Brrrrr,

New York has been fabulously cold lately. As a mountain grown girl I love being cold, the heat makes my skin crawl and even in the winter there is a window open in my house. I love the look of red noses and cheeks from walking around outside and I absolutely love not sweating like a pig everyday. What I love about cold in New York is the fashion parade late fall and winter bring out in a fabulous array of outerwear. There are so many pea coats and trenches to drool over this season. In New York winter is about 2 things, a fabulous coat and a fabulous scarf. Hats and gloves are optional but not overlooked. In other states that I have lived winter outerwear is whatever coat you wear to the ski resort. In New York, your coat is as important as what's underneath. Because everyone walks everywhere in NYC you rarely see what's under someone's coat, so that coat has to be fabulous and as fashion forward as every other piece in your wardrobe. My favorite styles are the coat dress, Military, and the classic pea coat. Here are some examples of what I'm drooling over as I walk down Madison Avenue:

The coat dress

The Military trench

The classic Peacoat

Walking

I love to wander and just lose myself in the beauty of the city. I had a doctors appointment over on the east side this week and I decided to make a day of it. I packed a lunch and snacks for little miss and we took the subway to 71st and Central park west. We entered Central park and by Strawberry Fields and passed the "Imagine" memorial to John Lennon. It's a beautiful walk especially in the fall. You go past Bethesda Terrace (my favorite place in the park), and the Boat House restaurant. The trees are so vivid Orange right now that it causes the light to glow this gold/orange color everywhere. It's breath taking.
After my appointment I decided to continue down Madison Avenue and then crossed over to 5th avenue and walked down to The Plaza. This was how beautiful the walk was.

I walked all the way over to Columbus circle and then caught the train home. I wish I had had the thought to turn on the GPS on my phone to see how far I walked, but it didn't occur to me. Little miss slept through the doctors appointment and all the way home, it was peaceful and lovely and I think I need to do it more often,

Halloween!

Here are some pictures of little miss in her cute costume. She was sleeping beauty this year.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

Saying that life in New York City is great every minute of everyday would be lying. Somedays I experience pure Euphoria when I walk around and notice that I'm standing where my favorite movie or TV show was filmed, and somedays the comments people make make me want to take a bat out and start swinging at everyone that walks past me. I thought New Yorkers minded their own business and didn't care about anyone other than themselves. I was wrong, at least about the ones in my neighborhood. The predominant Dominican population in my neighborhood seem to have an opinion about something I do or something about my daughter everyday. In random strangers eyes I do everything wrong and they can't help but tell me.

New York is a tough city (understatement). It chews you up and spits you out, and the toughest are the ones that can take it over and over and over. I love some of the experience that I'm having here. It is the most amazing and unique city in the world, just not always for good things.

Noticing the difference between the East Side and the West Side is kind of funny, the west side is a little more low key. My favorite hangouts are Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, and little miss's favorite, the Museum of Natural History. The East side however is it's own universe. 5th avenue splits the island in half and does it ever! If you were a child coloring New York in a coloring book, I'd use bold earth tones for the west side and gold, silver, white, and pink to color the east side. My Endocrinologist is over on the East side in "Gossip Girl" territory and as I left my appointment and walked back toward the park I observed the east side "prep" teenagers coming home from school. Prestigious looking uniforms on young men carrying their lacrosse sticks, and girls with VERY short skirts (yes their uniform skirts), knee high stockings and designer handbags made me wish I had worn more than yoga pants, a tee shirt, and sneakers in their presence. However I have not yet purchased this season's fashion must have's (and probably will never have the money to), so I wasn't about to wear something totally uncomfortable when I had to walk from 86th West to 81st East by way of Central Park.

So what's the good about living in New York City? Experiencing a place that is truly unlike anywhere else on the planet. In every other city in the country you can compare it to another, or describe one as a mix of two. Not New York. It stands alone. The good: historic locations and unmistakeable must see landmarks; The bad: Sometimes the people here suck and can't mind their own business, it's exhausting taking subways all day long with an over active three year old; The Ugly, how I feel most days when I compare my life or myself to the people that can go shopping where the like and buy whatever they want, and my jealousy of those who get to live in the nicer neighborhoods when I live in "The Heights" even though I can guarantee my apartment is bigger than theirs.

It's been a tough adjustment here, but even after the darkest storms, the sunshine eventually comes out.

Autumn

"Don't you just love New York in the fall?" Well I agree with Meg Ryan, New York in the fall is Magical. The light is almost Orange and the leaves are changing rapidly. I took little miss to the little playground by our house in Washington Heights. It was cold and rather windy, but my sweet baby girl (ok she's not a baby anymore) was running as the leaves fell down around her and chasing the pigeons as they tried to eat the pretzels she was dropping in the process. As I sat watching her run and squeal I had one of those moments of pure motherly joy. I was so happy in that moment, at complete peace. I haven't felt that way for a long while. My family has been through a really rough patch for the past 5 months, but finally this morning I feel like I'm coming out of that feeling of constant stress and not feeling safe to take a deep breath. As I was watching the wind blow the leaves around I felt a heavy weight lift off my chest and I finally took a deep breath. Things are ok now. We are happy, Little miss is happy. New York, as hard a city as it is, is wonderful, I feel at home, I can be happy here.

New Pictures Coming!

Guess who got a fancy new Camera? Yup, ME! Well, ok, my husband. It's necessary for photographing his patients, but hey it's for personal use too! I see all these beautiful and interesting places around the city and it's pathetic taking pictures with a camera phone all the time. It just doesn't do the beauty of the city in the fall justice. Stay tuned for some pretty picture to come after this weekend!

Wanderings and Ponderings

I awoke very early this morning and took the subway downtown to Columbus Circle where I started my workout. I walked from 59th to 34th and over to 5th avenue, up to the Plaza Hotel and through Central park back to Columbus circle. It was a beautiful morning in NYC and it was fun to run through Times Square when it wasn't crowded with hoards of people. The most exciting part of my run was through Central Park. I took a path not frequently traveled and a little ways down it I saw a beautiful woman. She was very tall and very slim, but not icky skinny, she had long brown hair and was watching her young son play on the side of the path. Who was it? None other than the most famous and highest paid SUPER model in the world, Giselle Bundchen!!! She said good morning to me and I didn't realize it was her until I looked at her and said good morning back. It hit me and then my jaw dropped and I figured out who had just talked to me. I wished I had had little miss with me! She would have run up to the little boy and started playing with him and I could have stood and talked to her! Oh well. She was gorgeous. It was a very fun morning!

Dr. J and I spent the afternoon watching the LDS Semi Annual General Conference. That's right I am a Mormon! Twice a year for 2 days we get to hear from our Prophet, apostles, and other general authorities of the church. It's amazing how the Lord can speak directly to you through his inspired servants. I felt as if they were giving council directly to me to improve my life and my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

I believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints has the true and complete gospel of Jesus Christ. I have the faith that the Heavenly Father love me and know me by name. I know that families can be sealed for eternity and if we keep the commandments and live worthily we will once again live with our Heavenly Father in Celestial Glory. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and restored the gospel to the earth. I know that he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ after a humble prayer in a beautiful grove of trees in Upstate New York. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God and that he loves all the members of the church. I know that his apostles are divinely inspired by God to give us counsel to improve our lives in order to achieve our divine potential.

This is my testimony that I know through faith to be true.