The Chases Take on New York

We've Moved!!!...to Brooklyn!

2011-09-14T00:54:00.000-04:00

After over two years of fun in Manhattan, we made the journey across the the river to the County of Kings, Brooklyn! There's not much to show yet because we're still in the process of setting up our place, but here's the front door to our 3rd floor walk up. Hope you can visit soon!

La Reina Class of 2001 Reunion. Only 37 Days Left! Buy Your Ticket Now!

2011-04-27T13:00:00.000-04:00

Online Ticketing for LRHS Class of 2001 Ten Year Reunion

Czech Republic: Day Three & Four

2011-01-18T16:33:00.000-05:00

Phew! Made it to Prague. I should fill you all in on our last full day with the Lobels, though, before jumping into our Prague adventure. Monday morning we got up and went to Jonny's school. He's a teacher at BMA, a highly academic, well reputed school in Frydlant n.O. It's basically the equivalent of a charter school, but is also the only Christian affiliated school in the country. Anyway

Day 2 in the Czech Republic

2011-01-16T18:47:00.000-05:00

Today was fantastic. My post will be quick because it's time for bed since we're rising early tomorrow. This morning we got up and enjoyed breakfast burritos in Eastern Europe. Hilarious. And delicious. We then set out to a town not too far away where there is a traditional town on display as a museum for tourists. It reminded me a lot of some of the colonial towns

Day 1 in the Czech Republic

2011-01-15T16:28:00.000-05:00

It's almost not fair to say that I've been to CZ before. I was in Prague with my dear friend Christin back in 2003, but for only about 20 hours. We took a train from Dresden, Germany and even got our passports stamped on the train. Well, come to think of it, I think she had an EU card or something so I got a stamp and she didn't. Anyway...I digress. We woke up this morning and enjoyed a

Goodbye, London! Hello, Poland...and CZ!

2011-01-14T12:49:00.000-05:00

Well, we made our first visit to POLAND! I got a passport stamp to prove it! I also ate a meal there, which of course makes it even more official. I should step back for a second though and mention the events leading up to our arrival to Eastern Europe… Nathan and I had a good last half day in London. We gave away all the foods stuff that we had left as well as some paper towels and

High Tea...and Sad Goodbyes

2011-01-13T19:38:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow we leave London. It's actually really sad for both of us. We've loved every minute and I can't say that there are many things I miss about NYC while being here. Of course I miss my friends and I miss my bed, but honestly there's something so inticing about this city I can't really put it into words. You kind of just want to wander all the time...just to anywhere. You're on old

God Save the Queen!

2011-01-12T19:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted. It’s that terrible habit that if you miss a day, it becomes so much easier to miss many. If I hope to keep this blog up, I need to do it every day. (Discipline, Meredith. Discipline!) Okay, okay! So, I want to talk a bit about Sunday because it was day two of our friends’ visit and we definitely took advantage of another

Random but AWESOME

2011-01-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

I'm sure to everyone but me, this is old news, but T-Mobile has a fantastic ad campaign here in the UK using the flash mob style to promote the slogan "life's for sharing." Here are my 2 favorite videos. I've watched them too many times. Haha! London Heathrow: Terminal 5 One that's a bit older in Paddington Station. Love it. That's all for tonight. I'm zonked.

Pubs, Parliament and Photos

2011-01-08T20:38:00.000-05:00

I didn’t do a “real” post yesterday and I apologize. It was a day full of chores and some slight British hilarity/annoyance as I got locked out of my flat for an hour as the cleaning woman took the keys and couldn’t be found. I’m not kidding. So, last night was a blast. We went out to a local pub for drinks and such with Arup people. I know hanging out with a group of

Mid-Day Photo Update

2011-01-07T12:57:00.000-05:00

Had a little fun with a new photo app today. Enjoy a few clips from my day of chores. Laundry Time! (with homework and Walkers crisps of course) A fun shot of a modern London bus on Upper Wooburn Place (our street). Study spot. No surprise. The set up. Ever had a Kit-Kat Chunky? Probably not the best name. Start smooth... Filter Coffee = Drip

Drag Queens and the Rain

2011-01-06T20:38:00.000-05:00

Phew! Today was one of the most colorful days so far since being here. This morning I woke up early and finished the assignment I was supposed to have finished last night (oops). After emailing it in and then getting to class early (go, me!), I was told that our afternoon activity was canceled due to the rain. Argh. Though it would have been so annoying to be out in the rain all afternoon, I

Look! There's an Emergency Exit!

2011-01-05T19:20:00.000-05:00

It's day five and things are starting to feel relatively normal here. It's odd how you can just jump into another culture and just adjust. It is possible that some of the reason I feel this way is because I've already had friends visit as well as the fact that I lived here for almost half a year back in my undergraduate days (and blogged most of it). Either way, I love London and pretty much

Friends for a Decade!

2011-01-04T19:17:00.000-05:00

Today was a great day. The morning started right with breakfast together and each of us off to work or school. Nathan had a pretty good day, but I won’t be blogging his work experiences since I wasn’t there…wouldn’t make much sense to tell it second hand. Class went well. Today we covered some basic epidemiology of HIV and then had a guest speaker from the Mortimer

"Did you get the other basket?" "What basket?"

2011-01-03T17:50:00.000-05:00

It's day three and I'll try to make this update shorter. Class went well. It's a good group of people with wide variety of backgrounds (in life and in academic focus). After our class (10am-1pm), we all headed to Wagamama for lunch. Seriously yum. Nathan and I did some grocery shopping and managed to forget half of the things we wanted to buy, in our second grocery basket...I think that we

Reminder to Self: Voltage is Different in the UK

2011-01-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

Well, it is day two in London. This morning I burned my hair with my overpowered hair dryer. I mean it..I lost two big chunks of hair. I didn’t cry and for that, I’m proud. Feeling a bit dumb that I didn’t pay attention to the heat setting…yikes! We also did a bit of exploring. We had Nando’s for lunch (yum!) and bought some quick essentials at the overpriced market, because I needed to

Made it!

2011-01-01T19:41:00.000-05:00

We arrived without any trouble this evening at Heathrow. All our bags were in order and it was a basically painless Underground trip to our flat where we will be staying the next two weeks. We checked in and grabbed Indian from a place around the corner. (the only place open) Headed to bed. Super exhausted. Maybe it has something to do with less than four hours of sleep last night... Night!

Masters in Counseling & Guidance, Bilingual School Counseling

2010-12-31T12:16:00.000-05:00

Wow. A lot has happened since my last post. It might have something to do with the fact that working full time and taking classes full time this summer took over my life. I was at Fordham taking a full load of courses towards my Masters, since I was wait-listed at NYU. I decided to stay on the wait-list since I wasn't fully sure about Fordham. NYU has a great program, and though on paper it's

Fordham it is!...for now

2010-04-30T12:22:00.000-04:00

I've finally made a decision...sort of. Haha! Don't you just love sentences that start out like that?! But seriously, that's how I feel. Here's the scoop: I found out at the end of March that I was wait-listed for NYU's School Counseling program. It was honestly a huge encouragement because being on a wait-list for a program that has 600+ applications for less than 100 spots (and only 35 for

Trinity Grace Turns 4!

2010-04-25T22:38:00.000-04:00

I really liked this video. Feel like it gives a great snapshot of our church. Enjoy. Lemme know what you think! =) On Our Fourth Anniversary from Trinity Grace Church on Vimeo.

Back to School and God's Provision

2010-01-28T15:47:00.002-05:00

I decided that it might be a good idea to do a quick "life update" since my facebook posts of late have caused a rucous of comments and questions. I think that I've been keeping a lot of these things private-ish because of my unemployment experience. People are incredibly insensitive about unemployment. Though I realize that most of that is completely unintentional and out of pure ignorance

Sweet Deals!

2009-10-19T13:07:00.000-04:00

For all those looking to get to NYC (or Boston for that matter) for a low fare, now's the time to book. Virgin America is boasting $99 each way fares if you book in the next 24 hours (by 7am, Pacific Standard Time). It's a combined thing with Google and applies to a variety of flights (some as low as $39/way)! Check it out!

An Encouragement to my Soul

2009-10-07T23:13:00.000-04:00

So, I never do this, but I'm gonna do it. This has definitely been the hardest season of my life thus far. Moving to a city that is/was foreign, leaving a job I loved, leaving friends I feel I only just scratched the surface of knowing, and being far far away from family all over again. It's been about 5 months of the job search and it seems like it will never pass. God is teaching me a lot

Home for the Holidays

2009-08-25T15:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Nathan and I purchased our tickets home to California for Christmas! Yay! We're officially going to be in California from December 23-January 5! Longer story below...The way this happened was definitely a "God-thing" as I call it. Nathan and I used his Delta Miles to be able to both fly roundtrip to SFO for his graduation. It was perfect. Just $10 for both of us to go to NorCal

A Special Friend

2009-08-23T11:52:00.000-04:00

This is a post dedicated to a friendly turtle I met on the Upper East Side last weekend. Such a cute little guy! His name is Pumpkin and he was rescued by the man in the picture below. His story is that someone decided he was a good target for pellet gun practice. Some hikers found him in distress and brought him to animal rescue. After surgery, Pumpkin was too tame to return to the wild.

The Crazy Week

2009-08-22T22:07:00.000-04:00

This past week has been a bit wild. I was chatting with my sister about my week today on the phone and realized even more how fully it was and how totally legit it was that I was so exhausted from it all. Haha. Anyway....So, on Sunday of last week, the Boatwright Family arrived! Yay! Tara and Luther are some good friends from the Bay Area and they have a 10-month-old baby, Ruth. It was a ton

First Minor League Visit: the Staten Island Yankees

2009-08-13T23:30:00.000-04:00

Tonight was a Stanford Young Alumni event at the Staten Island Yankees. The SI Yanks are one of the Yankees feeder teams, so even though it was totally WRONG to step foot in that stadium, we decided it was a NY experience and we'd cheer for the Auburn DoubleDays (a Blue Jays feeder team). It ended up being kinda hilarious. We first took the SI ferry to get there and then found the group

River Cruise w/ Arup

2009-08-13T11:05:00.000-04:00

Last night was really fun. Nathan and I have gone to a couple mixer things in the city with a couple different groups, and last night was really the first fun one. It was with an engineering group that a bunch of Arup ppl are part of so it was a boat full of engineers. Yeah, before you judge, engineers can really knock the drinks back. So hilarious. Like really. They even brought booze in

La Paz, Bolivia: April

2009-08-11T20:46:00.000-04:00

I figure since I'm back in the blogging routine, I should do updates of the months that I missed on the blog. I'm not going to backdate b/c at this point, that might be a bit silly. So, here's a brief Bolivia update.Easter weekend, Nathan and I met up with my parents, sister Abigail, and my brother Christopher in Miami, FL to head down to Bolivia, South America. Ten years ago this November, my

Weekend Fun, Chase Style

2009-08-11T12:15:00.000-04:00

Nathan and I really enjoyed this past weekend. We try to do at least one fun adventure a weekend if we can. Of course, it's us, so we aren't always doing the typical "tourist" or "NYer" kind of thing. By that I mean, we're not big foodies (trying to save the $$) and we're not big shoppers (same reason). So, I work hard to find things to do that are free and fun. This weekend was no

Views from our Balcony

2009-08-08T13:48:00.001-04:00

Just some fun shots taken from the balcony at various times of day. We love lower Manhattan. It's beautiful down here. Any shots of the river are facing New Jersey. Any shots of the city, are mainly the financial district. The ones of the street below are the park areas on our street.

Before: After

2009-08-07T23:37:00.000-04:00

The long awaited post of apartment pix. Nathan and I have now lived in the city for over 4 months. I can safely say that we're not only starting to feel more at home, but very much settled. Now that the last of the boxes (that conveniently hide in the corners) have been sorted, I took some shots of the place so you can all enjoy our little home. Enjoy!Bedroom, Mid-Move In:Bedroom, After:(View

Hannah Visits

2009-05-23T00:07:00.000-04:00

So, I'm well aware that I'm the worst blogger on the planet and haven't updated this blog in forever, but I gotta start somewhere. I'll back-blog soon I hope, but for now, all you crazy fans, you can just pick up with me here....Hannah, Nathan's sister, visited this week for a couple days. We did a bunch of fun random things and I took a few photos. We sort of took half on mine and half on

The Rescue: Invisible Children

2009-04-27T23:58:00.001-04:00

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

Zip Car

2009-04-23T18:32:00.000-04:00

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

So, we´re in Bolivia

2009-04-12T16:59:00.001-04:00

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

2009-04-08T17:41:00.000-04:00

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

Home Cooking among the boxes...

2009-04-04T22:00:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-04-04T19:14:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-04-04T17:30:00.000-04:00

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

Painting...fun project!

2009-04-02T18:02:00.000-04:00

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

Marathon Shopping

2009-03-31T13:00:00.000-04:00

Nathan and I decided that we would rent a car and head to Jersey to do most of our shopping because the sales tax is much lower in some of the counties and it would be IMPOSSIBLE to get everything home on the subway....so, after renting an SUV at 9am (for only $85!) we drove through the Holland Tunnel and started our adventure....dude, it was insanity. If anyone knows me well, they know that I

I'm here.

2009-03-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

Today I got the keys to our new place. I'm in our apartment in New York. This is so strange. More to come.

Our New Home

2009-03-22T16:45:00.000-04:00

For those that want to see where we will be living.....here's a google street view of our apartment in Battery Park City. (ignore the random limo drivers in the shot....kinda funny though)View Larger MapWe're on the 23rd Floor of this building, though it doesn't really show a great view. We're on the South West end of Manhattan, and have a view of the Hudson River from our apartment. Here's a

Goodbyes

2009-03-22T16:03:00.000-04:00

This week has been filled with goodbyes. I was thinking of posting some pictures of it...but sadly, I have not taken one single photo. That's cool. I finished work on Wednesday of last week, but the annoying thing was that I ended up having to work all day on Thursday and 3 hours on Friday, just to finish everything that needed to be finished. It was nice being at the school when it was empty

Blog Facelift

2009-03-10T04:26:00.000-04:00

I've been trying out a bunch of different layouts and I think I've found the one I like. Feedback? Comments anyone?

Home Hunting

2009-03-09T03:39:00.001-04:00

I was tempted to call this post "house hunting" but I knew that it might lead to the misconception that we're actually buying a house...which in fact, is not the case. (though, that might be fun!) If you know me well, than you know that I always refer to the place that I live as my "house" or "home" even if it's just a small apartment. So, anyway, that is what is underway at the Chase house...

It's official...the Chase's are going back East!

2009-03-01T22:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true! After almost a year of job searching (but an intense few months), Nathan has landed a sweet position with a company called Arup in New York City (map below for the curious ones). People have been asking a million questions about the move and the answer to most of that is "we don't know!" What we do know is that the move will take place the end of March--signing a lease for

I got ELF'd!

2008-12-11T01:47:00.001-05:00

Nathan and I volunteer at our church's high school group. This week we had a "surprise" video....the youth pastor did that ELF website thingy and ELF'd Nathan, Jenni, Derek, Alex, and myself. Carlos should get an 'A' in facebook lerking b/c he picked perfect faces for the site......pls tell me you at least laughed. =)Send your own ElfYourself eCards

'Tis the Season

2008-12-08T01:19:00.001-05:00

...in light of the craziness of the holiday, I thought everyone could appreciate this great reminder to keep our insanity in check. For some reason I'm not sick of this clip yet, and I've seen it 3 times. Let me know what you think!

Please Pray for My Friend Sarah

2008-12-03T03:27:00.000-05:00

A friend that I used to work with when I was on staff with Real Life (she was on staff in NY) was hit from behind by a hit and run driver on Monday night in Orlando, FL. The site below gives more details, but please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.Sarah's Caring Bridge Site

Holiday Ice Rink: Union Square San Francisco

2008-12-01T01:54:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Nathan, Gloria and I drove into the city to skate outdoors in Union Square. Dude, it really was the perfect evening. No traffic on the way. Parked easily. Got to cut the entire line with our online tickets (which they weren't supposed to do but they did it for us!). Skating was to a great mix of music, not the annoying stuff at the Easy Street Rink in Simi. Well, probably most

Our First Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T17:19:00.000-05:00

Nathan and I hosted our first Thanksgiving this year. It was somewhat by accident, but in the end was really a great time. I had to show off my table setting b/c for one, it was beautiful, and two, it was filled with wedding gifts! Note the lovely china, blown glass candlesticks, Simon Pierce bowl used as the centerpiece, the napkin rings and our silverware. All wedding presents! So,

sad day

2008-11-25T02:56:00.000-05:00

today i found out that friend of mine is moving. this isn't all that unusual in the life of a twenty-something gal, this day in age! people move in and out of our lives like craziness. the part that makes it so sad for me is this is someone i have finally re-connected with after years of silence. we are both married now, live in the bay area after growing up in SoCal, and our husbands even

Revive?

2008-11-18T20:30:00.001-05:00

So, I've had this blog now for over a year....notice how much I use it! yeah, it's pretty lame. Anyway, I've blogged on and off since 2001 and it's kind of sad that it's become such a low priority for me. It's a great way to keep in touch with family and friends that live far away, and it's a lot of fun--more personal than facebook (though this is linked to facebook). Anyway, I'm pondering

the inaugural post

2008-03-05T02:03:00.000-05:00

I've had this blog since the summer (2007), but never posted in it. Oops!