Most Productive/Expensive Weekend Ever

John and I have spent all weekend furniture shopping. Man is new furniture expensive! Our new apartment is a little bigger and so we wanted to get a couple of new pieces like a bigger dining table and a daybed for guests. We decided that now was the time to go modern if we were ever going to do it; the apartment has a pretty modern kitchen and bathroom and John has always wanted to have a modern apartment.

So after lots of looking online we made a couple of trips to actual stores yesterday and today and came home with some furniture. Here is the new dining table which is a much needed improvement over the tiny table we had that only sat the two of us, especially since we're having people over for the holidays. We didn't get the bench, just the table. We got the chairs below instead.Here's the daybed we got which we really liked because it doesn't really look like a daybed and it unfolds into a queen size mattress. Now when my family comes for almost two full weeks at Christmas we'll actually have enough room for them all to sleep comfortably.
Now hopefully we're set for a very long time!

The Daily Show

John and I went to see a live taping of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart Tuesday night. It was so much fun!It took forever to get in and then get started, but it was worth it. The warm-up comedian was hilarious and then Jon Stewart was great. Before he started the show he took audience questions and joked around with us. Serena Williams was the guest for the evening which was pretty cool, she's so muscular! This was definitely a cool experience :)

Fall in the City

Our new apartment is really close to Madison Square Park so I've been taking Rosie there most days for her walk. I don't know if its really a good idea though because Rosie is at her worst in the park, she see's squirrels and just goes insane. She likes to lunge at pigeons but squirrels she full out tries to chase, she even starts to howl like the hunting dog she was meant to be. I try to get her to stop but there's pretty much no hope; I just laugh and hope people don't think we're crazy :)On a completely different note...aren't these the cutest pumpkins you've ever seen! John and I were walking around our new neighborhood and I had to stop and take a picture.

Happy Halloween Ya'll

John and I went to his company's Halloween party Thursday night. Man do they know how to throw a party! It was over the top and people's costumes were insane. Being my first Halloween in NYC I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I definitely underestimated the level of commitment. John and I went as Arkansans. For me that meant a camo jacket, cowboy boots and a cut off jean skirt. John went as the guy that dances during the third quarter at all of the Razorback games, I think his name is Hillbilly Hog or something. So John wore a mullet wig, John Deere hat, flannel shirt, jean shorts, and the big hit of the evening, he went barefoot. I thought we looked pretty cute and we thought it was funny since we're from Arkansas. After the party though John and I both agreed we would have to step it up next year.

Just trying to remember some of the more impressive costumes:

Grover as a police officer

All four Teletubbies

The kid from UP in full boy scout uniform, balloons and all

Edward Scissorhands (one of John's friends)

Guys in tuxedos with really fancy masks

LOTS of guys in drag or some kind of skin tight leather

So on to the actual party...

First of all you couldn't get in if you didn't have a costume on. Once you were allowed in the door, the place was decorated from top to bottom including the hallways. There were three bars, all of which were open bar. There was a runway to show off your costume/dance/have performances. There were professional dancers (I don't know if I should really call them dancers because they also did some acrobatics in swings hung from the ceiling). There was even a dancer who did a routine with fire. Like I said, over the top. I was in awe.

Family

John's family came to visit not this past weekend, but the weekend before that. They came for a quick weekend trip to celebrate his dad's birthday. We had lots of fun and tried to pack in as much stuff as we could. We took them to our favorite bakery and our favorite brunch place; we went to Times Square, saw Wicked, and ate at a great steak place.
We did manage to go to a couple of places that were new to John and I. John's sister wanted to go to the American Girl store which we had not visited before, its pretty insane by the way. John's step-brother, Taylor, wanted to go to the Nike flagship store which was another new one for us, also really impressive. We also did some of the standards like go stand on the red steps in Times Square and visit the M & M store.Unfortunately it was pretty chilly all weekend, especially for John's family who is used to Orlando weather. Its much more enjoyable for us to go visit them and take a break from the cold (we're saving that trip for when its really awful up here, like in January).

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

John and I put in an application on an apartment last week. Its actually a studio, but is bigger than the apartment we have now and has an awesome kitchen (by awesome I mean HUGE and fantastically renovated). For those of you who aren't familiar with NYC apartments, kitchens here are often the size of closets. My sister thought it was hilarious that she could stretch out her arms and touch both the walls in the kitchen we have now.

Here's a picture of the kitchen in the apartment we're hoping to get. There's a full size stainless steel refrigerator on the other side!So now for the not so great part, the apartment is in a co-op building which means we have to be approved by the board to rent there. This has been worse than applying for a mortgage for our old house; we had to give them tax statements, bank statements, and letters of employment to start. After proving we could afford the apartment with all of that we had to provide two personal reference letters, two business reference letters, a letter from our landlord and a letter attesting to the behavior of our dog!

This whole process has been nuts and the worst part is that the board can take up to 30 days to decide. Here's where we need everyone to cross their fingers, our lease for our apartment now is up November 1st. We need the board to decide in two weeks, not 30 days! If the board doesn't decide by the 1st John and I will have to find a temporary residence for another week or two and that's assuming that we will be approved.

*****UPDATE****
We got the apartment and we were able to move in this weekend!!! I'm taking a break from unpacking as we speak :)

Its Official, I'm a New Yorker

Well technically. I got my NY state driver's license the other day. I'm not really planning on ever driving in NYC but my Arkansas license had expired. I originally thought about just not renewing it because it would be a hassle and I'm not driving, but apparently having an ID is kind of important.

Just a few of the reasons I forgot you need a non-expired license:
Boarding a plane
Getting into a bar
Getting into high security buildings, like the Empire State Building
Filling out paper work for a job :)

I spent a long time at the DMV, but I guess it was worth it. I'm happy with the picture which is good because I'm definitely not doing that again any time soon. I had thought about trying to put up a picture but decided that probably wouldn't be wise in the era of identity theft, you guys will just have to use your imagination :)