"Don't Be Flip"

Last weekend was my first in Lexington, and I had been feeling very scattered and unsettled, when all of a sudden one of my best friends came for a quick, unplanned visit.  Nic (no photos of him from the weekend, but here he is scoping out some Parisian pants) is a very comforting presence, and in one weekend furniture was picked out, my apartment largely set up, and the city became a much more familiar place.  It seems to be full of colorful buildings and people.  When we stopped in at a secondhand furniture store, we purchased items from a woman who talked our ears off, and said things like, "I live down on 7th Street, on the nice end.  I mean, I thought I lived on the nice end, but I can't even get a pizza delivered to my house!"  And those first few photos are a wall of a coffeeshop that has potential for placement on the favorite-city-stops list.  We also went to an awesome restaurant called The Village Idiot, and ate things like "Devils on Horseback", which are dates stuffed with goat cheese and orange marmalade, wrapped in bacon, and drizzled with honey.  Good God!  

Nic and I share a common favorite poet, Todd Boss, who wrote, "Don't Be Flip when you drop your mate at the dock."   I really like that.  So, no coolness, no coyness, just many, many sincere thanks to my friend, who swooped in and made me feel relaxed about a major to-do list, and excited about moving to a new city!

Meet my Beef

Many people say they have a best friend, but when I say I have the BEST best friend, I really mean it!  Meet Carolyn, my best friend since age 2.  She is adorable, talented, generous, and I love her.  We see each other almost every day when we're in the same city, and skype regularly when we're not.  School, sleepovers, make believe games, movies, boys, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, long car rides, shopping trips, summer camps, sad things, funny things, serious things - you name it, we've gone through it together.  Many cups of coffee and tea have been consumed over lots of conversation, and sometimes we hold hands while walking down the street.  She calls herself my "beef" (she's vegetarian), which she claims is "short" for bf.  What else can I say?  Everyone needs some meat in their life :)

Neeeew York, New Yooork!

This NY visit was very quick; I spent most of the time just wandering around neighborhoods and areas that I had never seen.  Some highlights - walking the High Line, beer and brats at the Chelsea Biergarten, a hidden Belgian beer place, stopping for a peek at Rockefeller Center, window shopping, people watching, trying sachlav for the first time, and seeing the city still on the move at night.  Good food, great friends, wonderful times!

Afternoon in Central Park

I went to NY last week for a quick visit to see some friends, and had an awesome time.  I love this city!  One afternoon was spent wandering around Central Park, where we saw fall colors, someone taking footage for google interactive maps, an acrobat showing off his muscles and skills, and lots of people lounging around and enjoying the beautiful weather. 

Walkin Around

One of my really good friends came to visit all the way from WI last week!  We spent a lot of time just relaxing, cooking, and walking around town.  Unfortunately, pretty much all the pictures of us together are on her camera, but here are a couple cool shots of some places close to my home.

My Letter

I've become sort of obsessed with letter-writing recently because I like the idea of taking 10 minutes out of  your day to write a note and pop it in the post, and changing an entire day for someone else!  How do I know this is true?  Because today I got a letter in the mail :)

My dear friend wrote on the back of a concert poster she got when she was 16, informing me that I should continue collecting stories until we see each other next.  And she also threw in two awesome postcards.  Sigh.  What a great day.

Leaving Luzerne

During the last days of Luzerne I said goodbye to campers, the lake, and clinked glasses with new friends.  A friend and I got in the car and on the road by 4:45 am to drive home in one day.  When we hit the 1000 mile countdown, this amazing rainbow came out!  It actually turned into a double rainbow, but I wasn't able to catch it.  It formed a huge arc over the road that we drove under as we headed home to the best state ever - Wisconsin!