Our New Office

I’ll admit it. My eyes are always open for celebrity sightings. I make no apologies. I’m from Iowa. What do you expect?

We shopped with Dave Chapelle at the French Connection. We walked passed Cameron Diaz on the street in the Upper West Side. We even saw Greg Brady (from The Brady Bunch) get out of a cab three feet away from us. But the best celebrity sighting was Johnny Depp. Here I am sharing a moment with him at Bloomingdale’s. That’s Leo DiCaprio right behind us. It was a big day.

Some celebrities are easier to spot than others, especially the ones that don’t move. Here is a strange set of bronze Hello Kitty sculptures that we often pass on the way to the subway. Notice she is crying into a pool of water. Sad.

You don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary to see a celebrity or some kind of activity having to do with pop culture. Jason found someone to play with right on 5th Avenue without even really trying. Here he is playing a little virtual football with Peyton Manning.

Since in New York, we’ve been trying to network and take advantage of the thousands of conferences, conventions, meet ups and networking events. It’s overwhelming, I’ll be honest. But in doing so, we’ve gotten to learn a bit and listen to some big name execs speak about marketing, etc. I even got to sit in on a panel with Wyclef Jean. Neat.

But Jason actually takes the cake with celebrity meetings at conferences. Here he is with Chuck Norris … one of Jason’s heroes. He practices Chuck’s moves when no one is looking.

ps – Johnny Depp and Leo DiCaprio are actually wax. While I certainly have some street cred, I’m not quite that cool. At least not yet.

Came across a hilarious video from a website called CollegeHumor.com about what it might look like if someone spoke in real life like they did on Twitter. The video is filmed in NYC’s Union Square so even if you don’t think its funny, there are some nice shots of the city. But if you know Twitter, you’ll think its hilarious too, I’m sure of it.

Jason and I are on Twitter, and we actually write about things other than our lunch. Well, sometimes we Tweet about lunch, but only when its awesome. LOL.

@SaraLancaster

@SporkMarketing

Since day one in New York City I’ve been surprised at the number of dogs in our neighborhood. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve begun to recognize my neighbor dogs more so than my neighbor people.

Creative Commons Image Credit: Lynt

It’s nice having these cuddly creatures around. They add a lot of character to the area with their dog parks and adorable faces. They also create a nice distraction for me while working at the coffee shop.

The canines are not the only dogs around this place. The stereotype that NYC streets are filled with hot dog vendors just happens to be true. We found a vendor at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and felt the need to document the moment, since it will probably (hopefully) be our last street-side wiener.

Now, for a little bit of humor. This next video has nothing to do with NYC, but a lot to do with trouble-making pooches.

I’ll set the scene. My friend Tiffany plays on a co-ed kickball team in Boulder, Colorado. After each game they pick up an injured teammate and run him or her around the bases. I guess no one was hurt during this particular game so they just did it for posterity. Little did they know that in the process of running the bases one of their teammates would get injured — by a rough and tumble pooch.

Actually, Our New Office is one year and one day old. Jason published the very first post on August 8, 2008.

You can read that first post titled, The Story Began, by clicking here.

If you are new here, then you should read my recent post, Top 27 Travel Highlights, for a summary of our international journey. 

It’s not very clear what will happen to OurNewOffice.com with our travels slowing down and all. Since we’re not posting that frequently anymore, you should sign up to receive our posts by email. This way you’ll know what’s happening when they’re happening. You can sign up for email updates by clicking here.

Creative Commons Image Credit: Sandra

The blog has been quiet lately, because we’ve mostly been in the office and off the streets. But, that’s not to say we haven’t had some fun in the six weeks since we’ve arrived in New York. Here are the highlights.

We made our first major purchase as a married couple (not counting all the plane tickets we’ve bought so far). Who knew couch shopping could be so stressful fun?

Grocery shopping has been a bit challenging.

No, it’s not that we have to carry our bags, it’s that prices are absurd. Some NY grocery stores are beautiful and gourmet with aisles and aisles of chocolate and other delicious foods. Then on the other hand, there are itty bitty grocery stores that don’t have much to choose from and what they do have is not so quality. Whichever category of store you choose, the prices are at least 30% more than Denver prices — maybe even twice as much as what we’re used to.

But oh well. We heart NYC, and think its kind of cute that the diapers are right next to the sodas.

We made a new friend, thanks to Facebook.

Remember that video of me in Singapore where I was eating creamed corn on dessert? (Click here for a reminder). Well, not long ago I received a message on Facebook from a woman named Kirsty who said she didn’t know me, but Facebook recommended me as a friend. She had no idea why that would be, but she did recognize me from that silly corn-eating video.

You can read more about the incident over at her blog, Nerdy Nomad.

Anyway, we were lucky enough to have lunch with Kirsty (even though we still have no idea why Facebook wants us to be friends), because she is spending some time in New York too. What a treat to meet someone who travels and works like we do, and someone who hearts New York like we do too.

Jason took us on our very own walking tour of Soho.

We took a gander at several of the caste iron buildings in the area and enjoyed all the people watching and window shopping too. Who said you can’t live in a place and be tourists at the same time?

And then, of course, we are lucky enough to be around a lot of great friends. Here we are after an awesome pizza dinner with Alli and Larissa. Look at all those drinks! We must’ve been thirsty.

In a previous post, I talked about how we found an apartment on the Upper East Side, and then I posted a couple of pictures of the neighborhood. The pictures posted were not of our apartment building, but of quintessential Upper East Side scenery.

I wasn’t clear about that so a lot of you thought you were looking at our apartment, but you weren’t. This is our apartment…

I think that might even be our mailman too.

It’s not bad news, but things are probably going to change. Ever since we signed up for the new Google phone, it’s become evident that most of our photos will now be taken with our phones.

Just like this picture taken of Jason on our third day in New York (and our third day of eating pizza, I’d like to add).

The Google Android phone has made navigating NYC super easy. We have maps and Internet directions right at our fingertips. Top that off with one of the coolest desktops I’ve ever had on a phone. Every 30 minutes my screen updates to show a new Web cam photo taken from somewhere in the world Universe. I took a picture of my phone (with our actual camera even) to show you. The image you see on the phone is from a Web cam at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center that is snapping shots of the sun.

I love this thing.

You’re probably thinking: geez, this sounds like an ad. Well, it is.

If you have a Google Android or are thinking about getting one, then buy all your accessories from Amazon. I’d suggest you try out the Google G1 Android Phone Mega Accessories Bundle, at least to start.

For those that click on this link and purchase from Amazon, we will make a small commission. Any money we make on this blog helps us keep up our travels and our blog, so thank you in advance for your support.

First Unbelievable Fact
There are millions of people who live in Manhattan. I know five people and managed to see one randomly on the street. On our second day of apartment shopping we turned a corner and, lo’ and behold, my good friend Romona was walking right for us.

Now, I knew Romona lived in New York, but I didn’t know where. Turns out she lives just a block and half away from us now.

This is the same Romona who in high school had a locker right next to mine. We also walked right next to one another at our high school graduation, and then that same summer at CU’s freshman orientation we roomed together by coincidence too.

Here’s to having last names that start with “Mu.” And of course, to finding nice apartments in the same NY neighborhood — the Upper East Side.

Second Unbelievable Fact
Pedicures are a steal. I think this is one of the few things that will actually be cheaper here. Only $23 and that includes a manicure too!

Third Unbelievable Fact
Our wedding song was “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys. Now, this song is nice and lovely for a wedding, but there’s actually no particular reason we chose it except that it’s one of the few songs we both like. Our tastes in music are entirely too different.

The coincidental thing here is that apparently Alicia Keys filmed a video right here in the courtyard of our apartment building.

We weren’t there for the filming, of course, but the locksmith told Jason so it must be true.

Fourth and Fifth Unbelievable Facts
You pretty much have to hire a broker to find an apartment in Manhattan. It’s still not something I’m all that comfortable with. I mean, we’re renters and we might as well have been buying an apartment with all the paperwork and background checking we went through.

What’s more — we met with three different brokers, none of whom we were all that wild about. And guess what? We have run in to all three of them at one time or another. Again, out of millions of people and it was awkward every time too.

Creative Commons Image Credit: EdenPictures and Damek

Since returning to the States from Panama, we’ve been a little busy with work and getting our domestic lives back in order. But that’s not to say we haven’t had any fun.

Once in Denver we had quality time with Jason’s family and with friends. The big event was our friends Alex and Matt’s wedding. Here we are lookin’ good…

After a week or so in Denver, we made our way east to Iowa where we stayed with my parents for awhile. If a few years ago you had told me that I’d be living in my parents’ basement for three weeks at a time, I would’ve laughed at you. But we always have such a nice time when we’re there, and they make it so easy for us to work and SLEEP that it’s hard not to resist an extended stay.

Of course while we’re there we get to spend a lot of quality time with my nieces and nephew. Can you say baseball games and dance recitals? It was fantastic. Here is Sydney — 3 years old — on her tippy toes making Jason laugh.

After dozens of high-calorie Mid-Western meals, we got back in our truck and continued east. New York City was the final destination, but first we stopped in Baltimore to visit with my aunt and relax for an evening. Less than 24-hours later we were back in the truck and headed to New Jersey where we’d stay while looking for an apartment.

The hotel worked out great, but it was a little stressful with all of our belongings. Never fear though, we just packed it all in the cab and made a go of it. I’m happy to say that we had no problems in our cross-country drive or our 4-night stay in Newark.

Woo hoo! How lucky are we?

This is the last day of our international exploration. Today, we get on a plane in Panama City and return to Denver for a wedding and to get caught up on life and to see family too.

It’s a little sad to leave Panama, but it’s also exciting to think about the next leg of our trip. Although we’ll be in the States, our lives will be far from “normal” for the next couple of months.  Once we get back we’ll have to dig through the storage unit, buy a car, and start to piece together our next set of travel plans. First stop Denver. Second stop Iowa. Third stop New York City.

You see, Jason and I have always planned on spending time in New York City. Originally, we were going to head there straight from Denver after Jason’s condo sold, but those plans morphed into something much bigger. Instead of one destination it’s now turned into 12.

New York was pushed off for a few reasons. First, we figured we didn’t have a mortgage so we might as well take advantage of our freelancer status and enjoy a little “telecommuting” in Asia. Once that was over, the timing worked out to meet my parents in Costa Rica. We liked it and so it just made sense to stay. Then, Panama sounded interesting so we thought we’d give that a try too. But now all that’s over.

Since this is my last post from abroad, I thought I’d recap some of the highlights from the last 10 months. It’s sort of amazing to think about all we’ve done.

1. We’ve been to Aruba, Tahoe, Des Moines, China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Hong Kong/Macau, San Francisco, Costa Rica, and Panama.
2. We both turned 30.
3. We have attended several weddings, including our own. Here’s Jason at our friends Kim and Kevin’s rehearsal dinner. Isn’t he handsome?  That’s the bride there in the background. Sorry Kim — action shot.
   
4. I spilled a glass of water on one laptop and we have failing hard drives in two others.
5. I only had two injuries to speak of. The first in Aruba when I got into some nasty coral and the second was in Costa Rica where I took on a big rock with my shins.
6. Took thousands of pictures and hundreds of them with silly faces.



7. Dozens of near-death traffic accidents.
8. Two free upgrades to first class…now that’s living.
9. One possible food poisoning event.
10. Have worn the same clothes over and over and over again. Including this purple t-shirt, which you probably recognize from almost all the pictures.



11. Only one accidental mooning.
12. Worked very hard.
13. Fell in love with a brand of coffee in almost every country (sorry China).
14. Walked through several of the stinkiest streets in the world (once again, sorry China, but your fish markets stink!).
15. Eaten some of the best and some of the worst food of our lives.

16. We’ve met some amazing people.
17. I bought and wore out four pairs of flip flops.
18. No serious sun burns.
19. Eaten 82 meals (including breakfast) that involved some kind of rice and bean combination.
20. Not a single case of theft, but we were overcharged countless times.
21. We grew to really miss our friends and to be super happy when the joined us on our travels.



22. Lost two ATM cards, had one ATM card expire, and made four consecutive trips to the ATM before said expiration to make sure we didn’t run out of cash during our last 3 weeks of travel:).
23. Rode an elephant and an ox cart and never need to do it again.
24. Saw 4 different kinds of monkeys, and scorpions, tarantulas, and countless types of lizards.
25. Speaking of lizards, Jason killed two of them.
26. We never saw a toucan:(
    
27. Jason and I had a lot of fun together. Who said couples can’t live together, work together, travel together, and still like to hang out?