A popcorn afternoon

What do you do when you don't have a conference room in the office big enough to hold the whole company? Have the meeting at the movie theater down the street, of course!

What do you serve when you hold a meeting at the movie theater?


It was my first "Town Hall" meeting and I have to say, I was impressed! Our CEO, Founder and several senior executives presented about the state the business, FY 2011 objectives and their ultimate visions for the company. The afternoon was informative and thanks to the hot, buttered, movie-theater popcorn, very tasty!

Delivery!

I just happened to be walking from my desk to the bathroom this morning as the Costco delivery man was unloading the elevator.


I couldn't possibly watch him unload six boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats without making a snarky comment, so I said, "Wow! I can't believe we go through that many boxes of cereal in a week!" And he answered back, "Sweetheart, this'll be gone in a day and I'll be back here tomorrow with the Kashi Go Lean Crunch and Frosted Flakes!"

Not pictured are the two crates of grapes, five crates of peaches and two crates of apples that were already transferred to the kitchen before I got back with my camera.

People, please, please, please buy some discount clothes and support my company's eating habits! Let me know if you need the link.

Swirls on wheels

In New York City, just about every restaurant offers delivery service. Although I rarely order delivery (I'm more of a take-out gal myself) there are several places that I've only ever ordered from and never set foot in. Given my surroundings, I wasn't surprised when I saw this sign pop up outside the local Pinkberry:


Really? Pinkberry is known for getting soupy during the walk from the counter to the swanky seats ten feet away. What kind of refrigeration system is the delivery guy carrying around that will enable him to deliver fully frozen ice cream to my door in this 90 degree weather? I might actually have to order one day just to test it out...

Patiently waiting for the end of the wave

This miserable NYC heat wave must come to an end!! I can take the weather, that's not the problem. Case in point? This sign posted by our elevators that has now been there for three full days!


Yes. You read that right. My elevators (the three that are currently in service) aren't working. They are fatigued from the heat. The building plays it off like this is totally normal but let me tell you, I'VE NEVER LIVED IN ANOTHER BUILDING WHERE THE ELEVATORS DON'T WORK WHEN IT'S HOT OUT. I've lived in tall buildings all my life and I can't ever recall a time that one malfunctioned due to humidity.

So the buttons on the elevators don't work. If you want to call the elevator, you have to hold the button down until it arrives. And when you get in to go DOWN, every single button is pushed. When you get in to go UP, every person has to hold down the button for his/her floor. It's like a sick game of Twister.

And these "long waiting times?" Let's just say that I can walk the 18 flights of stairs faster than it takes to wait for the elevator to come and then stop on every floor. I'm getting quite the workout from taking the stairs each and every time I come and go. Especially one morning last week when I got all the way downstairs and realized I left my laptop and lunch upstairs.

I promise that, come winter, I will NOT complain about being cold.

P.S. I am not the one the building is thanking for patience.

Island dogs

We ventured to Coney Island today for our 2nd open water swim (my third, including the Pancake Triathlon). And it wasn't as bad as the first two! I never felt like I was drowning in the water or suffocating in my wetsuit. At one point, I did think I saw a shark fin but it turned out to be another swimmer. I left the water feeling a bit more confident about next weekend. Sunday is the real deal. It's finally in the 10-day forecast. And it's supposed to be sunny and warm.

After the swim, I met up with a Brooklyn friend on the boardwalk. We played in the surf with her dog (until we were told there's a fine for bringing dogs on the beach) and then ate a famous restaurant called Tatiana. Apparently it's in all the movies that are filmed at Coney Island. After lunch, we walked back down towards the subway. At a certain point, my Brooklyn friend said to me, "OK, we're crossing the crazy line." I didn't totally understand what she meant but apparently the Coney Island/Brighton Beach boardwalk is divided into two distinct areas. The family/locals area and the "crazy" area. And sure enough, as soon as we crossed the line, the crazies came out.


At one point, we ran into a woman with two tea-cup Yorkies. One had pink hair and the other had blue hair. We asked her why and she said, "Because pink is a girl color and blue is a boy color" and looked at us like we were the idiots. She also had a dog stroller with her and said that she has to put diapers on the dogs when they are in there so that they don't pee. And then I ran back to Manhattan. Where people are normal. Hah!

Fashion faux pas Friday

It's hard to tell in this picture but this poor girl's dress was completely see through. My bosses and I were walking cross-town after our happy hour adventure and we trailed her and her friends for a full block.


I tried snapping pictures at multiple angles but it really photographed better than it looked.

Play me, I'm yours

Some of my faithful readers will remember that a few months back, I posted about my obsession with the painted cows that were dotting various city sidewalks over the course of several years (Chicago, New York and Brussells). Well this year, it's not cows.




It's pianos. And they say, "Play me, I'm yours." And people do. All over the city, groups of people are huddled around passersby who have stopped to play a tune. I passed a group in Herald Square singing Christmas Carols earlier this week. Who doesn't like singing about a Winter Wonderland on 100 degree days? Although I could have made a stink. Where were the Hannukah songs?