The Lost TwentyEleven

TwentyEleven.

Not that it was lost, just hard to be lost in the thoughts of mint green in New York. I spent most of the rest of TwentyEleven on the road. Seattle, Chicago, Portland, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Waikiki Beach, Anaheim, San Diego, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Oakland, Phoenix, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Appleton, Milwaukee, and Wausau. But not to worry, whether I was here or not, life moved forward.

Thanks to a zany snowstorm, I went urban snowboarding:

Brett knitted his first scarf:

We went to the NYPD Museum:

After moving in early summer, I realized I'm within walking distance of the best view of lower Manhattan:

 

And unicorns:

For my birthday, Brett got me a new set of wheels:

 

During the threat of Hurricane Irene, I volunteered with CERT to help set-up a shelter:

 

And we cleared our deck of the all the plants:
 

Packed up our Go Bags and some emergency supplies on bikes and headed to higher ground:

Even Ody (on the back of the bike):

Who enjoyed playing board games until the storm passed:

We went camping in the Santa Cruz mountains with Brett's brother's family. I absolutely love this picture of everyone:

I met up with Brett in New Orleans and had a fancy dinner date:

We continued our fanciness and attended a ball:

Bruce the (mini) spruce joined our plant family and was the perfect Christmas tree:

TwentyEleven came to a end almost as quickly as it began. Not to worry, 2012 is moving right along.

Bridge Time

The first time I rode over the Manhattan bridge to work I fell. Hard. Blood. Boo-boos. Torn clothes. Sad face.

But... I did get up and finished the ride to work, and rode home.

It does make riding the bridge something that I'm always slightly apprehensive about. I'm glad to say the other night was one of my best rides over the bridge. Seemingly effortless and perfectly calm, the bridge proved the perfect place to stop and think about the my place in the city. Sometimes lost, but happily fumbling along. At present, I'm enjoying it.

It's Friggin Frozen!

Oh. My. Goodness. It is cold out buster! What's a lady to do? I feel quite fortunate that even in the worst of the cold, it's an easy walk to the subway. And to be fair...the combination of the two modes of travel keep me on my toes. Riding a local line on a New York City subway during rush hour (heck, whenever) reminds me of Bill Cosby's routine "A Nut in Every Car"



Well, when I'm willing to brave biking through the big bad New York streets filled with dirty snow, cranky city folk, and the general frigid air... I find it completely lovely. The key is the right outfit. For graduating, Brett's parents gave me a Po Campo bag. I almost cried!

I LOVE my Po Campo!!

This is important because it is the basis for all the other pieces of my riding outfit. I found the coat to match and the boots followed:


I like looking like I'm dressed to ride. The right outfit can change a whole perspective. Of course, when the real nastiness of the winter sets in, I throw on those rainpants:

The Long Fall

What happened to Fall? The leaves changed colors. I earned my master's degree. Oh, and all the holidays, and a flood.

One morning, I awoke to the text message: "So sorry to text you early, but it appears that our basement is flooded and sadly, your room is very wet." I had never been so politely informed that there was an emergency situation. The whole basement had flooded, and everything needed to be pulled off the ground, including my entire bedroom.


My bed even ended up on the dining room table:


And the truth is... it could have been worst. But I didn't have time to think about what could've would've been, because that weekend my friends Courtney and Boris were married. I jetted off to San Francisco, and met up with Ian:


The wedding was, of course, just perfect. I cried like a sad monkey. I was so happy for both of them, and just danced the night away! Couris and Bourtney deserve every last bit of happiness.



Next weekend, as a CERT member, I had the opportunity to participate in a city-wide preparedness drill for New York City. It was really fun. I got there super early so I could get a good wound, and be carried on a stretcher. By the end of the drill, I had been saved:


Brett joined me and about 50 other cyclists for the 2nd New York City Tweed Ride. I volunteered to be the flower lass. Over the course of the ride, I dropped rose petals to add a lovely fragrance to the ride. I was even featured in the Village Voice


I joined my Dad up in Boston for a weekend.


We went to the Boston aquarium. I love aquariums! Really love them! The sea dragons are always a favorite of mine.


I was afraid that with all of my schoolwork that I would miss the opportunity to see the colors change in the Fall. Not to worry, I was able to catch glimpses of color all season long.



At the end of October, Brett and I joined many others at the Rally for Sanity. It was overly crowded, but had the most incredible signs.


We stayed with our friends in DC for the rest of the weekend and celebrated Halloween. Now... normally I'm not a fan of couple costumes (unless they require the couple to remained connected for the entire evening), but this was awesome... and perhaps the most vomit bucket we have ever been.


I have a wee obsession with Harry Potter, and busted out a full-length dress for our formal movie night. I always think that Brett looks so dapper in his formal movie night outfits.


Somewhere in November, I went a little crazy with school work. Fortunately, I have the most wonderful boyfriend. He offered to be my personal chef for the last two weeks of my paper writing for school. The food was incredibly mouth watering, and delicious.


He even edited my papers for me!


After my plans for Thanksgiving took a last minute cancellation, Brett joined me at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The balloons are a lot LARGER up close. And thanks to super secret native New Yorker information from our pal Luis, we had the best view from Central Park.



But really, the main reason that I disappeared this Fall was due to school. Working full time, and attending school in my free time really limited what I was able to do outside of working, writing, studying, sleeping, and being. For two weeks our basement looked like a strategic planning war room:


Much thanks for their support, patience and aid goes to my housemates, who tolerated the extreme of my OCD personality as I prepared for oral exams. But in the end, all my hard work paid off, and I graduated!!!!


I am now officially a master of science in emergency management! Whew! In mid-December, Mamma, Charell, Brett, and I traveled to Jacksonville, Alabama so I could get my robes and walk across the stage to receive my diploma! It was a really incredible moment for me to look up and see the three people who supported me throughout my entire process. My mom, my boss, and my boyfriend, who kept me sane, proof-read, and smiling through it all. They are truly wonderful wonderful people!


Continuing with my obsession about aquariums, Mamma and I went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It has a really neat penguin exhibit where you can crawl into a space where the penguins can swim around you.


I love the holidays! I really do! Call me crazy, but I enjoy the decorations, the music, the happiness. Jeph and I spent an evening getting a Christmas tree and decorating it. Behind my graduation weekend, this was one of my favorite nights of all December:



Brett, who is not a fan of the holidays, surprised me by agreeing to look at holiday decorations in the city. As we approached Times Square, Luis called and told us he knew a place in Brooklyn that was better than Rockefeller Center. A neighborhood that really goes all out with the decorations. He was absolutely right.


Christmas this year was spent in Fresno with Brett's family. It was just a beautiful moment. I really am glad that his family is so welcoming and makes me feel really special. Brett didn't get much of a holiday because he and his brother gave their father the gift of new wooden thingys in the front walkway. I'm sure there is a real technical term like wood frame or something, but in his few moments of quiet, he rested. I found this to be the perfect opportunity to take pictures of him with his niece's new puppet Elbert:


And, very exciting... we went TANDEM BIKE RIDING again! We borrowed his parents bike, and even did a little off-road tandem bike riding.


With that, the long Fall comes to a close.

Thank You Gentlemen

It was a perfect New York evening. Ahem, a perfect Brooklyn evening. My day at the office had been a bit wonky, and mid-morning I was talking to Brett who mentioned that he might be going to Modest Mouse that evening with the boys. I was excited, but hesitant. The Modest Mouse shows I had seen in the past were awful. They were too drunk or too high to play anything. But on this evening, they were perfect. The weather was perfect. Just a slight breeze, and only a need for a light sweater. The beer was perfect. Brewed in Brooklyn, and just cold enough to savor against the dying of summer. The tacos were perfect. Juicy and spicy and enough chips and salsa for sharing. The company was perfect:





At this point, Brett is really annoyed that I have made him pose for about 20 photos, but that's the joy of the digital camera, you can know if its a good shot. Plus it was funny to have Luis trying to get in the middle:


Finally, the ride home was perfect.