No. 32 -- The Higline Park

Today, I was able to scratch off number 32 on the 36 Before 37 List. MBE said that I needed "some human contact" after my long, four day weekend alone since all my friends were out of town. So, we headed over to the Highline Park in his neighborhood.

It's pretty darn cool. They've made the walkway run between and around the existing rail road tracks, kept a lot of the wild flowers that were growing there naturally and made plenty of seating areas. One of the coolest is shown above. They are these wooden lounge chairs with wheels that rest on the track! Another cool spot is an overlook with stadium bench seating facing a glass wall so that you're sitting over the street watching the traffic.

Besides this, my "human contact" for the weekend was being part of the crowd along the Hudson River here in the 'boken to watch last night's fireworks. I decided to go late and chance getting a spot so I didn't have the best vantage point but I still got to see more of them than I have in previous years.

It was funny...Hoboken was a zoo! The traffic was crazy and there were people still riding around looking for parking, dropping people off and double parking until the end of the show. I left a bit early to head home and there were people running towards the river from Washington Street to see the finale. Crazy. I'm sure just on parking tickets written last night the City Council can now balance the budget.

Happy 4th of July!

I'm preparing for tomorrow night's Macy's Fireworks on the Hudson River. Over the past few years, the fireworks have all been on the East River and I could see very little of them from the park or river front here in Hoboken. When I first moved to New Jersey, there was a barge down by the Statue of Liberty but it has since moved around the tip of Manhattan closer to Brooklyn. If you had access to a rooftop you could see some of the fireworks, but low clouds and rain have obscured the view in recent years.

But at last! They are back within view...all thanks to the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson discovering the Hudson River. Thank you Henry Hudson.

Busy Bee and a Picnic

I feel like I've been MIA for a while, but in reality it's only been a few days. It's so much harder to blog regularly since I'm back at work, but I won't complain about THAT. A paycheck is a wonderful thing and I like my job and co-workers. We tend to have a lot of fun.

The above picture is from last Tuesday...we had a lot of fun that day. Our department hosted a picnic in the park with food, softball, volleyball and the Good Humor ice cream man. Woohoo! Since I lack a certain amount of coordination, I refrained from participating in the sporting events and instead participated in making sure I sampled all the food

I was also the sponsor of a volleyball team (some would say mascot) the "Little Balls of Hate". I somehow got the nickname of Little Ball of Hate while traveling for work a few years ago. We've since shortened it to LBOH. I'm okay with that and I was very proud to have a volleyball team named after me. Not only that, my team...er, our team...won the picnic volleyball championship! They got trophies and tickets to the Mets / Yankees baseball game that weekend. Go Little Balls of Hate!

3 New Authors - Done!

No. 34 on the 36 Before 37 list is DONE! This was an easy one for me...to read three new authors.

I just finished Tuscany for Beginners by Imogen Edwards-Jones and must return it to the library soon. It was a fun, easy summer read but it vaguely reminded me of another book I've read, I can't remember which.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen was amazing and I'm on the wait list for her second book over at PaperBackSwap. It's not your normal chick lit type of book and it's not normally a book I would read. It's got a hint of fantasy to it although I hate to call it *fantasy* because it doesn't really fall into that category. I found myself caring for the characters and was completely engrossed in this book.

The final book is Dixieland Delight: A Football Season on the Road in the Southeastern Conference by Clay Travis. This book CRACKED me UP regularly, but I guess if you're not a football fan OR an SEC fan or even possibly from the South, you might not find it as funny as I did. lol We have a love - hate relationship with all the other schools in the SEC, that's just how it is and how it is for all the other SEC schools. Clay was kind enough to make fun of everyone equally. From "Bama Bangs" to refuting the idea that "LSU Fans smell like corn dogs" it was a pretty funny tour of the south. I first encountered Clay over at CBS Sportsline when he was blogging his tour of the SEC and found it hilarious...

Now, off to scratch more things of the list!

The Tigers Win!

Image via: The Advocate / Mark Saltz

The LSU Baseball team brought home their sixth National Championship last night after beating Texas 11-4 in the College World Series.

Their first was my first year at LSU back in 1991. I remember it because my brother-in-law's cousin Gary Hymel played catcher and Paul Byrd was the star pitcher. Thus, my love affair with LSU baseball began. Sure, the National Championship lured me in as a fan, but going to the games kept me as a fan.

Anyhoo, after watching last night's game, jumping up and down, woo hoo'ing and heaven knows what else my poor neighbor had to put up with, I eventually settled down and fell asleep with Tiger Dreams floating through my mind.

GEAUX TIGERS!

A Birthday Party and Yummy Cupcakes

Despite all the rain, yesterday was a good day. I took NJ Transit out to visit Christina and her family and friends so we could celebrate her birthday. When we arrived, her sister was putting the icing on the amazing chocolate cupcakes in the photo. They were pretty darn tasty, I enjoyed one with a scoop o' ice cream (vanilla). Normally, I could eat more than only one cupcake, but alas, there were Bucky Balls! Oh, how I love the Bucky Ball...all peanut buttery and chocolate goodness. Anyhoo, I had my fill of burgers, fruit salad, cupcake and ice cream and Bucky Balls. Ymmmmm. :)

Pixie Life Lesson 1

Some lessons in life you only need to learn once. This one however, I seem to re-learn every summer...

If the subway car is empty during rush hour it means:
1. there is no air conditioner working in that car
2. there is a very smelly person in that car

or, the most noxious of all

3. there is no air conditioning AND a smelly person in the car

In that case there is only one option: Abort Mission Commute immediately.

Reasons to Eat Ice Cream For Dinner

1. One should feed a cold. Right?
2. It feels good on a sore throat.

Reasons NOT to eat ice cream for dinner...

The immediate sugar crash that follows.

36 List Update

So, a little over a month into this year's 36 Before 37 List and I've scratched another thing off (see this post). I've also added two more things in green below (numbers 32 & 33). Not looking too bad!


36 Things To Do Before 37: A Pixie Plans Her Year
01. Volunteer my time
02. Go to the Bronx Zoo
03. Visit the Cloisters
04. Travel internationally
05. Ride the Roosevelt Tram
06. See Guys and Dolls on Broadway (with Lauren Graham)
07. Ice skate Wollman Rink
08. Ice skate Rockefeller Plaza rink (I mean, it is right there)
09. Go to the top of the Statue of Liberty
10. Take an art class
11. Blog frequently
12. Read 3 non-fiction books (I tend to read only fiction)
13. Catch up my photo albums
14. Take a photography class
15. See the Lincoln Center Tree (tried last year, but there wasn't one)
16. Save more money...
17. To try and buy a condo
18. Finish painting the bathroom
19. Continue my Green Pixie ways
20. Go to an LSU football game
21. Read 3 more classic novels
22. Have "Tourist Day" around town
23. Go to art galleries
23. See the mummies at the Brooklyn Museum
24. Remember birthdays
25. Wean myself from continuous Facebook-ing
26. Eat at Craft
27. Continue trying to eat my way through the Zagat NY Guide
28. Picnic in Central Park
29. Perform Random Acts of Kindness
30. Continue my Subway Stop Tour
31. Return to Louisiana to see my family
32. See the Highline Park
33. Tour the hospital ruins on Roosevelt Island
34. Read 3 new authors
35.
36.

Guys And Dolls

So, going to see Guys and Dolls was on my list of things to do. Christina and I had plans of going next month once work got a little less hectic but she saw that they were closing the show this weekend. So, with a little last minute scheduling and some cheap seat tickets we got to see Lauren Graham and Oliver Platt as Miss Adelaide and Nathan Detroit.

I loved the show! I'm very much a fan of musicals (just ask anyone about my Sound of Music obsession). I was very impressed with Lorelai Gilmore, um, I mean Lauren Graham's Broadway debut and enjoyed every bit of it.