oh brooklyn how i'll miss you

i took my last walk home from the subway to find andrea on our stoop, ready to bid us farewell. rob was there too, already exhausted from helping the lazy movers pack all our belongings in the two hours we prepaid. seeing the 17 footer loaded made my nerves jump as i began really questioning whether we were making the right decision. how could we possibly leave brooklyn? especially now, with a baby due in less than three months! 

i know that saying good-bye is difficult but i was not prepared for the flood of emotions i felt as i hugged my sister. i couldn't resist asking her, with desperation, "why don't you just move too?".  

i cried as quietly as i could as rob drove us out of our beloved park slope. i cried as we crossed the verrazano bridge into staten island. i cried all the way out of new york and finally got my emotions under control once we hit jersey and i had to navigate.

ten states and thirty hours of road stood between brooklyn and our new home in austin and starting this new chapter is exciting and adventurous not tearful. right?

sunshine. bikes. egg decorating. dinner. easter.

saturday was dreadful with rain and overcast skies all day. rob and i struggled to be 'back' all day and he was fighting a nasty cold so our day left so much to be desired.

we shopped at century 21 in brooklyn where he scored with a bunch of new basics. i on the other hand busted. no surprise, i usually hate that kind of store considering my window/mannequin/magazine/picture shopping style. i found nothing and almost purchased bras and panties so not to leave empty handed. i resisted.
we had dinner with anne, pat, and andrea with last minute planning at dram shop. fine time.

the chalk board outside our local wine shop today read, "the thing about days like yesterday is that they make you appreciate days like today". i couldn't agree more. today was wonderful...

easter sunday was beautiful. as always, rob coaxed me out of bed.

he was lucky to have an easter basket waiting for him. well, for us...

he immediately took a bite of the bunny's ear. other than candy, the bunny brought a new wine bottle opener (ours broke last week) two new coffee mugs, and a candle

we headed to the closed farmers market (oops) and then home to get our bikes in working order for spring. rob told me as we came close to the end of our little stroll that he wished he could just walk around the neighborhood with me all day. oh...to the moon!

an outing to the newly reconstructed brooklyn bridge park took place of my run or trip to yoga... 

andrea on her bike

rob and me

sights

i am so in love with this park and as always, with the brooklyn bridge. i hate that they closed the green area between the two bridges but the construction there makes me think it will soon reopen and be even better than before.

the area is amazing and perfect for bikers and pedestrians alike. andrea and i had iced coffee while rob sipped a limonatta. it was lovely.

an intense easter egg decorating contest consumed the next bit of our day. we were happy to be inside when the heavy, vertical rain came down.

we, in true palermo fashion, held a competition on the egg decorating. we each chose our fav of the three we designed and presented our competition on facebook. top left to top right: planet earth by me, goth egg by andrea, dino egg by rob, and blue/green horizon by anne. anne won. i lost. my egg is not justified in pictures.  

we finished our day with dinner at kaz a nou in prospect heights with our brooklyn family...

pat lovin' the camera

dustin and anne

goodnight easter sunday...

i love ny. i love brooklyn

where can you hear new music, enjoy free spiced punch, dance, and party on a deck with a view worthy of a post card on a WEDNESDAY night? only in new york. i love you brookyln.

holly and momar, acting silly and patiently modelling for me with my camera phone.

'rain' and sun(day)

rain on broadway...

such a fun show! we were upgraded to orchestra seats and enjoyed a concert style cover show. it started with a video montage of important historic moments from the 1960's on a black and white vintage television shaped screen. it continued into a reenactment of the beatles playing on the ed sullivan show. the entire show included clips of history which influenced the music of the beatles throughout their career together.

they played many of my favorites and the guy who played paul had an uncanny resemblance to the real mccartney. my only complaint is they did not play norwegian wood.

we headed to fraunces tavern in the financial district to meet some of rob's new co-workers and stayed out way, way too late.

i have been fighting a cold so saturday was pretty relaxed. after a few errands we watched coverage of the earthquake in japan in despair. early to bed.

Sunny sunday...

a first sign of spring!

we took a long bus ride through park slope and red hook but ended up in cobble hill for brunch at cafe lulu.

leist-babe in bk!

leist-babe (aka andy) graced us with his presence this weekend.

thursday: momofuku

friday: sidecar and apartment dance party (till 4am)

saturday: 60 degrees and sunny, outdoor brunch, unlimited sangria, leister in love with brooklyn (and dogs)

look who walked by...joe and folake...two weeks till they tie the knot!

the sangria impaired us enough to prevent us from following through with our plan to tour the brooklyn brewery but we managed dinner at taro sushi with anne and dustin. sorry to you both for the necklace incident at barn...how embarrassing.

jeanne visits!

we gladly welcomed march with a gorgeous sunny day, the countdown to spring officially here (19 days!), and a day visit from rob's mom! she arrived in nyc in the late afternoon. rob was able to sneak away from work to meet her for a grape soda at eataly.

later we met for a delish meal of tapas and sangria at olea in fort greene.

 a few favorites:
brussel sprouts with roasted apples, marinated anchovies with arugula, and fried olives...yum, yum, yum!

...the live music was a nice bonus!

andrea was there too! we are all about blending families when we can!

a park blanket

as you may know, i have been experimenting with sewing lately. i would like to share one of my later creations...

spring is so close i can taste it and since i can't stop imaging myself lying in the sunshine i have been inspired to make a new park blanket! living in brooklyn we spend quite a bit of time enjoying nature in our amazing prospect park. i'm super excited to be outside alone with a book, at a concert with food, music, and friends, or with husband watching little league baseball on a sunday afternoon (i know it sounds pathetic but we love to hang in the shade and watch the little kids play-we even had a favorite player last year).

last summer we somehow lost our beach/park sheet of three years hence the brand new park blanket!

here is how it went down... 

supplies collected.

fabric taped down.

'quilt sandwich' complete.

'sandwich' basted with pins.

'cross stitching'

(sorry, but i skipped pictures of the banding)

and...here it is! i can't wait to use it!

P.S. i found this fun, easy design here

weekend recap

FRIDAY!

friday after work...we either have to go out and socialize or we have to stay in and lazy around the apartment. this week was a lazy, cold outside sorta friday. my lovely husband surprised me with beautiful spring mix flowers on his way home from work so i have been smelling and staring at them all weekend...dreaming of spring (naturally).

we finally watched the social network and as usual, i fell asleep and had to hear about the ending in bed on saturday morning. despite missing half of the film...i recommend it!

SATURDAY!

we decided to stick around the hood...brooklyn flea here we come...

the most gorgeous setting for a flea market...the williamsburg savings bank...



this 1920's dress was to die for but way out of my price range...it was in perfect condition and adorable! the entire booth made me super happy so luckily i was able to afford an awesome vintage summer dress, a vintage mink collar, and a horseshoe for above our front door (for luck of course). rob found a great vintage short sleeved button up...no coat despite his desperate search. funny i have no pictures of what we did buy!

 SATURDAY NIGHT!

 

we celebrated chris' birthday with a bowling party and apparently some pretty amazing fried chicken-i didn't have any. a great night...started with my best bowling score ever and ended dancing to a live band (and Pat Kerns sleeping on our couch again...in jeans...again...which breaks the number one rule in our apartment)!

SUNDAY BRUNCH!

 

dizzy's for brunch with the husband. we should have stuck with ordering their amazing specialty items like teo's italian eggs (my favorite) or bagels with lox...we both bombed with eggs, toast, etc...we both regret it...guess there's always next time...

                            

Parakeets in Brooklyn

On our way out of the apartment this morning Rob screamed, "oh my gosh...look at all these parakeets". I ran to the window with the camera and saw about 20 green "Christmas" parakeets in our backyard!

Theories about how these birds ended up in Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery:

• The Great Escape of 1967: a shipment from Argentina arrived at JFK and some unauthorized pilfering mistakenly released hundreds of monk parrots.
• A pet store on Flatbush Avenue went out of business and released them.
• A truck overturned on a highway.
• The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, after many years of hosting a captive flock of monk parakeets, abandoned these birds to the skies after closing its aviary.