Waiting for Earl to come through

Author: Jake

Thursday night, I went to New Jersey. That isn’t really a big deal, in itself, since I go to NJ about 4 times per week on average. This time, though, it wasn’t just a run across the George Washington to Fort Lee. I actually took NJ Transit (above), and went to a little town near Newark. Deep Jersey. Snooki/Jerseylicious Jersey. Hahahah. I was there to shoot an interview with the famed tattoo artist Jun Cha, who I errantly reported earlier this week operates out of NJ. He is really a dude born and bred in So. Cal. trained by the likes of Mr. Cartoon. Anyway, here are a few of the shots from the interview:

The dude does traditional So Cal black and grey, in photo-realistic style. If I were ever to get a tattoo (which I never would), this is probably the dude that I would hit up.

Back to the matter at hand.. We are supposed to be blasted by Hurricane Earl on Friday. Hurricane season is the time of year that I suffer the pangs of being a poseur, past-prime surfer. Last time I checked the surf report it was like, double overhead at Coney Island. CONEY ISLAND! DOUBLE OVERHEAD! Can you imagine getting a barrel at Coney? This is the one time of  year where you are more likely to die at Coney by being swallowed by the ocean, than by getting stabbed while waiting in line at the Wonder Wheel. We aren’t even talking the point at Montauk. There is going to be some serious Mark Foo stuff going on out at that end of the island, this weekend. Last time I surfed double overhead, I was a 19 year old resident of the aloha state. These days I am a landlubbing surfboardless Manhattanite. So depressing.

On a less depressing hurricane season note, I watched my University of Utah football team eek out a nail biting season opener against Pitt, on Thursday night. How awesome is college football? I seriously love it.

Just when I could really really use a three day weekend, Labor Day comes along. We have a banger lined up, too. Some items on the agenda include: Party for TH opening a new store in SoHo; Multiple PJ visits; hanging out in the country (Rural CT); a long training run with tight amigos (also in the country); watching the GP race at Misano; a dip in the pool; a fun editorial shoot;  and, some barbecue. Have a fantastic weekend, peeps. And if you end up surfing Montauk this weekend, don’t tell me about it. Because I may accidentally punch you, out of pathetic jealousy.

Reagan and Jake do Coney (again)

Author: Reagan

At first I loved Jake for letting me drag him to Coney Island so much. But then i loved Jake when I realized he loves Coney Island himself. Maybe he wont admit that, and maybe he’ll be like “Reagan, remove that first paragraph from your blob immediately”, but I know he loves it. I saw it when he looked at the wonder wheel so lovingly, and then again when we rode the cyclone. And then I loved him more than ever. Man, I love this place. I smile just looking at the pictures.

Did you hear? I’m exciting AND thrilling.

Jake and I have ridden the wonder wheel about a hundred times. I can’t remember if I’ve ever told the story, but I love it. Many years ago, a hot dog vendor proposed to his girlfriend. He promised her he would buy her the wonder wheel one day if she agreed. She did, and then he bought her the wonder wheel when they were old and gray. Cute, right?

A lot of people are surprised to find out that New York has tons of beaches, and that it is a-scorch-er-ing hot in the summer. But here you’d call it a scorchah! This is Brighton Beach looking particularly packed. Double the amount of beach goers and you’ve got Copacabana. (minus the tropical-ness and also minus all the thongs)

Again on the wonder wheel. We always ride in the swinging ones.

Jake got some really cool pictures. The gorgeous blue sky and the very saturated colors of Coney helped I’m sure. I love the below picture with the bottom red car in mid-swing.

We also rode the cylcone, which we had both never done. It was so fun! It is super old and a lot of people have been injured on it, so they always threaten to shut it down. I understand people getting injured, my neck cracked a few times on some sharp turns. Also the little girl in front of us was practically flying out of her seat every time we dipped. And I think at least a couple people peed.

We went to Coney Island on saturday since we weren’t trying to be there for the big Nathan’s hot dog eating contest on the 4th. Very smart decision since we were able to play for a few hours without too much of a crowd and also without seeing Kobi get arrested. I watched the video of his arrest, he really was resisting! So weird!

We ended up walking across the George Washington bridge and going into Ft Lee for a picnic on the 4th. It was too hot and we haven’t had enough rain lately, so the grass was just not comfortable to lay in, even with a blanket. Did you know this is the biggest free standing flag in the world? I didn’t know until I read jake’s blog. You learn something new over there every day…The George Washington Bridge is so beautiful and this picture that jake took is spectacular. My friend Katie texted me to tell Jake to get a picture, but he was way ahead of us there. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had this exact shot in his head weeks ago.

So, our fourth of July was spent doing the most fourthiest things. Picnics, roller coasters, beaches, photo booths, old lady fortune telling, talking to strangers and the time I ate a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. Capped off by watching the Macy’s fire works on tv while hearing them outside my window.

The end.

PS We hung out with Piper too of course.

Fourth of July

Author: Jake

For the 4th of July, we visited PJ in the morning, then walked across the GW Bridge to NJ, for a picnic at a Revolutionary War site. Above is a shot of Reagan on the GW Bridge, standing beneath the “largest free-flying American flag in the world; 90 feet (27 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) wide, the flag weighs 450 pounds (200 kg),” according to Wikipedia. The shot above doesn’t really allow for proper reference.

The shot below is looking back at NYC from the historic Ft. Lee battery.

Here is a shot of the flag after dark, from the Manhattan side. The shot below gives a better idea of how large the flag actually is.

And finally,  another one of these shots. This time, with the towers lit up for the holiday.

father’s day lovin’

Author: Reagan

happy father’s day to everyone. i don’t think very many fathers read my blob, but i hope it was a good one.

most importantly, happy father’s day to this guy…

i can’t believe you can get the pip to fall asleep in your lap. that is some miracle work right there.

holidays are always a little tough. we do fun things and we spend time together and we get sad that Piper Jane can’t be a part of it. we feel guilty for how much we laugh and enjoy ourselves, when she is stuck in hospitals. it never feels right.

Jake ran the father’s day 5 mile race in central park for the second year in a row. there were hardly any women running, so i was especially surrounded by young mothers with their children in strollers watching their husbands run. i felt sad for myself that i was alone. i felt sad that no one knew i was a mom. but then i felt the saddest when i saw jake rounding the last stretch of the race without his little girl clapping so excitedly to see him finish. i heard a little blond cutie asking her mom if her daddy was going to win the race. i saw several little kids light up when they saw their dad come through. i felt so sad for jake.

after running 14 miles the day before for his marathon training, jake decided to take it easy in this race. but then he forgot to and ran a 6:40 mile finishing the race in about 33:30. that’s pretty good for sore legs. see how thin the crowd of runners still was? give it another 5 minutes and it is a veritable stampede.

Jake does a pretty good job at staying positive when it comes to Piper Jane. I know it’s hard for him, because it’s hard for me too. I’m proud of him for having so much love for Pip despite so much difficulty in the situation.

and not to make this post about me, but on friday the snuggles were not scarce.

ps i love my dad too! his name is fat daddy.

btw he’s not really fat.

Weekend et al.

Author: Jake

Ok, I’m going to recount things in reverse order, so that this post doesn’t start out being about running, again. I know that it is getting to be a bit much. This afternoon we had a nap with piper. She was kind of grouchy when we first arrived. I could tell that she was about ready to take a snooze. Even though it was Father’s day, I didn’t hold it against for for just wanting to pass out. It was that time of day, anyway. I wore my extra large watch for her to tap on, today.

We started out the day in Central park for a Father’s day race. Reagan snapped the shot below, of me approaching the finish line.

I think that it was probably the sweatiest race that I have ever run. I felt pretty good about my result, too, considering that I had knocked out 14 miles the previous morning.

Distance: 5.0 Miles, 8.0 Kilometers
Total Finishers: Men – 3380 Women – 1823 Total – 5203

Saturday, was the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island.

It was super hot outside. This event is something that Reagan loves. You can check out her full account of the event, over on her blob. I went for support and to be on photo duty.  After marching around in the heat all day, I wasn’t surprised to see a couple of mermaids passed out on the train, on the way home.

Friday afternoon, I was shooting in DUMBO for the second evening in a row. This time, the model was one of our friends from the neighborhood.

The dude’s name is Samuel Adams. Pretty awesome, right? Makes me want to change my name to James Bond, or something like that. We hadn’t really hung out before shooting together on Friday night. So, it was pretty fun to get to know him, a bit.

I realize that was a lot to pack into one post. Sorry about the info/photo overload. Happy Father’s day to all of the pops out there!

pippy gets a bob. (and memorial wknd)

Author: Reagan

here is basically our whole wknd in one blow.

We went to soho to see a street art exhibit on saturday.

that night we went to see the pip with the smoots and then had dinner with them. seth took some pictures of Piper Jane. He is the most talented photographer I know. You should have seen Pippy posing for the camera. She was smiling and popping her hip to the side and tilting her head like it was for her comp card. maybe she’s a future model? she’s definitely got the gams.

Sunday we went for a little bike ride and picnic action. we had a hot weekend. a hot hot hot weekend. my bummy is sore from lots of biking. The riverside path is finally done constructioning between 95th-ish to 80th-ish. It is gorgeous and I am so excited to skip out on that huge detour hill. Go see it tomorrow, guys.

Because of all our fun sunday stuff, we went to see the Pip at night. she was in her jammy-jams and was so confused to see us. We usually only see her at night when she is sick (because we aren’t leaving her side), so she was all “what the…”. It was another great visit. She was all fresh smelling and cleanily bathed. I accidentally almost tried to chew on her cute foot/cheek/arm.

Monday morning we started the day with a Pip! She was so happy to see us again. Jake got some of my favorite pictures ever. We just played and played.

shut up, right?

Cuteness with dad. Also, I cut her hair short. We have samesies hair. Remember that so much of it fell out when she got sick in January? It needed to be cut. It looks so great and I wish I had done it sooner. Especially because I have been wondering where her curl is.

I think the gap in Pip’s teeth are what make her smile so cute.

Pippy clapped a little with me. She hasn’t been doing that as much these days, so I loved it.

Ha ha ha, something about this makes me think of Pinocchio. Pip’s got no strings.

I got to see Pipsey 4 days in a row. I feel so lucky. Especially because she was in a mega good mood every day. Something has really snapped in that girl. She is no longer a baby at all. She is starting to be silly and laugh at silly things, we have noticed there are things she is scared of (hand puppets, feather boas), she is getting stronger and bigger and gaining weight, and she is even starting to understand (I think) some things we say to her.

I know I say this all the time, but she is really my best friend. I feel like I’m finally starting to experience real parts of motherhood that I have been missing out on until now. It is so fun. Yippee. Don’t be jeal.

bye.

Piper’s Memorial Day Haircut

Author: Jake

Memorial day, we went to visit Piper, first thing in the morning. Reagan cut Piper’s hair (they now have matching haircuts). Piper was in such a great mood, that we just hung out with her goofing off, for a few hours.

More photos over here (warning, there are about 1000).

Sunday

Author: Jake

We got out on the bikes, today and had ourselves a little picnic. Reagan was in charge of the sammies. She made tomato avocado and cheese on wheat bread. Delicious.

I put the blanket half in the shade (for Reagan) and half in the sun (for me).

I’m pretty glad that I brought the camera today, because Reagan was hamming it up.

Below: Reagan making her shadow dance.

We finished off our ride by hitting Pinkberry on the way home, before showering and heading to Westchester to visit the Pip.

She looooovvvves her new itouch. She is so used to having Reagan or myself grab our phones away from her, when she gets bored of looking at the display and starts eating them. For her birthday, we picked her up her very own, complete with an indestructible case.

Saturday

Author: Jake

Then, of course, we grilled up some burgers for dinner (a veggie burger for Reagan).

Fish, Friday, etc.

Author: Jake

The image above is actually from a post that I wrote exactly one year ago. Oddly enough, the convicts have spawned again, and there is a very similar scene going on in the tank, this week. I kept the mating pair separated for about a year, which worked pretty well, until the other tank cracked (could have been really bad). When that happened, the male, and all of the adolescents went back into the big tank. Tina is feeling pretty crowded these days.

Enough about the fish. The firm is closing early today (which actually means something to me, these days). Besides remembering the brave souls who gave their lives to defend out freedom, the only specific plans that we have this weekend are to run/ride bikes, and  take Reagan to see the Deitch Gallery before it closes. I’m also doing some product shots for Shaun White’s new line for Target. I have the samples already. It is some pretty cool stuff. It should be a fun project. Other than that, I’m hoping that it will just be a lot of lounging, mixed in with Piper visits, and watching the BP Cam, as much as possible. Hahahaha.

If you have a minute, take a peek at this very kind article that was written today about Reagan.

I hope that everyone else has an awesome holiday weekend.