Stay Tuned....

With my absence having been very long, I've decided to do a "Summer in Review"

stay tuned.....

Im so fast!

Sorry for the long absence, been a little busy trying to get healthy. Tomorrow would be race day for me, the day that I jump into the Hudson River and show it who's boss. Unfortunately, due to my current health situation (which we are still trying to figure out what that is) I will have to wait until next year to show the Hudson who's boss. I didn't want to miss out on everything, so I still went to the race expo and picked up my race packet. If nothing else, I get a new swim cap and t-shirt for my 6 months of hard work. I love race expos because there is usually a lot of fun things. I think I found my new cycling helmet here. I have a feeling its going to make me super fast. And in true race fashion, I give a nod to my friend Lucy by putting on my "gameface".

The best of luck to all my teammates GO TEAM!!! and my favorite team, GO APES!!!

Driving Skills

Anyone who has ever lived in or traveled to NYC has had the pleasure of riding in the back of a taxi. Now, being a back seat driver is something this Detroit girl had to get used to. Growing up in the Motor City I enjoy being behind the wheel of a car more than being a passenger. Its a control thing. Today I witnessed first hand why 1. I don't like cab drivers in New York and 2. why I like to be in control of the moving vehicle. I would never do this...

I'm happy to say that no one was hurt, but someone needs to send this guy to driving school.

Side Salad

There is a local Sushi joint that I frequent and they have a fantastic lunch deal. Two rolls, soup and salad all for a very reasonable $8. I began to laugh as soon as the salad was brought to the table.

Now Im no expert, but I'm pretty sure that six pieces of lettuce and a bit of salad dressing does not a salad make.

Got to love Mom and Dad!

So this whole being stuck in the apartment for the past 4 days is really hard on me, it's not the easiest on your spirits. Today I got a nice little surprise that certainly made my day a bit brighter!

The UPS man was so kind to deliver such beautiful flowers from my Mom and Dad :) with note attached "we just wanted to brighten up your day! Praying you will feel better and be yourself quickly. We love you very much Mom and Dad xxoo" They certainly did! I have the best parents ever!

Boring!!!

Once again, I'm sick. Not something I enjoy especially when your doctor isn't positive what's wrong with you. The order for now is bed rest. Something I use to think was the best thing in the world until I realized how hard I am to keep down. As soon as I feel a little better I want to be up and around and doing thing. As soon as I start doing too much, I feel sick again and its back to the couch. Oh well, I've got some books to read, some movies to watch, great friends that have visited, called, texted and its been keeping me as positive as possible. I miss the kiddies too, but they've called and wished me "get better soon" and my favorite, "I wove ew e-onn." Its hard to find exciting NYC things to blog about from the couch, but I've been getting my fill of the New Jersey Housewives all day. I think after today I've perfected the accent. Maybe the New York marathon will be on tomorrow. :)

Eye on the prize

Just a few short weeks and I will be diving into the Hudson to do my very first Triathlon. To give us a bit of inspiration, our team mentor gave us a little something to keep us motivated.

Team APES, also know as Angel, Paige, Erinn and Susan. July 18th is going to be here faster than we know it and what a great little push to make it to the finish line! GO TEAM (APES)!!!

Baseball love

I am in love with baseball and I experience such joy just being around the field. I was lucky enough to have two great baseball experiences this week. My beloved Tigers were in town this week playing the Mets and I was at friday nights game. My seats were so close that I could smell the sweat on the players. I was able to work an old connection and get my friend Giselle a ball from one of the players. Totally made her day. Head to toe in Tiger gear, we were good luck for our Tigers who won the game.

Saturday nights experience was a touch on the small scale but still very fun filled. Susan, Angela and I took the Station Island ferry over to SI to catch a Station Island Yankee game. With free food wrist bands, free hats and great seats, we had an absolute blast and enjoyed fireworks at the end of the game. I was overjoyed by just the smell of the ball field, its just bliss for me. Although the Yankees were not victorious, it was a fun evening filled with food and friends.

Polly want a cracker?

While spending a nice afternoon in the courtyard, the most random thing happened. This landed on my arm.....

Yes people, I am in Manhattan and not at a zoo. This is Lucy, our neighbor where I work and she is one of the friendliest birds I have ever met. She likes people and enjoys watching the kids play in the yard. She brought some fond childhood memories back for me of my Grandpa who always had birds and how badly I wanted one. He never had one as big as Lucy (at least not when i was alive) but they were always just as chatty as she is.

Just keep spinning, spinning, spinning, Just keep spining

Being that I am still restricted on working out, I skipped on my team swim tonight for a little shopping and sushi with Susan. We went to a great little sushi place where the fish were still swimming. OK, well not actually swimming but spinning around on the bar in front of us. I have to say, it was pretty cool. Sushi see, sushi eat. It was a great way to try pieces I've never had before. Somehow all I heard in my head all night was Dory from Finding Nemo saying "just keep swimming, just keep swimming"

Empire State of mind

After the week I had, it was nice to finally be feeling well enough to be around people for a bit. So I joined a few friends on the roof of my old building and enjoyed a nice Manhattan summer evening. The Manhattan skyline is just to beautiful for words and my pictures never do it justice. This is a shot of the empire state building looking from the east side. I can't help but think of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys now every time I look at the building and think of my favorite lyrics "New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made up, there's nothing you can't do in New York"

Couch dreams

I find it so funny that when you want nothing more than to sit around and do nothing, you are too busy to even sit down, but when you are forced to be on rest and do nothing, all you want to do is be busy.

I have spent the entire day on the couch. I'm feeling better but still very weak from the past few days. Under doctors orders, I am to lay low and have minimal activity. If you know me, you might as well tell me to stop speaking. Some parts are very enjoyable, I got to catch up on all the TV I never get to see because of my busy schedule. After 5 hours of that, you're pretty much up to speed. All in all its not so bad. I am pretty disappointed that I have to miss out on my first team open water swim, but understand that I need to fully recover to be back in action. Hopefully I'm on my way...

The crazy 48

So the past 48 hours of my life have been quite intense. Susan so kindly blogged for me last night to keep you updated. Let me give you the whole story. I woke up Wednesday with the most horrible stomach pain I've ever had in my life. Being the stubborn person that I am, I didn't do anything about it for most of the day. After spending the day getting sick and still in pain, I thought it would be a good idea to call a friend. The decision was quickly made that I needed to get to a Hospital. We rushed to NYU Medical Center and was wisked away to the ER. Upon first evaluation the doctors were fairly confident I had appendicitis.

Before I continue on with the diagnosis, I must speak about the freak show that was an NYC ER. Crazy train doesn't even begin to describe the vehicle that most of these people were on. I have a young girl in the bed next to me with serious liver issues refusing care because her 'belly button ring hurts", a man on the other side of the curtain scream for "ointment for his rectal sore" (people, I kid you not. I couldn't make this up) all while it was so packed, people were being placed in the hall way. Freak Show! I however feel very protected by my entourage of people that came to support me.

Back to the diagnosis. I was given morphine (enjoyable I must say) for the pain and had to drink an awful "cocktail" for my cat scan. Results show no appendicitis but now the search was on for the cause of the high fever and pain. Not wanting to miss anything I went through all sorts of tests, some I've experienced before, some I have not. I was admitted to stay over night for observation to be on the safe side. This is were the enjoyable part started for me. Although still in lots of pain, I was now under the care of the Hottest male nurse ever! I looked at is as my reward for being put through the crap that I had just been through. Nurse hottie, took very good care of me and we discovered we had a lot in common. I was so sad when his shift ended :( I was released from the hospital late this afternoon with the final diagnosis of Mesenteric Lymphadenitis, which is a fancy way of saying the lymph nodes in my belly were very inflamed by a virus causing me lots of pain.

A special thank you to all the people that took care of me. I'm stubborn and hate to ask for help, but felt so very blessed to have so many people willing to take care of me every step of the way. It truly means more to me than you will ever know and I know you made it a little easier on my family knowing I had support here.

What not to wear...

To an urban NYC hospital:


It will guarantee worse customer service than usual.

*Today's blog was brought to you by Susan. Erinn is resting comfortably (ok, not really comfortably at all, but Mrs. Voytal, I thought that would make you feel better to read that) overnight in the hospital. They'll let her out tomorrow morning after breakfast assuming that she continues to feel better. It turns out that the belly ache wasn't appendicitis but everyone involved was glad that it was checked out. Erinn had quite the entourage tonight at the NYU Medical Center. Maggie, Michelle, Chris, Angel and I all turned up (at various times) to "hang out." I'm not sure why the others were there, but I was shopping for a husband in the Radiology Department. I didn't find one by 1am and I was forced to retire for the evening. I'm hopeful that Erinn will continue on my quest in the morning and she'll have some candidates lined up for me when I stop by on my way to work. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for Erinn, I know she appreciates them and will be in touch upon her release. In typical Erinn fashion, her cell is out of juice and she didn't bring her charger.

Happy MI weekend

Sorry for the few day break of blogging, but it was all for good reason. I spent a lovely weekend at home in Michigan with my family and wonderful friends. The little sleep was totally worth the wonderful time I spent lunching with friends, playing late night sand volleyball, spending Saturday at my niece's 3rd birthday and topping it all off celebrating the engagement of one more of my former roommates. There is something to be said for comfort. No matter how long you are away, there is something about home that will always be home no matter where you may currently live. My most favorite part had to be spending time with some important kiddies in my life, my beautiful niece and new nephew and my godson Tyson and his sister Ava. Such beautiful babies and I feel so blessed to be a part of their lives.

Super Hero Suit

What girl isn't excited to get new things? I myself happen to get even more excited when that something new is a piece of sporting equipment. I picked up my very first wetsuit this evening and could not have been more excited to get home and try it on. Having spent my entire life in the Midwest, I haven't had much need for a wetsuit. With the decision to jump into the Hudson River, I now have great need for one. I payed close attention to the wetsuit demo at swim practice on Monday, so I felt very confident that I would have no trouble getting mine on. Well folks, that was one of the hardest "outfits" I have ever tried to suction myself into! Once on, I felt like a super hero, ready to take one anything. Actually, I was so hot from putting it on I couldn't wait to get it off! Superwoman to the Hudson!!

Jekyll and Hyde

You see all sorts of people walking the streets of New York, some lively and colorful, others looking half dead or in my case today you see something that looks like the living dead. As I headed up town today in a cab, I look out of the corner of my eye to see what seemed to be a person hanging out a window. When I fully turn my head around I see this....

Nothing like a mummy reaching out of a scary looking car to scare the crap out of a 4 year old. As I looked closer to the car, I see very elaborate detail to the decor of the vehicle. I have to say, I was quite impressed. It reminded me of my neighbors growing up and their very over the top halloween decorations that also scared the crap out of me as a kid! Turns out, the decked out "dead" limo, was an advertisement for Jekyll and Hyde a hunted restaurant bar here in Manhattan. I'll give it to them for attention grabbing, certainly got mine.

Massive mistake Monday

This was a slow news day monday, so I thought I'd share some fashion advice with you at the expense of an unknowing girl making a horrific mistake in her outfit choice.

I will stat out by giving this girl a complement. She was a very cute girl, she just made some errors in judgment that put her in the hall of shame for massive mistake monday. Although you cannot see from this angle in the picture, this skirt was entirely too short. One good gust of wind or a taxi going by to fast, and Victoria's secret would be secret no longer. Her platform shoes were way to tall for a skirt of this length and the all around outfit was just a mess. I am not trying to jump on a soapbox here or even say that I am the most fantastic dresser out there, but I do have enough common sense in me to know that the cheeks on your face are the only ones meant to be seen in public.

Did I miss Mardi Gras?

Few things shock me in the city any more, including the things people wear. New York is the city that accepts all sorts of fashion, whatever way you choose to express yourself is totally fine here.

This just happened to be one of my favorite fashion expressions yet. All I wanted to say was, Where are the beads?

Let them eat muffins!

At 6:30am I hit the road on my bike headed to Nyack, NY. With good buddy Susan Elizabeth by my side, we headed off to meet our friends for the 30 miles out 30 miles back ride. This being my first time on this ride, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was promised out of this world muffins in Nyack. The ride was beautiful, reminded me very much of Traverse City, MI. At some points the view was just breath taking. I was however focused on the muffins. We finally arrived at The Runcible Spoon, which is a popular spot for bikers and does in fact have the best muffins ever!

They also have something that I was not expecting, really hot guys! I must say, I was very pleased to have some wonderful eye candy to look at as I inhaled my muffin. Once I was able to wipe my face of the crumbs from the muffin and the drool from the attractive men, we geared back up and headed back to Manhattan. I couldn't have asked for a better crew to ride with. All of us ladies did AWESOME!

Finding Marlin

The array of unique creatures you will find roaming the streets of New York are usually contained to those in which you would see rummaging through the trash, such as cat sized rats and roaches the size of a small child. (ok, I exaggerate on the size of the creatures but you get my point).

As we are walking home from an invigorating morning at the playground, we notice something scurrying across Bleeker Street that did not fit the description of a normal street creature in New York. As we got closer, this is what we saw....

Yes folks, that is a crab. We assume it fell off a delivery truck that was bringing its fresh delivery to the nearby sea food restaurant. The kids were absolutely elated to have found such an out of place sea creature in the middle of the city. As well look down Bleeker Street we see a double decker tour bus quickly approaching the exact spot our little friend was camping out. So we did what any nanny would do, we put the crab in a take out box and took it home! The kids came up with a name quite quickly. He would be called Marlin.

When we got home, we googled "what to feed a crab". Not having much luck on google as to what to feed a sea crab, Amber did the next logical thing of course, call 311. As you can imagine the woman on the other end of the phone sounded rather stunned at the words coming out of Amber's mouth, "Let me get this straight...You found a what? In New York? On the street?" Not having much success with 311 we decided that lettuce would be a good thing to give Marlin. So we found a few thing that would make him as comfortable as possible. A little bit of water, sand and of course the lettuce.

The kids were very proud of Marlin and told every one around what they had found on the street. Sadly, by the end of the day Marlin suffered the same fate that he would have most likely suffered had he made it to his delivery location or by the bus earlier that day. Although we like to think we made his adventure a little more exciting by saving him from him impending doom by deep frier or a bus tire.

REALLY!!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!?!

For those that know me well, you know that I am a die hard Detroit Tigers baseball fan. I now know that "are you serious" moments not only happen in New York, but in Detroit as well. Tonight a perfect game was stolen from a well deserving pitcher with an absolutely horrendous call by an umpire. Galarraga was one out away from the perfect game and the umpire called the runner safe who was clearly out by at least a step! As a pitcher myself, I am so beyond upset that all I can say is REALLY!?! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!??? Galarraga, you are one classy guy

The urban outdoors

When most people think of New York City, thoughts like concrete jungle, a land of skyscrapers and taxi cabs come to mind. Very few would consider New York a destination for exciting outdoor nature activities to take place. All thought the space may be minimal, New Yorkers do find ways to bring the "great outdoors" to the city. Lets be honest, we new yorkers don't have time to get to the actual great outdoors so we make our own, the "urban outdoors"

On a beautiful sunny memorial day as Susan and I were out for a lovely bike ride along the Hudson, we stumbled upon something even more rare in Manhattan than nature, something to do for FREE! The wonderful people of the downtown boat house (downtownboathouse.org) volunteer their time and recourses to allow the people of New York to kayak on the Hudson River. Not only is the kayaking free, but the lockers, bike locks and life vests, all FREE!

Friendly Inspiration

So with the strong encouragement from my good friend Susan Elizabeth, I have decided to start a blog. Living in New York you see a lot of things that really just make you stop and say, Really? Are you serious!? Having been here for almost two years now, I can honestly say it happens almost daily.

As I was on the subway this weekend on the way home from a Yankee game with my Mom and Dad visiting from Michigan, we got to experience a truly "are you serious" moment. A young guy enters the train and begins to address the passengers. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am about to entertain you. Please have no worries, no one will be hurt, but all will be amazed." What followed was a masterful display of acrobatic talent.

I normally do not give money to people pan-handling, but there was something special about this kid. Something that lead me to believe he was working hard for a bigger dream.