Liv moves to Brooklyn to study voice and opera at NYU Steinhardt graduate program.

The Dreamer

What more could go wrong this month? Both kids totaled a car each and my best camera was left outdoors during a monsoon (saving that tale for another post). Mmmm, let’s see–oh yes, an earthquake occurs while moving Liv into her new apartment in Brooklyn. Although, I could look at as “every cloud has a silver lining,” or in the “glass is half full” vein–with both auto accidents, neither child was maimed or scarred, nor did either child injure another.

Tuesday morning we awoke at 5:oo and were well on our way by 6:30. The trip to Brooklyn was delightfully uneventful. After unloading the car and exploring the neighborhood, we headed over to Ikea for mattress and bookshelves. As we pulled into the parking lot, we were surprised to see hundreds of Ikea staff, clad in their unmissable bright yellow polo shirts, milling around the outside, and with faces buried deep in their cell phones. As Tom tried to pull into Ikea underground parking a furious fellow came charging over animatedly demanding “what are you doing.” Tom replied “parking.” The fellow informed us that an earthquake had occurred. We all three just looked at each other in disbelief and said to ourselves what more can go awry this month?

While waiting for the fire marshall’s ‘all clear’ to allow the store to re-open, we had the opportunity to explore the Erie Basin Park adjacent to Ikea Plaza. The Erie Basin Park is a waterfront walkway and park, and museum of sorts, dedicated to the former use of the site, which was a place with giant berths where mending of great ships took place. The enormous tools, cranes, bolts, and compass are displayed as sculpture and the exhibits are interactive and playful, yet formidable in the way they speak to the great history of the shipping industry.

Erie Basin crane formerly used to move great ships

Ikea remained closed so we drove back to Brooklyn to formulate an alternative plan for locating a mattress. Tom recalled seeing two Ikeas within driving distance of Brooklyn on Googles’ maps and Liv’s friend Dave recommended lunch at the very charming and classic Niçoise restaurant Pates and Traditions–with the most fabulous waitress and dessert–crêpes with homemade chocolate and cream, fresh pears, and almonds.

 Crêpes Helene 

We then headed to the Ikea in Elizabeth, NJ, where we became stuck in a two hour, gridlocked traffic jam at the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. We finally gave up and were fortunately, able to turn around. By this time, the Ikea in Brooklyn had reopened. We just made it there by 7:30, in time to do all our shopping before the 9:00 closing time, otherwise Liv would have spent her first night in her new apartment on the floor. After assembling bed, bookcase, and lamps, we didn’t get back on the road to Gloucester until after 10:00–of course we got lost trying to navigate the parkways out of Brooklyn and arrived home nearly twenty-four hours later. A very long day–our bed has never felt so luxurious as it did that early morning.

Pates Traditions Restaurant