inspirational sidewalk...

A few weeks ago, I was not so patiently waiting for a friend to meet me near the train to head to dinner. I have a hard time looking casual while waiting for someone, so instead I look like an antsy kindergartner trying to wait her turn, while all time being like where the heck is so and so. I was five minutes early, he should have anticipated that (yep, when I am normally five minutes late, I didn't say I have fair thoughts). Anyway someone had put some words of encouragement on the sidewalk and I couldn't help but snap a few picks. This quote rings true, why make the bad grow when you can make the good stuff blossom.

Happy Monday Readers! Remember to water the flowers, not the weeds.

shipping up...

Well this is one of those big announcements… like really big. After seven years of living in Hoboken, playing and working in New York City – I’ve decided it’s time to return back to Boston.  I’ve heard New York has a few milestones before you become a lifer and I am coming up on the last one before it’s children that drive you to move out of the area. The first stretch is two years, then seven years. So in true form, at year seven mark I am giving the area one big hug and heading back to my roots.

It is a bittersweet time for me as I really do love the life I have down in what my New England heart considers south (at least NYC is south of Massachusetts). I’ve had good times, bad times, done a lot of growing personally and professionally, made friends, lost friends. Why I am living the city that never sleeps? Main reason: Family. Mom and Dad are both now retired, and well not getting any younger. I don’t want to miss getting to hang out for an hour or two here and there with them every other week or so – and the commute to them from New York is just too far to do on a regular basis.  Norbs and my sister and her hubs are also in the area in Boston.  Every time see Norbs he’s changed an incredible amount – he’s becoming such an interesting little human and I want to be there for as much as possible.

The good news, I am getting to stay with my current job, in the same role. I work primarily with people in Boston and London, so Boston is a good spot to head to. The other good news is I still will work with people in New York, which means the occasional business trip to the city which will mean time to visit all my favorite people here.

I’ve got about two months to go until I start the next phase of this journey we call life. I am doing my best to do as much as possible and see as many people I can before I go, and have as many New York moments as I can.

vacation, all I ever wanted

Before the Thanksgiving holiday week, I took a staycation day and enjoyed a very relaxing New York City day. My major goal of taking a local vacation day (not my norm, most of the time I head somewhere even if it's just a weekend adventure) was to make sure I didn't spend the day doing anything at home like cleaning, laundry, television watching, etc. I wanted to make sure I made the most of my day away from work.  I started my day at Flywheel taking a late morning class, one of the truest luxuries, of not working, not battling a class full other worker bees. I really enjoyed going to workout during when I'd normally start checking emails at work. 

battle of the matts – round 2

Are you ready for the second installment of my “Battle of the Matts”? As you may recall, from this post, I had a week of concert ticket purchasing, which resulted in me with tickets to see both Matt Nathanson and Matt Wertz in concert within about a week of each other. I was lucky enough to have a friend willing to join me on my concert going adventures throughout the two weeks, and it was really fun to see to singers I really enjoy listening to.

Matt Wertz  was definitely a Pandora discovery a few years back, and now he’s one of my go to happy place music people.  Naturally, some of his songs have a breakup theme (something I realized I am drawn to, which is probably bad in a way, oh well), as well as some really happy songs that make me sing along (which I hope my neighbors enjoy). First off the venue for this show was much more intimate then the prior one, being at the Highline Ballroom. My friend and I were able to sit at a table right up front and have dinner and drinks before and during the show, I pretty much felt like I could almost touch the stage – or that at least the band could probably see me.  I really enjoyed being so close to the band and getting to hear so many of my favorite songs. I was sadly unaware of the latest album so I had not done my own due diligence in prepping for the show by spending the week prior just listening to the new stuff, however Matt played all my old favorites too. I was a happy camper based on the fact that I could sing along and annoy the man in front of me (sir – it’s a concert, you are supposed to sing along, not shoot dirty looks at those of us singing).

Highlights:

Favorite Songs: 5:19 as the original closer, Get to You, Someone Like You

Philanthropy: Finding out about the Mocha Club, a great charity helping out in Africa to provide clean water, among other things to those in need

Bonus: For the encore playing snippets of favorite songs, often after an audience member shouted it out, before bringing back the band and the opening act to finish the show

So, you may be asking, who won my battle? Well, I’ve been listening to Matt Wertz for two weeks solid since the end of his show, and trying to see when he’s coming back to town again, so I think he’s the winner from that alone. Both shows were so different, but I truly enjoyed the smaller venue and feeling more a part of the experience.

 

battle of the matts - round 1

There was a week in September where I went a little crazy and purchased concert tickets for a few shows in back to back settings. It was really one of those, on Monday – hey want to see Matt Nathanson? On Tuesday, hey want to see Matt Wertz? Finally on Wednesday, I think I looked at a show and had to be like, Jill, concerts are great but isn’t this like a bit insane? So I took a bit of a breather and decided to go with seeing two of my favorite songwriters in concert in two consecutive weeks.  Upon going to the first concert this week, I’ve decided to call this the Battle of the Matts.  Seeing as these are two artists with the same first name, and well are two of my go to music choices when I am ready to jam, I thought it would be fun to host my own battle of concerts (some of you who read the title were really hoping I was dating two guys named Matt, right? Well so does my mother – get in line).

First up was Matt Nathanson, who has a new(ish) album – Last of the Great Pretenders, that I frequent on Spotify nearly daily. The show was at Terminal 5 – which was a first time for me at this venue.  Josh Radin was the opening act- another one on my list of artists that make me happy.  Matt Nathanson was funny, his stories were great, making me laugh. One of my favorite song openings, was when he explained he wrote the song for an ex-girlfriend as a hope of getting back together, they didn’t, but she provided enough material for five albums (clearly my documentation of the story is not nearly as good as his). He was good natured and humorous throughout the show – I thought well if he ever wants to try his hand at standup that might be a good backup career.  I really enjoyed the music, the band did a great mix of newer songs and some of the old classics. I loved getting some of the stories behind the songs I often sing at my desk at work (only when my neighbors are gone), but it definitely put a personal spin on so many songs I love.

Highlights:

Favorite Songs: Sunday New York Times, Mission Bells, Annie’s Always Waiting

Audience Participation Moment: Tiny Whitney (encouraging everyone that they have a tiny Whitney Houston trapped inside them)

Bonus: For the encore the band reappeared dressed as Poison and performed Poison songs before closing with Faster

Right now this feels like it’s going to be tough for Matt Wertz to compete with, but I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised. 

photo via pinterest

on top of the world

A couple of weekends ago, I met a colleague from out of town to do some classic New York sightseeing – as someone who didn’t grow up in these parts, I am always looking for an excuse or two to do some of the more touristy items in the area. It’s a completely true statement, when you live somewhere you tend not to take good advantage of what there is offered. I met her at her hotel and we ended up walking down to Grand Central Station in order to catch the train, but that turned in to sight number one. Grand Central is one of those true masterpieces architecture in my opinion, I love old timey charm that you don’t get in very modern buildings – details are incredible to me. From there, I took us down to do some walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, something I think is just beautiful – you get to walk above traffic and see so many amazing views of both Manhattan and Brooklyn. Once over to the other side, I feel like it’s essential to get some ice cream and take a peek at the Statue of Liberty from a far. After that we hopped the ferry (my first ever ferry ride in NY between Brooklyn and the city) and made our way to the Empire State Building. I’ve done the Empire State Building once before – on a cool rainy night which was just the right touch of romance for that certain adventure, and I saw Jess from Gilmore Girls there too (extra bonus).  It still is one of the most incredible views out there, if you ever get the chance to go it’s worth it.  The day was topped off with a trip to one of my favorite restaurants nearby which was just a nice little treat.  All and all, I still love getting to play tourist in a city I spend almost every single day in.