Lights, Camera, Action

Cory is hard at work on his movie while talking on his cell phone with Evan. Evan is working on the last song needed for the movie. Cory hopes to send it in to Tribeca early next week. Up in the right hand corner you can see Cory's closet. Cory had to get creative in order to hang up all of our clothes. His clothes hang on the water pipe on the ceiling.


It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the city. These pictures were taken on the side of the Macy's building in Harold Square. Did you know that this Macy's is the largest indoor store in the World. It was also the Macy's in "Miracle on 34th Street." I have only been in the store once even though I walk past it a lot. Cory will go in the store only to ride on the old wooden escalator.
I love how the Empire State building changes colors every night.
In the bottom left of this picture you can see the big sign that reads "World's Largest Store" in case you thought I made it up.

Diamonds and Ice

We found ourselved walking through the Diamond District today. We knew we were here because literally everystore that you could see for blocks were jewerly stores.


We took a break from walking to check out a "W Hotel" that we had never been in. We liked the big seating area. There were soft seats, good lighting, good music, lots of books to read, and apples to eat in case we got hungry.
This is a view of the Upper East Side of the city overlooking Central Park's resevoir. Do you notic the seagulls?




We spent a few hours reading books at Barnes and Noble before Cory had his tutoring session. One the way home after tutoring we came across the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. Lincoln Center had a lot of festivities tonight to celebrate the lighting of their Christmas tree. In one of the booths was the coolest New York gingerbread house I have ever seen. It was of the "Chrysler Building". Here is a picture of the first snow man made of ice we have seen. I can't believe I will be living in snow in a month or two. I think it will be fun as long as I survive the freezing temperatures. Hot cocoa anyone?

New York Pictures

Cory and I went to church together, then I had to go off to work for the day. Here are five New York pictures from today.

Good free stuff? Maybe it was, but now it is trash and yes that is "poop"

Many Mouse and Lump Biscuit

The store window displays here are really creative. I am not quite sure what "Chanel" is going for with the many pimped out mouses in a cages. Maybe they are trying to say that even a mouse looks good while wearing "Chanel."


Here is another display, but this time the decorations are much simpler. They are saying, "It is winter and Chrismas is approaching, so buy are things."
In the free bin at work I got a box of gluten free all purpose baking mix. So, I tried to make bisquits for Cory. Here is a picture of my second try. They are edible but they are not great. Is it my recipe? The glass pan I am trying to bake them in (I don't have a cookie sheet)? Is it because they are gluten free? Help!

Thanksgiving

I went and watched the 80th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning along with a million other people. I had a great seat in the bleachers near the start of the parade. It rained through most of the parade, but I was prepared with warm clothes. Cory was nice and toasty in our bed back home, but I showed him all 100 of the pictures I took to help him feel like he was there. Here our a few of my favorite pictures.

For Thanksgiving dinner we went to the "Cosmic Cantina." It didn't feel like Thanksgiving without our family and great food but we still enjoyed the day.

Hong (The guy who we sub-let from) took us to his gym tonight. Cory and I spent our time in the pool. It was wonderful. We really miss the water. Cory and I were both water polo players in high school.

Tonight we are going to watch a movie and relax at home. I hope everyone had a great day. We love and miss you and we are very thankful for you all.
The baloons are bigger than I had imagined. They were flying them nice and low. Snoopy is so cool.

Charlotte's Web was my favorite book as a young girl.

I saw a lot of celebrities but Julie Andrews was my favorite. She is riding high on the goose.

Garfield has always been apart of my family because my brother Phil was so into Garfield that he named our orange cat "Garfield." Our cat Garfield was not a very nice cat but he did live a long time and when ever we moved houses he was the cat we wanted to get lost but never did (we always lost the good cats). I don't quite remember what happened to him.

I liked the colors and I want that set of rings for the kids room.

Another reason why it would be awesome to live on Central Park West (My back was to Central Park).

Scooby Doo. Another cartoon character that Philip named one of our animals after. This time it was our dog Scooby that practically raised me. He was the best dog ever.

Me and Cory at dinner.
The swimming hole.

Thanksgiving Eve, Thrift Store Day, "The Drink" recipe

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow everyone. It will be weird not being home with our family.

Tomorrow morning I am planning on waking up at 6am to go and stake out a spot to watch the 80th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade ends near our house on 34th Street, but I am going to watch it near the start. This way the parade will last 1 1/2 hours instead of 3 hours. I will try and get some good pictures for you.

Today was "Thrift Store Day." Every Wednesday the Salvation Army has "Family Day," where all of the clothes are 50% off except one of the colors. We have a route that we follow that includes 4 stores. Today I bought 3 pairs of pants (one of them are 7 jeans) and 2 vintage purses. Cory bought 4 cool t-shirts.

"The Drink"
2 Tb. Grade B Maple Syrup
2 Tb. Lemon Juice (not from concentrate)
1/10 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper (a little more than a pinch)
8-12 Ounces of Warm Water

Dizzy Lizzy

Cory has been working a lot on the "Garrett" movie. It is almost finished. In this picture you can see Cory working on the movie in his computer room. Cory also happens to be in the kitchen, living room, and bedroom. I am standing in the corner of the room on our bed.

I spent a lot of time in bed today. I went to work for a few hours but I had to leave early because I felt so bad. I was light-headed and dizzy. It started last night. Dr. Shelley thinks it is a combination of things. Cory made me the "drink" and I did what the doctor said and I am feeling better.

I am in the process of listing items on Ebay. I already have one up now and in a few hours I will have a few more. I am listing things that Cory has found in New York. If you are curious you can look up our items by my seller id (annieberry66).

First Day Back In New York

Friday was my first day back in New York. For lunch we ate at a new Thai restaurant on 9th Avenue. Then we went to a Salvation Army on 46th and 11th Ave, where I bought a comfy pair of "7" jeans and a cool new purse.
We left the thrift store and headed to the Museum of Modern Art. We passed by the "Naked Cowboy" who loves to pose for pictures.
Over in Rockefeller Center we watched all of the people ice skate. The huge Christmas tree is up and lights are being put on. It is interesting to see how it is done.


Over at Nintendo World, Cory tries out a new game. Nintendo has come a long way. I still have my gameboy that Tommy and I bought together from the old Hanford K Mart. The first game I (me and Philip) ever beat was Bugs Bunny. Phil, do you remember that?

Cory and I walked around all six floors of the MOMA. There are a lot of cool things to look at.

The most popular painting seemed to be "Starry Night," by Vincent van Gogh.
Cory met a girl in the subway who is a concert pianist. We went to Juilliard to watch a dance workshop that she was playing in. The dancers are really good.

The Jet Blue Experience

I went Grandma Asta and Papa Tom's house at 7:30 Thursday morning. Grandma Asta and Shelley drove me to the Oakland Airport to catch my 1:15 plane. We had a lot of fun talking and laughing our way to the airport. We arrived around 11:30 and the left for their home in Marin.
I quickly learned that my flight had been delayed due to a storm in New York. I finally boarded the plane around 2pm. It was a very long flight. I enjoyed the views from my window. It went from sunny views of California to beatiful clouds, snow topped mountains to city lights. The rain looked really neat from my window. When we finally got to New York we had to cirle around in "airplane holding" waiting to land at JFK. We finally landed, but it was a very rought last half an hour of the flight. It was too much for my stomach to handle if you know what I mean. After we landed the flight attendant was very nice. I really do recommend everyone flying on Jet Blue. They might loose your luggage, delay your flight, or make you throw up, but all these things just add to the wonderful "Jet Blue Experience."
My loving husband was waiting for me at the subway stop and we finally made it home at 1am. It is nice to be back in New York with Cory.

Last Day In Town

Wednesday was my last day in town and my last chance to hang out with my family. My first stop of the day was at Grandpa Clayton and Grandma Darlene's house. Then, I went to Gradman Lois' house for a visit. In our picture I am holding up the 5 loaves of fruit cake she made for Cory for me to bring back to New York.

I visited with Lyle and Dottie as we packed my luggage. I had to carefully pack all the fruit cake and the cookies Lyle made me (it all made it to NY in perfect condition). I met up with Tommy and Shelley at the Thai Kitchen in Hanford. I fell in love with Thai food in New York, so I had to see what the Thai food was like in Hanford.

Grandma Asta made a lovely salmon dinner for me, Papa, Melissa and Jason.

After dinner, Melissa and I went shopping at Gottshalks in Hanford. Then we met the rest of the family at Allyson's parents house (they conveniently live around the corner from Lyle and Marlene's house) to watch Allyson and Phil open wedding presents.


After all the nice wedding presents were opened I went back to Lyle and Marlene's house to say goodbye. Marlene and Dottie posed for a picture.


My second to last stop was at Carol and Stephen Stone's house. Carol was my 2nd grade teacher and one of my mom's best friends. She still teaches 2nd grade and she takes her students on a "Trip Around the World." I brought her New York postcards and tourist brochers for her to give to her students. Carol and Stephen have two cute Scottie Dogs. In the background are pencil drawings of her two son's Matthew and Peter of when they were kids. Peter lives in Queens and is an actor. I will be visiting him in Queens very soon.

I really enjoyed my time with family and friends. Of course it is never enough time, but I am thankful for the time I got.

A Wild Bunch

I went to the home of Mike, Tasha, Ian and Evan Wilds. They are good friends of ours. Evan was born 8 months ago and Cory and I got to hold him a couple of hours after he was born. He was so tiny and there is nothing like holding a new born baby. Mike was heading off to work, but he took a minute to handcuff his family.
I went to Lyle and Marlene's house where Lyle made me a snack. I always enjoy the great meals that he makes. I am really thankful for the great In-Laws that I have. I love being Mrs. Bruce.

I went to the Bray's. Dennis made a batch of boba balls so we could have Boba Tea. Dennis, Cory, and I love Boba. We can't wait for Dennis to open a Bobo shop up.
Aimee Bray smiles as she hugs here Christmas Tree and drugs. She has had the flue since Sunday.



I went to my Dad's house for dinner. In the picture you can see Melissa, Asta, Tom, Jason, Robert, Philip, Allyson, and Jill. Philip and Allyson have had a long weekend after the wedding. Getting married is a lot of work. They surprised me with a birthday cake. I love my family and I am glad that it keeps on growing.

Tasha and Evan wave "Bye, Bye."