Living the dream?

*warning, complaining ahead, do not proceed if you don't want to hear me bitch.

Remember that 90s MTV film: Joe's Apartment?
Well, I feel like that's my place.
We moved in mid-April, and absolutely loved our new pad.
Location - amazing, well-connected, and convenient
Space - bigger than ourLayout last place, so that was a plus
Clean, shiny floors, quiet, tree-lined view, etc, etc.
It was all good...
for a week,
It started with a feud between 2 neighbors, and when one of them tried to get us involved, we wanted nothing to do with it.
Then it was loud music playing, mostly from below, and sometimes from above.
No big deal, we can handle a bit of noise, on occasion.
So far, the problems were minor, nothing we couldn't look past,
until I saw the leak
It was in the bathroom, on the ceiling, coming from above.
I notified the super, and when he came to look at it, the leak became a hole, and eventually water started coming from the hole onto my tub... gross.
So they came to fix it, after a frustrating morning of 3 hours without my bathroom, the hole had finally been fixed..
until the next week, when the leak came back.
I notified the Super AGAIN, and he promised it would be fixed, this was 2 1/2 weeks ago, and it gets worse by the day.
A bit annoying, and as long as the ceiling doesn't fall, its nothing I can't handle.
Here's where the real mess begins...
Friday night, I was sitting in the chair, listening to music on my computer when I looked over at the couch, and there it was.
Sitting on the side of the couch, on the floor hiding behind a lamp, I saw it, the mouse.
I screamed and told Denis, and of course by the time he looked down, it was gone.
I have no idea where it came from, or where it went, and I only care that it does not return.
Gross, I hate mice, and I hate having them in my apartment, house, whatever.
I refuse to kill them, I just want them to go away!
So far, I haven't seen it again, and I hope I won't... ever
Then, this morning, maybe even worse than the mouse.
I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth,
I open up the medicine cabinet to grab my toothbrush, and when I close the mirror there was a TEXAS-SIZED cockroach crawling across the sink, I jumped 10 feet in the air (not sure how that's possible as our ceilings aren't even 10 feet high) and let out an honest to god scream.
With toothbrush and toothpaste clutched in my grip I ran to the living room to tell D, at first he was mad at me, "Why do you have to act like a child, what do you want me to do?!" And I wanted to shout back at him "be a man and go take care of it!!" But not wanting to damage his ego, I calmly said, I want you to go in the bathroom and get it for me, please. So we went to bathroom, and of course, no site of the big bug.
So, I braved back in the room to actually brush my teeth, and looked up, and there it was, crawling on the ceiling. I called D in, so he could capture the large animal and also just to prove that I wasn't lying nor exaggerating the size of this creature. He laughed, because he knew I was right, and proceeded to flush it down the toilet.
Now I have the fear that it will crawl back up through the pipes, so I flushed the toilet again , and again, and maybe a 3rd time for good measure.
OH MY GOD.
That was horrible.
I am traumatized in my own apartment.
And I no longer feel safe here.
Will I be able to sleep at night?
Who knows.
I'm just re-thinking my 2 year lease.
Anyone want to sublet?
:)

Edward, who?

Forget about Edward Cullen, I found a new fanged crush,
and his name is Eric Northman (from True Blood)
Some of you may have known about him since last year, but I don't have a tv, so forgive me if I'm a little behind.
Man, oh, man.
He is one sexy dead man.
See for yourself here!
(I think I want to move to Sweden)

Brooklyn Musuem, Botanical Gardens and Park Slope

Yesterday I ventured out to Brooklyn for a long overdue visit. I've been hearing so much about Park Slope lately and apparently its all the rage, so I just wanted to see for myself! And it's a big plus that the Brooklyn Museum and the Botanical Gardens are right in the neighborhood.
Even though I only walked through for a short bit I got a glimpse of how beautiful the Gardens are. There was a peaceful Japanese pagoda

with a bridge over a tranquil pond

and a waterfall flowing gracefully over the rocks.

I then found my way to the Brooklyn Museum - which is where I wanted to see the Yinka Shonibare MBE exhibition. It was interesting to say the least! Here are a few pictures from it:


and my favorite room:

After the museum my friend and I were hungry and ready to sit down, so we headed towards Park Slop to see what its all about!
It was such an amazing neighborhood, we walked down 7th Ave which is a busy street with lots of shops and restaurants and the best part was looking down the side streets off the Ave, all tree-lined with cute brownstones on both sides.
We ended up at a restaurant with an outdoor patio so we could enjoy our food in the nice weather. I snapped these shots from our table.


I can't wait to go back to Park Slope soon to discover everything else the neighborhood has to offer!

Umbrellas as People

Yesterday was an odd day weather-wise.
I woke up to rain, and by 10am it had subsided and the sun was semi-shining.
By 12pm the rain started again, and when it stopped about 30 minutes later the entire city felt like a sauna -incredibly hot!
Around 4:30 it rained, YET AGAIN! this time, the temperature cooling down, I was almost cold.
It rained on and off the rest of the evening, and thankfully, did not return to sauna-like temperatures, it ended up being a cool, albeit wet, night.
In the evening I decided to head down to Murray Hill to catch a movie, I took the M15 bus down 2nd Ave, and stopped at 42nd street I looked out the window and noticed many people "in line" waiting to board the bus.

it was funny though, because instead of seeing actual people, I just saw their umbrellas. Some plain, some bright, some patterned, some small, big, medium, everything. All types - and then instead of seeing a bunch of umbrellas standing outside waiting, I just saw people.

Italian Style

This makes me want to be more fashionable, and go back to Italy... ah, its just so damn cool.

Seriously?

Tomorrow is the 31st of July? Where did the summer go?

Adventures in...

IKEA.
Wow, what an evening we had yesterday!
I've been craving a visit to IKEA, so when I proposed that we take the Water Taxi there my friend agreed, and we were off!
First stop: South Street Seaport.
I've only been down there 2 times, ever, once 4 years ago in high school and the second time last year, and only to get to the venue where the Bodies Exhibit is held.
That place is strange! I felt like I was in a totally different city, and this was not a bad thing, as it is sometimes nice to "getaway"

We then realized that the Water Taxi leaves from Pier 11, which is 2 blocks south, so we rushed there only to see the Taxi taking off without us! Sigh, oh well, It was a perfect chance to check out the Mall at the seaport while waiting for the later boat. We both picked up a comfy Tee from Victoria's Secret's Pink collection, and even better, they were on sale for $10! And luckily I had a $10 coupon, which made mine FREE!
Anyways, we hopped on the 6:00 Taxi and headed south east to Brooklyn!

A picture of tourists taking a picture on the Water Taxi!
It was Katie's first time to IKEA, so I was happy to show her the ropes, although my main purpose was to pick up some household items, which are all on the 1st floor, we went ahead and made our way around the 2nd floor showroom. We were only there for 1 hour or something, but its like you get sucked into some strange time-warped vortex, and lose all sense of time, space and the outside world!
When we were finally ready to check out, I had a pretty horrible experience at the register, the cashier broke 2 glasses, didn't apologize, and then held up the line because she didn't believe me when I told her 2 of the items that rung up full price were supposed to be on sale. In the end I gave up, told her I didn't want them anymore, and bottled up my anger for her not apologizing for breaking my glasses.
Thankfully, Katie and I were able to laugh about it all as we had dinner on the 2nd floor, overlooking the water with a clear view of Lady Liberty.
It was a fun night and I ended up bringing home a few things I wanted.

my favorite items I picked up, these 4 tea mugs, finally I can have a "full" cup of tea in the mornings! and I just love the patterns!

I also picked up this red flower to put in a small vase I bought last week at Urban Outfitters, love the way it looks on my bookshelf!
I love going to IKEA, and always have tons of fun there. I've decided I'll make it a monthly outing :)
Do you have an IKEA close to you? If so, have you been? Love or hate?