a thanksgiving tradition

Having spent last Thanksgiving on an extremely awesome Spanish vacation with the extremely awesome Megan Anshutz, we got the pleasure of an awesome repeat performance this year in New York!


Walking through Central Park is always a good starting activity.


The painted tiles in the Bethesda Terrace ceiling were recently renovated and are a real treat for a tile-obsessed girl like me ...


On Thanksgiving Day we invited a bunch of friends (all somehow former Seattleites) over for a potluck. Chance cooked a giant turkey and carved it like a complete pro. So tasty.


Al, Malinda, Al's mom Alicia, Hadley, Vinh, Brooke and Ian all joined in the merry festivities.


And we were lucky to have an Official Former College Radio DJ in our midst, who spun the tunes all night long.


The last couple of days have been absolutely perfect for afternoon walks. It's a bit chilly and windy, but a little sunshine and a hot cup of coffee help.


The fall colors are finally here!


We wandered over the bridge to Long Island City, home to PS1, a MoMA-affiliated (but much cheaper) modern art museum.


It was pretty awesome. A perfect afternoon for Megan's last day in the city. She flew back home to Chicago Friday night.


On Saturday Chance and I took another walk and discovered a little settlement of feral cats just up the road -- what an interesting neighborhood we live in!



But a nice one nonetheless.

Enfin ... L'Automne.

Yes, it is finally autumn here in New York. It feels so good - it actually even smells good, which is a miracle! The leaves are pretty, there's a brisk wind, and I get to wear scarves. I like it!

Another good thing that arrived this week was my friend Samantha ...


... who visited us for a few days on her way home from a whirlwind trip to Europe. We had an absolutely wonderful time with her --


-- we went to see a Swedish band called the Shout Out Louds who sound like the Cure ...


And we saw some of New York's best offerings in street detritus-turned found art objects (it looks like the bed bugs really set up shop here -- is that a toilet bowl cleaner?)


... and we gave our very own name to that mysterious stream of water flowing through the tunnels of the MTA, contributing to the unique geology found (and smelled) only here ... the Bahnbach! Think it'll stick?

I wish I had more pictures of Sam's visit. My camera's batteries crapped out halfway through. We had a great time with her though, discovered some awesome neighborhooods, had a real Celebrity Sighting (well, I did anyway - Chance and Sam had their backs turned, ha ha) and ate some fabulous food. Thanks for visiting, Sam!!



Over the weekend Chance and I tried to get out of the house for a breath of fresh air (we've been cooped up in here studying for weeks now), and we discovered that the NY Marathon had gone right by our house earlier that morning. All we saw was the aftermath ...


... and aftermath there was.


We saw parts of our neighborhood that we had never been to before. Greenpoint is so cool! So many little things to discover. We definitely need to get out of the house more often.


Alas ... this is the view we see most often - the view out our office window, where we sit dutifully procrastinating. At least it's a good view, especially at sunset.

Hooray for fall!