new york.

my aunt lives in the east village in new york city {right on the cusp of NYU campus near washington park}. when i was in college, i used to spend the summers with her working on movies as an accounting intern.
{fun fact: you can find me in the movie credits in the following films:

off the map

{three months on location: taos, new mexico}

secret window

{three months on location: montreal, quebec}

romance & cigarettes

{three months on local set: new york, new york}

mostly, i ran backpacks of cash to the bank & petty cash to set. and went to really fun dinners. 

i abhor name dropping...but the nostalgia is fun, so here we go: 

some of the most memorable people i met: johnny depp, kate winslet, timothy hutton, {he called us at our house to invite us to dinner}, & ezra swerdlow.

seriously, we made some ridiculous memories during those summers. i can't even talk about it. shamazing.

fast forward: we try to spend as much time as possible together whenever we can. i visited her in june for a long weekend. activities included:

//visit her & max {her lovely assistant} at her production office. she was employee of the week.

//cooked dinner in her fabulous nyc apartment between university & broadway, singing the soundtrack to rent while drinking champagne

{view from terrace. why is exposed brick so enchanting?} 

{i love this view...every aspect of this city is so charming.}

 //wandered around the city and visited thrift shops, community gardens & boutiques

 {recycled art in the community garden}

 {blue fire escapes}

{loved this mural}

{every tree has a face}

{i love all these "moments" in the city}

{hearts}

 {sculptures made of recycled bottlecaps in the community garden}

 

{window boxes}

{red gate}

{door}

{reptile garden}

 //brunch at jane with aunt's best girlfriends kate & liz. 

{i had salmon & avocodo tartare}

//saw motown the musical on broadway

//watched the tony awards {the cast performed hours after we saw them live!}

// played with her kitty, moo puff 

{official name: cosmo}

//hung out, caught up, talked for hours.

it was a fabulous weekend, and as always...i can't wait to see her again!

our weekend in pictures.

i won't bore you with pictures of me doing laundry, cleaning the fish tank, or any other glamorous chores that i did this weekend. instead, i will share our day we spent in the city:

{sculpture in front of my work building...don't ask me how in the world we ended up back at my office building after busy season.}

 {my work building....jack thought i should document the building "for our grandchildren" haha}

  {sf street view from work building: second & howard}

 {new favorite park in the financial district}

 {haha, i don't know why i love these guys so much}

{view: up.}

{attempt to fluff my hat hair}

 

 {bay bridge}

 {the embarcadero from the san francisco bay bridge}

{beyond handsome lunch date at tres agaves}

sunday highlights{besides the chores/studying}:

{shmeezmo helping me make the bed}

{sushi enjoying her sunday funday at the beach}

Finally.

This morning, on this fabulous Monday Funday, I am more than pleased to announce that Forever 21 has justified all that is crazy cat lady. While the below isn't exactly my style, I feel better about my borderline obsessive kitty posts lately. I need a life.

Start shopping right meow.

At least I'm not dressed this way on a daily basis, right? 

{pulls cardigan over front of button-down-kitty-printed-chiffon-tunic}.

6 days left until busy season is over and then I will have something more interesting to talk about than: cats, wine, capital accounts, debt allocation, and nonresident shareholder composite withholding reconciliations.

Meow.

I realize this is a little crazy cat lady...but I found this poem by Harold Monro and I LOVE it. It perfectly describes my pretty kitty, Sushi, as she is certainly someone who is never tardy for a meal.  In fact, she is by my head every morning at 6am, placing her paw on my shoulder to let me know it's time for breakfast. 

I took some pictures the other day of her in the sunshine, and thought this would be a fun way to share them. 

When the tea is brought at five o'clock,
And all the neat curtains are drawn with care,
The little black cat with bright green eyes
Is suddenly purring there.

   At first she pretends, having nothing to do,
She has come in merely to blink by the grate,
But, though tea may be late or the milk may be sour,
She is never late.

And presently her agate eyes
Take a soft large milky haze,
And her independent casual glance
Becomes a stiff, hard gaze.

Then she stamps her claws or lifts her ears,
Or twists her tail and begins to stir,
Till suddenly all her lithe body becomes
One breathing, trembling purr.

The children eat and wriggle and laugh;
The two old ladies stroke their silk:
But the cat is grown small and thin with desire,
Transformed to a creeping lust for milk.

 The white saucer like some full moon descends
At last from the clouds of the table above;
She sighs and dreams and thrills and glows,
Transfigured with love.

She nestles over the shining rim,
Buries her chin in the creamy sea;
Her tail hangs loose; each drowsy paw
Is doubled under each bending knee.

A long, dim ecstasy holds her life;
Her world is an infinite shapeless white,
Till her tongue has curled the last holy drop,
Then she sinks back into the night,

Draws and dips her body to heap
Her sleepy nerves in the great arm-chair,
Lies defeated and buried deep
Three or four hours unconscious there.

-Harold Monro 1879-1932

Not many people "get" her. OK, no one gets her but me...she is a little difficult. She only likes...me--and Jack is no exception. I rescued her when she was a year and a half old from the San Diego Humane Society. I saw her in her cage and she was  just beautiful...in a mangy, skinny, wiry, dirty sort of way.  She looked right in to my eyes and gave me this huge, sad, scared yowl that will echo in my head forever.  She was just five and a half pounds, and she had horrible collar neck from her previous owners--they had put a collar on her when she was a kitten and didn't bother to increase the size as she grew. She was absolutely terrified of humans and life. I took her home and have spoiled her rotten from the first moment she was mine. That was seven years ago. 

I don't know why she was dropped off at the Society, and I can't imagine the abuse she lived through. I can only guess that she was mistreated by a man, which is why she has an unusual aversion towards Jack and other males. To this day, she hates having the back of her neck touched by even me. As she has become more comfortable in our house, her personality has been growing. She has turned into an absolute diva, so we call her our little Miss. America. Well, I call her that. Jack calls her "football" or "sausage," nicknames representative of her transformed gluttonous shape.  It's hard to put her on a diet after imagining what she went through when she was so small. She is an extremely well behaved kitty, but she likes things to operate her way. She will only be touched when she allows it. I'm glad she has Miso...our other kitty we adopted a few years ago, to keep her company. She has taken him in like a son, giving him baths and such. In turn, he keeps her on her toes and gives her the exercise she needs. I think having another kitty in the house with her has has helped warm her heart towards whatever she has endured in her life. I can't even imagine what that must be, but I'm glad she is now safe and cozy and warm with us...with a ridiculous choice of fluffy beds, her own section on a cal king, catnip on demand, a gourmet grain-free diet, filtered water, and a tri-weekly dose of relax drops.

{Rescue Remedy Relax Drops have been an all natural way to really help with her anxiety...I highly recommend if you have a pet with emo issues. She prefers them on a half teaspoon of Wellness grain free turkey & salmon wet food...I mean, this is crazy, right?}

Cozy.

I cannot get enough of anything mustard yellow. Or of kitties that are black.

Cozy Chic. by kschnaible featuring knit infinity scarves