Wow, yesterday on Dec 21, we had lived here for five months already and the Winter Solstice also occured both here and back in Sweden! Today is a rainy day and the forecast for tomorrow shows strong gusts and heavy rain, followed by a sharp drop in temperatures and the Real Feel will go as low as -8°F. 🥶🥶🥶 Tomorrow also is one of the worst days to travel, so it will be SO, SO wonderful once Adam, Emma and Tilda arrive tomorrow afternoon in the apartment!
In the last couple of weeks, I have finally got to the gym more frequently again and am feeling well. The kids have however been home with cloggy noses and sore throats, but for the moment we are all on top. Except for Elvira who had a backlash and feels more homesick again. 😔
Last Sunday we had dinner with our friends in East Village. It was all four of us visiting Ilze, Jannie and their youngest daughter Lara. Such a pleasant, fun and experiential evening.
Johan, Lara and Olle I and IlzeElvira, Ilze, Jannie, Johan, Lara and Olle
12/12/22 and our 14th wedding anniversity – time flies 💞 Our first dinner one-on-one since we moved here! We had a lovely evening at Quality Eats in West Village!
Elvira´s touch Ornaments on fire dept buildingAlways new coloringKiss under the mistletoe At Quality EatsLovely wedding flowers
On Dec 13 – Lucia, I finally received my Social Security Number.👍👍 Actually don´t know if and when I´m going to need it, but anyway it´s a cool thing to have! Johan and I had tickets for the Lucia procession at SACCNY on Thursday night instead of Tuesday. It was a nice event with open bar, snacks and some Swedish lusse-songs.
Last Saturday I walked all the way up to Columbus Circle throughout Hudson River Park and via Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park on my way home. There are lots of buildings, views and attractions to be amazed by in this bustling city.
MoMA pianoSaksRockefeller CenterNew views…………Flower beds of cabbageColumbus CircleView from Central ParkHorse and carriage on UESIce skating rink in the ParkFound these two darlings!
On the fourth of Advent we all went up to Fabrique for some fika, also the same day Argentina won over France in the World Cup in football in Qatar.
This last week before Christmas, there are some preparations to take care of. For instance I am trying to get hold of some Swedish Christmas food, not the easiest thing. Not that we neeeeed to have it, but somehow cozy!
We have put Christmas cards in the lobby tree for Chris and Nelson. Cards which, by the way, we have bought to support two girls in Elvira´s school for their upcoming European trip in April. 🙂
Elvira showed me another Swedish bakery, a place her Advisor found near school! So from there we now have herring and Annas pepparkakor. 🙂
A corgiChristmas cardsAnother corgi$9.99At the bakery Smor
Last Tuesday we had dinner with Johan´s American colleague Curtis and his adorable wife Jenny. They live in Denver, but Curtis is here in the office from time to time and this time Jenny came along. We tried the Standard Grill, a really cool place with the best burger I have ever had. Jenny, just like Olle (and I) loves Korean movies and series!
Yesterday evening we went to the movies and saw “Puss in boots” at the AMC Theater on 34th street. It was more scary and dark than fun, but with a intriguing story and a thematic statement.
At Little West 12th St in the Meatpacking DistrictOutside bar at the StandardJenny, Curtis and OystersHappy Vira – choose and push a buttonPleeeaaazzzze
Today I have shopped some Christmas gifts for the youngsters and soon the Holidays are here! I attach a card, originally sent to DanAds from their lawyer. 😂
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
At the Public Library on 5th AvenueAnd their Christmas tree
Tilda is already on the plane on her way home to Sweden after eleven wonderful and joyful days and nights in our new city and home! It feels like we have managed to walk around all of Manhattan in sunny heat – and experienced a lot!!
Flightradar24 8-7-22First night – Mellanbarnen 🙂Greta Grafitti at Spring St – evening walk with kiddosFinally – the kitchen cloths from Adam and Emma. Thanxxx!
Last Monday we went (by foot, needless to say) via Hudson River and the Piers down to Battery Park and took a left to the memorial Ground Zero to pay respect to all those who died on 9/11 in 2001.
One World Trade CenterGround Zero Memorial This evening all five of us had dinner at Shanghai 21 in China Town, a restaurant certainly flirting with the original Cockroach in Beijing 🙂 Elvira at the Shanghai 21Tilda and Olle waiting for orderingChina TownOne of all beautiful wall grafittisLittle Italy and China Town are closeSharing at the Shanghai 21
On Tuesday morning, me and Tilda started off in what we first estimated a 60 minutes walk. We finally hit our apartment three and one half hours later, with an outdoor temperature of 100F (38 degrees Celsius) and broken knees. We Power Walked from SoHo all the way up to Central Park, via Times Sq and MSG. Finally reaching our building and lobby, we had an IKEA delivery to assemble in the apartment 🙂
Some cool info from Tilda about Houston street, the street dividing Greenwich Village and SoHo – The street’s name is pronounced “HOW-stən“, in contrast to the city of Houston, Texas, whose name is pronounced “HYOO-stən”. The street was named for William Houstoun, while the city was named for Sam Houston. Perhaps uninteresting knowledge, but I looooove it!
Times SquareIKEA deliveryMakeup table
We also have found our local SOHO pub called Broom Street Bar; “the atmosphere is always low key even when celebrities stop in – which they do on a regular basis”. Sooo waiting for ANYONE from from the Friends set showing up! 🙂
Our new favoriteTilda and me outside the Friends Apt, 90 Bedford St, NY 10014Katz Kino – Cat Cinema 🙂 After only running into BAD LUCK SPOTs in the street, so comfy to see the lucky one!M&M Store at Times SquareWant them all! Chinese bowls at Chelsea Market
Already Wednesday and we went to the gym, ran 3 miles and did some workout 🙂 In the afternoon all five experienced the ArtTechHouse (thanks to a present from my cousins with families!) THANK YOU ALL!! at the Chelsea Market. SoCool!
Neurons in our brain ArtTechHouseLying on the floor watching the neurons Life of a Neuron brings together decades of neuroscience data and research to create a cellular level journey through the human brain
Heading on to Thursday – Cleaning Day, since we had to accept an agreement of having the apartment cleaned and vaccum cleaned every second week by a lady called Alma. Thank you Alma, who also solved the problem with our noisy and clogged “pet”, the InSinkErator. Now we know how to feed it properly with lots of water during the garbage disposal!
Our non-furry pet
So this day, I, Tilda, Olle and Elvira took the Q-train to Coney Island in Brooklyn to see the Ocean and check out the amusement park Luna. We also tried to get a hot dog from the famous Nathan’s, but the queue would never move forward… 😉
From Canal St to Coney IslandExpectant 🙂 🙂Subway trainees Some day we will try it!At the PierMen fishingConey IslandNice sun loungers at the PierHaha, LOVE it – Heja DJUUURGÅÅÅÅRDEN!Sun bathingClassic view?HelloooooOur home train station
Today me and Tilda hit the High Line together with the Whitney Museum and also strolled around at Chelsea Market – loooove this place!
Walking the High Green LineHigh Line Green Tree 🙂Crying people – Danish artistBrooklyn BridgeAt the Whitney1000 pcs jigzaw puzzle – Honey, I am home!A room with a viewA home with a viewA living room with a viewA Pier full of Flowers
Here we are about to grab a drink at the Broome St Bar 🙂
Last Saturday we walked to the Whole Foods Market at Union Sq and in the afternoon all five took the train to listen to the annual Blues & BBQ Festival at Pier 76, which has been closed for the past two years.
Hudson River Park’s beloved Blues BBQ Festival is back in person and live in the Park! There’s no better way to spend an August afternoon than with savory barbeque, delicious drinks and live music, all on our riverfront. On Sunday Johan took a plane to Montreal, Canada and landed many hours later after some delays at the airports. The rest of the gang took the train to 86th st and walked across Central Park from Upper West Side to Upper East Side. Hello little oneNo filters! At the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central ParkFontain outside the MET on UESA bit frightening finding my youngest daughter´s imaginary friend in her bed after she watched and got scared of “the Vampire Diaries” 😉Love
Monday morning and I went to the gym, first time all alone. 😉 Ran my 3 miles on the treadmill and found some nice machines. Came home and took Tilda to the Seawalk on East Side. 🙂
A Seaside WalkBrooklyn Bridge view from East Side South Street SeaportHere at Seaport you’ll find the most charming book store called McNally JacksonSouth Street Seaport Museum
This evening we had dinner at our favorite Broome St Bar, and the food is just as good as the Spicy Margaritas. The next morning we decided to visit the Empire State Building! My goodness, what a view – as usual the pictures do not do the view justice!
We live in the middle, a bit to the right!A green Swoosh on the roof!🙂Central Park in the distance
Wednesday, Aug 17 – Morning walk with Tilda and Johan coming home from Montreal, Canada.
Grand Central TerminalCool! A must-visit!One of the Lions (Patience and Fortitude) guarding the New York Public LibraryFun Facts About Our Timeless Cats– Library Lions Sculptor Edward Clark Potter obtained the commission for the lions, but the Piccirilli Brothers executed the carving—for $5,000. When they were first unveiled, some folks didn’t like them, including former President Teddy Roosevelt, who thought the library should have bison (as they are North American animals). In a similar vein, a small group of people thought beavers should flank the building in honor of Library co-founder John Astor, whose family had made a fortune in beaver pelts. They were placed on their pedestals a few days before the 42nd Street library was dedicated on May 23, 1911. The lions are larger than life, stretching more than 11 feet (not counting the tail), about three feet longer than their real-life counterparts. At first, the lions were called many names, including Leo Astor and Leo Lenox for the Library’s co-founders, as well as “Lady” Astor and Lord Lenox (even though they’re both male lions).
This finale night with Tilda, we went to Piccola Cucina Estiatorio, an Italian gem in New York City! And also just a two minutes walk from our apartment. 🙂
Already three days in this lovely, hot and coooool city! We all feel that our apartment is really, really nice, roomy and bright.
At the moment there are some ongoing matters, like obtaining our debet cards, Social Security numbers and esim for the cell phones. And nowhere to find ordinary dish cloths. 😉
Morning PW China TownJohan embracing the Little Island
Today the temperature hits 99 Fahrenheit, around 37 Celcius so we are chasing the shadows. 🙂 Our misson for today was to find Olle a guitar, and we have looked up a shop called Guitar Center nearby. So with hopes of a singer/songwriter evening with our own troubadour, after dinner at 232 Bleecker.
The acoustic den at Guitar CenterTrying out the new guitar🙂
Tomorrow is an important and exciting day, all four of us are going to visit the Family Welcome Center, in order to enroll Olle and Elvira to the public school system in NYC.
So… finally we are actually on our way! I thought it would be nice to have a blog, a way of sharing what is going on over there (or here!). The ambition is to post little stories and some pictures once in a while. Writing in English, if someone outside Sweden wants to read. 😊
Heading for the United States, to New York City and even to Manhattan! It took us two years from the first idea of moving the little family, consisting of two parents, me Lisa and my husband Johan along with our two youngest children out of four, Olle and Elvira to the big Apple. Just when we thought we had it all under control, the pandemic started to ravage and it made it impossible to even get our Visas.
We obtained our approved Visas after loooooads of paper work, interviews, documentation etc etc after a final appointment at the American Ambassy in Stockholm in March.
The main reason (which is the one and only reason for us having this amazing opportunity to relocate to NYC) is Johan´s upcoming achievement in staffing their US company DanAds Inc.
So we all know what Johan is supposed to do once we have settled in our gorgeous Condo in Soho, but what about the rest of the gang!? When Johan strolls to his office in midtown, Olle will find his new way to high school and Elvira finds hers to middle school. But – since you need a residential address before you can be admitted to a school, we just now have started looking for good educational places nearby and are hopeful of getting the kids enrolled.
For me, the main task in the beginning is to make sure Olle and Elvira land well in their new schools – and of course in general. Below some pictures of the kids, cats, girlfriend and me and Johan.
Bye for now, post you soon!
Me and Johan in Central Park, April 2022The 4-leaf cloverDinner time with Emma and AdamOur new apartment in SoHo, NYCThe two most beloved gentlemen, waiting for their delicious dinner
Taby goes SoHo 