hot potato

Tonight I asked Heidi a simple question about an observation I've made since living here, "Is all water in New York heated by molten lava?" Seriously, everywhere I go the hot water is so bloody hot it will burn your skin off. Once Heidi stopped laughing at my question she choked out, "I think people just have really good water heaters." Hmmm I think more investigation is in order.

-Katie

good friday was good to us

Last Friday was a fun day, but a long day full of activities. We both had the day off and had originally intended to go to the Museum of Natural History but since it was a holiday weekend and NYC is full of people on spring break we decided it would be full of annoying tourists so we decided to have a play day in Brooklyn instead.

Brooklyn has so much charm and history to it, we could walk around and explore for hours (actually, it's a favorite activity in any city we are in) which is essentially what we did. We went to some neighborhoods that we had never been to before like Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and Boerum Hill. These parts of Brooklyn are smallish and are all right next to each other. There are lots of great little shops and restaurants and we felt right at home in this 'hood. Too bad most of the area is too expensive for us to live in, but now we know what is there and can go visit. We will definitely need to go back and try out one of the several middle eastern restaurants we found. Serious withdrawals are in effect for Kaite after eating yummy food almost every week for a year in SLC at Mazza. Nothing will ever compare to the fabulousness that is the hummus there but we're going to try and find an adequate replacement.

Here are some pictures Heidi took on our walk.






After a long day of walking and giggling we took the G train over to Williamsburg to see Sons and Daughters at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. We had never been to this venue before since it has only been open a few months but we are now fans and will make a point of going to shows there as often as we can since the venue is very similar to the Bowery Ballroom. The only difference here was a raised area on the sides of the main floor that gave a better view of the stage. We elected to stand there so we would have a place to lean, plus if someone tall stood in front of us we would still be able to see. There is nothing worse than when a tall person walks right up and stands right in front of you and believe us it always happens!

There were two opening bands before Sons and Daughters, first was The Brunettes from New Zealand and then Bodies of Water from LA. We've both seen The Brunettes before and we were looking forward to hearing their new album live, especially "Her Hairigami Set"-such a lovely song and we never tire of it. A bit disappointed they didn't do "If You Were An Alien" as that is a current favorite too. Heather has such a sweet voice-sweet as in nice not sweet in a sufer dude way. They also have the best way of introducing the band in the name song-a la banana fanna.


We hadn't gotten into Bodies of Water even though there's buzz about them (there isn't time for everything!). The best thing about them is their rocking girl drummer! Oh so jealous as we've always wanted to learn to play drums.



For the most part we liked them but the lead girl needs to work on her stage banter a bit. She was trying to be funny and she WASN'T. Also, being the fashion girls we are, could Mr. Guitar player work on the wardrobe a bit-he looked like he'd just come from mowing lawns. Big baggy shirts and light denim are no one's friend. We get the whole "it's about the music not my clothes" thing but really-it is about your clothes too. The bass player gets it-he needs to pull his bandmate aside and give him some help. Okay, so back to their music-which was pretty good and they have an Arcade Fire quality to their sound but at the end it was getting a bit repetitious and a tad bit dull.


Sons and Daughters were brilliant and it was great to hear the new songs. They started with "Dance Me In" which is such a rocking tune it got everyone going. Adele had wee little shorts on under her top and some great gold socks. She was a golden goddess and seemed in a happy mood even though when she sings she seems so GRRR tough.

Really, they are such a great band and are truly talented. Katie was lucky enough to meet them a few years ago in SLC when they opened for Bright Eyes and chat with them in their dressing room (thanks Maddy!) where they lent her their all access pass to go see them play. Oh, those Glaswegians we love ye! There is so much greatness that comes from that city... which is why we're going in October!!



It was a long day and rolling into our flat at 2am was rough knowing we had to be at work by 8 and 9 am respectively and then going out again Saturday night to see Digitalism. Yes, it's a tough life. CHEEKY!

stella and lucas

To see some of my favorite pictures ever click here.

--heidi

i knew it was gonna happen someday

I knew eventually I would hit a wall and be ready to get out of NYC. Today is that day. So far I have been okay with getting around on my own because I either have directions or I'm familiar with the area but not this time. I was in the lower east side and I was getting so frustrated because I couldn't find what I needed and I couldn't get any help and I don't have a stupid pin number to my debit card and haven't since October. I'm just really tired of not knowing where things are and I just want to go home but I can't because this is my home now. I know I'll get over it but today just stinks.

-Katie

tres joli bridges

I discovered a brilliant photographer through Ali. His photos of NY are lurvly. These are my favorites so far by Hugh Hartshorne.





NY bridges are all so unique and beautiful, I still get excited when I see any of them even after living here for three years. Plus I'm a sucker for a great sign so of course that would be one of my favorites. The New Yorker sign is classic.

Speaking of bridges, the Brooklyn Bridge will forever be my favorite of all NY bridges. I love to take the Q train and sit by the window so I can look out and admire it. I have two photos that I took of the Brooklyn Bridge that I love. They aren't the best photos but each captures different elements in the design that make my heart happy.



I love the lines that the cables create in this photo, it feels like graph paper.

--heidi

lights and magic

While walking to the subway after Pigeon Detectives I saw a great door that I just had to have a picture of. I'm trying to get more into the habit of taking pictures of things I like for inspiration and whatnot.




After Cut Copy's gig in Greenpoint we found the coolest lights ever outside a police station (no we weren't arrested-arrested for dancing nonstop!) and went crazy for them. Such an amazing shade of emerald green and lovely in the pitch dark night at 2 am.






Is it weird that we go nuts for doors and lights? No way! You've got to find beauty in the "mundane".

-Katie

pigeons are streetwise doves

Last week we decided to go to The Pigeon Detectives show at Bowery Ballroom. Heidi had heard about them from somewhere and even though we hadn't heard more than a minute of one or two of their songs we decided to take a chance and check them out. The Bowery Ballroom is one of Heidi's favorite venues because the sound guy is famous for being the best around.

When we got there we caught the last four songs of the first opener's set-Emily the Great (bit presumptious). She was okay but could really use a band backing her up as just her and some guy on guitar for most of the songs with an occasional violinist is a bit lacking in energy in such a space. It would have worked great in a little coffee shop or something. The second band was Your Vegas and they were from Leeds originally but are now based in NYC-normally an English band would have us excited as we LURV the brit bands but you wouldn't even know these guys were from England and we were not impressed. After two or three songs it was evident they were big fans of U2 and The Killers and were into making "safe" tunes for the masses. Their sound was very... produced. Almost like they weren't really playing their instruments at all and it was them miming to a recording. We also thought they sounded like they could be on the soundtrack to a classic 80's film with Michael J. Fox called The Secret Of My Success. I'm sure they'll do well in the US as the general public dig this kind of crap music.

I had high hopes for The Pigeon Detectives (from Leeds and definitely more our kind of band than the previous Leeds boys) since the night was so far a bit of a disappointment and thankfully they were brilliant!


They are an energetic bunch and the lead singer (looks a bit like a young Rod Stewart) is especially fun to watch. He loves to pour water over his head and shake it out over the crowd and then throw the rest of his water bottle out over everyone. He must have gone through 12 bottles of water during their whole set and it was a bit "Flashdance" at times but we had a giggle over it.






The guy can also really work a mic! He would fling his mic and chord out about 10 feet and whip it back and catch it like it was the most natural thing and so easy to do. He must practice a lot because not once did that mic hit anyone or drop to the floor. At one point while we waited for the guitarist to fix his guitar Mr. Lead Singer pulled a guy up on stage to tell a "joke" (which was lame and he was quickly taken away for being LAME).




You wouldn't have known we didn't know any of their songs as we were hopping up and down and clapping like fiends the whole time-especially to "I'm Not Sorry" which was the final song of the night and had us pogoing like mad. Being up since 5 am that morning it's amazing where I got the energy, but good music can give me a bit of an adrenaline rush. Pigeon Detectives saved the night!

-Katie

hey, i've seen him before!

The other day I was on my way to a clients house and saw a man on a bike who was riding east into the traffic heading west. He was on the verge of getting run over by all the traffic. As the car I was in got closer I caught a better look at the man on the bike and it was this guy.

I have seen Terry Richardson once before on Spring Street when I came up from the subway on my way to work. I love that I see him doing everyday things like riding a bike or getting coffee as compared to his photography when people are definitely not always doing everyday things.
--heidi

yummy cake time

I am so lucky to work in an office where birthdays are treated as a big deal. We have a chef who cooks us lunch everyday and when it's your birthday you get to plan the menu along with the cake. My cake today was yummy! When I first moved to New York I had never tried red velvet cake and then one glorious day I had a red velvet cupcake from Magnolia Bakery and I have been addicted ever since. I think it's mostly the color that I love. It is such a beautiful red, one day I want to paint a piece of furniture that color. I think a side chair with the seat in a beautiful off-white textured fabric would be so lovely. It would be my ode to my love of red velvet cake. I took a few pictures with my phone of my cake, so pretty.



--heidi

happy birthday katie!

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet sister! I am so glad she moved to New York just in time for us to spend our birthday together.

Katie is my best friend and I'm so lucky to have her as a sister. She makes me laugh, she is one of the only people who understands my love of "the man" and doesn't judge me for it, she is the best travel buddy on tour. I could go on and on about how fabitty fab she is! Thanks for all that you do for me Katie, I wish I could make you a cake like this but until I do this picture is all I have to give.

photo via flicker

-heidi

maddie cat

Not to be a downer but two years ago our beloved kitty, that we had for 19 years, Maddie passed away. It was seriously one of the most heartbreaking times we've ever had to go through and even though time has passed we still get a bit verklempt over losing her.



After begging our mum for a cat she finally relented and we went in search of the perfect one. At the pet store Maddie came right up to us and basically chose us and so we were meant to be together. She was the most beautiful Siamese cat with BIG blue eyes that would glow in the dark and she would talk to us all the time in her insistent throaty purr/gurgles. When we were in high school she would curl up on our shoulders when we ate breakfast and wait patiently for the leftover milk from the cereal bowl(she couldn't have it because she was lactose intolerant but that didn't stop her from trying). She loved to snuggle between us and purr when we watched movies and her favorite place to nap was in the front room in the sun all stretched out.


We called her our diva cat because she was so particular about her food but as she got older we upgraded her to dame Maddie. She was a most beloved friend and companion and we will miss her always. There will never be a more wonderful kitty than her.

just start it already!

Okay, it's time to just start this and it's going to be fun right? We keep talking about starting this, but later, and now is the time to just do it. We've been pretty busy with work and going to gigs. That's the beauty of living in NYC-there are bands playing all the time and we've gone to 3 in a week. Last Saturday we went to Sia at Webster Hall, Tuesday we saw Pigeon Detectives at the Bowery Ballroom and this Saturday we went to Cut Copy in Brooklyn at Studio B. Being the music addicts that we are we have more shows coming up this weekend with Sons and Daughters and Digitalism. There will be plenty to write about. Stay tuned for the shenanigans to really begin.