If you've been a long time reader of this blog, you know that I am a big fan of clothing swaps! Well today was another clothing swap, hosted by my friend Tracy. Soooo fun! Maya came along, while Zoe and Mike had a date. And my sister Karen made the trip up from Brooklyn to join the fun!

Granted, it was tough to get down to serious business with a baby in tow. BUT, I did leave with a pair of $200 designer jeans, NEW gym shoes, a skirt, two shirts and a sweater... Here's my take home stash:

AND, it's so much fun to see your own items go home with happy new owners. I even re- swapped some clothes that I had gotten at previous clothing swaps.

This time around I wasn't able to stay for the 'show everyone what you got' part of the party, which is always fun to see who is going home with your things, and what came from who. But a certain little one was ready for a nap... and pushing that limit was not going to end well. :)

Since all of the ruckus on Wall Street started, I've been hearing conflicting reports about how it has affected New York's insular real estate market. Of course, I primarily have my attention fixed on uptown neighborhoods. While I have heard elsewhere, and as reported here, that even booming Harlem has slowed, it still seems to me that they're throwing up buildings I can't afford faster than an uptown 3 train.

Last night, in one of my nonsensical ever-dreaming moods, I looked up real estate for sale in Harlem on Trulia. I was encouraged, sort of. We can almost afford a one bedroom. Almost. Seems like prices are coming down. Then I stumbled on to some interesting statistics:

According to Trulia's Real Estate Overview:

• Median Sale Price for homes in central Harlem is actually up 3.5% since Sept.
• Median Sale Price for homes in Morningside Heights is down 26.1% since Sept.
• Median Sale Price for homes in Hamilton Heights is actually up 6.4% since Sept.
• Median Sale Price for homes in Washington Heights is down 33% since Sept.
• Median Sale Price for homes in East Harlem is actually up 130% since Sept.

So Harlem's still going strong (for the moment), someday we might actually be able to afford Morningside Heights (what?!?) and we most definitely wont be able to afford to move to East Harlem (WHAT?!?!).

Here's a New York Times article commenting on the impact of the current economic disaster on Harlem. Turns out all these big banks and investment firms going under played a big part in the recent growth in Harlem.

A friend put me on to this recent NY Times article about all of the changes going down up in Harlem. Thought I'd pass it on as it pretty much sums up our daily life. Sadly, I wish my first reactions to comments I hear behind my back were as graceful as the man in this article. And I'm supposed to be the 'Christian' influence in the community!

We are watching a little friend all day today, and the girls have been having a blast playing dressup, carrying babies around, and putting on a little singing and dancing show. I was very amused when I overheard this conversation:

"Zoe, should we play with this stroller?" (a small doll stroller)

"Yes, but who should we put in it?"

"Well, how about this bunny."

"Ok. We are going on the train. How about you hold that side and I hold this side of the stroller"

(they proceed to carry the stroller just as they have both seen countless times, when a nice passerby offers to help to get a stroller up or down the steps to the subway.)

"Which train are we taking today?"

"We better take the M60."