My "I'm a New Yorker" moment

Ok, so I've had a couple of semi I'm-a-New-Yorker moments since I've been in the Big Apple but nothing quite like today. The few that I have had were more internalized and me thinking to myself "Look at me getting around on the subway by myself!" Or "Look at me meeting a friend in Manhattan for drinks!".

Well today, I was on the subway by myself heading to the movie theater for our "free movie Tuesday" (we get two tickets to the movies for FREE on Tuesdays with our cable rewards program...kinda awesome, huh? And they say everything is expensive in New York!). Anyway, the subway is pretty empty because I'm traveling the opposite direction of the rush hour crowd. I was reading a book and not paying much attention when a guy that had fallen asleep suddenly wakes up and is trying to get someone's attention to find out if he missed his stop. I happen to look up, catch his eye and in my most nonchalant voice, tell him "No, you're stop is still two stops away." He was very thankful and I was very impressed. I guess I'm not a tourist anymore!

JOE & SHAMUS

We have a local DIVE bar (and I mean dive bar) in our neighborhood called Denny's. The name should tell you enough! We went there the first night that we got to town because we needed to treat our moving team to cold beverages and obviously we needed to check out our local hang. That being said, it's an awesome, small, stone, old fashioned bar filled with pretty much locals only.

That being said, we decided to head there when the Yankee's were taking on the Red Sox our first weekend here. Nat's a huge Red Sox fan, growing up on Cape Cod, and obviously wanted to watch this intense rivalry. We were also meeting up with our friend Chip that I hadn't seen since moving to NYC. After talking Nat out of ALL Red Sox gear, we headed out to the bar. We walk in and it's immediately very intimidating. It's pretty busy. There aren't any bar stools and everyone is starring at us. We stand around awkwardly for a moment, contemplate leaving then finally decide to order a beer and pull up some bar stools in the middle of the room (also awkwardly) because there is no where else to sit. We chat and continue being awkward for 5-10 minutes when I happen to notice that a couple bar stools have opened up. We make our way up to the bar and in true southern fashion, I immediately ask the bartender what his name is. Hey, we obviously gotta get in good at this place. Let's call him William because I think it started with a "W" and I can't remember his name right now (I know...so much for getting in good!).


Well after warming up to William, our old bartender, who just got off of his shift, bought us a round so we're one step closer to getting "in" with the cool kids. As we're sitting at the bar, wondering if and when they are going to turn the Red Sox vs. Yankees game on but too nervous to ask, I make eye contact with the two guys at the end of the bar: Cue Joe and Shamus. Now to paint a picture...Joe looks a little like a older, cuter version of Alf and Shamus is his obvious sidekick. They are drinking shots of whiskey alongside each beer that they order. Cue the introductions.

After announcing that "they have guests in the bar" they proceed to ask where we are from. We tell them that we just moved into the neighborhood, Nat's been here for a year and I just moved here. Where did you move from they ask. Nashville I say. They then proceed to give me the biggest Brooklyn welcome that they can conjure up in their whiskey and beer drunken state. Joe announces that he's going to play "Nashville" music on the juke box so that I feel more welcome. He proceeds to play Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. As the songs are playing, Joe and Shamus also decide to dance with one another while belting the songs at the top of their lungs. At one point, Shamus slings Joe on top of the pool table where he stays, spread eagle, for a solid 10 seconds. After getting off the table, they resume their position at the end of the bar.

From there, Shamus sends a round of beers our way. Three beers to be exact. One for me, one for Nat and one for Chip. The guys are soaking up every second of their free beers since it's obvious that I'm the reason they got them! Joe then makes his way down to where we are sitting. He puts his hand on Nat's shoulder and starts carrying on about how he must have been a football player, he's so big and strong, he would never mess with him, etc. Joe appears to have had a sober moment and became afraid that Nat was going to kick his ass!

Another 15 or 20 minutes go by and then Joe makes my favorite move of the entire night. He very loudly clears his throat and at the top of his lungs, yells (which he doesn't have to yell loudly because this bar is tiny) "JENNY IS THE ONLY PERSON THAT MATTERS IN THIS ENTIRE BAR!"

Nashvillian Nugget:

So I happened to be cruising around town yesterday on a shuttle bus, in route to catch my subway train, and I notice an extremely (we're talking 75+ people) LOOOOONG line outside of this building. Of course that instantly peeked my interest and I assume that I am missing out on some awesome, trendy, New York event. About 10 seconds into starring at the extremely diverse group of people in this line, I realize that it isn't the line to an awesome event but rather the line for TRADER JOE'S! No lie...I bet those people waited an hour+ just to get in that store.

That being said, I thought I would share this with all my Nashvillian friends so that the next time you head to our beloved Trader Joe's in Green Hills, maybe you'll take a moment and appreciate being able to freely walk into the store. :-)

THE TABLE.

So long story short, Nat and I needed an island. We had a pretty large open space in our kitchen across from our current counter space and definitely needed a new addition for cooking, appliances, decor, etc. So we planned our over night stay during the move in a location that would make it convenient to stop at an Ikea on the way to New York while we still had the Budget truck. We were very proud of our planning ahead and use of the truck. That being said, we slept in later than expected, took longer than expected checking out and getting breakfast. Very quickly, our 2 hour allotted Ikea time turned into an hour at best and for those of you that have ever been to an Ikea, an hour flies by like 5 minutes in that place!

So anyway, we arrive and I swear there were angels singing. There is a very special place in my heart for Ikea. We have our list in hand and task laid out before us. Priority #1 - Find an island and desk for my office. We had a few other things we wanted (bookcase, pots & pan hanger, duvet cover, etc.) but those could wait if need be. Keep in mind also, that I hadn't actually seen or been in our place for about a month so my perception was a bit off and Nat's (as much as I adore him) has a bit of a skewed perception or maybe a lack of observation, as is. So we search over all of the islands, finally make a decision based on size, versatility and price and get ready to leave. As we're walking out, the piece above caught our eye. It was on sale. It was practical and offered lots of counter space. We took it. Since it was on sale, we had to purchase it via a print out and then they had to bring it out of the back room for us. Nat gets the truck. I wait for the table. I see them coming from a mile away. The boxes, especially one of the boxes, are HUGE. I immediately think that there is no way this thing is fitting in our kitchen. But the decision has been made, maybe I don't remember correctly I think, and we continue on with our journey.

We arrive home and bring the boxes with the island/table pieces in first. Once I step in the kitchen, I realize how large it really is and am immediately put at peace. This table will definitely fit. It's going to look awesome! Cut to that night...

We're SO excited to put this thing together that we can barely contain ourselves. Ignoring the other 100's of boxes, we go straight for the table and open the 3 boxes up (2 with tables legs and 1 with the top piece). After opening them all up, it's very apparent to both of us that something or multiple somethings are missing. We have no brackets. No screws. No way to secure anything to anything. Literally, we stand there holding 3 pieces of pretty, smooth, white wood. The picture that you see above is what we saw in the store and what they sale online. Very, very deceiving. However, this is not going to set us back. We make a decision that we have to buy brackets and screw them from underneath to secure it together. No problem. We have this. We get the brackets the next day and while I get work done, Nat sets forth to set up our first domestic purchase and project as a live-in couple!

Next thing I hear is "Oh no, I think I messed it up!" Into the kitchen I go, expecting what is sure to be a huge hole, missing leg or some other terrible disaster. As I turn the corner, I see it. The absolute LARGEST, HUMONGOUS, GAWDY, AMAZON, GIGANTIC table that I have ever seen in my life. Nat was just kidding and didn't mess anything up but wanted to surprise me. And surprise me he did. I don't know what happened in the store. Whether it was the bright lights, the huge space or our delirium but somehow we/I missed the fact that this table belonged in either an architecture firm with blue prints covering the entire space or a work shed with saws and other various tools spread across it. Nat was so proud (as was I of him) however I couldn't get past the size of this thing in my kitchen. Nat kept saying how he liked the "industrial" look of it but I wasn't buying it.

So we debate. I work. He watches tv. I forget about it and then go back in the kitchen and then we discuss it some more. Options under consideration ranged from scrapping the whole thing to putting an ad on craigslist to hire someone with a saw (I was desperate). A few hours later, as I was working in my office, I had an epiphany. Maybe we could use only the legs and make a table out of them. From that idea, came our new amazing piece of furniture. Now, we not only have counter space to work on but we also have an eat-in kitchen and can use my bar stools! We are in love! And as an added bonus, we have a huge, white piece of wood sitting unused beside our fridge! Anyone know of any good uses for that? Here's the finished product (big props to Nat):

THE ARRIVAL

So we arrived and everything else arrived in one piece minus a wine decanter that I was very willing to sacrifice at the expense of everything else not breaking. I must say, my packing team should get paid for what they did! That being said, Nat was also an A+, fabulous, stellar Budget truck driver. He menuvered the mountains of PA with only a few moments of stress, the rain of all of Kentucky and most of Ohio with ease and even the traffic and bridges of NYC. Basically, he was my hero that trip. And yours truly never even sat in the driver's seat!

Funny stories from the trip...let's see. I decided at the beginning that I wanted to take pictures of all of the "welcome" signs for the different states as we went. Little did we know that that would be more stressful than the drive up here (I'm kidding...alittle bit). Kentucky...check. Ohio(see below)...Nat had the windsheild wipers on in preparation for the upcoming rain I guess because it wasn't raining at picture time! Needless to say, that was about 2 minutes of me unneccesarily being unhappy! West Virginia...missed the whole damn thing as I was searching for animal crackers for my loving boyfriend. Again, about 3 minutes of unneccesary bitching on my part! Pennsylvania...I was PREPARED for that one. I think Nat stopped asking for snacks about 30 minutes before the sign was set to appear! :-) New Jersey...got it without snack or wiper distraction. And finally New York...the one I was most excited about, didn't even exist. What does it say about a state when they don't even welcome you!! I think it says that you officially live in the northeast! ;-)

What else happened? We played "see how many different state license plates you can spot". Any guesses on how many we saw? 30. I thought we would see more. Nat guessed that we would see exactly 30. Everything is a competition. The snack pack was a HUGE hit. Our favorites in order...chips (Doritos for Nat and BBQ Lays for me), Beef jerky (gone on day 1), Jolly Ranchers (surprise favorite), Animal crackers, Pringles (Nat ate his the night before we left!), and M&Ms. Thanks again Nillie and Ashley! We called a Holiday Inn in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania home for the night, debated for approximately 10 minutes as we drove in circles around the parking lot, where to park the truck. Finally compromised on a spot further from the entrance and foot traffic than I would have liked but underneath a light and in an area where Nat could confidently back the truck into the spot. Domestic bliss is all about compromise!

If you've managed to make it through all of my rambling, take relief, you've now come to the fun part! Pictures of our new home!!

We made it! The view driving into New York.

Driving through a mountain in Pennsylvania.

The windshield wiper/welcome to Ohio incident!

SO MANY BOXES!

Boxes in the bedroom...

Boxes in the guest room/office...

Boxes in the kitchen...

WELCOME TO OUR HOME

Finished kitchen located to your right when you come in the front door. (Watch for an upcoming story on that table ;-)

Other side of the kitchen.

Our pantry in the entry way. Yes, we have a pantry in NYC!

HUGE closet in the entry way. It's where my stuff went.

Yes, the closet really is that BIG! I love it.

Our bathroom. Only place we saw with a counter/vanity like this.

Bathroom.

Living room facing the entry way and front door.

Other side of the living room. Our bedroom door is behind me and the guest room is to the left.

TV on the awesome stand that my brother made me. The door leads to the guest room.

My office built my the hands of Nat McIntyre.