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{Thankful November} 12: Days Off
November 15th, 2011 | Rachel
Join me in the comments or on your own blog as I give thanks every day this month.
Weekends never feel like weekends anymore because I am usually scheduled to work. My “weekend” occurs sometime in the middle of the week and may or may not involve two consecutive days off. This week I was fortunate to have Sunday and Monday off, although all of Sunday was spent moving (see previous post). That left Monday for relaxing before heading into what is sure to be a crazy week-before-Thanksgiving at the bakery.
As fortune would have it, Steve came back from the ship last night, so we were able to enjoy a much needed day off together.
We started with brunch at one of our favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, Community, where we sat outside because it was a beautiful 68 degree day (very strange considering we had snow two weeks ago, but I’m not complaining). Without any plan for the day, we elected to walk south through the Upper West Side, occasionally stopping to run errands like dropping off something at the post office, returning my cable modem to Time Warner Cable, exchanging a pair of gloves that had a torn seam, and picking up some new sunglasses at Urban Outfitter.
After stopping by a juice bar to hydrate ourselves, we spent a couple of hours at the Apple store, which is across the street from a movie theater. We thought it’d be fun to see a movie, but didn’t agree on anything that was showing (he wanted to see A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, while I wanted to see Puss In Boots). We weren’t far from the American Museum of Natural History, and I had heard it had a cool planetarium, so I looked up what was showing there. As it turns out, they were hosting a lecture on astrophysics — which is one of Steve’s favorite subjects — entitled “The New Universe and The Human Future with Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams.” Looking back it makes sense that we ended up going to a lecture over a movie because the only thing Steve and I can agree to watch on Netflix are documentaries.
We still had a couple of hours to kill, so we continued our walk southward and ended up at Columbus Circle. One of our friends had just gotten a job as a bartender at one of the restaurants there, so we decided to stop by and say hello (after browsing the cool kitchen gadgets at William-Sonoma, of course). Turns out it was happy hour, so we drank a couple of half-priced fancy cocktails and had a cheese sampler while catching up with our friend.
The weather was still perfect when we left, so we walked up Central Park West to the museum, which was also hosting a fancy black tie reception. We contemplated going home and changing into fancy clothes so we could crash the party but ended up just going to the lecture. The speakers were a husband and wife duo out of Santa Cruz, California, and they spoke about the world in the context of the universe and used a lot of cool multimedia visualizations. Steve ended up buying one of their books and having them autograph it.
The last stop of the night was all the way down in the East Village at Momofuku Noodle Bar. We weren’t that hungry but still stuffed ourselves with steamed buns filled with beef brisket and huge bowls of ramen with pork belly. Afterward, we walked over to Union Square to give all of that food some time to settle and then took the subway home.
It was my favorite kind of day off. It started with only a few plans and open minds to whatever came our way and ended up being one of my favorite days with Steve in the city. I now feel refreshed and ready for another day at the bakery.
Thank you, days off.
{Thankful November} 11: Productivity
November 15th, 2011 | Rachel
Join me in the comments or on your own blog as I give thanks every day this month.
I’m a little behind on sharing thanks this week, mostly due to the fact that I moved out of my old apartment. Despite donating an SUV-full of stuff last year and several boxes this year, I am still disgusted by how much stuff I have. I hope I have a chance for another purge of nonessential belongings before I drag it all over to California.
Moving is one of those things that is a huge inconvenience to do but always feels good when it is over. Perhaps this is because the productivity of it is clearly measurable. These twelve pieces of furniture and twenty three boxes used to be here, and now they are there. Mission accomplished.
A huge thanks to the two bakers from Three Green Ducks for carrying all of that furniture and boxes down three flights of stairs and delivering it to two different locations.
Thank you, productivity.
{Thankful November} 10: My Guitar
November 10th, 2011 | Rachel
Join me in the comments or on your own blog as I give thanks every day this month.
This guitar was a law school graduation gift from my dad. I have since bought a second electric-acoustic guitar to use on stage, however this is the guitar I play when I am at home. Since I no longer play the clarinet or piano, it is nice to have a way to exercise the musical part of my brain. Right now I only play in a church band every once and a while, but I think it’d be really fun to be more involved in a musical ensemble. Maybe one of these days I’ll get up enough nerve to sing and play in front of a crowd.
Thank you, guitar, and thank you dad for giving it to me.
{Thankful November} 9: My Bike
November 9th, 2011 | Rachel
Join me in the comments or on your own blog as I give thanks every day this month.
I found this beauty at a used bike shop in the West Village. I picked it because it is light weight and was easy to carry up the stairs to my 4th floor walk-up.
My bike and I have had some good rides around the city (riding through Times Square on a bicycle is quite an experience), but I feel our time together is just beginning. I have a secret goal (not so secret now, I suppose) of doing one of those 1oo-mile bike races/events. The one around Lake Tahoe is supposed to be pretty incredible.
I am definitely looking forward to year-round cycling weather and having a car with a bike rack. On the other hand, I will miss riding along the Hudson River and in Central Park. I will not miss having taxis driving within inches of my handle bars.
Thanks, bicycle!
{Thankful November} 8: Progress
November 8th, 2011 | Rachel
Join me in the comments or on your own blog as I give thanks every day this month.
Recent wedding cake from Three Green Ducks
Marriage equality is an issue that I have been involved with and very passionate about for the last few years. While working at the firm, I wrote my first amicus brief for New York’s highest court in support of recognizing same-sex marriages for the purpose of New York state benefits. The court decided in our favor.
I’m happy to announce that earlier this year the New York State Assembly finally voted to legalize same-sex marriages in this state. I’m even happier to share that I was at a house warming party when this news was announced, and the room erupted in cheers.
Although it feels like it is taking too long, I believe that as the world gets more connected and informed (see previous blog post), people will let go of their baseless biases (“that’s the way it’s always been” is not a valid reason) and focus their passion on issues that really matter. I look forward to the day when same-sex marriages are so common place that no one even makes the distinction.
In other news, look at this gorgeous cake!
Thank you, progress.
