No Brakes

Hi blog! Remember me? I'm back! Want to know what I did this summer? Okay!

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After 8 straight days of looking at apartments in Astoria (I must have looked at 25-30) I found my place - sans broker fee and I got them to lower the rent. It's the second floor of a three story attached house, nice red brick with a now-dying sunflower in the front. I really like this block and this part of Queens. I've got a 24 hour supermarket, gym, and Dunkin Donuts around the corner and even the fruit vendor stays open till crazy hours. The train's been crowded well after midnight and I don't ever feel worried walking around. Though the amount of guys hollering at me has gone up by about 95% in this neighborhood which can be quite irritating.

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Finding movers was a bit of an annoyance as I didn't want to spend loads of money for moving literally one room's worth of stuff. Of course Normandie gave me a difficult time the morning of the move and almost didn't let me move out (yes, I'm serious), but everything got there in the end. My box spring actually wasn't fitting through the door which was a minor fiasco but I pretty much pulled it through myself when the movers were scared they were going to break it. I just bought that bed last year and paid the movers, that thing was going to fit no matter what I had to do!! I had several more boxes than I anticipated; here's one of Heimlich crammed between my photo albums and candle-making kit. It was the perfect spot for him and he looked so damn cute that I couldn't not take a photo.

Things are finally falling into place at my, er, place. I had an itty bitty roach problem - this was bound to happen being that in my past apartments I lived with mice (twice), bats (yes I said bats, thank you Binghamton), ants and even biting fire ants. I had an issue with a bathroom ceiling leak as well, but that's been taken care of, and all the little things that needed fixing have also been taken care of. I finally got cable/internet the other day, and most importantly DVR (Survivor started last night, hoorah!) We still need furniture; I'm so sick of sitting in my pink wicker chair that I just sit on the carpet now. I ordered a baker's rack which I'm really excited about, except the box is ginormous and heavy and sitting in my parents' house so I haven't been able to move it into my yellow and blue 70's style kitchen yet.

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And in case you were wondering, Dave finally got his visa - as in it's there, glued into his passport and he's coming on Saturday, as in this Saturday, to live! I finally get to live with my husband, what a concept! (Does this mean I'm not allowed to sleep with my teddy bear anymore?) I told him the first item on the social agenda is Gossip Girl night at Kat's on Monday. He promptly responded with "I have plans."

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Lots of wedding finalizing is happening this week as well. On Wednesday I went to see our flower centerpiece which needed some tweaking but is how we want it to look now. Last night I picked out the linens and the food at Fox Hollow. We didn't get a complimentary food tasting though which is total bullocks (thanks for the Chocolate Mint Martini though.) On Saturday I have my final dress fitting. I'm meeting with the officiant after that, then Dave and I are hopefully going to look for wedding bands on Sunday. Next week I have my hair trial (I got a tiara in the end, I am a princess after all) and then it's the bachelorette party in AC. I also had a surprise bridal shower last month. I figured I was going to have one because I saw items being bought off the registry, but I could not for the life of me figure out when it was going to be as I knew that whatever I had planned were really my plans and there was no way they could be the shower. I actually wondered if it was possible that this was happening after my honeymoon?!

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Anyway, I had planned to go to Gail's so-called 30th surprise party on Saturday, Aug. 15th. Mike had called me in advance and I knew it had a to be a surprise for her since he doesn't call me. He wanted to confirm that a few of her good friends would definitely be available for the party and I said I would be (knowing that I'd probably be going to Germany the day after and could have possibly gone to London to spend that weekend there, but I didn't want to miss her surprise.) He also told me that Gail would want to do something for her birthday, so if she sends an Evite out for a party to just go along with it. He then sent me an invitation in the mail which I thought was funny (but nice) being that mailed invitations are pretty old school, coming from boys in particular. The day before the party I emailed him because even though I'd packed the invite in a safe place during the move, I couldn't find it in the end. He said he was planning on getting Gail there for 8 pm so I should be there at 7:45 pm (little did I know, she had been helping him write that email.) I had run around all that day doing errands in Queens and the city, raced home, got ready (glad I decided on the platforms rather than flip flops), Hopstopped it (I had to figure out getting from Astoria to Bayside which is actually no easy feat), caught the N to the 7, and then had to hang out for 20 minutes at the Woodside station waiting for the LIRR. I caught the train that got me to Bayside around 7:15 pm but figured I was too early, so rather than wandering up and down Bell Blvd. for half an hour, I was pretty hungry so I went to MacDonald's and ate a salad all dressed up by myself. Apparently my friends had been wondering where I was, assuming I had taken that train and I'd arrive at the place earlier. At about 7:40 pm, I went to Monahan's, asked the hostess where the party was (who then apparently alerted another employee to go upstairs the back way to let everyone know I was there), but I spotted a bathroom and decided to fix my make-up, which again made them wonder what I was doing. I finally headed up the stairs, thinking why did they close the door?!?! They are going to think I'm Gail!! As I went to push the door open (and say STOP! IT'S NOT GAIL!!), that's when the surprise happened. I was so shocked that I actually cried!!

The invitation

My mom told me she bought these bears (that make kissing noises when you put their noses together and play wedding music) I think even before I was dating Dave, because they were so cute. Now that is wishful thinking!!

We played games at the shower, including my favorite, The Newlywed Game. The bridesmaids had emailed Dave with questions he answered and then I'd have to try to get the same answers. It was fun but I was stressed that I'd get a ton of answers wrong (which luckily I didn't.)

With my mom and the bridal partyBinghamton girlsHomegirlsThe hat made out of all the gift bows and ribbons

And speaking of gifts, I got awesome ones! From China settings (thanks Mom & Dad, David, & Stephanie) to a vacuum cleaner (thanks Robyn & Rachel) to toasting flutes (thanks Aunt Marcia who came up from Florida for this) to a Snuggie (thanks Jenn), our apartment is fully loaded with goodies. Thanks to everyone else too!! I still can't believe it was a nighttime shower, bonkers.

I stored all of the gifts at my parents' house while I was in Germany (blog post on that to come if I ever get around to it.) We stuffed a bunch of gifts in the hamper (thanks Annette) and strapped it in, and I had to take a photo because it made me laugh.The hamper of goodies included a dustbuster (thanks Aunt Ronnie's mom), but to my chagrin, when I went to plug it in and use it, it was already full of dirt! As in someone bought it, used it, returned it, Bed Bath and Beyond failed to check it, and resold it. Nasty! And yes, I just used the word chagrin.

My surprise wasn't the only one in the month of August. We also surprised Rachel for her 30th birthday.

SURPRISE!

Her party was at the Urban Kitchen in Hoboken. This woman gives you recipes for various courses and everyone helps cook a course right there in a small kitchen, then you get to eat it all.Vicki celebrated her 30th birthday a few weeks ago at Cabanas at The Maritime Hotel. Cool part of the hotel which I had no idea existed. Mark R. was there and gave me some tips about Fox Hollow and Hawaii as I'm following in his wedding footsteps. One key piece of advice he gave me was to emphasize to the caterers that they should make us the correct wedding cake as his was the wrong one (thanks Mark!)I celebrated Gail's birthday (her real one this time) at her wine and cheese party, and Julie's 30th on her rooftop in Long Island City (sorry, no photos of those.) Then it was my 30th birthday (thanks for the "You're 3!" card Glenna and Alexis!) We celebrated with mini beers and $1 sliders (I had about ten of them) at 123 Burger Shot Beer.

I wore the mystery dress in my closet that randomly appeared with a price tag on it. I guess I bought it before I moved to England? Well whatever, if it fits wear it right?

If this guy was a part of our group, can someone enlighten me to who he is? Thanks.

This is Julie's new-ish puppy Toby. The photo is a bit outdated, he's probably double this size now. He's a Goldendoodle, but I think he's actually a stuffed animal powered by batteries. I mean look at him, he looks like he should be in an ad for fabric softener for God's sake!

Heather, Liz, Graham, and I, plus work friends went to see The Bravery as part of the Amsterdam Live series (can't link that, everything turns up porn on Google.) This consisted of a free concert + free Amstel, hence a successful evening.Mr. Hudson opened the show. I had bought his single "Too Late, Too Late" in the UK a few years ago and never knew what happened to him and his Library after that. I'd heard about a recent Mr. Hudson in the music news who was a Kanye West protege (you HAVE TO click on that link), and really did not think this was the same band, but it turned out it was. They were pretty good; kind of reminded me of Bran Van 3000 with all those people up on stage. We met one of the band members outside after the show and she said a couple of them live in Kentish Town so of course I got excited.From past experiences, The Bravery have 75% odds of sucking live. This time they actually fell in the minority which was pleasing to mine ears. We stood in the front, jumping and sweating our asses off like it was 2005 (which I was in some dire need of.) The music was good, they played "Public Service Announcement," and I got to jump up and down. Now let's talk about style for a moment then shall we?

Sam Endicott likes to morph his style for every tour. First time around he looked kind of electro-rock with a forward swooping flattened mohawk thing, fine. Second time around, he wore the same navy polo shirt and white belt like 3 times on that tour. That look was my favorite, but if you are going to play the same city more than once, you have to remember to change your clothes!! Next he was going for a preppy Keith *swoon* Murray of We Are Scientists look. That one was okay, but felt a bit forced. This time was the worst - he was dressed like a wannabe Brooklyn hipster and was flopping his body around like a monkey with a dopey look on his face. This was quite disturbing.

We used to call this guy The Bug because, well, plain and simple, he looked like a bug. This time around he did not look like a bug at all! Maybe it was his hair or his tan, improvement!Here's Dirt, or should I say Mike Hindert (ahh now I know where the nickname comes from.) He's dressed up here which is kind of nice. A few Bravery gigs ago in NYC, they co-headlined with Ash at Bowery and he kissed their bass player. Then I mentioned the kiss to him at the next NYC show because I'm super cool.Unrelated to critiquing The Bravery, this is the Oconee Diner in Islip right near where I got my wedding dress. They go bananas with the decorations for each holiday (the first time I went it was decked out in Valentine's Day decor.) The below shot was for Labor Day. Can't wait to go back before Halloween!

Monday night was Gossip Girl premiere night at Kristine and Faith's. Here's B & S.I got the GG premiere night mixed up with The Biggest Loser party.

Last Saturday I saw Kid Cudi and Phoenix (don't go on this site if you are prone to seizures) at Terminal 5 for the Lifebeat pre-VMA show. Because we had the game set-up, we had VIP access and free drinks (sometimes it pays to work for MTV.) Short set and they skipped some of my favorites but I adore '1901' and 'Lizstomania.' By the way, in the latter, apparently the lyrics are "Like a riot, like a riot, oh!" I thought it was "like a rhi like a rhino!" Oops.

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We went out for Faith's Mike's birthday after that, and on the way home we had a fender bender. Some pimp wannabe (Mike put it better, Sammy Davis Jr.) hit the back of Heather's car while we were slowing down at a light in Chelsea. No one was hurt (and I was buckled up despite the four man squish in the backseat), but my neck and lower back bothered me for a few days after. Kristine had darted for the cop car she spotted as soon as it happened (thanks McLovin') and they wrote up a report even though Sammy was being a whiny bitch about it. We also quickly disbursed, being that there were too many of us in the car and we didn't want to get in trouble. Crappy end to the evening.

The next time I write on this blog I will be living with a boy, whee!