We go hard

 

Monday night was a birthday continuation! We went to the Nets game at the new Barclays Center. And there was good sports and even better food to be had and I did my best to learn players' names. I had a beer! I got a team T-shirt! But then in the morning I read this article which made me feel like a BAD PERSON for having had fun and taken part in Brooklynsploitation.

"A Brand Called Brooklyn" by Norman Oder

But I think we'll go back.

Nerd Shopping Spree

I got a little bit of a promotion at work today and on my lunch break proceeded to go on a nerd's version of a shopping spree to celebrate. I bought some tiny unnecessary gadgets at the Container Store and then went over to Paper Presentation on 18th Street, which is the greatest stationery store in New York City (and is quite possibly my favorite store, period). Behold, the wall of fancy pens!



This wall just makes me so happy. Their selection is a pen nerd's dream, because not only do they have the pen brand you like, but they have it in every color and weight, too. I spent $20 on pens. Including a splurge on not one but TWO silver metallic Sharpies (one for work and one for home). Because life is better when you have the perfect pen, right? Am I the only one still holding on to old favorite pens even though they have run out of ink? For sentimental purposes?



Next I went to B&N where I purchased two FULL-PRICED books, a thing I never do (hello, library, swap.com, used book stores, working at a publishing company and borrowing). I bought A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, both of which I will attempt to squish into my suitcase for vacation next week.

i heart brooklyn

Okay, I know I don't live there anymore, but the longer I live on the Upper East Side, the more I am looking forward to moving back to BROOKLYN in a year or so. Last weekend I went to the tantalizing mecca of handmade craftiness that is known as the annual Renegade Craft Fair in Williamsburg (where I got my much-loved scissors necklace two years ago). I bought this uber-Brooklyny print of an illustration by Claudia Pearson, whom you can find on Etsy here. She's British, but she loves Brooklyn, too! (SO MANY THINGS I LIKE.) It's a charming little row of brownstones, aka my dream home, and it's titled "Houses All in a Row." I can't wait to frame it and hang it on my wall...in Brooklyn.

summer prep

It might be 36 degrees out right now and threatening evilly to snow, but my new classy English plaid picnic blanket arrived today. Anticipating lots of time spent sitting on this in Central Park is helping. A little.

Snow City

There was hardly anyone in the office yesterday so I snuck into the empty conference room in the point of the tenth floor of the Flatiron to take some aerial photos of Madison Square Park.

Live from New York

Happy brand-new year.

Goodbye Brooklyn, hello Manhattan. Ramona and I are enjoying our new view. [And yes, that is Crumbs right across the frickin street.]

Confession

Hi. My name is Bethany, and I am a Craiglist addict.

It's gotten really bad. I am hoping to move into a new apartment on January 1, and I feel like I've been spending about a third of my time until then scrolling through those tantalizing and frustrating one-line listing titles.

It's a little too early to start seriously looking at places for January move-ins, so at this point I have not definitely narrowed things down between Brooklyn and Manhattan and one- two- and three-bedrooms, which means there are a lot of variables and price points and neighborhoods and picture options for me to be plugging in and getting glazed-over while clicking through.

Last week I was able to go two full work days without checking my traps once, but my resolve soon evaporated and I since have lost all willpower to stay off the site at work. I just keep scanning the neighborhood names and looking up locations on Google maps and trying to decipher oddly angled photos and drooling over the possibility of having stainless steel appliances and living in Park Slope.

Why hasn't Gawker Stalker been updated in over a month? And why I am I so annoyed about this? If Julia Roberts or Justin Long has been sighted a few blocks away...I need to know about it!

Feeling sheepish...

...that this Time Out New York cover photo sat around my apartment for more than a week before I realized (slash read online) that the food is in the shape of the five boroughs. What an idiot.

make you feel brand new

Dear Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind,"

If you could stop being stuck in my head for days on end and blaring from the iPod headphones of every person who sits near me on the subway, that would be awesome.

Thanks,
Bethany

Sometimes I give myself a talking-to for not taking more advantage of living in New York. But hey, it's hard when you work here too and all you want to do at 5:00 is go home and eat a sandwich in front of Gilmore Girls.

Last weekend I got it together and Armine and I went to the Whitney to see the Georgia O'Keeffe special exhibit, and it was totally worth effort. I must say, I really hate listening to other people standing near me be all pretentious talking about the drawings and paintings, but once I block them out the paintings were beautiful, and because it focuses solely on her abstract work, it was cool to see some things other than her more familiar flowers and southwestern pieces.

Next up on the cultural agenda is an American Ballet Theater performance at Lincoln center this weekend!

Bright Star, starring Abbie Cornish (she whom Ryan Philippe left Reese for) and Ben Wishaw

Love Happens, starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart

What up with all the generic movie posters lately? Time spent on subway platforms keeps me real on top of all the new movies that come out, but what is the deal with these two? Maybe it's because I saw these posters before having seen any commercials, trailers, or articles about either movie, but they're are just so bland and uninspired (insipid, anyone?) and leave me completely uninterested in finding out what these are about . . . although I am talking about them here on my blog. So there's that.

It's the little things . . .

. . . that make my day. Like a cupcake van sitting outside my office building. I swear, everything is more fun when it comes in a food truck (plus you can find out where the truck is on Twitter).

www.cupcakestop.com