My how you've grown

When I went to college, I had these:

LL Bean Duck Boots

Now, there are these:

Steve Madden Mallard Boots

I still prefer the original ducks. What about you?

Fall Shoe-a-palooza

little bit of thor?

butterflies

modern oxford

we know how much i love buttons

herringbone

love me a wedge rainboot

peacock swoop

argyle laces? awww-yeah

you had me at wooden wedge

All available at anthropologie (as if you had any doubt).

Embarrassed...

...about the mold problem in our bathroom. So much so that I couldn't bring it upon myself to take a before photo. Okay, so it's not that terrible... but gross enough that it has to be dealt with. Stat. Because, of course, house guest number 2 is due to arrive in December.

So this weekend was spent cleaning the walls (thankfully the worst of the issue is isolated to one area near the ceiling in the bathroom) with some gross cleanser called Zoflora. Quite a challenge considering our ceilings are 10+ feet and I am not the most proficient on a ladder (ummm... gigantic klutz, let us not forget). Unfortunately there's patches of mold all along the wall just adjacent to the ceiling. So it's been quite interesting trying to sort that out. Then came the great "seal" with what I'm sure is toxic paint that is oil based and has a slight sheen, meaning impossible to clean brushes. And finally, the "mouldtec"- and condensation-resistant bathroom paint (conveniently available in the same color as the rest of our house: Natural Hessian). I've only managed to "cut in" on all of the edging and corners around the room (so, all the mold-affected areas). This weekend will be a second coat on all the edging and then a full coat on the walls. Man, do I hate painting. But not as much as mold. Hopefully this will solve the problem... but living in the dampest of all damp places, I'm not holding my breath.

I Remember

"Over the great bridge, with sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world." F. Scott Fitzgerald

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years. It seems like a lifetime ago...I guess in a lot of ways, it really was. I've moved twice (first half-way across the country and then to a whole new country). But no matter where I am living or what I am doing, every year when this day comes around, I always stop and remember.

I imagine it's the same for people who were living during the Pearl Harbor attacks. The fact that there could be a terrorist attack, on American soil, is unthinkable. We're lucky, though-- no foreign war has been fought on American soil since the Mexican American War (though that was only because Texas became a state during the War); and we are privileged to live in a place where there isn't fear of daily bombings or genocide or constant threat of terrorist attacks. Well, for the most part at least.

I've written about that day before; it's still not one that I like to dwell on and I still can't really watch the coverage or the specials or the memorials. Even ten years later it's too raw. So instead I thought I'd touch on the days after the attack-- how the city slowed down; How everyone banded together. It was remarkable, really. In a city where you keep mostly to yourself, you don't make eye contact, and you certainly don't talk to strangers, it was the complete opposite. People were kind to one another-- exchanging smiles, words of condolence or lending a helping hand. The donations were overwhelming-- money, food, clothes, offers of housing, cell phones. I, with a co-worker, delivered boxes and boxes of food and clothes to a salvation army center downtown where hundreds of volunteers were cooking meals for the emergency workers assembled at "Ground Zero" and providing a place to rest. And the volunteers-- they came in droves. So many volunteers that they had to turn us away. From around the country-- from around the world. It was amazing, really, to see how quickly everything mobilized. But it was the City's emergency services first and foremost that were incredible. I've never seen a force that big (40,000 police officers alone) assemble so effortlessly and in such a coordinated way. I think as laymen, we all knew it wouldn't last... that as the weeks went on, we'd eventually get caught back up in the hustle and bustle that is NYC. But for that brief time we were united... and for those there that day-- and I think every American who lived through that day, deep down, we always will be.

I wrote this passage five years ago, and I feel very much the same today. New York is something that gets into your blood and takes over your consciousness. If you're lucky enough to have lived there, no matter where you go or what you do, it will always be yours.

People think I'm crazy because I love NYC so much... "Why would you want to live there?" they ask. "It's so expensive, dirty... people are so mean." The reality? I can't believe that I ever left. It's the only place that I've ever felt was mine; a place where I belong; a place that I almost feel guilty for leaving. But in my heart, I know that I'll go back. Despite its faults, expense, general craziness, NYC is a place where so many people, of varied backgrounds, sensibilities, and, well, homes, come together to find a common ground; a place where all of these people who strive to be, and accomplish being, "individuals" can still come together and rejoice in being a single thing: A New Yorker.

Getting my Buda on

Buda Castle

I'm off to Budapest in a few weeks to meet The Daves. MRN is opting out of the hols (as they say in England) because he's not into the city vacations (and he thinks that I'll have more fun without him... not true!!). All the same, it's my first time in Eastern Europe (well, I've been to Austria, but Salzburg which is decidedly west...), and I'm super excited. I've been listening to Learn Hungarian! podcasts (I have absolutely no chance of speaking Hungarian despite my daily lessons, but it's fun to try) to prepare for the trip, and reading up on the history of the fair city (I like to know my history before traveling). Mostly I'm excited about the seeing the beautiful Neo-Gothic architecture and to walk along the Danube (on both the Buda and the Pest sides). And of course visit a medicinal bath (not for the swimming part because I'm super not into being in a bathing suit in public, nor am I a big fan of public pools). But I've been told that it's what you do, so I'm going to suck it up and give it a go-- because I'm not anything if not someone who will try anything at least once (well, so far...).

The fabulous thing? It's a quick 2 hour flight (as opposed to the poor Daves' nearly 15...). I'm meeting them in Amsterdam and we'll fly together to Budapest. Seriously-- I need to be taking better advantage of living in Europe.