It's been a wonderful year.
So much has happened. We met early in the year and fell in love. We traveled north and west. We found a new apartment and moved in together. And, somehow, we ended up with a cat.
Before we get into what we've done this year, we realize that not all of you may be familiar with us. So let us take a moment to introduce ourselves.
I'm Teresa.
Originally from Colorado, I'm now a graduate student at Pratt Institute working on my MFA in Fine Art and MS in History of Art and Design. This year I've taken up puppetry and joined a community orchestra in Manhattan. I used to teach art and philosophy at a high school in Dubai, but am an eternal nerd and wanted to go back to school. I love printmaking and Amy Poehler and Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
I'm Tom.
This is me, presenting at a local tech meet-up. I'm originally from the site of the Miracle on Ice, Lake Placid, NY. I've lived in New York City for five years. My interests are varied: crafting software, writing, creating and listening to music, and photography, to list a few.
We met on eHarmony, and quickly found out we have a shocking number of things in common. We both grew up in the mountains, love good theater and bad puns, love to travel near and far, love the snow and winter sports, and love being here in NYC. Neither of us can leave a book store empty handed, resist an enticing cocktail, or avoid finding or making occasions to dress up.
And, as you can see, my sister has successfully converted us into Bills fans.
We've been busy this year, mostly with work and school. But even despite those obligations we've managed find time to enjoy much of what the city has to offer.
We've seen some incredible shows this year: Hamilton, On The Town (starring Teresa's cousin, Elizabeth Stanley), Les Miserables, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Hand to God, Allegience, Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton and Ramona at Lincoln Center, and lots of puppet shows in the Lower East Side (some of which Teresa performed in).
We saw the New York Philharmonic play in Central Park, featuring a solo by Joshua Bell. We've eaten at more amazing restaurants than we can count. We've seen many wonderful exhibits at the Whitney, MoMA PS1, and New Museum. We've wandered all around the city. We took a trip to the North Fork of Long Island together.
And we go to pub trivia (almost) every week, with my friend Effie.
We've had some adventures this year, starting with...
Our Trip to Colorado
In July we traveled for a long weekend to Colorado, for my dad's birthday and my 10 year high school reunion.
This was my first time to Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. I was immediately drawn to its beauty as we came in for our landing.
On our first day we drove up Trail Ridge Road, into the Rocky Mountain National Park.
This was my first high altitude experience. I watched the altimeter on my phone climb and climb as we drove up the road, reaching a height of 11,780 feet.
Actually, it was my first high altitude experience, too. I guess living away from Colorado for four years means you can get altitude sickness! How unfortunate.
I took Tom to one of my favorite places from my childhood, Swetsville Zoo. If you are ever in Northern Colorado, I recommend stopping off here to visit the dinosaurs and other creature creations made out of salvaged automobiles and farm equipment.
As part of the reunion in Fort Collins, we took a ride on the historic downtown trolley. The conductors — volunteer trolley car enthusiasts — talked about the history of trolleys in Fort Collins and about the city itself.
This was nostalgic for a time before cars, but also for our high school years when we would ride this during the summers.
We spent a day in Denver. While there, we visited former roommates from college days in Durango, Kelly and Erin; my best friend from elementary school, Tricia; and my Grandma and aunt and uncle. We also went to the Denver Botanic Gardens to see a Deborah Butterfield exhibit.
Our (First) Trip to Lake Placid
We went north to Lake Placid in early August, as soon as Teresa finished summer school. I was excited to bring Teresa to meet my family and to show her where I grew up.
We walked around Main Street, where we saw my high school (on the left, behind the flags) and the Olympic center (on the right).
Next we drove up to the top of Whiteface Mountain to get a view of the Adirondack Park.
I kept laughing at the altitude (their peaks are as high as our flatlands!), but I was impressed by the quality of the hiking. They're real mountains.
After about a half hour drive and a 15 minute hike you get to the very top of Whiteface, where this observation tower sits. It's still actively used to study the weather, but it's also been converted into a tourist information center.
We spent our last night at my grandparents' camp on Big Wolf Lake. I was excited to spend time here; I come every chance I get. It's so beautiful and quiet and peaceful there.
I was really excited to have time away from the city and time on the lake. We went out with Tom's family on their electric boat for drinks and hors d'oeuvres and saw some loons, which I hadn't seen (or heard) in at least a decade.
We found this great apartment in Fort Greene, in Brooklyn. We're now a couple blocks away from Fort Greene Park, right in the middle of a bunch of great restaurants, and only a 10 minute walk from Pratt.
I moved down from Harlem, on the West side.
And I moved up from Flatbush.
We also acquired a crazy cat from my friend who unfortunately could no longer keep her. (You may recognize her from our postcard.) Her name is Traila, but she also goes by Traila Rae Jepsen, Traila Rae, and Ms. Jepsen. You can follow her on Instagram at @traila_cat. (We inherited this account also.)
As my sister said when I told her we got a cat, "Nobody plans to get a cat. Cats just happen."
This is the view from our roof. It's spectacular. You should come to visit sometime and we'll take you up.
We've also had a lot of visitors this year. My sister and brother-in-law visited at the beginning of the year, and we had a great time brunching in Brooklyn together. I saw the opening of Mad Max: Fury Road the only right way, with Liam, joining him for his third showing on opening day. I had a great time exploring the upper west side of Manhattan with my mom. And I got to be the tour guide on my dad and step-mom's first visit to Brooklyn. Here's to even more visits and adventures in 2016.
This winter, my dad came to visit NYC for his first time since before I was born, and my friend Kathryn came to visit from Istanbul. This summer, my childhood friend Cindy, came and we hit up museums together and saw the mermaid parade at Coney Island. Over the Fourth of July weekend my aunt Julie and cousin Breanna came for their first time to The City to see all there is to see. I had many former coworkers come from Dubai, including Holly, Genna, Lisa, and Emma, all for various reasons and at different times. (I need to mention my coworkers from Dubai — Molly, Haley, and Kim — whom I see on a regular basis, because it's so wonderful to see them as often as I do. But they actually live here in Brooklyn now, too, so aren't visitors.)
I'm also so lucky to have relatives who repeatedly come to New York, my mom's cousin Sarah and her husband David, and her son Adam and his wife Liz. It helps that they used to live here and always have so many reasons to come back.
Last, but certainly not least, my sister Carole and her husband Tim are coming to Brooklyn for Christmas. It will be their first time visiting since I've moved here, and I couldn't be more excited.
Happy Holidays
We're very excited to be spending our first Christmas together, and hope that you're having a very happy holidays too. Thank you for reading; we hope you enjoyed spending a little time together, if only virtually. We hope to see you again soon.
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