Last week I went to the States to prepare some things for our move in September. We spent two days in Jersey City where we were looking at some apartments. On Wednesday I was strolling through Jersey City on my own and I have to say…I fell in Love with this city and now I am totally looking forward moving there!!!
Jersey City lies right across Lower Manhattan and with the Path (kind of like a train-subway) or with the fairy (update: some call it also Ferry – hahahha) you are in 10-15 minutes in Manhattan – pretty pretty cool.
Lot’s of old factory, warehouse and brown stones are part of the city and many are turned into amazing live or work or cultural areas. This power plant above is restored right now- I hope it will be a public space but who knows. Such an amazing building.
Lot’s of street art around and I loved the edgeiness of this city which reminded me of my neighborhood here in Hamburg 20 years ago.
And then in between those amazing amazing neighborhoods, just beautiful – did I mention I fell in Love with JC? LOL
I can so see myself living in this city- and that makes me also looking forward even more. It was a bit of a back and forth as we didn’t know where we would in the end move in NJ and so some days I was excited and some days I was a bit sad to leave Germany, now I feel like – whoooo – this is going to be so cool and it is going to be the right place for us. We are not ready yet to move totally out of a city…gotta face it ;)
The next day I took the path to Manhattan and strolled a bit around in the West Village. I found The Ink Pad – actually almost by accident- LOL.
Lovely store, wonderful products and…ehem…..I got a bit of a joy infusion when I saw my crackle stencil hanging in the store :)))
The best part of my trip was that I was meeting Michelle Hernandez. We had a blast – well I had- hehehehe ;) We went to a cuban restaurant and had a really good time, lot’s of chatting, lot’s of laughing and good discussions.
Michelle then took me on a little fun tour – and I saw some areas of the Village and Soho that I hadn’t been to before. And of course there was some street art spotting ;)
And this one made me laugh so hard…LOL – so I leave you with this ;)
It was a great and necessary trip, besides getting a lot of things done, it made me feel so much better about moving and we also saw an apartment that we fell in love with. Cross your fingers we get it…It would be the icing on the cake :)
And now off to prepare the next trip to Art Fusion next weekend for my workshops with Birgit in the Netherlands :)
huge hugs
nat
Comments (16)
Enikö
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…Oh…and that Crackle stencil is AMAZING! A “must-have”!
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Enikö
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So excited you are moving to the states! I’ve dreamed of taking a class with you, Nathalie! All the best with getting that apartment you fell in love with!
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Michelle Hernandez (@willieburgscrap)
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Ah It’s just my evil luck that I have to leave New York just as you arrive. Thank you so very much for the lunch and for answering all my annoying questions and for handling my obnoxious opinions of the past in stride. :) I had a great time and learned a whole heck of a lot. I LOVE Jersey graf- it’s so optimistic! You picked a hell of a town- it’s growing and picking up all the artists who can’t afford Brooklyn- in other words- you are going to find many friends and be very happy. YAY!
I plan to visit my town often so I will send you email updates and maybe we can meet up. HA! If you are in town that is! :)
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Ursula
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Hallo Nat, das klingt nach einem rundum gelungenen Trip auf dem Weg in Richtung eures zukünftigen Lebensmittelpunkts. Zum Eingewöhnen ist das doch eine prima Umgebung – ich drücke dir jedenfalls sämtliche verfügbaren Daumen, dass ihr die Wohnung bekommt. Und die Formalien konntest du hoffentlich auch alle zufriedenstellend erledigen ……. LG Ursula
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Nathalie Kalbach
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Danke Du Liebe :) Wir haben sie :)))))) juhu!!! Nat
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Sue Clarke
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How nice to see your stencil in the store. Did you buy one? LOL
I especially like the cop and donut street art. I’m thinking that you and Julie will be unstoppable when you’re living so close to each other.
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rains
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Jersey CIty has so changed for the better. What great photos. When I lived in NYC, many moons ago, my actor friends lived there as it was affordable but it was not so cool. I am so excited for you!! You’re going to love living so close to NY too.
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andrenesmith
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One of the things I like most about your blog is that you always take and share the best photos, especially street art pics. My brother used to live in West Village – what a great area! I have heard about The Ink Pad but have never visited…do they hold classes? I would so be on a plane for a trip to NY and a Nathalie workshop :) Love that you “ran into” your own stencil….the price you pay to be a celebrity :)
Good luck with the apartment and the move!
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Nurse Ratchet
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Fingers and toes crossed you get that apartment….so what if I have to walk funny for awhile,EH???
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Kathy P
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I am so thrilled for you that you had an excellent pre-move experience here on the east coast! It will make the planning all the sweeter, and it sounds like you found your joyful expectation!!! And I have to tell you…..seeing JC through your eyes really opened mine!!!
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Martha Richardson
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So excited for you…how fab to be a boat ride away from NYC!!!!!!
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Brenda Ryan
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The ink pad is a great store. On your next trip you’ll have to check out Paper Presentations on 18th and Printicon on 21st(a new location for them that I have not been to yet but was always a fun stop at the old one). Good luck with the apartment.
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Anne Lemay
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Good luck, Nathalie! I hope you get the apartment!
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Janna
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Die Stencils: total cool!
Die Fotos: super, bin absolut neidisch. Das eine rötliche Haus erinnert mich an Bill Cosby.
Michelle: die würde ich auch gerne mal treffen.
Wünsche Dir einen schönen Sonntag!
Janna :)
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Michelle Hernandez (@willieburgscrap)
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Hey I used google to translate this! :) Me too! Me too! Here’s hoping you will swing by SLC to teach at some point- I think it can happen!
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lindabrun
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Think I have missed something in all my business with school and exam. So happy for you guys. Sounds like a blast to move and live in NewYork. We are planning for NY trip may and june next year… just saying…. hugs and kisses and cross fingers for you getting the flat.
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