Sunday, November 21, 2010
Family and Friends
I knew it'd be awhile before I updated this thing, but a month is a bit much!
We had 8 days of guests at the end of October. It was absolutely fantastic!
Beth, Jason and Lucy came to town, and we did breakfast on Saturday morning. Lucy had visited the American Girl store, and her doll did a fashion show for me while we waited for our food. Sean arrived right when we finished eating; the three of us went to the Notre Dame/Navy game. The Meadowlands is a cool stadium, but since they stop selling beer as soon as the second half begins, we didn't last past half-time. (It was a horrible game anyway...) We went to Brooklyn - Ed wanted to show Sean Monterro's - and I left my phone in the cab. I blame Jason: He lost two iPhones in cabs that week and I think I caught whatever he had. The wonderful NY cabbie found and returned it to me, almost taking my arm off to keep me from giving him a tip for his trouble. Don't let anyone tell you our cabbies aren't wonderful. We watched Mizzou beat OU; Jason joined us at half-time. Sean made friends with another Ed, and my Ed found the perfect gyro sandwich. (Why did it have to be in Brooklyn??) If you find yourself in the neighborhood, be sure to stop at X--great food and the nicest people you'll ever meet. What with the first beer being drunk at noon, it ended up being a long, long night--we finally called it a night at around 3:30am.
On Tuesday, Ann came in for a couple of days. She worked from our apartment, so we got to spend a lot of time together. We took her to Ovest for dinner, then to the Drunken Horse for drinks. She's coming back in December so we can see Promises, Promises before Kristen Chenoweth and Sean Hayes pass the torch to someone else.
Can you tell I'm happy to see her? :)
Michael came to the City on Wednesday and Thursday for meetings, so he stayed with us on Wednesday night. We had lunch at Trestle on Tenth, took a walk on the HighLine, drank a lot of wine, and talked till after midnight. It was gorgeous that day--in the high 60s and sunny. New York in the fall is fantastic.
On Friday, Stacey and Jeff came to spend the weekend. We walked in Central Park on Friday afternoon, in search of the most beautiful tree in the City (according to New York magazine). Note to self: Next time, find the tree in advance. Amazingly, there are more than a few trees in the Park, and finding one based on a very vague map is not an easy thing to do. We didn't find it, but we found plenty of others to gawk at.
We met up with Eddie at the Half King when he got off work. Since it was Halloween weekend, we decided to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Chelsea Cinema. Ed hadn't seen it before. They have a couple of guys who get paid to yell all the lines at the show, but we were clearly in the theatre with a roomful of RHPS virgins. The lines have continued to evolve; I saw it in HS, and there are now references to OJ Simpson and Twilight. It really is a horrible movie. :)
Saturday was random. We went to brunch, and then Stacey and I went to Soho to try to fill a prescription, and the boys went to the Westside Tavern. We met them there, and started a pub crawl, adding the White Horse Tavern and the Spotted Pig to the list. They had tickets to see Tosh.0 that night, so we went to dinner at Crispo, and then headed next door to Woody McHale's to watch the Giants game. We met the owner, Steven, who's a really nice guy, and were recognized by some of the staff from Crispo who came by the bar after their shift was over. Ed and I stayed there till 12:30 or so while Jeff and Stacey went to the show.
Sunday, we went out for brunch, visited the Frick, spent some time in Christian Dior shopping for Stacey, and went in search of the best pastrami sandwich in town (on the Upper East Side). It was Halloween, and the Village has a huge parade, so they left early for the airport for fear of bad traffic. There wasn't any. Of course.
The next week, I went to VA. Mom was in town visiting the boys, and I hadn't seen her since I left KC in August. Taking the train is the way to go. It's only 3 hours to DC, (although it's another 2 to get to Manassas, what with changing from a diesel to an electric engine and the additional travel time). I read, worked on some stuff for Pablo, and watched a movie. I like trains much more than planes. Both of them are in new houses since I last visited. Billy is in the middle of nowhere; he offered me mace to take with me on my run in case I ran into any bears. And he wasn't being facetious. (Clearly, I skipped the run.) Michael is very convenient to the Manassas train station. It was fun hanging out, spending family time. We ate dinner, drank some wine, played with kids, caught up on news. I did get to see both of their new offices. Mike's is adjacent to Union Station; Billy's is in the same building with a Catholic school, a chapel, and a pro-life organization.
I was there for three days and then went to Philly on the way home to see Larry. Eddie had work there on Friday, so he met me there, too. Larry was in town visiting Rafe and Robin. We all met at a pub not far from the train station, and then took the train back to their suburb. After dinner, we headed back to their house to hang out and chat. I hadn't seen Sibyl in a really long time; it's amazing how grown up the girls are now. We weren't there long, but it was a good visit.
Other stuff we've done:
Saw Jim Avett (father of the Avett Brothers) at the Living Room in the East Village. Ed thought we were actually seeing the Avett Brothers. :)
The Veterans' Day Parade was my first NYC parade:
I bought a book - Frommer's 24 Great Walks in the NY City - and I took my first one last week. The Upper West Side - the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial:
the home now restaurant where Poe wrote The Raven:
Riverside Park:
(That's Eleanor Roosevelt, not that you can tell from the lighting I had.)
The weather this fall has been incredible, and the trees are all the colors of the rainbow. I love New York in the autumn...
We had 8 days of guests at the end of October. It was absolutely fantastic!
Beth, Jason and Lucy came to town, and we did breakfast on Saturday morning. Lucy had visited the American Girl store, and her doll did a fashion show for me while we waited for our food. Sean arrived right when we finished eating; the three of us went to the Notre Dame/Navy game. The Meadowlands is a cool stadium, but since they stop selling beer as soon as the second half begins, we didn't last past half-time. (It was a horrible game anyway...) We went to Brooklyn - Ed wanted to show Sean Monterro's - and I left my phone in the cab. I blame Jason: He lost two iPhones in cabs that week and I think I caught whatever he had. The wonderful NY cabbie found and returned it to me, almost taking my arm off to keep me from giving him a tip for his trouble. Don't let anyone tell you our cabbies aren't wonderful. We watched Mizzou beat OU; Jason joined us at half-time. Sean made friends with another Ed, and my Ed found the perfect gyro sandwich. (Why did it have to be in Brooklyn??) If you find yourself in the neighborhood, be sure to stop at X--great food and the nicest people you'll ever meet. What with the first beer being drunk at noon, it ended up being a long, long night--we finally called it a night at around 3:30am.
On Tuesday, Ann came in for a couple of days. She worked from our apartment, so we got to spend a lot of time together. We took her to Ovest for dinner, then to the Drunken Horse for drinks. She's coming back in December so we can see Promises, Promises before Kristen Chenoweth and Sean Hayes pass the torch to someone else.
Michael came to the City on Wednesday and Thursday for meetings, so he stayed with us on Wednesday night. We had lunch at Trestle on Tenth, took a walk on the HighLine, drank a lot of wine, and talked till after midnight. It was gorgeous that day--in the high 60s and sunny. New York in the fall is fantastic.
On Friday, Stacey and Jeff came to spend the weekend. We walked in Central Park on Friday afternoon, in search of the most beautiful tree in the City (according to New York magazine). Note to self: Next time, find the tree in advance. Amazingly, there are more than a few trees in the Park, and finding one based on a very vague map is not an easy thing to do. We didn't find it, but we found plenty of others to gawk at.
We met up with Eddie at the Half King when he got off work. Since it was Halloween weekend, we decided to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Chelsea Cinema. Ed hadn't seen it before. They have a couple of guys who get paid to yell all the lines at the show, but we were clearly in the theatre with a roomful of RHPS virgins. The lines have continued to evolve; I saw it in HS, and there are now references to OJ Simpson and Twilight. It really is a horrible movie. :)
Saturday was random. We went to brunch, and then Stacey and I went to Soho to try to fill a prescription, and the boys went to the Westside Tavern. We met them there, and started a pub crawl, adding the White Horse Tavern and the Spotted Pig to the list. They had tickets to see Tosh.0 that night, so we went to dinner at Crispo, and then headed next door to Woody McHale's to watch the Giants game. We met the owner, Steven, who's a really nice guy, and were recognized by some of the staff from Crispo who came by the bar after their shift was over. Ed and I stayed there till 12:30 or so while Jeff and Stacey went to the show.
Sunday, we went out for brunch, visited the Frick, spent some time in Christian Dior shopping for Stacey, and went in search of the best pastrami sandwich in town (on the Upper East Side). It was Halloween, and the Village has a huge parade, so they left early for the airport for fear of bad traffic. There wasn't any. Of course.
The next week, I went to VA. Mom was in town visiting the boys, and I hadn't seen her since I left KC in August. Taking the train is the way to go. It's only 3 hours to DC, (although it's another 2 to get to Manassas, what with changing from a diesel to an electric engine and the additional travel time). I read, worked on some stuff for Pablo, and watched a movie. I like trains much more than planes. Both of them are in new houses since I last visited. Billy is in the middle of nowhere; he offered me mace to take with me on my run in case I ran into any bears. And he wasn't being facetious. (Clearly, I skipped the run.) Michael is very convenient to the Manassas train station. It was fun hanging out, spending family time. We ate dinner, drank some wine, played with kids, caught up on news. I did get to see both of their new offices. Mike's is adjacent to Union Station; Billy's is in the same building with a Catholic school, a chapel, and a pro-life organization.
I was there for three days and then went to Philly on the way home to see Larry. Eddie had work there on Friday, so he met me there, too. Larry was in town visiting Rafe and Robin. We all met at a pub not far from the train station, and then took the train back to their suburb. After dinner, we headed back to their house to hang out and chat. I hadn't seen Sibyl in a really long time; it's amazing how grown up the girls are now. We weren't there long, but it was a good visit.
Other stuff we've done:
Saw Jim Avett (father of the Avett Brothers) at the Living Room in the East Village. Ed thought we were actually seeing the Avett Brothers. :)
The Veterans' Day Parade was my first NYC parade:
I bought a book - Frommer's 24 Great Walks in the NY City - and I took my first one last week. The Upper West Side - the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial:
the home now restaurant where Poe wrote The Raven:
Riverside Park:
(That's Eleanor Roosevelt, not that you can tell from the lighting I had.)
The weather this fall has been incredible, and the trees are all the colors of the rainbow. I love New York in the autumn...
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