So, this weekend we had lots of friends in town and were all over the place. A good friend from Asheville, Jan Sturgis, was here and we had a great time hanging out and cruising the Village and Central Park. We even took the Central Park Carriage ride. We were excited....it looked picturesque, and like it would create lots of memories. So she willingly handed over the seemingly high rate for us to partake of such an activity. We expected history, we expected beauty, we expected memories....well we got memories. Our driver was on his cell phone the entire time and would occasionally pause from his conversation and point out where a movie was filmed. Not to mention the fact that we did the smallest circle (that we had actually walked previously getting to the carriage) at a very slow speed with the slight odor of horse manure encompassing us for the 20 minute ride....to sum it all up DON'T TAKE THE CARRIAGE RIDE! If you're really interested in a riding tour of the park...I would recommend the rickshaw. None the less we had a great time and I think Jan really enjoyed her time in the city.
Later that afternoon, I met up with my old college roommate, Mandy McNabb. I got to hang out with her, her mom, and her sister Emily for the afternoon. It was so much fun. I enjoy friendships that you can pick up where you left off - refreshing and not stressful.
Then Sunday morning, a family who we are friends with from our church in Asheville came by our house to visit and have coffee. We had a really great time and it helped us get excited about returning there soon. We will be traveling there to look at houses in two weeks so I suppose we are starting to shift our thoughts in that direction.
Unfortunately I did not bring my camera at all this weekend so you are stuck with words this time. Jan did purchase a disposable camera and the purchase proved the salesman was sexist...but none the less you may eventually see picture. He tried to make us pay $13 dollars with tax. When I acted like I knew what I was talking about (as I knew I should when I felt I was getting riped off) and questioned the price and the tax, he stood firm. A few minutes later Steven walked in and he gave it to him for $10 without an haggling. I was furious! If she sends me copies I will post them later here - I will include copies of the cell phone carriage driver and the sexist camera man if applicable.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Our Most Recent Adventures
I would like to apoligize for my delay in posting. It seems my life has been a bit crazy lately....why you ask? Well who knows....maybe it's the almost one year old I chase around all day!
Last week was Steven's Spring Break and we decided to venture into parts of the city that we hadn't seen. This week was the South Street Seaport. I had been told it was quite a fun place, so we dedicated a day to it. Once we got down to it we realized it was just a touristy mall on a pier with some very old boats docked beside it. We walked around, but didn't spend too much time seeing as it was all stores we see other places. Overall-if you're a huge Barefoot Landing fan-you will probably like this too.
This weekend we had a good friend from Asheville come to visit (Hunt Briggs). We spent most of the weekend just hanging out-but we did manage to hit the green market at Union square, run into some protesters, eat at the Shake Shack, hit up Magnolia Bakery, and spend some other good time in the city! Here are some pictures of the weekend.
Last week was Steven's Spring Break and we decided to venture into parts of the city that we hadn't seen. This week was the South Street Seaport. I had been told it was quite a fun place, so we dedicated a day to it. Once we got down to it we realized it was just a touristy mall on a pier with some very old boats docked beside it. We walked around, but didn't spend too much time seeing as it was all stores we see other places. Overall-if you're a huge Barefoot Landing fan-you will probably like this too.
This weekend we had a good friend from Asheville come to visit (Hunt Briggs). We spent most of the weekend just hanging out-but we did manage to hit the green market at Union square, run into some protesters, eat at the Shake Shack, hit up Magnolia Bakery, and spend some other good time in the city! Here are some pictures of the weekend.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Today we headed to 5th Avenue for the 247th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. There was lots of green, lots of bagpipes, lots of kilts, and lots of people drinking "coffee" out of to go coffee cups. Little Steven loved it. The drummers were his favorite. It was basically one Hibernian Society after another, so once we'd watched for about 30-45 minutes we had our fill. But it was a fun outing on a nice sunny day!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Randomness of NYC
So, since we've lived here in the city, I cannot tell you how many people that are somehow connected to our past that we've gotten to see. People coming to visit us specifically or friends just visiting the city who we get to spend the afternoon with! This week alone I was able to spend good time with two old friends! One of my good friends from college, Jeanette, was up here on Spring Break and we spent two restful days together. Little Steven loved her!
The most random is a friend who I was close with in middle school. We actually spent some of our evening discussing why we never hung out in High School - but even to the actual participants, the ins and outs of high school girls will forever be a mystery. It is a friend who I have gotten back in touch with through my brother and sister-in-law (James and Millie). My friend's (Jamie) husband (Chris) actually works with James and through typical get to know you discussion they found out that I was someone they had in common. Jamie and Chris were actually planning a weekend away in NYC so we met up!
They were kind enough to treat us to a brunch from a place on the Upper West Side called Cafe Lalo. It was in fact the cafe featured in You've Got Mail with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. It was really cute and we had a great time. Steven Edward even sat in a "big boy chair." (I'm not sure why when you have a child ordinary objects start to have special names, but they do....big boy chair? Who knows). He was quite the cute little boy sitting across the table from me looking around the restaraunt and talking. We had a great time!
And lest we forget, Carolina also won the ACC Championship and got the number one seed for the NCAA tournament - but who's counting?
The most random is a friend who I was close with in middle school. We actually spent some of our evening discussing why we never hung out in High School - but even to the actual participants, the ins and outs of high school girls will forever be a mystery. It is a friend who I have gotten back in touch with through my brother and sister-in-law (James and Millie). My friend's (Jamie) husband (Chris) actually works with James and through typical get to know you discussion they found out that I was someone they had in common. Jamie and Chris were actually planning a weekend away in NYC so we met up!
They were kind enough to treat us to a brunch from a place on the Upper West Side called Cafe Lalo. It was in fact the cafe featured in You've Got Mail with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. It was really cute and we had a great time. Steven Edward even sat in a "big boy chair." (I'm not sure why when you have a child ordinary objects start to have special names, but they do....big boy chair? Who knows). He was quite the cute little boy sitting across the table from me looking around the restaraunt and talking. We had a great time!
And lest we forget, Carolina also won the ACC Championship and got the number one seed for the NCAA tournament - but who's counting?
Monday, March 10, 2008
Family Fun
This past weekend the girls in my family came to visit - my Nanny, my sister, and my mom. We had so much fun despite all of our adversity (me and my son on antibiotics, people almost missing the plane, a bit of cold weather, and a wallet left in a cab). We spent a packed weekend doing all the city has to offer - or.....all the decent things the city has to offer.
Thursday
We toured our neighborhood, walked through midtown to see all the major sites, and then ordered some classic New York pizza. My mom even made me take a picture in the grocery store. If that is not excitement from a southerner, I don't know what is!
Friday
We got up much too early to go see Live With Regis and Kelly, which I was not super excited about seeing in the first place. But out of love for my sister I endured the line of beautiful, dolled up girls to go to the show. Much to my surprise I really enjoyed it! Other than the annoyance of having to clap ALL THE TIME, it was a lot of fun. Regis wasn't there, but Brian Gumball was the co host. Kelly was super friendly and hung out with crowd during commercials talking and signing autographs.
After we left the show we went to Pier 83 and took a 3-hour boat tour around Manhattan. I had done this before with Steve and Sally and it was equally enjoyable this time. Our tour guide was great and it was a good way to see the city without using your legs! And as you can see my Nanny bought the sponge statue head gear. This was my sister's highlight of the weekend - she wouldn't take it off.
Saturday
Well our original plan was thwarted by the rain, so we decided to go explore China Town for knock off designer goods. I had actually never done this to the level at which we did on Saturday. I had partaken of the 6 T-shirts for $10 or the occasional hat vendor on the side of the road....but I was not prepared for the back alley, lock and key, purse hunt that we were about to embark on. The first shop we went in, Tiffany was ushered to a secret set of stairs behind a door in the wall. She reluctantly looked at me so I went with her. After winding down a set of stairs past a random couch, we entered a room that was already filled with other women rifling through knock off handbags. I was absolutely floored. We bargained for a price, failed, so continued on our way through the hundreds of other stores in the area. We followed another man four blocks to a back alley, down a set of stairs where there wasn't even a store! This is where I started to have second thoughts about this whole thing. But we persevered. Our last and final stop sealed the deal. We were lead down the first flight of the subway, into a door on the side of the steps that had a padlock gate and locked door. At the time I was not aware that they actually locked the door behind us. Luckily here we were successful because my conscience was starting to bother me now....it wasn't until after this that I started to think about the legality of this. The man actually had to call a friend outside of the door to come unlock it and let us out. So the crazy part is...you have to go through all that for the handbag, but the Rolex is out in the open. Go figure. We headed home after that and ended our night at a great local Italian Restaurant near Columbia.
Sunday
We got started by going to the Brooklyn Tabernacle. The service was great-but personally I loved it because I actually got to listen to the sermon! I haven't done this in weeks because of my son an his aversion to nurseries! But since this was such a well equipped church, they had a room for my son to crawl and play in that had a live feed of the service. It was such a blessing to me.
After the service (we actually had to cut out a bit early) we headed to see Hairspray on Broadway. It was really good. The best cast show I've seen since I've been here(well...other than les Mis maybe), lots of dancing, great music and a good message (unlike Mamma Mia!). Overall we had a great day.
Monday
My sister and I enjoyed a leisurely walk on Broadway and a good breakfast at a local bakery.
She hopped on the bus by herself and headed toward the airport.
Overall-I think the weekend was a hit.
Thursday
We toured our neighborhood, walked through midtown to see all the major sites, and then ordered some classic New York pizza. My mom even made me take a picture in the grocery store. If that is not excitement from a southerner, I don't know what is!
Friday
We got up much too early to go see Live With Regis and Kelly, which I was not super excited about seeing in the first place. But out of love for my sister I endured the line of beautiful, dolled up girls to go to the show. Much to my surprise I really enjoyed it! Other than the annoyance of having to clap ALL THE TIME, it was a lot of fun. Regis wasn't there, but Brian Gumball was the co host. Kelly was super friendly and hung out with crowd during commercials talking and signing autographs.
After we left the show we went to Pier 83 and took a 3-hour boat tour around Manhattan. I had done this before with Steve and Sally and it was equally enjoyable this time. Our tour guide was great and it was a good way to see the city without using your legs! And as you can see my Nanny bought the sponge statue head gear. This was my sister's highlight of the weekend - she wouldn't take it off.
Saturday
Well our original plan was thwarted by the rain, so we decided to go explore China Town for knock off designer goods. I had actually never done this to the level at which we did on Saturday. I had partaken of the 6 T-shirts for $10 or the occasional hat vendor on the side of the road....but I was not prepared for the back alley, lock and key, purse hunt that we were about to embark on. The first shop we went in, Tiffany was ushered to a secret set of stairs behind a door in the wall. She reluctantly looked at me so I went with her. After winding down a set of stairs past a random couch, we entered a room that was already filled with other women rifling through knock off handbags. I was absolutely floored. We bargained for a price, failed, so continued on our way through the hundreds of other stores in the area. We followed another man four blocks to a back alley, down a set of stairs where there wasn't even a store! This is where I started to have second thoughts about this whole thing. But we persevered. Our last and final stop sealed the deal. We were lead down the first flight of the subway, into a door on the side of the steps that had a padlock gate and locked door. At the time I was not aware that they actually locked the door behind us. Luckily here we were successful because my conscience was starting to bother me now....it wasn't until after this that I started to think about the legality of this. The man actually had to call a friend outside of the door to come unlock it and let us out. So the crazy part is...you have to go through all that for the handbag, but the Rolex is out in the open. Go figure. We headed home after that and ended our night at a great local Italian Restaurant near Columbia.
Sunday
We got started by going to the Brooklyn Tabernacle. The service was great-but personally I loved it because I actually got to listen to the sermon! I haven't done this in weeks because of my son an his aversion to nurseries! But since this was such a well equipped church, they had a room for my son to crawl and play in that had a live feed of the service. It was such a blessing to me.
After the service (we actually had to cut out a bit early) we headed to see Hairspray on Broadway. It was really good. The best cast show I've seen since I've been here(well...other than les Mis maybe), lots of dancing, great music and a good message (unlike Mamma Mia!). Overall we had a great day.
Monday
My sister and I enjoyed a leisurely walk on Broadway and a good breakfast at a local bakery.
She hopped on the bus by herself and headed toward the airport.
Overall-I think the weekend was a hit.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Steven Edward at 11 Months!
So....my son is eleven months today! In exactly a month he will be a year old. Somehow I don't feel like this year of my life has actually passed...somehow I have stood still and only he has aged (this may not make any sense at all). So what is he doing now? Well....
*He is just as finicky as he once was with food-but this time it more depends on the day. Some days he wants an adult spoon and the next he's fine with a baby spoon. Some days he wants a banana and the next he shows me his true feelings about them by throwing them on the floor. Oh that's right...I said throwing them on the floor.
*He is currently trying to drop himself down to one nap a day. A little early you say? Well this wasn't my timing. One nap a day, and you never know which one, he spends time working on his crib pastimes. His favorites at the moment include banging the wall (this is only secondary to pulling down the mobile...which we had to remove because he was chewing on the pooh figures), putting teeth marks in the rails, throwing his lamb out and staring at it on the ground, and jumping in his bed. Well...jump is a figure of speech because he doesn't actually leave the ground. He just bounces his knees up and down with a big grin on his face. He usually does this until he decides it's a good time for a dirty diaper and at this point he spends the rest of his "nap time" crying. So I am currently debating dropping one nap all together.
*He is walking all over the house by holding on to us, walls, furniture etc., but he shows no desire of doing this on his own.
* He has recently learned to clap and is super proud of himself for it! He crawls a couple feet and turns to look at me and claps. His favorite places to do this is when he is eating, both in his high chair and while he is......um........well.
*He can wave and does it when he wants to. But not always when I want him to. A couple Sundays ago he was waving up a storm to the woman behind us....but say goodbye and expect a wave....no thanks mom.
*He has just started to show signs of intelligence-he plays peek-a-boo on his own initiative and he is aware of where his toys go. He has this firetruck with little holes for his firemen to go in, and he always tries to put them back into the hole. This is just after he has chewed on them for about 10 minutes. These men are currently going through mouth safety courses beside my husband's computer to avoid the losing of paint on their clothing.
* He has discovered things that open. This would include cabinets, drawers, and lest we forget toilets and trash cans.
*He has discovered doing things when I'm not looking. The most obvious involves throwing his
finger foods off his tray when I have slipped out sight or am not paying attention. This is something he knows he is not allowed to do and will get him a pop on the hand...but none the less he does it and waits for the punishment. To which he looks at me and with a delayed reaction pokes out his lip and starts to cry.
*He has six teeth-four up top and two on the bottom.
*He has just taken to "swimming" on the carpet. He lays flat on his stomach, kicks his legs, looks up at us and cackles!
*He wakes up to the flushing of a toilet but he can sleep through a fire alarm (so we figured out tonight when I was cooking). Go figure!
*He is just as finicky as he once was with food-but this time it more depends on the day. Some days he wants an adult spoon and the next he's fine with a baby spoon. Some days he wants a banana and the next he shows me his true feelings about them by throwing them on the floor. Oh that's right...I said throwing them on the floor.
*He is currently trying to drop himself down to one nap a day. A little early you say? Well this wasn't my timing. One nap a day, and you never know which one, he spends time working on his crib pastimes. His favorites at the moment include banging the wall (this is only secondary to pulling down the mobile...which we had to remove because he was chewing on the pooh figures), putting teeth marks in the rails, throwing his lamb out and staring at it on the ground, and jumping in his bed. Well...jump is a figure of speech because he doesn't actually leave the ground. He just bounces his knees up and down with a big grin on his face. He usually does this until he decides it's a good time for a dirty diaper and at this point he spends the rest of his "nap time" crying. So I am currently debating dropping one nap all together.*He is walking all over the house by holding on to us, walls, furniture etc., but he shows no desire of doing this on his own.
* He has recently learned to clap and is super proud of himself for it! He crawls a couple feet and turns to look at me and claps. His favorite places to do this is when he is eating, both in his high chair and while he is......um........well.
*He can wave and does it when he wants to. But not always when I want him to. A couple Sundays ago he was waving up a storm to the woman behind us....but say goodbye and expect a wave....no thanks mom.
*He has just started to show signs of intelligence-he plays peek-a-boo on his own initiative and he is aware of where his toys go. He has this firetruck with little holes for his firemen to go in, and he always tries to put them back into the hole. This is just after he has chewed on them for about 10 minutes. These men are currently going through mouth safety courses beside my husband's computer to avoid the losing of paint on their clothing.* He has discovered things that open. This would include cabinets, drawers, and lest we forget toilets and trash cans.
*He has discovered doing things when I'm not looking. The most obvious involves throwing his
finger foods off his tray when I have slipped out sight or am not paying attention. This is something he knows he is not allowed to do and will get him a pop on the hand...but none the less he does it and waits for the punishment. To which he looks at me and with a delayed reaction pokes out his lip and starts to cry.*He has six teeth-four up top and two on the bottom.
*He has just taken to "swimming" on the carpet. He lays flat on his stomach, kicks his legs, looks up at us and cackles!
*He wakes up to the flushing of a toilet but he can sleep through a fire alarm (so we figured out tonight when I was cooking). Go figure!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Sarah and Jack....well.....and Daniel I suppose
My friend Sarah, who moved back to NC to have her baby, came up to visit her husband (and us of course!) with her new baby boy Jack! She came up for the 30th anniversary of the Klingenstein program that was at the University Club (a nice rival to the athletic club that Steve and Sally stayed at). We had such a nice time, but my camera battery died so you have to just take my word for it. Here are some fun pictures of our time when she was here and some fun ones of the Dube family one day when they were over at our place!
This is Sarah, Steven and I - and then Emma holding baby Jack!
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