Say "Cheese"!

Three statements you just won't hear in NYC:

1. "I just can't get enough of the vegan pizza here"
2. "Good thing there aren't any decent cheese shops in Manhattan"
3. "Give me a pumpernickel bagel and hold the cream cheese"

What's one thing that pizza and bagels have in common? Where's the best celebrity watching in Manahattan and also where I have a $50 gift certificate to from my BFF? What was I looking forward to saying to "Randy" my fictitious neighborhood bagel monger every day?

"Hey Randy, give me a pumpernickel bagel with veggie cream CHEESE!".

I suppose if I asked you to guess what food item I just found out I'm ridiculously allergic to you would be able to guess pretty quickly. CHEESE!

How can you move to Manhattan and be allergic to cheese? How will establish I my friendship with "Randy"? What will I say when someone comes to visit and asks "Where's the best pizza"?.

Food is a major part of my life. Eating is more than the thing I do too keep from passing out. It's an absolute passion. Cooking, shopping for it, reading about it and of course eating it. And I am planning to do a lot of it in NYC, starting with pizza and my favorite bagel monger. So this little discovery is more than a set back. it's like some sick joke! Basically the same as moving to Seattle and being allergic to salmon and coffee. What's the frickin' point already?!

I'm slightly devastated. Well on the bright side, I guess I will just have to turn my street food intentions towards hot dogs or falafels. I am officially now accepting your favorite NYC street food alternatives!

My First Meltdown

I'm an obsessive planner. I love to plan things and then proceed to make myself crazy doing it. Lately, almost every person that I talk to asks the same question "How's the move planning going", to which I reply with complete composure, " Great! We are just moving along as planned. It's really busy but its coming along just fine". And then I just hope no one but me can hear the screams of panic inside my head as I try not to go off the deep end in public.

Well, it happened. Thankfully not in public. We all knew it would, especially MDHK (who now more than ever deserves the "D" in My Darling Husband Kent). Last Friday night we were enjoying a quiet, intimate moment, nuzzled together in an after-work nap when I had to go and ruin it by bringing up my current source of stress and obsession; the estate sale. Feeling much like I've been working in a vaccum on this project because MDHK has been extremely busy at work I had it all planned out in my mind. Unfortunately I forgot to inform him. So when I said, "Are you ready to start going through the house and setting up for the estate sale next weekend?" he acted like I had just landed from Mars. Not the reaction I was looking for. Of course I responded like any level headed, rational, adult, female would; I FREAKED THE HELL OUT! Not just a little but a lot (super unattractive and really bad for your complection I might add).

Once I calmed down long enough to ask MDHK what he needed to get on board with this program a few things became very clear:

1. I was not from Mars

2. All he needed was to see it in a schedule, which he promptly produced in Microsoft Project

3. He was not only on-board he was ready to kick into high gear, which we have for the last 3 days.

4. I was going to owe him one really special dinner of his choice (which turned out to be paella Sunday night).

5. As suspected and repeatedly learned, we own a lot of stuff!

And if you are curious about our estate sale and want to see what it looks like to get rid of 60% of your belongs in one weekend you can visit our listing http://www.nwsource.com/classifieds/scr/detail/?id=15761873

A Girl's Prerogative

Isn't it said that a girl's pregogative is to change her mind? (first you have to know how to spell it!). Ok, so I've changed my mind.

Through a friend, of a friend, of a friend (got that?) I have found THE place to live in NYC. However, it is not in TriBeCa. It's on the Upper West Side. Kinda a ways up there (West 71st) actually, by my standards. But I'm sure that there's a bagel place around the corner and if his name isn't Rodney it's something like Marcus or Len. I have my priorities.

SERIOUSLY, this place is IT. It's huge by NYC standards at a lofty 1,000 sqr ft with 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, updated kitchen and now, it's a block from 'The Park' (for those that don't know, that's Central Park). But here's the clincher. The bedroom has one whole wall of closets! Three of them to be exact. Two for me and one for MDHK, of course. Its so gorgeous and so perfect I can hardly type straight. BUT.... (you had to that was coming) its currently listed for sale at a price that is probably twice what my house in Seattle is worth. BUT...she is considering renting it for maybe what we might be able to afford.

ok, I know what you are thinking, "Snap out of it". I don't even live there yet and I'm already broke. Oh, but you have got to see it. Come to think of it, when you do, let me know if its all 'that'!