Spring is in the air

March has been a busy month! We started out the month with Rob having a few weeks of Spring Football and Andrea having to go to Houston for training for work. We left Bess at the apartment with Uncle Carlos who took great care of her and our humble abode. He even left us some Coronas! So thoughtful!

While Andrea was at training in Houston, she was able to have lunch with her Dad every day, which was a treat. She also got to go to the Rodeo with coworkers one evening, which was a lot of fun!

 Andrea and Jackie (from work) trying to sneak a picture wearing cowboy hats.

A concert at the Rodeo, performed by Blake Shelton!

Andrea and Jackie playing pool. Look at the size of that Texas pint! (Only $3!)

While Andrea was away, Rob went to the end of the year Banquet for football and he was awarded "Assistant Coach of the Year" by the players on the team!

The week Andrea got back, we had a game night with Nate and Lauren (friends from church and our community group leaders). They were so loving to Bess who just wanted to jump all over them!

The overpass to the running path by the river finally opened back up after being reconstructed, so we have taken advantage of the weather and taken Bess for some walks that way. (a little random... but we wanted to share.)

One lovely evening, we went to Cilantro (a mexican restaurant) with friends from church and then walked through Central Park at night to go ice skating.

 The Met

 Maggie, Jonathan, Ryan, Drea, Robby

The Bethesda Terrace, between Bethesda Fountain and The Mall. 

A view of The Mall through one of the many benches that lines it. 

 The Mall

Wollman Skating Rink 

 Unfortunately, as we got to the skating rink, they were closing an hour earlier than the website said they would be! So... we walked to Serendipity and enjoyed a late night dessert!

Continuing with the dessert theme, we went to Sixteen Handles (a frozen yogurt shop) with our community group. We were one of the first to arrive, so we were saving seats!

About two weeks ago, the trees started to bloom for Spring! This picture is along Park Avenue near Drea's office.

This was on the way to church one morning (using Hipstamatic photo app on the phone)

Another random shot, this is a stunning red door from a church that we always say we want a picture of.

Bess has been enjoying the warmer weather too. The sun streams into the kitchen warming up the tiles and so Bess loves to take a nap right there.

Two Sundays ago we went to Brunch with Carlos, Ashley, Vane and Brandon at the Stone Park Cafe in Park Slope, Brooklyn!

Yesterday, Rob enjoyed the clear skies and went on a photo adventure. Here are some shots from the Union Square area.

Tonight we are going to Time Square to have dinner at The Counter. We'll pick up here next post and share some pictures.

We'll be in touch! Hope to hear from you soon! R&A

Massive Update #2: Since Winter 2010/11 to Today!

In April, Crystal & Mark came to visit the Big Apple. We enjoyed having them stay with us in our cozy apartment and taking them all around the city. We had New York Pizza at Lombardi’s and we got to see the Broadway play, Lombardi as well.

In May we celebrated our 4-year anniversary at a great Italian Restaurant on the Upper East Side. Later in the month, Rob graduated with his Master’s in Sports Management from St. John’s. Bob and Donna came up for a visit to celebrate. Bess also graduated from doggy obedience school!

June was a busy month; we went to Houston to visit Andrea’s family.

And then later went to a Bed & Breakfast in Spring Lake, NJ with some great friends from church. Rob also travelled a bit for some football camps.

We started looking into moving to another apartment in July but soon realized we’d be climbing 5 flights of stairs for at least another year. We remained in our cozy apartment but did some redecorating! For our first year of living in the City, we celebrated with the 5 boroughs in 1 day… For year 2 we redecorated the apt!

Another fun thing we got to do was celebrate the 4^th of July from the Top of the Rock. It was amazing, we had the best view of the Hudson River Fireworks display, but we also got to see several other shows in the distance all around the building. 

Eli  came to visit and we went to Coney Island. Then Ernie came for visits about two weeks later, we went to a Yankees game!

Throughout the rest of the summer we kept ourselves busy hanging out with friends, playing with Bess and avoiding Hurricane Irene!

The end of the summer ushered in the beginning of Rob’s 2^nd Football Season at SUNY Maritime. We were able to enjoy a winning 8-2 season and many tailgates with friends. Bess even came to the last home game.

We went to DC for the last game of the season and got to visit with the newlyweds, Josh & Lisel Allbee.

During the season, in October, Andrea’s Tio Gerald came for another visit, this time with Michelle. We went to two Broadway shows, Wicked and Rock of Ages! They were both great, but I think we all really LOVED Wicked. After their visit we had a very random snowstorm the weekend of Halloween. Little did we know that would be the most snow we would see all winter (practically)! We also got the exciting news that Crystal and Mark are pregnant!

We had some friends over at our apartment for Thanksgiving, which was a lot of fun, and then the next day Rob was able to enjoy a crisp fall day in The Park, playing football.

In December, B  & D came up for a visit to see NYC all decked out for Christmas. We enjoyed getting to see the Rockettes Radio City Spectacular.

Andrea also started a new job at JPMC, now working with the Government, Not-For-Profit and Healthcare (GNPH) Commercial Banking business!! This was gift-wrapped on her desk her first day in the new role (to hold business cards).

After only a week and a half in the new role, we left for a 2-week vacation to Florida to visit family. This time we stayed at Ernie’s for the first week and Rob was able to experience his first Noche Buena!! Then we spent the second week at B&D’s where Andrea was able to go the Everglades and the Keys for the first time.

in January, back in NYC, Andrea continued to adjust to the new role and go through several online training courses. We took advantage of Broadway Week and went to see On a Clear Day you can See Forever, starring Harry Connick, Jr., followed by a delicious dessert date at Serendipity!

Later in the month we went to Strike Out bowling with Vane, Carlos and the gang!

In February we celebrated Valentine’s a little early with a trip to Somerville, NJ, where we spent the weekend with B&D, Nantz Pantz, Petey, Bob, Ruth, Bess and Gracie.

We then took advantage of Off-Broadway Week and went to see Avenue Q (finally!)

So... now that we're all caught up, hopefully we can stay up to date more often! How are you!?