Hot Town, Summer in the City...

I think it would be safe to say that New York is a city full of extremes. From fashion trends to sports teams and all the way back around to political opinions, this place is eccentric and exciting. Even the seasons take their turn driving us crazy, and although it is confusing and sweaty I wouldn't have it any other way. Right now is a particularly interesting time of year with both the sweltering summer heat and hurricane season upon us...lets just say I leave the house with an umbrella everyday but I never take more than a light sweater to wear, just in case the subway cars are freezing. Some days I use neither, some days I use both but almost never at the same time. Now, I know this concept isn't totally foreign in many parts of the country, weather changes, comes and goes, nbd. But hear me out when I say that in a city full of extremes where I spend the majority of my time outside it seems a bit, well, extreme...it's not just summer, it FEELS like summer. Like, explosion of your five senses kind of feeling. Now, please let me explain.


It smells like summer. This isn't always good, but it isn't always bad either. The other day, as I took a lukewarm shower, there was something about the smell that made me remember my first summer in the city. I live in a different apartment, use different products to wash my body and hair, but there was something so familiar about the smell and it made me nostalgic and I started to remember all these reasons why I love the city. This smell wasn't around during the winter, I promise. On the not so awesome side, I do walk through China Town everyday and hot fish markets are not a smell you would wish to bottle and use as perfume. By midday the ice they keep the fish on starts to melt and run onto the sidewalk and into the street and then the smell just spreads everywhere. Yikes! Oh, and don't even get me started on garbage day...a whole building worth of garbage bags piled up in front of the building, sitting out in the sun all day...woof!

Chinese Fish Market.
This man was seconds away from shooing me off...

 

Garbage bags for days...

Everywhere I go it looks like summer. The streets are full of people, tourists and locals. The restaurants open their outdoor seating, the street vendors are out selling on every corner. Bikes weave in and out of traffic and the new Citibike program has probably tripled the amount of riders you dodge while you cross the street. This city is alive, everywhere I go I feel it breathing. Wanna hear a summer trend I don't find to be easy on the eyes? Short shorts. Now I am not talking shorts above the knee, or even mid thigh. I'm talking shorts so short I can see your bum cheeks. Now don't go thinking that city slickers only reserve that trend to the ladies. I've seen a few dudes try and pull it off too. I'm down with summer fashion, I just don't want you to wear jean undies out of the house. Thanks.

Citibike station across from
the Federal Courthouse

Our super touristy bike ride through Central Park

I haven't stopped feeling summer since the first day it reached 80 degrees. That first day I started sweating when I did my morning workout and didn't stop sweating until, well, never. I'm not constantly sweating profusely but if I'm not actually sweating I am just damp. If it isn't hot and humid it's rainy and humid. The plus side? I never have to use lotion. The down side? I always have tacos.


I am constantly having to fight my desire to fully taste summer. But I assure you that it definitely tastes like summer. Not only does all the fruit seem to be perfectly ripe and delicious these past few weeks but the street vendors are relentless in their effort to sell you tasty summer goodies...and they rarely cost you more than a few bucks. A few of my faves include (but are not limited to):

-Melt Bakery - Homemade cookie and ice cream sandwiches that I honestly crave daily
-Italian Ice Carts - For only a dollar you get a cup full of a sorbet-like icy treat that comes in many flavors
-Mango Carts - A $2 bag of mango drizzled with chili sauce? Sign me up everytime!
-La Newyorkina - These Mexican ices and paletas are the definition of summer! The flavors are divine and I always love supporting local business.
-Mr. Softee Truck - Although it's not my first choice I can't deny the fact that this is a New York tradition that I indulge in every so often. It's soft serve at it's finest. You want it dipped in chocolate, cherry, sprinkles, nuts or just a plain twist? These guys have you covered!

Melt Bakery / Highline Park

If you could hear the song this guy plays on repeat...it never stops! 

Last but not least, I hear the sounds of summer before I even get out of bed. I can tell what kind of day it is going to be even before my alarm sounds. Birds chirping = a lovely day. Humming of the A/C = that means it's already over 80 degrees and it's only 7:00 am, it's gonna  be a hot one! Rain drops = at some point in the day, probably right as I go outside and my umbrella breaks, it is going to rain buckets right on my head. Almost all hours of the day outside you hear music bumping, horns honking, sirens blaring and the song from the ice cream truck on repeat. The clanking of dominoes is a sound unique to our neighborhood. Groups of men set up card tables and folding chairs on the sidewalk and for hours smoke Cuban cigars, strategize and argue in Spanish. It's crazy because I know its Spanish and I know I should understand it but it's speedy and sloppy. Any letter that gets in the way of spitting the word out more quickly gets dropped and creates some secret language only dominoe players know. The sounds in this city really never sleep during the summer.

The Hudson River and GW Bridge

Tag

An unexpected downpour

Coming in from the Staten Island Ferry

The Lovin' Spoonful gets my musical shout out for this post

This is the song played by the ice cream trucks. 

This version offers lyrics, the trucks sound more like 

vintage music boxes. You know, the kind your wind 

and the ballerina twirls?

When You Call Me, You Can Call Me Al.

If any of you have ridden the bus or subway at about 3:00 pm it might be the worst experience of your public transportation life. I honestly think I would choose and train packed body to body without air-conditioning than riding home with all the middle and high schoolers. I don't know what it is about them...it could be the awkward topics of conversation, it could be that they talk way too loud, it could just be that I don't like teenagers...who knows? Anyway, it isn't very pleasant.

A few weeks back Edwin and I were taking the bus and a group of high school boys came back towards us. Bleh, my public transportation nightmare was coming true! They sat in all the empty seats around us and started talking about girls, teachers and school work. They thought they were pretty cool and used inappropriate words at even more inappropriate times (fine, swear, but at least do it correctly, you know?). As I looked around these boys I realized that one of them very closely resembled a boy I knew named Alan. When I was 20 I ran an after school program in this same neighborhood where I work now. Alan was one of the students that came to our program and he was a total sweet heart. As I sat among the Alan look-alike and his friends I remembered that I was a part of what was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of The real Alan's life. Now, at the time he pleaded with me to never tell another soul...but, after seeing these young and tough boys on the bus, it almost seemed like it couldn't go unblogged. Just never tell Alan.

The last week of the after-school program there is always a field trip to a huge amusement park in Jersey. The kids look forward to it all year and I was pretty excited myself. Each adult had 4 or 5 kids in their group and Alan was assigned to mine. Everyone wanted to start out on the newest and fastest roller coaster in the park. Except Alan. The truth is I wasn't even sure if he met the height requirement. Much to his dismay he did and eventually he was pressured by the others to accept the challenge of riding...under the condition that I would ride next to him. Great. Done deal. Problem solved. Now, in the 35 minutes we waited to ride I saw Alan experience an array of emotions. At one point I thought he might puke. At another point he told me he had to use the bathroom...I just blamed nerves. Finally, we made it to the front and I gave him one last opportunity to sit this one out and wait for us by the exit but at this point he was determined. The ride was a quick one and although Alan screamed like a girl at an N'Sync concert he really seemed to hold it together well. As we all got off and gave him congratulatory high fives and fist bumps he seemed pretty proud of himself. The other kids ran ahead and Alan stuck back with me looking serious. "Celia," he said, "I think I peed my pants. But, please don't tell anyone! I'll just run to the bathroom and pretend I spilled water or something." As I tried to suppress a little chuckle my stomach dropped...this was my fault. He told me he needed to go and I brushed it off. Poor Alan was going to suffer social distress and it was all my fault! I tried to decide what to do. Should I pull a Billy Madison and pretend I peed too? No, too unprofessional. Should he tie my pink cardigan around his waist? Yikes, that might be worse. What should I do? What should I do? And then it came to me, just like that! "C'mon guys!", I yelled, "lets go on the Wild River Rapids ride!" As all the kids ran towards me I whispered to Alan to hold his sweatshirt down in front of his pants. I hate water rides at amusement parks. There is honestly nothing that ruins a good day like chaffing in wet jeans as you run all over the place...but, I had to do it. I owed it to Alan. Luckily, no one else noticed and Alan thanked me for keeping it between the two of us.

As I recalled this story that day on the bus I couldn't help but wonder what real Alan's friends would say if they knew that he peed his pants on a roller coaster in the 6th grade. I mean, we all have stories like his...but would they be mature enough to laugh and tell him about the time something similar happened to them? Or would they use it against him and give him a new stupid nickname like "pee boy" or "tinkle toes"? I guess we'll never know. But as Alan look-alike got up to get off the bus his friend called to him, "hey Alan, text me the math pages tonight." To which real Alan replied, "okay you bleeping bleeper."

That was a low blow tinkle toes.

An oldie but goody from way back when MTV 

was awesome and used to actually show music videos.

Just in case some of you younguns didn't 

get the cultural reference to Billy Madison... 

I Tried So Hard...

Since our anniversary (December 21st) I have been thinking about posting on the blog. I feel like I have so many things to share...then I get overwhelmed and I decide there is no way that I can get all my feelings into one or even five blog posts and then I just stay awake at night thinking about the blog I should be updating and I never really get around to it. Does anyone else feel like this? It makes me absolutely crazy. Don't worry, this one is about to get real...

As one of my goals for the New Year I decided that I would broaden my ability to cook different meals and stop ordering take-out every night-ish. One of my favorite things about living in the city is delivery. Every restaurant delivers...all of them. Oh, and not just food. We have Freshdirect and soap.com and pets.com and diapers.com that will deliver not just your groceries but toiletries and pet food as well, with the option of free overnight delivery. To make my take out food dilemma even worse, there is an app called "Seamless", which I totally adore btw, that lets you order and pay for food online and have it delivered at your leisure. Rain or shine or blizzard the nicest delivery guys come and give you a nice warm meal and it's usually pretty affordable, especially when you are only feeding two people...anyway, I'm sure you can see that eventually it adds up so our bellies and pocketbooks were asking for a change!

I'm going to warn you, this blog is about my recent failures. I really took off and flew with this whole make dinners and stuff but as Buster Bluth once told his older brother, "Yes, I was flying. But a little too close to the sun." I had recently made a batch of delicious Cafe Rio Pork which we were able to enjoy for multiple meals. As we walked out of the train one day on our way home from work Benson told me he couldn't wait to get home and eat some delicious pork tacos...much to our dismay, we were out of fresh tortillas. We usually buy them from a Chex-Mex (Mexican food, made by Chinese people) restaurant right by our house and they are delicious! Fresh made, super cheap, you can't buy more than 9 at a time for some reason. Anyway, we were fresh out of tortillas and it was late and I didn't want to walk all the two blocks to the restaurant  So what did I decide to do? Use my new found cooking skills and make them! I found a few super easy, well rated recipes online and decided to try one out. They were disgusting. They tasted like play-dough. I failed.

They don't look that bad, but just seeing this
picture makes  me want to spit them out
all over again. 

Well, it doesn't end there. THEN, I decided a few days later that my little boy rain boots needed to become more like little girl rain boots. I had it all planned: I headed to the hardware store, pulled out my Spanish speaking skills to find out where to get some good spray paint, got a cute silver and light green color and headed home to create what I thought would be the envy of all the wellie wearers in the Big Apple. They looked like this:

Exhibit A

But, I kid you not, the moment I walked out the door they began to look like this:

Exhibit How Does This Even Happen?

And by the end of the day they looked like this:

So on our subway ride home that night I shared my rain boot woes with Benson. The boots surface was obviously too shiny! The paint had nothing to stick to...I knew what I needed to do. I would buy some sand paper, scrape off all the paint, sand down the shiny surface and re spray them! At this point Benson just looked at me and said, "Wouldn't it be so much easier at this point to just buy a new pair of boots?"  I'm sure he could see the disappointment on my face...but he was right. I needed to accept my losses on this one. 

I have to admit that it wasn't easy, deciding to let it go. Then, I realized...we don't have to do it all or even fix it all ourselves. It's okay to buy fresh tortillas. It's okay to save up and buy some rain boots that are more age appropriate instead of trying to salvage the ones you bought on clearance. And most of all, it's okay if things don't work out the way you planned. There is always next time. 

Sisters and Brothers...Aren't We Everyone?

Day 4 of driving: Columbus, OH - Philadelphia, PA - 7.5 hours/469 miles

Our time in Philadelphia was perfect! It was so nice to make it to a place where we knew we could stay for a few days, stretch out or legs and enjoy some time with Benson's little sister Liz. She was the greatest host and of course we are grateful to Daryl and Julie who so kindly let us stay in their home while they were gone.

Liz had planned some pretty awesome things for us to do while we were with her. The first day we woke up and drove out to Amish country and it was beautiful. We started off the day at the largest breakfast buffet you could ever imagine, it's so large they call it a Smorgasbord, no lie. The food was actually really incredible and completely worth the $9.95 we each spent to get in. Lots of fresh made delights (Benson's favorite were the sweet potato pancakes) and plenty of anything else you can imagine eating for breakfast. So great.

Eating a whole SMORGASBORD!

All that was done with a straw.

I'm so full I can't even keep my eyes open...

Nice Amish farm. You can't see it but there was a man
pulling a plow through their fields on a horse. So cool!

Just a little tribute to our heritage

Benson loved this.
Keeping it classy in Amish country...

We decided the best way to actually see some of the Amish towns would be to walk. We parked the car and spent a few hours going in and out of little shops full of antiques and handmade goods. I have always been fascinated by any group of people that would choose to keep themselves separate from a world that is so invasive and seems to have an influence that reaches everyone no matter where they are. I think we all have a lot to learn from the Amish people. Their lives are more simple and because of that I believe they are happier...still here I am blogging on a computer and using my iPad to google things I need to know this instant, all the while checking my text messages and Instagram on my phone. It's a problem I am working on.

The rest of our time with Liz was spent in downtown Philly where Benson fell in love with their City Hall building, we caught up on the rich history of the city and ate a delicious meal (or two) at the Reading Terminal Market. Philadelphia is great, it's hard not to enjoy yourself with so much to see and do!

Liberty Hall

Liberty Bell

A Masonic Temple right in downtown Philly.
I thought the detail in the stone was fascinating

Philly is full of interesting art.

Benson LOVED City Hall.
Another building with incredible detail.

nice bum!

Where we ate at Reading Terminal Market.
Their sandwiches are incredible with meat,
broccolirab and aged provolone. Yummy!

The terminal is a fast paced and upbeat place
with LOTS of eating options

Independence Hall was great.
That chair is one of the only original pieces
left from when the declaration was signed.

Everything is bigger in Texas.
Even when you are in Philadelphia.

Thanks Liz for making our trip to Philly so memorable! We wouldn't have been able to enjoy it as much without you there as our tour guide!

Every time anyone said the word, "Smorgasbord" on our trip I couldn't help but sing this song and think of Templeton with his big belly rolling around and singing about all the nasty food he ate.

Brothers and sisters, sister and brothers. Aren't we everyone?
Skip to 2:30 to see the awesome song and dance from "Free to Be You and Me".

You Are Like a Hurricane

I have to interrupt the regular posts about our cross-country trip to write a more serious post about Hurricane Sandy and the effects it took on all of us here in New York. I can't help but be extremely grateful that we were not even without power during the whole storm. Thanks to all our friends and family for your thoughts and prayers during that time. Although we are safe and well that is not the case for so many people here on the East Coast and my heart goes out to them during this difficult time. We have been given the opportunity, through the Mormon church, to go to the affected areas and help people clean out their homes. I have been so grateful for this opportunity and for the people we have been able to meet.

Here are some pictures Benson took in Flushing the day after the storm while out getting gas. Luckily he had a feeling that we should get gas that day, it came in handy while rescuing friends from their cold and dark apartments!

The Wednesday after the storm we ventured into the city. The traffic was bad and the power was out so the intersections were monitored by traffic cops, and if there were no traffic cops in sight it turned into an absolutely crazy free for all. It always tends to be chaotic in the city with traffic and pedestrians, even with the wonderful order the traffic lights bring. Take that away and...yikes. I'm surprised more people didn't die.

Eventually we were able to pick up Kim and Christian in Mid Town and then travel to the Lower East Side to get Courtney and David and kids. Courtney and David live on the 11th floor of a building that lost power. They walked all the way down to the ground floor (with three days worth of supplies and two kids) to meet us so they could go to Brooklyn and stay with some friends in Park Slope. The van was full and spirits were high!

The next day, with high hopes and fully powered electronics we ventured out again. This time Kim and Christian were hoping to get home, Annie needed to report to work and I was trying to get to Brooklyn. Three hours and only 8 miles later we were able to drop Annie off at work and the rest of us gave up and went back to Flushing to enjoy a nice lunch at a cool hot pot restaurant by our house. It was totally crazy, we all got totally crazy being in the car together for so long and I'm sincerely glad it's over. We made the same trek the next day in only 45 minutes and enjoyed a day in Park Slope with Edwin and Eleanor.

Reunited and it feels so good!

Saturday was the first day that we were able to get out and help those whose homes were destroyed. We went with a friend from church to clean out her mom's house. On the block of 40 homes only three had even started cleaning out the debris, her's was the fourth. It was totally devastating.

The water picked everything up and then
dropped  it where it was carried.
The homes were like this in every room.

Sunday we held small church services in the morning and then crammed onto a school bus to go back out to Far Rockaway and find even more people to help. Benson and I are now in charge of disaster relief through the Mormon church in the area where we live. We have been able to meet with other people who are in charge of the same in surrounding areas and from those meetings we have learned a lot. Something I didn't know before is that when we go and volunteer our time gutting out homes after a disaster we are helping save those families anywhere from $8,000-$50,000. We weren't able to do much in the two days we spent out in the Rockaways but our time was definitely worth something to the sweet people we were able to help.

A Shout out should go to the full-time Mormon Missionaries who have put their normal everyday activities on hold and spend everyday out in the areas most affected by the storm working to clean out homes. Their ability to work so hard and help so many people is humbling to me. Not very many organizations have the resources to send a group of over 350 young people out everyday to clean up after a disaster. I'm so proud to be a member of the Mormon church!

A shout out also needs to go to Grandma Larsen for always doing so much for others. She sent us an envelope addressed to a "hurricane survivor" and asked us to make sure it was given to someone who lost everything in the hurricane and really needed it. I wasn't totally sure who we could give it to but luckily the situation presented itself. As we rode home on the subway after work we couldn't help but overhear a mom talking to her four kids about how their home and her job was destroyed in the storm. I approached her and asked more about her situation and she was extremely gracious in accepting our envelope sent from Grandma Larsen. I listened to her story and together we cried and hugged in the crowded train and a nice lady handed us some tissues. Thanks, Grandma, for making that experience possible!

Our ward preparing to go out and work!

Piles like these were everywhere for miles around.

This was an awesome family we helped to
clean our their basement 

The troops heading back after a long
day gutting out homes

Lines and lines of garbage trucks
to pick up debris

No shovel left behind!

Benson finally got a birthday celebration
after a few days of work. Thanks Annie and Yahya!

The boys braving the storm...crazy.

birthday love for a super awesome birthday boy

creepy legs creeping out from a debris pile

The bus was packed!
We stood the whole way...

TRAFFIC!

Happy Birthday Bensonater!
You are a selfless and wonderful
man and I am lucky to have you!

This was a line of cars just waiting to get gas.
Most people waited hours just to
be told that there was none left.

It was amazing to see a busy city turn their energy into helping those in need. Coat and food drives brought in more than enough donations to help those who would be homeless and hungry for the holidays. People volunteered time, resources and money. The areas affected by the hurricane might not be rebuilt yet, but they are definitely on their way. 

This is a long one but it's also a really good one. 

Oh Sandy, baby...

A good shout out to the Mormon Helping Hands