Walk in the east side

Today it was warm after work so I went to the other side of the island to check it out.  First I had a salad at the whole foods where they were sure to throw on a bunch of salt!  I knew I should have made my own.

I started writing this post on my blackberry but blogger can only upload images in "Compose" mode which is too java-script heavy for the BB.

Anyway, here are some pics.

Fist I ran into some bike polo while going through Sara D. Roosevelt Park.

Then I ran into little Italy where it was all tourists, but some of the restaurants looked okay.  I had a little run in with a guy doing the "wassa matta you" hand thing to the music followed by a frontin "whacho lookin at" to me.  Unfortunately, an image of that guy would have probably resulted in the breaking of my blackberry.

And then I ended my adventure
with a glass of wine at Parigot.

first full week

So last week was my first full week living in new york city. I spent the weekend in Atlanta (ugh, flying) so Ginny and I could actually spend some time together.

Check out this Manhattan luxury dresser:

;)

Anyway, things are going okay. My commute is very short and will eventually get shorter, but I can't wait to get into our permanent place and actually settle back down.


I wanted to point out three restaurants that stood out for me in the past week:

Mamouns. I can eat there for $5 and it's close to home.


Cafe select I chanced upon and found it to be nice.


The old rabbit club craft beer bar. It's dark dark dark, but pretty friendly with different beers. I guess it's related to the Bourgeois Pig? Maybe I'll have to check that out too.

it's official...

i am moving to nyc. i gave my notice at work today. pretty anti-climatic considering i'm walking away from a job i've had for eight years! that's almost a decade of my life! i'm feeling pretty good about the decision - i've wanted to do something for a long time now and it's hard to believe it's finally happening. i'm so glad that matt and i decided to take this journey together.

made it

Okay, I'm in new york. My home for the next month is pretty small and I guess it will take some adjustment. I can't wait to move into my permanent place and actually get fully moved. Being in-transition is annoying.

It's pretty difficult right now since Ginny is still in atlanta, but we'll work everything out shortly.

final day in atlanta

So this is my final full day in atlanta. My flight to new york is tomorrow morning pretty early, and I'll be there until we do a full move. This is making me reflect on my life here, my initial move to atl, and all of that.

When I first moved here I was 17 and I packed all of my junk into my Ford Escort wagon (still my favorite car) and my parent's car. We unpacked my stuff into a two bedroom apartment I was sharing with three other guys and started going to school and looking for a job.

Now I am, once again, getting rid of most of my earthly belongings and packing my clothes into a 20" carry-on suitcase to start a new life. Will it last? We're moving into a shoebox and probably in the wrong phase of life (hello, five years ago), but life isn't about perfect planning, it's about doing stuff and moving forward. I'm frightened and excited.

an ode to octane

In the past week in-between jobs and cars I have been riding my bike up to octane coffee very often. Although I'm sure there are -really- great cafes in new york, I haven't found one that competes with my three southern favorites yet. The one that will be near my future apartment is very nice with good coffee, but has a very sterile feel and no beer.

So along with octane coffee (the best cafe in atlanta), here are two other good ones:

The Sentient Bean

The now defunct Map Room in Memphis, TN. This place closed years ago, so you can never visit it. :)

deviled egg recipe

Since the spotted pig showed how popular deviled eggs were, I thought I would give a quick recipe.

Make the eggs:

1. put some eggs in cold water and put on the heat for 9-12 minutes. They should boil most of the time
2. spoon the eggs out and run them under cold water until you can handle and peel off the shells
3. cut the eggs in half length-wise and transfer the fully cooked yolks into a mixing bowl
4. arrange egg-white halves on a plate (or deviled egg platter if you're in the south)

Now the filling is where the varieties go. The most basic recipe is just:

1. mayonnaise
2. egg yolks

You can sub miracle whip for mayonnaise if you're my sister. I've also used the following additions at some point. Just make stuff up:

• mustard
• dill
• black pepper
• hot sauce
• pickle juice (sweet or dill)
• lemon juice
• curry
• onions
• scallions
• bacon
• jalapeno

And, as with all mayo-based salads, I like to top it with paprika. I generally use hungarian or smoked paprika.

the spotted pig

On our first night in nyc looking for an apartment we decided to have a nice meal (while we can still afford one) at a restaurant. Coming from the south, especially living in memphis before atlanta, the spotted pig was -hilarious-. We sat next to the kitchen so let me go over what was so funny:

• People were ordering deviled eggs like crazy. French people were trying to eat them with a knife and fork
• The menu is expensive and the ingredients are a little out there, so 80+% of the people ordered the hamburger
• the decor was trying to be funny by ripping off suburban memphis bbq style

My pulled pork was good and presented in an interesting way. However, this restaurant, relied heavily on over-salting and over-buttering each dish to make it seem better. This messed up the barley base of my meal. You can wash it down with their house beer at $9 glass, though. ;)

hi

This is our blog to document our move from atlanta to new york city.

I will be moving on sunday to temporary lodgings and working while our new apartment in chelsea is being renovated.