9.04.2009

i'm for sure an east coast kind of girl

growing up in the midwest (STL, what what! oh, wait, you didn't know i hail from the Show Me State? HA.), i always wanted to move to the west coast. i really thought i was a west coast kind of girl. i mean, when i read the babysitters club, i TOTALLY wanted to be Dawn not Stacey. (Stacey dots her i's with hearts. i mean REALLY.) my parents took us to california, uh, sometime (sorry mom and dad. it was a blast.), and i totally wanted to be a california girl.

(on a side note, does anyone remember that show? california dreams? early 90s? on before or after Saved by the Bell maybe? i found this on youtube and i PROMISE it is worth the 58 second watch. anyone? anyone? for some reason this show made an impression on me... probably fit in with my dreams of moving to CA to become a beach babe in my butterfly bikini.)

(uh, don't wake me up cause i am dreaming!)

Anyway, I thought California was, like, totally rad and I totally wanted to rollerblade live there. Like, really. (Hair flip.) (Yes, that was my teenage impression of CA. deal with it. i live in arkansas now where some people think we are obese, toothless and illiterate.) NOW I haven't been to the West Coast in my adult life, so my comparison might be a little off. BUT I can most assuredly say that the first moment i stepped off the plane in LaGuardia I knew I was (could be?) an east coast kind of girl. Seriously, in the airport. The energy, the ugly, the people one on top of each other, THE CUSSING (oh the cussing!), the instant gratification, the transportation options, the i'll-talk-to-you-briefly-but-don't-need-to-know-your-life-story attitude. (I grew up in a large city; you would think i would not have been quite so STRUCK. but i was.)


(on a side note, i would be happy to stay in Little Rock. Home is where Karl and Nate are and I love it here. But if the opportunity to move popped up (wherever...would depend on the opportunity, right?), we would probably take it.)

ANYWAY.

The first time Karl and I went to NYC we did it up tourist style - bus tour, theater, central park, MoMA, the Met, fancypants restaurants. It. was. awesome. The second time we went, we stayed with cousin Phillip on the Lower East Side and we did as he and his friends did - yankees game, restaurants where the waitstaff actually speaks their native german or french, rooftops, comedy clubs. It. was. awesome. THIS TIME we did it up family style. And it was also awesome.

Yet, I can understand why there aren't a terrible # of children in manhattan; I also think that with kids you probably would stick to your 6 or 8 block radius (or you live in Brooklyn and hire a babysitter to come into the city!). We did NOT bring a car seat and opted for the trains and the subways. This worked out quite well except for THE STAIRS and THE STROLLER and the TURNSTYLES. (i totally get the maclaren mamas now - it's not just a $250 umbrella stroller! it's sturdy yet easy to fold AND lightweight enough to carry up and down the stairs (with the baby still in it!) and fits on the skinny escalators. uh, unlike mine. which we had to fold up. which means one of us had to carry the stroller and one the baby. i tried to sling him and carry him but you. walk. a. lot. and he is heavy. and many of the places we went (zoos, museums) we wanted a stroller. it was challenging for sure. especially because it rained all day friday and saturday (we still did a lot of walking in the rain, but opted for transport when it was pouring. by saturday i was tempted to just get in a cab. i saw other infants and toddlers carseatless in cabs, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it.)

Here are some of the things we did: (Ahem, I present: NYC Part 2!)

Friday:
As mentioned it was raining. We (of course in our sparse suitcase) did NOT have an umbrella nor any sort of rain gear. We walked out of our hotel and bought an umbrella no less than 10 feet out the door. SOLVED. BOOSH.
We went to see the dinosaur rawr at the Museum of Natural History:
we ate and napped (karl and i got used to an afternoon nap!) and headed to THE APPLE FLAGSHIP STORE on 5th Ave. Snow Leapord was released while we were there and it was actually pretty nerdycool to buy it there. it was crazy busy and we were checked out in line by an employee walking around with a credit card swipey. Crazy Efficient.
We headed next door to FAO Schwartz (which I am told is much cooler during the Holidays.) The BIG piano was fun, but, other than that, not so exciting.

We hit up Times Square and packed it in for the evening. Crappy photo. Sorry. We wanted to see how far away we could get from the stroller before people started noticing.
There will be one final post (NYC: Part 3) and then I am DONE. (stick a fork in me.) i have like fourteen other blogs in my head i need to get out there as well. stay TUNED friends! (was it too much?)


10 comments:

melissa said...

um, I FREAKING LOVED CALIFORNIA DREAMS. i'm glad you mentioned it because that's probably a portion of my life that i would never have mentioned to you for fear of ridicule. but now that i have this info... if it's on dvd i'm buying it and we can have a marathon. that is all i have to say on that subject.

looks like nyc in the "family style" is quite fun, indeed!

is it just me, or is that the biggest fucking umbrella on the planet?

Angela said...

holy hell i loved this blog Kat!
1. I totally wanted to be Stacy from the BSC. And for a very short time I might have started dotting my i's with hearts because of her.
2. I completely remember California Dreams and will admit to watching it as well.
3. NYC is the best place in the world. I'm definitely an East coast girl too.

Maria said...

Funny. I always thought I was a CA girl too, but in the past two years, I have discovered I really am an east coast girl. I can't wait to move to DC. If only I could take Riverfield with me. LOL!

We love our Maclaren now that the boy is older. Yes, we have owned four strollers. We still have three. Maybe I need another baby just to justify our stroller addiction? It is the one thing I cannot resist.

P.S. Butterfly. Best carrier ever. You missed your justification with this trip! LOL! ;-)

jennifer said...

I can actually name the characters from California dreams. We must have watched it ALOT. I can say as an adult I have been to la and ny with people who actually live there (no tourist crap) and I am DEF east coast. Perhaps you should try la next just to verify your statement?

Ashley said...

Um, I totally wanted to be Stacey!! She was so stylish and you know, obvisouly more mature since she was from NY. However, in reality, I must admit that I was/am Kristy through and through. LOL I loved this post! I would totally rather be east coast than west coast. The no-nonsense attitude alone would be enough for me to live there. Except for the weather, I don't know if I could handle an east coast winter... OH, and perhaps the fact that I've never been to the east coast :)

p.s. i remember california dreams, but not for sure until I watched the video

Meredith said...

Happy anniversary to you two! I would love to make an annual trip to NYC, it looked like so much fun.

ALSO:

I wanted to be Dawn as well. Stacey was always too much for me. I was also a little envious of Claudia and her great, funky earrings they always described. Too bad her sister was such a nerd.

ALSO:

Loved California Dreams. I actually remember a particular episode that my brother and I STILL quote to this day. How's that for pathetic?

Andrea said...

I wanted to be Claudia and have her "Mimi".

Totally remember California Dreams and would watch it again in a heartbeat.

So glad you had a great time in NYC - Nate has awesome parents!

Eve said...

Kat, I love your blog even if you have gotten the theme song from California Dreams stuck in my head! I think I am definitely a Kristy (with the bossiness and organization), but I really wanted to be Claudia. She had fake books that she hid candy in. Genius!

Susan said...

You really did have a butterfly bikini when we first met, didn't you?

Mary and I are thinking of hitting up San Fran this fall on a little girls' trip. Wanna join? I've never been past Colorado myself. However, I'm def a Sah-thun Guhl, dahlin'!

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