A Weekend in Brooklyn and Other Recent Events

Well the past two weeks have been extremely busy work wise. The last week of August our department had three different orientations which my co-workers and I had to plan and present. This week was the first week of classes which is always hectic.

There has been some time for fun and games though. Last week Esther and I saw VickyChristinaBarcelona which is one of the best movies I have seen in a while. We also managed to explore a neighbourhood that neither of us were familiar with, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. It has the feeling of Park Slope with all the brownstones, restaurants, and boutiques but it feels less gentrified. We had tasty Thai food at a local BYOB restaurant.

Labor Day weekend I showed my friend Sarah my hood. We had coffee at one of my favorite local hangouts, Connecticut Muffin. After our walk through Ditmas Park we hopped on the subway to Brighton Beach aka Little Odessa. There was a street fair where Sarah and I found we were the only people who did not speak Russian. We had an amazing lunch/dinner at Tatiana which is a Russian restaurant on the Boardwalk that over looks the Atlantic Ocean.

Later Sarah's husband Joe wanted to meet up with us so we headed over to Park Slope. Joe grabbed dinner at a Mexican restaurant while Sarah and I enjoyed the Margarita's. Afterwords we made our way to the Black Sheep Pub which was very fun. This is a laid back bar on the Park Slope/Boruem Hill boarder. They have inexpensive beers on tap plus fooze ball and trivia competitions.

This week Linda introduced Esther and I to this great Italian Restaurant in the Garment District called LUXE. We enjoyed the Thursday night jazz.

I also started some classes this week. I am taking an on-line course through the New School in Screenwriting. I like it so far it just strikes me as funny that since it is an on line course the instructor is actually in LA. I had to see a Danish film for an assignment which lead me to discover this cool shop called Mondo Kim's. It is in the East Village and is a three floor Mecca of music and movies. They have rentals on the top floor and specialize in foreign films.

I am also taking a course through my synagogue on preparing for the high holy days which are coming up. Rabbi Esther who worked with me during my conversion teaches the class so it is nice to see her again. It also gives me the opportunity to meet more members of the synagogue which is also great.

I guess the most exciting recent news (exciting to me, anyway) is that I wore lots of new clothes...which we know always makes me happy :)