Chicago vs. NY, round 1

I'm back in NY after spending 5 days at home in Chicago. My schedule was jam packed and I was all over the city/suburbs; to give you a better idea: my car is from 1999, I've been driving since 2002, it only had 20,000 miles on it when I came home, but I drove 400 miles around the city this past week. That would have been like...a month of driving for me in high school!

I saw high school friends and Cornell people, mostly. But I must say one of the highlights of my weekend was going to a dance party at The Hideout with Ali and Eric, where we stalked this guy:

Moustache + suspenders = <3

Also, on Sunday, Eric and I went to both Meatloaf Bakery and Molly's Cupcakes in Lincoln Park. For all the skeptics who think that meatloaf in the shape of a cupcake is gross, you're wrong. It totally changed Eric's mind. And then we went and had real cupcakes at Molly's, sat on some swings at the counter and played Connect Four (I lost...horribly).

I wish I had more time to see more people! But, isn't that the way it always goes? This trip was definitely the best argument towards living in Chicago I've had in a while. But then again, visits are never the same as living somewhere for real...

Hey citrus, hey liquor I love it when you touch each other

Dear America: happy (belated) birthday! love, me.

It seems that the month of rain (aka June 2009) has passed and summer is finally here! And just in time for the 4th, one of my favorite holidays, full of summertime goodness and delicious food. We had a pretty spectacularly picturesque BBQ to celebrate the 4th of July yesterday. Complete with burgers and hotdogs, potato salad and baked beans, beer and spiked lemonade, and an outrageous spread of desserts. The weather in NY was just perfect, and Morningside Park was really cute [minus when some guys set off these fireworks that were incredibly loud and lasted 10 minutes...and Alex tried to ask them if they could be stopped, and got threatened to get punched in the face]. The shot above is what we saw from the roof of Luiz's building - it was pretty great. We could see all 5 launching points for the fireworks over the Hudson.

Dear Summer: I hope you keep being as lovely as this nice, sunny weekend! love, me.

housewarming

Saturday night was the official unveiling of my new apartment, so to speak. The party was a success, with punch themed perfectly to my cross streets (Pineapple St and Orange St). There were a bunch of Cornell people who I don't get to see very often, which was amazing. Pics of the apartment/party below:

Clare's friends in the kitchen...
"Livingroom"
Sleeping space

The playlist was about 4 hours long...with several Michael Jackson tributes interspersed, clearly.

I wished that I had my camera when I was out today (Sunday) because it was such a nice day full of lovely things! We had brunch in Morningside, then went to the Pride parade for a while, and headed down to SoHo. I took my first walk home from Manhattan across the Brooklyn bridge - not too long, and pretty efficient! I got a bit lost trying to find the entrance to the bridge on the Manhattan side, but eventually I got there. The bridge is pretty spectacular, I must say.

On a parting note, I'm really liking the new album by Electric Owls called Ain't Too Bright. I got one of their tracks ("Magic Show") on some random sampler playlist, and it's been getting a lot of play on my iPod lately. The album dropped on June 23rd - check it out, seriously!

"Magic Show" - Electric Owls

freelance whales

I'm taking a break from my slew of updates on this apartment to mention the band I saw playing at the Bedford stop on the L tonight: the Freelance Whales.  By "at the Bedford stop" I mean literally on the platform between the Manhattan bound and Rockaway Parkway bound tracks.  Quite the sight--normally the performers are something I avoid like the plague and blast the music in my iPod, but I really enjoyed them!  I may even be so inclined as to check out their next show, at Pianos on June 24th...

Check out their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/thefreelancewhales

Coming up on this blog:

- pictures of the actual "moved in" version of my apt

- beginning of summer 09 playlists!

- and of course, anything that happens along the way

I think I need a new keychain now

My mom is here for the weekend, and today we went in search of a housewarming present for me.  While most people thought I should go big, i.e. get a new TV, I figured that she wouldn't really be into that idea (but perhaps my dad can be conned into it whenever he comes next).  So instead... I got this awesome Jonathan Adler valet tray:

If I ignore the horrible lightswitch cover (being replaced) and the clumpy paint on the buzzer (being sanded down), I think it fits in quite well!  Now if only my keys weren't on such a sad little keychain...

nouveau chat

My parents got a new cat!  Isn't he just adorable?!  I don't think he has a name yet... clearly it will be a little more original than Fluffy...

work in progress

It's official, I've moved!  I'm still unpacking and arranging things, but here's a sneak peek at the apartment on move-in/painting day:

paint colors! blue-green walls and yellow and white mantel

John painting...he and Ana were super helpful!

The kitchen, with 90% of my stuff piled into it while we painted

The amazing view of Manhattan from the Promenade a few blocks from the apt:

I'm pretty much in love with Brooklyn Heights!  My mom will be here this weekend, so after she's gone I'll probably be more settled (or at least enough to take some more photos!)