Last Days in NYC

We had one full day in NYC before we flew home.

Unfortunately for us, it was bitter cold, so we didn't make it to Central Park, but that meant we got to ride in a lot of taxis...which made my pregnant self and the kids very happy.

We had breakfast at Tick Tock Diner, then wandered to a couple bookstores, but ended up at Strands, one of New York's best independent bookstores that boasts 18 miles of books. My friend Angela introduced it to me when she visited in November, and they have a great kid's section, so we ended up sitting there reading for quite a while. Oh, and bought some books, because they really do have the BEST prices. Curious George books for $2....everywhere else they are $4. Love it!!






After Strands, we headed back to the hotel room, and that's when all the sickness started. So we ordered room service for dinner and watched a movie in bed. Ahhh.....

The kid's favorite thing about our hotel room, other than the fact we let them jump on the beds, was that we had
an amazing view of Times' Square, and there was the perfect kid-sized ledge by the window to give them the best seats in the house. Each morning the first thing they would do is climb up there and watch the sun come up over the tall buildings.


And this was our view on New Year's Eve Day with the City being blanketed in snow. Very peaceful from 38 floors up...

Bon voyage Brad & Kendall!

Brad & Kendall leave today. Sniff sniff. They have been troopers here while Wade and I have both been sick, we're distracted with moving, and our kids are acting out because they need our attention!

You guys are saints and we love you. Lucky for us they've both been here before and they have friends in the City. It's raining hard today which kind of matches my mood since I'm sad to see them go, but I'm glad that we'll get to see them more often once we move. That will make up for our lack of quality time during their visit.

We got one date night with them on Tuesday, and ate a great restaurant in the East Village, The Smith.


If you have an iPhone, go get the Shake It Photo app. It takes your picture like a Polaroid and then you shake it to get it to develop. So fun! And it gives it a bit of a vintage vibe.

So Brad and Kendall, thanks for coming to visit us and we'll see you in a few weeks in Denver. WE LOVE YOU!!!!

All I wanted for my birthday....

...is Jude Law on Broadway in Hamlet.

My oh-so-tricky husband gave me my present at breakfast...which was an apple slicer and potato peeler. NICE!!!

But that was from the kids.

Then he gave me Hamlet tickets!!!! Oh, I love him (Wade, that is).

Since Mom and Emma are in town, we had built in babysitters and Wade took me out to dinner at Celsius in Bryant Park. This restaurant only pops up (literally) once a year at Christmas when the park installs an ice skating rink over the grassy park.

The park was beautifully lit with Christmas lights, there was Christmas music on the ice rink, and all the Christmas craft stalls were set up and open. Our table was right up against the windows and we looked down onto the ice rink. GORGEOUS!!! It was one of THOSE New York moments.

It's just amazing that in a few short weeks, all this will be taken down and Bryant Park will be back to normal.


And true to our tradition, I like to take pictures of our food. It was soooo yummy. I had a salad and Wade had steak and fries. For dessert, I had chocolate molten cake a la mode, and Wade had chocolate chip cookies a la mode. Although those cookies had NOTHING on the ones he and his Mom make.


After strolling hand in hand through all the craft vendor stalls, we made our way over to Times Square to see Jude.

His performance was unbelievable as Hamlet and I walked out of that theater emotionally drained from watching the 120% he puts into that role. Not to mention it was 11pm, and WAY past my bedtime.




So Wade, thank you for making my 35th so memorable. I wouldn't want to spend my birthday with anyone but you. I love you.

P.S. I love my apple slicer too. :)

American Girl Store

I can't believe I gave in.

Ava has been talking about an American Girl doll for a year now...ever since we moved to NY. Both my nieces have one (or three), and while I think they are great, they are spankin' expensive!!!

BUT, I told Ava we would get her one before we left New York, since the big mega store is here in NYC. Of course I was planning on buying her one for her 6th birthday (in 2011), but since our NY stay has been cut short, we had to do it now!

Since cousin Emma is in town, we booked a dinner reservation in the American Girl Cafe, met Mom and Emma after they saw the Rockettes, and we bought Ava her blond-hair-green-eyed doll.

We dined, with the dolls of course, in a pink dining room and enjoyed yummy appetizers, pink lemonade, chicken pot pie, chocolate mousse, cakes and cookies.

This is a must do for every little girl in NYC. And I guarantee your little girl will go home happy...mine did.

Boston

Two days was perfect. A quick weekend getaway that we ALL loved.

We decided to drive up on Saturday morning, rather than getting in late Friday night. It was a quick 3 hour drive, and we were in our hotel parking lot by 9:30am. Fantastic!

The first thing on our list was the Boston Duck Boat Tour, and the kids had been talking about it for days. Once we told them we were going on a boat ride, but the boat had wheels and drove on the road, they were hooked. "Duck boat, duck boat!" That's all I heard around the house for two days. And, "Mommy, how does a boat have wheels on it??"

It was a bit pricey, but it was worth it, and it got me off my feet for an hour and a half. Our fearless tour guide, Mario, was great, and he even let the kids drive the Duck in the water. Tyson was the first to raise his hand and volunteer, and he steered us through the Charles River like a real pro.

The most interesting fact I learned on the tour? Did you know that most of downtown Boston is actually built on top of landfill??? From Charles Street (which used to be the edge of the Charles River) down towards Newbury Street. It's all on landfill!!! He was quick to point out how flat that part of town is. Crazy. I think part of lower Manhattan is that way too.


After a fabulous lunch, we wandered down Newbury Street and enjoyed looking in all the shops and restaurants, and the kids even stopped to play instruments with a local street performer.

Tyson got very distracted at an art gallery checking out the "baseball pictures".


Then on to the Boston Public Garden, the country's oldest public garden and world's smallest suspension bridge. And yes, it was all built on top of landfill.


Ava could not wait to get to the duck statues from Make Way for Ducklings, and she along with all the other children in Boston are keeping the backs of Mrs. Mallard and Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack all nice and shiny.


After a quick Starbucks break, we wandered through one of my favorite neighborhoods (because it is nothing but eye candy), Beacon Hill. I love window boxes, and Beacon Hill didn't disappoint. Everyone had the most tasteful and beautifully filled window boxes. GORGEOUS!!!!


Cobblestone driveways, brick sidewalks and gas street lights. What more could you want in a neighborhood. No wonder you have to win the lottery to live in that neighborhood.


After a great night at our hotel, which included a free upgrade to a suite...HEAVEN, we started our morning over in Cambridge eating breakfast at Sound Bites. My friend Julie had taken my friend Angela and I there years ago, and the memory of their fresh fruit and amazing cooked breakfasts still lingered. So I talked Wade into going. He kept asking me all weekend..."Why do our days revolve around where we are eating?" And this is why. Check out this amazing spread of food.


We quickly walked off our breakfast around Harvard Square and the Harvard campus while the kids took a serious power nap, and then we ended our afternoon at Burdick Chocolates, a little chocolate store and cafe that our neighbor across the street used to manage. She told me explicitly what to order: Hot chocolate, skim milk, and milk chocolate, not dark. It did NOT disappoint. Although it was a bit hot for Tyson.



A stop at IKEA on the way home for $1 (yes, it was on sale) for meatballs, potatoes and lingonberries ended our weekend perfectly!!!

P.S. My good friend Angela (who I lived in Paris with), is coming to visit tomorrow for a girl's weekend. Today is her 40th birthday, and her husband is sending her to NYC for a few days. Keep tuned in for our adventures the next few days! She just got a cast off her foot, and with me starting to waddle, we should be quite the pair around town.

Brooklyn Flea Market

We have a list.

OK, I have a list. But I call it ours because that's what married people do, right?

Since we've lived here, the list has grown, but we keep marking things off. Who doesn't like marking things off a list??!!!

So Saturday we marked two things off this list: The Brooklyn Flea, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

What could make me happier than seeing my loves walking hand in hand to a flea market??!!






Like father like son....checking out the bikes!


One reason I love this flea market is all the AMAZING food that is available. We bought an amazing wood fired white pizza for $9. The food vendor brought in a portable wood fire stove and the dough and ingredients were all made fresh on site. Amazing pizza.


And these were my finds for the day! Vintage tupperware snack tubs? Yes please. Three white frames for my collection for $15? Score! And an adorable jar...


Brooklyn Bridge to come...

I am my father's daughter...

I am my father's daughter.

I look through magazines and pull out articles on places I want to go. I keep them in a 3 ring binder in plastic sheet protectors. Yes, I am my father's daughter.

The biggest difference is that I look through magazines like Country Living, Cottage Living (I cried when they stopped publishing it, but I have ALL my copies), and other such magazines. I think my Dad mostly looks at RV magazines. But at the core, we're the same.

So for our Vermont vacation, I pulled out my binder and planned pretty much our entire trip around a great article in Country Living featuring the Lake Champlain region in Vermont. Voila! I knew where we were going on vacation.

American Flatbread was one of the yummy restaurants featured in the article. If you ever find yourself in Burlington, go check it out. Local ingredients, real wood oven and homemade beer (not that I had any).

Burlington is a great town. Just don't forget your Birkenstocks.

Ben & Jerry's

My three favorite flavors. A trip to Vermont is not complete without going to the Ben & Jerry's factory for a tour and taste!

The Elephant Trunk Flea Market: Take Two

You may or not remember when I attempted to take (or drag) my family to the Elephant Trunk Flea Market, New England's "largest" flea market. Well, if not, you can read about my disastrous attempt here.

I knew I could never convince Wade to try again with me, despite employing all the feminine wiles I could muster. So I took the kids by myself since he was out of town.

We started our day eating at McKinney & Doyle, in the small town of Pawling, NY. Some friends had told us it was a MUST DO for brunch on the weekends, with the most amazing blueberry pancakes. Since it was close to flea market, we went! And it was worth it. The kids enjoyed the blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes, and I had the most amazing omelet with fresh baked bread. Ahhhhh, I'm hungry just thinking about it. Wanna make me happy? Just cook me a really big hot breakfast with all the fixings. Especially when I'm pregnant...I'll consider naming my kid after you!!





Then it was off to flea market in New Milford, CT. And yes, it was open this time. Note to self: only open on Sundays. It does cost $2 per adult to get in (kids free), but to wander in an open field with 200-300 vendors? Totally worth it.

I have to warn you that there is a mixed bag of vendors. Some good, some not so good. There were a few vendors selling bulk socks out of cardboard boxes, so not everyone was selling stuff that I was drawn too, but I still had a good time. AND the sun was shining and the trees were gorgeous.



Of course we left with a few treasures. It's hard not to walk away from a flea market without a Little Golden Book. Ava picked this one out, as I only let them have 1. $3.00 per book! So much for the $0.25 cent cover price. :)


I also found some great enamelware to go with my collection at home. These two small boxes with lids are perfect on my desk for holding (and concealing) all sorts of knick knack desk stuff.

The larger enamelware is going outside to hold the kid's sidewalk chalk. I kind of ran over our last enamelware bin holding the chalk. Oops. SOMEBODY left it out in the middle of the driveway. I won't name names, but the thing was DESTROYED. I think I was in a hurry that day.



Happy flea-ing!