Dispatches from a go-gettin journalist. Because not all Army wives live behind the lines...

Sunday, July 31, 2011

The World is Your Stage

When you feel like you've lost inspiration in the Apple -- or even just writer's block -- chances are you'll stumble upon something that will reaffirm that anything is possible.

For example, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. An entire Shakespeare production... in an East Village parking lot.

No, but really though. It's an actual production. With unionized actors. And legitimate acting (from actors that got their degrees from my Alma Mater!). And it draws a crowd of curious and "in need of inspiration" Appleites.

My cousin Yaman (a better Appleite than I) recommended that we check it out, and I'm glad we did!



That's Hamlet...
The whole experience got me thinking... forget those people who say you can't do something! And forget that little thing in your head that says, "If only I had more... then I could do..."
Hamlet just played out in two parking spots in the East Village. Get inspired.

In the Apple -- and out -- you can do whatever the heck you want. There is no one two three go.

Monday, July 25, 2011

What If

This morning, our FRG received a letter from the battalion commander of Superman's unit about life in Afghanistan -- it's going well.

Remember that if all went "according to plan," Superman would have been several months into a deployment by now. But it didn't (depending on whose plan you're going by). So he isn't. Still, sometimes I do catch myself thinking, what if?

Instead, we're here in the Apple, enjoying our first year of married life and thinking about how good (and necessary) it was for us, for our relationship, that we are "together" during our first married year -- even though we didn't know it then.

Initially, when the letter dropped into my inbox, a quick thought ran through my head: how the heck was I ever 'okay' with Superman being gone for the first year of our marriage? But I guess that's the Army wife in me -- we just take what's handed to us and make the best of it.

Well that, and maybe because I'd never experienced year one of a marriage, I didn't conceptualize how life-changing it would be.

Of course, we think about his unit every day. We get updates from a couple of the soldiers every so often, and I make it a point to get involved in our FRG as much as possible. We've been through a deployment and we know what it's like. There's no explaining it. Until you experience it, you will never know what it's truly like. But I get it. I understand.

That's why I thank God that He gave us a shot at our first year of marriage. It has taught me, among other things, that it's a different kind of love to know that we would have been 'okay' to have spent it deployed.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Bright Side

The bad news: Both B&N and Borders are closing in our neighborhood. This means, there are no more bookstores left in our neighborhood. Not even mom-and-pop ones, since they were shut out by the emergence of the commercial ones.

On the bright side: This means that all the books in these soon to be goner stores are on sale. Big time.

So I finally got myself a legitimate "take me seriously" recipe book, so I will no longer have olive oil stained papers and notecards scattered all over our kitchen counter.

Many Applites don't cook. Some eat out. Every day. In fact, we found ourselves falling into that pit recently, and had to rein ourselves in.  And on nearly bare bookstore shelves, there happened to be tons of fill-in-your-own recipe books to choose from. Guess there's not a huge market for that here (more for me!). 


Recipe #1 -- Steak tips.

Take me seriously, people.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Our Newest Addition

One trip to Kusadasi, Turkey, a handwoven carpet presentation, and a convincing seller later...

We are now proud owners of this:



Dear Apple, meet Turkey.

A new carpet -- made from natural lamb's wool (no artificial dyes that you normally see on Turkish carpets). This is our first purchase of a carpet. Growing up, there wasn't an inch of ground in my house that wasn't covered with beautiful carpentry. So you can imagine that this is a huge deal for me and my family.  Now, I think Superman has caught the "carpet bug," since he says he doesn't want to stop there...


We've been saving a little place for it, right beside our bed. And it finally just arrived from Turkey! 


I am not a fan of hardwood floors (at all!!!!) so this is a Godsend.
To me, home is squishing my feet in softness.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Feta

I am convinced that all problems can be solved by Greek food.

While Apple-ites are debating whether restaurants should disclose calorie counts on their menus, and even provide a healthy rating scale for eateries, you can just find me in Athens, dunking my head in a bowl of feta.

At one point, I decided to keep eating -- not because I was hungry, but because the food tasted so amazing.
I've realized that food is one of the most delicious and affordable things you can get in Europe. And it's probably one of the things that I miss the most -- especially since now that we're back in our Apple neighborhood, we're realizing that the closest grocery store is Whole Paycheck, and no matter what Gelato bar we go to, it just doesn't compare.  

I'm beginning to think that our magical Greek experience is going to get us in real trouble in the real world.



Monday, July 18, 2011

Project 52(23): Summer

Week 23: Summer



This summer, we're not messing around.


Well, besides climbing to the top of Mount Etna in Sicily...

Monday, July 11, 2011

We're Back!

Recovering from our pre-1 year anniversary trip! Details to come.