New Year in New York

HAPPY NEW YEAR !! It certainly has been a year to remember and we finished it in style. The days after Christmas were sniffly and snotty with Deb’s cold getting heavier and me catching it also, as expected. We were devastated to hear George Michael had died soon followed by Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. It was all quite shocking. George Michael was a huge part of our music youth and he was one of the true musical geniuses of the 80/90s and beyond.

Macey had a visit to the vet and got her teeth cleaned under anaesthetic. Her two top chewing teeth have fractures and the x-rays confirmed the roots are open and she will need root canal. We prefer that rather than pull them out as they are her main chewing teeth. So she will have to go to a dental specialist to get that soon. I can only imagine the $$ that will be. Poor Macey was bombed out that night and a bit wonky from the anaesthetic. Cricket was lonely all day and wouldn’t settle so they both crashed out in front the TV sound asleep.

 

 The highlight of our New Year week was meeting our wonderful friends from home (J&M) in New York. We were greeted with a massive box of Weetbix and several blocks of Cadbury chocolate. Oh god, we were thrilled – I am humming the tune…Aussie kids, are Weet-bix kids. Carrying a box that size in the suitcase all the way from down under is no mean feat so we were super grateful.

Great coffee, great breakfast !!

We arrived in NY in time for dinner and J&M had selected a fabulous Italian restaurant near the apartment. It was wonderful and the music was clearly a snapshot from my iPod (no, not the Barry Manilow stuff). The next day we headed off to explore the west village of lower Manhattan starting with breakfast at Fred’s Wife Freda. I would have to say it is probably the best breakfast I’ve had since being here. And the coffee was heaven – we had two each. A trendy little joint and I can only dream that my future café will be as bustling as that place.

We walked past the apartment block where Friends was filmed and then stopped by the Sex In the City house. We met a bunch of Australian women there too who provided some comic relief and directions to the nearby Magnolia Bakery which was made famous by Sex in The City who filmed an episode with SJP eating a cupcake out front. Nothing like instant celebrity endorsement. I must find a celebrity to eat something at my café one day…maybe Batman? The place was packed but we got our cupcake and scoffed it like champions.

Friends, live here.

The weather was cold and windy but we strolled outside along The Highline. It would be nice in better weather but we got a few good views and enjoyed chatting and catching up as we strolled along. Batman made an appearance but the wind was making cape control very hard. We wandered through the Chelsea Markets which was chockers !! Incredibly, we found a small shop that sold Australian pies and lamingtons. And yes, I bought a pie which was ok, too runny and too bloody hot to eat on the go but I endured the initial tounge burn and nibbled my way through it.

 

That night we went to the very famous Radio City to watch the Rockettes in their Christmas spectacular. I have always wanted to see the Rockettes so this was huge for me. Some history from wiki for you…

Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in Rockefeller Centre in New York City. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city. Its interior was declared a city landmark in 1978. Many famous entertainers have performed here. For almost a century, the Rockettes have been American icons. They have appeared at Radio City Music Hall in hundreds of stage spectaculars, and have participated in many historic and memorable events—like traveling abroad to entertain the troops and support wartime effort, and performing at the inauguration of the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, in 2001.

The show was simply brilliant and full of glitter, dazzle and Christmas bling. The dancers were perfect and the Rockettes totally shit all over the Moulin Rouge in Paris (I found this pretty disappointing really). My favourite bit was the toy solider fall. They do this very military precision shuffle routine around the floor and finish off with a slow domino fall routine. It was really clever. Just fantastic.

 

 

We stopped by the Rockerfeller Christmas Tree on the walk home. This was another thing I’ve always wanted to see. It was huge and pretty and quite busy even at that hour of night. The ice skating rink was open and it really felt like Christmas. 

The next day was New Years Eve. We planned an easy day as we had a long party night ahead. We went up the Rockerfeller Tower (Top of The Rock) to enjoy the view of New York city. It is a superb view. I recommend both Empire and The Rock – they both offer unique views. We also visited another good coffee spot called Little Collins. I’ve been here before, it’s owned by two NZ and Aussie guys. It was busy as always but we squeezed in to enjoy a good shot of caffeine. Given it was NY Eve there was a very strong police presence by the NYPD with officers on each street corner – note there are lots of streets corners. They had been there since morning and as the afternoon passed, the streets began closing in preparation for the Times Square Ball Drop that night. It was quite frustrating as they were blocking cross streets so we had trouble getting from one side of the city to the other.

As much as seeing the ball drop in Times Square is exciting to see, it is very cold, cramped and lacks toilets. So it was not practical for a bunch of old birds like us. Instead we opted for the more civilized option of a dinner cruise on the Hudson River. We had a table next to the window so we had nice views of the city lights. It was a great night, lots of dancing and singing and mostly good music - quite a few George Michael hits which was awesome. All the boats stopped near the Statue of Liberty on midnight to count the seconds to midnight and watch the fireworks. We were very proud to say that Sydney NYE fireworks shit all over New York. It was a bit of an anti climax really, but at least there were fireworks. It is like comparing a candle flame to the Batmobile rocket engine flames. Absolutely no comparison – yay for Sydney.

 

 

The boat docked about 1am and it was freezing cold. It started to rain and snow as we walked to catch an Uber. We took the ‘scenic’ way home thanks to Deb getting her East and West Streets mixed up – resulting in us taking about 35 mins instead of 10mins to get home. The Uber guy was a good sport and listened to us being nutbags as we face-time’d our good friends at home (J&J) – hopefully they enjoyed the New York views we gave them from our car window!! Eventually we made it home but not before a stop for pepperoni pizza for one hungry person. It was a fantastic night and you can’t really beat NYE in New York city with wonderful friends.

Unfortunately we only had a few hours sleep before we woke early to get the train back to Washington. I think we all dozed on the way home except Deb who enjoyed taking photos of us asleep with our mouths open.

Back to DC......We took J&M to the famous Cheesecake Factory for dinner – the biggest menu in the world I think and the biggest selection of cheesecakes. It’s always a good feed. We may well have enjoyed a night on the lounge or early night to bed but instead, we headed out to the ice hockey to see the Washington Capitals (Caps) play the Ottawa Senators. I’ve not seen the Caps play yet and one of the girls had not seen an ice hockey game at all. This was my third game and I enjoy the hockey (not as much as baseball though). I bought my Caps beanie and we enjoyed watching a good night of biff, chants and bias that comes with home games. The Caps won which was good and I look forward to seeing more games this season.

J&M only had one day to explore Washington and sadly, the weather was not kind to them. It was cold and rainy. After a late’ish breakfast and start, we booked on a segway tour to show them the key sights of DC. It was pretty cold and we were rugged up heavily trying to stay dry. Thankfully there were no stacks and I managed to stay upright (unlike my previous Segway crash in Richmond, Virginia). It was disappointing weather but at least we got to see something without walking for hours.

It was nice to come home to a warm house, over excited dogs and a home cooked meal. I always love having family and friends stay and enjoy a meal at our table. I’m strange I know but it’s kinda like a family thing for me. It has been a fantastic week with J&M. We are praying they don’t catch our dreadful colds as they are heading off to Florida to do the Dopey Challenge = Disney World Marathon challenge including a 5k, 10k, half and full marathon over 4 days. Very fit chicks indeed and we wish them great weather, strong legs and a fun time in the days ahead.

Deb and I return to work now and I have 3 weeks left before I become a lady of leisure again. We are both tired after the week of adventure but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Welcome to 2017. We are going to make this another cracker year of fun, adventure and silly Batman antics as we continue on our journey to touch foot in all 50 states.

Here's a few other pics from the week. Cricket is on squirrel watch - he likes to sit and patrol for squirrels. One is the Statue of Liberty on NY Eve and the other is me enjoying a fabulous coffee at Little Collins. 

 

Christmas Week

A short slideshow of our dazzling Christmas week. Merry Christmas from us.

Feliz Navidad

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...as the song goes. It feels so different here with cold weather, beanies, jackets and almost snow weather - yes it's coming!!  We haven't put up a xmas tree but our lovely friend from running shared this photo of her tree. Christmas tree decorating is serious business here and it's an art. We felt very special when we saw the little Aussie touch to the tree - a keyring we gave her recently.  

My lovely niece bought us two baubles for Xmas but without a tree to hang them, we have placed them on our fireplace ledge. Batman and Wonderwoman - she knows how to look after her aunties.

We had planned to see the White House Xmas tree at night but the weekend was pretty busy so we will go through the week. Hopefully Deb hasn't forgotten that we are going to Zoo Lights !!  I love my Xmas lights and it will be pure luck if I make it through the holiday season without a car accident (I stare at the lights when I'm driving).

 

The Embassy Children's Xmas Party was on this week with 50 little (mostly) Aussie kids coming to see Santa and get a taste of home. Check out the Xmas lights outside that show santa on a surfboard being towed by kangaroos. I did the food and provided sausage rolls of course, little boys (best equivalent to be found), chicken nuggets, jelly cups with choc stick (no frogs here) and egg sandwiches. There was other food but that's a good summary. I wanted to make fire engine drink for them (or Santa Fuel as I called it). I got Sprite Zero to limit the sugar intake but they don't do cordial over here. You can buy this powdered stuff called Kool Aid which sounds like stuff you put in your car radiator. I could only buy Tropical flavour but, it had to do. So I filled up this big glass drink dispenser with about 12 litres of sprite and shook in some Kool Aid powder. Holy bubbles Batman, I created a big red volcano that erupted everywhere - and I mean everywhere. It was all over the trolley and the floor. The cleaner was with me at the time thankfully and we just looked in horror and then laughed together. What a bloody mess I made. I actually lost about 3 litres of sprite in the effervescent eruption. None the less, it still tasted like 'tropical' cough mixture albeit a little less bubbly. So this shows that I didn't pass chemistry that well at school.

I took the dogs to the vet for their annual check up and vaccinations. It's always an adventure taking both dogs at once to the vet - it's like taking kids to the local play centre I imagine. Our dogs are very social and it's ALL-ABOUT-THEM !! It's always expensive here and this visit was no surprise. We spent $1048 which included 6 months worth of heart worm and flea tablets for them both. At last we got the nail trim for free. I weighed them first as usual - Cricket was 15kg and Macey was 28kg. This was definitely not right. If it was, then I wanted to use these scales to weigh myself. I know they have both put a little bit of weight on so the vet took them out the back to another set of scales which were not so kind. Cricket was now 18.8kg and Macey was 33kg. Well, this is probably a little more than I expected (and probably still not accurate), especially for Cricket - I still think this is a bit much but they've put on weight so we went with that. I feel like a bad mum as they gave them their 'wellness examination' and highlighted that they are little bit too fat.  But despite feeling like a bad mum, I have to share their little report cards from the vet. 

Macey and Cricket are both such cuties. On today's physical examination they look great besides being overweight and Macey's dental disease ( she's getting teeth cleaned after Xmas). We collected a blood and fecal (poo) sample for their annual parasitic screening test.

Cricket - Body Condition Score 6/9 - Cricket is mildly overweight. Ribs palpable with slight excess of covering. Waist is discernible viewed from above, but is not prominent. Abdominal tuck is apparent.

Macey - - Body Condition Score 7/9 - Macey is moderately overweight. Ribs palpable with difficulty, heavy fat cover. Noticeable fat deposits over lumbar area and base of tail. Waist absent. 

So our goal for 2017 is to find Macey's waist again (and reducing our waistline would be a bonus too). And hopefully with me stopping work soon we can get back to our long daily walks in the forest. For now, less dinner and snacks. Thank god the vet doesn't do our 'wellness exams'. I dread the report card we would get.

On a lighter note, the vet was super lovely (as they all are) and she had this sweater with Fleece Navidad on it. I googled it and the picture is on the right. I asked her what this meant. She said it was their ugly xmas sweater day. There is a song called Feliz Navidad which is Spanish for Merry Christmas. The song was released by Jose Feliciano in 1970 and it's very popular here. You would likely know it if you heard it. I love it. Anyway, being a vet, the sweater was a cute play on words with the sheep fleece and Feliz. Anyway, I learnt something and know where that song comes from now. I just used to mumble the words when I sang along.

Speaking of ugly sweaters, I have ordered ours and they should arrive this week. I thought it was just a joke in Bridget Jones' Diary movie when Colin Firth wore that embarrassing sweater his mum gave him. But a-pparently, ugly sweaters are 'the' thing to wear here. So, we are getting into the spirit and going to get our ugly sweaters. So look out for our Xmas photos in days to come. 

A guy at work had a Golden Girls ugly sweater on the other day. It was a scream - but you wouldn't know it was the Golden Girls if he didn't say so.


It was a pretty cold week with the wind making it bitterly freezing on some days. We were well below zero and we woke on Saturday to a very icy morning outside. During the night we heard the sleet tink tinking on the window. We needed to walk the dogs and were worried about all of us on the ice outside. We had a giggle at Cricket sliding on the ice in the back yard as he went to the toilet but he didn't seem to mind. Our steps outside, driveway and street were all ice so it was a slow tippy toe walk to the forest. Once there, the dogs were off and didn't look back as usual. Thankfully we didn't end up on our arse or break any bones. I decided it was time to buy salt to throw on the ground to help melt snow - we got pet friendly stuff which is actually not salt.

 

On Saturday we went to watch the American Navy Band play their Christmas concert. A good friend has been twice and recommended we go. It's free and tickets go fast. Wow, it was fantastic. I love this sort of stuff. They were excellent, funny and entertaining. In between sets they played a video of sailors talking about xmas and giving messages and kids talking about their parents in the Navy. It was funny but quite teary at the same time.

I watch carols by candlelight every Xmas eve at home so I will miss that this year. I figured this was the closest I will get to carols by candlelight.

They played a fabulous version of Feliz Navidad so I've been singing it ever since. 



Over here they do 'potluck' a lot. I've never heard of it but it's basically a 'bring a plate' kinda thing. Deb's work team had a potluck lunch on Friday. I cooked a roast lamb and made a tim-tam cheesecake. It was a great lunch and it was nice to sit down and eat with friends. Her work area brings together a bunch of other areas including the cleaners and it was just a lovely spread of food and a good Xmas lunch.

The Four N Twenty pieman came again to deliver the next stash of pies to pie-craving hungry Australians. It's like kids at the tuckshop....a rush of people to the loading dock to meet the truck and line up to pay their money for a carton of pies. We got some more and we have a good little stockpile in the freezer. 

My last food venture for the year is making lamingtons for the school currently hosted by the Embassy. They are not found in the shops here of course, so I said I would happily knock a few up for the kids. They are coming to work tomorrow for morning tea and to show the cards they made from the animals we taught them about on our coins (recall my last visit in November). I have to provide them a quick story on how lamingtons were invented. Thankfully a friend here gave me a history sheet (courtesy of Fast Ed from Better Homes and Gardens) so I'll study it tonight. 

This is my second crack at lamingtons and like most things, it's better after a few go's. Still bloody messy but they taste ok. 

I've also taken to making a weekly stew in the crockpot either with mince or chuck steak and lots of veggies. This lasts the dogs for a week and they have been performing more for dinner each night now that warm stew is going in the dinner tin. Cricket is hysterical with his howling singing and Macey growls and spins. It's almost an OH&S hazard now at dinner time.

So it's the week before Xmas and we've noticed people say 'Happy Holidays' rather than 'Merry Christmas'. With so many different religions they find it more appropriate to say Happy Holidays. At least they still celebrate the lights, dazzle, family and food festival. We are doing Christmas lunch with several Aussie friends and orphans and it's shaping up to be a wonderful day. 

Leaves are falling

This week saw some colder weather hit us. Some mornings it was cold but by lunchtime, the temperature had dropped five degrees I reckon. It was bitterly cold.

The work Xmas party was on this week and it was a huge success. I helped with the catering, planning the menu, getting some catered food in, cooking some old favourites and helping on the night. I rolled over 340 sausage rolls which is a record for me. A few workmates helped me do the final cutting and preparation of the food and I was very grateful. The social club gave me a restaurant voucher as a thank you for my help with catering the happy hours for past few months. I was very surprised but flattered - it's to a restaurant I've wanted to go to and the voucher was very generous. 

I also organised the monster Xmas raffle which had over $2500 worth of prizes. There were over 40 prizes to be won and it was a huge hit. One of the prizes I bought was this green fluffy dinosaur toy. I couldn't resist him when I surfing Costco for prizes. On the way home I decided to name him Bruce. We gave him a name badge at work and he sat outside Deb's boss' office on the lounge chair for a few days before the Xmas Party. He was pretty popular. Sadly, I didn't win him in the raffle. But he was won by a lady who was dancing with him all night long. He was really having a great time so it seems he's gone to a good home. 

 

We enjoyed a brunch with one of our good American girlfriends and her husband. We exchanged some funny stories such as 'Not Happy Jan' - the old Telstra yellow pages ad. The joys of mobile phones and internet allowed us to watch the ad. It will never stop being funny.

They then told us about the lonely Maytag man ad. They used to feature the Maytag repair man being bored on his job. He was bored because Maytag appliances were so dependable and never broke so the repairman never had any work to do. The first ad featured the introduction training to new repairman, they were told the appliances never broke so they won't ever see inside the washing machines or other appliances. Their tool box was kitted with playing cards and crossword puzzles to help the boredom. Only Maytag repairmen can battle the loneliness. They explained it much better than me but it was quite funny.

Well the leaves are falling and its incredible to see such huge piles of leaves on the streets waiting for the leave collection trucks to come by.

The forest near us is totally bare again, just like when we first arrived. The dogs still find it full of new things to sniff and pee on. 

And the Xmas lights are going up everywhere. I am starting to take photos so you can see just how fabulous they all look.

I have pulled out crock pot (slow cooker) and will make a stew every weekend - for the dogs. It's better than tin food and the warm stew at night has them really getting excited for their dinner. A final pic of the dogs in the bare forest.

Snow boots

It was a busy week for both of us at work. My work team held a function for its stakeholders and I took care of the catering so I was busy shopping, preparing and cooking. I ordered some catering dishes in but I supplemented with my own specialities. The night was successful which was the main thing. I managed to find this hat when I was shopping for US decorations - couldn't resist for $2.

I bought the dogs new beds and blankets for their kennels. It's going to get pretty cold in coming weeks so I want to ensure they've got plenty of warmth during the day.

We finally headed out on the weekend to buy some snow boots and thick coats. There is a store here called LL Bean - it's amazing. It's got all kinds of outdoor clothing and very good quality stuff. We gave the Visa a good flogging but we now have good warm boots to wear outside when its wet and snowy. We also got thick coats with hoods and furry foxy stuff around the hood. I never thought I'd get a hood with that stuff on it, but I can see why people have it now. There is so much variety of clothes here and it is much cheaper than home - well generally cheaper. We've also both had to buy some thermal running tights and Under Armour brand is very popular here. 

 

I've really taken to wearing my woollen beanie (Xmas pressie from big sister). The Xmas lights are going up thick and fast all over the place. I just love it. There are santa's hanging from gutters, lights all through the trees, xmas trees in every house window...and there are real xmas trees for sale at churches and schools. It's funny watching people carrying their trees to the car, struggling and dragging them or carrying them in a trolley, and cars driving along with trees on the roof. And the Xmas tree is up at the Emb. And Santa and reindeer lights are on the roof above the entrance - Santa's on a surfboard and kangaroos are towing his sled.  I’m going to have to do something at home. I have this vision of Chevy Chase in my head with Xmas Vacation movies. The Zoo has Zoolights - there are lights everywhere in the zoo and you go stroll around at night for free. We will go near Xmas. Poor animals probably can’t sleep with the place lit up like Vegas.

We are going to New York for New Years to meet friends and we're excited that it might be snowing. We'll see the Rockefeller Xmas tree and I've booked tickets to see the famous Rockettes dancers at Radio City. 

Deb has started a half marathon training program and did her first session on Sunday. I also signed up for some personal trainer sessions at the gym for the next 3 months.

Well, not much else to report. A few pics of the dogs as always. I laughed at Macey with her face deep into the leaves and Cricket doing his nightly sprawl.