Following Rabbits Blog

I've been wanting to go apple picking all season long, and finally went with not a week to spare. We went to Masker Orchards in Warwick, NY- it's absolutely beautiful up there! I went to Masker's late last year, so I was familiar with the area and the farm, and knew they'd still have lots of apples.

We rented a zipcar and stopped at Utopia Deli for sandwiches and sodas so we could picnic at the orchard. Thankfully the sun came out, but it was still pretty chilly eating outside. Once we got moving (read: skipping and jumping and climbing trees) we warmed up. 

It was determined that I ate 16 apples while we walked around. I think it was more like 4, but it felt like 16 when I had a stomachache on the drive home.

I can't remember the last time I climbed a tree, and this one was perfect. I regretted not having had our picnic in the tree (don't doubt me, I would've made it work somehow).

The apples at Masker's are seriously huge. (And yes, that's probably apple #14... erm... 4 in my left hand). We had a really fun day! It's great to get out of the city every once in a while and enjoy the outdoors. I was particularly silly, limbo-ing under branches, skipping around and dancing on bales of hay. I even found a perfectly tiny apple, named him Fred and tucked him in my pocket. Guess it's good to let the kid out every once in a while!

We hauled home a ton of apples, and I'm planning on making a couple pies and an apple cake (I'll post the recipes!). Another great day!

So apparently my silliness at the orchard was documented... after hearing of my Bahamas limbo championship, my company forced me to defend my title:

I saw Guster and Jukebox the Ghost at Beacon Theatre! It was my first time seeing a show there- it's gorgeous! We got a couple beers and headed up to our front row balcony seats. 

I managed to trip going down the stairs and we determined that if I had fallen, I probably would have gone right over the balcony railing, beer and all. "That would have just ruined the whole weekend." Guess it's a good thing I didn't fall.

I wasn't familiar with Jukebox the Ghost, and I was really impressed! They had a bit of an indie-rock/The Bravery vibe, with catchy riffs and a blazing keyboard. I came home and downloaded their 2 albums- loving 'em!

Check out Schizophrenia, Summer Sun, So Let Us Create, The Popular Thing, Hold It In, Lighting Myself on Fire, and Where Are All the Scientists Now? (no, I couldn't  narrow it down more than that). They closed with Donna Lewis' hit I Love You Always Forever, and got the crowd singing. Can't wait to see them again!

I saw Guster back when I was a student at UMass and they paid our campus a visit to do an acoustic show. I've been a fan of theirs for years, and have several of their albums. And yet I definitely didn't realize that there are so many band members! We counted 7 guys, who were all pretty interchangeable among the instruments they had on stage. Between every song they would rotate around the stage, some would leave and others would join those on stage. Despite the unusual formula (or perhaps because of it), they put on an incredible live show. It was a perfect mix of old favorites and new hits, and we danced and sang along to all of it. I've been listening to their new album, Easy Wonderful, for days on end, but was amped when they played oldies like Barrel of a Gun, The Beginning of the End, Hang On (mashed up with Billy Joel's My Life!), Satellite, Diane, Happier and Demons. Such an amazing show!! They closed with an acoustic rendition of Jesus on the Radio and the whole plays shushed enough to hear them without amps or mics. If you get a chance to catch these guys live, go! Was such a fantastic night.

photo I took of my last ride on the V train before it was decommissioned

SEE IT: photography I fell for this week
The NYC Subway system turned 106 years old this week. To mark the occassion, the New York Times published photos of the city's subway from over the years. There are some really great photos in this series, check 'em out!

WATCH IT: videos I peeped this week that you should too
The David Crowder* Band made a stop-motion music video for their single "SMS [Shine]" featuring 700,000 lite brite pegs and some serious animation... I miss my lite brite!

This guy seems oddly obsessed with KT Tunstall, but the video he made is super entertaining (KT thought so too and tweeted the link).

Tilt-shift videos fascinate me. They offer such a cool point of view and make ordinary events seem pretty magical. This is definitely one of the coolest ones I've seen, made at Coachella.

HEAR IT: songs I downloaded this week
I'm going to see Guster, Civil Twilight and Anberlin tonight and tomorrow! I'm pretty amped to see Guster and Civil Twilight again, and I'm a newbie to Anberlin's music but I'm liking what I've heard so far.

1. Soundtrack 2 My Life by KiD CuDi 2. Make Her Say by KiD CuDi 3. Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap 4. On the Ocean by Guster 5. Do You Love Me by Guster 6. Disappear by Anberlin 7. Paperthin Hymn by Anberlin

DO IT: things to add to your weekend calendar
Tonight at 9p- get your dance on at Lincoln Center's I Love Vinyl. DJs will be spinning records and encouraging you to participate in the event by emailing photos and interacting with AURICLE- a logo booth created just for ILV. 

Check out MOVE! at PS1- a 2 day event this weekend showcasing the collaborations of artists and designers. Some of the pairings include Kalup Linzy and Diane Von Furstenberg; Rob Pruitt and Marc Jacobs; Olaf Breuning and Cynthia Rowley; Brody Condon and Rodarte; Rashaad Newsome and Alexander Wang; Dan Colen and Proenza Schouler; David Blaine and Adam Kimmel; Jonah Bokaer and Narciso Rodriguez. I can't wait to see what they've created!

The 38th Annual Village Halloween Parade begins at 7p on Sunday. I've never been to the parade, but judging by my past NYC Halloween experiences, I'm sure it's a sight to behold.

Everyone knows I love cupcakes! So people are often telling me what they think are the best cupcakes in the city. I ask a lot of questions about the frosting, flavors, bakery location, price... then usually dismiss them and defend my favorite cupcakes. A friend recently told me about Sugar Sweet Sunshine, a cupcakery that I am ashamed to admit I'd never heard of. I dashed down there after work today and I gotta say... they steal the crown for my fave NYC cupcakery, hands down.

Now I didn't come to this decision lightly... the Cupcakery Crown is a serious matter to me. The fact that there's seating and a cozy vibe to the place is definitely a plus. Oftentimes cupcake joints in the city are teeny-weeny and you've barely enough room to slide past the display case and pay for your treats. Being able to order a cup of tea and sit down with your cupcake is pretty fab. 

Next, I'm pretty partial to the vanilla/vanilla breed of cupcakes, but when testing out a new cupcake place, I always get a little variety. You can't judge an entire bakery on the merits of their vanilla cupcakes... so I also got chocolate, pumpkin, and lemon. The other impressive thing to note is the price- just $1.50 per cupcake! That's two cupcakes and some laundry money leftover for the price of one cupcake at most other places in the city.

I got 'em home and decided to take a (big) bite of each one... for judging purposes, of course. The vanilla/vanilla definitely measures up. The chocolate was good, but then again I'm not the biggest chocolate cake fan, so take my opinion on that with a grain of salt. The pumpkin and lemon were amazing! The lemon cake and lemon buttercream had a sharp lemon flavor- not overly sweet, but more like actual lemon. Soo good! (Okay, I took two bites of the lemon...) The pumpkin was perfectly spicy- I'll be getting another of those before the season ends. 

I've definitely found my new go-to cupcakery, and plan to stay for some tea next time. Check 'em out!

photo via facebook

Lemme start out by saying I hate being scared. I don't watch scary movies, I frequently have nightmares, and I'm generally paranoid of others. And yet a friend of mine convinced me to go to Vortex's Haunted House. One of the many rules that you must agree to is that you are required to go through alone. No gripping your friend's hand, no sharing the experience- it's you, your senses, and your imagination cut loose in a maze of darkness, violent detention and disturbing imagery.

We started out together in a holding cell of sorts, where fog and a strobe light quickly disoriented us to an unsettling degree. Then we were snatched one by one and set on a path towards uncertainty, walking along with one hand trailing a string on the wall and the other out in front of me as a precaution. I don't want to give it away, but be warned that their rules and warnings are to be taken seriously. You will sign a waiver, and if the experience is too intense for you, you can yell "safety!" and be removed. And an intense experience it was... suffice it to say that I found myself at one point kneeling in a dark corner with a Guantanamo-style black bag over my head, one shoe missing, my hearing blocked, blood smeared on my face and my hands tightly tied behind my back. I was broken down to relying solely on my senses once reason and logic went out the window. 

The Haunted House is running through Halloween, however all advance tickets are sold out. They do offer a standby waiting list, and there have been a few tickets available on Craigslist. I was more unsettled than genuinely scared, but I think the element of being uncomfortable and disoriented was an interesting effect that not many could have achieved with such intensity.