Philly bound

Heading to Philly now for the long weekend. We've been trying on our NYC personas with phrases like "Oh, it'll be so nice to get out of the city for a little bit & slow things down for a few days."

Longer post with photos to come soon!

Hello, From Chuck

So it's only fair I put in some effort with this blog as well. Hi, I'm Chuck. One of the contributing authors to this blog. I am going to skip all the exposition since Jordan so handily took care of it herself. Let's just jump right into it.

Today we went into Brooklyn and scouted out a few areas of the borough. Since neither one of us is familiar with the area we decided to make the navigation dependent on one thing: Beer. See, there is this beer called Pumking that is absolutely amazing and it just so happens to be in season right now. We found a place in Fort Greene that had a bar called Brooklyn Public House where it was on draft so we figured we'd go see Fort Greene first.

The good news is that they have a park. A pretty big one. So naturally we visited it because there hasn't been enough park pictures

Hey! Remember Senior year?

Something rad we saw on the street. It had a ton of compartments. Stash box is my guess.

If you look closely you'll see a building with a cloud in it! That's how Jordan described it to me, so it took me awhile to find.

Found the Pumking. He lives at Brooklyn Public House. A very cool little bar with awesome music and beers

There are literally maps everywhere so you don't get lost in NY. Some are more difficult to read than others.

We then got on a different train and headed to the Brooklyn Heights area. This was sort of an accident that had a few pleasant surprises. Mostly views. The residents and the section of town were pretty sleepy and forgettable.

Freedom's mistress in the background.

This is the southside, or downtown, of Manhattan. I've already been there. We had burgers.

Headquarters of the Jehovah's witnesses. PURE EVIL. All along the...don't remember the rest of the song.

Sweeping NYC shoots available. Please contact me directly, no else has my eye!

Looking at this photo I know realize the blatant commercial plug.

Nifty tree guard...or planter...I don't know what to call this. 

From here we walked into DUMBO. It stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. I think. Jordan will probably let me know I screwed that up when she reads this. Oh well.

If trolls live under bridges then these are the nicest, hippest, and wealthiest trolls I have ever seen.

Seriously selling Manhattan views for cheap!

This prominent archway had a disproportionate door. False advertising.

Last chance. Buy 1 get 2 free!

Thought this was neat. One day I'll grow out of this.

Some of the murals here are pretty stellar. DUMBO really takes pride in it's Pachyderm past.

Clueless as to what this is, but it was neat. 

I called this portrait: Jordan by Day. It could have been Jordan by water. Or Jordan by flowers.

This is the spot where they filmed a scene in the new batman movie, I think. It looks like it anyway.

All told it was a busy day. We walked longer than we thought we would, went to the world's most expensive grocery store and learned a few lessons. The most important being that DUMBO is not really near anything so only go there if you are cabbing or have a bike. Walking will result in the blister that now lives on the side of my foot. Another lesson would be don't walk 5 miles in Sperrys. They really aren't meant for more than .05 miles.

We ended the day goofing around on the stoop and cooking dinner at home. It was our first cooked meal and it helped make the whole moving across the country thing a bit more real. Once we stop living out of suitcases it will become really real. But that won't be for like 3 months. 

Headed out to Philly tomorrow to go see Tim and Alyssa. Adventures to follow.

Empire State of Mind

As Trevor Thon so elegantly put it "New York is a city of tall fucking buildings, history and unplanned streets and shit."

That time we were in Katy Perry's Teenage Dream video.

We have arrived! During our flight, I had deep thoughts about not hearing another Shane Co. radio spot for a while.

After landing yesterday, we made a pit stop at our temporary home so Chuck could write in the journal Penny gave him (a part of his daily routine now!) and then proceeded to make some alcohol-fueled decisions. This morning (11am), we decided to hit up the East Coast's version of In N Out, Shake Shack. Deeeelicious!

Afterwards, we headed to Central Park to successfully lay in the grass and walk a few miles of trails.

The Great Lawn. It really is great!

I found this. I don't know what it is.

One of the lakes in Central Park.

Chuck being victorious.

After all this, we have tired feet and smiling faces. We've spent more than a few minutes completely lost and maybe took the wrong train a time or two but NYC has been kind so far and we're excited for the coming days. But not the coming work days, ugh.

Last hour in Phoenix

 

Here we are! It doesn't quite feel real but I'm sure reality will settle in soon.

We spent yesterday selling my car and shipping 200lbs of our stuff to meet us in Brooklyn. While packing up was less than enjoyable, unpacking into the apartment we end up calling "Our first NY apartment" isn't something I'm looking forward to :) 

Leaving on a jet plane..

We have begun to pack our material lives into carry on bags and suitcases. Here is some photographic evidence that we've done more than just drink our last nights in Phoenix away :)

Change of plans!

Update!

After Chuck made some phone calls to various companies regarding our move, he realized that the decision to drive wasn't necessarily going to work for us. We've bought one way plane tickets and are now leaving on Tuesday, the 26th.

I'm bummed I'm going to miss Park City & Chicago (some other time, I'm sure) but I think I can stand to miss out on what the Motel 6 in Lincoln, Nebraska has to offer :) This will also give us the opportunity to explore NYC a little bit more. Picnic in Central Park? Getting lost on the subway line? Shouting at people from the stoop? The city is our oyster!

Check this space for pictures from the East Coast soon enough!

2,899 miles to go

Going away party :)

We officially have 6 days until we leave Phoenix for new East Coast lives.

Chuck has a job (the same job with a better view from his office window!) and I have a new job as a grant manager for a non-profit.

So far, we have packed a few items and delegated where the "too big to haul across the country" items will be staying.

We've researched a few neighborhoods and are very excited to find our own closet apartment in the Big Apple as opposed to the wonderfully cozy "basement apartment" my dad has allowed us to make use of for the beginning stages of our adventure. We'll post pictures when we get there and along the way!

Our current itinerary includes:

• Park City, Utah
• Lincoln, Nebraska
• Chicago, Illinois
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

We'll be updating this space throughout our travels to keep everyone in the know :)'

Brooklyn or bust!