Well, it's been a while again! The last few weeks have literally flown by for a few reasons: Hurricane Sandy, Thanksgiving, and literally endless amounts of work leading up to the end of the semester. Also, during the last few weekends I've been broke (my money for the semester has officially run out) and so we haven't been able to do many things.. plus I've been home so much, so we're not spending so much time in the city.

Although last weekend we did get out finally! On Saturday morning we drove to the Giants Stadium and then later to Montclair. At the Giants Stadium they have a big flea market every weekend. It was the first time I went there, but it was really nice. There were a lot of people who had really good collections of items (like the mermaids sitting above left) or beautiful furniture (like the table on the right, which I wished I had asked how much they wanted for it because I know I'll never find something like it elsewhere!).

When we drove to Montclair, we got a late lunch at one of our favorite places called Cuban Pete's. The food was delicious, as usual. We got a few appetizers, which were red peppers stuffed with plantains, and deep-fried plantains stuffed with sausage. Also, we got some of their delicious iced-tea in a pitcher. I've been wanting to try their sangria, as well, because it's BYOB and we can add our own wine to it, but we will have to do that next time. For our meals we both got our usuals: Zach got a chipotle skirt steak, and I got mango salsa chicken.

Later that night we went to a big Barnes and Noble in Northern New Jersey. The book on the right we found in the children's section, and it reminded me of my dog :)

During Thanksgiving I got to see so much of this cute little puppy. And my dad brought home some delicious chocolate wine (I ended up drinking the whole bottle and getting more throughout the weekend). 

On the left is my mom and I at Thanksgiving :) And one day I hung out with my friends Lauren and Jayne. It was actually later in the day on Black Friday, so we checked out some deals at the mall and then went to dinner at a place called Cool Beans.

And now I'm back to school.. and back to dealing with this ridiculous schedule leading up to the end of the semester. Although it was nice choosing my schedule for next semester (as it was my last one to register for!) the end just feels so far away right now!

Melissa.

I feel like It's been forever since I've updated, just because so much has gone on and I was updating each weekend before this! Well, the weekend before Halloween was really fun! NYC was starting to finally look like fall with some beautiful, colorful leaves in Washington Square Park, and I picked up some of these beautiful decorated pumpkins (right) at the Farmers Market at Union Square. These flowers on the left have easily become my favorite type of flower just in the last month, I love how unique they are! I just wish I knew what they were called...

Our Halloweekend was fun! My dear friend Megan came down from New Hampshire because her birthday is on Halloween, so I got to see all of my best friends again :)

We waited until the last minute with our costumes, so we just rant to K Mart and got some face paint and painted ourselves as zombies in the bathroom of Au Bon Pain. On the right is the cutest little painted skeleton with a mustache I saw when we were walking in the West Village.

We also went to the High Line on the West Side, which was originally train tracks and has been transformed to a pretty garden/walkway. It has some really nice views.

And then Sunday came.. and then everyone was in panic mode about Hurricane Sandy. And Zach half convinced me to come home with him before I got an email that my classes on Monday had been cancelled. So I went home, and eventually all of my classes were cancelled. Monday afternoon, we lost power at both of our houses.. and it stayed out for about a week. So there were lots of candles and fires to keep us in the light and in the warmth.

Thankfully our houses were fine, and the majority of our neighborhoods were fine despite lots of trees and electric wires being down. But, other places, like Seaside Heights were not so lucky. Their boardwalk has been destroyed, including their piers and dunes. Lots of beaches got hit hard, and I do know some people who have lost their homes or have had their homes damaged and I am hoping that things turn out for the best for them. The beach down the block from my house was all flooded (above) and it was kinda cool looking.

Daisy in front of the fire place keeping warm. Luke and Tony in front of a lantern while Zach built a bonfire in his back yard for something to do in the aftermath. We consumed lots of Pumpking beer, as well, in the spirit of the holiday :)

Surprisingly! IHop was open only a few days after the storm. EVERYWHERE was closed, and it was our saviour to have delicious pumpkin pancakes.

And the gas lines have been horrendous... they stretch for almost a mile long down the road. It seems to have gotten better in NJ but now that I'm back in NYC I still see long, long gas lines on my way to class.

And since I've been back in the city I've been enjoying this delicious hot chai mix I got from Target (among many other things) for ridiculously cheap! And today it is snowing... on the right is me walking home in the snow and being soaking wet.. don't let the smile fool you I was pretty miserable actually.

But the snow does look quite pretty on the New York rooftops..

And if you haven't heard, we have the same president! I'm really glad Obama was elected. I would have loved to have voted this year (for the first time!) but I am registered in NJ and couldn't go home to vote yesterday.

Here are some photos from last Halloween.

Melissa.