I Have A Dream: a TrioBike

Had many a blog post in my head over the holidays but never got around to posting. However, in honor of a new year, a new president, and new resolutions I thought I'd share my newest dream--a TrioBike.

Adam and I have been talking adult tricycles for a while now. I am not a steady girl on two wheels, therefore the idea of strapping Alexandra onto a bike and jetting around New York City is pretty much akin to putting her in the Ergo and jumping into the East River for a swim. I am generally a walker; I can hoof it for a LONG time, but it seems a toddler just doesn't have the same "Let's walk/run to Coney Island for 2+ hours!" mentality. Alexandra is a ticking time bomb of toddler tantrums. What to do?

The cargo bike.

We have searched the internet high and low for these bikes, but I had never seen one in person until Saturday when I saw this beauty parked outside a neighborhood store. I GEEKED OUT. No--really. I went inside the store, stood by the door, and waited for the guy with a bike helmet with a 2 year old with a bike helmet to emerge from the aisles of overpriced kitchen goods. And then I met (accosted?) Rene and Nona Lily.

He's German, of course. (I heart Germans--subject for another post.) No way an American would be cool enough to have this bike. He painstakingly explained all the details of the bike to me, had Nona Lily get in to model the child safety harness, and gave me his number in case I wanted to call and test ride it before ordering one from Denmark. He was honest with the price, but said it was worth it. A great guy.

Then I got back online last night and found this baby:

I have died and gone to heaven. A cargo bike that converts into a two-wheeler and into a stroller (albeit of ginormous/tank-like proportions). I am in heaven. And that scary monster mouth? Awesome. My brain is spinning. Can't you see me on this in Brooklyn? It's my soul-bike. Now I just have to save the $4000 (shipping from Europe included) to get one...Anyone with connections in Copenhagen?

Holiday Manifesto

Who-Whatever you believe in, I think we can all agree that Christmas is an out of control holiday of materialism. I'm sitting here stressing that I didn't get my mom a present although the cost of us flying to NC to be with her is absurd and way out of our current budget. Why should I stress? My family (specifically my daughter) is the present, but why do I feel like that's not enough? What does that say about our culture (or maybe just my family...or me?)?

Can we break from the insanity and redefine this gig?

Last night when we exchanged gifts in a late-night rush Adam and I promised each other that next year we're doing a simple Christmas at home. Small tree, homemade gifts, good food, good wine, long winter walks in the park, and whomever wants to come. Simplify it. Anyone is welcome so make your plans now to come to Brooklyn. We'll be happy to have you.

No Bail-Out on 8th Street

This week's discussion of the bail-out has provoked many a discussion at work, home, with friends...it seems we're all confused, intrigued, and concerned about what is happening with our economy. And then, of course, there's the debate between who is the bail-out really looking out for--Main Street or Wall Street--as if the two were not intimately interconnected.

But one thing that has gotten my goat is the need to bail out the many Americans who have taken out mortgages that they could not afford, in good or bad financial times. Adam and I have typed our annual joint income into Chase's mortgage calculator many times in the past few years, and we have realized repeatedly that even if some miracle occurred and we were able to get a significant amount of money down, that we could not afford a mortgage with our other expenses of college loans and daycare. Impossible. We have resolved that we will rent until the loans are paid the the babe(s) are in public school. That'll be at least 6-7 more years! Then we'll see...

Why is that a difficult concept to grasp?

I understand the desire to own. Renting sucks. Especially when you're our age and you really want your home to reflect your life and your want to put down stable roots for your kids. Damn it, I'm a cancer--I nest with vigor 24/7. Renting irks me. But what choice to we have?

Slight Coffee Addiction?

This morning started like every other. Alexandra woke at 3am, which facilitated a mid-night bottle feed b/c she was coughing and wheezing like an 80-year old with emphysema. Due to this, we all got started a bit late. I rushed out the door, backpack, lunch, and extra bag of papers graded in tow, only to land at the doorstep of my coffee place to find it was....closed!

At this point my knees got weak, I almost withered into myself, and I stood there reading the signs and peering into the windows in total denial--hoping for some sign of life. Once I accepted that it was indeed closed, my brain went into race mode, scouting all the coffee spots I knew between my house and the doors to my school. Which could I get to the quickest (I was running a little late) who had the best coffee? Should I take the subway or bus to land myself at this new destination? My blood pressure was rising. I was getting frantic. Could I call the school and tell them I'd be late? (Yes, all for coffee).

You see, I teach 1st, 2nd, and 3rd period in a row, so if I don't get coffee before school I can't get it until 11am, which is WAY too late for this gal.

As you might guess, since I live in Park Slope and teach in Cobble Hill, there were a million and one places for an over-caffeinated white person like myself (that's my favorite line from the movie "Crash") to get her fix. It all ended up okay, but man, for a second there I thought I was going to have to go back home, crawl into bed, and wait for the apocalypse.

Caffeine anyone?

shameless marketing

i have been at ikea a lot lately.
i am such the evident marketing demographic that it is actually a trifle embarassing. I almost want to disguise myself when i go there so that the ikea secret agents that roam the store or watch me on video camera as i agonize over a beige or olive throw pillow won't feel so smug in their effectiveness.

here is how i know they're out to get me--the music.

in my last two trips to ikea, it is as if they have hijacked all my mix tapes from high school. remember those? mix tapes. so beloved. i have held onto a few of mine; they were representative of so much effort! and it was as if ikea found them and broadcast them, on a low-medium volume, throughout the whole store.

some highlights:
"in between days" the cure
"lips like sugar" echo and the bunnymen
"hysteria" def leppard
"bizarre love triangle" new order
"i want candy" ?
"get outta my dreams, get into my car" ?
"patience" guns and roses
"enjoy the silence" depeche mode

IKEA!!!!!!!! i hate you for having me so figured out! you make me feel so unoriginal, especially when i am surrounded by other 30-somethings all singing under our breath, pushing our strangely-named cheap furniture around. dammit ikea! you're too good at what you do. you win. now give me my svan chair and billy bookshelves and let me take the free shuttle bus home in peace (minus that cure song now stuck in my head).

Bklyn Ikea, June 18th

We were at the Park Slope Ale House and our fave trashy waitress was overheard saying, "I have never been to an Ikea..."

Wha-wha-what?!

We are like the opening scene from "Fight Club." Literally most of our apartment is filled with furniture that has odd Swedish names and cost less than a couple hundred dollars. Our best piece is Alexandra's 99 dollar crib. Solid wood. White. It's a true gem--no lie.

And as much as the mallification of New York is a real problem, I am celebrating that Ikea is opening in Red Hook on June 18th. The B77 bus in my 'hood already says it terminates at Ikea (how much did they pay for that advertising?). I can't wait for everyone's apartments to look exactly alike. We all are already clones of each other, why can't our apartments be clones, too?

"anxiety of acquisition"

my downstairs neighbor kat gives me her New York magazines when she's done with them, but this one article she particularly directed me to b/c we have been having the anxiety producing conversation about real estate in brooklyn probably since we met.

i don't know who this joel lovell is, but as someone who moved to NYC right as its mallification began (1999), i feel what he's saying. i am not sure if i am part of the problem or if i entered into a shift already in progress (probably a bit of both), but this article on how a recession of sorts might give us all the swift kick in the ass we need to stop being such materialistic jerks was quite poignant.

read it!