tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24212086967393450942024-02-07T04:02:27.830-08:00Liberty on 10th StreetLiving, Eating, and "Gardening" in BrooklynUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger484125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-28147553574312824482011-06-07T16:13:00.000-07:002011-06-07T16:40:59.959-07:00Gardening in Brooklyn - The Ugly Truth"Here's the deal - I need some low shrubs for a corner tree bed that can withstand not being watered, car exhaust, lots of dog (and sometimes child) pee, trampling, abuse by high school kids, and lots and lots of cigarettes." <br /><br />At first, the woman stared back at me, mouth on pavement, panic in her eyes. Slowly, her eyes moved out of focus, beyond my head, and began to scan the acres of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, herbs, veggies, and garden gnomes. <br /><br />"You don't live around here do you?"<br /><br />"Nope, Brooklyn". <br /><br />"Gary. GARY!, can you help this woman please"? <br /><br />Luckily, Gary was used to dealing with "city folk" and was able to set me up with a few nice shrubs and plants for our tree bed. (A note on Gary, his experience with "city folk" was extremely rich people who had large roof decks in Manhattan, which is not us either). <br /><br />A few months ago, as part of their plant a million trees campaign, the City dug up our stump and planted a little linden. They very carefully moved my rather sad container shrubs and very carefully uprooted my just emerging bulbs, and placed everything off to the side. The freshly mulched and top soiled tree bed has been barren ever since, slowly gathering weeds and the ire of the block association (I kid!). <br /><br />I knew I needed to plant something but hadn't had the time. While home in NJ, I stopped by a great nursery (Rostlers in Allendale) and picked up a carfull of plants that would tolerate not being watered and being peed on. Bayberry, a thorned and beautiful bush was a natural choice as were some sedeums and a big spiky thing that promised to send up an ostentatious 5 foot bloom in the late summer. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vlCb_RQ4pED6JzhjGhoGfZ1JcfNX-dsuUXTXnkpiR758_ljCwNBNhuXBOsU-uaT1I0L6y66NtmYW-4XSO6NOt21_DkIM2dvTl1ylpyi2PDs3qRf-YezNcPj74sbaGJgM4a9D2zNm04yK/s1600/IMG_0790.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vlCb_RQ4pED6JzhjGhoGfZ1JcfNX-dsuUXTXnkpiR758_ljCwNBNhuXBOsU-uaT1I0L6y66NtmYW-4XSO6NOt21_DkIM2dvTl1ylpyi2PDs3qRf-YezNcPj74sbaGJgM4a9D2zNm04yK/s320/IMG_0790.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615625496643756578" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQjlly6HAPkrVlAv0toFtQtz1umY_65icsRBJd20y-mXzKzP46gDOlyRny9dIEhqDQ9m41e7ET5igLzWMgiaCzuBjkFIcMdfAq-Wdv9ia1XfRTctaFGtjBj6TPlt7kHe4ZxTx4zuNS1wv/s1600/IMG_0788.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQjlly6HAPkrVlAv0toFtQtz1umY_65icsRBJd20y-mXzKzP46gDOlyRny9dIEhqDQ9m41e7ET5igLzWMgiaCzuBjkFIcMdfAq-Wdv9ia1XfRTctaFGtjBj6TPlt7kHe4ZxTx4zuNS1wv/s320/IMG_0788.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615625486342954258" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBehk4vme6BoogPW68gXvFRNjCO_HK9H1jIpuYMf4_Q098i_U_81IUeYA-tXXWM0aJfd2N8C6IXIvVjfacM09o2xgHytruCPLzUcGqxjGlaZTCRKOGUzYmGuQF9o7zfS1Okrh3dPxSl5TZ/s1600/IMG_0787.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBehk4vme6BoogPW68gXvFRNjCO_HK9H1jIpuYMf4_Q098i_U_81IUeYA-tXXWM0aJfd2N8C6IXIvVjfacM09o2xgHytruCPLzUcGqxjGlaZTCRKOGUzYmGuQF9o7zfS1Okrh3dPxSl5TZ/s320/IMG_0787.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615625479212859298" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-82824166317357873222011-06-07T16:05:00.000-07:002011-06-07T16:13:18.295-07:00Bathroom update<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvMe48ANsi-Ds0ufcoetO4moJOnx3uXARposMGezbjjF2Jj5mfbJ5Vg2KxRxqAG5DaoEnLTCME1MkGmklSUP85rM5FB3GarjBaJJQPQWfcHtbZVYo0zJY9MPFL90h8z1YOcLb0pt8geUI/s1600/IMG_0783.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvMe48ANsi-Ds0ufcoetO4moJOnx3uXARposMGezbjjF2Jj5mfbJ5Vg2KxRxqAG5DaoEnLTCME1MkGmklSUP85rM5FB3GarjBaJJQPQWfcHtbZVYo0zJY9MPFL90h8z1YOcLb0pt8geUI/s320/IMG_0783.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615618782272824562" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRBnNuO6Fxf1zDNzvgJDFLGAlJPYa-AL8BFwC2Tsk0ShicSFmbw2fw7M-JQhfnWCCJoREG4by-A2mUkr1tYLWYJVZMhBi9N7l08VO0tADTF5ga44xTaP2XJocws9dKSFAlJH2NiKO2vTa/s1600/IMG_0780.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRBnNuO6Fxf1zDNzvgJDFLGAlJPYa-AL8BFwC2Tsk0ShicSFmbw2fw7M-JQhfnWCCJoREG4by-A2mUkr1tYLWYJVZMhBi9N7l08VO0tADTF5ga44xTaP2XJocws9dKSFAlJH2NiKO2vTa/s320/IMG_0780.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615618771973189602" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59If_bKB64h2rvbTxtfC411NYgNOAjVSuf-skm3ecAyvdfelKjHzIrq_-9U_FdG-QMDyhC9lKEHzI5a96bQ4dyaG0uSk8CjGzszpAUiE9IBp8CBbtPgECSzj8BiyhFukZ4JAgeT_h9Ytj/s1600/IMG_0778.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59If_bKB64h2rvbTxtfC411NYgNOAjVSuf-skm3ecAyvdfelKjHzIrq_-9U_FdG-QMDyhC9lKEHzI5a96bQ4dyaG0uSk8CjGzszpAUiE9IBp8CBbtPgECSzj8BiyhFukZ4JAgeT_h9Ytj/s320/IMG_0778.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615618766795882946" /></a><br /><br />The bathroom is finally, mostly, almost done (if you don't could proper caulk). This was not the smoothest bathroom renovation but we're so happy to finally have all of these random people out of our house. I once held the idea that we would be happy to live in a fixer upper that existed in a constant state of flux but definitely definitely not. <br /><br />The tile is really lovely and the floor tile is great. The chrome fixture are like a naughty older aunt with some dementia - always nice to have around but in need of constant attention - and I'm still compulsively wiping them down after every use (not at all like I'd treat an aunt). We have mixed feelings about the paint - the husband thinks it's fine and I sometimes,kind of hate it. I certainly don't hate it enough to find a painter, choose another color and give my house over to another contractor as they hemmed and hawed for two weeks.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-12255920849477099712011-03-19T09:53:00.000-07:002011-03-19T09:57:55.222-07:00Bathroom Update<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4d-xXIBoqXoBTjywoQROvCcNtELTYkPTSul5bc-ksq5ScqvfiIgzsR_i3hQDqVQGo89avdBhvdSQ6DixXNNNm0IT7jIni3TnvnV-xh2a52OHm0E-rqY_oY99eG8FNzr4hyphenhypheneIAciGau4M/s1600/IMG_0615.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4d-xXIBoqXoBTjywoQROvCcNtELTYkPTSul5bc-ksq5ScqvfiIgzsR_i3hQDqVQGo89avdBhvdSQ6DixXNNNm0IT7jIni3TnvnV-xh2a52OHm0E-rqY_oY99eG8FNzr4hyphenhypheneIAciGau4M/s320/IMG_0615.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585835767205247794" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGLbcYZ0YxVoMKkngABZUNCnNYqfsUlEH4q76fNjOVk2kAUaUCjAk-tQdERtMJbZkTf9_c4zS1S6ksvLmZ6SkZI_38TN3PCV1XMSMKCBvVa4t9MXZgpUDW_1IfskwN1LtvjplbteoZDl4/s1600/IMG_0613.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGLbcYZ0YxVoMKkngABZUNCnNYqfsUlEH4q76fNjOVk2kAUaUCjAk-tQdERtMJbZkTf9_c4zS1S6ksvLmZ6SkZI_38TN3PCV1XMSMKCBvVa4t9MXZgpUDW_1IfskwN1LtvjplbteoZDl4/s320/IMG_0613.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585835761834870034" /></a><br />I was joking last night that I've become to most boring person in the world because the most interesting thing happening to me right now is our bathroom renovation. That isn't totally true (work is going well) but the bathroom does have the most visible progress. <br /><br />The tub is in (and is incredibly comfortable) and the tile is 75% up on the walls. The glass tile is beautiful and despite our best efforts is the exact same shade of blue as the hall bathroom. <br /><br />On the garden front, I put in bulbs last Fall and they are starting to come up. Right now they just look like brownish green nubbins but I post some photos when they get a little more interesting.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-19207321884807129112011-03-05T02:51:00.000-08:002011-03-05T02:58:01.129-08:00Bathroom Progress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZ-FCU3MFFgjPpGlSgLlCWtnJKoh_p-JZliJ0EV7LZD5R6xTjKit1b25eXWbANjC1H2jT9XAh6UHyoykGiVw6KB3WOIDC-a-HmaE318ujZYDpqptYd0N0H3r-i-ZYza12ph6u3QNzfe-i/s1600/IMG_0517.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZ-FCU3MFFgjPpGlSgLlCWtnJKoh_p-JZliJ0EV7LZD5R6xTjKit1b25eXWbANjC1H2jT9XAh6UHyoykGiVw6KB3WOIDC-a-HmaE318ujZYDpqptYd0N0H3r-i-ZYza12ph6u3QNzfe-i/s320/IMG_0517.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580547641861463378" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lawtYcXoNMsVotIRPuX_pJWkXYl1PG8BdrqieRmxlBHl4IgQcg-pi7jMhtmfwSmu6dtgmonOvRPqBgZdCnNbrizylq61CNIflITvBgNPdqPmt2DWl0GrI4r_0ub6S29VRB9HAsSSdqId/s1600/IMG_0516.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lawtYcXoNMsVotIRPuX_pJWkXYl1PG8BdrqieRmxlBHl4IgQcg-pi7jMhtmfwSmu6dtgmonOvRPqBgZdCnNbrizylq61CNIflITvBgNPdqPmt2DWl0GrI4r_0ub6S29VRB9HAsSSdqId/s320/IMG_0516.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580547639574485410" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTV0-7D0UnkA99giKRYE_qs3OKwKw0hj8Ed_6-DZd3s0qq2SzMyiGguaYidvFx2jluFE-B_o7CP8NHjlWJPcHqORSrXDzRRGZau44JAISEwIvZPf5XWn51j8HbEoxFGLMt55w95ZzA2Zxz/s1600/IMG_0515.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTV0-7D0UnkA99giKRYE_qs3OKwKw0hj8Ed_6-DZd3s0qq2SzMyiGguaYidvFx2jluFE-B_o7CP8NHjlWJPcHqORSrXDzRRGZau44JAISEwIvZPf5XWn51j8HbEoxFGLMt55w95ZzA2Zxz/s320/IMG_0515.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580547635242968274" /></a><br />We're at the halfway point after having been side tracked by all of the repair work that needed to happen downstairs. All of the rough plumbing is in, the tub is in and has the surround and the radiators have been swapped out. All of the sudden it looks like a real bathroom! <br /><br />Next week will be devoted to tiling and we'll really see if we made some good choices about tile and fixtures. Something about the order of all of this seems wrong. I'm sure there is a way to put together a computer model to help us visualize how the tile will look on the wall but right now we're just finding comfort with the fact that we usually pick good looking things. <br /><br />One of the more exciting and tiny projects are the radiators. The one in the bedroom was comically large so we swapped it with the appropriately sized bathroom one. All this means is that we can get the wall back and actually put stuff there. <br /><br />I'll be away next week and hope I'll come home to a mostly done bathroom!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-50101874794336081942011-02-27T08:59:00.001-08:002011-02-27T09:04:50.012-08:00Bathroom Progress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzDoDFMGB7Fj2PQk3RV38P92tqz97c_0HG6vTN4ezDQpUz4HxzS9_NqYPDlYfj7fbd5SnXHDfyLYEKVFC0TH6geNHsyKf12sCqnecvMDlfa26iPoyWZAKM3n7rWGPNOza25zFSqKFceld/s1600/IMG_0511.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzDoDFMGB7Fj2PQk3RV38P92tqz97c_0HG6vTN4ezDQpUz4HxzS9_NqYPDlYfj7fbd5SnXHDfyLYEKVFC0TH6geNHsyKf12sCqnecvMDlfa26iPoyWZAKM3n7rWGPNOza25zFSqKFceld/s320/IMG_0511.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578415539071792386" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZcm4v-A1YfZw1-M17VFYlT640UK0PSUvXjgezbxmhaSNr9vAhEZcevNlg2rtHsjjaepbozjankTp4jiWTCz_rNQCcWMVuYDFAtKJGRW0v4_Hoji12DYsofZTH1NI1RVE6CqLwFqKJHXL/s1600/IMG_0510.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZcm4v-A1YfZw1-M17VFYlT640UK0PSUvXjgezbxmhaSNr9vAhEZcevNlg2rtHsjjaepbozjankTp4jiWTCz_rNQCcWMVuYDFAtKJGRW0v4_Hoji12DYsofZTH1NI1RVE6CqLwFqKJHXL/s320/IMG_0510.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578415534075289954" /></a><br />Nothing too exciting is happening other than a lot of plumbing, the walls are starting to come back up and the bathtub is up. I hope we're at a point where pieces start to come together rather quickly as the husband might lose it completely if he has to keep sharing a bathroom with me (and all the workmen).<br /><br />I like these pictures because you can see the burn marks on the original plaster and lathe. We think that this was originally the kitchen and that this is the impression from the original stove. It would be scary if we didn't expect everything in our house to be wackadoodle. In contrast to the electrical, the burned boards seem rather pedestrian.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-25492851679221228192011-02-20T16:37:00.000-08:002011-02-20T18:10:33.875-08:00A Wander on the West Side of the Canal<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6WJCSVT_6nNzkp5WBDdiU1WnnPdNxx1AwOUfbrZJfBv_HJ7RhaXT9xwujx5_LjbPN4WLlQfhiSu26EhzPiBquIt2kGqDPTsiopVDGrp7XTVZvj9LznjgMYs1KpaJcPPcO0gK0iOSHQ3Y/s1600/DSC_0129.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6WJCSVT_6nNzkp5WBDdiU1WnnPdNxx1AwOUfbrZJfBv_HJ7RhaXT9xwujx5_LjbPN4WLlQfhiSu26EhzPiBquIt2kGqDPTsiopVDGrp7XTVZvj9LznjgMYs1KpaJcPPcO0gK0iOSHQ3Y/s320/DSC_0129.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957433039833426" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfb0VS7-jKb860l7_Mz1vM0EdwqGoQ9XITla6XR5dn9otSauWLx0WJNaQBvirmFIBsMfF9jxnisZNSKlBaj3wnxaDhjgZabJNHysSamet8-nS-6DARNeDnaiZ7c-NAaYUJpkjZ2zDdx2nk/s1600/DSC_0107.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfb0VS7-jKb860l7_Mz1vM0EdwqGoQ9XITla6XR5dn9otSauWLx0WJNaQBvirmFIBsMfF9jxnisZNSKlBaj3wnxaDhjgZabJNHysSamet8-nS-6DARNeDnaiZ7c-NAaYUJpkjZ2zDdx2nk/s320/DSC_0107.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957428368514386" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHL_HImDBsU6KRNyhJVJTGUc8b6rDc21J3V26tOwVFiOwwejIiEpMApd0fHy04iTKrjwJ6CkV6CitPXSeBVdg4MVf-M45HFie1RyMl3lNZ6Dk4DLHBvtaFzMP8WsnIonjrG7-F-kjy6ciu/s1600/DSC_0097.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHL_HImDBsU6KRNyhJVJTGUc8b6rDc21J3V26tOwVFiOwwejIiEpMApd0fHy04iTKrjwJ6CkV6CitPXSeBVdg4MVf-M45HFie1RyMl3lNZ6Dk4DLHBvtaFzMP8WsnIonjrG7-F-kjy6ciu/s320/DSC_0097.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957427209316226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMYvM-AeHczd-h2oVHqt-KDl9VYDIuE94ei5Uh4k66RBxzyavEVGSFtyR0mR49CLyB_EVBNhqwSMaeuX8dDQ8Y1MhBCRe-UuyP_PQTRJC6TDVw3BBZElQ0KoByLMlaybyBuXOR_emdgha/s1600/DSC_0077.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMYvM-AeHczd-h2oVHqt-KDl9VYDIuE94ei5Uh4k66RBxzyavEVGSFtyR0mR49CLyB_EVBNhqwSMaeuX8dDQ8Y1MhBCRe-UuyP_PQTRJC6TDVw3BBZElQ0KoByLMlaybyBuXOR_emdgha/s320/DSC_0077.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957421778371986" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNBkGMPH5aO-iUV9Bvb6Ryp6fFBN75fHpUkNBo78fmGA0S-4eQMNqXAvbgJ3hZGPeHbXEnaE7AFiqZluUEinrHvjz8Vvh3WZAO1mOWE_Z-kmK7tsSfMccyK8r4uV2gRMIMN8d55SCZuNj/s1600/DSC_0062.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNBkGMPH5aO-iUV9Bvb6Ryp6fFBN75fHpUkNBo78fmGA0S-4eQMNqXAvbgJ3hZGPeHbXEnaE7AFiqZluUEinrHvjz8Vvh3WZAO1mOWE_Z-kmK7tsSfMccyK8r4uV2gRMIMN8d55SCZuNj/s320/DSC_0062.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957419623895394" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxQgvioKhCgV7b9eEfeLCr-NklKBy4GmuCWowKmZ-eKnORIX7mQbClk5uZmqwG7BNVnRwQRGXNh7NoQDEEPBZlN1KO8oq7DAmNIPmhOOCPPz8_Z6EZwbXEvuXdgtzygi8KQBM3agNDQ1j/s1600/DSC_0050.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxQgvioKhCgV7b9eEfeLCr-NklKBy4GmuCWowKmZ-eKnORIX7mQbClk5uZmqwG7BNVnRwQRGXNh7NoQDEEPBZlN1KO8oq7DAmNIPmhOOCPPz8_Z6EZwbXEvuXdgtzygi8KQBM3agNDQ1j/s320/DSC_0050.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575935713254373666" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-23310119382825340672011-02-20T07:43:00.001-08:002011-02-20T08:14:19.670-08:00What I've Been Up ToI've been up to a lot lately and while I'm a bit sleep deprived and certainly lighter in the wallet, our many projects are moving along nicely. <br /><br />You wouldn't notice too much action in the bathroom and that's because they've been patching the bathroom below us from all the damage in the wall. They've started on the plumbing and reframing some of the walls. We now have all of the fixtures (sans toilet) and tile waiting to go and I think have made all the major choices.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1RtJJ0gDyyDZytGZWazGcLkwLsHIXKpXa5JQGbUEHH1czMQxcZz1ZBgATpDf0zzJ8LwpHBFMZORQ0TWe8q6PeRe8RAr9pd5QLXesP_ly2QrjuxlyHO-yZXHDWc9OOpw7MyrLl7auMN1k/s1600/IMG_0449.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1RtJJ0gDyyDZytGZWazGcLkwLsHIXKpXa5JQGbUEHH1czMQxcZz1ZBgATpDf0zzJ8LwpHBFMZORQ0TWe8q6PeRe8RAr9pd5QLXesP_ly2QrjuxlyHO-yZXHDWc9OOpw7MyrLl7auMN1k/s320/IMG_0449.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575798584687735106" /></a><br /><br />At work, we launched a <a href="http://education.nyas.org">website </a>. When I pitched my vision for this department, no one said anything about a website. I'm a big believer in digital outreach and a well curated list of resources but building a website from scratch with a major deadline was not what I signed up for with this position. Luckily, I had a great technical team who was hugely supportive, patient, and willing to catch my typos and bad ideas. <a href="http://education.nyas.org/blog/recent/directors-blog/">I now maintain a professional blog</a> where I write about education and not my bathroom. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWU_CbXQhHy0vIgA4r3KD7zoZ5LeDy0uUB7E2MUpk-rood9oxbOr8fTptXoQntgZEIOMqIruqeeDAtt6M1_lTb2w8LCup87a40X76WUqKMAAKNzFUbGcI8gN7_3pLHD526WRySDsOMO63/s1600/IMG_0447.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWU_CbXQhHy0vIgA4r3KD7zoZ5LeDy0uUB7E2MUpk-rood9oxbOr8fTptXoQntgZEIOMqIruqeeDAtt6M1_lTb2w8LCup87a40X76WUqKMAAKNzFUbGcI8gN7_3pLHD526WRySDsOMO63/s320/IMG_0447.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575800254294894210" /></a><br />My stuffed staph infection that Ab gave me when I was sick a few years ago. Staph watches over meet and is an instant conversation starter that signals to people that I am not the serious, scientific side of the Academy. <br /><br />Work has very much settled down and we are just executing all of the programs and plans that I designed in the Fall. I can legitimately say "we" because I was able to hire someone to run one of the programs in the department and that has made a world of difference. I feel a tremendous amount of pride in my after school program and often get a bit teary when I talk about it. <br /><br />I've also read some amazing books since the holidays. Everyone is sick of hearing about the <br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Voice-James-Kaplan/dp/0385518048">Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan</a> but I also read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439023521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298217473&sr=1-1">Susan Collin's Hunger Games Trilogy</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/dp/1400064163/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298217519&sr=1-1">Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken</a>; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Stone-Abraham-Verghese/dp/0375714367/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298217609&sr=1-1">Abraham Verghese's Cutting for Stone</a>e; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Eleanor-Extraordinary-Hazel-Rowley/dp/0374158576/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298217660&sr=1-1">Hazel Rowley's Franklin and Eleanor</a> (which was not nearly as good as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/No-Ordinary-Time-Franklin-Roosevelt/dp/0684804484/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298217704&sr=1-2">Doris Kerns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time</a> and many more. The Kindle app on the iPad has made me into an even more voracious reader, a feat I never thought possible. The weather has been so cold and dreary that the only true solace is a nest of blankets on the couch and a good book. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3d1-mXuu3klP3FRKNazA-k1ibuA3qoDqb7aNBriOR9d654yOWcHbRtU5t5TUk6xvaMgP-Xrd6BIYCb_myATrpjOpOBVcKyDdkGMN0IS3v20sgIZQ4D7oN0ktVf6ty47stjm_eOyufypc/s1600/IMG_0454.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3d1-mXuu3klP3FRKNazA-k1ibuA3qoDqb7aNBriOR9d654yOWcHbRtU5t5TUk6xvaMgP-Xrd6BIYCb_myATrpjOpOBVcKyDdkGMN0IS3v20sgIZQ4D7oN0ktVf6ty47stjm_eOyufypc/s320/IMG_0454.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575801182930339922" /></a><br /><br />I also read Sam Kean's great b<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Disappearing-Spoon-Madness-Periodic-Elements/dp/0316051640/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298218111&sr=1-1">ook "The Disappearing Spoon" </a> and then got to meet him at a talk he gave at work! <br /><br />And for a bit of randomness, I wandered around on that freak 60 degree day and found this amazing homage to Michelle Obama on a shopping bad at Pearl River:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZtKyy_RJKU5HO2CfhOWGM9p9Il8IqolP3S5pzFDaGxH5qBZDhevjMRBAgtgkf6GPqS-VxCqS3qaIB-finQsQIBwc2gVrbbwHU1U2gmNAimPWcEzW_PIT5ek8aO5tG4NHxY0r5WPg18doK/s1600/IMG_0456.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZtKyy_RJKU5HO2CfhOWGM9p9Il8IqolP3S5pzFDaGxH5qBZDhevjMRBAgtgkf6GPqS-VxCqS3qaIB-finQsQIBwc2gVrbbwHU1U2gmNAimPWcEzW_PIT5ek8aO5tG4NHxY0r5WPg18doK/s320/IMG_0456.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575805061869367346" /></a><br /><br />And we went bowling for a birthday and I found that the husband can really bowl. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_VwHQOTWM6pfoJGBM9595fSj6XXcHttx4Y1kpWD7C3SQAtMYSUygiD85qpJpXKJ7h4LLP0iL7-1sJA7qKkV1BSGwlIDhkL-qSh3aUg0nmavZKQzDa-h61lhh5CKKLYJCjwcfBF5tQ9C_/s1600/IMG_0457.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_VwHQOTWM6pfoJGBM9595fSj6XXcHttx4Y1kpWD7C3SQAtMYSUygiD85qpJpXKJ7h4LLP0iL7-1sJA7qKkV1BSGwlIDhkL-qSh3aUg0nmavZKQzDa-h61lhh5CKKLYJCjwcfBF5tQ9C_/s320/IMG_0457.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575805068548774354" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-82413274936188263802011-02-09T18:39:00.001-08:002011-02-09T18:45:47.033-08:00End of Day 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8zLsyaqLcCVmsG0TW-aLZhmZ8uzf9pGnnAWZJ4_mXf4RlB4uoT1TTm-33Tb4oekdELcNYDeZEl3h-G7Qck7LiQm6JBQM2tVumW3g6jNyVYY4mXNkaMZbo2APPVN34-Svvi2Eh6lMJVnoR/s1600/IMG_0441.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8zLsyaqLcCVmsG0TW-aLZhmZ8uzf9pGnnAWZJ4_mXf4RlB4uoT1TTm-33Tb4oekdELcNYDeZEl3h-G7Qck7LiQm6JBQM2tVumW3g6jNyVYY4mXNkaMZbo2APPVN34-Svvi2Eh6lMJVnoR/s320/IMG_0441.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571886062658652434" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPOYjUCGPph-SRuaNmo5-38930daBWsuO-ZhUcM9GMGkIF-GWygGipWuK3D7ksoVj8-QN-LcKve4k7_zEJwf9oq9DgMbl-cRb0br_TbkJN5uvPAMJ6oER5apudVTTZPyfa-trxh8TCrVt/s1600/IMG_0438.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPOYjUCGPph-SRuaNmo5-38930daBWsuO-ZhUcM9GMGkIF-GWygGipWuK3D7ksoVj8-QN-LcKve4k7_zEJwf9oq9DgMbl-cRb0br_TbkJN5uvPAMJ6oER5apudVTTZPyfa-trxh8TCrVt/s320/IMG_0438.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571886060502243986" /></a><br />So today I hauled a lot of trash and then went to work. That is all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-72117342686714035562011-02-08T17:34:00.000-08:002011-02-08T17:59:35.371-08:00Meow.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJrbX03WNsAGC3w5UYWtpuCQ9PJOHD609SKNcN9TjknUI6ZyIpNK30N6dTcUboA6od9GP2j56zxsy57CAv4_vTjAWub6b_7z2UmYJt7O7RCX5AHO88FH2yhil_sqoKQ2BlUqbd-7xEnKb/s1600/naturals_silvergreyoak.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 228px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJrbX03WNsAGC3w5UYWtpuCQ9PJOHD609SKNcN9TjknUI6ZyIpNK30N6dTcUboA6od9GP2j56zxsy57CAv4_vTjAWub6b_7z2UmYJt7O7RCX5AHO88FH2yhil_sqoKQ2BlUqbd-7xEnKb/s320/naturals_silvergreyoak.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571497239473562018" /></a><br /> A silver oak piece of furniture to store stuff in and frame around the medicine cabinet. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8stbW6P6EtKKkH0njt7bdCVbnYM4-kaEq-EHtymV1WFewtph5zk_ko1YdZ68Eqty2NvF4sMRtbIb5Rcs6EPclufqIDG7npwZnMf0TiadX08g_rQDoXFlKeJYjggkUFymGdRg2lXZ0bCl/s1600/prod60039.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8stbW6P6EtKKkH0njt7bdCVbnYM4-kaEq-EHtymV1WFewtph5zk_ko1YdZ68Eqty2NvF4sMRtbIb5Rcs6EPclufqIDG7npwZnMf0TiadX08g_rQDoXFlKeJYjggkUFymGdRg2lXZ0bCl/s320/prod60039.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571498731753910290" /></a><br />This may be too blonde (from restoration hardware)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0AHooW-sLz6ciixSvSiXUAGvDEe-fq8gdUr0aFPnVZfQ4m7AFM0-yROTGUgoLJoHsMmJe8mXue-hhSPRNT6fVd5UiVe1vi0oPOboOkQLQwZe1jbiBsuc5YCpjT6GuhaGVSE9U8Pov1jrl/s1600/prod1191043_BB407.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0AHooW-sLz6ciixSvSiXUAGvDEe-fq8gdUr0aFPnVZfQ4m7AFM0-yROTGUgoLJoHsMmJe8mXue-hhSPRNT6fVd5UiVe1vi0oPOboOkQLQwZe1jbiBsuc5YCpjT6GuhaGVSE9U8Pov1jrl/s320/prod1191043_BB407.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571497976064938434" /></a><br />With just a slightly ornate train rack for towels from Restoration Hardware? <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR7AtTq6tJxk8xoobx5Xn8xJyExmlVV_mEGGSJ2ssRGyPOs-b0fytYBXCDoVASOhv8sXNwo2ri-tMPj18qm_wUr-rUP5HeMZgLrUkp5E9-zUSuZxbeiRbGhVgTImwBxio95a9eBK0AnKUc/s1600/img79m.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR7AtTq6tJxk8xoobx5Xn8xJyExmlVV_mEGGSJ2ssRGyPOs-b0fytYBXCDoVASOhv8sXNwo2ri-tMPj18qm_wUr-rUP5HeMZgLrUkp5E9-zUSuZxbeiRbGhVgTImwBxio95a9eBK0AnKUc/s320/img79m.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571501524488895266" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15z8Y3waewv9_CtDwl23x0qX_Vpf90cD2MmLcDzVsfI0Ni6E_S8dwdVvGfM_UsByJmwoEFXf6HBW1q86genrDd-sl5EQl-Y62jhOf_BqQ06s4lklYDHIyRLriWE4ToXOHvYdw93ZWyq2G/s1600/img41m.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15z8Y3waewv9_CtDwl23x0qX_Vpf90cD2MmLcDzVsfI0Ni6E_S8dwdVvGfM_UsByJmwoEFXf6HBW1q86genrDd-sl5EQl-Y62jhOf_BqQ06s4lklYDHIyRLriWE4ToXOHvYdw93ZWyq2G/s320/img41m.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571501526018895426" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0v9mlhL-KC-Vg6IdgXNHhpnilcwA9dTAmyK6Wmj3Zv5L9LQ4SkHweegM2Ugv7YBDuqIW6KIjxJqL-IOCEOZLlQnbUrD_OHWwPsSaT5XDC5vbg6T-5GbEJq7iqAjLc4ZTUIg6Hi1bRzy2/s1600/img16m.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0v9mlhL-KC-Vg6IdgXNHhpnilcwA9dTAmyK6Wmj3Zv5L9LQ4SkHweegM2Ugv7YBDuqIW6KIjxJqL-IOCEOZLlQnbUrD_OHWwPsSaT5XDC5vbg6T-5GbEJq7iqAjLc4ZTUIg6Hi1bRzy2/s320/img16m.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571501524164430178" /></a><br />Now I'm just cutting and pasting in the whole West Elm catalogueUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-76615875448191175562011-02-08T17:02:00.000-08:002011-02-08T17:31:30.363-08:00At the End of the Day You're another Day Older<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUI_rqBJ_AVQRlbZ1FwIOOQs1saQwkReJHSvc0Cf-wKeYPSh-UkZj2ycHVFBj9vZrEpXCfcydwkSxJevwGLxPlyVxgnm66dHlH-pJNdI2xVFejVylK-TAZqWmtZFQE15IDEZjINpCWKE7/s1600/IMG_0434.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUI_rqBJ_AVQRlbZ1FwIOOQs1saQwkReJHSvc0Cf-wKeYPSh-UkZj2ycHVFBj9vZrEpXCfcydwkSxJevwGLxPlyVxgnm66dHlH-pJNdI2xVFejVylK-TAZqWmtZFQE15IDEZjINpCWKE7/s320/IMG_0434.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571489246941298226" /></a><br />It's been a productive day one. All the tile came off the wall, the sink is out, and most of the fixtures are purchased. Tomorrow is more demo and more hauling. The dumpster is set to appear at 9am. Our building is taking bets on how long it will take the neighbors to fill it to the brim with their own stuff. <br /><br />I originally misordered the first tub so trooped over to Park Slope Plumbing to fix my mistake and see what else I could order. I worked with Bob Gomez and he was pretty amazing, knew the inventory really well and actually gave me his opinion. The biggest challenge was the tub as we wanted a deep soaker that will fit in a small space and be acrylic. We had a tough time finding something that maintained the size and wasn't over our budget. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCh5hd3LII2qLfhww41ymLMCvMkw5Dlt9QQOhZq_MDPx21-2FFm-K3OJ7ozOIiUo6LIA4BhyphenhyphenOxx_NnnKYX5I8xhB2o9VstxKYX0rGRm-LwRR8pCW3eRR0meA5C5MI1xAwnbIqoPeWgbtdZ/s1600/CategoryCrop.aspx.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCh5hd3LII2qLfhww41ymLMCvMkw5Dlt9QQOhZq_MDPx21-2FFm-K3OJ7ozOIiUo6LIA4BhyphenhyphenOxx_NnnKYX5I8xhB2o9VstxKYX0rGRm-LwRR8pCW3eRR0meA5C5MI1xAwnbIqoPeWgbtdZ/s320/CategoryCrop.aspx.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571490400931746866" /></a><br /><br />Bob found this guy from Fine Fixture at the same price as the original Kohler Archer that we originally chose. It's the only tub they make and is comes in very limited sizes (I think small and big). <br /><br />Next we moved on to the vanity. (You have to imagine that the husband and I are emailing, sending pictures, and talking on the phone and Bob is patiently waiting). We both liked the metal console but most of what we found was extremely expensive. The sink we both fell in love with was "at least $7,000". We told him we wanted a metal console but "less old lady" and he immediately pulled this one from Empire Industries. I'm not sure how it escaped my googling but I didn't find it online. (The website is empire-industries.com if anyone is looking) We loved this one in the cheaper white china top and it came in our size. No brainer. And the cheapest one that we liked. Huzzah! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROepo5xlHrYZmRj2d_ujEVeZNPnzWtW5zdvNv6VkadEi5F7PXYH7964LsZf6xBoq4bSz61ZpEnfuC42a-3UgOuGvzwOFeveEpkqWQRqJk4OWDlNFxfEU3XXk_GI5rXBfxb9cnU2YpWpcL/s1600/southbeach_large.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 251px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROepo5xlHrYZmRj2d_ujEVeZNPnzWtW5zdvNv6VkadEi5F7PXYH7964LsZf6xBoq4bSz61ZpEnfuC42a-3UgOuGvzwOFeveEpkqWQRqJk4OWDlNFxfEU3XXk_GI5rXBfxb9cnU2YpWpcL/s320/southbeach_large.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571490968550739250" /></a><br /><br />By the way, here's what an "at least $7K" sink looks like. Swooooon! It's Kallista's ONE. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBX3evkH9XIGxSJvBsCmpf06CmBjscmM8aTpMNYzfa9QQkoVCyerIP1KZ6AJzKlmp4i0h3Vm9z5cJbFWjkzgChICgTGwJ1WgET6Fb5ryFzYIWWJbBgouv2NO6Z653Qy3SdmSUUJHXzEeR/s1600/zaa21207.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 155px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBX3evkH9XIGxSJvBsCmpf06CmBjscmM8aTpMNYzfa9QQkoVCyerIP1KZ6AJzKlmp4i0h3Vm9z5cJbFWjkzgChICgTGwJ1WgET6Fb5ryFzYIWWJbBgouv2NO6Z653Qy3SdmSUUJHXzEeR/s320/zaa21207.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571492261115893202" /></a><br /><br />You may notice that I'm not giving specifics on price. It just makes me squicky to talk about money. I'll say that Bob gave us really good prices which I think we a reflection of their usual business practices, the fact that we bought everything together, and dropped our contractors name a lot. The best part of Bob was that we went through the show room and I pointed out things that I liked and he pointed out things that worked with what we had chosen all together. When I balked at price he found similar things at lower price points and helped me decide what was worth spending money on. For example, everyone will see the sink faucet but not the tub faucet. Or the fact that the lines of the spout were really lovely on the more expensive version, but a tub spout isn't expensive so spend the $50 to get what you want. <br /><br />Ah, I'll show you those: <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsc9F2LtR2Te9RM6ax4_KdoIh1zWjRNbMa3gdYbJDE8Y2e3AmKAOcmjm0-IPYpAOgeWKsVJ5v448z7az_osUNAtYlywl4Sciy5vMkgIR6ZiK0ZIz-WvpHX0Q1MueCAqREf8TlvOPiSZ7-7/s1600/D304544_md.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 275px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsc9F2LtR2Te9RM6ax4_KdoIh1zWjRNbMa3gdYbJDE8Y2e3AmKAOcmjm0-IPYpAOgeWKsVJ5v448z7az_osUNAtYlywl4Sciy5vMkgIR6ZiK0ZIz-WvpHX0Q1MueCAqREf8TlvOPiSZ7-7/s320/D304544_md.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571493607292042226" /></a><br />Sink Faucet by Danze <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbWikyrvxN5wnur1dhyphenhyphenrFrVysSiyD7nL5CSouurjxFBU_muwO-lM6Ja_KF4DEOHsRnoRSCZTt595fKxvDMFXyAPEn2Sdf0imDv1HY8kwu93DC7TfWoVHQJY_vu38KobTvx6FsKo7ZUNFf/s1600/13306000.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbWikyrvxN5wnur1dhyphenhyphenrFrVysSiyD7nL5CSouurjxFBU_muwO-lM6Ja_KF4DEOHsRnoRSCZTt595fKxvDMFXyAPEn2Sdf0imDv1HY8kwu93DC7TfWoVHQJY_vu38KobTvx6FsKo7ZUNFf/s320/13306000.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571493926941793874" /></a><br />Tub spout by Groeh<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3LKZIx6LvQCgWh19ufUqakiWVM9pGgMsErS8EfipNGWP2-sHm4M5MgdXCCM1FeLJQQSbcqcZh9zEnYFLrE-YasUz9O2-0cftKIjrhznOC0aRtVOQIGd82XxndvhFP4QtXX9M8QgNalol/s1600/D510444T_md.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3LKZIx6LvQCgWh19ufUqakiWVM9pGgMsErS8EfipNGWP2-sHm4M5MgdXCCM1FeLJQQSbcqcZh9zEnYFLrE-YasUz9O2-0cftKIjrhznOC0aRtVOQIGd82XxndvhFP4QtXX9M8QgNalol/s320/D510444T_md.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571494232830285762" /></a><br />Shower Handle by Danze <br /><br />We need to get accessories and a toilet but the accessories can wait and we can't do anything until the floor comes up and a plumber looks at the dreaded toilet. We didn't find anything terribly exciting behind the walls other than things being overdone in some areas and underdone in others. There was something that looked like fire damage but it was so rotted out with water that it was hard to tell. Surprise! <br /><br />I also cleaned out a lot of basement. I have to admit that throwing out other people's unwanted stuff is cathartic.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-26002220887225728672011-02-08T10:22:00.001-08:002011-02-08T10:29:50.248-08:00The destruction begins<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbvdts8qQc0VwYWqEgpAzAIFG627DpTLEyOktdE6JATsMrHXCQvw65b3JBSUJDeSwvvfjkO0e7613phr818-NPfdnU0zdN-8MSteO3TjTrsNbaqBOzWLhkbM0p3HbawwTfw55t8Kp63Zlz/s1600/IMG_0427.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbvdts8qQc0VwYWqEgpAzAIFG627DpTLEyOktdE6JATsMrHXCQvw65b3JBSUJDeSwvvfjkO0e7613phr818-NPfdnU0zdN-8MSteO3TjTrsNbaqBOzWLhkbM0p3HbawwTfw55t8Kp63Zlz/s320/IMG_0427.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571386538885533602" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRz_PXULIQ_2407ZxlpTcR2UuRGXMIT1wewXZbFc_Nt4qqQW0V47nm5B5bWhuDJskWSO3hpFMBkQtJQjb5nBvsIBDJXiX9W_QDZQtxFpCFt7v2Yw7UTEvjE4eZIiPMcc3Uja3cC952wQVR/s1600/IMG_0426.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRz_PXULIQ_2407ZxlpTcR2UuRGXMIT1wewXZbFc_Nt4qqQW0V47nm5B5bWhuDJskWSO3hpFMBkQtJQjb5nBvsIBDJXiX9W_QDZQtxFpCFt7v2Yw7UTEvjE4eZIiPMcc3Uja3cC952wQVR/s320/IMG_0426.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571386532325492386" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13nCHBi1wwgH74ucm0OSi8gjCxD9KKXND-mxI1Hg8UeQ0yjR7h8nKxMfnib4hXGDANzflW9dQ3Gvu9gLdaeMru5fIDmbWRxvGrR14ZNaXENcZzStq3_4qXcnXWtqJT6-QPF1EeQiTJ0cO/s1600/IMG_0425.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13nCHBi1wwgH74ucm0OSi8gjCxD9KKXND-mxI1Hg8UeQ0yjR7h8nKxMfnib4hXGDANzflW9dQ3Gvu9gLdaeMru5fIDmbWRxvGrR14ZNaXENcZzStq3_4qXcnXWtqJT6-QPF1EeQiTJ0cO/s320/IMG_0425.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571386526956967282" /></a><br /><br />I opened my front door this morning to 5 guys (and one lady) and all their gear ready to destroy our bathroom. It is very slow going but as they're destroying I'm cleaning out the basement. <br /><br />I suspect that the previous owner, the one responsible for the crazy toilet, was a bit of a hoarder and today I'm hauling all his old stuff up and out. Unfortunately, he seemed to be a hoarder of boards with rusty nails and broken IKEA furniture. I'm pretty sure I should go get a tetanus shot this afternoon. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXNenyIJutMY7tRXN5kjvD3Ht6RjpBOUvObFKU3yhwF68pcJPG7kpyFUxaLEcJ9TLEzhHG4ZY7jHWmJTjc-tzjSbNFVV6v5vj1_2N3XZGTnfIyU2-IfE_x1-nDip6rF8gPNp5slUCP6E3/s1600/IMG_0420.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXNenyIJutMY7tRXN5kjvD3Ht6RjpBOUvObFKU3yhwF68pcJPG7kpyFUxaLEcJ9TLEzhHG4ZY7jHWmJTjc-tzjSbNFVV6v5vj1_2N3XZGTnfIyU2-IfE_x1-nDip6rF8gPNp5slUCP6E3/s320/IMG_0420.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571387504526063810" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcuUcOdAwjNC8K7x2EWoDYsJEbqqurMo0Qt3qY8kF0E1kD7f3mn9UKyUdfbJlEKUkf3DoqWPiIX1WWEj6WYYIl2gfjXWYITUwgEteoKtd1JJ6VC_5FFnO-fcexYPnLtKRcZKN4FmLASoV/s1600/IMG_0424.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcuUcOdAwjNC8K7x2EWoDYsJEbqqurMo0Qt3qY8kF0E1kD7f3mn9UKyUdfbJlEKUkf3DoqWPiIX1WWEj6WYYIl2gfjXWYITUwgEteoKtd1JJ6VC_5FFnO-fcexYPnLtKRcZKN4FmLASoV/s320/IMG_0424.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571387498232985042" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-77317368025948609152011-02-06T05:34:00.001-08:002011-02-06T05:55:36.129-08:00Checks written, tub orderedAfter our big tile breakthrough last weekend we've been on relative fire on the bathroom project. We settled on a price, picked a start date (Tuesday!) and started making choices. <br /><br />The bathtub has been the number one priority in this renovation. When we moved in, we were saddened by the tubs. They look fine but have no slope in the back and are not very long. This means that the only slightly comfortable position is ramrod straight, legs extended. For me, a voracious bathtub reader, the uncomfortable baths mean that I can get through about one page of a New Yorker article without wanting to get up and go somewhere else. But in the deep, dark, frozen tundra of winter, the only really civil place to read is a nice steamy tub with a glass of white wine and a few pretzel nubs. For the husband, a soaker by nature, this uncomfortable tub means lying fetal position in order to get a good soak in. Not ideal, optimal, or even really acceptable for a relaxing soak. <br /><br />So, when confronted with this bathroom project, we choose to get the proper tub for our lifestyle. But... well there are a lot of buts, but they boil down to the fact that we live on a 4th Floor walk up and cast iron is very heavy. <br /><br />We settled on a couple of candidates (Kohler has a really good selection of 5' tubs) and a number of people told us that you need to lay in a bathtub before you buy it. Well the only place I could find the tubs was a very fancy design studio in Manhattan. While my parents raised me right and I can completely fit in at a fancy design studio in Manhattan, this particular day I was wearing my rubber boots, jeans, and my big puffy coat and brown pompom hat with lots of bags. Given the weather, my coat and hat are beginning to get that rumpled homeless person look and the rubber boots are brightly polka dotted. Add my giant purse, gym bag, and drugstore bag of tissue boxes and, well, you can see why they weren't too keen on taking me without an appointment. <br /><br />They were gracious enough to take me without an appointment and although no one would make eye contact with me, I got to slip off my Wellies and throw myself into these cavernous tubs (coat, hat, bags and all). These suckers are deep and they made me feel like a small child in a normal size bath. <br /><br />So after selecting the tub, the Archer 5' drop in tub in white, I needed to go about actually purchasing it. Ab and I needed to drop some clothes off at the donation bins at Lowes and wandered inside and pretty quickly found someone to help us. He was very helpful, gave us a quote, and potential delivery date. Done. We needed to stop by at Home Depot too so we headed down the block. <br /><br />Let's just say that shopping at Home Depot is a little like supervising detention as a first year teacher. Everyone who works there seems to hate you and no one seems to have the job of helping you or answering questions. Needless to say we ended up leaving our quite full cart in the middle of the checkout lane and walking out in frustration. <br /><br />The final chapter of the tub saga was a quick stop off at a large local plumbing shop, Park Slope Plumbing. If you know anything about my life, you should know that this should have been my one and only stop to find this tub. I walked in, they gave me the best quote of the day with a good delivery date, and told me to say hello to my contractor. So, we got the tub!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-19978871628771359312011-02-01T14:32:00.000-08:002011-02-01T15:00:41.373-08:00Bathroom TileGut renovating a bathroom with a few weeks lead time isn't the easiest thing in the world. We ended up scrapping our original ideas (spa-like and black and white subway tile) for something pretty different. The husband found a wonderful cobalt 3/4" hex tile <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-bqFfeaDOKdr_Zf2mQBShM0RvjZKFVckVCNro8hh7zN65pD4YdV0s8iubeQyMZmoFMaDSOA8XAmA1s5pYcWCVYe3sVdqAjolOLiYYZiRIDvZ5xHL_EOm_ImbEZYEWFuncbpjbnWfboOU/s1600/smallhexagoncolbal+ble_full.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-bqFfeaDOKdr_Zf2mQBShM0RvjZKFVckVCNro8hh7zN65pD4YdV0s8iubeQyMZmoFMaDSOA8XAmA1s5pYcWCVYe3sVdqAjolOLiYYZiRIDvZ5xHL_EOm_ImbEZYEWFuncbpjbnWfboOU/s320/smallhexagoncolbal+ble_full.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568852830200795490" /></a><br />(Image Found at <br />http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Classic.Tile.And.Marble.inc.718-331-2615/picture/view/1481000)<br /><br />And then we chose a frosted, white (almost green seagrass) glass subway tile to go with it. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZIdzLUoJSZqgTsAn1v31OROurw1bq5K02hDQhi5ShMWGEze7aZb4SngE6_U5MWtDWmzBZ8SH-0l9iD4NOAAFUo39J3JQhj_ZzBBLqOKSZ8TcKlolW61eGgk3XkkCsYZjcnYkJhMAbDkt/s1600/3x6whitefrosted.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZIdzLUoJSZqgTsAn1v31OROurw1bq5K02hDQhi5ShMWGEze7aZb4SngE6_U5MWtDWmzBZ8SH-0l9iD4NOAAFUo39J3JQhj_ZzBBLqOKSZ8TcKlolW61eGgk3XkkCsYZjcnYkJhMAbDkt/s320/3x6whitefrosted.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568853238671223570" /></a><br />(Image from http://www.mytilebacksplash.com/3x6whitefrostedglasstile.aspx)<br /><br />Once he found the blue we quickly converged on the light glass tile but it took us at least an hour to decide between 4 slightly different shades of glass and another hour to choose frosted or clear. There was another woman in there with us most of the time choosing between 5 identical looking tiles as well which made me feel a wee bit better. <br /><br />For bathtubs, we're looking a couple of acrylic, rectangular soaking tubs. <br /><br />For sinks, we were considering a metal console sink with white top. This one is way too big but has the right look. It's from Pottery Barn and I find it lovely. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDfefZkZsg2sq_fGyMrvBuaG5Xlp4b3-Y0tUu3a9hrgVxlAfqv0hS0KKgYEGBD7L6tDt_ed51P7jWsZwBi_3e1r_p7S3w-OnWkC8o-y9T4nLFm2wglShTXm8GfpVj97ZE5zvyVNPGy9H67/s1600/img80m.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDfefZkZsg2sq_fGyMrvBuaG5Xlp4b3-Y0tUu3a9hrgVxlAfqv0hS0KKgYEGBD7L6tDt_ed51P7jWsZwBi_3e1r_p7S3w-OnWkC8o-y9T4nLFm2wglShTXm8GfpVj97ZE5zvyVNPGy9H67/s320/img80m.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568857037463571858" /></a><br /><br />Or, <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhME2yRIjYhmx-og9ZzSji9XcDRnrPmlb9qMFnlMCHT_gTiQwu0Oorj1YrqcV40zKK6OiQYxzyNMQXG89Qwu9-7vfYZB35Huljjx-15K8a4VUAjWoe8vPU2w2bxfGhRvwE-jKIS2ciWPn0-/s1600/T580-351x323.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhME2yRIjYhmx-og9ZzSji9XcDRnrPmlb9qMFnlMCHT_gTiQwu0Oorj1YrqcV40zKK6OiQYxzyNMQXG89Qwu9-7vfYZB35Huljjx-15K8a4VUAjWoe8vPU2w2bxfGhRvwE-jKIS2ciWPn0-/s320/T580-351x323.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568858277786262194" /></a><br />(Image from http://ladacorp.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60&product_id=213) <br /><br />Something very simple, modern and in a warm, reddish wood maybe. I think that would warm up the room a bit but it's hard to tell without the floor tile.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-27767904862043872262011-01-28T04:24:00.000-08:002011-01-28T04:28:09.777-08:00More Snow!The snow from Christmas has never really melted leaving huge grey, dog stained piles at every turn. Yesterday's snow just added insult to injury. I can't remember the last time we had this much snow around for so long. I also can't express my gratitude for my Wellies ($15 at Target) and their amazing ability to let me slosh through the slush even when it's ankle high. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiel8NZZ0hjS5Bj0XXtheaIwhwJ0JBnWKFtYva5GJz-dprzbnADfDBNEvp3CqHAyPHEJFUVlMpkPvu7tJQKRT6NsLrR9g_0ex_Z7vjLo8l_D5mRqRMbnvS_6-EWhZ0M-LB5gncoS0WSwMDF/s1600/IMG_0405.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiel8NZZ0hjS5Bj0XXtheaIwhwJ0JBnWKFtYva5GJz-dprzbnADfDBNEvp3CqHAyPHEJFUVlMpkPvu7tJQKRT6NsLrR9g_0ex_Z7vjLo8l_D5mRqRMbnvS_6-EWhZ0M-LB5gncoS0WSwMDF/s320/IMG_0405.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567212222465978802" /></a><br />Here's Ab posing with the snow!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLUQSLJ3-DbTEDnNNhuMJtYCLySAkSLb_yX4l7JY7xdTWLk2ZQxZHb8Hktf9lUA9Up5kNICzxxb2f3AmkDJb8PO3wlCRPyis9ieXhz7tZNw5UE3y7bDkai0zBRdTy2iFTTJ09do9xUnA6/s1600/IMG_0403.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLUQSLJ3-DbTEDnNNhuMJtYCLySAkSLb_yX4l7JY7xdTWLk2ZQxZHb8Hktf9lUA9Up5kNICzxxb2f3AmkDJb8PO3wlCRPyis9ieXhz7tZNw5UE3y7bDkai0zBRdTy2iFTTJ09do9xUnA6/s320/IMG_0403.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567212219115912034" /></a><br />Our very typical Brooklyn block, posing with the snow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-72411520436047794332011-01-27T05:22:00.000-08:002011-01-27T05:30:17.689-08:00The Dreaded ListThe reason I call it my dreaded list is that every time I start one home project I automatically start listing all the other things that need to be done. Some stuff needs to be done, while other stuff is a pipe dream. Unfortunatly, most of the current list needs to get done:<br /><br />Front Bathroom (Gut Reno)<br />New tile on floor and walls<br />New sink/vanity<br />move toilet plumbing from wall mounted to floor<br />New Toilet<br />replace drywall <br />Paint<br />new light<br />new storage cabinet<br />replace radiator<br /><br />Front bedroom<br />pick paint color and paint<br />repair cracked plaster<br />replace ceiling fan<br />replace radiator <-- needs to get done<br />fix electrical sockets <-- should get done<br /><br />Small bedroom/office<br />get new desk for husband<br />decorate <br /><br />Hallway<br />replace gross track lighting<br /><br />Back bathroom<br />Replace light fixture<br />recaulk tub<br /><br />Kitchen<br />recaulk tile<br />recaulk sink<br />repaint ceiling<br />replace dishwasher<br /><br />Living room<br />replace ceiling fan<br /><br />Roof <-- a whole other story<br />Fan situation <-- a whole other storyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-68089607138820792982011-01-26T18:53:00.000-08:002011-01-26T19:00:03.320-08:00Snow!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqojvOpyPDaPqd216-OTirvw61iBk11tT2yxvinsImRmrAiFSP7mqQ7nMSP2o44VOoEz1Xo3hcKsX4q99mYxDjB3zEACPGrxxul1CfSCM8sU2hK2mSg8HDOBW0OLWBP9Judrhvvzanp4U/s1600/IMG_0371.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqojvOpyPDaPqd216-OTirvw61iBk11tT2yxvinsImRmrAiFSP7mqQ7nMSP2o44VOoEz1Xo3hcKsX4q99mYxDjB3zEACPGrxxul1CfSCM8sU2hK2mSg8HDOBW0OLWBP9Judrhvvzanp4U/s320/IMG_0371.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566694255093401890" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtx7FEOCg3fPqjeL5sVmRyxgisWf5lz3unrrqvvadW8IDkSoxbnWOA-Kq1XR7v5KLAu4EMEp2ht2owpW0jUVw__iN37Cx_DRb9jTAlewzo4RcmxbMxqDSuhDcNvKwC1G-xeaynQjo7kJw/s1600/IMG_0379.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtx7FEOCg3fPqjeL5sVmRyxgisWf5lz3unrrqvvadW8IDkSoxbnWOA-Kq1XR7v5KLAu4EMEp2ht2owpW0jUVw__iN37Cx_DRb9jTAlewzo4RcmxbMxqDSuhDcNvKwC1G-xeaynQjo7kJw/s320/IMG_0379.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566694251815735410" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxAZTtDEV9QctYS_eiKKDTXrAN9edEh5ll_ynyTiu8pkra3o3QzqqCSCTVS3akmuCw1MwWuTW9-kf-7m6IcI0DDiGLijCthsFGFEkndgj-OLw0PC8SpAE5FX-reXzPJil3s1-JBQB2aZRl/s1600/IMG_0373.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxAZTtDEV9QctYS_eiKKDTXrAN9edEh5ll_ynyTiu8pkra3o3QzqqCSCTVS3akmuCw1MwWuTW9-kf-7m6IcI0DDiGLijCthsFGFEkndgj-OLw0PC8SpAE5FX-reXzPJil3s1-JBQB2aZRl/s320/IMG_0373.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566694246260238530" /></a><br />Everyone appears to be reeling from the snow. We hunkered down on December 26th and watched the blizzard ruin our dream vacation (I just yesterday unpacked my bag). The most striking images of the storm, who's snow is still on the ground here, were the City buses just abandoned in the street. I'm still amazed at the site of a stuck bus at 6 am filled with people who had spent the night in the bus. <br /><br />We're still not sure what happened but where we are was completely abandoned by the City with no plows, salt trucks, or tow trucks for a long time. In a fit of cabin fever and desire to get out, we literally shoveled our street so that we could get the car out. Abandoned buses and shoveling one's street, not something you think about when you move to Brooklyn. I guess we did get hit with a tornado earlier this year, so I guess anything is possible .Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-12282872058213018772011-01-23T08:42:00.001-08:002011-01-23T09:13:25.937-08:00The Money PitWhen we decided to buy a place we considered (for about a second) buying a fixer-upper. I harbored dreams of restoring someplace, of gracing a hulking burned out shell with my good taste and to be learned on the job handiness, and of a type of urban homesteading that someone who is bored with their job can dream about. My husband, saw nothing but trouble and quickly swung our real estate agent in the direction of historic but in good shape homes. <br /><br />When we bought our place, we knew it had character and that it was in excellent shape and I thought it would remain quirky with cosmetic issues forever. That was very naive of me. In addition to the apartment being over 100 years old, the previous owner was a bit of an urban homesteader, DIYer himself and we're now dealing with those delusions of gradeur in this bathroom project.<br /><br />It's hard to know what work he did himself and what was done in the 1984 conversion but here are some pictures of our soon to be ex-bathroom:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYDaeEVAs6FQM9Dwu30swaAM0sEpdcKjBPJu37p13jZHskial_s3BjcsSDXK_BbKTLkDY-jQOUFc5c5bwdBoeWKfq2onbWfHTxqBkVWbJgqJGqxF9RRoEQltACyiA8kEdT1q9kLP7usTa/s1600/IMG_0398.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYDaeEVAs6FQM9Dwu30swaAM0sEpdcKjBPJu37p13jZHskial_s3BjcsSDXK_BbKTLkDY-jQOUFc5c5bwdBoeWKfq2onbWfHTxqBkVWbJgqJGqxF9RRoEQltACyiA8kEdT1q9kLP7usTa/s320/IMG_0398.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565425424774922706" /></a><br /><br />Here's an overall shot. You can see that we have really nice light in the room from a huge window. There are also very high ceilings. That's about all the nice parts. You can see how uneven the tile is in the bathtub area and how awkward the toilet is as it juts out into the room. The mouldings around the tub are completely rotted and someone painted the grout on the floor at some point and it's now grey. <br /><br />When the contractor came to look for sources of leaks he pointed to the tub/shower fixtures, cracked grout, old silicone caulk, illogical plumbing on the sink, and the world's weirdest and poorly installed toilet. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXUJw2vwf3fnem7AsYOijleTtdw6ktmknWlZN9SyI5OK84mXYnYpIpdVgxb1N8SWBBs_NnwgR3WkFzjFa5_m8xZWbY8xHgXqyo3Z-x5DpNV4sKJA8YtJXIt5NWu9VXyFCg2dzQ8CUhQu3/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXUJw2vwf3fnem7AsYOijleTtdw6ktmknWlZN9SyI5OK84mXYnYpIpdVgxb1N8SWBBs_NnwgR3WkFzjFa5_m8xZWbY8xHgXqyo3Z-x5DpNV4sKJA8YtJXIt5NWu9VXyFCg2dzQ8CUhQu3/s320/IMG_0395.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565425423723657442" /></a><br /><br />The vanity/sink was on it's way to be replaced anyway since the doors are falling off and it's installed in a way that makes it impossible to clean. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRC1R3qd8KAl-rh7Le4yXFUxQIKiDP69kREgJ8ahaY-i076jXMWa7Bs_WoJj0ZQ6os6vcBpEHOg5y9XvXTbBQ9-W3KDlzqo8i-ZBdX2we02XMY0bH19LnvPg1dktOo8LVRVSIbUSU8wkw/s1600/IMG_0394.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRC1R3qd8KAl-rh7Le4yXFUxQIKiDP69kREgJ8ahaY-i076jXMWa7Bs_WoJj0ZQ6os6vcBpEHOg5y9XvXTbBQ9-W3KDlzqo8i-ZBdX2we02XMY0bH19LnvPg1dktOo8LVRVSIbUSU8wkw/s320/IMG_0394.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565425415034792210" /></a><br /><br />The world's most basic lighting fixture and medicine cabinet that was hung incorrectly and now gapes open. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpfOpyByCijvq7E8WFZMfICKJH0bFHvO4Nqvj-a5tOqeUVzwgb_drxg3ZjRP_ZyR1iOCa5nRjNzAQkGvGTgWQwctDlobyRrVlyPXvX6GAZ8Y784Qatb3h2nKU5GOf5Q6PdVOskM_R0cxM/s1600/IMG_0392.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpfOpyByCijvq7E8WFZMfICKJH0bFHvO4Nqvj-a5tOqeUVzwgb_drxg3ZjRP_ZyR1iOCa5nRjNzAQkGvGTgWQwctDlobyRrVlyPXvX6GAZ8Y784Qatb3h2nKU5GOf5Q6PdVOskM_R0cxM/s320/IMG_0392.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565425410197083922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Wal4NNmDcaJEYc7ngD0IVz05M_TIsALcx1och2aC-_C9IIaHvsxy3IBjrpZ4O_vY7fyubskStN88-jRpULaB8zRkBAf9FqO6ekgxWZ9xmSGsCqkzMJqFucTso-7VstCwTgZEtVnYZx0Z/s1600/IMG_0391.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Wal4NNmDcaJEYc7ngD0IVz05M_TIsALcx1och2aC-_C9IIaHvsxy3IBjrpZ4O_vY7fyubskStN88-jRpULaB8zRkBAf9FqO6ekgxWZ9xmSGsCqkzMJqFucTso-7VstCwTgZEtVnYZx0Z/s320/IMG_0391.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565425405905677138" /></a><br /><br />Ah, the toilet. You can see the half-inch gap between the toilet and the wall, the missing bolts, and insulating foam that was sprayed in there to compensate for the fact that it wasn't set into the wall properly. I don't want to blame the previous owner for all of the mess here. The room drops a full inch from the tub to the toilet, a consequence of settling. The plumbing juts out of the wall instead of the floor meaning that any toilet that goes in there will be loyal to the wall and not the ceiling. <br /><br />The toilet itself inspired one of my favorite quotes "This is the type of toilet you install if you have very serious health problems or need to flush large buckets of golf balls." Given our delicate plumbing, this thing should never have made it through the front door. <br /><br />There's also no ventilation in the bathroom, which we can fix when the roof is replaced. Did I mention that we need to completely replace the roof?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-15480494675040977932011-01-22T04:43:00.000-08:002011-01-22T04:53:40.966-08:00Worst Case Scenario HouseI love our house, I really do, but sometimes it feels like she's out to do us in. First the tornado, then the roof, and now the master bathroom needs major work. People always remark about of wacky doors, usually something like "every door in your house is a different, hideous color!" and I explain to them that the previous owner's painted them to ward off bad luck. Obviously, he took any good house mojo with him. <br /><br />The bathroom issue came to our attention when our two-stories down neighbor mentioned a drip in his bathroom. Since the neighbor between us had been gone for two weeks, it was obvious that the problem was coming from us. When the contractor came over he pointed out about 10 different sources of the problem including cracked grout on the walls and floors, a toilet that looked like I got really drunk and installed it with foam insulation, an unlevel toilet pipe, and a sink that was falling apart. <br /><br />We new these things existed but faced with about a month of work to make a not great bathroom look still not great, we decided to tack on another week's worth of work and gut it. A further inspection revealed tons of damaged plaster and drywall, a floor that sloped an inch in four feet, and a radiator that's about 3 times too big for the room. <br /><br />So in the middle of our extremely busy lives we now get to do a bathroom reno but at least we have two bathrooms! If I could speak directly to the previous owner (which I've considered doing), I'd tell him to lay off the DIY. A love of spray foam and duct tape should be symptoms of not being very handy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-25278581574797205472010-10-31T07:26:00.000-07:002010-10-31T07:46:01.533-07:00Prospect Park WanderIt feels like Fall is finally here and to celebrate we wandered around the nooks and crannies of Prospect Park. I'm pretty familiar with the park (especially the running loop) but had never wandered into the deep interior between the Dog Beach and the running Zoo. There is a beautiful hilly bramble that transports you from the mean streets of Brooklyn into the woods of the Catskills. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlbG92F6w98SiVGIr0-47kY7_tnoqkVuyneM2vM87SO3IOK7IqS_WjC67VHw-0b_JyCVJSVCDKJjXYQ4_W2Daj8b6ZIuPj1SBRzDrICx2jfl_fvQY8oBVll_JaPAwgVi1o1yueQn18JDR/s1600/IMG_0076.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlbG92F6w98SiVGIr0-47kY7_tnoqkVuyneM2vM87SO3IOK7IqS_WjC67VHw-0b_JyCVJSVCDKJjXYQ4_W2Daj8b6ZIuPj1SBRzDrICx2jfl_fvQY8oBVll_JaPAwgVi1o1yueQn18JDR/s320/IMG_0076.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534217771470882082" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1twiknnBlfsA85C3Uz-XV14vGFGXt8PpMMyALE94yphrK7tclC_aa3CfVFrSYdJtTuQ5DK-Dy3ngb_LpVId6vH4pb7sb73etTW06Ijr6cnFm9GI4wk6BhDmBfD_XLlIa2HUGjaPzYLa6/s1600/IMG_0074.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1twiknnBlfsA85C3Uz-XV14vGFGXt8PpMMyALE94yphrK7tclC_aa3CfVFrSYdJtTuQ5DK-Dy3ngb_LpVId6vH4pb7sb73etTW06Ijr6cnFm9GI4wk6BhDmBfD_XLlIa2HUGjaPzYLa6/s320/IMG_0074.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534217764827087298" /></a><br /><br />After the bramble, we headed to the zoo. Despite my love of zoos, I had never been to this one and had heard it was lovely. We stopped by the carousel and the historic house before heading inside where we saw the Sea Lions, petting zoo, and the unnaturally creepy picture of this sheep. If you haven't seen the movie "Black Sheep" I recommend at least reading the summary online. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8Xdl8Yo5SeHe4SZ3hCvOwv9o79P60stjXg4kK5zMH4MUKg-QvqhHgOOjkUjUPrYFeo4tlYlha3x5SSYEHSBSBKX6IMl9RpP6-MeGys9pw8TfVHw91xeULdwAjdxW-QfR0fsYcpUkJ-Gy/s1600/IMG_0084.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8Xdl8Yo5SeHe4SZ3hCvOwv9o79P60stjXg4kK5zMH4MUKg-QvqhHgOOjkUjUPrYFeo4tlYlha3x5SSYEHSBSBKX6IMl9RpP6-MeGys9pw8TfVHw91xeULdwAjdxW-QfR0fsYcpUkJ-Gy/s320/IMG_0084.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534217798815415634" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-9somT2HQy3oFuLUG5_p_6vT5SSnWfJXzzazxAu-EvY9zePNTm44umoqicmeMZgTYVJQhP8Z3iVwhWh1e_DDTSGfeMf1RdSzgGlZmQLQ99A7fNP8DDBUxjYYx1wm9emwfD4saMM2b8TL/s1600/IMG_0082.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-9somT2HQy3oFuLUG5_p_6vT5SSnWfJXzzazxAu-EvY9zePNTm44umoqicmeMZgTYVJQhP8Z3iVwhWh1e_DDTSGfeMf1RdSzgGlZmQLQ99A7fNP8DDBUxjYYx1wm9emwfD4saMM2b8TL/s320/IMG_0082.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534217778207012946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2zGg19MhKwrBMsjGwiVZmwBr-4-XulJuOTov5RCpUdh-npvvbKTa06H061QQ05tiJbxJVzD6syKWWt-vZQ4da6BNzw136BX-8BMKPlUYrs7gKXg3drQJsPWynJJr7qWYiWKCoamwrgMd/s1600/IMG_0080.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2zGg19MhKwrBMsjGwiVZmwBr-4-XulJuOTov5RCpUdh-npvvbKTa06H061QQ05tiJbxJVzD6syKWWt-vZQ4da6BNzw136BX-8BMKPlUYrs7gKXg3drQJsPWynJJr7qWYiWKCoamwrgMd/s320/IMG_0080.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534217775675493714" /></a><br /><br />We finished up with a nice walk through Long Meadow and were treated to a beautiful sunset on the way home. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6jHYoksYqf8QZLml8hAQkmRYz5j9N9xorWGxRo8eQpQZJi7s9WVCfaFylTprJOmc0YNXskBzxttCXFaUEaLiTWbXZDlcg5Q4cn_Lb3Ztsa9TrjmSCwBPFZkWgw1WAVxMggmWm8syo4wI/s1600/IMG_0088.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6jHYoksYqf8QZLml8hAQkmRYz5j9N9xorWGxRo8eQpQZJi7s9WVCfaFylTprJOmc0YNXskBzxttCXFaUEaLiTWbXZDlcg5Q4cn_Lb3Ztsa9TrjmSCwBPFZkWgw1WAVxMggmWm8syo4wI/s320/IMG_0088.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534221317953504386" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGej_FbjWaoEOK1nWXE7PjgvZ5XVxkuSFL5vFTyqh72CieXExby-TaUMjah3etezUXMI6L05yr4l4TkwUZ7wsFtFz4mCbQ1tIOlSmyS32GBEhDxvuFTexrhvwfXsN3tVbyibk9Qa0hGy3x/s1600/IMG_0087.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGej_FbjWaoEOK1nWXE7PjgvZ5XVxkuSFL5vFTyqh72CieXExby-TaUMjah3etezUXMI6L05yr4l4TkwUZ7wsFtFz4mCbQ1tIOlSmyS32GBEhDxvuFTexrhvwfXsN3tVbyibk9Qa0hGy3x/s320/IMG_0087.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534221311186261618" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-40157786050390516382010-10-30T15:26:00.000-07:002010-10-30T15:31:12.774-07:00WTC Progress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1QZTwvvj1PyKFtIfNuRwHsWIN7z4-PUvv6URRQ1Ow4rUVNa1_q6CbbV1Yeccw_0N6eVAB6ykHIbwElLqcUpHz4QOqWRfmrRZEq1dvyDDIl8VYEfWt9v0wAn4fCymPDC3p-VDU8FVzEtG/s1600/IMG_0028.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1QZTwvvj1PyKFtIfNuRwHsWIN7z4-PUvv6URRQ1Ow4rUVNa1_q6CbbV1Yeccw_0N6eVAB6ykHIbwElLqcUpHz4QOqWRfmrRZEq1dvyDDIl8VYEfWt9v0wAn4fCymPDC3p-VDU8FVzEtG/s320/IMG_0028.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533969425243731362" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn210zjG_udFE5gy-3CqKT7SfOhyKHAvtAnvxskJ3WEjvixJfK3kQFjW3xFmw58GMfuZ_24H6VIKx13SQh8Z6ht3XpNHmkUkXMNKtm5p4sFJOUeQmBbutfHMCrj56Vj4CWTgLnvX6T1RNV/s1600/IMG_0094.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn210zjG_udFE5gy-3CqKT7SfOhyKHAvtAnvxskJ3WEjvixJfK3kQFjW3xFmw58GMfuZ_24H6VIKx13SQh8Z6ht3XpNHmkUkXMNKtm5p4sFJOUeQmBbutfHMCrj56Vj4CWTgLnvX6T1RNV/s320/IMG_0094.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533969827445084258" /></a><br /><br /><br />Just in case you were wondering... I can no longer see the Statue of Liberty without leaving my office chair.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-58622132620847541672010-10-30T06:56:00.000-07:002010-10-30T10:22:47.599-07:00Weird WeatherOne of my favorite parts of my job is our perch at the south end of Manhattan with a view of the harbor and ocean to the south, the far reaches of NJ to the West, the GW Bridge to the North, and my fair Brooklyn to the east. It does a lot of alleviate my anxiety over working at the World Trade Center. While the view of the City and its surroundings is spectacular, the real beauty is watching the weather roll in. <br /><br />Except when that weather includes hail storms and giant clouds of fog that envelope the Hudson. <br /><br />First the giant cloud of fog. Despite my attempts to convince my office mates that it was the "end of days", the fog simply rolled from the harbor, past our building, and into the Village where it broke up and wandered away. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWR-d-z55MWWCnn8HFi-bjB0awgxk5YGrmSyDRnqj5hIJjnVidhShbwMzj840AZhhoMABrJbbNAve6ffmt1WYVPXGr1SwKUudgoTbsBH0rAxT-s0stRydPwOEVnlGVmPy2I6PKCVqZgDk/s1600/IMG_0097.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWR-d-z55MWWCnn8HFi-bjB0awgxk5YGrmSyDRnqj5hIJjnVidhShbwMzj840AZhhoMABrJbbNAve6ffmt1WYVPXGr1SwKUudgoTbsBH0rAxT-s0stRydPwOEVnlGVmPy2I6PKCVqZgDk/s320/IMG_0097.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533839752871827154"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXMrwTSEAIdayN5_yT1ECBffiVOlFiHRtY15cNx-22k7wThN9s883m9zFL_2o2t-_6YHw_JmEy70D7TVYi1asx1QXYOADe6f1YLVt3ZpU4iC_yPtbKBPl9ZlHkaAVZf7qdnFGV-Fyr1_y/s1600/IMG_0095.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXMrwTSEAIdayN5_yT1ECBffiVOlFiHRtY15cNx-22k7wThN9s883m9zFL_2o2t-_6YHw_JmEy70D7TVYi1asx1QXYOADe6f1YLVt3ZpU4iC_yPtbKBPl9ZlHkaAVZf7qdnFGV-Fyr1_y/s320/IMG_0095.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533839747384537458"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEEBdTA1-V8cm__TFocr_s7CudPp3RxTPi2HyYqnuZfV2gLPicW-3-jcS1kFgCXnRbXP4bOurvm55_KdEcpgHdyNc54nquDmGv-alJFCF0dVefvzkpbspfYBrYLSVAYvZ7flfrmWMB6fO/s1600/IMG_0093.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEEBdTA1-V8cm__TFocr_s7CudPp3RxTPi2HyYqnuZfV2gLPicW-3-jcS1kFgCXnRbXP4bOurvm55_KdEcpgHdyNc54nquDmGv-alJFCF0dVefvzkpbspfYBrYLSVAYvZ7flfrmWMB6fO/s320/IMG_0093.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533839739016473346"></a><br /><br />My thoughts went immediately to "The Mist" or some weaponized trash fire from New Jersey. Everyone else in the office just snapped pictures and went back to their work. <br /><br /><br />Peter got stuck out in the storm and said it sounded like the subway car was under attack. I just thought that someone was throwing baseballs at our windows. The next morning, my tomatoes and coelous were shredded and the street looked like someone put Kermit through the woodchipper. It's hard to take a picture of an undifferentiated mat of green slush but here are some attempts. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkUBerh1YxrfwKt4nkqhyK5s2aHRg84cLt444U1bGD3C3jhp9bcj3ZmlGM6GChJUZLjJLsaDrQufRw6qfP2WltVtVKhCsIkVioZyCczXGnx46hSYs4WreSQgRp7jKN9srhintep_jup2i/s1600/IMG_0052.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkUBerh1YxrfwKt4nkqhyK5s2aHRg84cLt444U1bGD3C3jhp9bcj3ZmlGM6GChJUZLjJLsaDrQufRw6qfP2WltVtVKhCsIkVioZyCczXGnx46hSYs4WreSQgRp7jKN9srhintep_jup2i/s320/IMG_0052.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533842316050557202"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoZyxt2HBDCa-vz5bEhFslh-TQ3OPbYq67If85tHmw12v3FZso3HuZGcY2E_iQKny-N7Ls3sq6P2fiJfrXw-r6KJSI4FeKE9Oj1tRFZ8aj6WEuQAUkf6EsP2b2FmXLMcKQVEQJz8cp9LH/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoZyxt2HBDCa-vz5bEhFslh-TQ3OPbYq67If85tHmw12v3FZso3HuZGcY2E_iQKny-N7Ls3sq6P2fiJfrXw-r6KJSI4FeKE9Oj1tRFZ8aj6WEuQAUkf6EsP2b2FmXLMcKQVEQJz8cp9LH/s320/IMG_0048.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533842311783013426"></a><br /><br />Considering that the tornado and the hail storm made targeted attacks on Park Slope (and parts of Queens), I can't help but feel like the Gods Must be Angry. So, in my defense, you can see why I was a bit worried about the cloud of fog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-24026498202647903332010-09-16T17:37:00.000-07:002010-09-16T18:01:16.125-07:00A beautiful day and a tornado!Oh. What a beautiful day! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0vylsCYqPzMhzkrX6DjpxSNyEChffTaWymvZacnzshCr8EuG1ewsJdi0ZfGmylu8_3OPXtrjSiJuyZS-_mlHVley5SBaZi-TFnv5BMdhwuHAFzv4-Pc2dM-0X3rgNV264H85giuPS2Wc/s1600/IMG_1082.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0vylsCYqPzMhzkrX6DjpxSNyEChffTaWymvZacnzshCr8EuG1ewsJdi0ZfGmylu8_3OPXtrjSiJuyZS-_mlHVley5SBaZi-TFnv5BMdhwuHAFzv4-Pc2dM-0X3rgNV264H85giuPS2Wc/s400/IMG_1082.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517675508142651890" /></a><br /><br />It does appear to be getting a little bit cloudy. La La La!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCZv6KtRlyta6qg4CCcs85wkpgVYscIL1esdxnAm8IINrEqK3IPVbFmfuSMBkTE8bJDBBohYLaWak0DhWCsEPBT8Fr_SWLnrlEuUbI0FIdIeIUnCfs51P7HFmG_It0Kj1HMQ49WLpxEmv/s1600/IMG_1084.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCZv6KtRlyta6qg4CCcs85wkpgVYscIL1esdxnAm8IINrEqK3IPVbFmfuSMBkTE8bJDBBohYLaWak0DhWCsEPBT8Fr_SWLnrlEuUbI0FIdIeIUnCfs51P7HFmG_It0Kj1HMQ49WLpxEmv/s320/IMG_1084.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517676550896958914" /></a><br /><br />It does appear to be getting a bit rough out there! <br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9i7UJkUMKc4-ugKuAyTLX_ez11-afpI6aCXGFa7GNwwtBmiFjhZakxCg1OUfi-GZhfg8Hcyv-jHPakNN9ubFg6by8rxKxtkvA4aSHIGs-ptNV-Q7jpurdgQ4QRARB9y3fbmtvSk9C-qFV/s1600/IMG_1087.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9i7UJkUMKc4-ugKuAyTLX_ez11-afpI6aCXGFa7GNwwtBmiFjhZakxCg1OUfi-GZhfg8Hcyv-jHPakNN9ubFg6by8rxKxtkvA4aSHIGs-ptNV-Q7jpurdgQ4QRARB9y3fbmtvSk9C-qFV/s320/IMG_1087.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517676566163137714" /></a><br /><br />WTF is going on! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dyBGu6PJ5Aa5D8zZ8Jw0H93StUEgXSCl-ZOEPPbWq9BuTLN2EvMunPFbiBj1zPvkA5_NUukiqFiu2cY_lgkTA-Ye4W_ewnKKlQRuXYDa5fw9luZ6_dUO7w7JRjgmMs0N8xC45Mn1bTT9/s1600/IMG_1088.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dyBGu6PJ5Aa5D8zZ8Jw0H93StUEgXSCl-ZOEPPbWq9BuTLN2EvMunPFbiBj1zPvkA5_NUukiqFiu2cY_lgkTA-Ye4W_ewnKKlQRuXYDa5fw9luZ6_dUO7w7JRjgmMs0N8xC45Mn1bTT9/s320/IMG_1088.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517676594727356050" /></a><br /><br />MASSIVE HAIL AND COMPLETELY SOCKED IT! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfizKpJN6FpozEPN1AZHg_J8br5Sa4W9wJJsZ_7Dmrd2dk-yZiVq-eoQJ-anMBdUA-iGxlvySFz0VRILXOzuvTwZO75BgRcpKFDfy9wnF84uVu4fnjUGE0Ep7OsBWN_CQl2Y6CnDXhlJ3m/s1600/IMG_1090.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfizKpJN6FpozEPN1AZHg_J8br5Sa4W9wJJsZ_7Dmrd2dk-yZiVq-eoQJ-anMBdUA-iGxlvySFz0VRILXOzuvTwZO75BgRcpKFDfy9wnF84uVu4fnjUGE0Ep7OsBWN_CQl2Y6CnDXhlJ3m/s320/IMG_1090.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517676616306844690" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />This is the part where the giant cranes start swaying, swinging back and forth really close to my window. That building was cleared and locked down tight. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiid8J_NfvUZHtvwkRxayqHv1iXMfV1kDuj5DMiBfO1NKxv7EkOax3Z8ev1-4yTbGxLFp2g_ZbmX5ukkLOt6eRbejm6j5wKxV6YUDaDs8Yhjj1y7SRCI_Fu4XNTTWp17b7hX-LfYOvBys45/s1600/IMG_1091.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiid8J_NfvUZHtvwkRxayqHv1iXMfV1kDuj5DMiBfO1NKxv7EkOax3Z8ev1-4yTbGxLFp2g_ZbmX5ukkLOt6eRbejm6j5wKxV6YUDaDs8Yhjj1y7SRCI_Fu4XNTTWp17b7hX-LfYOvBys45/s320/IMG_1091.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517677790030956274" /></a><br /><br />La La La, oh blue sky! looks good. Wait, what did you say? A tornado? Nah, that's just a tornado warning.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7i6L5dAXZM-jc3H8myz0fZLZPM0RH4ioEkOxdlm3bQufOtE_YmcbuAhyphenhyphen36-oZ8gv9Uk21xjUI-iGeOEjCvOfPzpx85zZirQX8qskMOCfIHHIy-FkOXa8Y2J7_BzL1GMrMRitJZp80T8Tz/s1600/IMG_1094.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7i6L5dAXZM-jc3H8myz0fZLZPM0RH4ioEkOxdlm3bQufOtE_YmcbuAhyphenhyphen36-oZ8gv9Uk21xjUI-iGeOEjCvOfPzpx85zZirQX8qskMOCfIHHIy-FkOXa8Y2J7_BzL1GMrMRitJZp80T8Tz/s320/IMG_1094.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517677798558840098" /></a><br /><br />Nope. A f%^king tornado ripped up our block this evening, ripping down trees and smashing cars. Other than a lot of water in our open windows and a blown in window (defenestration!!!) all is well in our little happy street.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-3744417026690744812010-09-16T04:08:00.000-07:002010-09-16T04:34:13.919-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyyg2M0VVamFFj1nHxLDdOmzltIujyOeIxuRP8MnvT7hnBiW-mqDkK1tGEIhQzRoD6OlESX80DhGBR6UVFJD0BJmRneiItlSImJO20L-BZTZAdJDs7xPytHVktvO5l2vfDUZAmAcR1x32c/s1600/IMG_1058.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyyg2M0VVamFFj1nHxLDdOmzltIujyOeIxuRP8MnvT7hnBiW-mqDkK1tGEIhQzRoD6OlESX80DhGBR6UVFJD0BJmRneiItlSImJO20L-BZTZAdJDs7xPytHVktvO5l2vfDUZAmAcR1x32c/s400/IMG_1058.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517472047575322690" /></a><br />I haven't been doing much more than working the past few months but I did manager to get out for a nice run along the Hudson. I stare at it all day long and it is so beautiful in the later afternoon that I couldn't resist taking my run after work along the water. You can't tell in the pictures but it was really hot and I used the excuse of taking pictures to stop a lot. <br /><br />The path that I took is across the Vesey Street Bridge, turned south at the water and then jogged down through Battery Park City until I hit the Ferry Terminal. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIF0P1RcICQrzb3v4_pgxK_viheDSSHdCtOPpC1QbF6hd5WnuJDza-HebVP7ADUohpwVAhaTb1NWvlwG9LUYPqTWhlwlNW6K72LIx7SIP63VqbfZvEc9Z2mfwFMYFU2D204XcmSF9lv9Ge/s1600/IMG_1048.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIF0P1RcICQrzb3v4_pgxK_viheDSSHdCtOPpC1QbF6hd5WnuJDza-HebVP7ADUohpwVAhaTb1NWvlwG9LUYPqTWhlwlNW6K72LIx7SIP63VqbfZvEc9Z2mfwFMYFU2D204XcmSF9lv9Ge/s400/IMG_1048.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517467552590433410" /></a><br /><br />This is looking north up the Hudson, West of the WTC site<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VUn0AOVWV_fKTGyrioSdTH8kBkVxqPPxLey-B2T0Gjd14k_thOND-A2-eIkZZHQGDL7j8I0YYGkyCmFQcxOnU8niLLuUplQftsvpYr9n-F3O7GotFoVfAQgtm8Ib0lB_4RlL4ewJv-4I/s1600/IMG_1049.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VUn0AOVWV_fKTGyrioSdTH8kBkVxqPPxLey-B2T0Gjd14k_thOND-A2-eIkZZHQGDL7j8I0YYGkyCmFQcxOnU8niLLuUplQftsvpYr9n-F3O7GotFoVfAQgtm8Ib0lB_4RlL4ewJv-4I/s400/IMG_1049.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517467560938208898" /></a><br /><br />Looking South, that little thing sticking up is the Statue of Liberty<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIHusWETK_D8z-LO_M1u1PoXzUYxAAtjL1qv9GL4TpYY1ZzAzV-acg_VR_oom_iLqbixDNiB10El0mfir9HsR_y9Xv5-zaeAn2JLgaEDLaYoodUKuwISUscNSZ3htB5DmMv70OBriiDHTS/s1600/IMG_1050.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIHusWETK_D8z-LO_M1u1PoXzUYxAAtjL1qv9GL4TpYY1ZzAzV-acg_VR_oom_iLqbixDNiB10El0mfir9HsR_y9Xv5-zaeAn2JLgaEDLaYoodUKuwISUscNSZ3htB5DmMv70OBriiDHTS/s400/IMG_1050.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517467571134149298" /></a><br /><br />Battery Park City is built on reclaimed land and was designed for mixed use: housing, businesses, parks, and tourists. It is swarming with tourists, commuters and has a lot of little restaurants and bar tucked into the scenic parks. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2iSPvuszUwUZSSIPHEqOTGuPx5lGhecbJEq3mNWuO1rtsZ7_Z98S_EjGarJAiYHf_CzOk3TrxsnlUO2mIMabSmWI8sVEcVI5rMOTS7G2R5PuJDImcaX8y5tGnyFP6ccCmI5J5FXNajcR/s1600/IMG_1051.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2iSPvuszUwUZSSIPHEqOTGuPx5lGhecbJEq3mNWuO1rtsZ7_Z98S_EjGarJAiYHf_CzOk3TrxsnlUO2mIMabSmWI8sVEcVI5rMOTS7G2R5PuJDImcaX8y5tGnyFP6ccCmI5J5FXNajcR/s400/IMG_1051.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517467582534229490" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitEVr5lf-d-5XC_Ls9HSlxOpyE6Ob3LCKCO0-d51PjX4JBG8tKVfYaN-a5bUoVCpqgEDzkypTnl-s63tASDzhPqsbDZ5f4etgPPNasxdWBCwMEEfxw9u-YBAwCQ9OTaFH0C0Bzw2qh8-X/s1600/IMG_1053.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitEVr5lf-d-5XC_Ls9HSlxOpyE6Ob3LCKCO0-d51PjX4JBG8tKVfYaN-a5bUoVCpqgEDzkypTnl-s63tASDzhPqsbDZ5f4etgPPNasxdWBCwMEEfxw9u-YBAwCQ9OTaFH0C0Bzw2qh8-X/s400/IMG_1053.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517467595526806978" /></a><br /><br />The Staten Island Ferry Terminal. The camera phone makes everything in the not so distance seem really tiny. Don't be fooled, the SI Ferries are huge!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2421208696739345094.post-8165726794047326032010-09-05T06:44:00.000-07:002010-09-05T07:05:17.141-07:00Blame Work/WTC ProgressI've heard some grumbling from the peanut gallery that I'm not posting very often. And while that it true, I've been forsaking posting to earn money to pay for my expensive gardening habit. As you may know, I switched jobs back in July and have been pouring my heart, soul, and every ounce of brain power into getting this new venture up and running. It's been very rewarding but have left little time to garden and cook. <br /><br />So, as a consolation prize, I've been taking pictures out my window at work. You may notice from the pictures that I work at the World Trade Center site and have the most bittersweet view on earth. When I wander around my office I have a 360 view of NYC from 40 stories up. I can see the GWB to Coney Island and spend a lot of time watching the ferries and helicopters stream by. When I look down I see the pit of the World Trade Center. It is an engineering marvel, a construction site the likes of which I've never seen. It is also a mass grave and site of unquantifiable sadness and horror. I thought I would get used to it but I find myself avoiding the windows with the most complete view and positioning my chair as to avoid looking in certain places. <br /><br />Here is a series of shots (taken from my camera phone) of the progress of WTC1. There is an amazing Flickr feed of the progress <a href="here">http://www.flickr.com/photos/wtcprogress</a> for you to check out too! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWyNb9idoTU2GsXQTc6z_TrQODyDxmCBYMnHbesNanJGYotqt2eKhi_MpsbROPOqWJS4EF4gDGdUvvzW95nlcAq9JENQmrY4VdD0bEvXrxPC-ev0pV5WjtEvTnlRzOyA9GxUXE1SyNa2Wu/s1600/IMG_0847.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWyNb9idoTU2GsXQTc6z_TrQODyDxmCBYMnHbesNanJGYotqt2eKhi_MpsbROPOqWJS4EF4gDGdUvvzW95nlcAq9JENQmrY4VdD0bEvXrxPC-ev0pV5WjtEvTnlRzOyA9GxUXE1SyNa2Wu/s400/IMG_0847.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513425871278360066" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4ky4ktmGfvlvkibcTKi8L8GrJeiGpXrUBOcpp0rwy-6xILGxE7gh_Lyq6nmBcOvs9gSNv2sj8iVP4dtpD2GHdLpW1xKDFS22Td6I7nWelY78zXqeRY_KiccGSZuHjl40QMhz8Cdj0MbT/s1600/IMG_0872.JPG"><img style="display:block; 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margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM_4f1JTUvBmhjKzjNFmKEp467MF-2vY1x50kKDi9rzy4LRZkXBf18yO0yzXO-4SidIptRSOkrSSEz1JPdTZUZRKddHVfcLQU64zb9N1kG9ARiMCGbouBuRDJn50ceWAmleoFV2u6j_91J/s400/photo-2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508930579064945266" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMnRKmO1GPQ8Lg4wtgSHHI9cNRtL_YTkaEnABVeTuCvJetOI1o304RP7LQKIQaZyTwK0s7Cx2he3O6Skn43NxYkTCm9kYe-nQ4L3lyJdIWExXYej5YX-dZhE4-BHAmE3iaAfy5F-dIe3Bn/s1600/photo-1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMnRKmO1GPQ8Lg4wtgSHHI9cNRtL_YTkaEnABVeTuCvJetOI1o304RP7LQKIQaZyTwK0s7Cx2he3O6Skn43NxYkTCm9kYe-nQ4L3lyJdIWExXYej5YX-dZhE4-BHAmE3iaAfy5F-dIe3Bn/s400/photo-1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508930570439024482" /></a><br />A year or so ago the City came and took down a dead tree in front of our building leaving our tree bed a bare doggy toilet. Despite efforts to plant some small annuals by the neighbors, it continued to be tempting acreage. The problem was the dogs, the rather large stump that took up most of the surface, and an unknown time frame as to when the City would come and give us a new tree. <br /><br />I don't begrudge the neighbors letting their dogs go to the bathroom in there, I guess it's kind of like a little vacation, but it was obviously planted and maintained with a fence around it. I knew in order to keep the dogs out, I needed to get a taller fence. I spent much of the summer wandering around hardware stores looking for a solution but most places didn't have anything short enough or attractive enough. (Orange hazard fencing was about as close as I came). I had a fantasy of sharpening one end of some bamboo sticks and creating my own fencing but that seemed like a potential hazard if someone pulled it out. I finally found a very simple solution at the big box hardware store down the street: decorative, thin wire fencing. Light, easy to stick in the group and above knee height to make it hard to jump into. <br /><br />I should also note that one factor in planting this is teenagers. Our stoop and block are frequented by roving bands of drunk, bored teens and pre-teens. It is not uncommon to find upended plants, beer bottles, and other teen romper room trash to be strewn about our street. For example, over last weekend someone pulled a vacuum out of the trash someone where and went to town on smashing it in front of our building. There is a very good chance that they will destroy it. Knock on wood, kids have been pretty good so far. <br /><br />Okay, fencing and dogs taken care of. Next the stump and potential new tree. I knew we couldn't take the stump out ourselves. It likely has deep roots that run under the sidewalk and it would take a professional to remove it out and a likely redo on the sidewalk. I'm going to leave that to professionals. I decided to just buy some very large pots and treat the tree bed like a 4' X 8' container garden. If and when the City comes, I can move the pots to someplace else. <br /><br />Once I figured that out the rest of the thing was very easy. I went down to one of my favorite stores, Liberty Gardens in Red Hook and explained my project. Like a good wine store, a good nursery should be able to just tell you what you should buy. Full sun, full wind, top of the hill, dogs, teens, cars, and trash? Mix of annuals, perennials, evergreens, and flowers? Relatively inexpensive? Needs to all fit in a minicooper? <br /><br />Check, check, check, and check! Once I purchased the plants and got them home it took me about 90 minutes to get the fencing in, plants and shrubs transferred into larger pots and arranged in the tree bed. I've gotten tons of compliments and thank yous (though I'm sorry I didn't get it done in time for Greenest Block in Brooklyn) and I'm quite sad I hadn't figured it out before. <br /><br />I'd love to have planted everything in the ground but this was honestly the right amount of time for me to have spent on this. I encourage everyone to container garden their tree beds. Most around our block had the basics of wrought iron fencing up and some dirt. Make sure you don't pick expensive, flashy plants, make the containers as heavy as possible and I highly recommend the thin wire fencing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1