cup of coffee, new at Starbucks.

LAUNCHED IN JANUARY 2011, MATCHBOOK IS AN ONLINE LIFESTYLE PUBLICATION CELEBRATING classics - shaken and stirred. OUR MONTHLY ISSUES COVER PAST AND PRESENT FASHION, DECOR, THE ARTS, TRAVEL AND CULTURE. BRIMMING WITH INTRIGUING INTERVIEWS, STATELY HOMES, CAPTIVATING MEMOIRS AND SWOON-WORTHY FASHION SPREADS, MATCHBOOK SEEKS TO INSPIRE WOMEN AROUND THE GLOBE TO DESIGN A LIFE THEY ADORE. From lipstick to letterpress, gelato to grosgrain, and Paris to Peru, consider us your field guide to a charmed life.

brrrrrrr

23 and feels like 11 is an understatement. It is freezing. I am sure wherever you are, except for my friend Christine, who is in Puerto Rico with her fiancé for a cotton convention (yes, a cotton convention), you have turned your heat on. Well, I haven't. And it is not because I'm cheap or trying to save money, my heat is included in my utilities which are covered in my rent. The thing is that 90% of the time the building heat is so hot that I end up cracking my window 24/7. The past few days are not the case. This is the 10% of the time where the building heat isn't sweltering. The problem - the radiator.
The radiator in my apartment is under the window and next to my "kitchen." AND the foot of my bed is up against the radiator. Last winter i never turned it on. So to my knowledge, the radiator has not been used in over 2 years.
Does anyone have any expertise (or common knowledge for that matter) about radiators? Can I turn it on without moving my bed? Will it cause a fire? I really don't want to find out how well my renters insurance is by starting a blaze. And we all know the track record of my apartment building and fires... should I just stick it out? I'm not sick, I don't even have a cough or runny nose, so that isn't a worry. But my ATM card might soon be meeting bed bath & beyond to bring home an extra blanket!

Thoughts? Please share. Until them I'll be in my Mizzou sweatpants, razorback sweatshirt (hood up), smartwool ski socks, UGGs, and a giant cup if green tea.

busy days

This morning after wrapping up the February issue of Global Finance, I hit the gym then tried to go to the running store to get to insoles for my shoes, but they didn't have any that would work. How is so hard to find insoles with an arch high and hard enough to support a runner with mild over pronation? Needless to say it's much harder than you would suspect. Hopefully the store I try tomorrow will come through.

With no luck on the insoles, I decided i would head from Amsterdam and 76th to York and &75th. To translate this is 2 1/4 miles. And I wasn't taking a fast-paced walk for nothing, I was heading to Camille and Derricks to pick up my coat that I left over there last weekend and some knives that they gave me when they were doing some "winter cleaning."

When I got to the apartment, Derrick was cooking a 5-hour French Onion Soup recipe to have for dinner. It smelled so good that I got a hankering for soup myself.

On my way back I decided to stop at Gristedes grocery store because it is THE ONLY place I have found that sells Claussen's pickles. I know this is silly, but they're the best pickles in the world. While I was picking up pickles I thought about what I would make for dinner.

Chili. It is chili weather, period. With another six inches of snow on its way tonight I figured a big pot of turkey chili would be the perfect thing to tide me over till this cold front blows through. Problem. I've never made chili. And I've never had a good healthy chili --- besides deer chili which I clearly can't do since I have no deer meat, but nonetheless, I googled enough recipes to make my own little mix.

93/7 lean turkey, onion, bell and jalapeno peppers, corn, black beans, garlic powder, oregano, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, a little brown sugar (I didn't have white sugar, so I improvised) along with low sodium vegetable broth, and here's the kicker --- salsa.

It's not my mom's chili but it's darn good. It warmed me right up. And I have plenty of leftovers, so come one, come all... let's get snowed in with turkey chili!

maid of honor

This arrived in the mail today. Such a cute way to ask friends to be a part of the wedding party. So now it's official. I'm the Maid of Honor.

re-post a re-post

Like regurgitating good ideas. One person posts something great, another acknowledges and posts about it and then a third person reads about it there and then posts on their own blog. It's like a slow news day. That's what I tell myself anyways.

This blog is great. With my newly engaged sister, I seem to hear about weddings and marriage a lot more lately. A fabulous fellow designer, Chelsea at Superfine Design posted this via To My Wife. Each day or multiple times a day a husband posts little things to his wife. Here are a few recent posts:

PLEASE

Don’t judge me when my head is in the toilet after happy hour. We used to do this all the time. Come onnnn.

VACUUM

I don’t really know how to use these. I turn them on and move them around but I don’t think anything actually happens. I’m sorry.

MY CLOTHES

You look way better in my shirts than I do.

IT JUST SNOWED

Walk in my footprints.

THE KITCHEN

I swear to you, I will make every effort not to make it sound like a mountain is falling down when trying to get a pot or pan from the cabinet.

LONG DAY

I won’t pepper you with questions when we see each other after a long day. There’s nothing wrong with just lounging around and saying nothing for a bit. Relax. Together. Relax Together.

CHILLS

Cold bedroom, lots of blankets.

TRAVEL

Beach in the spring, cities in the fall with some skiing in between?

THE DRIVE

I’ll get the car, you can stay in the restaurant. Unless of course we live in the city and then we’ll just walk.

clearance aisle

Finally. Last Friday, Crate and Barrel launched their clearance Winter sale. Not only did I outfit my bed for under $100, but I FINALLY found a chair. No, not at Crate and Barrel but around the corner at a furniture store. I found a chair and a great modern fabric for upholstery. I won't see the finished product for a few weeks but today, my new bedding arrived. Only two business days after I ordered it. Props to C&B!

As you know I use by bed (currently, that is; until the new chair arrives) as a dining room table, couch, living room, extended office, etc. So after 18 months, a comforter doesn't hold up as well as one would hope. After looking for the past few months for ANY, and I mean ANY brown bedding that is not microsuede, silk or light in color, I found this at C&B.com. I immediately made the bed and put on the new goods.

Yesterday I was looking over my apartment and really wanted to display my artwork instead of tilting up over my desk. Since my bed doesn't have a headboard, I used the side wall to create an entire collage. I'm still tweaking the stencils stickers, but I like the layout of the artwork.

It is more aligned than seen in the picture.

goals. not resolutions

Our first Wine Wednesday back was a great way to start into the new year. Camille's friend from college was in town for business so she got to join our weekly tradition. Since Derrick is on winter break and is home earlier, he pitched in and cooked us a fabulous healthy dinner. He had bought a whole chicken, cut it up, took the skin off and after seasoning it up, he popped it in the oven. Alongside he made a pan of roasted potatoes and onions as well as steamed asparagus. It was delicious! While Ashley, Camille and I caught up, Camille shared her list of goals for 2011. As she says, "resolutions sound more unattainable than goals." A great list of goals I might add. I was thinking about it I realized that I haven't made my own list of goals.

The past three years:

2008: give up diet coke and soda all together. CHECK

2009: graduate college and move to New York. CHECK CHECK

2010: take the stairs up to my apartment UNLESS I'm carrying many groceries, laundry, or if I have company. 90% CHECK

2011....

• Start and finish seven or more books
• Drink 8 glasses of water everyday
• Continue taking the stairs to my apartment
• Gain a new client each month
• Maintain a consistent work out routine
• Cook more often/eat out less
• Make a bigger effort to stay in touch with friends
• Find a great apartment in my neighborhood that is a little bigger but still in my price range that I can move into by the time my lease goes up August 1.

I think these goals are obtainable and within reason. What are your goals for 2011?

another year

Another decade begins. What's your ten year plan?

No I wasn't here. I was in the comfort of my bed, asleep as the clock turned 12:00. Twelve hours in and out of airports and planes on New Year's Eve had me wiped out. After dinner with a great friend, I curled up and watched the crowd on TV before falling asleep.

Props to Google's New Year's Day logo. Always a good one. Happy New Year everyone!