Question 43-56 (All the Rest of Them Edition)

I know you're a Pushing Daisies fan, but that might not make you biased towards this question. Cake or pie?

UNF. These questions can get real TOUGH. When I watched Pushing Daisies, I would crave pie SO MUCH. Ask Christy, we searched all of Brooklyn for a good slice after watching a couple of episodes and couldn't come up with one. And I've never done that with cake (hm, maybe ice cream cake?), so I will say PIE!

First off, your cats are adorable and your wedding looked amazing. What are some of your favorite tumblrs?

Thanks! Here's a list of some of my faves (I have all my tumblrs listed in my Google Reader bc I just can't deal with the tumblr dashboard sometimes, but these are the tumblrs I check pretty immediately when I sign into the reader because I love 'em):

Dance to the Radio
F--- Yeah Motion City Soundtrack!
Goldenfiddlr
Jordan Reid
Movies in Frames
Theo is Jonesing
The Vie Society
Alice in Tumblrland
Whiskey & Goats Milk

Also, my friends' tumblrs are rad (linked on my blogroll!)

My absolute favourite because she's hilarious and AWESOME: Sparkle Neely Sparkle!!!

Traveling - where did you go so far?

Where I've lived: Panama, Georgia, Virginia, D.C., Rhode Island, Kansas, Hawaii, Kentucky/Tennessee, Massachusetts, New Hampshire (summers), New York, Pennsylvania (and some of these places I've lived in more than once, years apart)

Where I've only visited: Orlando, Coconut Beach FL, Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Austin, Houston, Des Moines, Kansas City, Madison, St. Louis, Maine, Rochester, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, ARUBA...I'm probably missing some places, but that's the gist!

And there's a big international trip coming up here in March. You'll hear about it soon. I've been waiting and hoping and wishing for this trip for quite some time!! I want to squeal just thinking about it!!

Whats your most silly thing to do?

This blog? Just kidding. If you want to see me at my silliest, just see me with my best friend Amber. Seriously, the amount of shenanigans we get into is ridiculous from playing dead at parties or the faces we make at each other.

Who is the final boss of the internet, and, did you beat him or her?

I'm not sure, but I know I haven't beaten that person.

Your husband has a ton of tattoos - do you have any of your own?

I'm surprised I don't get asked this more often; I don't have any tattoos. Yet. I have one planned, and I'm pretty sure I know where (as in what shop) and when I'll be getting it.

To the one question that was asked and I cannot reprint here - yes.


Did you picture yourself to be where you are at this age? Married to a musician, living in New York, writing this blog, and working in fashion?
 
Absolutely not. When I was in middle school I was pretty sure I'd be living in New York, acting, and definitely single. When I was in high school, I thought I'd be living in New York, working as a forensic pathologist, and definitely single. For a time, my parents thought I would never get married. At least not until I was 40. When I hit college, I knew I wanted to live in New York (theme!), and I thought I'd be working at a magazine. And married by now? Pfft. No way. But I am where I am now, and I wouldn't change it for anything. I'm very much a "no regrets" person.

Do you fight the crowds and jump around in the pit at MCS shows or watch from backstage?

I was never a pit-jumper. (Okay, only once at Warped Tour in like 2002!) I would jump around and dance at the outer edges of the crowd. I still do. Being backstage/sidestage is kind of a bumout when you're watching somebody you really want to see because it doesn't sound that great and it's a little conspicious -it's harder to jump around by yourself! So, I find a spot where it sounds good, looks good, and I have room to have fun. In Chicago, that was on the balcony. At the Blender Theater in New York, I was at the back of the crowd with all my friends. Ocassionally when I'm visiting Jesse on tour and I don't know anybody at the show, I'll be sidestage rather than traverse a crowd and stand around by myself.

I am moving to New York City in a few days. I graduated college in May and all of my friends friends from school moved back to their respective hometowns and I'm a little worried it will be hard to make new friends in New York. Any suggestions on non-creepy ways to meet people?

New York is all about meeting people! I had some built in friends when I moved here, but from moving around all over the place, I can tell you making friends is usually tied to going out to places you like or finding people with similar interests and striking up conversation. I mean, that's just how I do it. What's the worst that can happen? A brush-off? Not that bad! If you see someone (who's around your age) on the subway reading a book you've read and loved, tell them that. (It's happened to me!) Check out indie movie screenings or book readings or art gallery parties or open bar parties, if that's your thing. There's always something happening in New York! Strike up a conversation with somebody you think you might get along with. Meet friends of friends or acquaintances and keep going. I knew maybe five people when I moved to New York, but now I know a zillion because I met friends of friends at social gatherings.

There's also meeting people at work who you common interests with, or taking up a class (like cooking or art or yoga) and meeting people through that venue. I hope you find some awesome friends!

I'm moving to Brooklyn in January. What's one of your favourite local hidden gems?

Hm, I don't know if it's exactly hidden, but Life Cafe off the L is great food and fun. Battleship Tuesdays = they have a giant battleship board, you guess a number with your drink, and if you hit a battleship, the second drink is on the house. Also, great (& cheap) brunch!

Others off the L: The Levee (bar), Alligator Lounge (A FREE PIZZA with every beer you order), Brooklyn Bowl (best on-the-rocks margarita I've had in this area - great food, bowling, and also a live music VENUE), and Wild Ginger (delicious vegetarian).

I lovee your blog. I read both your Tumblr and your Blogspot. What do you think about moving to New York? Is it amazing? I really want to move there one day.

Thank you! The first time I came to visit New York in middle school I knew, I just KNEW, I had to live here someday. Sometimes when I get an idea, I really can't let it go. I knew I had to move to a place that wouldn't bore me as easily as some other places did growing up. There's just always something to do!

Do you track who visits your blog on google analytics? Does your map look crazy because of lurkers?

Yes, I use Google Analytics, but mainly just to have stats ready if needed. Like, when the Brand About Town sponsor reached out to me about the Gap opportunity, I needed to have those stats on hand to be considered - like how many unique visitors I have a month and whatnot. I don't use the blog for any reasons than my own; I never want to use visual ads and I've never had the ambition to make money off this personal site - but getting a free pair of jeans and getting to spread that around to my friends and blog readers is pretty damn fun!

My visitor map does surprise me sometimes when I see a bunch of people here internationally! (Hola! Bonjour! Konichiwa!) And I suppose lurkers are simply those that have never left a comment: no big deal. My readers are awesome, just the same. Plus, I got this sent to my formspring and it's nice to know there are lurkers out there thinking as such -

Just wanted to say you are so inspiring in so many ways. Thank you for your blog. From, A Lurker

That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, and I'm happy to have my own little spot on the internet that other people can read if they want to.

That concludes all the questions I have in my in inbox! If you have any more, I promise to answer them in a far more timely manner now that all the holidays and craziness are over! Thanks for all the people who reached out to me!

Ask my anything!

Question 15-20 (Travel Edition)

Okay, the questions I'm getting are awesome - for real. I get excited when I see one pop up in my inbox! I'm still making my way through the questions, trying to group them as best I can. Keep tuning in for more posts - I'll try to finish them out by the end of the weekend! The questions have really inspired me - letting me know that people actually read this little corner of the internet and it reignited my fervor for blogging!

So, now, I take on questions regarding places, locations and travels! This is fitting as I am in the midst of planning perhaps the biggest trip of my life so far for next year - details to come as they're all firmed up!

What should I check out in Williamsburg?

I don't hang out in Williamsburg regularly, but there are some fun things I like to do there, such as - see shows at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (I've seen OkGo and Against Me! there), eat at delicious places like Wild Ginger or Sea, have crazy late night times at a bar called The Levee (board games + beer = Jesse's favourite bar), drinking at the Brooklyn Brewery, and my new favourite place: Brooklyn Bowl. Oddly enough, this alley-slash-restaurant-slash-venue has the best margaritas I've had in New York. No lie!

What do you think of Manhattan, in general, as the metropolitan human being you are?

Like every city, there's something to love and something to hate. For now, I focus on the love: you're never bored here. If you say you are, it's because you've decided to stay indoors. There's a million things going on in this city every night. Also, I love love love that there's always something new opening or an undiscovered secret restaurant or bar. The food is amazing; there are so many great places to eat. And I would eat out more often if I could afford it!

Where is your favorite place that you have traveled to?

Definitely Panama. You can't beat seing your family and staying in the tropics where $200 will usually last you a month. My favourite place was a secluded beach where my family, Jesse, and I rented cabanas for $10/night. We stayed outside all day, swam in the warm but refreshing Pacific Ocean, bodysurfed, grilled, made a fire, watched the sun set, watched the moon rise, watched the tide go low...at least half a mile out, where we walked with the brightest full moon I've ever seen as our guide. It was, quite simply, our own little paradise for the time. I think about those days often.

Other notes, now that I'm on it:

In the United States, the three cities I've visited when Jesse was on tour and really love - Portland, San Diego, and Austin! I'm planning a trip to Austin in 2010, too.

City I was suprised to not like: San Francisco.

City I was surprised to like: Detroit.

If I were coming to New York for a long weekend...say Thursday-Mondayish...with C, what are some of the top things we need to see/do, eat, watch, etc??

Secret: I am the worst tourist. I have yet to visit the Statue of Liberty. I've seen it...once...from a moving car. When people come visit, I try to show them the nightlife and the people - I'm not exactly one for bus tours. Here's what I would do: 1) See a show - any kind of show - there's always one going on! - whether it be an indie band at a dive bar, Ricky Gervais at Carnegie Hall, a broadway play (you know Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig are doing that, right?) or an independent film at the Angelika Theater. The venues, to me, are part of the show, and are part of the New York experience. 2) Hit up a museum - right now there's a Tim Burton retrospective at the MoMA and I desperately want to go sometime soon (it runs through April I believe). 3) Eat, eat, eat. DON'T GO TO A CHAIN IN NEW YORK! Though we all enjoy a Chipotle here or there, if you're coming to New York, the food is part of the experience, and the city has LOTS of choices. 4) Walk around a lot - everywhere. New York streets are a grid; it's nearly impossible to get lost. You'll find so many interesting stores, see a lot of people, and if you look up, you'll see some neat architecture. (Neat? Hahaha)

That's all I've got for right now. I wouldn't be the best at writing a straight-up travel guide. My favourite thing about being somewhere else with another person is experiencing it together. I'm not one to experience a city with a checklist of must-see places: let's get there and see what happens.

Where did you originate from, and if it wasn't New York how did you end up there?

I was born in Panama City, Panama. My father is from New Hampshire and he met my mother in Panama, where she grew up. My father was military, so I grew up moving around, oh, every two years. It was more fun than it sounds like and I wouldn't give it up for anything: I don't have a hometown and I don't care! It's easy for me to make myself home wherever I go; that's what I learned to do. So for now: New York is home. After going to college in Boston, I spent a year in Rhode Island saving up to move to New York where my best friend Kelly was already living. I've been in love with New York since some trips growing up; I also spent my sophomore year of high school's spring break traveling from Kentucky to see Kevin Spacey in the broadway run of The Iceman Cometh. That trip pretty much solidfied the fact that I someday HAD to live in this city. And so, when the time was right, I did it.

What inspired you to move to New York? Did it start out just you and Erica or did all of your friends move at the same time?

I've been itching to move to New York since high school. I'd been inspired by the many trips I'd taken there; I knew I was attracted to cities more than suburbia and I also thought that because of all my moving around growing up that I would need to live somewhere that didn't bore me, somewhere that I wouldn't want to move away from after a year. Like I said, New York is not boring. I applied to a college in New York, but decided I liked Boston University's campus better. However, I spent most of my college Spring Breaks in New York with Kelly and Amber. (We did stuff like wait outside of SNL and meet Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey, measure the width of our tiny hotel room which was the length of my arm span, and eat the $1 hot dogs for every meal because we were poor, poor college students.) My friends and I had always planned to all live in New York at some point; Kelly, Christy, and Jiscilla were already living here. (Though Curbside's first gathering was in Rhode Island!) Erica was living in Rhode Island at the same time as me, and we had both separate plans to move to NY at some point, but as our friendship grew, our plans converged and we did it together!

Got any more questions?!

What are your plans for the weekend? Tonight I'm seeing DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL acoustic at Highline Ballroom! I am ultra-emo excited.