Today  I finished Brenda Ueland’s book, “If You Want to Write.”  I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book is somewhat unlike other writing books I have read.  Brenda’s theme focuses more on developing the freedom to write confidently, rather than outlining the rules of plot and character development.  This book is very encouraging to the aspiring writer/creative. She tells stories of her writing class students and how they overcame their fears and blocks on the road to becoming writers.  She uses samples of their writing to further illustrate her point.  I found it very interesting to read what other aspiring writers have written while they learned the craft.  She also demonstrates several helpful exercises to help jump-start or refine the writing process. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who wants to tap into their creativity and put words on paper. However, one must keep in mind that Brenda Ueland has a somewhat flaky, new age tone throughout the book.  One example of this is that she repeatedly grants a sort of deity to things that are not God, such as the imagination or the conscience.  Take these quasi spiritual references with a grain of salt. Otherwise, it is a fantastic book about writing.

Olive Street (view from my bedroom window)

This morning was different. There was a quiet snow falling slowly, steady, and with purpose.  It wasn’t messy or overpowering. Two inches on the ground made the world look shy and delicate. The city was a great sleeping creature with soft fur like that on the back of a cat. It seemed to me that if I reached out my hand the snow might raise up and stiffen under my touch. I enjoyed walking in it.  My feet squeaked rather than crunched.  My cheeks were filled with a rosy chill, but to my surprise I was perfectly warm.  I could stay out here for hours, I thought.

I reflected on the early January mornings in Germany when I would wake to fresh snow covering the surrounding fields like a blanket.  The sky would be bathed in white and only a small gray silhouette revealing the mountains in the distance.

It is no where near as quiet here.  But this morning was still a welcome pause from what feels like constant noise.  Life feels like constant noise in the city.  I suppose it is, to some degree.  I miss the quiet places.

It is 20 degrees outside and the windchill is 7 degrees.  After walking Lindy to the park for a measly 10 minutes this morning, I was frozen to the bone.  The news reported 20-30 mph winds with 40 mph gusts.  That ranks in the “difficulty walking” weather category on weather.com. I had no intention of going back outside, so I put the kettle on and settled in for the morning with my book. Unfortunately,  Brannon came home from breakfast with a friend, red faced and windblown, announcing that he had bad news.  The wind had blown his glasses clear off of his face and into the street just in time for a car to crush them to smithereens.  He held in his hand the two rectangle lenses and several brown plastic shards. So much for my hibernation plan.

I’d only finished half of my tea before I was putting on my coat again. We were off to Manhattan. I bundled myself with extra care because my ears were already hurting from the morning walk. I know I looked absolutely ridiculous, but when it comes to extreme cold I have no shame. I doubt any other New Yorkers have either, for that matter. After all, people here wear sheer panty hose as pants around in public and don’t think twice. I layered up with two long sleeve t-shirts, a sweater, my thick Yale hooded sweatshirt, pashmina scarf, stocking cap tied tightly under my chin, matching mittens, and black trench coat — sweatshirt hood up.  I could still feel the wind in my ears twisting like tiny knives.

The trip was worth it to find Brannon a spiffy new pair of glasses though.  While we were waiting for the lenses to be cut he didn’t want to go anywhere because he was so disoriented from lack of vision. This is very unlike him, because he is usually curiously exploring whatever 20 block radius he finds himself in. Our little adventure took up the majority of the day. Brannon went straight to work when we got home (what a trooper), and I took a short  nap. Today was by far the coldest day I’ve experienced since we’ve been in New York.  I hope the temperature only goes up from here.

Santa has a new beard made out of felt and a new mouth made out of red buttons.  He’s not “as good as new,” but he is functional and smiling once more.  Lindy was so glad, that she volunteered to have her portrait taken in front of the Christmas tree to show her good cheer!

When I was a little girl, my grandmother knitted a long Christmas stocking for me, with Santa’s face on the front and my name across the top.  She also made one for my parents and sister, so we all have matching stockings.  When Brannon joined our family, my mom wanted to get Brannon a stocking too.  To our surprise, she found someone who hand knits stockings with the same pattern and sells them on ebay.  Apparently these stockings are popular items, because she had to order one 6 months ago to get it before Christmas.

Yesterday we received a package which contained my 29 year old stocking AND a brand new, hand knitted stocking with Brannon’s name on it!  It matched mine almost perfectly.  He loved it! Now I was really starting to catch the Christmas spirit.  I began visualizing where we could hang our stockings in our apartment, since we have no fireplace or mantle

Today, I discovered a most unpleasant surprise. I’d left the stockings on the kitchen table last night.  When I went into the kitchen this morning, Brannon’s stocking lay in a heap on the floor.  To my horror, I picked it up to find that Santa’s beard had been destroyed!  I had a hunch as to who the culprit was. I turned around and yelled in my strictest disciplinary voice, “Who ate Santa’s beard?!!?!”  Lindy crept into the room with her ears back and her tail tucked.  She had guilty written all over her face.

In the end, Brannon and I got a good laugh out of it. Santa’s dismantled beard has yet to be found, so I’m pretty sure she ingested it.  That may make for a difficult poop in a couple of days. I guess Lindy  just caught a little too much Christmas spirit.

So far this week I have experienced two incredible things.

Last night we went to a Cuban restaurant called Guantanamera.  I was very impressed!  Authentic Cuban food, live music, and a really lighthearted atmosphere makes it one of my new favorite New York discoveries.  I had the traditional Cuban steak, which was grilled with sweet onions and an amazing conglomeration of spices.  (I even ate all of my onions, and I am normally not an onion fan!) For desert we enjoyed a caramel flan with perfect creaminess and consistency.  I have no idea if this is a popular place, but I totally recommend it! Check out their website for more details.

Tonight, we saw a truly spectacular show from Over the Rhine at the Highline Ballroom.  I have seen them play numerous times, and it never gets old.  In fact, I think tonight’s show was the best performance I have heard from them yet.  They held nothing back.  The set list was fantastic.  Karin wailed like never before on B.P.D — I will never listen to that song the same again.  Sigh….  I guess NYC really brings out the awesomeness in everything. At least, it is certainly true for Over the Rhine.

So there are two more NY bright spots for my collection.

St. Nicholas School (the view from our bedroom window)

Well, the last three weeks have flown by.  Due to my sick little macbook barely waking from her deathbed, unpacking, job hunting, and Thanksgiving, I have not been diligent to keep up the blog.  As usual, I will resolve once again to be better about posting regularly. So much has happened in such a short bit of time, it would be impossible to share all of it.  So instead, I’ll just list some of the highlights to give an overview of our first weeks here in the big apple.

1.  I believe I am technically an official New Yorker now, since I got myself a pair of black boots and a NY State Driver’s License.

2. Lindy absolutely loves the doggie play park near our house.  We take her twice every day and she has made many new friends.  She gets so excited at the mention of the park. We have met a few dog owners in our neighborhood this way too.  It has been an easy and fun way to meet people.  But the best part is watching Lindy out run all the other dogs.

3.  Brannon and I walked across the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan home to Brooklyn. The view was awesome and it was such a nice evening walk. The iphone photo doesn’t do it justice though.

4. Subway Mariachi bands make me happy.  Their songs are so joyful.  Sometimes a group will get on the subway car and play while we ride from Bedford to 1st Ave. There is one band that I have seen about 5 times this week on different subway platforms.  They are three guys who play guitar, ukelele, and pan flute/recorder. They  make me smile the most.  I gave them a dollar the last time I saw them.  I’m going to keep my camera on me in hopes of getting a video of them.  Keep an eye out for that post.

5. I made a turkey for Thanksgiving and it was a success!

6. Job hunt: I’ve met a few recruiters and had a couple of interviews, but no luck yet. Sigh.

7. My good friend Jenna from my Munich days is here for a visit this week!  I haven’t seen her in 5 years so this is a great treat.  We are going to eat Cuban food tonight.  I am anticipating the happy Cuban mariachi music.

Now, I’m heading out to the laundromat, so thats all for now.

After a very long weekend  (5 days) we are finally (almost) settled in our new home.  Today we ventured out to Manhattan for a little shopping. Our mission was to find a collapsable shopping cart, a metal trash can, and a few remaining groceries.  I guess every “first” in a new place holds a unique memory.  When our train got to the Bedford stop, 3 men with guitars boarded.  They began to play a lively Mexican tune, singing in sweet harmony as the train rattled on toward Manhattan.  At this, Brannon made a great comment about why he loves living in New York.  ”How many times have we been serenaded by a mariachi band on the way to Woodruff Road?”  Zero. I suppose this is just another normality of the city.

We made our way to Bed Bath and Beyond on 6th Avenue where we found the trash can and cart. The cart came unassembled and we were wondering how we were going to carry a huge trash can, cart parts, and groceries all the way back home.  Again, the ingenuity of the city came to the rescue.  At checkout, the clerk simply asked, “Would you like to have this assembled?” To our surprise there was what seemed to be a full time product assembly guy waiting by the door for everyone’s assembly needs. “This is brilliant!” I thought.  Where else but here?  :)

Trader Joe’s was a madhouse, with the line stretching the circumference of the store all the way to the entrance.  But they had all the groceries on my list, and that made me very happy indeed.

We left quietly this morning, just as the sun was coming up.  We packed all of our belongings tightly into a U-Haul truck and our border collie snug in the backseat of the cab. I didn’t look back as we drove away from our three bedroom-two bathroom cottage. I suppose there are always mixed feelings when embarking on the next great adventure in life.  For me, there is sadness in leaving memories and square footage behind as well as excitement and wonder in what lies ahead.  I decided this morning, that when moving, it is best to look forward rather than back.  The whole world is in front of us.  The magnitude of moving to New York City hasn’t quite sunk in for me yet.  Perhaps it will hit me when we drive over the Verrazano bridge tomorrow morning and the sun catches the edges of the steel skyline. Regardless, I know that the city is exactly where we are supposed to be.

For tonight we are settled into our hotel room in Pennsylvania.  The pillows are calling me to sleep like Christmas Eve.  For the sooner we sleep, the sooner tomorrow comes.