Amber's Great Escape to New York City

They Say, You Cant Have Just One!

2010-01-09T21:06:00.002-05:00

Since I recently jumped onto the Etsy bandwagon, it only seems right that I start a blog for my store! My new blog PicturesqueBrooklyn will feature store updates as well as all of my DIY home projects that have gradually started to take over this blog.

I am really looking forward to sharing on my new blog and all of my upcoming projects I have planned for this year!

http://www.picturesquebrooklyn.blogspot.com/

My New Etsy Shop is Up and Running!

2009-12-21T20:13:00.004-05:00

Check check check it out! Ive started my very own Etsy shop this last week, www.etsy.com/shop/PicturesqueBrooklyn. There are only a few items up now, but it will soon be filled with lots of wonder vintage glassware, wood, handbags and handmade wall art for the home. Keep checking back for new stuff and help spread the word about my shop!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
PicturesqueBrooklyn.etsy.com

Suzy Homemaker: The 2009 Brooklyn Edition

2009-12-01T04:37:00.005-05:00

Time for change at the apartment...my year lease was up November 1st and Dave planned to move out with his boyfriend. I of course was going to renew, so I went on a search for a new roommie. Luckily I found an awesome girl who met all of my requirements, that recently moved here from California.

I started cleaning and organizing the apartment the minute Dave moved his stuff out. In the last month Ive spent most all of my free time decorating the apartment or thinking of other cute ways I could decorate. Ive made several trips to IKEA and of course found some really cute things such as a new desk, wall art, shelving, along with other random nick nacks. I also found a really great Mid-Century Eames error foot stool on Ebay for cheap.

This last week I stained my birch colored Pello chair to match the rest of my living room furniture. This was my first staining project, the color matches the rest of the furniture pretty nicely, but I just wouldn't look at the quality of the job too closely since I was a little sloppy with my 7 coats of stain :)

I still need curtains for the kitchen, that has been a long ongoing search. But for the most part, I think the apartment is pretty close to finished, now I can just sit back and relax.
Pics below, enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T09:36:00.004-05:00

Unfortunately I won't make it to the parade today due to work, but I definitely have a lot of wonderful memories from last year to last me for a bit. But on the bright side Im not a vegetarian anymore, so I get to enjoy turkey this year...wahoo!

I wanted to take a second and reflect on some of the things I am thankful for...Im thankful for my family back home, thankful for the wonderful memories and daily reminders that I have of my Nanny, for my pup Chili Palmer, my beautiful apartment in Brooklyn, for my super fun J O B and my ideal schedule, for great friends back home and here in New York, for not having to drive a car or buy gas EVER :), and thankful I get to see the beautiful Manhattan skyline on my way to work everyday...lucky girl!

Hope everyone has a great Turkeyday!

Fall Bliss

2009-10-25T17:54:00.008-04:00

Today was such a beautiful day, sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s, definitely the kind of day that must be enjoyed outdoors. I decided Chili and I would go to the Brooklyn Flea, underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, to spend the day. So I dressed CP up in a snazzy blue Cosby sweater and we headed downtown.

Right when we walked through the main gate of the flea, we stopped to chat with a very nice Aussie couple who were visiting New York on holiday. They told me about their Chihuahua/Maltese mix back home and how silly it was and about the different foods they tried at the flea. Then they pointed out a camera crew just about 4 feet away from us, who were following a blonde woman around. The couple said her name was Martha, but they didn't know who she was. I realized it was the one and only Martha Stewart as soon as she turned around. I explained to them that she was a talk show host and a master crafter..I left out the part about her going to prison for a year over the Enron stock scandal :) I said goodbye to the lovely couple, snapped a couple pics of Martha and was on my way.

We walked around the flea, checking out all of the goods and stopped by our favorite pastry tent for a brownie. I saw a ton of cute stuff, but nothing that really jumped out at me as a must buy. I did buy a cute little Brooklyn Based tote for $8, but that was it. We ran into Martha one more time, I wouldn't have even noticed it was her standing right next to me, but her two French Bulldogs were making a huge scene barking at a another dog in front of us. Luckily CP was safe in my arms or he too probably would have suffered the wrath of Martha's ferocious Frenchies.

We left the flea and headed into DUMBO to spend some time in the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Before entering the park we walked through an adorable mini farmers market, but the only thing that really caught our eyes was a small pumpkin pie tart..yum. We found a nice warm spot to lay on the steps of the park alongside the river. We had the most amazing view as we were located between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge and directly across the East River was downtown Manhattan. I was so overwhelmed just thinking about how much I loved living in New York (Brooklyn especially) and how lucky I was that I was to be able to take advantage of this beautiful day, I swear I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

After enjoying a couple hours at the park, laying on the steps and people watching, it was time to head home. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect fall Sunday afternoon. If the weather is nice, I think I will venture out again tomorrow.

Martha Stewart

Man's best friend...Chili Palmer

Family photo :)

Michelle's NYC Bachlorette Weekend

2009-10-25T13:10:00.000-04:00

Im just going to do a quick photo recap of my October visits. The first weekend of October I had my sister and some friends from Jacksonville up for my dearest friend Michelle's bachlorette weekend. There were about 8 girls that came up, they all stayed at my hotel, and 3 of us that lived here. We did lots of shopping, eating, drinking, and dancing. We had a good group of girls together and have so many great memories from that weekend.

Moms October Trip

2009-10-25T13:00:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks after the girls came up for Chelle's bachlorette weekend, Moms came up to NY for a 3 day visit. She got here just in time for the cold weather to start rolling in :) It has almost been a year since her last visit, so Chili was extremely excited to see his grandma.

The first day she was here I took her to the Natural History Museum, walked around Central Park, the Top of the Rock, and dinner at Stickey Rice. The next day we had breakfast at a little cafe near my house, then went to do some shopping at Macy's, and a dessert lunch at Downtown Atlantic in Brooklyn. On her last full day we went on the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour. Unfortunately it rained the entire day so we only went to Liberty Island to see the statue. Later that night we laid in bed, watched movies, and ordered pizza, this was nice since the rain took away all of our energy.

We didn't get to do as much as I wanted to due to the weather, but we still had a really nice time together. Looking forward to her next trip up!

Friends, US Open, and Stretch Limos

2009-10-16T12:51:00.003-04:00

The 2009 US Open was held here in New York, August 31st - September 13th. I was really excited that the tournament was here and had planned to buy a ticket and go solo. I sent an email to my tennis coach and friend, Brecht who lives back in Jacksonville, to see if by chance he had any plans on going. He didn’t really have any solid plans to come up for the tournament, but said it was something he had always wanted to do. So he and our friend Jessica booked a flight to arrive September 8th.

When they arrived that morning, I was just getting off my night shift. I headed over to meet them at their hotel in Queens, which had scary hallways that looked like the Shining :) Brecht booked a double room so I could crash at the hotel with them. We slept for a few hours and then headed out to the Open early that afternoon. The stadium grounds were very impressive. The first thing we saw as we walked towards the main entrance was an amazing huge steel globe sculpture surrounded by fountains and beautiful gardens. Once we walked into the gates, we were standing in front of a huge arena and to the sides of the arena were other small courts and restaurants.

We immediately went to get drinks and a ton of food. Then made our way to the seats, which were awesome! We had a great view of the courts and the weather could not have been more perfect. The first match we watched was Cilic vs Murray. After the match, we took a walk around, ate more food, and found the practice courts. There we saw Serena Williams, Federer, and McEnroe practicing side-by-side. It was so amazing to see them all practicing on the same court, I was in awe. After exploring the grounds a little more, we headed back to the hotel to get some rest.

Once we were all rested, we got ready and headed down to the lobby to order a town car to drive us into the city. The concierge arranged for a car to pick us up, but instead a white stretch limo pulled up and agreed to drive us in for the same price as the town car, talk about lucky! We had the driver drop us off at Rockefeller center. We had a couple of drinks at the very cute Rink Bar and then went to the observatory at the Top of the Rock. The views were absolutely beautiful that night. Afterwards we had a really nice dinner at a restaurant near time square and headed back to the hotel. The next day I headed off to work and they flew out to their next destination.

I had such an amazing 24 hours with Brecht and Jessica. The US Open was a memorable experience that I will never forget. I'm so glad I was able to enjoy it with friends. Pics below, enjoy!

Passing of an Amazing Woman

2009-10-06T04:00:00.001-04:00

Last Wednesday, September 30th, I received a phone call at 10:30 p.m. from my sister with news that my grandmother had passed away. This has been a very sad time for everyone in my family as she meant so much to all of us. I wasn't able to make it down for her service, but In my absence the church pastor read this letter that I wrote to my grandmother. I know that she is in a better place now and free of pain. She will be forever remembered as a great women.

"To my Nanny,

You were an amazing woman and I always looked up to you. You were a great dancer, singer and pianist. When you flashed that beautiful smile, your eyes lit up so bright. When you left the house, you were beautiful and always dressed to a Tee. Whenever you held me in your arms, my heart melted and I knew everything was going to be ok. I looked to you for advice and you were always so wise. You encouraged me to go after what made me happy, because happiness was all you ever wanted for me. When I moved to New York , you would tell me how proud you were of me for going after what I wanted. You helped to mold me into the person I am today and for that I am truly thankful.

The last time I spoke to you, was just a few hours before you passed. I told you I loved you and you whispered it back to me. God knew he was taking you and he graciously gave me the opportunity to say my goodbyes and I love you before you were gone. You don’t know how much those last words mean to me. I wish I could be here with my family today to celebrate your life, but I know regardless of how many miles we are apart you are smiling down on us all.

Nanny, I love you so much and will keep you in my heart forever.

Love always,
Your Amber Faye"

Happy Anniversary NYC!!

2009-09-21T14:27:00.003-04:00

I made it!! One year ago today, I packed 3 bags, jumped on a plane, and moved to New York City. I didn't have a place to live or know exactly where I would work, but I knew I wanted to make my home in Brooklyn and wanted to work in a hotel in Manhattan. I did exactly that, I have an apartment and a job that I love so much. Chili and I officially survived all of the seasons and loved every minute of it. I am looking forward to all that the next year brings.

Cheers NYC!

DIY Fun!

2009-08-17T06:08:00.001-04:00

Man its been a while! My summer has consisted of lazy days at home and in the park, working day and overnight shifts, walks with Chili Palmer, Brooklyn flea markets, watching movies, obsessing over the Twilight saga, homework, and home improvements.

Over the past months, I have made a couple trips to IKEA for a little home shopping. I bought three DIY 19 x 19″ wood frames for $4.99, a new duvet cover, some pillows, and a few other random items.

So the idea was to make inexpensive wall art to hang over my couch, by taking the three frames and covering them with different pattern fabrics. I made three separate trips to Ikea with no luck at finding three different patterns that I liked. FINALLY last Saturday I had pattern success, Ikea stocked up the fabric section and I was able to find the patterns I liked. I bought two patterns at $7.99 a yard and the third was $5.99 a yard. When I got home Saturday night, I spent over an hour putting together the 3 frames. I spent all Sunday afternoon cutting, ironing, stretching, hammering, bleeding, and hanging my new wall art. I absolutely love the results and I love that I paid only $37 for everything.

Below are some pics of the wall art project and of my new bed spread. Enjoy!

Long Walks and iPhones

2009-06-20T17:32:00.002-04:00

This morning Chili and I woke up bright and early to go pick up my new iPhone from the AT&T store in the Lower East Side. After we left, we stopped by work to say hello to everyone and then we decided it would be a great idea to walk over the Williamsburg bridge and catch the bus on the other side. We had a nice walk over the bridge for the most part, we were almost run over by people on bikes a couple times, but other than that the weather was so nice and the city views were amazing. Unfortunately we were denied the bus ride home, so we had to walk the rest of the way. It was a nice 3.5 mile walk, which worked out because we both needed the exercise.

Here a couple pics I took with my fabulous new iPhone, enjoy!

Shake Your Tail Feather!

2009-06-18T18:23:00.001-04:00

I swore off tattoos after my 3rd one in 2002 due to the extreme pain, but in the last year I have gained a little courage and have had a itch for some new ink. I knew that I wanted to get a peacock feather tattooed on either my back or the side of my ribcage. There is no real story behind the feather, just that peacocks are beautiful and prideful and so am I...HA! I researched several tattoo shops and artists here in New York and ended up at Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with guest tattoo artist Henry Lewis from San Fransisco. During the tattoo a Chinese tv show came in and asked permission to film us and even interviewed me about all of my tattoos. Thank goodness I will never get see the show and how rediculous I sounded :)

Henry was super funny, very nice, and OBVIOUSLY an amazing artist. It was just as painful as I remembered, I whined like a baby the whole time. It came out better than I imagined and even more colorful, bottom line I LOVE it and Im ready for more soon!

Spring is in the Air!

2009-04-24T14:12:00.001-04:00

I have officially survived my first New York winter. I thought that if there was one thing that would scare me out of NY, it was definitely going to be the cold weather. Luckily I enjoyed it, I didn't mind the wearing the big coats, gloves, scarves or even the snow. But let me tell you, as much as I enjoyed it, I am SO happy that spring is here. The leaves on the trees and the beautiful spring flowers are growing back. The weather has been amazing, beautiful sunny skies and temps around 65 on most days. This weekend it is actually going to get up to 80 degrees!! This weather makes me want to spend every moment outdoors.

Last week I took Chili Palmer for a nice walk in the neighborhood. I took pics of the blooming trees and a few of some of my favorite buildings. The architecture here is amazing, its one of the main things that made me fall in love with NY before I moved here. Enjoy!

My New Love

2009-04-14T11:53:00.009-04:00

I recently got my very first DSLR camera, the Nikon D40. This week I went to Union Square and also took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry to take some pictures. I am still trying to figure out all of the settings on it, but so far I love it!

The Staten Island Ferry and Statue of Liberty

Union Square

My House

Amy J. Bailey Photography

2009-04-08T18:32:00.007-04:00

While in Florida last month, my girl Amy took some pics of me for her portfolio. We took pictures outside of an old abandoned hotel in downtown Jax and at two parks along the river. We really had a fun time with it. Here are a few, Enjoy!

The View From My Roof

2009-03-20T20:07:00.006-04:00

When its nice outside I always try to take advantage of the city and sky views from my rooftop. Here are a few pics, enjoy!!

December 2008

March 2009

February Trip to Jacksonville

2009-03-20T19:37:00.008-04:00

Here are some pics from my February trip back to Jacksonville. It was so good seeing everyone again!

The opening of the Lemon Bar!

Me as the Naked Cowgirl at Beth's Cowboy and Indian themed birthday party ;)

Dinner at Tacolu's with family and friends

Leaving sunny Jacksonville and coming home to snowy New York

January Trip Back to Jacksonville

2009-02-19T15:44:00.007-05:00

On January 23rd I made my first trip back to Jacksonville since I moved up here in September. I was there for 4 full days and had an absolute blast with everyone. It was awesome to spend time with all of my friends and family.

While in Jax I had lots of dinners, lunches, drinks, did some shopping, stopped by the law firm I used to worked for, went to the movies, Robyn's birthday party at the Compound, got mani/pedis with moms, had my sister dye my hair a reddish brown color, and last but not least hit a car while driving my grandmas car ;) Luckily my finder bender was very minor, but it definitely made me appreciate public transportation and confirmed that I never want to drive again. The weather was so nice, I was running around in short sleeves and flip flops, which is something I haven't done in a long time. Below is a slide show of my pics from the trip, enjoy!

My short trip to Florida really made me realize how much I LOVED New York City. I used to think I would stay here for a couple years and then bounce around to other cities, but now I think I may be here for a while.

I am making another trip to Jax next week for another 4 days trip. I am excited to see everyone again so soon!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

Sunset on the Brooklyn Bridge

2009-02-19T11:13:00.005-05:00

About a week ago I took the bus to downtown BK and went for a little walk on the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset. The sky looked amazing. I snapped a few pics, enjoyed the sunset, and then headed back home. Enjoy!

Goodbye White...Hello Color!

2009-02-05T22:17:00.009-05:00

Here are the before and after pics of my kitchen and dining area. The walls were WHITE!!!!! So first we painted the kitchen blue and the back wall a golden yellow, but it turned out to look like a country kitchen. So then I went back to Home Depot, which luckly is only about four blocks away, and got a nice light brown color. There are still some white walls in the living room, but that will soon all change and I will post more pics of that as well!

And here are pics of my bedroom. It was also totally white, so I painted it a nice beige color. Its very cozy now, Chili and I are quite happy here.

More Snow Fun!!

2009-02-04T17:11:00.003-05:00

Today Gabe, Mac, and I went to beautiful Prospect Park to walk around and enjoy the snow. We walked along the many paths of the park, built a sad little snow man, made snow angels, and chased Mac around. There weren't a lot of people out, so we basically had the park to ourselves. Check out the pics and videos of our snow day excursion!

2009-02-04 prospect park

Wrap It Up Already!!!

2009-01-18T21:34:00.006-05:00

Ugh...I am totally slacking with the blog I know. So I am going to just try to wrap up the last couple weeks of December real quick!

After my dear sweet sister left, I had one week to myself and then prepared for more visitors. First my girlfriend Laura stopped by in route to Jacksonville from Rome, Italy. She flew in to NY on Wednesday, December 10th. Once she arrived we hung out at my house, then went into the city for drinks. The next day we woke up semi-early and ventured out into the city in the rain. Laura applied to some colleges here for Law school so we went to Columbia and NYU to look at the campuses. The schools were beautiful, we had a nice time walking around and checking everything out. We then headed over to Time Square, took some pictures and then we were off to our next stop, Central Park. We had a lovely time walking through the park in the pouring rain and again snapping more pictures. I believe we were the only people in the park that day. So after our Central Park photo op we headed to FAO Schwarz. Laura and I roamed the toy store like we were little children and even made virtual Barbies of ourselves.

While Laura and I were roaming the city that day, my mother and aunt Linda were on their way to NY from Jacksonville. When they arrived in NY, we had them meet us up at FAO. We hung there for a while and watched the BIG piano show. While we were watching, my aunt notice the famous t.v. chef Emeril who was also watching the piano show with his son. Once we were done at FAO, we headed back to my house so Laura could hope back on the big white bird and headed to her final destination Jacksonville. It was a fun 24 hours and I was glad to see her even if it was for a short amount of time. So once we sent Laura on her way, my mother, aunt and I all went to dinner at a cute little restaurant in Brooklyn called Olea. It was just a short rainy cab ride from my house, the restaurant wasn't crowded so it was a nice cozy calm place to have dinner. We all enjoyed our food, and then went home to sleep. The next day I had to work early, so my mother and aunt road the double decker bus tour and roamed the city. When I got off work I met them up and we went to Rosa Mexicano uptown. After dinner we went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starting the Rockets. The show was really good and really got me in the Christmas spirit. Saturday we woke up and had brunch at the Coffee Shop diner in Union Square. After brunch we did a little shopping in Century 21 and then it was time for me to head back to work. While I was at work moms and Linda went to see the Broadway show Boeing Boeing. Sunday was their last day, so I took them to one of my favorite breakfast spots, Tiny Cup cafe. We had a nice breakfast full of laughter and tears, then it was time to send them off once again.

2008-12-16 mom and first real snow

For the rest of the month I focused on work and decorating the apartment. I had a nice Christmas Eve with Gabe and worked all day Christmas. So thats the end of the year wrap up!

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap!

2008-12-25T11:04:00.014-05:00

Its the beginning of the new year and its been a while since I have really updated the blog. Things have been crazy as always here with work, having visitors, and the holidays. In the next week or so I am going to try to get up to date with the last events of 2008.

Thanksgiving day I woke up early and went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Gabe. We watched most of the parade and had a really good time. It was fun to see all of the giant floats in person, especially after watching the parade on t.v. for as long as I can remember.

Later that evening my sister Amy came up to spend the weekend with me. I had to work most of the time she was here, but when I was off we really made the best of it. We shopped and ate ALOT! The first night she came in I had to work, so she went uptown and checked out the Christmas decorations near Rockefeller. The next day was Black Friday, so we went shopping in the city and ended up finding some great deals. You will see in our pictures that we ate at several little pastry and sandwich shops around SOHO. Later that day I took Amy to my favorite happy hour spot, Verlaine, for some Lychee Martinis. The Lychees were delicious as always and the bartender kept them flowing and he even threw in a complementary Tequila shot. Next thing you know we are quite tipsy and shoe shopping in Macy's. After our long and crazy day, we decided to stay in Brooklyn and have a Thai dinner at SEA. The dinner was really good and the restaurant was very cute. After dinner we went to Public Assembly and Bembe for some drinks and dancing. The next day we went into the city and had a yummy Mexican Brunch at Mercadito and then went out for more shopping. That evening I had to work again, so Amy met up with her good friend Jen. When I got out of work we all met up and went to a couple little bars on the Lower East Side. Her last day here we met Jen and a group of friends at the Good restaurant...it was good! Afterwards, Amy, Jen and I went and did a little more shopping before I had to go to work again. The next day Amy hopped on the big white bird back to Jacksonville.

As always it was great to see a familiar face here in NY. Amy and I had a really fun visit and Im looking forward to her next trip up here!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....

2008-12-21T11:13:00.005-05:00

In the past month there have been a couple of light snows here and there. It would snow for a couple of hours and melt before I could even enjoy it. Friday, December 19th I came to work wearing heels and had no idea there was even a chance of snow. Around 10:00 a.m. the snow started coming down really fast. Before long the awnings and the streets were covered and workers were shoveling snow. It was a beautiful sight to see. Luckly I had a another pair of shoes in my locker and didn't have to wear my heels home :) Three days later it has been snowing on and off and there is still snow on the ground. It is really starting to feel like Christmas here in New York, I love it!