Rainy Day

It was great to have friends over last night to grill and play on the patio a gorgeous summer evening (Thanks again Monica!)...until the first signs of rain cut our outdoor fun a little short. It rained steadily here in New York all night, all day and is expected through tomorrow. Days like this make me sleepy...but not my toddler! He's raring to go as I'm reaching for another cup of joe!

I ain't gonna lie...there was some television viewing while I got my bearings. After that, a trip outside to the sand table in the rain was a nice change of pace, then a trip with Daddy to the Museum of Natural History to visit the dinosaurs filled the rest of the morning. TimeOutKids has more great rainy day ideas in NYC. Here are some great lists of Rainy Day Activities from Family Fitness and Rainy Days with Toddlers from Toddler Toddler.

Now {yawn} off to nap with the rest of the house.
It'sABusyLife,
Danielle

Heard on the street

One of the interesting things about living in NYC (sometimes a guilty pleasure) is people watching/eavesdropping on the streets of the city. Sometimes it's the new parents strolling with their newborn that brings a smile to your face. Or the foreign tourists enjoying a sight you take for granted every day, reminding you why you love your neighborhood. Or the crazy person shouting to no one in particular about nothing specific or discernable.

Tonight I took a quick stroll to the market for some milk (oh, and bananas, and maybe yogurt...and why can I never walk out of the market with only what I came for??) when I was reminded how alive with activity the streets can be, even in our quiet family neighborhood on the Upper West Side. My neighborhood is a friendly one, where people will just strike up a conversation out of the blue as you share the sidewalk. Like the guy bemusing about a strikingly bright yellow sports car as we crossed the street together. Or the conversation I stumbled past, as a woman explained to her companion:

"...so we were friendly, and he said to me 'let's catch some breakfast or lunch sometime' {hands flourishing in the air}"

"then I responded nicely enough, but it was not nice, there were words or phrases hanging in the nastiness of the air, just lingering above telling me this was not"

Well, it sounded more interesting walking by :)

Apparently, I'm not the only one who enjoys listening in on street talk because there's a blog dedicated to what can be

Overheard In New York.

Til next time,

It's a BusyLife

- Danielle

Concept of space

A few weekends ago we re-organized our home (with help, thanks to a deal on personal assistance at Lambent Services), and the concept of space is quite interesting. Living in Manhattan I think my concept of space is skewed to appreciate smaller quarters to begin with. My father once marvelled how I could tolerate shared walls with neighbors and how he much preferred a private home with yard. But as our little guy comes closer to mastering walking, we realized the layout of our tiny apartment just felt tinier and with cold weather approaching, we needed some space for him to spread out on the floor with toys, toddle across the room, and otherwise not worry about bumping his head on every obstacle.

Our living room was arrange so that upon entry, the dining area was directly on on the right, TV and bookcases on the far left wall, sofa facing the entry, and behind it the far wall covered with alternative bookcases and his and hers desks. This layout worked great for 4 years with two adults and a budding teen, but was very cramped once we added a new baby and all his stuff (and they do have lots of stuff!).





















So...we ditched a few shelves, shifted the sofa back to the wall, moved the dining room to the left and voila!! The room opened right up!

I would highly recommend to anyone to occasionally take a hard look at your space with fresh perspective.


'til next time,
It's a BusyLife
- Danielle