Central Park in the Spring

This summer I will celebrate 10 years in New York City and I still love it like I did when I first arrived.  In NYC, Central Park is one of my favorites!  Especially Central Park in the spring.  Each year I love to see what they will do and what they will plant.  About 2 years ago, I discovered the Conservatory Gardens at the North East part of the park.  They usually have some amazing tulip gardens but this year they had other types of flowers.  They weren't my favorite this year but I still had a great time checking them out. I also love Shakespeare's Garden.  Its in the central part of the park near the west side. This week, I took a walk through the park and explored what Spring had to offer the park.  If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook then you probably got inundated yesterday :)  I thought I'd share with you what I found.  These guys are also available for purchase at my shop, City Girl Creations.

 

 

 

These photos helped me make a dent in 2 of my 13 in 2013 goals.    I not only got to play tourist with my camera, but I am attempting to also build up my photography business.  I am taking it slow but I am at least taking a step.

I hope you enjoy them.  You can purchase a digital copy through my etsy shop. They would be great on many craft projects or framed on your wall.  

An Up & Down Kind Of Week

Its hard to believe last week was my birthday.  I had intended to write up a post last week about it but had some bad news which lead to some distractions... I'll get to that later.   

I first just wanted to share about my great birthday!  It was a pretty awesome day.  My best friend/roommate took the day off and spent it spoiling me.  

First, we went to the Harry Potter Exhibition in Midtown.  We both enjoy the books and the movies so this was a nice little treat.  Its a great little museum if you are in the city.  

Then we went to Schnippers. Its a great little restaurant near Times Square that has great sweet potato fries, mac n cheese and a chocolate peanut butter shake.... mmm. I am hungry now just thinking about it.

The rest of the day was more chill.  Ashley made her Birthday tradition, Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding. I prefer this over a cake any day :)  It makes such a big batch that I just finished it yesterday.  My roommate had to go out of town on Wednesday so I basically ate the whole thing... but luckily over 7 days.

Later that night, we had dinner with some of my favorite women in New York. It was a great relaxing evening at one of our local restaurants, Le Cheile.

The next day my beautiful staff got me some Baked By Melissa Cupcakes. I am totally in love with these guys! Needless to say I am hopped up on sugar!

Wednesday began a whole new type of week for me.  As my roommate was about to leave for a trip home for her grandmother's funeral, I got a phone call that my grandmother passed away.  My grandmother's health had been declining for years and in many respects this wasn't a surprise but in some ways it was.  Her passing  hit me in a way that i wasn't expecting. 

 I think that compounded with some other issues sent me into a little bit of an emotional tailspin. 

I am not able to go to the funeral which is today in Illinois.  I wish more than anything that I could be with my family saying goodbye to my sweet grandma but life didn't allow that this time.  I am happy that my grandma is in a better place. She hasn't been herself for a long time but I still will miss her.

So that's a glimpse into my week.  

While you are here, stop by Big Apple Mami, and check out my guest post centered around my little bitty shop, City Girl Creations.  I am giving away $20 credit to shop!

I {Love} New York

I moved to New York almost 10 years ago. When I moved to the city it hadn't been my first choice nor did I think I'd be here more than the 2 year job I was taking.  Flash forward 10 years and I am as close as a lifer as i think i can get. 

New York to me is a person, family even.  I talk about her like she's a person.  I feel about her like I would a close close friend.  So it shouldn't have surprised me when I got offended when someone put her down.

I was walking to the subway last night when I overheard someone say "I really don't like the city."  You could tell the comment was made by someone who lives here or around here and not a tourist.  When she said it I had a physical reaction.  I almost turned around and glared at her.... but then the rational side of me realized. "Kim, she's entitled to her opinion."  

I don't get upset when people visiting the city or those who don't live here say they don't like the city.  I mean I feel sad for them :) But I don't have a reaction to their dislike but coming from someone who lives here I was deeply offended. It equated emotionally to her saying "I hate your mom."  I wanted to argue with her and tell her all the reasons she should love the city.  I felt bad for the city that this person said a mean thing about her.  

Ok I know I sound a touch crazy right now... and I kinda am... but it surprised me as much as its confusing you I am sure.  I've always known I had a deep love and affection for the city but I didn't realize just how deep it went until that moment. I get that people don't like the city but I just love it so much that I apparently have instant reactions to it :)

Now, I do like the suburbs. I secretly want a house with a yard and the ability to get in my car and drive 5 minutes to the store.  It took me an hour and a half to go 1 mile uptown to pick up dinner for a friend and then back down a mile to deliver said meal.... if i didn't live in the city it would have taken 20 minutes TOPS. I miss the convenience of living outside of the city.  I also need a vacation once or twice a year to re balance... but I do love the city... The funny thing though is what i love about the city is not really NYC related but the community of people here.  Yet I still get offended when people put it down.  

The city is a pretty great place and in many respects I kinda grew up here. I might have been in my late 20s and 30s while I've been here but I learned more about who I am here than I did before.  When people ask what i love about the city I can't tell them this museum or this show or this attraction. Although lovely, what I love more about the city is the feel, the people, the heart.  Something you can't really taste until you've spent time here.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

13 in 2013

Happy New Year!

How's your new year starting out so far?  Mine has been relaxing!

In 2010 some friends and I did a top 10 in 2010.  10 goals we wanted to reach in 2010.  We helped keep each other keep accountable and then reviewed our progress at the end of the year.  In reality I think we, on average, completed 5 or 6 of the 10 but for resolutions that's probably good.  

This year I decided I wanted to do 13 in 2013 but my goals aren't that big... at least not all of them are.  I am not one for resolutions because I am never good at keeping them but I am going to try at least to make some work this year. 

I'd love to have you join in. What are some of your goals for 13? Whether its 1 or 13, let me know. I'll do my best to check in with you on them.  

My plan is to blog about each of these over the next few weeks, giving you goal markers, explanations, etc.  Some might be combined posts but I should cover each one.

So Here We Go!

1) Work on my spiritual growth

2) Lose 13 pounds (or more)

3) Run 4-6 races this year (including a half marathon)

4) Read 5 books 

5) Finish reading through the bible

6) Learn to crochet

7) Get organized

8) Write at least one creative post a week

9) Write my first book

10) Build up my photography business

11) Do more New York type things

12) Get healthy

13) Meet my future husband.

Ok so these aren't in any particular order except the top one. Its my #1 for a reason.

Stay tuned for the how's and why's of these top 13 goals for 2013

Fall Adventure Day 2011

For the last three years, my best friend and I have had a "Fall Adventure Day".  It started out as a day where we rented a car and just drove north through the pretty rainbow of colors that Fall provides.   We had no real destination, just to drive and find some things to take some pictures of along the way.    We took a GPS so that we could find our way home but we really didn't have any solid destination.  That's where we found little treasures like these.

The first trip was just a few hours, starting right after church and ending when the sun went down.  The next year, we decided to make it a longer event.  We borrowed my sister-in-law's car on a Saturday and then drove for the day, found a place to stay that evening and then drove some more the next day.  Driving and pretty pictures was our main goal but other then that no real destination.

This year, we borrowed a friends car again on Friday.  This year we added a 10K race in Sleepy Hollow, NY.  We decided to drive north as far as we could get and then we'd come back down to stay near where the race would be.

This is my best friend, roommate, sister (in our hearts, not by blood).  She's pretty awesome and I am glad she's my best friend!

We drove north along the Hudson river on the Jersey side.  We watched out amazing city disappear.

And then looked forward to the sights we were about to see.

We met this guy along the way.  

We stopped for the night in Terrytown, grabbing dinner in town.   We had a 10K the next morning that we had not trained well for at all.  

Somewhere in the night, Ashley began to feel bad.  It turned out to be a really bad case of food poisoning which meant she couldn't race.  I went through with the race, feeling awful about leaving her behind. The entire ride to the race and the preparation before, i was contemplating when in the race I could stop and go back to take care of her.  I ended up running the entire race.  The course didn't allow for getting off track.  I have to say it was one of the hardest courses I have ever run.  I swear some of the hills were 45 degree angles.  I had to walk down some of the hills because my knees couldn't take the incline.

The race was the week before Halloween in Sleepy Hallow.  The Headless Horseman was parked throughout the course as were other creatures, figures, etc.

This was on the roadside about 5 miles in.

This was the view during part of the race.  Made the killer hills somewhat bearable... somewhat, I said... 

This was at the beginning of the race. Notice the cow at the front of the line.  There were all sorts of costumes.  I was truly impressed that anyone could run a 10K in a costume.  

I finished the race with a really good time (for me) especially given the hills. I ended up having to walk own about 2 or 3 hills which I was sure would slow down my overall time.  

This was the end of Fall Adventure Day (Take 1). It was definitely an adventure.  Sadly, it was cut short so we could get Ashley home.  No worries,  we finished the trip, just a few weeks later.  Stay tuned.

Church of New York?

I started reading through Colossians on the train to work the other day. As I got through the first few verses I started to ponder through what a letter to New York would look like. Paul begins Colossians talking about their faith and their love for the saints. In other books, the author speaks to various people regarding the state of their church, the state of their faith. Sometimes words are spoken in loving confrontation. Sometimes in affirmation.

What would the letter to the church at new York look like? How would Paul approach us? How would he encourage us? What would he confront us about?

Would he say something like this?
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as  it has been doing  in you also since the day you heard  of it  and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:3-8 NASB)