The Rescue: Invisible Children

So, as I sat down to post today, I noticed all these "Rescue" updates on my facebook and started checking out the Invisible Children Rescue event site. (if you aren't aware of the cause, please go to the Invisible Children website) The Rescue event basically were groups of people (mostly us millenials) who stood in peaceful protest over the children soldiers in Northern Uganda. They were calling for key "moguls" (media, celebrities, government officials) who would come and "rescue" them, and bring light to the cause. They then were supposed to spend the night at their location in solidarity for the children forced into war. I wanted to share a few inspiring photos from this event and links to some really sweet video from various cities, etc, as my way of showing support. Nathan and I signed up to do the DC "Rescue", bought our T-shirts, and ended up staying with our friends because we didn't have anyone to go with. I'm not regretting that decision because we were in the area to be with our friends, but I want to do this post as a way to bring more awareness and do more. Please enjoy.

Los Angeles, California...

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Phoenix, Arizona....

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New York City

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Washington, DC

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Sydney, Australia

Zip Car

Yesterday, for Ikea: Round II, I used my first Zipcar! Well, it wasn't quite the experience I hoped for or heard about. I think it has something to do with the fact that it was a pickup truck and everyone in NY that uses those seems to forget that it's a shared vehicle. Oh well. It was still useful and cheaper than renting a car for the day. I think it's going to be really fun to do mini-adventures in Jersey (yes, i just said adventures and Jersey in the same sentence....I actually do have a story about getting lost in Jersey after Rebekah and Steve's wedding....I'll save it for another time), and other fun places. Here's how it went down yesterday:

I set up the time to pick it up and ended up having to take a taxi to get there b/c the bus was the fastest way to get to the location...which would have made me late. (Okay, so I was a bit behind schedule....I think everyone knows this about me. Argh, maybe NY will be a new leaf?) Anyway, so I got the truck and headed to Ikea with Nathan. Thanks to the fact that no one else signed up for little "Teramoto" I was able to extend my reservation by like 2 hours via the phone. It was taking MUCH longer to do the Ikea stuff than it should have. Plus, it started to rain. Thankfully we bought a tarp at Home Depot just in case. We loaded up the back of the truck, and as luck would have it, a NJ cop was watching us place the tarp. He was giving us tips about the tarp and then showed me his badge and informed me that "his guys would definitely pull me over" if I didn't tie up the tarp better. Argh. Very annoying and not helpful. K...moving on...

We got back to our apartment and unloaded all the stuff. Then, I had to find my way back to where the car's garage was.....yeah, I thought I could remember. This is the fun part about living in a new place. You never know when you'll make a wrong turn and end up somewhere TOTALLY NOT what you were looking for. In Manhattan, it's more like, you never know when you'll make a wrong turn and end up on a bridge to get off Manhattan. No worries, I didn't end up on a bridge. I did, however, make many wrong turns and finally found my way to the garage after I pulled over and looked at a map. (those things are really helpful, you know?) That was only the beginning...

The garage operator had no clue where the subway was and my map had me a little turned around (the subway stations aren't listed on the NFT book maps, just in the back on a Subway map that doesn't show all streets). I ended up walking down canal street and after 2 blocks, I realized I was walking the wrong way. I turned around and started heading in the correct direction. Turns out that I was basically at the beginning of Chinatown. I walked past the Chinatown buses for all sorts of cities: NY to VA Beach; NY to Boston; NY to I'm not sure where; etc. I also discovered that the best ripped off watches, bags, clothes of any kind, and Gucci is found just as you exit Chinatown. Oh, and I stumbled into Little Italy, too, which was cool and I can't wait to take Kristin there. (here, that, friend?) After walking....12 blocks, I saw the Subway...finally. I of course made a stop in the corner Starbucks, and then walked a block to the correct Subway entrance and made it home.

So, I guess this story was more about how I got lost in Chinatown than it was about Zip Car. In the end, the lesson of the day was to reserve a car close to the Subway, not necessarily close to my house.

So, we´re in Bolivia

This blog is in desperate need of updating, but because we are in Bolivia I won´t be updating the blog until around the 21st. Thanks, all!

First "Real" NY Pizza Adventure

Nathan & I figured it was about time that we started trying our search for our favorite NY Pizza. First stop: Mardi Gras Pizza. Ironically, it's one of the highest rated pizza joints in our part of Manhattan and it's actually a Mexican place. In fact, not only can you order their awesome pizza, you can get burritos, tacos, pasta, sandwiches, hamburgers, and fries. It's practically a one-stop-shop for American favorites.

Here's Nathan with his Eggplant Pizza and Goat Cheese:

This pizza was very delish. Crispy, crunchy crust and not overwhelmed with too much sauce. Yummy!

Home Cooking among the boxes...

For our first meal, I made us some yummy pasta with wine in coffee mugs! Here's a fun shot of Nathan at the table with our "feast."

the move.

Sorry for all the crazy blogging but I had to link to Nathan's blog so you can read about our move from...well...I guess from CA, but you know what I mean.

Where we live.

On my first day here, I took a couple shots of the neighborhood. We're basically located right in between TriBeCa and the Financial District. Just a few blocks north is Ground Zero and the World Trade Center. Just to the southeast of us is Wall Street and all that stuff. It's definitely not a very neighborhood-y feel, but lots of people all over the place. Construction like crazy. A new school opening soon and lots of families. Good stuff.


This is a view of the Hudson River with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in the distance. A south facing shot.


We're in the Liberty Terrace Apartment Complex. Appropriate for the whole statue in the distance thing, eh?


This is the plaza on the river side of the World Trade Center. This is a few blocks north of us. Photo is facing south.


We're on Rector Place. =) That's our building in the background.


There's a great running/walking/biking/skating path that goes all the way around the area where we live. This is a south facing shot with our apartment being the one on the right with the pointy top.

Painting...fun project!

Let the painting begin. Here are the before pictures. It took us 2 days to do two rooms....somehow I didn't remember that painting was so difficult.

Nathan in our living/dining room after we finished taping it up.

This is the living room area (photo taken from the window) with me in the kitchen. All taped up and ready for paint!

Me, in the living/dining room. Looking great with the facemask.

This is our bedroom, all taped up and with some borders.

This is more bedroom painting. Nathan's an expert at this point. Our bedroom was day 2.

After pictures coming soon...