NYC Day 1 - Settling In

This morning, we woke up not on a train, nor in a hotel.  We were in Brooklyn!!

We decided to free our little Hidey/Heidi Hamster, who had traveled all the way from Bloomington, via Rockford and Washington, D.C., from her makeshift hotel and put her cage together.  This was very exciting, especially for our friend P, who appreciated the little furry wiggler.  This also took most of the morning, but we were successful!

Nathan had an appointment in the afternoon with his broker friend, Michael.  Our hosts, J & A offered to watch the bigger girls if Nathan and I wanted to go out and look at places.  We took advantage of this opportunity and, after a leisurely breakfast and getting ready time, we started out, with Eleanor in tow.

We took the L train into Manhattan, and transferred to the 1 line uptown.  While we waited, an express train ran by.

We thought it might be nice to stop and see the Lincoln Center train stop, where Juilliard is located.  We got off the train and went up into the city.  We were pleasantly surprised to see a farmer's market in the little triangle of a square between the roads.  We learned that it ran year-round on Thursdays and Saturdays, and that they accepted Food Stamps!  We bought some tasty things, including fresh ginger root - it was still pink at the tips!

Then we decided to walk down to Columbus Circle, which is the "gateway" to Central Park South, at least on the east side.  There was a big shopping center here that had a Whole Foods inside, so we went in and looked around.  It was nuts.

But they did have some interesting things.  Such as rambutan, which seem like more effort than is worth it:

And starfruit.  Which weren't ripe.

And lychees, which Nathan says tastes like roses smell.  He used to eat them in South Africa.

It was getting on towards Nathan's appointment and so we decided that he would go up to see the broker, and I would grab some groceries.  But my shoes had broken (the heel had worn through), and walking was pretty uncomfortable.  I decided instead that Eleanor and I would do a quick trip through Whole Foods and then go home.  While I was looking, I saw that they sold shoes!  So I bought a pair.  They are made of burlap, at least on the outside, and are deliciously hideous.  I like them very much, and they were much more comfortable than my broken ones.

It was getting later and later and so I decided rather than spend a bazillion dollars at Whole Foods, I would go back to Bushwick in Brooklyn, take a rest, and then go out again to Trader Joe's with the girls.

Here is a note about shopping in New York.  Don't do it on the weekend.  Both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, being the popular bastions of organic tastiness that they are, have line systems here.  At WF, you are first divided by number of items:  10 or fewer in one line and then 11 and above in another.  Once you have been divided in this way, you are funneled into one of many shorter lines, each one with a different colored arrow hanging above it.  You then look at the television monitor suspended at the head of the lines, and watch to see which numbers flash across your color on the screen.  They run sequentially, so if the lines are blue, yellow, and green, the numbers (which correspond to the number of the register to which you are to proceed) will first flash on blue, then the next number on yellow, and then on green.  And the system recycles itself.  Cashiers press a button to indicate that they are available, and then that number is shown on the screen, while a recorded loudspeaker announcement reads it as well.

The line in Trader Joe's was a bit different.  Two guys stood with tall poles on either side of the end of the line.  Atop each pole was a big banner with a finger pointing at the ground, and the banner read "line starts here."  You were to walk between the two guys into the line, and they would correspondingly move backwards.  The only difficulty when we went was that the line was so long that it wound throughout the store, so I had to weave in and out with the girls to get the milk and eggs.  I think I snapped at the littles more than I should have, but it was a little chaotic.  We finally got the idea that one was to stand on line and then shop those aisles as the line passed through.

Also, in New York, it's called standing "on line," rather than "in line."  I've been saying that as loudly as I can, to blend in, you know.

Then we went home.

And heard about the apartment search, which wasn't very search-y.  Nathan's friend had shown him two places.  The first one he liked so little that he didn't even want to tell me about it.  But the second one had some promise.  It was a two-bedroom in Washington Heights/Inwood, at the northernmost end of Manhattan Island, for $1725.  We had been originally thinking between $1500 and $1650 (the latter being our maximum cost, as we wouldn't have any more from Nathan's student loans).  But this is what was available, so Nathan checked it out.  It had been nicely finished, with smooth walls, etc.  However, the layout didn't include a living room.  I think it technically was a one bedroom, but they had converted it into a two by adding a closet to the sitting/living room.  So there wasn't any common area, except a little in the kitchen.

This was more than a little disheartening.

Also, the broker's fee from the company was not one month's rent, as we had supposed, but rather 15% of the yearly rental income.  In addition, guarantors were required, unless we made 40x the monthly rent in salary (upwards of $69,000), and each person was obligated to have a $100 credit check fee, including the guarantors.  Ay-yi-yi!

I wondered how regular people - working-class people - could find a place to live, and Nathan said that there seemed to be a planned gentrification of Manhattan, because this was pretty standard.  The poorer people were being forced out and landlords were only accepting either wealthier tenants or tenants with wealthier parents/guarantors.

I got my feathers a little ruffled, simply because I didn't want to participate in any sort of gentrification or displacement of people from their homes.  Yuck.

It was a little overwhelming overall, as we had been relying on this broker to help us find a place.  The place he found that was even in the neighborhood of our budget Nathan didn't want to tell me about at all, and the place that was semi-reasonable was out of our range.  Phooey.
 So then we got ready for bed.  And we all read books.  Even Eleanor.

Tomorrow is another day.

Travel Day 3 - New York, Finally!

It's been a crazy day.  Here's what happened, in photos:

We woke up in Washington, D.C. and ate breakfast.  We packed up, took a taxi to the station, and caught our train to NYC.  We got to sit in Business Class!

Here is a photo of Baltimore, Maryland:

Here are some photos from Delaware:

Here is Olivia and I:

Nathan was asleep through most of Philadelphia:

Here is Trenton, New Jersey:

And here is Newark, New Jersey:

In New York, we arrived at Penn Station.  We caught a taxi to the Baha'i Center, where we were planning to store our belongings while we looked at apartments.

Here is a street shot from the taxi:

We made it to the Baha'i Center:

where we visited with our friend, Mikey:

 

But our broker cancelled our appointment.

We gathered up our things, and walked to the train station.  We took the L train from Union Station to Dekalb in Bushwick, in Manhattan.

We arrived at our friends' home in the evening, and settled in quite nicely.  We have our own little room, with an airbed, a couch, and a small bedroll.  Our windows face south and west, so the room is rather warm, but we can see the Empire State Building and the One World Trade Center from our windows.

We are looking forward to finding a place soon!!

Travel Day 2 (Phew!)

So, we are still moving to New York.  I say this a day after we departed because we aren't there quite yet.

Understandable, you might think, if we were driving from Chicago.  But, no, we took the train.

And the train was late.

This morning, we woke up in our awesome sleeper room on the Amtrak 30 train - the Capitol Express.  I think we were still somewhere in Ohio.

The girls and I bumbled about and got dressed, to bring breakfast back from the dining car, as the baby was too fussy to realistically sit quietly through breakfast.  Only it turned out that we needed to ask our attendant, so Walter called him for us.  We ordered and a little while later, Justin (our attendant) brought our breakfast to us.

We felt deliciously lazy, eating breakfast in our bedroom on a train.

After breakfast, we rested for a while.  It was beautiful to watch the scenery.  We stopped in Pittsburgh.

At this point, we were about 4 hours behind schedule.  So we rested some more.

We stopped in Connellsville.

We finally bestirred ourselves to get up, so we walked to the observation car, which was several cars behind us, immediately after the dining car.  We were in Pennsylvania now, and on one side of the car, there was a beautiful river, and on the other, a cliff going up.

 

It was wonderful to see the layers of ancient stone, here and there folded and tilted by the slow and powerful earth.  And to think of the reason the track was laid this way - along the old river routes - and of the people who decided this, and built the tracks, and chose to keep the same routes even today.  I was very thankful to be able to see all of the natural beauty - it was the best "tv" before the big city.

Also, we got to go through several tunnels.  I took a picture of that, but it was pretty dark.

The kitchen served a late lunch then, around 1:45, since they weren't really planning to do so originally (we were supposed to be in DC by 1:10).  However, we were running 4-5 hours late by then, thanks to freight traffic, so they decided that we should be fed.

After lunch, we went back to our rooms and napped.

By this time, Nathan and I decided that it probably wouldn't be the best choice to subject either ourselves or our train companions to another long train ride that day, so we opted to stay over in DC, and finish the last leg of our journey the next day.

We first thought to contact friends in the area, to see if we could stay with them.  We heard back, but after looking at the route from the train station to their house (two trains and then a taxi), with all of our luggage in tow, we decided it would be best to grab an inexpensive hotel near the train station.  We thanked our friends for their last-minute hospitality - it would have been wonderful to see them, but we can always go visit from NYC!

When we arrived in DC at 6:30 PM, we gathered our luggage and changed our connecting tickets to the next day - because the train was already late, there was no charge to do so.  We were to catch the 11:02 Regional.

We reserved our hotel through Hotwire on my cellphone, and found one for $89 (with taxes and fees, it came out to $103).  It was nearby, but not walking distance, so we hailed a cab and drove there.  We passed by the Capitol Building, which was undergoing some construction, with scaffolding all around the outside of the rotunda.  We also passed through the mall, so we could see the Washington Monument.  The weather was sunny and cool.  It was really lovely.

Out hotel was the Holiday Inn Capitol.  It had been recently renovated and was very lovely.  We checked in and learned that children ate for free in the hotel restaurant, so we decided to go up to our rooms, change, and come down for dinner.

Dinner was delicious - I ordered french onion soup with no bread and a goat cheese salad with pecans and other tasty things.  The baby didn't last long, however, so I snuck the remainders up to the room and finished it there, where Eleanor could crawl/walk around at her leisure.  Nathan stayed in the restaurant with the bigger girls until they finished.

We all bathed and went to bed.  It was nice to sleep on a regular mattress, especially because we knew we wouldn't be doing so again for a long time.

A Lesson in Detachment

In less than 12 hours, our family will be careening down highway I-90 toward Chicago, with all the earthly belongings we will be using for the next two weeks or so tucked strategically in suitcases in the trunk of my sister-in-law's trunk.  We are moving to New York City by train, and we've given ourselves this challenge - we are leaving car, furniture, and household belongings behind and embarking on this next stage in our journey with the clothes on our backs, some in a suitcase, a toothbrush and a prayer book.

And our hamster.

We are fortunate that we have been able to choose what we can take with us - unlike so many in this world forced out of homes by war, famine, disease - we recognize our privilege in that we can look at what we have and decide what can stay in storage or be given away or be sent to us at a later time.  But, I must admit, therein lies the difficulty - what DO we take?  What do we pack for a later time, and what do we ask others to send to us later?

Here is my current packing list of items that are coming with us:

1.  Nathan's suitcase - sleeping bags for everyone, two sleeping pads (for us old folks with more gravity), and pillows (for sleeping on the floor of friends in NYC until we find a place)

2.  Liz's suitcase - Nathan's clothes (enough for 5 days), Liz's clothes (enough for 5 days), Baby's clothes (enough for 5 days), toiletries

3.  Girls' suitcases (one per each big girl) - enough clothes for 5 days, pajamas, travel pillow, quillow (a little quilt that can fold into a pillow)

4.  Nathan's carry-on - personal papers & computer, plus cords, etc.. prayer book

5.  Liz's carry-on - important family papers & computer, plus cords, etc., prayer book

6.  Girls' backpacks - stuffed bear, Kindle & headphones, fleece jacket, headlamp, prayer book

7.  Duffel bag (carried by Nathan) - towels for each person, pajamas for train, clean clothes for train, toiletries for train

8.  Stroller & baby bag (carried by Liz) - extra diapers & clothes, baby shoes & toys

9.  Hamster tote (carried by girls) - hamster cage (collapsed), hamster supplies, hamster in travel cage

I share this not only to illustrate our craziness (don't even ask if the hamster needed train tickets), but as an exercise to make sure I haven't forgotten anything in this process...

There is a struggle inside me at present (sitting in bed at 1:25 AM and typing, whilst my children are sleeping strewn all around me), between sorting through the last vestiges of our personal belongings and throwing all caution to the wind and just going back to bed.  I'm a firm believer in responsibility - I think that I shouldn't leave piles and boxes of junk at my in-laws' home.  I don't think I should simply throw or give things away willy-nilly, either, especially as we aren't counting on much more from student loans than will pay our rent.  We are planning on shipping those household items that it would be expensive or difficult to replace (or are worth more than the $35 per box it will cost to ship them) to ourselves, once we find a place.  The question is:  what do we NEED?

I contend that we don't need very much at all.  As evidenced by the fact that, aside from our beds which we are keeping at our family's home, we have sold ALL of our furniture.  However, when it comes down to the nitty-gritty (not to be confused with the earlier willy-nilly), what we use on an every day basis isn't much.  Clothes.  Toothbrush.  Pillow.  And even then, those aren't really NEEDED in the way that one might require love, service, and kindness.

However, there's the prudent side of me who is a little worried.  I don't want to be unprepared - sitting in our apartment two months from now thinking to myself, "d'oh!  I have that one thing that I absolutely NEED in this situation - IN STORAGE IN ILLINOIS!"  I'm sorting through kitchen items, wondering what to pack, and thinking, "what if I need to make cupcakes?  What if there's a cupcake EMERGENCY???"

Another element of the discussion that I'm a little embarrassed to admit is that of money.  We are either middle to upper lower class or very to lower middle class, I'm not sure which.  We are a family of five that currently lives on Food Stamps, gifts from family, and Student Loans.  And there is a real fear about money that enters the equation.   It will cost us moolah, either way, which, on a "modest" student stipend (read: meager), isn't in abundance.  I don't want to be frivolous by sending everything we own, but at the same time, I don't want to be frivolous by having to buy everything again!

And, when it comes down to it, I suppose I'm afraid.  I'm afraid that I won't get what I need.  Which is silly, because I always have.  Maybe not everything I WANT, but that's my own fault.

One of my favorite sayings, forever immortalized by my friend Loisy, is this:

"Trust in God, but tie your camel."

I'm trusting that this awesome journey will bring untold confirmations to our family - we will grow and laugh and learn in a new city, and our lives will be enriched by our time there.  And I'm tying my camel, too, in planning in advance for every reasonable contingency.  (But how many camels do I need to bring?)

And therein is the lesson in detachment.  I am detached from our personal belongings in the sense that - should they not make the trip safely - I trust that I will either be able to replace them or that I won't need them.  I am detached from the idea that I don't really need ANYTHING - I'm not a monk, I'm a mama, and I've got to make sure I feed and clothe and teach the people.  And at the same time I am also (trying very much to be) detached from the anxiety of this entire process.  Good Lord, there are enough things to worry about in the world!  Life is going to happen, and I don't want to be worrying about cupcake tins while it does. 

Or camels. 

But I will probably be worrying about that hamster.

Tips for a Decent Gluten-free Pie Crust

I have to say that the thing I miss the most from the wheat/flour/pastry world is pies.  And tarts, which are essentially little pies.  Mmm... pie.

Of course, there are oodles of gluten-free pie crust recipes out there, but they are usually rather involved, and entail one already having a huge variety of different gluten-free flours on hand to whip up one little pie.  Plus, pie crusts are finnicky enough to have to worry about mixing the right proportion of all the ingredients.

I was therefore super-excited when I found a pre-mixed pie crust mix, brought to your local grocery courtesy of the folks at Glutino (aka Gluten-free Pantry):

http://www.glutino.com/our-products/gluten-free-pantry/perfect-pie-crust/

One caveat to remember is that simply because something is gluten-free doesn't mean that it is good for you.  This mix is loaded with super-refined flours and starches and even sugar (boo), so it is still a dessert BUT when I'm hankering for pie in a pinch, it works!

However, there are some tricks to getting this (and probably any gluten-free) pie crust to behave.  Because it is lacking in gluten - which is the sticky business that keeps most flours together - it needs some help staying cohesive.  The mix calls for an egg (which is an excellent binder) as well as a bunch of butter and shortening (yum) and some apple cider vinegar.  Once mixed, the recipe calls for the entire mix to be wrapped and refrigerated.  And that's essentially where the helpful hints end.

SO - here's a little extra assistance in whipping this pie crust into some pie-reminiscent shape:

1.  Remove from refrigerator.  Split dough into two halves (1 half pictured here).

 2.  Place dough on large sheet of waxed paper.  

Using your hands, smoosh dough into a circleish shape.

 

  3.  Cover with a second large piece of waxed paper....

 ...making sure that there is enough extra paper to hang over the edge of the counter.

 

  4.  Lean your hip against the portion of the waxed paper that is hanging over the edge of the counter (this keeps it from slipping and running away while you roll).  

Using a rolling pin, starting from the center, roll over the dough, making a circle-ish shape.

5.  When you're finished, the dough should be a little larger than the pie pan (and it smooshes outside of the waxed paper sometimes, too.

6.  Gently peel off the upper layer. 

*if the dough is too sticky, chuck it into the refrigerator for a few minutes.

 

 7.  Picking up the bottom layer of waxed paper, flip the dough into your pan and press down.

8.  If you're lacking a bit on the edges, steal some from other parts that are hanging out too far.

9.  Stick the whole thing in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

10.  Remove from the freezer and slowly peel back the waxed paper.

11.  Your crust should look sort of like this...

 12.  Fill your pie 

(I used eight local golden delicious apples, 1/4 cup maple syrup, lemon juice, and apple pie spices).

13.  Repeat steps 1-6 with the second half of your dough.

14.  Flip the top crust over the top of your pie.

 15.  Peel the waxed paper back slowly...

 ...mending any holes with extra dough.

 16.  Remove the excess dough from the sides and seal your edges.

You can put these back into the refrigerator for your kids to play with later.  Or make a little pie or something, if you don't have any kids.

 17.  I wanted my pie to look normal - I'm tired of trying to make "perfect" things, and equally tired of reading about all the perfect things that everyone else makes.  So here is the non-Photoshopped version of my real pie, complete with mended portions (where I got a little impatient with peeling off the waxed paper).

18.  Prick a few little holes in the top to let any steam escape and stick in the oven for the recommended time (I let mine bake at 350 F for probably an hour, or until the crust is semi-golden and looks "done").  A note on GF crusts - they usually don't brown in the same way as gluten-y ones do, and are usually much lighter.

And, voilá!  A not-so-perfect but perfectly tasty gluten-free pie!  Yum and yum!