Hot Town, Summer in the City
The First Half of Summer
We started out June with an unexpected visit from a family that is near and dear to our hearts. The Doxzon's live in Nebraska, where Todd is a lead pastor. I met them when I was in high school, and Denise became my mentor in youth group. When Robby and I were engaged, they counsled us through our pre-marital course and Todd was the pastor who married us. Our wedding anniversaries just so happen to be the same day too, seven years apart. Todd was in town with the buddies, Tzion and Blaze for a father-son trip. Oni and Boz, as we call them, were also two of the ring bearers in our wedding. It is always really refreshing to see them, and we spent a fun night in mid-town enjoying pizza and Mr. Softee's!
Later that week, I participated in the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge. My first 5K! The money donated for the race went to the Central Park Conservancy.
You'd see me from a mile away in those shorts.
We rounded out that first lovely week in June at our friend's new brownstone in Hoboken for a house-warming cook out. It's been so fun making time each month to swap hosting dinners with these friends.
With the possibility of a Triple Crown win, we made our way to the Belmont Stakes. It was fun to dress up and the weather could not have been more amazing. We tried to learn how to read the standings for each horse in order to have a more "educated" guess as to which one would win in each race. We fared pretty decently, ending up with about $5 more dollars than we started with... Like they say on Wheel of Fortune, "Big Money, Big Money!"
Looking fresh in that bow tie.
Mac and Cheese from the "Mac Truck".
We had a Pho and Chelsea Market adventure with Rich and Jessa. After five years of living here, we finally tried Vietnamese food and we finally went to Chelsea Market! We loved both, especially the sweets at Chelsea Market.
I was excited to get the chance to go to DC for a couple of client meetings. I stayed at The Hay Adams Hotel, just around the corner from the White House. I love their tag line, "where nothing is overlooked but the White House", and it was so true. I met colleagues for dinner, and after a short walk to see the White House, I came back to the hotel room, which had been turned down for bedtime.
Check out the lovely touches. Hands down, one of the nicest places I have ever stayed.
Meanwhile, in NYC... Bessy and Robby were melting in the summer heat. Even though I was only there for one night, I missed them so much!
When I got back I was walking along a block in our neighborhood that I have never come across, and I noticed a church with these gorgeous detailed doors. Don't you just love finding new things right around the corner?
We spent a fun evening in Forest Hills enjoying some Cuban cuisine and missing places like, La Carreta and Versailles in Miami. It was great hanging out with Joe and Myra, and getting to know them more. They are both from PR, but have lived in NY for most of their lives, so it was really interesting to learn more about the City and Queens from their perspective.
We had a nice clear schedule the next afternoon, which can be hard to come by, so Rob, Bess and I made our way to Central Park to try and get a tan. Tan lines? Yeah, I haven't had those since about year 1 of living in NYC, it's pretty sad. By coincidence, we ran into some of Bess's friends, Ruby and Maya, who went through Puppy Kindergarten with her!
The last week of June, the birthday celebrations were underway for Robby. We enjoyed this lemon blueberry pie with our CG. At the end of the week, Bob and Donna came to visit, to celebrate both our birthdays, since they are only two weeks apart.
The young boy he coaches every week, made him this sweet card.
The first night we went to The Frying Pan for dinner to celebrate Robby and then Shake Shack in Madison Square Park for dessert. The next morning B&D joined us along with our friends to wait in line for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park to see the comedy, Much Ado about Nothing. Once we got our tickets, we went to Jacob's Pickles for brunch to celebrate my birthday. We had a picnic dinner in the Park and then enjoyed the play.
On Sunday, we went to church and walked around Central Park some more. We just can't get enough of the Park! After dinner at an Italian restaurant in our neighborbood, B&D headed to New Jersey for a few days before making their way back to Miami.
Since Robby started working at lululemon, he typically works one day per weekend. So for the most part, we don't get a whole weekend off to hang out together, so we decided that it would be fun if I took a day off from work, on his day off from lululemon, which is usually a Tuesday. So one fine Tuesday in July, we had our day off together. We slept in and then went to Alice's Tea Cup for breakfast, which has been on my list foreverrrr, and I know I will go many more times!
We made our way to the summer installation on the rooftop of the Met and also checked out several exhibits. Sometimes I still have those moments where I want to pinch myself because I can't believe that we live here. Realizing that I got to spend an afternon at the Met with my best friend in the world was one of those moments. After our mini-adventure we went back home and ordered Thai from our favorite place and watched a movie. Day Off well spent! With the tickets we got for the Met entrance, we also got free passes to go to the Cloisters as long as we went within the week. Since the Cloisters is yet another place on our never-ending list, by the next weekend, we knew where we were headed... more to come on that in the next post.
The First Half of Summer
We started out June with an unexpected visit from a family that is near and dear to our hearts. The Doxzon's live in Nebraska, where Todd is a lead pastor. I met them when I was in high school, and Denise became my mentor in youth group. When Robby and I were engaged, they counsled us through our pre-marital course and Todd was the pastor who married us. Our wedding anniversaries just so happen to be the same day too, seven years apart. Todd was in town with the buddies, Tzion and Blaze for a father-son trip. Oni and Boz, as we call them, were also two of the ring bearers in our wedding. It is always really refreshing to see them, and we spent a fun night in mid-town enjoying pizza and Mr. Softee's!
Later that week, I participated in the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge. My first 5K! The money donated for the race went to the Central Park Conservancy.
You'd see me from a mile away in those shorts.
We rounded out that first lovely week in June at our friend's new brownstone in Hoboken for a house-warming cook out. It's been so fun making time each month to swap hosting dinners with these friends.
With the possibility of a Triple Crown win, we made our way to the Belmont Stakes. It was fun to dress up and the weather could not have been more amazing. We tried to learn how to read the standings for each horse in order to have a more "educated" guess as to which one would win in each race. We fared pretty decently, ending up with about $5 more dollars than we started with... Like they say on Wheel of Fortune, "Big Money, Big Money!"
Looking fresh in that bow tie.
Mac and Cheese from the "Mac Truck".
We had a Pho and Chelsea Market adventure with Rich and Jessa. After five years of living here, we finally tried Vietnamese food and we finally went to Chelsea Market! We loved both, especially the sweets at Chelsea Market.
I was excited to get the chance to go to DC for a couple of client meetings. I stayed at The Hay Adams Hotel, just around the corner from the White House. I love their tag line, "where nothing is overlooked but the White House", and it was so true. I met colleagues for dinner, and after a short walk to see the White House, I came back to the hotel room, which had been turned down for bedtime.
Check out the lovely touches. Hands down, one of the nicest places I have ever stayed.
Meanwhile, in NYC... Bessy and Robby were melting in the summer heat. Even though I was only there for one night, I missed them so much!
When I got back I was walking along a block in our neighborhood that I have never come across, and I noticed a church with these gorgeous detailed doors. Don't you just love finding new things right around the corner?
We spent a fun evening in Forest Hills enjoying some Cuban cuisine and missing places like, La Carreta and Versailles in Miami. It was great hanging out with Joe and Myra, and getting to know them more. They are both from PR, but have lived in NY for most of their lives, so it was really interesting to learn more about the City and Queens from their perspective.
We had a nice clear schedule the next afternoon, which can be hard to come by, so Rob, Bess and I made our way to Central Park to try and get a tan. Tan lines? Yeah, I haven't had those since about year 1 of living in NYC, it's pretty sad. By coincidence, we ran into some of Bess's friends, Ruby and Maya, who went through Puppy Kindergarten with her!
The last week of June, the birthday celebrations were underway for Robby. We enjoyed this lemon blueberry pie with our CG. At the end of the week, Bob and Donna came to visit, to celebrate both our birthdays, since they are only two weeks apart.
The young boy he coaches every week, made him this sweet card.
The first night we went to The Frying Pan for dinner to celebrate Robby and then Shake Shack in Madison Square Park for dessert. The next morning B&D joined us along with our friends to wait in line for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park to see the comedy, Much Ado about Nothing. Once we got our tickets, we went to Jacob's Pickles for brunch to celebrate my birthday. We had a picnic dinner in the Park and then enjoyed the play.
On Sunday, we went to church and walked around Central Park some more. We just can't get enough of the Park! After dinner at an Italian restaurant in our neighborbood, B&D headed to New Jersey for a few days before making their way back to Miami.
Since Robby started working at lululemon, he typically works one day per weekend. So for the most part, we don't get a whole weekend off to hang out together, so we decided that it would be fun if I took a day off from work, on his day off from lululemon, which is usually a Tuesday. So one fine Tuesday in July, we had our day off together. We slept in and then went to Alice's Tea Cup for breakfast, which has been on my list foreverrrr, and I know I will go many more times!
We made our way to the summer installation on the rooftop of the Met and also checked out several exhibits. Sometimes I still have those moments where I want to pinch myself because I can't believe that we live here. Realizing that I got to spend an afternon at the Met with my best friend in the world was one of those moments. After our mini-adventure we went back home and ordered Thai from our favorite place and watched a movie. Day Off well spent! With the tickets we got for the Met entrance, we also got free passes to go to the Cloisters as long as we went within the week. Since the Cloisters is yet another place on our never-ending list, by the next weekend, we knew where we were headed... more to come on that in the next post.
