Brr, is it really June?

Early this week was very cold for June. The highs were only in the 60s (about 15C)!  The lifeguards and I shivered our way through the week. Less than a dozen people came to swim over the course of three days and I don't blame them. Brr! Thankfully, this weekend it warmed up just in time for Rich and me to trek out to Burlington, VT for a couple days.

 Monday: Lifeguard tubes
Lifeguard tubes are one of the most essential pieces of equipment at the pool. They're used for almost any possible rescue a lifeguard could perform. On cold days, like Monday, they work great as pillows for napping guards, too.

Tuesday: The folly of graffiti
Outside our apartment is a large dumpster used to dispose of random fixtures (toilet seats, faucets, etc.) from apartments under construction. On my way home from work on Tuesday I noticed this graffiti aphorism ("we are who we aren't"). The lesson here? Don't turn to graffiti for wisdom or sage advice!

Side note: This is my 100th picture since I've started!

Wednesday: Guard of the week
Once a week the other manager and I choose one exemplary lifeguard to be guard of the week. This guard is rewarded with a free lunch and public recognition at the pool. This Monday I will be announcing the first guard of the week. I always enjoy recognizing a guard for his or her good work.

Thursday: Harlem- 125th street station
The Metro-North train station in Harlem straddles 125th street, one of the busiest thoroughfares in uptown Manhattan. Every day I take a bus across town to catch my train up to the pool from here.  I'm always intrigued by the elaborate decorations adorning the overpass.

Friday: Cherry Garcia St., Burlington, VT
Rich and I traveled in our usual way (by bus) up to Burlington, Vermont this weekend. Burlington is a delightful town of which I cannot say enough. In the center of town is a pedestrian street lined by unique shops, gourmet food carts, and open air cafes. Of course, you can't go to Vermont without some local Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. The street names in this area are a subtle reminder to stop by the shop for some ice cream as you stroll.

Saturday: Lake Champlain
Burlington is not only a quirky college town, but a mecca for outdoors enthusiasts. Settled right on Lake Champlain and wedged between the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains, there are few places more beautiful on the East Coast. Rich and I had a hard time deciding what to do with our precious time in Burlington. Should we sample the myriad of maple syrup products? Should we taste the local cheeses? Should we explore the hiking trails or walk along the lake? Needless to say we'll be returning to Burlington soon!

Sunday: A day of rest
After all the excitement in Burlington, Rich and I spent most of today resting and recovering. We're back in good old New York city where the pace of life is much faster and there are much fewer cows (if any).














Before I end this post I want to say happy birthday to Debbie (Rich's mom)! I'm off to prepare for another (probably warmer) work week. See you all next week!

Let the pool season begin!

Memorial Day weekend has officially passed and that means time for the pools to be open! Congrats to my little brother, Robert, on his graduation this past weekend. I wish I could've been there. We are all so proud of you in all your academic achievements. I can't wait to hear about your adventures in college!

Monday: Memorial Day
On Memorial Day I began battling a cold that has plagued me all week. Mostly I spent the beautiful sunny day in bed staring at this American flag on the wall across from me (at least it was patriotic, right?).

Tuesday: Harrison train station
To get to work at the pool I take the bus across Harlem to the Metro North station. From the Metro North station I take the train to a little town called Harrison and then I walk to Rye where the pool is.

Wednesday: Macedonian Sunscreen
At the pool I manage, many of the lifeguards are brought over for the summer from Macedonia. As you can imagine this sometimes leads to some interesting cultural and language situations. This politically incorrect sunscreen is just one of many examples that I encounter at work. The front is all in English (for advertising purposes) but the back is completely in Macedonian. Unfortunately, I think someone must have mistranslated the intended English name for the product. I don't think I'll be finding suntan/sunscreen products called "Black Up" in my local CVS any time soon.

Thursday:  "It's great to live in Harrison"
As I said above I take the train to a town called Harrison and then walk to the pool from there. Harrison looks like your stereotypical American small town with shady trees canopying the streets and American flags by the doors of each locally-owned business. I always smile to myself when I pass this sign. It says at the very bottom, "It's great to live in Harrison."

Friday: Cold, cold go away
The cold I began to battle on Monday persisted all the way through the weekend. When it got to the weekend -and my days off- I realized just how bad I was feeling. I don't remember much of Friday or Saturday, just the few moments when I was awake to take some more NyQuil or eat a bowl of soup.

Saturday: Is the cold gone yet?
Gatordade: one of the necessary accoutrements for my lingering cold.

Sunday: Rainbow after the rain
After a long week of rain and coughs and colds, I am feeling better and as icing on the cake we were met with a rainbow this afternoon! Dolly Parton said, "the way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." And I guess she is right.







I hope everyone is having a peaceful Sunday evening and maybe even seeing a few rainbows of their own!

Rain, rain go away

This week was really rainy here in New York, which made it hard to get out to take pictures. It looks like the rain is subsiding now so hopefully I can look forward to some sunnier days this summer.

Monday: Max Cafe
Max cafe is a great, European-Style cafe just down the street from us. I love to hang out all day there drinking coffee and reading.

Tuesday: YMCA blues
I joined the YMCA here for the summer (they have a great pool that is open all day!). Unfortunately, there was a problem with the machine that prints out IDs. It ran out of all the colors except for blue! So my ID features a special monochrome rendition of me.

Wednesday: Appletree Market
Appletree is the corner grocery store in our neighborhood. There is barely a day that goes by that I don't run to Appletree for something. It is so nice to have a 24HR grocery store only a block away.

Thursday: Rain
On Thursday I got restless and tired of being stuck inside so I ventured out to take some pictures of the rain. It seems like everywhere I went there were puddles and flooding streets this week.

Friday: More rain
Just more rain. I couldn't stay out long to take pictures because it started down pouring. Yikes!

Saturday: First day back at the pool!
I am so excited to be back at my old job as pool manager this summer. Saturday was my first day back on the job and it was really great to see everyone from last year back at the pool.

Sunday: Wet feet cause colds
After all this cold and dreary weather we've been having I guess it is no surprise that I'm nursing a cold. Fortunately I have Sunday and Monday off from work. Lots of water and cough drops are on the bill for today's activities.







I hope everyone is having a great Memorial day, remembering those who have served, getting out to the pool, and having some good barbecue! See y'all next week.

A week in Austin, A day in New York

This past week in Austin went by in a whirl. It was so wonderful to see my family, eat great barbecue, and to visit some of my favorite Austin haunts.

Monday: Dad's famous smoked ribs 
We continued the Mother's day celebration on Monday and dad made his delicious smoked ribs. Tony and Cynthia joined us for the barbecue indulgence. It was so fun to have the entire family together for dinner.

Tuesday: Spa pampering 
For Mother's day dad treated mom (and me and Cynthia) to a spa day. We spent the morning lounging around the spa as we were treated to manicures, pedicures, and massages. Afterwards we had a late lunch of turkey soup and gourmet grilled cheese. Truly a decadent day!

Note: I forgot to get a picture with Cynthia's toes included, but I can assure you hers were equally pampered looking as ours.

Wednesday: Cuppa Joe
Went solo on Wednesday and I took the time to visit some of my favorite places in Austin. Unsurprisingly, my first stop was a coffee shop. Genuine Joe's is an Austin treasure: eclectic, friendly, and full of locally grown, made, and prepared goods. It is one of the places I wish I could just pluck up from Austin and transplant to wherever I'm living at the moment.

Thursday: Eastside Cafe close-up 
On Thursday the family reconvened for a delectable meal at the Eastside Cafe, another local Austin resto. Eastside Cafe cultivates its own backyard garden complete with chickens! Since we were a larger party, we had a bit of a wait for a table. I snapped this picture of Tony and Cynthia while we were all basking in the setting sun and awaiting our chance to sample the Eastside's cuisine.

Friday: Amy's ice creams
Friday I had to squeeze every last drop of Austin out of my visit before I departed from the south. Dad and I dined on Mexican food for lunch and then topped off a rich lunch with a richer dessert at Amy's ice creams, Austin's funky version of Coldstone (the server assured me Amy's was around before Coldstone, however). In the evening I went with Tony and Cynthia to the Alamo Drafthouse to take in one of their "Master Pancake Theatre" movies, a parodied version of the classic The Sound of Music.

Saturday: Pre-Dawn at Kerbey Lane
Very few places warrant pre-flight, pre-dawn visits, but Kerbey Lane is definitely one of them. Before my 7:30am flight, Tony, Cynthia, mom, dad, and I ventured out to the Austin "diner" to enjoy their irresistible pancakes. I had their spring special, lemon poppy seed pancakes and I was not disappointed.

Sunday: Something fishy in Manhattan 
Back in Manhattan, Rich and I ventured out to our local farmer's market this morning. Of course we couldn't miss the fresh sea food. It is great to be back in New York for the start of summer.








I'm so glad I got a chance to spend a week in Austin this year. I had a wonderful time visiting my family, my favorite places, and a few great new places. I'm lucky to have Austin as a hometown that I can always return to!

New York and Arrival in Austin

Hi everyone! I'm writing from Austin tonight! I arrived in the afternoon yesterday and I've been having a great time hanging out with the family.

Monday: Spring flowers
I've been so excited to see all the flowers blooming around the city. These pretty pansies were flowering in Morningside park right next to Rich's apartment.

Tuesday: Metro theatre
I found out on Tuesday that this theatre on the Upper West Side is going to be converted to a New York version of one of my favorite Austin movie theatres, The Alamo Drafthouse. I'm happy that this great space won't be sitting vacant any more and a little piece of Austin will be coming to New York!

Wednesday: St. John the Divine 
St. John the Divine is an Episcopal cathedral that is about 10 blocks away from us in New York. They have a large (and quite grotesque) sculpture in their garden that features a large assortment of animals, demons, and angels. It is quite an extravagant piece of art.

Thursday: Alma Mater under construction
May is graduation season. Columbia's entire central campus is transformed for graduation events and the week leading up to graduation the campus looks like a construction zone as they prepare for the ceremonies.

Friday: Stationary shop/ North view of Harlem 
The view from Columbia down Amsterdam Avenue looks onto Harlem. This stationary shop is on the corner on the way to the apartment. I always love seeing the lights at night overlooking Harlem below.

Saturday: Arrival in Austin
Robert made these tasty cupcakes this week. He even made the fondant flowers from scratch!

Sunday: Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day mom!











I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. I'll be taking it easy here in Austin for the rest of this week and then it is back to New York for the start of the summer.

Transitioning to New York and Beyond

Hello everyone! This week was exciting and quite eventful. After two days in the city, Rich and I took a trip to another wonderful East Coast metropolis, Philadelphia. After a day in Philly we headed off to visit Rich's family in New Jersey and to relax a bit.

Monday: My life in a closet
Since I am subletting my apartment over the summer, I try to pack all of my personal things into my closet. This is what my life looks like when it is shoved into a closet .

Tuesday: Megabus ride
Tuesday I officially departed for New York. The bus trip is extremely cheap (usually between $1-$60), but you definitely get what you pay for. It takes at least 11 hours to get from Toronto to New York and usually the service leaves something to be desired. I have some pretty gruesome stories from the many trips I've taken, but I'll leave that for another time.

Wednesday: Candle Cafe
To celebrate the end of the semester Rich and I went out to one of my new favorite restaurants, Candle Cafe. Candle Cafe is a vegan restaurant, but if it weren't for the tofu-laden dishes on the menu, you'd never know. We had an exquisite carrot cake for dessert that night. It was probably one of the best pieces of carrot cake I've ever tasted!

Thursday: Butler Hall
The facade of Rich's apartment building. He has a doorman and everything! (Very fancy.)

Friday: Philadelphia
This is a photo of Old City in Philadelphia. We'd love to live here some day... if we win the lottery.

We spent the day in Philly walking around Old City, South Street,  the Rittenhouse area, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Saturday: Make way for ducklings!
Canadian geese and their new ducklings at Colonial Lake near Rich's childhood home in New Jersey.

Sunday: Small World Coffee
Yes... another coffee shop.... Small World Coffee is in Princeton, NJ, and it is one of the best coffee shops in North America, in my opinion. Rich and I spent the afternoon here reading (The Hunger Games) and relaxing.





That is all for now! Next time I write, I'll be writing from Austin, TX!

Re: Last Week in Toronto (a.k.a. Madness and Mayhem)

Hello all. I've arrived in New York and I'm finally able to update here. This past week was one of the most hectic weeks since I've gotten to grad school. Fortunately, I still had a few minutes to snap some pictures along the way. Needless to say, I am really happy to be in New York now and to have a little bit of recovery time after the craziness.

Monday: Swans on Lake Ontario
Monday was a very busy day and in all the chaos I forgot to take a picture. So this is from earlier this spring when Rich and I went for a walk along the lake.

Tuesday: Slavic Department
Alumni Hall is the building that houses the Slavic Department. I spend a lot of time this week in the Slavic Department marking exams, dropping off forms, and tying up loose ends.

Wednesday: Maple Leaf Gardens/ Loblaws
The Maple Leaf Gardens is the old home to the Maple Leafs, Toronto's hockey team and is only a few blocks from my apartment. This year, Much to my delight, the vacant building was turned into a large, fancy grocery store called Loblaws. During the renovations they did all sorts of things to preserve the history of the space. This sculpture made out of the old bleacher seats and formed into the shape of a maple leaf, hangs right at the main entrance of the grocery store and is a great reminder of the past uses of the building.

Thursday: Flowers and French
The French department was another place I ran in and out of this week. The department is housed in a brick building adjacent to a quaint little chapel. It looks so lovely and European especially with the spring flowers adorning its exterior.

Friday: Canadian Flag
I haven't had one of these up here yet. Friday was a breezy day and a perfect opportunity to snap a picture of the flag.

Saturday: Construction
Almost as ubiquitous as Canadian flags, are the construction cranes erecting the dozens upon dozens of condominiums popping up around downtown Toronto.

Sunday: Old Vic
This week I spent a lot of time in the basement of this building, where I have some study space. The upstairs interiors of this building are vibrant and ornate, the basement is quite drab and plain (which is why grad students get offices there!).





Well I made it through the crazy week and now I am just setting into things here in New York. I'm really excited to start taking some pictures of my favorite places here in the city to post on the blog next week1