Irene

First the earthquake and then a hurricane. Mother Nature was quite busy this week, or maybe just moody.



Like most other people along the East Coast, we were glued to the Weather Channel all weekend. Thankfully NYC was not hit as hard as they thought, even though we prepared for the worst. It amazes me how intense newscasters can be just to get your attention. It worked though. But, I think I got enough of Jim Cantore and his tight tee shirts to last me until the next storm.



Irene was a good excuse for us to stay inside and pack (more on the move later). The city was pretty quiet Saturday and Sunday. Most stores were closed and the subways were down, which is a rare exception. It's funny how quickly you can get trapped in your neighborhood. The city that never sleeps took a long nap.



Yesterday, we walked through the parks to assess the damage. Central Park had quite a few trees down and flooding in places as seen in these iPhone photos from The Husband.









Things are still quiet in the city today but New Yorkers are moving on. Irene did bring good weather today - it almost feels like fall! I hope that everyone was safe and damage was minimal for you. Thinking about those who are still without power and who have flooding and trees down around them. Be careful out there!

Broadway & Birthdays

I've always loved to sing, despite that fact that I'm not good at it. My own dog runs away when I belt one tune. Yes, I'm bad but who cares when no one else (besides your dog and maybe your Husband) hears it?



Living in NYC, I'm quite lucky to be able to see a Broadway show whenever I want, though it's probably the one perk that we don't take advantage of as much as we should. I'm always amazed watching the cast members sing and dance. How do they do that for some many nights in a row? I get tired just watching them.



Last night we saw Catch Me if You Can and it was wonderful. Earlier this week, I found out my sorority sister and native North Carolinian, Alex Ellis, would be playing the lead female role (Brenda) this week. We had to go and so we did. I went to many of her shows in college and for a Communications Project my Junior Year I even interviewed her on what it was like being in the Arts. I wish I could find that video tape now...

It took everything I had to not jump up, wave my arms and scream, "YAY Alex!" She was wonderful and during her solo, I cried. It was an amazing experience - one of those New York moments that doesn't happen often. [insert, Go Elon!]



The line was too long to see her afterwards but I did get a note from her this morning saying that she saw me in the audience so I was glad. I wish I could go again tonight. The show is only on for 10 more days, so if you are in NYC, I highly recommend you go!



In other news, a big happy birthday to Sooze and my blog, Southern in the City! As I mentioned last year, it's particularly fitting that they have the same birthdays since she inspired me to start the blog. And the fact that she is probably the only one (besides my Dad) who reads it on a daily basis:)



Happy birthday to you, mom!

Fall TV

One of the best things about the fall (well, to me anyway) is the new TV lineup. I wait all summer, patiently flipping through the horrible reality TV shows (sans, Real Housewives) looking for something of quality to watch. We've been using Netflix streaming mostly and are considering giving up cable when we move into our new place. Shocker, I know. As long as we get the basics I think we'll survived. We are going to test it out for a month to see...



But I digress. This morning on my way to work, I read the AM New York story about the record number of TV series filming in NYC. They reported that almost 25 Fall lineups are being filmed here this season. I guess this means I need to have my camera ready. No matter how long I've lived here, I still get excited about seeing the big white trailers parked on the side of the street wondering who might be sitting in the make-up chair. Bloomberg said that the TV filming brings in about 5 billion (that's B) dollars to the economy each year. That's nuts.

Here's a list of the some of the shows (some you probably already knew about).



I'm going to be on the look-out!

Pan Am, ABC

30 Rock, NBC

Boardwalk Empire, HBO

The Good Wife, CBS

Gossip Girl, The CW

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NBC

Rescue Me, FX

White Collar, USA

Photo from Bloomberg Office.

WTF

Not that I have time or anything but for some reason I Googled "stressed" today and this is what I found. haha. It made me laugh and smile and feel better.

Stressed. That's what I am. I haven't written in a while because I'm not feeling very creative. Trying to keep things in perspective here so I won't bore you with the details. Hopefully, hopefully, when all is said and done next week, I'll have funny stories to share.



But, on a positive note, we're going to see another Southerner in the City perform on Broadway in Catch Me If You Can. My sorority sister from Charlotte has the lead role this week so we bought tickets last night and I can't wait to watch her sing and dance. I hope to snap some photos too and will share later this week.



For now, I'm going to keep that stressed out baby on the brain to make me laugh when I think about everything else to do....



Hope y'all are having great ends to your summer.

Moving out...

You think that after five years and four apartments in Manhattan, I would get pretty good at moving. Each time we do it, I say "this is the last!" and then we end up right back where we started - looking for new places to live. The city will do that to you. The Husband and I are moving...again. Our lease is up in 21 days and because they are increasing our rent by almost $500 more, we gotta go. But where? That's the issue we have on our hands at the moment.



The only thing that I have learned in the past 6 months is that you can't plan anything and you have to be patient. I hate that because I'm a planner and I'm very impatient. Whatever is meant to be will be, but that is hard to digest when we have a dog and lots of stuff to move.



I think the hardest part about always moving is I never feel quite settled. I try to make it "home" but it's not really mine, so I'll just wait to "put that there" or "hang this up." I've done little things in each place to make it ours, but in the back of my head I'm always thinking "end of lease."



I know our forever home will come someday (hopefully NOT in NYC) so I'm willing to wait. I guess it's just one of those prices you pay for living here.



Until then, I'll keep daydreaming...

Outer Boroughs - Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos

You might think I'm a bit crazy but one of the things that I miss most about the South is it's cheap Mexican restaurants [insert Las Margaritas in Raleigh, Monterrey's in Burlington and La Carreta in Lynchburg]. Y'all know those places, the kinds of restaurants where the food is served hot and quick, they have REAL queso dip that we call cheese dip, and you smell like the establishment for at least three hours after? Pure bliss. Really, we love those kinds of eateries and so far we have yet to find one in NYC. Trust me, we have looked high and low and nothing comes close to the ones down South.



However, a few weeks back The Husband and Southern in the City did stumble upon a great Mexican joint after getting lost in Queens or was it Brooklyn? (are they really that different- ha, kidding - sort of...)



Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos in Brooklyn, okay had to look that up first, is a diamond in the ruff. We first heard about this place via our favorite travel foodie writer, Anothony Bourdain where he dedicated a whole episode to eating in New York's Outer Boroughs. There is nothing fancy about this place, in fact to get to it you have to walk through a garage on the left and then around a tortilla factory to order. But, it's fast and hot and authentic. It's not quite like the Mexican restaurants at home, but it is worth a trip to Brooklyn on a Sunday afternoon for a couple double-wrapped delicious tacos.



Watch Anthony's experience at Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos below:

Sooze, Shows, Highline, Met and Food

This past weekend my mom (Sooze) visited us for a few days. We had a great time hopping around town to this and that. Like most visits from friends and family, we ate a lot and enjoy each others conversations.

On Friday, we were mesmerized by War Horse at Lincoln Center. After just a few moments, you forget that the horse is a puppet; I haven't seen anything like it before. Saturday night we tap-danced to Anything Goes, but alas! The lead, Sutton Foster was not there. I guess everyone deserves a vacation, but come on! Why not take it after we went!? We watched alongside my Godmother AB and her two daughters CG and Em. I have great memories of going to musicals with my Godmother growing up so it was fun to see them again for these two shows.

On Saturday afternoon we traveled down to the High Line. If you haven't been, you must go. They recently opened a new section with Food Trucks (call the Lot) and an outdoor skating rink (great for people watching). This is a perfect spot for some afternoon beers with friends. In fact,we met my good friend from college (MKT) who was up visiting from New Orleans. She loves sweets almost (if not more) than me so I had to snap a picture of her eating this ice cream cookie with edible paper.
I also have to include a picture of Sooze with her taped broken sunglasses. She wore these around town all weekend - the queen of fashion:)
For those of you who haven't gone to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit let me tell you this: don't go. We tried to get in on Saturday but the wait too long, or so we thought. On Sunday we woke up extra early and stood in line 30 minutes prior to the Met opening and the line looked like this (look closely it's wrapped around the block:
Once inside, we waited for and additional 2 hours and though we had lots to chat about, it got old real quick. The exhibit itself was packed with hundreds of visitors to the point that you could not see half of the collection or appreciate the art that McQueen created. We saw a handful of dresses and hats and that is about it. I wish I knew of a good time to tell you to go, but as this article says, thousands have been flocking to see his work.

And, of course, we ate. Great food and good conversations. Thanks, all for a fabulous weekend!