For Brandy

I've lived in my apartment since the middle of April now and am finally getting around to posting some photos. I cleaned my room this weekend since I was stuck inside all day due to the heat and I was glad for the relaxed weekend to recharge and get some things together.  Brandy asked me the other for some photos of my apartment, so without further ado, I present to you, my third apartment in New York.

Yes that is a bunk bed.  My roommate and I have gone back and forth a few times about taking it out, but it is just so darn convenient when I have guests that we haven't done anything about it yet.  For Scott's wedding when Melissa, Aaron, Liam, and Matt came to town, we all slept in this room.  Matt and I on the top bunk, Melissa & Aaron on the bottom and Liam in a suitcase next to the dresser.  We should have gotten a photo.

{The shoe rack is on the back of the door.}

The upstairs hallway that leads to Courtnie's room and my bathroom.  Also, there is a staircase on the right that goes upstairs to the roof patio and then downstairs.

 

 

  The living room

 

A view from the couch.  In my last apartment we had a full size fridge and a half size dishwasher.  Now we have a full size dishwasher and a small fridge.  Not sure which combo is better.  At the end of the hallway is Mala's room and the front door.

I'm real happy in this apartment, folks.  My roommates are fabulous and funny and kind. 

Did I mention that this apartment is on the 5th floor?  My bedroom is technically on the 6th floor.  You'd think that you'd get used to the stairs, but let me reassure you that I still get winded every time I make the climb.  And my bathroom?  No ventilation in there, so I only go in there under duress in this heat.  

Let me just say that ending up in this apartment has been a major blessing in my life.  Any given night of the week you could find my roommates and I line dancing, playing wii tennis, playing Just Dance, or just laughing.  Life is good. 

Trip to Utah

Last weekend I was in Utah.   It was a super quick trip and I was with my family pretty much the entire time.  I went specifically for my nephew Sam's baptism {safari shirt} and Sophie's baby blessing.  Kristy came down on Saturday evening to take some family pictures for us.   I made some of them black and white since no one could be bothered to plan ahead and get us in coordinating outfits. 

 Here we are - Jared's parents are on the right.  I would like to note that Hannah and Daniel had to stand by me in the photo.  :)  You know that I bribe them with candy, right?

Here is our little fam.

This weekend was packed full of good things.  My favorite things were items as follows:

Taking photos while cuddling with Hannah, age 5.

{I would also like to note now for future reference that at Sam's baptism on Saturday, Hannah looked at me and said: "When I grow up I am going to live in New York with YOU."  I looked at her and said "Please get a job in a hedge fund so we can have a nice apartment."}

Let it also be noted that Daniel said he also wants to move to New York and live with me.  I will agree to it only as long as he continues to make such awesome faces for the camera. Daniel, age 3.

My Aunt was also in town for the family festivities and she is obsessed with puzzles.  When I lived with her about 8 years ago we would do puzzles in the evening while watching baseball with my uncle.  She and my dad stayed up until 3:30 am working on this puzzle.  I think I took this at 11:45pm before I went to bed.  We were still working on it at 11am the next morning.

The biggest reason that I came to Utah was to meet this little one, my new niece Sophie Jeanette.  She is a cute little thing and LOVES to snuggle with her Aunt Steph.

And speaking of people who love to cuddle with their Aunt Steph...

two of my babies...

  

and two of my babies...

my little "sister" jessica had a baby a day before my sister did and I got to be the doting Auntie all weekend long.

{serenity is on the left and sophie is on the right}

 

Hannah and her Great Grandma.  Hannah would say "Grandma Zundel, ..." and my mom would answer; and she would quickly say "Not you!"  This girl loves her Great Grandma.  In fact, I think that they are big fans of each other.  She is such a good Grandma.  I can't blame Hannah for loving her so much.

Here is LeOra with Sophie and Serenity.

I hope you haven't had baby overload yet.   Boom.

BABIES EVERYWHERE!!!!!

My coworkers didn't know about the infamous Utah Green Jell-O so when my sister brought it over for lunch on Saturday I had to take a photo.  

With Uzi, it is always like no time has passed.  We haven't lived in the same city for over 5 years but I feel like I communicate with her in some way almost every day.  Zundelac is just here to stay, I guess.  Uzi came down to take our family pictures as I mentioned before, and she stayed to eat tacos with us afterward.  I had to leave for a date so I just left her with my aunt and uncle, grandma, and parents.  No bigs, eh, Uzi?

My Uncle even requested a photo with her.  ha.  

When Uzi and I were roommates I'd take her up to their house for tacos sometimes and we always had a great time.  I sat outside with my uncle on Sunday morning over breakfast and we had a long talk about life - I'm a lucky girl to be in my family.  My Uncle Mike is probably the funniest person I know - there is always laughter if he is around.   And just so I can write this down somewhere, my Grandma was expressing some concern to him and he told her that he had a few prayers up his sleeve and that he was God's backup so there was no need for her to be worried; he was sitting right there.  And he said all of this with a straight face.  He's so crazy!

And just a few other cute photos from the weekend.  LeOra is 98 and will be 99 on 12/12/12.  Isn't that awesome?  I'm not sure why she isn't smiling in this photo; she is laughing most of the time.  

Sisters and sisters.

These kids are just the best.

{Riley age 11.99, Will age 9.99, Sam age 8,  Hannah age 5, Daniel age 3.99, Sophie age .2}

This last weekend was great.  On Sunday afternoon I sat around the kitchen table with the 3 oldest Gunson kids and it reaffirmed to me that they are just as much my siblings as my sister is.  I love them all so much.  We discussed my dating life and it was quite entertaining.  It felt like old times.  I'm glad it was around the same table that we grew up around.  

Hey Utah,  You were awesome.   I'll be back.

Baby you're a firework

My Fourth of July this year was great.  Did you know it is my favorite holiday?

I woke up yesterday earlier than normal so that I could go on an outdoor adventure with several friends up in the Hudson River Valley.  We went on a leisurely hike out to some marshlands and then walked back the other direction to a nice waterfall.  It was quite relaxing and it was nice to be with friends from New York in a non-New York setting.

In the afternoon we came back to the city and then prepared to watch fireworks at a friend's house that overlooks the river. 

See past Fourth of July posts here and here and here and here.  And last year's pics.

One thing that I haven't mentioned so far...yesterday was the hottest I've been in a long time.  Do you know what it is like to take a cold shower for 20 minutes, step outside and then be sweating again immediately?  Let me tell you - good times.  I was grateful to be back at work today for the air conditioning alone. 

If you were me for the last week...

...You'd have been tagged on Facebook by a friend from the 6th grade.  And then wondered what happened to your crush from 1992.  {seeing all the comments from the kids I grew up with totally made my heart happy}

 

...Melissa  would finally send you a picture from Liam's blessing day in all of your Fairy Godmotherness glory.

And you would steal a picture from Jess's blog of you and her and Adrienne at the street fair.

    

One night while waiting for the subway after a late night stroll in the park, you'd wonder why there are still pay phones on the platform.  

{I'd sooner ask a stranger to use their phone than touch that thing}

 

You've have gone to an event at the top of the Empire State Building.

and then afterward, you've have gone to a concert for this band.

   

the next day, you'd have walked around in public carrying a toilet seat and your coworker's scandalous book.

...and then had your "handyman" come over to install the new toilet seat.

  and then on your way to dinner, saw these fine folks on the subway protecting their hair from the rain.

on friday, you'd have sent this picture to some friends in san francisco with the caption "happy red pants friday!"

after you braved Times Square with your cousins before heading downtown for pizza.

and then took the staten island ferry around sunset for a view of the statue of liberty

then you would have woken up at 5am on Saturday morning to be in Central Park by 6:15am so you could volunteer at the NYRR Women's Mini 10k. We sorted out the medals...

 

and the flowers...

 

and I stood at the start line and made people angry when I wouldn't let them in the corral.

 

{I had no idea but this race was the first women's only race in the country and this year was the 40th anniversary.  pretty awesome.}

then on Saturday evening after a long day, you end up at Serendipity's at 11:30pm because you know there will be no line then, and you order yourself a Pink Ice.

and you watch Mindi enjoy a frozen hot chocolate for the first time

 

and bethany, an apricot smoosh.

 

on sunday night you find yourself at a tony's party but you are much more interested in some of the other party attendees than what is on tv.

and you show your friends that you know what a tim tam slam is. {thanks, sarah for teaching me}

 

and since you are the baby whisperer, you get to babysit on Monday for a few hours.

...and then you go to sleep at 10pm for the next 3 nights in a row because you are so tired.

awesomeness: as seen around the internet.

do you need a hug?

time to discover some new music?

what's wrong where you live?

need help with the duvet cover?

i screamed {for joy} when i saw this.

how to properly use a paper towel

coming out.

you've seen this, right? best proposal ever.

having roommates.


there's been proof around the internet lately that I am doing well and thriving, even.  those pics will have to wait until tomorrow.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

I have a friend named David and I met him in a running class last summer.  If I have anyone to credit for helping me knock minutes off my miles, it is him.  We ran together every week, racing each other to the finish line, but most of the time he was the one yelling at me to run faster.  I got busy traveling and we lost touch at the end of last summer.

A few weeks ago I was running in Central Park.  Running a race, in fact.  I think it was a 10k.  About a mile or so into the run as I was weaving in and out of slower runners, I noticed that I was running next to David.  We both screamed and hugged.  I quickly felt the pangs of running with David as I was very out of breath and could hardly talk to catch up with him.  He told me that he'd joined a new running group and I quizzed him on it.  How much? When do you meet? What do you do with them? etc.  He told me that the fee for the entire year was only $20.00 and that they had running clinics a few times a week.  (The running class we took together last summer was approximately $10 per class.) 

I got home from the race and decided to look up the group.  I briefly grazed the website and submitted my $20.00 and was quickly added to facebook groups and email lists.  With being sick last week and then going to the beach I haven't had much time to look at the information that I've been getting.  Last week I was invited to a Pride run.  June is Pride month; a fact I know well after living in the Castro in San Francisco for 3 years.  I didn't think anything of it.

Last Friday I got an email newsletter and as I was looking at it, I realized that it had a very tiny rainbow stripe on the header of the email.  And then I saw it.

The XXX Gram is published weekly by XX New York, Inc., a non-profit running and sports organization for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, and their supporters

Awesome.

Anyone know where I can buy some rainbow shorts to wear to my first meetup?