A Very Valiente Life in New York

My friend Whom I Will Call Raw Sugar asked me for a lengthy email about life in New York, which I happily sent. I do love to write about myself, after all. Several of my friends and family members have been asking about the protests and Ground Zero. It's interesting living here because there are all these cool places to go and eat, but we have things like work and groceries and bills to think about in the middle of it all. On the weekends, we still have to do our laundry and buy groceries (which means carrying them all home, BTW), so it's actually hard to make time to do all the amazing things we want to do. It takes us about 45 minutes or so to get downtown- which also means it takes about that long to get home. So it's tempting to think we could just dash off and browse the Met, but that's not always easy. For example, today we are going to Target that is a mile away and that means some complicated subway planning OR a mile walk there and a mile walk home, carrying whatever we buy (great for budgeting purposes though!).

We try to do one fun thing a week; this weekend we went a super fancy steak place. One of my co-workers had some coupons for The Capital Grille so we most definitely made reservations and were on our way. Unfortunately, our subway stop was closed and we ended up in Brooklyn. The train we needed to take wasn't going back to Manhattan so we had to ride further into Brooklyn and double back. When we got out and tried to find a cab in Chinatown, the driver didn't know the area and we had to Mapquest and guide him there. When we finally got to Wall Street, we drive right past Zuccoti Park and saw all the protesters. The dinner was amazing and then we set off to find our way home.

On our travel back to a familiar subway stop, we passed the protesters again. It looks like a Gap commercial. It's like a bunch of hipsters on a camp out, with one or two wierdos who do things like kick the barriers and taunt the cops. It wasn't a ruckus or a shenanigan at all. Pretty peaceful. We also passed Trinity Church and saw Alexander Hamilton's grave and then walked by Ground Zero. This is what people ask me about the most.

Right now Ground Zero is still a very large and active construction zone. I am not sure if there are parts that are open, but from where we were, everything is gated and there are cranes and cameras all over. It looks like it's going to amazing to see once it's done, though.

We went to the Museum of Natural Science and in one afternoon we got through half of one floor! We did go to the MoMA, but modern art isn't really our thing. We went to Columbus Circle, which is all hustle-and-bustle and you're just as likely to get run over as you are to get a cup of coffee! I was in Starbucks and saw this guy and I kept thinking, "hmm, he looks like someone famous," and then I realized, nope- he didn't look like someone famous, he just WAS someone famous. And I can't remember who he is or what he was in!

It's in wholly wierd and bizarre to live in a place where there are protesters that are getting national coverage! It's so bizarre to pass Washington Square every day on my way to work and know that part of "When Harry Met Sally" was filmed there. It's unreal that my favorite place for dessert is Cafe Lalo, which is the coffee shop from "You've Got Mail." It's also refreshing to feel cool, crisp fall weather and not feel like I need to soak it up because it will be gone in a week and 100 degrees plus humidity will return.

Life in NY is cool and strange and a bit too anonymous. I miss my parents so much sometimes that I get teary. I miss my Care Group and girlfriends constantly and I think about them no less than once a day. I wish we had a church already. It's not exactly "home" yet, but I think it will be soon.

A Very Valiente Household Discovery

Moving to New York is an adventure. We knew it would be. We anticipated an adjustment as we figured out the subway and the people, as well as the idea of having EVERYTHING delivered (which we very rarely do). There are a few things that aren't necessarily NY-specific, but most definitely aren't found commonly in the south.

Our building is like the ones you see in the movies- you come into a very small doorway and buzz the apartment of the person you're visiting. For some reason, I felt very shy about using the speaker. We ordered lunch and I asked The Yankee to answer it.


Confession: not once have I ever lived without central air- unless I was a baby and that doesn't count. It kind of hurt my heart to think that I'd have to BUY and air conditioner and install it myself. My inner princess doesn't care to buy items to compensate for a deficiency in a building that I don't own- hey, I SAID it was my inner princess!

So each room but the bathroom has one of these. There is no thermostat. If it's anything like our shower, our home will go from Igloo to Inferno status within about 3 seconds of turning this on. And while we're talking about air temperature, why isn't there a heater in the bathroom? You know what I predict? I'll be shaving in December, get out of the warm hot scalding shower and immediatley get goose bumps, thus negating the shaving efforts. Poor Yankee...


MEASUREMENT FAIL.
I have been pestering the Yankee about curtains since we got married, but we never really needed them, since we had blinds (the Yankee has an inner princess too, apparently). So when we selected out apartment, we decided to buy curtains before we moved so we I could enjoy a naked house as soon as we moved in. See my last post for a list of reasons this was a bad idea.

So naturally we forgot to bring a measuring tape while we were apartment shopping. Since I grew up military, I decided to improvise and use body parts to measure. So the windows were the distance from my fingertips to my breastbone. The window in the picture was two of those lengths, plus a small divider in the middle the was about the size of my hand. Well... you can see the value of a measuring tape in this story, can't you?

So there are a few other things that have been surprising, and I'll be sure to record them as they come along. Subway highlights include having to change lines completely as the police investigated a suspicious package and broken water mane that doused several lines at lunchtime on Monday. The lines weren't repaired until way after lunchtime. Thankfully I work from home- the Yankee was not so lucky, unfortunately.

A Very Valiente Crap Alert

We are here in New York! This is an exciting place to be. Currently I am sitting at my desk, looking out across a park, and feeling a breeze that is gettng colder and colder and as cold front moves across the Tri-State Area.

So the move went pretty well. Sort of. Actually no, the moving part itself was pretty much crap. It rained, we took too much stuff on the plane, some of our items got destroyed by the movers- it was a rough couple of days. In my next few posts, I will relay some of our adventures and lessons.

I always overestimate the amount of allowable space and have and under estimate the weight of items. I cut wrapping paper too small, I grab a hand basket at the grocery store and end up struggling under the weight of 25 items when I should gotten a cart. We knew we could both check 2 50-pound bags and carry on one small bag at Southwest. We also knew our items would take awhile to get there, so we had a pile mountain of stuff that we were taking with us. I didn't want to pay to ship a box, but as we started packing our stuicases, we realized it was inevitable.

We had planned to take blankets, sheets, towels, and air mattress, and clothes for a few weeks with us. We had an apartment and didn't want to stay in a hotel, so we were trying to bring "essentials." By essentials I mean 25 hangers, a coffee press, every.single.piece of clothing we own, and a few other things for fun.

We bought some space bags so we could fit everything into four bags. We bought a 4 piece luggage set. We made stacks. FAIL. Everything DID fit, but zippers broke and when we plunked the items on the scale at the airport. three of our bags were overweight. This left me doing a scramble to re-allocate items into bags and left the Yankee and I carrying a LOT of crap onto the plane.

We landed in NYC to a lot of rain and an hour-long line to get a cab. The Yankee waited with out TEN BAGS while I waited in line. We finally got a cab, got home, and were in bed by 3 am. We borrowed an air mattress from my parents, and it turns out we took the twin mattress, not the queen.

Because I'm somewhat of a Crazy Girl sometimes, I scheduled an interview at 10 am the next day. That interview led to a referral to another agency and a trip down to Wall Street. Stay tuned: this referral paid off BIG TIME.

So that's adventure number one. We now have to PAY to send two suitcases and an air mattress back to my parents. Stay tuned for the story of the Arrow Mayflower movers and why you should never ever use them.

A Very Valiente Blog Analysis

So right now I currently write have three blogs. One is and will remain private because the contents of it seem to make people want to tattle on me to my husband. One I started when I was freshly-single that’s basically about how fantastic my life it (and yes, it is FANTASTIC). The third is a blog I started when the Yankee and I got married. I was pretty good about updating it at the beginning of the year; it’s been a slow summer with very little to report.

I love to read blogs of all kinds. I love NieNie, MckMama, my girlfriends’ blogs, and Penelope Trunk, amongst others. Penelope Trunk is an edgy woman with highly-functioning Asperger’s who writes about getting your head out of your back pocket and keeping your career on track (and some juicy details about her own life). One of her tips for would-be bloggers is this (taken from her actual blog):

Pick something that seems good, and if it isn't, try again. Don't get hung up on topic. As in dating, you'll know when you've found one that's the right fit. There are some obvious things, like pick a topic you have a lot to say about, pick something that interests you, pick something that will help your career. This is great advice, but you already know that if you look for a perfect match you'll never actually go on a date.

So I thought about what I really want to write about. I think about blogging all the time, but either I think it will be lame once I write it down or I worry that it will get all long and rambly (as my speech patterns do).

So here is the list of stuff I thought I could write about and the reasons I chose not to:

1. Gluten Free living- it’s been done, there are THOUSANDS and I consult most of them for my own cooking, so that would be a rip off for sure!

2. My career field- I am by no means an expert in human resources and still need a mentor, so this was off the list pretty fast. Besides, it could easily turn into me ranting about my work environment, which is a surefire was to get Dooced and tank my career in a hot second

3. How much I love my husband- I have a feeling I am the only person interested in this topic

So I started this particular blog so I could write about my family, mostly because those are the blogs I enjoy reading the most. I don’t write blogs because I want to one day monetize them and end up the next Heather B. Armstrong. I write because things are on my mind and I like to share things that are on my mind. So I’ll continue only one blog- this one- and leave the other two alone (and private) and continue to share the comings-and-goings of the Caliente Valientes- because we are pretty damn Caliente AND pretty damn Valiente. I hope you enjoy reading about us J

A Very Valiente Relocation

La Familia de Valiente is moving to New York City! The Yankee and I are moving in September so that he can pursue his dream of being a hot shot attorney (which, by way, he will be fantastic at).

It’s been the Yankee’s dream to move to New York for many years. In fact, the night we met, he told me he was moving to NY about four minutes after we met (and about 3 minutes and 49 seconds after he forgot my name). It’s something everyone who knows him, knows about him. So this spring, we put the plan in motion and started job searching.

In July I started interviewing with a company for a really fantastic job that I was simply not qualified for. That was the only really big “hit” we’d gotten and we accepted that our not living in NY was hurting our job opportunities. My employer graciously offered me an opportunity to continue my work remotely; at that time, we decided it was time for Phase II: find a home! So we booked our tickets and a hotel and set off to find an apartment (which we did).

So now the cat is out of the bag at work for both of us. The Yankee has put in his notice and I have been working with my manager (who, by the way, is fabulous) to transition me out of my current role and into my new one. Our apartment is a cardboard city and we’re trying to pare down our pantry items.

So we depart the Lone Star State for the Big Apple in about 2 ½ weeks. Our apartment is fantastic- a huge kitchen and hardwood floors! I had been seeing apartments with teeny-tiny kitchens that were simply scary to me. Will my various food sensitivities, the thought of not cooking my own food is like contemplating a career as an extreme skateboarder or fighting a zombie war.

So moving to New York is kind of like moving to another country. Here are some major differences:

1. Public transportation: riding the bus in San Antonio takes three hours to get anywhere. In NY, it’s just what you do. Owning a car is not only unnecessary, but also a tremendous pain.

2. Air Conditioning: not once in my life have I not had air conditioning. In NY, we have to buy window units. This hurts my heart.

3. Language: walking down the streets of NY humanizes the phrase “melting pot.” You hear snippets of Spanish, Russian, Yiddish, and English with various accents.

4. Money: first, Texas does not have a state income tax; NY does. Things are exponentially more expensive in NY, but the cost of living is allocated very differently. Weather: watch the news, you know what I mean.

I have moved every 2-4 years of my life, so relocating is not one bit scary to me. It is scary to predict how removed I will feel from my good friends. Life will continue without me, and that’s hard to watch through Facebook and blogs.

I am really excited about embarking on this adventure with my very best friend, the Yankee. Worst case scenario: we are mugged and killed. Next-to-worst-case-scenario: we lose all our money and move back to San Antonio. Best case scenario (and the one I am betting on): we live happily ever after.

Frankenpizza

I miss pizza. I really do. I have been "off' pizza for a few years now. I decided to totally eliminate dairy from my diet and then cut out gluten- which basically eliminates 2/3rds of a pizza. Pizza requiers a soft, stretchy dough. This consistency really, really needs gluten and i haven't found anything that can duplicate the texture. I've tried three different kinds of pizza mix: King Arthur, Bob's Red Mill, and Pamela's. I do not recommend any of them.

Here's the Frankenpizza that came from King Arthur

The taste was okay, but it didn't reheat well at all. The texture was the closest to real pizza I've had so far but the dough was really wierd.

I didn't take a photo of the Bob's pizza. it was flat, sour and soggy.

Tonight I tried making Pamela's.

This brand came highly recommended by two non-GF eaters. It was AWFUL. The dough was pretty easy to handle and it looked really good, but it was just terrible. I think the sauce was too thin and soaked the crust, or maybe it just didn't cook through. The crust was sweet at first and ended sour.

The Yankee couldn't really stomach it, poor guy.

He gave it a fair chance and in the end, here was his dinner (looks a lot like Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza, doesn't it)?

Snow Day

So this post is outdated, but I'm a busy gal so don't heckle!

A few weeks ago we were experiencing out short burst of winter. This is a small span of time in which we can all pull out our coats and scarves and nod in agreement with the rest of the county as they exerience cold. This winter has been noticeably warmer than our already warm winters. And then all of sudden the streams of air aligned over San Antonio and insanity came. In one week we went from near 80s to snow. Overnight we got almost an inch or so- but in San Antonio we don't have snow plows and people don't get much of a chance to learn to drive in the snow. We also have lots and lots of bridges- more bridges than I normally think about until they are all sheet of ice.

The Yankee's employer and my employer both gave us a noon reporting time. We carpooled and left an hour before we had to be to work. It normally takes us both between 20-25 minutes- that day it took about an hour and a half. Halfway to work, the Yankee got a call closing the office for the day. I did not. It was a long drive that led to a very long day. Enjoy two the photos of the light accumulation that closed the city.