NyStateOfMind

Yesterday we dug through our crawlspace and found our Ice cream maker. It’s been sitting in the box for the past year and a half and we finally decided to try it out. Looked through the recipe book and decided to make vanilla soy ice cream with Kit Kat crumbs. It came out delicious. Very easy to make and I can’t wait to try a new flavor.

For dinner we went to TGIF with two friends. With the amount of people there I thought we were going to have to wait for at least an hour but it didn’t take more than 10minutes before we were seated. Some wings and skins later we headed back to J&J’s house to play Loaded Questions. I absolutely love that game and yesterday we played the Adult Version which was even better. I don’t think I have laughed that much in a long time.

A friend of mine just became a certified Yoga Teacher and was teaching her first class last night. Of course I went and I am very proud of her and I absolutely loved her class. I have taken Vinyasa Yoga before and never really liked it. But after being in the class last night I realized that it’s not the type of yoga I didn’t like, it was my previous teacher.  So I am now very happy that I have a place to go to that teaches awesome Vinyasa Yoga (Thanks M) and my normal place where they have Bikram Yoga.

Just found out that the test that I will be taking is not multiple choice!!! Why would they give out multiple choices on the practice test if that is not how it’s going to be? This just became 100% harder than I was hoping. I have to keep telling myself that I can do it, because I know I can :)

Got some really good news yesterday. I have finally been called for my test and interview to become a citizen :) This means I have to dig out the books from my closet and start studying. Can’t wait to be done with all of this immigration stuff and get my American passport.

The process of becoming a citizen in this country is extremely hard. It has taken me 4 ½ years to get to the point I’m at now. There have been tons of papers to fill out, lots of fingerprint appointments and way too many interviews to go to. And at one point you even have to be examined by a doctor that will take your blood, vaccinate you and x-ray your body.

I couldn’t be happier that I am finally at the last step. This is the Oath I will be sworn in under to become a citizen.

that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law;

and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God

Forgot to put up the movie of the Piano at FAO Schwarz the other day. Well here it is. I was very impressed how these girls coordinated their feet and played a song that I have a hard time playing with my fingers.

Got up bright and early this morning, had coffee, pancakes and headed into the city. Found a parking spot on the street (yay) and started walking up towards Central Park. Stopped by FAO Schwarz on our way and caught a little “show” on the piano (from the movie Big) before we continued towards the park.

Before walking in to Central Park you get asked about 15 times if you want to go on a horse and carriage ride around the park. I have never done this and never will. I feel really really bad for the horses standing around Manhattan breathing in all the exhaust from the million cars driving around and therefore just can’t support it.

We walked around for awhile, stopped and watched the ice skaters and then decided to find a place to have a quick lunch. Walked over, very excited, to the Swedish Church which has a little café. Got there and of course they are closed on Saturdays, bummer. Still in the mood for Swedish food we turned around and started walking towards another Swedish restaurant a few blocks away. It was definitely not my lucky day since that restaurant doesn’t exist anymore. Very disappointed (at least I was) we walked back to the car and drove home.

Tonight Grandma is turning 79 and we are celebrating with Thai food and cake :)

Friday Morning and so far I have not done anything worth writing about.

Spent all day yesterday in front of the computer designing my new blog (yes it took me all day, computers is not my strong side) so today the computer will be turned off and music will be turned on!

Maybe cleaning out my closet should be my mission for the day? Or maybe get more painting done? All I know is that I’m going out with my dear friend Jaclyn tonight. A relaxing girls night with good food and a good movie is something I am looking forward to very much.

Went and played with the puppies for a little while yesterday. They are so cute and I want to take them all home with me. Unfortunately after 10 minutes Mike got an asthma attack and we had to drive home to get his medicine. He was feeling better after taking his inhaler so we headed out to the mall. Out of curiosity we went in to DVC to take a quick tour of the apartment they have set up. Our quick tour ended up being a TWO hour long talk with a guide that wanted us to spend a ridiculous amount of money for a timeshare. After listening to him for so long we didn’t even feel like walking around the mall much longer and went home to play Super Mario and make Sloppy Joes.

This morning’s Hot Yoga was great and I am dedicated to start going to either Yoga or the Gym on my free days, no excuse.

This Shitzu looks just like the one at the pet store that I wanted to take home with me. Maybe next time...

Martin Luther King Day today which means no work  :)  Had homemade pancakes this morning and a hot cup of Starbucks coffee. Nothing planned for the rest of the day. Maybe I’ll convince Mike to go with me to play with the little puppies at the pet store?

Saturday we spent shopping, specifically trying to find a skirt for me to wear to yesterdays christening. I came home with one bag, not with a skirt but with a new paintbrush and clear cups to fill up with paint. Nothing to be surprised by, this is usually what happens. I go out with a mission to find something and I come home with something else.

My Friday coffee date with Christina was a flop, I waited for 45 minutes and when she finally showed up I had 5 minutes before it was time for me to go to work.
I can’t stand when people are late.


                         John Frusciante - Hope

Painting all morning has made my back and neck hurt. I definitely deserve a large soy caramel macchiato from Starbucks and maybe even a cookie to go with it :)

Christina is meeting me there before I have to be at work at 3:30. That will give us 50 minutes of chatting, laughing and talking about our love for Europe. I’m only working for a few hours and then we will see what this Friday night has in store for me.

Woke up this morning thinking I had to go to work. Realized pretty quickly that it’s Thursday and I have all day to do nothing. Snuggled up under my comforter, turned around and went back to sleep. Slept until 9:15 and therefore missed the 9:30 yoga class.

Talked to my parents on Skype this morning and I just have four words to say about that, I love my parents <3

My landlady is renovating something downstairs and I’m waiting to either fall through the floor or for the whole house to turn in to a pile of dust. Maybe this is a good time to get out for a while. The supermarket and the drycleaner are on top of my to-do list and will probably take me a total of 20 minutes. I hope luck is on my side and if the house is going to fall, let it fall while I’m out.


                   Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind (feat Alicia Keys)

The new Season of American Idol started yesterday and as always it’s the auditions that are the most amusing part of the show. There were a few really good singers. There were also a lot of bad ones standing in front of the four judges. They all sang their hearts out hoping to be the next American Idol. Got to give them some credit though, I would never in a million years be brave enough to do it. And hey, it’s giving the rest of us entertainment twice a week for the next 5 months.

Before American Idol started we went to the mall to return some of my Christmas gifts. Since they always give you store credit back my pile of gift cards is growing and next time I want to go shopping I have gift certificates in almost every store at the mall :) Can’t complain about that!

Here are a few auditions from last night’s show.


It went from this bad...

Saw Princess and the Frog in the movies Friday night. A cute Disney movie well worth seeing.

Took down our Christmas stuff this weekend and the apartment looks SO big right now. We also got a second bookshelf from IKEA, put it together and started filling it up with our new books and DVD’s that Santa brought us.            
Ended Saturday night with Transformers 2 and a big bag and Swedish candy :)

Yesterday we went to a Christening for a friend’s baby girl. What a good little baby, she didn’t cry at all. The Christening was beautiful and so was the reception. The room that was booked for us was like a sunroom, glass walls and glass ceiling, felt like sitting outside. The food was amazing and so was the company at my table. A good ending to the weekend.

Friday morning and the ground is once again covered with white fluffy snow. I can deal with it today since my plan is to stay in all day.

A week ago today I was lying on the couch sort of hangover from New Years Eve. Webster Hall was awesome, although I have a few things I would like to complain about and most definitely will, I think we all had a great time.                   It started with dinner at home made by Christian, Thank you! Then getting ready while listening to music followed by getting on a very crowded train. We stood up the whole time and didn’t even have to show our tickets :) Finding a cab in the city went smoother than expected and we walked up to the doors of Webster Hall nice and early. No line just walked right in and got our first drink. After looking around for a while we found a meeting spot in case we should lose each other. Of course that happened at 11:30pm (good timing). After about 10 phone calls and a whole lot of running up and down the stairs listening to this one guy screaming, Left or Right, Left or Right, at the top of the stairs with a megaphone and rolling R’s, we finally found each other.

Squeezed our way upstairs and probably 2900 people out of the 3000 people that fit in the club were there. Well, we needed to be in the front and formed a line holding on to each other for dear life and started pushing our way through the massive amount of people. We got pretty far up and could there watch the dancers hanging from the ceiling and the performers on stage. Time Square was on TV in the background and as the countdown began people went crazy. 10000 balloons fell from the ceiling and you could not even see the person standing next to you.

We stayed until 3:00am or so, and then headed up to Penn Station to catch the train back home. After walking around Penn Station for a while on the New Jersey side we asked a policeman to point us in the right direction.
The smell of McDonalds made us all hungry and a hamburger has never tasted so good. We all got seats on the train, thank god, and fell fast asleep. Sleeping on a train is not something I would recommend, it usually leads to missing you stop which is exactly what we did. Found a cab to take us back to our train station where the car was parked, drove home, and fell asleep quicker that I ever have.

It was absolutely amazing and I would do it over again in a heartbeat.

Not the best sound but you get the picture.

Let the countdown begin.

It’s been 7 days since I had time to sit down and even think about writing.
The computer has been turned on in the morning to look up such things as the weather and opening hours to different shopping malls, not to blog or check my email.

Last night I took Veronika and Christian back to the airport so they could begin their long trip home. I have really enjoyed having them around for the past week, couldn’t have asked for better house guests. It was sad to see them leave and have to get back to reality but I have to admit my body was nothing but happy when I got back from JFK, took a shower and jumped in bed. I could feel every muscle from my head to my toes relax and slowly fall asleep.

Today I’m working while my hubby is home sick. Stomach virus and a fever :(  

Pictures and more info about our awesome week will come later. As of right now, I’m in need of a nap.