Downtown Date Nights

Ever since I discovered the fact that I ADORE downtown NYC, and also because it is where my husband can be found 90% of the time, we have been spending a lot of our time downtown as of late. 

Wednesday night Dan had to work late so I met him for his dinner break. We got Shake Shack to go and went to sit by the water in Battery Park and eat. It was a beautiful night and it was great to fit in a little date before Dan was back to work. 

By Friday night, Dan was EXHAUSTED so we had a chill night of dinner at a little Indian restaurant two seconds from our apartment and catching up on one of Dan's favorites shows, Breaking Bad. 

Saturday, Dan had to go in to work for a few hours so I spent the day shopping. Hey I figure if the Mr. works on Saturdays, the Mrs. shops on Saturdays. Fair right? That night I met Dan downtown for dinner and a movie. We saw the new Batman movie and we both really enjoyed it. 

I have to say that NYC was a bit hard for me to get used to, living wise. I wasn't the biggest fan, but I have really come to appreciate and enjoy living in the city that never sleeps. I could actually imagine myself living here on a more permanent basis...downtown of course. 

It's hard to believe that our time here is coming to a close so quickly. We have one more weekend in the city and I'm so excited because two of my favorite people, Kelly and Darryl, will be here tomorrow night to share it with us. Let the good times roll!

Dragging the Fam around NYC

After my trip home, my family drove me back up to NYC and stayed for the weekend. Due to a mishap with my apartment key, we realized we had to drive all the way that day, and we didn't start until 2 in the afternoon. 

Needless to say it was a long trip. 

We got to my apartment around 4 and went to bed as Dan left for work. Below you can see Caroline's sentiments on the long journey as she sits on our doorstep. 

She really should learn how to express how she really feels. 

So turns out that you may not want me to plan any of your upcoming trips. I kind of struck out with this one. We had a blast, but the things I planned just didn't quite work out perfectly (starting with having to drive all the way that late in the day). 

On Friday, after a few hours nap, while I worked, the fam headed out to the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour which came highly recommended by me. The problem...it poured. A boat tour is not so fun in the pouring rain, but they made the best of it and seemed to enjoy the tour. 

I must say the lady liberty green ponchos are fabulous. 

That night I made reservations for a family style Italian meal. My dad and I liked it, the rest thought it was just ok. Since I liked it I don't consider it a COMPLETE fail but I would have preferred everyone RAVE about it as we left. But it was fun to sit around a family style dinner table with our whole family. It had been a long time since we had been able to do that. 

The next day we were supposed to do the 9/11 memorial  but I didn't print our tickets out so that was a bust. We then decided to go on our double decker bus tour of NYC. It is supposed to be hop on hop off, but if you hop off that darn thing good luck hopping back on. We stayed on it until we got downtown. We saw the WTC and checked out Dan's building and the area he works. 

Um...I feel like Dan has been keeping a secret from me. I LOVE DOWNTOWN and I don't care who knows it. We walked in Battery Park along the water and I was loving it. 

Then we attempted to hop back on our bus, but the line was a million people long. So we subway'd it back to Times Square. We had some Junior's cheese cake and then we were off to the main event...WICKED! 

It was so FAB, I loved every second of it. During Defying Gravity Dan had to gently lower my arms as they were rising in the air while I lip synced along. I am pretty sure I missed my calling as a Broadway star...in my mind at least. 

The next day we started with brunch, then I headed off to Chinatown with my mom and Caroline to purchase more fakes, while my dad and Dan went off to check out Yankee Stadium. My mom tore up Chinatown. She was having so much fun, as were Caroline and I, but Barb was rocking it. She was a hard bargainer and had a blast. Before we met the guys at home for pizza we decided to go on a PediCab tour of Central Park. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. 

The Friends fountain!

Apparently, most of the celebs in NYC live in this building behind us

On our PediCab

Then it was time for my family to head home. I miss them already but I am so grateful for the long time I got to spend with them! Plus I'm glad they didn't hold my poor trip planning skills against me!

Two Weeks in the Creek

Due to Dan's busy internship schedule (we are talking 12-13 hour days, starting with a wake up call of 4:15 am), and my homesickness setting in, I decided to head South for a couple of weeks to see my family. I had not been home in about 6 months and that was too long for me. 

I had to work of course, but I had a great time just being home with the fam bam. I missed Dan a ton but he was busy work work working. 

I spent my time at home going to the beach and visiting friends and family. 

I was lucky enough to cross paths with my bestie Kelly for a morning. We went to brunch with Steph, Chad, and Darryl. I got to see Kelly and D's new apartment (which is fab), try on my bridesmaids dress (It zipped!), and eat chicken and waffles. It was a win all around. 

I spent that afternoon at the beach with my family at Kiawah. It felt just like old times, and I can't wait for our family vacation to Disney World in October!

One of the coolest parts of being in Goose Creek was the time I got to spend with not only my friends, but their kids as well. That's right, their KIDS. I have lots of friends with kids now and it's fab. 

On one weekend day I got to spend the day at the beach with Steph and her little one Wyatt, and Jackie. It was so much fun and Wyatt was a big fan of the water. 

As luck would have it, my friend Courtney was also in town at the same time and I got to spend another morning at the beach with Court and her twins Reese and Ella. They were a blast to run around with. Total beach bums those two. 

Courtney and I met our friend Tara at the beach and it was so great to catch up with her as well. 

Some other home highlights was celebrating Caroline's 17th birthday with her, and eating crab legs with my mom and dad. Doesn't get much better than that. 

Laundry...Reinvented

I just want to take a second to share my favorite thing in NYC...Laundry service. 

You take your dirty laundry (or have them come pick it up), then a couple of hours later you pick up this beauty...

That's right. Clean, FOLDED laundry. 

Lovely. 

Now this isn't exactly cheap but due to a little mishap with the laundry room key we were desperate. 

And I'm in love...

Freedom is Cool

*Title inspired by the best t-shirt I saw this 4th*

Freedom really is cool. And can you think of a better way to celebrate than the festivities that occur on the 4th of July? BBQ's, water activities, fireworks...

I can't.

This year Dan and I took a last minute trip up to Philadephia for the 4th. Dan and Kels were up there visiting their in-laws, so we crashed the Itri 4th BBQ.

They picked us up in Staten Island on Friday night and drove us on in to Philly. Dan and I got to ride the Staten Island Ferry which was pretty cool as well. I tried to takes lots of pics but they just didn't work out.

On the 4th we hung out in the pool all day long and got some fabulous sunburns. This was the first time our skin has really seen sun this summer so even our sunscren was no match for all day fun in the sun.

We had a BBQ consiting of rotisserie chicken on the grill (DELISH), hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, veggies, dips, chips, you name it. It was very American.

We ended the night by heading out to Rita's for some water ice. This stuff was so yummy, as soon as I'm done here I plan on googling the closest one to us right now so we can go get some more!

Then Dan and I took the train back into NYC.

It was a great fourth and we really enjoyed the company and getting out of the crazy city for the day.

Thanks to the Itri's for letting us crash their family gathering!.....again.



Coney Island and the Big Pink Dog

There is a burger joint literally right across the street from our apartment, and we JUST went there to eat on Friday. For a burger lover I am slacking big time. I'm kind of disappointed in myself for taking so long, but I was NOT disappointed by BareBurger. It was delish. They serve only the freshest organic ingredients and you can tell. The burgers were super good and the sweet potato croqs we had on the side divine. We will be going there again. 

Saturday we decided to hit up Coney Island. I was excited to hang out on the beach and ride some rides on the boardwalk. Um...the day didn't turn out exactly as planned. The beach was SO CROWDED and they didn't have any rental chairs/umbrellas. So our hanging out on the beach consisted of walking down to the water, dipping our toes in, then walking right back up to the boardwalk. Turns out wearing our swimsuits wasn't quite necessary. 

Ok, so the beach didn't exactly thrill us so we headed to our next stop, the amusement park on the board walk. Turns out Dan HATES rides. I always thought he was just saying that and I could bully him into riding anything with me, but turns out I was wrong. Which actually works out to my advantage b/c it appeases a lifelong fear I have had. 

SIDE BAR: 

I have always said that I HAVE to have an even number of children because I had an irrational fear that on family trips to Disney World or any amusement park really, that I, as the mom, would be stuck hanging out with everyone's crap while they rode rides with Dad and I was the odd person out with no ride partner. PROBLEM SOLVED. Dan is officially the bag holder on those future trips with our hypothetical children. I can rest easy now. 

END SIDE BAR. 

AND the rides were SIX DOLLARS PER PERSON PER RIDE. Holy cow. I did talk Dan in to riding the ferris wheel (pictured above) with me and I took a jaunt on the swings with a little boy stranger as my partner. 

I patted myself on the bag for this cool pic of Brooklyn, the Q train, and the Manhattan skyline in the background.

After our rides I asked Dan to pretty please win me something on one of the carnival games. Well imagine my surprise when he did and I got to walk around for the rest of the day with a HUGE PINK DOG. It's actually rather gratifying walking around with a huge pink dog because it really means, "My man's manlier than your man." You should have seen the jealous looks from girls whose husbands/boyfriends weren't manly enough to win them a big pink dog. 

Next on the agenda was to hit up the Original Nathan's Hot Dog Stand. I was stoked for this as I love hot dogs. Um...disappointed. It was gross. I now have an even deeper appreciation for those hot dog eating contest winners b/c not only do they eat a bajillion hot dogs, they eat a bajillion gross ones. Luckily for us, they had just opened a Grimaldi's Pizza joint across the street (think our fave place with hour lines in Brooklyn), so all was not lost on the food front. 

We were just a couple days too early to witness a true classic american tradition...

I thought this was going to be my tasting glory pic...fail

All in all it was a great day at the very odd Coney Island. Dan and I had a lot of fun just being together and being silly. 

Remember how I mentioned that the beach was crowded? Ok, compared to the old days in Coney Island, there was barely a soul on the beach. 

See what I mean?