Nicole and Charlie Fish in Cincinnati

Well we are continuing to do well and explore our new home- another eventful week!

Monday February 19: 7:00 in the morning I woke up to a very sad and pathetic voice saying, “Nick, Nick, I’m out here”. I opened the door to our bedroom and there was Bill lying on the couch in his sweat suit practically crying. Background info: We joined a gym out here and part of the membership is that you get a free session with a personal trainer who tells you how out of shape you are etc. So Bill proceeds to tell me that he had this big, black, ripped guy trainer, Damien (like the devil he said) who made him do this series of exercises to exhaustion- run for 12 minutes, as many push-ups as he could, sit-ups, etc. He had to sit in the locker room for 15 to recover and then lay on the couch when he got home b/c he was “dizzy”. Pretty funny (and kinda sad) for the all-star athlete.

Wed 21: I went to pilates at the place Charlie goes for classes and DRUMROLL please…I had real conversations with the 2 other women in the class- YEAH!!! Adult interaction! They were normal moms- older than me, but really nice. I asked them for pediatrician recommendations, places to take Charlie, etc- It was great! I can’t wait to go back next week.

Wed night Bill and I went to an amazing restaurant Buddakan in the Meat

Packing

District- it’s a huge Chinese fusion place-delicious food- dumplings, crab fried rice, lobster egg rolls. Very trendy, cool, and fun to people watch. This was a great place. We will be taking our visitors there! On our way home we were walking and Bill proceeded to tell me that he LOVES living in NYC- we’ve come a long way from dreading moving here!

Thursday 22: night my cousin Kate arrived from Chicago- saw her beautiful, huge engagement ring- way to go Brad!

Friday 23: Shopping with Kate in Soho- lots of fun! I am honored to say that Kate has asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Charlie will be the ring bearer- how cute will he look in a tux? Good thing the wedding is a year away so we have time to practice walking down the aisle. Kate and I went for dinner and drinks- a wonderful girls night out with my cousin.

Saturday 24:shopping with Kate. She showed me an awesome store- fairly reasonable trendy clothes- Zara.

Saturday night: Bill took Charlie to the New York Rangers hockey game at Madison

Square Garden. Bill got him a jersey and he looked so cute for his big date with dad. Bill reported that Charlie enjoyed the game, but not as much as the chairs that flipped up and eating pretzels. When a fight broke out, he started saying “no, no, no”. A fun boys only night.

Matty came in town. Kate, Matt, & I went to Kemia (the fun tapas/Moroccan restaurant for Mojitos). I am addicted to these… I can’t stop thinking about them. For those of you who haven’t experienced this magic, it’s mint, limes, sugar, club soda-HEAVEN. It’s my go-to NYC drink. YUM! Seriously I hope I don’t develop a drinking problem- all of the restaurants here have special drinks which I am such a sucker for.

Next we went to this Chinese restaurant China 1 which turned into a nightclub at 11:00. So we get there and order and look around and there is a table of about 15 “beautiful people” or I should say “think they’re beautiful people” all decked out in dresses, Channel jewelry, blazers (ugly pink, paisley, HAMPTONS), and salmon color pants etc- they were the kind of people you see on the OC or The Hills. But totally looked like tools dancing on the chairs and grinding on each other. They were drinking $90 bottles of Sake and taking pictures of each other like Paris Hilton does. Matty was so annoyed. We were in the middle of dinner and all of a sudden there are asses in our faces. Kate said “I’d like a side of bootie with that rice”. This restaurant was in Alphabet

City which in lower eastside- we walked around after dinner and bar hopped. We had lots of fun and got home at 3:45am- I haven’t stayed up this late since the 90’s

Sunday 25- we all laid around in our pj’s all day and didn’t shower. I went to the grocery down the street around 6:30pm for a few things with Charlie and I’m in the check-out line and who do I see? CELEBRITY CITING #3………………..

Edie Falco (Tony Soprano’s wife). She was 2 people ahead of me in line- by herself, no makeup, wearing an old Northface jacket, capri jeans and boots, hair in a pony tail. She looks older than I would have expected, but really petite.

Funny Charlie moment of the week: right before we moved, our friends Katie & Eric were over at our house with their girls- their daughter Maureen “Momo” plays with Charlie and happened to bite him in the cheek- no big deal, a few moments of drama and then they were friends again. So last week Charlie bit Bill and he told him “no, no, no… remember when Momo bit you and how it hurt… blah blah. So ever since that important father/son deep moment, Charlie has been obsessed with the story. He constantly is grabbing his cheek out of nowhere and says “momo, no no”. Yesterday I couldn’t get the tv to work, and Charlie kept asking to watch Bob the Builder and I said, “I know Charlie it really bites that the tv doesn’t work” and he immediately grabs his cheek and said “momo”. Very funny!

Hello everyone!!! Another week in NYC has come and gone.

Things are definitely getting better as I figure out where I live and what’s around. This week went by quickly- Charlie and I were busy exploring and Bill and I were out on the town.

Monday Feb12 the babysitter came for a few hours in the afternoon. I went and got my nails done a few blocks away at a place my neighbor recommended- you just walk in- no appt. needed. It’s one of those places where all the women are from China or

Japan? It was the fastest, cheapest manicure ever and you don’t have to talk- which I enjoyed because I just wanted some quiet time anyway where I didn’t have to hear “MOMMA, MOMMA”. It took 20 min (for a french manicure) and was… $15- CRAZY. So not everything in

Manhattan is expensive. I loved this place… I even bought the frequent buyer card J

After the manicure I had so much time left I wasn’t sure what to do with myself… I walked around the neighborhood and bought some flowers at the stand- they have every kind of flower imaginable- it’s unbelievable: roses, peonies, tulips, star gazer lilies (Diane I thought of you)… anything you could want.

 

Monday night we took the subway to

Times Square so Charlie could see the lights. We went to Toys R Us and rode the big ferris wheel. This was lots of fun. We ate at a great BBQ restaurant-this was a great night.

Tuesday Feb 13: we went to art class at Charlie’s “school”. We call it school, but it’s not. It’s this place MiniMasters where you go and they have classes for kids- art, dance, music, etc- so you join and can sign up for classes. They also have babysitters to watch your kids so you can do pilates or get your nails done-pretty awesome. We are just “trialing” the options right now… so weird. Once you join, you can use there gym space for “open gym” which I’m finding out is a popular thing here. Basically it’s just time each day when they aren’t using the gym space and you can let your kids run around. There just aren’t many places for this since it’s so cold, so you have to join somewhere to do this. The place is great and Charlie loved the class and kept saying “color”. He loved getting messy in the paint and playing play-doh. Again- didn’t make any friends at this class. Only 2 other kids there with their nannies of course.

Wed 14 (Valentine’s day): my romantic (and computer geek) husband informed me that he got me my very own blog: www.nicolefish.com where you will be able to view these posts. I will try to write weekly about my adventures… I definitely never thought I would do this, but I think it will be fun to look back and remember our year here and everyone can follow along with this crazy experience. Charlie, Bill & I went to this Mexican restaurant down the street that is quickly becoming a favorite- great food, neat place, & excellent margaritas!!! Romantic dinner with my 2 favorite men.

Thursday 15: was our trial of minimaestros (music). This was so cool. It’s a band: drummer, guitar, keyboard and a guy & girl singer. It’s kind of like seeing the Wiggles- they play songs, read a book- so neat. I was hooked and signed up immediately.

Patrick and Jay were in town for a business meeting- Bill & Pat had to go out with the big dogs so I went out with Jay and the sales team. We all met up for drinks afterward. This guy “djnyc1000” (he used to be a dj in LA, but his parents wanted him to get a real job) works for Bill- he was all about taking us to the hip, happening places. We went to this one place where we were going to see Scarlet Johansen and Kanye West. It was this “secret” bar that you have to know about to know about…

230 5^th Ave

It was the top floor of an apartment building. So we went up there (Bill, Pat, Jay, me, and the dj)- it was this huge open space with windows all around and really high ceilings- couches and chairs all over (very Sex in the City). We got a round of drinks ($75) and then the dj took us upstairs. You can’t smoke in any of the NYC bars- so everyone goes outside. They had this clothes rack of robes with hoods that you could put on so you wouldn’t be cold outside-so strange, but neat (kind of “Eyes Wide Shut”-like). We stayed there a little while (no celebrities) the dj told us they would be at this other bar- so we went there- waited outside a while and was told we could get a table if we bought a bottle (starting at $350) Yeah, right-so we left…

Friday 16: Charlie and I went to try Minimuscles at our favorite “school”. This was very fun too. It like a gym/tumbling class for toddlers. The teacher was this flaming gay, Broadway wanna-be. So fun- the kids loved him. He sings songs (think Broadway musical style) and runs around the room and the kids follow him climbing, jumping, etc. Charlie loved this class and was such a ham- going in the middle of the circle, wanting to be first, dancing around- so cute.

Charlie seems to be adjusting to NYC just fine- he has figured out where everything is in the apartment and how to open all of the drawers and cabinets, push the elevator button, and turn on the dishwasher. His new word is “volva” which means “blanket”. Pretty funny (and interesting to explain to others)- he whines, “volva, volva”… so Bill and I encourage “volvO” instead. We will remind him of this when his is a teenager.

Friday night Bill and I went out to this great bar/restaurant for drinks and appetizers- very sexy and trendy, Kemia Bar. We had tapas and mojitos (yum yum yum) anyone who comes to visit, we will take you there. They we went to see the Broadway show Avenue Q. It’s this crazy show with puppets- so funny, it’s like a dirty

Sesame Street

. We loved it- A must see for any visitors who don’t want to see the traditional musicals. We were walking down the street after the show and all the other shows were getting out at the same time and I had my CELEBRITY SIGHTING #2:

Melanie Griffith with her daughter leaving Chorus Line- She looks like she has had a ton of work done- tight face & huge lips.

BIG NEWS: Today baby Elizabeth (Ellie) Hannah (Sam’s baby) was born & baby Lucy Schwendeman. Congrats to you both. We are so happy to hear that everyone is doing well and we send you hugs & kisses!

Here’s baby Lucy- 

baby Ellie

Sat & Sun: we ran errands and hung out at home. We went to the Children’s Museum of the Arts– It was ok… nothing great- just tables set up upstairs with painting, coloring, etc and downstairs was a ball pit and place to build blocks and dress-up. Of course Charlie made a big #2 while we were there and we had to change him in the corner-

That’s it for now!

Hope all is well with everyone- keep the emails coming!!! We miss you all.

Well I survived my 1st week in NYC…
Let’s see where did i leave off…
After being near suicidal after not leaving the apartment mon & tues, I decided that Charlie and I would adventure out on wed. Bill’s sister got us a Children’s Museum of Manhattan membership for x-mas, so I decided that we should check it out. I got us all bundled up, packed the diaper bag with all of the necessities and left the apartment for the 1st time alone with Charlie… I stood on the corner with Charlie squirming in my arms and attempted to get a taxi (FYI cabs hate to stop for kids b/c it takes too much time and they have too much crap and they are loud and messy)- i was nervous about this, but the 3rd taxi stopped for us. I flung Charlie in the backseat and the bag and climbed in. I buckled Charlie in the seatbelt (he was so excited to not be in a carseat) (FYI carseat vs. no carseat has been a big debate… we asked everyone we came in contact with and it seems like you don’t need one in a taxi, but if you get a driver in a regular car you do need one- thank god b/c i would never be able to carry charlie, the diaper bag, and car seat)
anyway- so we were off to the museum which was way untown near central park (30 min cab ride, $25) The museum was fun- Charlie loved the firetruck and all the kids.

 

I was hoping to at least have a conversation with another mom, but no luck- no one wanted to be my friend Actually, 75% of the women were nannies-weird and most of them spoke another language. The New York moms either were dressed in all black with their fancy bags or crazy with leopard scarves etc- and they all knew each other.
Thursday we ventured to a nice grocery store 6 blocks away- I’m finally figuring out north vs. south The grocery was super nice with delicious foods- already prepared (my kind of cooking). The aisles were super skinny and people seem to not see you they just crash into your stroller or hit you with their cart- no eye contact and definitely no adult conversation unless you count the deli guy- who didn’t even say hi either
Friday we went to this place called Sydney’s Playground basically it’s a large space filled with cars kids can ride around in, little kitchens, some slides, a cafe (of course). You pay $12.50 per kid and can stay as long as you like- It was perfect for Charlie and me to see some other adults (again no talking) and check out the other moms. So I’m zooming Charlie around in the firetruck and I look up and who is 5 feet in front of me?

My first celebrity sighting…
Juilanne Moore
She was there with her daughter who looks just like her. It was so weird… no one acted like it was a big deal. She didn’t have any makeup on, black skinny jeans, white sweater… But she’s so pretty and her hair color is amazing. ok- so I spied on her the whole time and sometimes forgot I was supposed to be watching Charlie. Can you say psycho stalker. I kept trying to get Charlie to go play over there so I could maybe I could talk to her- no luck
I interviewed 3 different babysitters this week- one was a family friend connection and they other 2 were somehow connected to Tim Toomey’s sister. One of the girls was awesome and I almost cried I was so happy I had found a babysitter- i wanted to hug her (but i was afraid she would think i was a weird-o and wouldn’t want to babysit)
So she (Lauren) babysat Sat night and Bill and I went on our first official new york date (he planned it) we went to Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in the financial district by his office. Nice steak place… Since people eat so late here (9:00 or later) we were pooped by the end of dinner and came home… we’re old…
Saturday day we went to the groc and we were in the isle when this guy next to us was talking on his cell phone… he said to the guy on the phone, “have you ever been to Cincinnati” “well I was just there and let me tell you a weekend was enough”… Bill and I started cracking up
Karen Kase came and met us for luch sat afternoon. We went to a restuarant across the street and they had an advertisement up for Cincinnati night in a couple a weeks where they will have skyline and coneydogs and GRATERS so Karen is coming back for that!!!
Today we woke up ready to take Charlie to the Fire Station museum (there’s a museum for everything) when our buzzer went off and it was the Fire Department saying they needed to get into our apt. to get to the roof b/c there was a problem with the building next to us. So next thing I know there are 5 firemen in their outfits coming thru out apartment and up the stairs to our outside part. Then they had to come back and fix the elevator… Charlie was in heaven. Bill and I looked at eachother like what the hell… Only in NYC… never a boring day around here. Then we said looks like we don’t have to go to the museum now Charlie is going to think firemen come to our house every day…
Things at Bill’s office have been going pretty well I guess… However, he informed me that he didn’t eat lunch or pee all week. I told him it’s his job to make friends so they’ll invite us to do things, not to be known as the weird guy who doesn’t eat or pee or talk to anyone.
Well, i think that’s enough for now… I miss you all like crazy. This is a weird place- I miss Cincinnati and my friends….
Keep the emails coming.
Love Nicole

Hey Girls…

Sorry I haven’t responded to many of you. Thanks for your emails, calls, & cards. I miss you all so much already and am feeling quite homesick.

Things have been crazy. The move was pretty bad. They were supposed to move all of our stuff in on feb. 1 and showed up 3 hours late on the 1st to inform me they had to get a smaller truck that would be allowed into manhattan and our 2nd truckload wouldn’t be there until the 2nd. Needless to say we were upset and had to stay a 3rd night in a hotel and my parents were coming the 1st too…

The movers were jerks- there were only 3 of them and 1 was a women… big disaster… annoying 2 days.

Thank god my parents were there to help unpack, set up, watch Charlie, etc- they were life savers

Sunday- the big Superbowl Bears game… 20 min before the game this annoying, loud beeping noise started- we couldn’t figure out what is was/where is was coming from… Bill ended up riping the security panels out of the wall and cutting the wires to the sensors- nothing worked, but the fire alarm went off- so loud and scary screaming “fire, fire, leave the building immediately” so we bundled up and started to walk down the 5 flights of stairs when we realized it was only our apartment and it was from something Bill cut. So we slept all night with this beeping. The alarm guys came the next day and it ended up being a carbon monoxide detector that I packed in a box- YIKES

Monday- bill left for work, my parents went home, i cried like a baby… I ordered groceries online for the 1st time- they arrived…. I accidentally ordered 14 1/2 gallons of milk for Charlie instead of 4… NICE GOING DING DONG, so our entire fridge is full of milk.

Tues- too cold to go outside… longest day of my life… I’m definitely going somewhere with Charlie tomorrow-

So that’s the update… hopefully things will get better and I will feel settled soon. I miss you all so much and hope you can all come visit

Here’s Charlie in his new room- I guess he likes it.

Here’s our building (we’re the top floor-middle building)