Happy Halloween!

13 Weird (And Adorable) Halloween Costumes for Kids

i want to ride my bicycle, i want to ride my bike

i've been wanting a bike for a while now. i actually had a bike named mt. fury (because that's what wal-mart branded her) that i bought my sophomore year of college, rode around on hardcore that year, and then put away in a storage space up until recently.

not long after i moved to the city, i realized that i really wanted a bike again. so i started hunting - online, on craigslist, bike shop windows.

then i found a perfect bike on craigslist on a monday a few weeks ago, and arranged to come look at it the following saturday. i was really excited about it, so i told my friends and bosses about it at work, and even showed them the picture. basically i got my hopes way, way up.

then that wednesday, the owner emailed me saying that someone had already bought the bike, and that she was really sorry. i'd been scouring craiglist and knew that there wasn't anything else that i was interested in, but i decided i could just wait until i found another.

i had plans that night to eat dinner with evie, her mom, dad, brother, and our friends in brooklyn, so i had to make sure to leave work right at 6. around 5:15 my bosses mentioned that they had to do something before the day was over, and asked if i had plans right after work. i told them i did, and i didn't know if i could run the errand unless it was on the way.

then my bosses said, "you're having dinner with your friends, if you can be 15 minutes late that would be great. this errand is on the way to brooklyn so it shouldn't be too bad." so i told them it was no problem.

that's when handed me an envelope and told me, "great! because we need you to go pick up your bike. we bought it for you!"

"what?"

"we bought your bike for you as a thank-you for last week*, so you need to go pick it up!"

i literally stood in place with my mouth open in a dumbfounded grin for a couple of minutes. i didn't know what to say, so just kept saying "thank you."

i think i may add a subsection to my blog specifically for bike stories. for example, when i bought a 36" glass shelf from the container store last week and had to figure out how to ride it home on my bike. or how i'm really scared that i'm going to get "doored" - when a driver or passenger opens their car door just as i'm riding by.

stay tuned.

*we had a few crazier-than-normal days the week prior.

an evening with judd apatow

i went to this last night. all i can say is that judd apatow is hilarious, incredibly humble, and has remained relateable despite his success. he told some great stories, my favorite involving judd at 12 years old, driving by steve martin's house until he saw him and asked for an autograph. when he politely refused to sign an autograph "at his own house," judd went home and wrote him a letter basically saying that he was amazing, but that he treats his fans like shit, and he wouldn't live in such a nice house and have such a nice career if he didn't have fans. 6 months later, judd received 2 books of short stories written by martin, and a handwritten note apologizing for not having signed the autograph because he hadn't realized he was talking to THE judd apatow.

apatow was joined by his wife, leslie mann, and the q&a was a great introduction to funny people.

a write-up from today

do you belong in new york?

my results for this quiz:

Score: 75

DO YOU BELONG IN NYC?
Only until you age out.
Sorry to say it, but you're a temporary New Yorker. Sure, this city is awesome for running around and enjoying your youth, but you came here to work and play hard and plan on jetting at the first signs of crow's feet or when your parents stop financing that party lifestyle of yours. Plus, if you ever decide to settle down and have kids, there's no way you're bringing them up in a studio. Click here for suggestions about how to really enjoy NYC.

new digs

this post is a few weeks past due, but here it is anyway, in all of its late glory.

we have an apartment! in the city!

right now i live with evie, my best friend from CO. i met her when we both studied abroad in coleraine, northern ireland almost 3 years ago. we met the first night i was there, jet-lagged and hungry, eating the only thing that was available to me - my flatmates' mcvities digestive cookies. funny because evie and i grew quite fond of those cookies. (sometimes happiness can be measured in lbs). anyway, evie and i hit it off right away - we danced with boys in the way that we were really only dancing with ourselves, went on jogs during which we could kick poles, and chased hares (cause they were too big to be bunnies) through the woods. we were inseperable for 3 months, and talked about how cool it would be if we lived together somewhere else down the road.

la la la la la, here we are. we did it. we live together in brooklyn in a place we found on craigslist, down the street from good friends, and one train ride away from both of our places of work. we live across from an elementary school and have trees on our block. granted, not too far from us is a store that claims to be a candy store, but we're pretty sure is a drug/gambling/sex slavery front, but ah well.

then we found ourselves looking for a new place. not because we don't love brooklyn - evie would probably stay if it weren't for other factors - but because circumstances arose, friends planned on moving away, other friends planned on moving up, etc. i'm here indefinitely, as is another friend of ours, and i wanted to establish a long-short-term home for myself in the city (if doable). a good friend of mine from UNC, caroline, got a full-ride (high-five!) to nyu and things fell into the right places for us.

blah blah blah - we (me, evie, caroline, our friend amy, and our neighbor laura) have a new apartment. it's cute, has all the amenities we want, and it's affordable, at least by our nyc standards. speaking of nyc standards - they're INSANE. IN. SANE. if my north carolina-livin' self were to sit down with my nyc-livin' self and have a conversation, nc casey would kick ny casey in the non-existant ballsack. however, like i said, this place is going to be affordable for us, especially in the beginning when we're sharing rooms and splitting rent.

anyway, move-in date is august 1st, so the clock is a'tickin'. to commemorate this news, i give you this cute article from time out new york: the top 10 nyc apartments on tv.

total eclipse of the heart: literal video version

the high line

the high line is a park built atop an old elevated railway. it's located in the meatpacking district (where i work), and looks really cool. definitely going to check it out.