Mrs. Naked Cowboy

Many of you probably know about the Naked Cowboy that plays his guitar in Times Square each day. He basically plays his guitar and people make circles around him just to get in a picture with him. Oh, and by the way, he has a number that you can call to make an appearance at your party --- 866-99-NAKED. So, if there are any birthday or graduation parties coming up, there is the number to have him come along! Well, here is something that might now know. A Mrs. Naked Cowboy exists! I know....scandalous! I found her while walking in Times Square minding my own business on the way to a Broadway show. (In the Heights...you may remember me ranting and raving about it earlier) We were walking around when I noticed a crowd standing around with their cameras pointed at something. I'll be honest, while many New Yorkers may walk right past something like this because it is very un-New Yorkerish to freak out over celebrities. But, I'm still a South Jersian and any opportunity that I have to take a picture of/see TomKat or Mary Kate Olsen I am going to check it out!! Well, it wasn't a celebrity, but definitely the second best thing......it was Mrs. Naked Cowboy!

How great is this! There are a lot of things about this picture that I love, but my absolute favorite is the wads of money stashed in her leg straps. She also sings. I will share with you, a little piece of her song...."Everyone's here......We're in Times Square...Takin' off my clothes". Oh, and the picture doesn't give you everything. Behind the guitar is a bra and black thong! Too much. You know what though, it is about time that women win once. You know what I'm talking about ladies. All the time in movies and on television there are beautiful women with ugly men. And when you go to the beach there are plenty of good looking women in tiny bathing suits, while the only men that wear speedos have a membership to AARP and are creepy tan and hairy. It is about time that women get a sumpin' sumpin' to look at!

Give my regards to Broadway....

One of the many benefits to living in NYC is easy access to Broadway musicals. Through the years I have seen such musicals as Les Miserables, Wicked, Thoroughly Modern Milly, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Moving Out, and Rent. This past week we went to see Mamma Mia and In the Heights. Let me give you the low down on those two musicals.

Mamma Mia

A story that takes place on a Greek island involving a daughter, a mother and 3 possible dads! Classic songs by ABBA such as Dancing Queen, SOS, The Winner Takes it All, and of course Mamma Mia set the stage for this musical. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's quest to find her father brings 3 men fom her mother's past to an island that they all visited 20 years ago.

A fun-loving musical that is greatfor a night out. If you aren't dancing in your chair to Dancing Queen by the end of the musical.....well, then you are no fun! It has been on Broadway for 9 years and is now coming out as a movie. It has been watched by over 30 million people, and definitely worthy of a night out on the town!

In the Heights

The Tony Award winner for 2008 Best Musical, In the Heights is an inspiring story about people trying to make it in a part of Queens called Washington Heights. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his sophomore year of college In the Heights began as an off Broadway show in 1999 and had it's first show on Broadway this past February. The musical takes place on a street in Washington Heights based around a corner coffee bodega, limo and car service, and hair salon. A hip-hop musical that instills hope and inspiration as well as having you dancing in the chair (hmm, I dance in my chair a lot).

This musical was so awesome and I think everyone should see it, hands down! What are you waiting for, go buy your tickets!

Question

You're trapped in a well with a goat and a slinky.

Describe how you will escape.

Well, HELLO Dolly!

We adopted a doggie! Steve and I called the ASPCA in NYC 2 days ago and asked if they had happened to get any small dogs in, and they said yes! And then it was a shih tzu (my fav!) We walked down there and fell in love with her, and literally walked out with her same day!!! Then had to scramble to get important dog things like a snazzy little bed and cool tools....oh yea, and food too! She is a 4 year old shih tzu and is tan and white. She has been the perfect dog so far, except that she is not really a huge fan of other dogs....but we are working on that with hot dog treats! (which she is a huge fan of!)

She was seized by police from her first home, and then adopted only for 2 days because the other owner had another dog and they didn't get along. So, she ended back up at the ASPCA, and ended up home with us. We are so lucky!!! We were told that she has some separation anxiety, but is doing so great. The one really funny thing though, is that she doesn't like her picture being taken. So I have 2 hypotheses on why:

#1 - her first family was Amish, and therefore she adopted their culture and doesn't want her picture taken.

#2 - she was in the modeling career for years and now that she is finally out of the "biz" she is so over getting her picture taken

I haven't totally figured out which it is yet, but given her troubles with eating (i.e. she doesn't want to eat her food) I think it is probably the modeling thing. We may have a case of dogorexic on our hands. Just bare with the pics that are on here, because they are the best that we can do! Whenever she sees a camera pointing at her she starts walking in circles around you so that you can't get a good shot and then hides under the sofa.

like such

So, she is getting used to us and we are just loving her. Nothing is better than coming home from somewherer and having Dolly there to freak out at the fact that we came back to her and jump around and wag her tail.

P.S. Yes, I know........the name. Here's the thing. She is already 4 and actually answers to it. So, Dolly it is!

Pedicure + Cosmos = Awesome Nail Salon!!!

Oh my! So much to talk about......broadway shows......our new dog Dolly.......mini celebrity sitings!!! But, first I am going to talk about this amazing nail salon that I found. There are tons of nail salons in the city, so I just googled 'nail salons' and found the most amazing place in the world! There are a few of them in the city, but I go to the one on 94th and Madison Ave. It is called Dashing Diva, and it is totally so cute and indulgent! First of all, everything inside is all pink! You pick your nail polish and then site on a bench and put your feet into a bowl with lemons! They are so nice, and gave an awesome pedicure and manicure! Oh yea, and the 10 minute leg and foot massage and the complimentary upper back massage weren't bad either! The best part is that if you go on a Thursday or Friday they give free cosmos with a manicure/pedicure! And yes, the sign said cosmoS, not cosmo. How awesome is this place!!!

Now, I think that I am a hard working and I am a grown lady so paying a bit more for a mani/pedi to endulge myself feels okay. I just lie to myself and say that I deserve it, so the price is okay. haha The only thing that blew my mind though, were all of the little Madison Ave Upper East Side girls (yea, like 10) coming in with their friends and mothers for their appointments for their nails. I wish that I was kidding. Then, to make it even worsem, one of the little prostitots was reading Instyle. I couldn't believe it! And here in lies reason #86 of why I do not want to raise children in the city!

Child Chain Gang

While walking to the subway yesterday I noticed a possible child chain gang. There were about a dozen 5 year olds all in a line connected with a rope and wearing yellow vests. I mean, I guess it could have just been a school trip and that was the best way to protect a bunch of rugrats....but I think I may have seen one of them carrying a pole to spear paper and recycling!

Are New Yorkers really unfriendly?.....blame the poop

I was watching the View the other day and Joy made a great statement. She said that New Yorkers get such a bad rap because they are always looking down instead of looking at people and saying "hello". I consider myself fairly friendly, or at least enough to look at people and say "hello" when you are walking past them. However, I have done that a good half dozen time and no one has said anything back, so I am contemplating rudeness to surpass my feelings of being dejected! But I digress....What Joy said, and what I am also realizing is that people in NYC are not unfriendly, rather they are just on the look out for sidewalk dog poop! I have noticed that I am constantly looking at the sidewalk to avoid a pile of expelled dog food. Not at first, but after 2 weeks of Steve grabbing my arm and pulling me away from poo I am now just another New Yorker looking down instead of making eye contact. Being a potential dog owner myself (maybe) I am sure that picking up warm poo in a tiny little plastic bag is terrifying. I am already having irrational fears that all the bags I use have holes in them! However, lucky for me we are looking at super cute doggies that I'm sure only poo flowers. Here are a couple of the ones that we have put applications in for :

I know, cute right?! Flowers only! It is crazy though, I thought that people would be psyched to have us adopt a dog...but it is so much harder! The application process takes 2-4 weeks before we should even hear from them, then they need references and even do a home visit! I mean geez, I am adopting a dog or a child! Actually, I just hope that we get approved! (which is pathetic enough in itself) Well, we shall see. In the mean time, people.........please clean up the poo! And especially you with the small little dogs, clean it up! The little tiny dog poop is even harder to see! When a great dane poos I can see it a mile away, but the little tiny yorkie terd you don't see until you are right upon it!

the BIG move (i.e. how exactly did I get to NYC?)

Shortly after marrying my high school sweetheart in April 2006, he lovingly turned to me one day and said, "I want to go back to school to get my M.B.A.". I said, "great" and figured that since we were currently living outside of Philadelphia, albeit in my parents house, that he would go to one of the wonderful Philly establishments. However, for those of you that do not know Steve he said that he would only go to one of the best graduate schools in the country. Now, I was being supportive, but not that supportive. So I said that he had to look in the tri-state area. He got into NYU and we moved to Hamilton so that he could take the train in daily and I could still work at my current job. Well, 2 years and countless ungodly train rides after long days he said that we should move to NYC. Alright then. So, after nervously telling my job that I would be leaving at the end of June and finding a new job at Mount Sinai we were ready to move. Oh yea, and Steve graduated in May and has a job at JPMorgan that he will be starting in July. Woohoo! I mean, I loved being the bread-winner for 2 years.....but momma needs a break!



It is now the end of May and we are packing everything in our 2 bed/2 bath oh so spacious apartment to move to a 700 square foot 1 bed/1 bath closet...ahem, apartment in the Upper East Side. Let's just say that we had to pare things down a bit. Sorry mom, but you guys are great free storage! Regardless of my hinting towards hiring movers, Steve is adamant on moving everything ourselves. So, Saturday we were packing the moving truck and Sunday we were driving it all to NYC. Saturday comes along and as we are moving the bedroom furniture to the truck a torrental downpour with thunder begins and the weather channel alerts us to the fact that there is a tornado warning in our area. Greeeeeeeeat. So, everyone is soaking wet and carrying furniture up a slippery, wobbly metal ramp. I say, " should I be wiping off the ramp or placing towels down?" To which Steve says, "What is the worst that happens, someone falls off the back of the truck and breaks their ankle. haha" (foreshadowing) Everything somehow fits in the truck and Sunday we drive up to the new apartment. The day is beautiful and sunny, nothing could be better. Half way into unpacking I get a call on my cellphone from my mother-in-law saying "Get down here. Steve just fell off the back of the moving truck!" He was okay...our headboard not so much. Although it did bend back nicely and you can barely see the Steve shape in the metal anymore. So, finished unpacking the stuff and then drank some beer and ate some pizza. Welcome to NYC!