Invisalign Tray #14 & Other Bits and Bobs

I hadn't posted my Invisalign #14 yet -- here they are, about a week in.  One more week before tray #15.  I also went in for a cleaning today, so these photos are without the Invisalign trays...

Life in Park Slope continues apace.  We continue to organize and try to get through our punch-list items, which we know is a long process that will test our patience; we still have no real place to sit, since our couch arrive late October/early November and we've sold all our old dining chairs.  Everything kind of appears in the "midst" of getting there..... and while I confess to sometimes wondering if we're doing this all wrong, if other "grown-ups" are able to move-in much more readily than us, in the end I am comforted by knowing we're happy in the apartment, in our own way.  It's a new experience, owning a place we will live in for the foreseeable future.  There are no 12-month leases.  This long-term commitment aspect of actually owning our own place prompts me to consider each aspect slowly, steadily and carefully.  Not being fully settled-in with all basic furniture sometimes gives me the sense that the place feels very cluttered, or feeling disorganized, as if I could easily miss something because my systems aren't in place.  But these feelings are off-set by the new-ness and choice in everything.  For instance, I love when we find that perfect little basic, functional item in a form that still seems to capture our spirit and approach to home decor.  Little by little, detail by detail, we hope to put together new home, in our own way.

This is our recent purchase -- James the Door-stopper.  He goes very nicely with our Moby the Whale floor cushion.

The sunsets we see from our balcony are terrifically stunning, and it has become one of our favorite pastimes -- watching the sun go down together.

2-weeks in Park Slope

Silliness is key to persevering through some new condo headaches...

Tomorrow is the 2-week mark of our new Park Slope living.  We love our neighborhood, and we truly feel this move has been a good, timely transition for us.

There are the headaches of property ownership, of course -- construction of a new condo building like ours is often rushed to the finish line, which leaves the new owners to deal with the chips here, scuffs here, missing handles, etc.  It's a test in perseverance, follow-ups, and patience.  The management company has been pretty responsive, although according to the new tenants' discussion board on-line (very useful), different people seem to have different experiences.  We're learning to take the long-view on things.  Not all the units are finished in the building, so at least it's easy to get a hold of someone in the construction team, who all seem quite nice.  David has been a meticulous recorder of all details-to-be-fixed, and I have taken on the job of emailing the management company in the most clear, firm yet polite and diplomatic manner possible.  It's team work.

One of the biggest problems we faced was a leak in the apartment.  Apparently there was a design flaw in the roof, which meant the penthouse units suffered some unforeseen leaks.  We got some water in the living room around the window, and then a large puddle appeared in the master bedroom.  We appealed to the sponsor/management and will get our floors replaced, and they have agreed to do so... which in the end is a nuisance, of course, but far better than worrying about possible mold down the line.

So it's one thing at a time.  But hey, we plan to be here a while.

We're still not very organized -- in part because we need to purchase a few items, and in part, we've opted to just "live in the space" before going crazy buying things or trying to force-find a place for every little thing.  I think this is a good approach for us.  It's funny -- when we live in a different country for work, I MUST unpack completely and set myself up before we start work.  I guess I need to make a (temporary) "nest" immediately to get going in a new/foreign place.  But here... well, it's ours, and if we're going to spend money on something, I really want it to count.  And I need to get used to the space before I figure out how I want to live in it.  I've re-arranged the kitchen numerous times already.  Still figuring it out!

And because the kitchen is not quite fully set up, I haven't done much cooking.  I finally made a lamb roast last night, which was delicious, and I plan to make a roast chicken tomorrow (sticking with roasts for now, still getting used to the massive marble counter top and not being afraid to use it).  In the mean time, we have eaten at various local restaurants, and we can't believe how lucky we are -- there is a wide array of restaurants we'd always wished were near our home: i.e.  casual, authentic Italian, good French brasserie, locavore New American, modern Korean, cheap, delicious Thai, etc. etc.   We're loving dining out in Park Slope.  And we can walk everywhere!  It is a welcome change to dining out.

Here are some of the restaurants we love in Park Slope so far....

- Al Di La -- Possibly one of the best Italian restaurants we've been to in NYC.  Lovely wine bar in the back, which serves spicy fried chick peas as a bar snack.  I dream about these chick peas, they are incredible.

- Bar Tano -- Our favorite very casual, very low-key Italian.  Great small plates as well as entrees, great pizza, great atmosphere.  Open all day and late night, which we love.

Eggplant Involtini at Bar Tano... it's a starter dish, it's fantastic, and David and I each need to order our own because it's too good to share.

- Applewood -- Always changing, always delicious, always inventive.  Good brunch, too, but dinner is where the magic happens.

- Stone Park Cafe -- Very chill, nice outdoor seating area.  Solid New American cuisine, very local and seasonal produce.  David loves the margaritas here.

- Moim -- Great modern Korean food.

- Kappa Sake House -- More a sake bar than a full-fledged restaurant... but we love it for the sake, of course!  And very authentic Japanese home-cooked dishes.  Excellent gyoza and grilled fish dishes.  We've already befriended the owner, and we shall be there quite regularly.

- Belleville Bistro -- Good, solid, hearty French brasserie.  Excellent French Onion Soup, which is one of those standards I crave sometimes.  Also excellent duck confit.

Adventures of Closing & Moving, Fueled with Plenty of Wine

David and I closed on our condo August 13, and moved a week later on August 20.

Closing day -- after the whole business with various lawyers and signing piles and piles of papers and handing over a big chunk of money we never knew we had -- was an euphoric experience for us.  After we closed, we made our way to Park Slope and set foot in our condo as official OWNERS for the first time.  We took with us a bottle of champagne and fancy glasses, and had a blast frolicking about.

Perrier Jouet on our very own balcony terrace!  It was a hot sunny day, perfect for celebrating in the bright apartment.

It's a good idea to stretch before frolicking...

... and turning around along the long living room....

... Oh, look!   There's a Vegemite by our Viking range!  

... And TimTam's in our brand new fridge!

(We thought it would be funny to take some Aussie specialties as first items in our new apartment.  Items courtesy of Craig and Maria Wood.)

Following the closing and the celebrating, we had to buckle down to reality and finish packing up our Manhattan apartment.  The week leading up to the move was quite exhausting.  Packing, packing, packing, all day and night, followed by wine, repeat.  Who knew we had so many dishes and glasses?  And so much STUFF in general?!  Where did they all come from?!

David became an expert bubble-wrapper of fragile breakables.  These are snapshots of our final packing efforts in our now old apartment in Hell's Kitchen...

And then we were off to Brooklyn!

Goodbye Manhattan, hello Brooklyn!  (View onto Manhattan -- with downtown Brooklyn on the right and Jersey City on the left -- from our Park Slope balcony.)

The movers were fantastic, and the move itself went very smoothly.  We arrived in Park Slope with all of our belongings (as far as we know, anyway) -- except for our plant, which somehow never made it across the borough.  I don't know if it died in transit (the movers warned us that they don't usually take plants because they could die in the truck due to the heat), or it jumped off the truck because it was so deeply a Manhattanite plant and did not want to come to Brooklyn.  Anyway, although we mourn its disappearance, David and I have concluded that it did not want to move to Park Slope with us.

Here are the boxes neatly moved into our new condo (not all belongings shown).

A big thanks to Robin, who helped us on the moving day and has been a stellar friend in this process -- because of David's knee situation, it would've been very difficult without his help.

These boxes are ALL kitchen-related items.  And not even pots and pans, which are in bigger boxes and not shown here.  We have a lot of kitchen stuff.  (Moby our whale is very happy with the bigger floor space.)

Sunset multi-city view... we can see the subways going by... all very beautiful.  We love the kinetic, full-of-motion view.

Sunset over the harbor, the other view from our balcony.  Just stunning.

We have a lot of unpacking to do, along with organizing, sorting, and making sure items on our punch-list are taken care of and fixed by the construction crew.  Everyone has been very nice so far.  Although there are bound to be teething problems in a new condo like ours, we are so grateful for the space and the VIEW.  We step out onto the balcony as often as possible.  It's our very own sanctuary.

And even though I worry that I will forever live amongst boxes and bubble wrap, these moments of fear are fleeting and manageable, given some good cheer, a GREAT partner, and a lot of wine.

It got chilly the last couple of days, but that hasn't stopped us from bundling up and sitting outside to eat our take-away dinner looking at the city.

Here we are, Brooklyn-style!

Photo tour of the whole place, soon!!! xoxo

Invisalign Tray #13 & Moving

Last night I put in Invisalign Tray #13.  They are tight around the recessed tooth, as expected.  It's oh-so-close before that recessed tooth fits over the bottom row of teeth!

In other news, we have moved into our new condo.  This Invisalign update is from Brooklyn!  AMAZING!  So much to do, of course, but stayed tuned... will post photos very very soon.

Condo Owners!

View from our balcony -- an amazing view of Manhattan, New Jersey, Staten Island, and Brooklyn... and yes, that is Lady Liberty right in the middle.  Gorgeous.

David and I closed on our Park Slope condo on Friday.  We are officially condo owners!  We hadn't written a peep about it here, for fear of jinxing some kind of property-purchase fortune.

We are so so happy with our new apartment.  We move next Friday, and we can't wait!

More details soon...!

A Hair Cut & Fried Chicken

Today, David got his hair cut.  It does not sound like news, but it is for us, since it has been about 5 months since he last got it cut.  Because of his knee brace/crutches situation, we hadn't been able to muster the energy and need to get his hair cut until today.  And the hair cut today was inspired by the fact that he needs to process his US passport and he did not want to take a passport photo without a hair cut.

I must say I really liked David's shaggy hair look, as did our friends.  Our doorman even said that he was sporting a "rock star" look.  David would not normally follow my opinion of his look/do/fashion purely on its own (ever suspect that my perception has been dulled/blinded by love), but the overwhelming public consensus for his look hair has been very positive.  And so, when he finally went for a hair cut today, he asked his hair dresser to keep it on the long side.  Here are some BEFORE and AFTER photos:

Long curly-ish locks, side-view

Long locks, front-view.  The topless-ness is due to the heat-wave in New York.

Brand new hair cut.  He looks 10 years younger!  Still adorable.

I think he looks great!

In other news, I made buttermilk oven-fried chicken again -- this time with stronger spicing, and the chickens came out DELICIOUS.  We love this recipe!  Who needs KFC when you have this at home?!

Invisalign Tray #12

Last night I put in my Invisalign Tray #12.  The recessed tooth is now SO SO close to looking rather normal!  My alignment there is really changing, and it's at once weird, kind of uncomfortable, yet exciting.

Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy

By the by, I read all 3 of the Stieg Larsson books (known as the Millennium Trilogy) in less than a week.  Entirely addictive.  Now I don't know how to fill the book void... reading-life is strangely not the same... luckily there seems to be quite a few readers out there experiencing the same post-read void, and they are sharing books of interest, etc. on various sites and discussion boards.  I will have a look through tomorrow...

Invisalign Difference, Side by Side

I began my first set of Invisalign on February 9.  I am currently on my 11th tray, and have 5 more trays for my upper teeth before the scheduled "completion" -- although according to various blogs by people who have undergone the Invisalign process, adjustment trays are very common and the alignment continues beyond the given number of trays.

I have kept all of my trays, and tonight decided to see just how much adjustment has been made on my upper teeth... putting Upper Tray #1 next to Upper Tray #11, the difference is quite impressive:

On the left is my first tray -- basically, where my teeth began.  On the right is my current tray, where my teeth are at this moment.  Notice that the recessed tooth part of the tray is much more evident in the first tray, while it is less apparent in the current one.

Pretty cool!  Come on, teeth!

Oven-Fried Buttermilk Chicken

Yesterday I took "cooking what I crave" to a whole new level and made buttermilk fried chicken.  That's right, fried chicken.  Actually, I think at this point I am "cooking to indulge my vices."

I was inspired by a Food Network show called "Good Eats," which recently ran an episode on making buttermilk pan fried chicken -- as opposed to deep fried -- in an iron skillet.  It looked super easy, and I own a skillet!  I purchased my first quart of buttermilk and soaked the chicken over night.

It so happened that I'd recently come across a Ina Garten recipe for Oven-Fried Buttermilk Chicken, which looked good.  Basically, she fries each side of the chicken crisp, then finishes the cooking in the oven.  This method seemed better for my purposes, since I don't own a thermometer and baking would make sure the chicken cooked through.  Also, it's (if only a little bit) healthier than fully fried chicken.

The result last night was a complete success.  David already thinks we shall have oven-fried chicken every other day.  That would indeed be cooking to indulge, but I do think we shall have this oven-fried chicken again very soon.

Invisalign Tray #11

Today I went to the dentist and had 3 more "bumps" put onto my upper teeth.  These are the final "bumps" to be added to my Invisalign process.  The dentist also "calibrated" my teeth -- since they have moved quite a bit, my bite has to be adjusted so that my teeth fit over each other comfortably.  This calibration process involves slight teeth shaving, which is not the most pleasant experience.  My teeth will have to be calibrated once more at the end of the procedure.

I was also given 3 more trays, or 6 weeks worth of Invisalign.  Looking at these future trays, it seems my upper teeth will look virtually finished... which is hard to believe, because the recessed tooth is still visibly recessed... but here's to hoping for a big leap!

How We Survive the Heat-wave in NYC

David studies Japanese intently as he ices his knee.

David has steadily progressed on his at-home Japanese studies, and has learned hiragana and katakana -- the basic Japanese alphabets.  He found two other programs to use at home (one inexpensive program found on iTunes, the other free on the internet), and along with the Pimsleur lessons he has been using, made a big, big leap.  I am very impressed!  He is working on his reading and writing along side his listening and speaking, and having the building blocks seem to really help him.  Japanese clicks for David, and I am amazed by how he takes to the language so swiftly.

David wrote out "Tomoko" in Japanese.  Very sweet.

It's mighty hot and humid here in New York.  Really the hottest summer I can recall -- over 90 degrees, more or less, for the past week, and for the next week.  Yuck, yuck.  Staying indoors seems the best option.  For my free time, I finally picked up the Stieg Larsson books to read -- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the newest and the final book of the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  Several people have told me that they were good and that I should read them.  I finished the first book in about a day and a half -- an absorbing read, sort of like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but Swedish in nature, and with a Bourne Identity-esque spy/conspiracy quality thrown in.  I found it difficult to put down at night, in part because I'd scared myself senseless from reading it -- which is what happens when I watch Law & Order: SVU marathon late into the night when I am home alone and David is working out of town.  Even though David is home with me, he was already asleep by the time I'd gotten absorbed with the especially gritty part in the novel.  I finally put it down around 3am, and was certain I would have nightmares from the "unresolved" aspect of my unfinished reading.  Luckily I slept okay.  I'm now onto the second book.  I'm glad I have the entire trilogy already on hand, because it's one of those series that I prefer to get through all at once, so I don't have to wait for the next installment.

The funny thing about the Larsson books are the names and the food described.  The names are IKEA furniture names, and the food so very Scandinavian -- which makes sense, of course, since the story takes place in Stockholm and other parts of Sweden.  IKEA furniture, being Swedish, would obviously have Swedish names.  But it all just seems funny to me, since I've never been to Sweden and all I know of it, really, is IKEA.  For instance, there is a peripheral character in the book named "Malm."  Every time he appears, I can't help but think about how I used to own a chest of drawers named the Malm from IKEA.  When one of the characters went shopping in IKEA, I just had to laugh (and it's not a laughing kind of novel).  If I were of a more suspicious nature, I might even suspect an IKEA conspiracy here... product placement, perhaps?

We may be working in Sweden next year with DD, so I'd like to think that it might be culturally useful for me to read these books... although I suppose it is not the happiest and jolliest of impressions one might receive on the country and its people.

Random obsessions of the week: Steaz Sparkling Green Tea and Pinkberry.  I discovered these sparkling tea sodas, and I am hooked.  They are basically organic green tea, made sparkling, with a hint of natural fruit flavor (my favorites are orange and blueberry-pomegranate), and naturally sweetened.  I can't stop drinking them!  (Apparently these sodas are "zero calorie" - suspicious, yes, but I'll take it to excuse my drinking entirely too many of them every day.)  And they have cute, positive, empowering little phrases under the cap.

And Pinkberry... oh, Pinkberry.  We've known about its proliferation around New York for a while, but we'd never tried it.  Now David and I are both quite hooked.  It's a frozen yogurt chain popularized in LA, which made it out to New York about a year or so ago.  There's one 2 avenue blocks away from us.  I picked up medium sized bowls of the original flavor yesterday afternoon -- David with various chocolate toppings, me with fruit -- and this afternoon, we craved another go.  I can see a habit forming... and Pinkberry delivers!!!  But I on principle do not want to get involved with getting frozen yogurt delivered to our home -- it just seems excessive.  And even though in this heat wave delivery seems like a good idea,  I stuck to this principle and walked the 2 avenue blocks for Pinkberry again today.  David has requested that next time, I get him the large size.

Invisalign Tray #10

Tonight I begin my Invisalign tray #10.  I had a lot of trouble putting on the upper-tray -- the angle seems drastically different, so it took me a while to figure out how to align the tray with my teeth.  They're in now, and will probably be difficult to take off..... hopefully my teeth will adjust a bit overnight, so that I can take them out without too much hassle.  My dentist gave me a special dental tool to ply off the trays if necessary, but obviously I'd prefer not to have to carry such an instrument around and use it every time I eat.

When I go back to the dentist in two weeks, I will get more "bumps" put on, to continue to move my teeth around ("bumps" are fake nodule-type things the dentist puts onto a tooth to help apply pressure in a specific direction/angle to move individual teeth).  It seems that the 11th trays are more tricky and are in two parts... not sure how this works, but more on that in two week's time!

Best Thoughtful Present EVER

Ever since we've had a very domestic period due to David's injury/recovery, I have been amazed at just how much vacuuming I must do on a regular basis.  Our apartment seems to get dusty and full of random crumbs at rapid pace.  I feel as though I am always vacuuming -- to the point that David must convince me that I could wait until tomorrow to do so, I've just cleaned yesterday.   I blame this vacuuming-compulsion in part to the construction happening nearby -- there is a high-rise apartment building going up a block away, and this can't help the air-quality and floor-cleanliness.  In another part, I know that the shock of the vacuum-needy-state of our apartment is heavy on the fact that we are, simply, not used to being home so much, ALL THE TIME (and we eat in front on the TV, on our couch).  Today, I was received the most considerate birthday present, given our domestic-state/requirement of things: an iRobot Roomba.  It is a robotic vacuum.  It cleans, and it is very clever.  I can't believe I didn't think to own one before.  It is AMAZING.  I am charging it now.  I can't wait to unleash it onto our apartment tomorrow.  Hooray!!!  No more defeated pulling out of the vacuum cleaner for I-think-I-better-vacuum-yet-again moments!  I shall now unleash a robot onto my floor to do the job.  MOST AWESOME DOMESTIC MACHINE EVER.  Thank you, Robin!

Pool Rehab

Today we went to our apartment building's brand new indoor pool for some rehabilitative swimming time for David.  Although not a fan of chlorination, David had a nice time beginning to "walk" underwater and doing some exercises -- his orthopedic surgeon and his physio thought it would be good to include some underwater, less weight-bearing exercises.  Luckily for us, our apartment building very recently unveiled an indoor pool.  Today was the first time we'd been to it -- fortunately, we picked a great time and it was completely empty.  While David splashed around doing leg exercises and swimming a bit, I read a book poolside.  It was very relaxed and lovely.

A Newly Minted American Citizen

This morning, David received his US citizenship!  He now has dual Australian-American citizenships.  The ceremony took place in a new courtroom downtown, and it was a lovely affair -- an incredibly diverse group of people, supported by family and friends, celebrating a momentous event in their lives together.  The judge who officiated the ceremony was warm and wonderful.  She teared up throughout her welcome speech to the group, and explained that the event always made her emotional.  It was a special event indeed.

After the event and just outside the court room, volunteers were on hand to help the newly minted US citizens to register to vote -- so David did just that and is ready to vote!  Next up, getting his US passport processed!

We are now citizens of the SAME country.  We started off with no country in common... this immigration process has been a long journey, and we are so happy to celebrate David's additional citizenship.

Happy Fourth of July!

The big Fourth of July fireworks were again on the Hudson River this year -- which meant that we could actually see it from our very own bedroom!  No need to brave the crowds to see the fireworks.  Last year, we went up to the roof deck of our building -- but this year, since David is on crutches, we decided to stay in our apartment.  The view was perfect.  In fact, we preferred it to the roof deck, since we could hear the crowds downstairs -- viewing from the street -- and we felt very close to the action.

We were impressed how many people gathered around the streets near the river to see the fireworks.  Here's a snapshot of the crowds below our bedroom window.

To embrace the Fourth of July BBQ-ish spirit, I made us hamburgers -- build-your-own style.  On hand for toppings were caramelized onions with thyme, shiitake and enoki mushrooms, and tomato.  Potato hamburger buns.  David was very happy.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Why Jamie Oliver is a Genius

David gives dinner the thumb-up-okay signal.  Jamie Oliver's recipe is no-fail-no-fuss-delicious-amazingness

Today I cooked a slow-roasted lamb shoulder, following a recipe from Jamie Oliver's "Jamie at Home" cookbook.  Despite the long roasting time (4 hours), it is an incredibly simple dish (i.e. put-in-the-oven-and-forget-it) and the result was DELICIOUS.  After a few bites, David said, "Babe, this is amazing, I think we need to induct this dish into our regular line-up."  And I agree.  Easy, delicious, and plenty of left-overs for a home-made "shawarma"-ish experience tomorrow (I'm going to make yogurt garlic sauce and hummus, then wrap it all up in an organic spelt flour tortilla).  I think the cookbook is fantastic, but if you don't want to get a whole book or have it on hand, the recipe is found at this LINK.

To accompany the lamb, I roasted some golden beets (tossed in olive oil and mint) and quinoa with jalapeno and garlic.  Everything went together very well and we are both happy full people tonight.  It was the first time I cooked quinoa -- I cooked it in chicken stock, along with minced jalapeno and garlic.  Very easy, and the result was a sort of light and fluffy pilaf-like side-dish, which accompanied the lamb like cous cous, but in an airier manner.  I highly recommend it!

New Title

Today I received a draft copy of the new West End Dirty Dancing brochure.  In this new cycle of Dirty Dancing, I've been given a new title -- International Associate Producer.  Same photo, same biog, different title.  It's very nice to be acknowledged in this way, although it sometimes feels like "playing house."  One day one role, another day, a different role.  Not much has changed in real life (so far), but it looks cool on paper in any case.