West Side Story Bitches!

Doing everything one last time. That means one more Broadway show! This past Sunday we decided we'd hit up Broadway one final time...well final time whilst living here anyway, I can hardly say this will be our last Broadway show ever. Anyway, while watching the Today show last week I saw a commercial for West Side Story on Broadway and thought to myself, "Perfect! I've always wanted to see that!" Except I had no idea what it was about! Insert sheepish look here. But I convinced the hubs that I knew what it was about and had always wanted to see it, so he agreed to take me for the Sunday matinee.

I went into this knowing this much...two gangs and dancing in the streets of New York.

I did NOT know that this was a Romeo and Juliet type of story.

I did NOT know that half of it would be in Spanish, because one gang is Puerto Rican after all.

I did NOT know that this is where "I feel Pretty" originated from.

I did NOT realize how gay dance fighting really looks, in fact I don't think it HAS to look gay, but it looked really gay in this particular show. And really now that I'm thinking about it, it definitely does NOT have to look gay, think Michael Jackson's Beat It video.

Ok, it's a little gay, but not this gay, West Side Story.

I was excited going into it.

But decidedly disappointed coming out of it. And felt slightly guilty for dragging Dom to it. But just slightly.

I usually love musicals, so my disappointment was mystifying even to myself, what was I expecting?

Rent? Amazing!

Wicked? Amazing!

Beauty and the Beast? Amazing

Spamalot? Amazing!

Cabaret? Amazing!

Yes, I was expecting it to be like any one of these amazing Broadway shows, and it was not!

Anyone else ever seen West Side Story, anyone love it?

Picnic in the Park

Spring is possibly my favorite time in New York. This city gets a bad wrap for it's weather...and rightfully so, both the summer and the winter are dreadful.

Summer is so unbelievably hot and humid that when you walk outside you feel like you're in a sauna and want nothing more than to immediately turn around and go back to your air conditioned apartment.

Winter is so unbelievably frigid that if you leave your apartment without gloves, scarf, hat and winter coat you won't make if a block before you decide wherever you're going is not worth the frostbite.

But spring, spring is beautiful in New York City =)

With just over a week left before we're off to Sydney, the hubs and I organized a picn

ic in Central Park with our closest peeps, something that none of us do very often but are always glad when we do. Luckily the weather cooperated and we made the long trek uptown, nosebleed above 14th street be damned!

I'm so glad we managed to fit this in one last time before we leave.

I have no idea what Summer is pointing at, but this is a pretty pic.

T-minus 7 Days before we move to Sydney!

Picnic Prepping

This Saturday, all my NYC peeps, the hubs and I will be hitting up Central Park for a little picnic action. We have an awesome picnic basket that is dying to be used just one last time before it gets put in storage for 7 months plus I just got this awesome portable wine thingie...it looks like this:

Source: Emmohome

Not only does it make boxed wine oh so fashionable, but it also has room for ice, which means chilled white wine in the sun on Saturday here I come! Now if only the weather would cooperate...

Nostalgic New York

Though I'm excited to be embarking upon this new adventure, I am definitely going to miss New York. Knowing that we will be leaving this amazing city, probably never to call her home again, I find myself looking around with new eyes. Remembering how big and scary she was when I first got her and how familiar she is to me now. I will miss you New York.

The Angelika

Pearl Oyster Bar (Best Lobster Rolls in the City!)

Washington Square Park

Florence Meat Market (Best Butcher in the city!)

T-minus 15 Days to Australia!

Photo montage taken with my iphone using the Hipstamatic app.

Packing Woes

I hate packing. And I hate moving. Since I turned 18 and left the nest, I have lived in 10 different apartments, that's 10 apartments in 10 years. Sigh. This last apartment I have lived in the longest, lasting 2.5 years and while it is not my favorite apartment, it is the first apartment that Dom and I lived in together as husband and wife, so that in and of itself makes it special and I will be sad to leave it.

This is the current state of the apartment and I don't see if improving between now and moving day.

Oh, that reminds me, I'm going to start my countdown:

T-Minus 18 Days until we move to Australia!

Doing it up right

Since we're only in Sydney for a short time, 7 months, we decided we'd splurge a little and get a fancy apartment on the water. Wanna see?

Nice view, right!?

This area is called Kirribilli and it's just over the bridge from the heart of Sydney, the Central Business District (CBD). There is a ferry close by which is a 5 minute ride into CBD or the train is just 10 minutes away and only 1 stop from the CBD. And the view! You can't beat that view. We're pretty excited to get to call this our home for the next 7 months, anyone wanna come visit?

All photos are personal photos.

Things I've Learned During our Scouting Trip

After spending 10 days in Sydney I already feel like I have a pretty good grasp on Sydney. The city itself is similar enough to New York in terms of walking everywhere and taking public transport, that I've had no trouble finding my way around with just a little help from a map. But there are several things that are very different, here's my list so far.

* Eggs aren't in the refrigerated section in the grocery store, they're just hanging out on the shelf like they're crackers or something.

* Everyone walks on the left, just like the cars.

* Tipping is unnecessary and not expected, which is a big thumbs up but hard to get used to, I feel rude not tipping.

* Apartment prices are advertised as weekly prices. BUT, when you sign a lease they do a fancy mathematical equation, weekly rent/7 days a week x 365/12 months and you end up with a monthly rent price...why not just advertise monthly prices?

* There are bats that come out at sunset!

* The sun is intense, even in autumn when the sun is out, it's hot and more intense than I'm used to.

I'm sure there's many more things and I'll be adding to this list from time to time after we make our official move.

All photos personal.

Why we're moving to Sydney

The backstory and the reason for our move to Sydney.

My husband and I were just some regular newlyweds living in NYC with plans to move to San Francisco to start a family, when an unexpected offer was presented to us. The hubs works for a HUGE company, like 60,000 people huge, and has a branch in Australia. A woman in the Australian office was about to go on maternity leave for an extended period of time and they were looking for someone to fill her position. They sent out some feelers and husband was included in their list of people that would qualify. We talked it over and decided what the hell, why not?! we have no kids, we were about to move anyway, perfect timing and what a chance for an adventure! So, the big moving date is June 1 and here we are a week into May already! I hope to update this blog regularly as a way to keep all of my friends and family as well as anyone else who might be interested, updated on our adventures abroad. Enjoy!