It's Official

I am ready for Spring. I got a new catalog yesterday and spent the morning flipping through the cute new clothes for Spring and dog-earing the pages containing articles of clothing I want/need/have to have. Then I succumbed this afternoon and actually purchased a few things. All in a desperate attempt to try to get Spring to get here sooner. (I have the attire, can't I wear it now?) No such luck up here in NYC. In Texas, you'll have the occasional warm-ish days in February/March (let's face it, pretty much any time between November and April) when you can wear a skirt without panty hose and not have your legs freeze off. You can wear sandals or opened toe shoes instead of boots and lined all-weather shoes. You can leave the house wearing a light jacket or sweater instead of a heavy coat. You don't need a hat or scarf to fend off the wind. The lining of your wool pants doesn't get cold and freeze your legs while standing on a corner waiting for the light to change. I am tired of stopping at the coat check for happy hour. Tired of close-toed shoes (I NEED sandals!). Tired of standing in front of my closet wondering which pants look the least-wrinkled and dirty because I'm tired of dry-cleaning everything after one wearing because it's got puddle-splatter on the hems. Tired of having hat hair. Tired of the sniffly nose every time I come in from the cold.

Unfortunately, it's still cold. Supposed to be for another month. I'm kidding myself in thinking that I'll be able to wear anything short sleeved for another 2 months, as I have found myself wishing for a light jacket in MAY up here. I can safely wear my sweaters for another 6 weeks without feeling too warm. Boo.

So, please enjoy the warm weather for me. Walk outside without a coat, hat or gloves! Wear sandals for me ladies! Show off your new pedicure! Go without panty hose! I must live vicariously through you. And while you're at it, send me your warm thoughts! I need all the help I can get.

Mucus Alert

I am about sick of this. If you could sell snot for a profit, I'd be loaded. This is ridiculous! I hate this stupid cold! Blowing my nose all day, not being able to talk regularly, having a stuffy head, and not being able to pop my ears. I've had enough, I am miserable. On top of that, I didn't even stay home from work today. I went because I thought I needed to get something done today, and that they were waiting on me to send it out. I was wrong. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. I am skipping choir tonight though. I don't have a voice, and my constant nose blowing would be very distracting. However, when I emailed the chorus manager about not being there, he emailed me back that it's the best policy to be there if you feel ok and sit in the back. He didn't even tell me to feel better! Hmph. So, I am just not going to grace them with my presence tonight. I'm going to sit at home and stay out of Joel's way, as it's his night for 'alone time.' He gets sole control of the remote, can cook or not cook (but I'm not going to cook, so he'll have to feed himself somehow), can have the computer all night if he wishes, etc. Aren't I a nice wife? ;)

Vermont Smorgasbord

I am very disappointed that NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON posted about my Gates picture or blog. SHAME ON YOU! You know who you are.

Anyway....

We just got back from skiing in Vermont. It was very Vermonty. We stayed in Woodstock, VT, downhill skied in Killington, VT, and cross-country skied in Woodstock. Joel sliced his leg open in a freak fall and had to get stitches. Downhill, not cross-country. He's fine, just irritated that now he has to go to the doctor to get the stitches out. I also came down with a cold. Pooh. I should buy stock in Kleenex. The cross-country skiing was great, we both really enjoyed it and are both sore today. But it was totally worth it, we will definitely do it again. It snowed about a foot yesterday, making everything even more beautiful. I would definitely recommend a trip to Woodstock, it is a very cute town and close to several ski areas. Now I am back in the City and wishing I didn't have to go to work tomorrow. Maybe this cold will take over and I'll just be sick all week. This makes two times in as many months that I am blowing my nose so much it is interferring with my activities. -Sigh- I'm ready for Spring.....

The Gates in Central Park 

The Gates

It's pretty cool, I must say. And, I figured out how to post pictures! With that I am well pleased. Joel and I went on Sunday to 'experience' The Gates. We have had several people ask us about them, and we are going to be putting all of our pictures up on our webpage soon, so check it out. I'm so glad we lived here when this was done! It looks rather strange from a distance, but up close it is very neat. I loved it!

Skinny People

I had another concert this past week. The smaller chamber group of the Juilliard Chorus (of which I am a member) sang in a performance with the New York City Ballet Company. We sang Leonard Bernstein's 'Chichester Psalms,' on stage, in costume, and the dancers danced to our singing. (What a concept, right?) It was a totally cool experience, and the choreography was a great interpretation of the words. It is sung in Hebrew, 5 Psalms combined into 3 movements. Really a beautiful work if you ever have the chance to hear it. Bernstein was a genius. We have half a dozen more performances of it at the State Theatre with the ballet, 2 at the end of this month, and 4 more at the end of April.

We had our first rehearsal with the ballet dancers on Wednesday. That means I had my first experience with dancers up-close-and-personal. And I was shocked to find how THIN they are! Not just thin, I think the appropriate word to use is SKINNY. I was always skinny (more like scrawny, and no, I'm not anymore) growing up, and hated the word, but there is no other word to use. When you can count all of your ribs AND vertebrae without sucking in your breath, you are skinny. Waifish. Unhealthy. When you are in the audience watching the ballet, you never seem to notice this fact. But being on stage with them was really an eye-opener. I mean, they are SO strong....that fact I am actually jealous of. Makes me want to work out and eat salad and things like that. Give up bread or something. But on reflection, I'm very pleased with my shape and the fact that I have boobies and enough body fat to ovulate and perhaps bear children someday. Seeing people as skinny as that makes you appreciate your own flaws a little more, you know?

As a side bar, when watching the girls dance 'on toe,' the question that always comes to mind is 'How do they DO that?' It's incredible. And so hard! It's amazing!

The Endless Quest for More

Why do people seem to feel the need to have the biggest and best of everything? Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Americans seem to constantly be thirsting for more. Bigger cars, bigger houses (God forbid your kids actually have to SHARE a room), bigger boats, better schools, more exhoribant vacations, bigger tvs, more media outlets in the house, more and more and more money. I recently had a friend make a large purchase of one of the items mentioned above. The only reason I found out was because she can't come visit me now because of it! This event has made me reflect on the status of my own checkbook. I am not wealthy, nor will I ever be in monetary terms, but we make enough money to cover the bills and still retain and contribute to a savings account while living in this very expensive city. But I also don't constantly strive to have the latest-greatest things. We like to travel, so that's usually what we spend extra money on. We have retirement accounts set up that we contribute to every month. I know money is a touchy subject to broach with most people, myself included, but why do people constantly live outside their means? Yes, we only live once, but there are so many people that need the money you just spent on those new movies you'll probably only watch once WAY more than you do. Anyway, there's really not a point to this blog, just my ranting about people that, in my opinion, make poor decisions. Rant done.

Age-old Question

What should I wear? This has eluded women, in this country at least, for decades, if not centuries. I would say since the dawn of time, but I'm doubting the biblical heroines were all that concerned with what to wear on a Saturday night.

We are going out to dinner for a friends' birthday to a pseudo-swanky place neither I or my husband have been to. I looked it up on Shecky's, and it appears to be a happenin' place to go for dinner. A see-and-be-seen type of place. This is not the kind of place Joel and I typically grace with our presence, as they tend to be expensive, the food is not good enough to match the price, and as we are married to each other, we aren't looking to hook up. Now, 'not gracing with our presence' is not from lack of want, really, but we just never know about these kind of places, you know? And, it's not in our neighborhood (UWS), so it's out of the way. (In Manhattan, if you have to go too far downtown, or cross-town, it's out of the way and, especially with the latter, almost impossible to get to.)

Anyway, back to the question at hand....what do I wear? Jeans and a cute top? A skirt and sweater? Jeans, dress shirt, and sweater? Boots or flats? It is February in New York, so that automatically rules out sandals and uncovered legs. But, it was a balmy 50 degrees today, so a sweater might not be a good idea either, as I won't want to sweat, and thus smell, all night. Sexy is a must, as I want to look good in a sexy place. I'm thinking skirt, but then it almost feels like I'm going to work. And this is bad on a Saturday. Jeans and boots might be good, but what shirt? My husband is not good to ask, as he just gets irritated that I can't decide and I inevitably make us late. Granted, for a straight guy, he has very good taste in clothes, and always does well picking outfits for me. But when it comes to Saturday night kind-of-fancy dinners (but not dress up), he's not the person to ask. A woman is. But, I am fresh out of those. I need that cool computer program Alicia Silverstone has in Clueless to choose her outfit without trying everything on. Anyone have one of those? Can I borrow it?

Now, I must stop blogging about this and go stand in front of my closet for a while. I only have one hour before we have to leave. And another cocktail to consume while fuming that I didn't go shopping today because I was doing this. Oh well, it's Saturday night, I'm in the greatest city in the world, what am I complaining for?

Study Break

I'm tired of studying. It is draining and boring. But it's almost every Saturday for the next 2 months. Boo. BOOOOO!

Shadow Sighting

According to the groundhog, we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter. Stupid groundhog. What does he know? I'm all for winter in it's season, and it will last 6 more weeks here anyway, if not 12 or 16.

My mother-in-law tells me her tulip tree is covered in buds in Houston. Just talking about flowers makes me want to see some! You certainly appreciate the spring more when you have to wait so long to get a little. There will be no tulip tree bud sightings here for at least another 3 months. I am not quite done with winter yet anyway, but apparently Spring is coming up fast, as all the stores in NY are stocking their Spring line. I can't think about cute pastel colors right now! I'm still thinking of buying a few sweaters at these super sales because I have 2 more months to wear them.

BTW, who thought up Groundhog day anyway? Why is the designated groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania? Did you know they want federal money to open a Groundhog Day Museum there? That's crazy talk.