Thankful

To say it was difficult to see my parents home completely turned upside-down on Thanksgiving would be an understatement. They do have electricity, a working land line phone, and sporadic cable and internet, but it is just so freezing cold outside! Space heaters warm up pockets of the house. There is no hot water (which means no showers and only blasts of freezing cold water for hand washing). The hardest part was the loss of all of our stuff. The lawn is covered in memories that are destroyed - pictures, artwork from childhood, things my grandma had cherished, pieces of clothes my mom was hanging onto to give to grandchildren, not to mention furniture, appliances, electronics, and valuables. I've found it extremely difficult to be thankful this year with the frustrations and obstacles my parents have had to face. But my family's attitude is so inspiring. My mom has barely complained and even my dad and brother (who usually kvetch about any little thing) were in good spirits and were just happy to have me home. It felt really heartwarming seeing the trouble they went to just to make Thanksgiving a priority and feel a bit of normalcy. For the first time in my life, my mom's turkey wasn't on the table. The catered food was delicious but it was not the same.

2012 has been a pretty tough year for my family and for myself. This year, I'm thankful that my parents have a home and will eventually have their lives go back to normal even if it takes a while - many of their neighbors will not have that privilege. I'm thankful for having a job that is stable and fun for the most part - I know how it feels to be without one and it's very scary. I'm thankful for Alex who is my rock and my best friend. I'm thankful for the wonderful, supportive people in my life who I am proud to call my friends and family. Despite all the road blocks in the past year, I'm thankful for what I have because my life is full of so much good.

To quote Oprah: "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."

Oh Sandy

In the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, New York City is a strange place to be. Half of the city has power (thank goodness I live in that half!). The rest of the city is dark. It's eerie walking around at night. The subways are barely running. The buses are sparse. But I was one of the lucky few.

My parents didn't get off as easy as I did. Their house is destroyed - the basement is completely filled with water destroying their boiler (and their hope of having heat or hot water any time soon). In addition to the ocean water, a sewage plant exploded filling the little space that was left in the basement with raw sewage. Electricity went away days ago. Land lines are down along with cable/wifi. They don't have a supply of water as the tap water is contaminated with salt water and sewage. One of the two cars they own is completely destroyed. The other is on its last leg. The nearby cell satellite collapsed leaving them totally unconnected with the world. Not only are they emotionally devastated, but they're also cold and hungry, and in need of a hot shower. With the Long Beach line of the Long Island Rail Road down and most of the roads closed, I can't get home to help with the cleanup. I've overnighted them a generator so that they can at least power up a space heater and a hot plate. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to them next week and maybe we will be able to salvage some memories from the house. Please send some thoughts and prayers my parents way - they really need them.

New York State of Mind

Living in NYC makes me forget just how big New York State is. I'd only ever been to the Hudson Valley once and it was absolutely gorgeous. So, when Alex found out his law school roommate would be getting married up there, I was giddy with excitement - partly to visit such a beautiful area of the state and partly because I was happy to have a romantic weekend getaway with my guy.

I arrived Friday night to a remote little train station an hour and a half north of Manhattan to meet Alex who was already up there rehearsing for the big day. Alex picked me up and we headed to a dessert party thrown by the family of the groom before checking into our hotel and turning in for the night. The bride and groom added a special touch to our stay by having thoughtful goodie bags waiting for us upon check in with waters, snacks, and cute little treats.

The day of the wedding was an early start. At the venue and gussied up, Alex was looking good as a groomsman. The ceremony was very religious which made Harold (that's Alex's roommate), Alex, and I feel quite out of place being the only Jews there. (Note to self - keep the Hebrew to a minimum at my own ceremony so as not to evoke these uncomfortable feelings!) But it did happen to be beautiful - the backdrop was a gorgeous mountain off in the distance. The bride and groom were glowing with happiness. While there was no dancing, the food was pretty great and the day was bright and sunny. We were absolutely beat after the daytime wedding and hit the hay.

Instead of rushing back to the city, we took Sunday to relax and stay in the country for a bit. We took a private tour of Bascobel - a beautiful restored mansion with incredible furniture and spectacular views of the Hudson. Here I am outside of the house with the view from the house in the background:

And here is Alex as we roamed around the grounds of the mansion:

Then we headed to the town of Cold Spring which is full of interesting modern art galleries that Alex and I loved exploring. We both love modern art and even though our aesthetics are different, we usually come to a consensus on what we think is home appropriate and what should be better left on a gallery wall. It's amazing that after a year of dating, we're still learning so much about each other. As we strolled through the town and passed antique shop after antique shop, Alex noted: "we really don't like antiques much do we..." And it's true - neither of us can stand the thought of having a [potentially] dead guy's vase/table/lamp in our house - however beautiful it may be.

We grabbed lunch at a cute little restaurant and picked up ice cream cones by the water enjoying the outdoors in this quaint little town. Alex took the scenic route home through the mountains so we could enjoy the country air for as long as possible. As the city skyline came into view I felt so grateful to be living in New York.