we skirted the apocalypse [again]

Luckily, we were spared much trouble in NYC from dear, sweet Irene. Unfortunately, she gave our New England cousins up north a bit more grief. I hope everyone stays safe as they wade through the mess left behind. In the meantime, here is how the whole (underwhelming) weekend went down in Brooklyn.

Saturday seemed pretty ominous, so as I was rushing around doing laundry and cleaning my apartment (who does housework with an impending hurricane? Me, apparently.) Kurt came to retrieve Aubie on the bike trailer. You can take the boy out of Ohio...

Aubie was not too pleased to go for a ride. He thoroughly enjoyed the weekend in a new atmosphere though. He was (almost) a perfect gentleman at 731 without much clawing/biting and didn't break anything. (He is always knocking things over at my apartment!) He may have even kept a pesky mouse at bay over the weekend and won over the Martig Brothers :) However, Aubie did not win over neighbor Jenn's cat Princess Chunk. They hissed and growled at each other but I think deep down they will be friends one day.

The storm came through without much incident.  I slept through most of it (hence no action shots). Kurt got up early Sunday morning when the worst of it was coming through and was pretty disappointed with his first hurricane. We really only got lots of rain and some wind.

We went up on the roof as the backside of the storm was coming through (smart, right?). There was only wind and some crazy cloud action but no rain. The air was incredibly crisp. I guess Irene was good for clearing the air at least.

A few LSU friends (including a new 731 addition) came over to show us how to really enjoy a hurricane. They were pretty disappointed by Irene's performance but showed us how to yell at the sky, drink beer all day, play board games to pass the time (even though we never lost power), and made us the most delicious gumbo. I think we'll keep these kids around!

One of Aubie's thrills from his weekend journey was exploring the backyard of 731. I kept a close eye like the over-protective momma I am so he wouldn't escape (or scrape his knees or something). 

He was very cautious as he tip toed around very delicately.

Not quite a jungle cat  but I hope he enjoyed the bit of green. He doesn't get much at home with me.

Now we are back at my apartment safe and sound and back to our normal routine. The trains were up and running early Monday morning, so I was back at work too :(

Aubie's been spending lots of time gazing out our third floor window (dreaming of the 731 Jungle, I'm sure), sleeping copious amounts, and working on blending into my hardwood floors. Life as a cat sure is tough. Let's hope we don't have to relocate for any more natural disasters anytime soon! Although I have heard that a couple of brothers wouldn't mind us returning every once and while for a visit. Well, Aubie at least. I'm not sure if I'm invited :)

weekend.

After looking through all my pictures from the weekend, my days seem filled with food and alcohol. I'm not complaining, and I'm honestly not all that surprised. I do love the weekends :)

On Friday night, I finally got around to using my stove. Can you believe I have lived in my apartment over a month and not used it at all?! My microwave was definitely getting a workout. After scrubbing the burners and pans extensively, I was ready for Stuffed Peppers redux. I used pretty much the same recipe as last time but boiled the peppers to soften them up a bit and added some enchilada sauce. Kurt added tons of hot sauce to his. They turned out pretty good. I plan on experimenting more with the filling and making them more often.

After dinner, Kurt and I went to Der Kommissar for a beer. It is relatively new, so we wanted to check it out. It seemed like more of a restaurant, so we'll have to go back and try the sausages sometime.

{artwork by Kurt}

Several weeks ago, Kurt and I were at the grocery store near his apartment. It's pretty much a normal store (albeit heavily stocked with Polish items) but they have an extensive beer section. They even had a wide variety of canned beers we had never heard of. From there, the beer can party was born.

Ideally I would have liked to represent Alabama and find some Good People. Alas, I doubted any NYC stores would carry it but admittedly I didn't look very hard. While we couldn't find Ohio beer either, Kurt decided to represent with Iron City cans from Pittsburgh. I ended up with Sly Fox Weisse from somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Sticking with the theme, Kurt grilled a beer can chicken along with lots of other meats and vegetables. He tirelessly manned the grill all evening. Thanks, Kurt!

On Sunday, as the first step to recovering from the beer can festivities, I demanded requested that Kurt and I get brunch at an actual restaurant. We went to Bar Toto and sat on the sidewalk. It was such a lovely day. Kurt and I split a meat, cheese, and veggie plate as well as a pesto pizza. Sorry I was too focused on devouring them to take a picture.

I had the cooking bug, so I decided I was going to make pork tacos for dinner on Sunday. I dusted off my crockpot and got a big hunk of pork. I slow cooked it with onions, chicken stock, orange juice, and spices for about four or five hours until the meat was shreddable.

Kurt came over before his coop shift to share them with me. We layered some meat, salsa, lettuce, and sour cream on corn tortillas. Yum! I've got tons of meat left over and contemplating my first attempt at a Cuban sandwich sometime this week :)

(last) weekend.

What?! I missed a weekend?! Jeez. I am so behind on this blogging thing. Anyway, I'll keep it short and sweet with some pictures.

1. Drinks with Kurt at 12th Street Bar and Grill.

2. Celebrate Brooklyn concert series for Erin's birthday celebration. Junip playing at the Prospect Park Bandshell.

3. A beautiful, simple, and lovely wedding in Williamsburg.

4. Champagne and a delicious meal on the roof to celebrate Jenn becoming a licensed architect. 

5. Rooftop view from 731 to the harbor. If you look really closely, you can see the Statue of Liberty. I love summer so much.

weekend.

1. Coon spotting in Kurt's backyard.

2. I walked around Lowe's for about an hour and the only project I came up with was swapping out the single handle in my kitchen space. Pathetic. I know. It did spur me to start planning lots of other design moves in the apartment though. As soon as I get my butt moving I will share them.

3. My first gay club! After celebrating Christine's birthday at Revival, I joined a few friends (and several gin and tonics) to go dancing at Splash. It was totally fun!

4. Polo match on Governors Island. Everyone was dressed to the nines. I enjoyed watching the outfits more than the horses. The "famous" people I spotted: Whitney Port, Lauren Santo Domingo, and Olivia Palermo. Turns out I missed tons more though!

5. Our response to an overly posh day at the polo match? Down home cooking in the Kurt's backyard. The Brothers Martig outdid themselves again with Polenta, Sausage, Peppers, and Mushrooms smoked on the grill. Delicious.

UPDATE!!

Speaking of famous people, we were featured on GQ's website for being stylish trend setters at this weekend's polo match! Some might say we are just in the background, but I like to think it was my bright green sweater that helped us stand out. Thanks, GQ, for recognizing all our hard work :)

(memorial day) weekend.

Who cares that June 21st is the actual day? I am happy to announce that summer is finally here. The days are long and sunny. I no longer have to wear a jacket or carry a sweater with me everywhere. Tights and socks have officially been retired for many months. All is right in the world again.

We've started observing summer hours at work, so I got out early Friday afternoon which made an excellent start to a long weekend. (Memorial Day is the first holiday I've had since New Years Day! Needless to say, it was a long spring.) I took advantage of the beautiful afternoon and took a ride up to Prospect Park. I got in some reading, lounging, and general people watching. Interesting kids names overheard in the park: Gidian, Quincy, and Sebastian.

After the park, I met up with Kurt and we decided to have dinner at the 12th Street Bar and Grill (we had a coupon, of course). We shared a salad and crab cake, which was delicious albeit small, and had a couple beers. (pardon my unintelligibly dark photo...still waiting for that fancy camera donation)

Kurt's friend Thomas decided to come down from Boston for the weekend, so we did a lot of hanging out in the backyard. Kurt was overjoyed to fire up the grill, so we had a barbecue Saturday and Sunday night.

I organized a beach trip out to Rockaway Beach on Sunday. Jenn, Christine, and I took the train out while Kurt, Christian, Thomas, and Kristin rode their bikes. The beach was pretty busy with other people celebrating the beginning of summer, but we still found a pretty nice spot on the sand.

One of the deciding factors in making Rockaway Beach our destination was Rockaway Taco. They serve delicious tacos and quesadillas alongside Italian ices a block or two from the boardwalk. Apparently, they are expanding this year and other popular restaurants from the city are setting up beach vendors. Great. Tons of delicious food is exactly what I don't need when I am at the beach.

Kurt and I both got fish tacos and split some plantain chips with salsa and a cucumber salad.

yum.

I admit it. I am a big chicken. I stuck my toes in the water and decided it was too cold for me to get in. A few others were brave enough to dive in while I stood on the sidelines documenting. From left to right: Jenn, Christian, Thomas, and Kurt.

Looks like fun. Give me a call when the water is 15 degrees warmer. How I miss the Gulf of Mexico...

Train ride back over the bay as we took our sunburned selves home to prep for the second cookout of the weekend. I will take a little red skin over my typical ghostly paleness any day.

Monday evening we took in a Mets game at the new Citi Field. I found a coupon (I told you I have issues) for cheap tickets to watch the Mets take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Kurt and I saw the Yankees play last year, but had yet to support our other NYC team (although Kurt was definitely cheering for the Pirates).

Kurt and Christian on my left.

Christine and Jenn on my right. A good group.

Since it was Memorial Day, the game was heavily centered around the armed forces and there were tons of uniformed fans at the stadium. They even did a flyover at the end of the National Anthem (a la Auburn).

One thing that makes baseball more exciting: food. We stood in line for quite a while to get burgers from the famous Shake Shack. They were good but overhyped. Not pictured: my delicious vanilla milkshake which was definitely worth the wait.

From the train platform heading home after the Mets defeated the Pirates, 7-3. 

Phew! What a weekend....and hooray for a 4 day work week!

weekend.

Sorry the weekend update was a little delayed this week. I've been a busy bee (more details to come in a couple days). I would also like to give a shout out to my parents who finally got power back today. They were some of the lucky ones, and my heart goes out to all the folks in Alabama affected by the recent storms.

On a happier note, we took a new and exciting field trip last Friday. While I adore Brooklyn, travel to Manhattan everyday for work, and never mind hopping on the ferry for a quick trip to Staten Island, I can't say I spread my love evenly to all NYC's boroughs. However, this weekend, one of Andrea's coworkers was having a birthday celebration in Astoria, Queens at the Studio Square Beer Garden (I'll have to catch you some other time, Bronx!)

There is a huge outdoor space with tons of picnic tables. The whole place was kind of strange and corporate, but it was still a fun time. Hey, where else can you get a bucket of fries?! They were a bit stingy with the chili though...

Once it got a little chilly in the courtyard, the gang stuck it out under the heaters. It's not quite summer yet :( But I'm not complaining! At least it is bearable to be outdoors for part of the day.

{image thanks to Jenn}

The one downside of Queens is that it is a little out of the way. After the beer garden, we wanted to go somewhere in Greenpoint. I'm the only loser that doesn't ride my bike to work which made getting from point A to B a little tricky. Christian volunteered to ride on the panier rack of Kurt's bike and let me use his bike. I was terrified of falling off the whole time because you lean much farther forward than on my bike, but Christian was a champ and rode side saddle all the way to t.b.d. Thankfully, I was able to ride in the safety of the G train home.

Saturday morning, I got to peek in on one of Kurt's projects under construction in Brooklyn. His firm designed a large rooftop space for an apartment building on Dean Street in Prospect Heights (Common and Serena Williams supposedly live there!). There are some amazing views of Brooklyn from the roof and a up-close and personal vantage point of the new Atlantic Yards stadium which is currently under construction.

{image thanks to Kurt}

Saturday evening, we met up with some friends at a bar near Kurt's apartment called Quarter. They are well known for their signature cocktails and have a great outdoor space which was perfect for the lovely day. Somehow we always end up with a large group, so we pulled a few tables together and proceeded to play a few rounds of Catch Phrase (as per usual). Some bars that don't serve food are nice enough to let you order in, so we got a few pizzas from down the street and hung out until the backyard closed.

After Quarter, we took a quick detour to Korzo and Kurt convinced the bartender/kitchen to serve him a bowlful of coleslaw. It is one of his many obsessions.

Kurt and I also took care of some projects in his room over the weekend. For obvious safety reasons, Kurt wanted to relocate his bikes from hanging on the ceiling above his bed to a corner mounted on the wall. After a trip to the bike shop, we decided a fancy hook meant for holding a bicycle on the wall was unnecessary. We rigged something up with hooks Kurt already had and some scrap wood....and a few prayers. I'm not sure we really hit any studs, but apparently it hasn't fallen yet. We added a few extra screws for good measure. I'm still a little wary. 

We were on a DIY roll and Kurt's skis were begging to be hung on the wall too. After some online perusing of racks, we decided to make our own using the same principle as this model. Look at that pride!

We used some more scrap wood from Kurt's backyard (we were going for the rustic, ski lodge look) and put this beauty together. Check out those concealed connections! That is what I am most proud of :) I think it turned out great. If you are in need of a Martig/Graveline ski rack, please send your orders our way!

Phew! Is it the weekend again yet?!