Pardon the interruption of vacationpicturefest ...

but I've been married to this guy for 8 months, today!

Woohoo!

NYC - Day 2

Visiting Strand bookstore. Loved it! Went back twice, loved the children's section.

Ran into our great friend Jess. In Times Square of all places.

Met with my friend Janet (the second one in) from childhood in California. Hadn't seen her in 11 years! Saying that makes me feel old. Watched Spain beat Chile at the Hard Rock, my first Hard Rock experience.

Went to the Met thinking it was "Target free Fridays." oops. But we made sweet friends along the way. Oogled the glamorous real estate on the East side.

Quickly made our way to the MoMa for the real "Target free Friday." Had a great time. I might have preferred the cafe ambiance over anything else in the museum.

'Splored a tiny bit of 5th Ave. and Rockefeller Center. "Dogged" our tired selves back to the hotel, as Jake would say.

NYC - Day 1ish

Getting to our hotel from the airport was something of a nightmare. We didn't have a train map yet and we were dragging our rather heavy suitcases up and down a million stairs. But I got to ask for directions in Spanish so it was definitely an adventure.

For the first 6 nights, Jake and I stayed in an unassuming Brooklyn hotel. We probably could have found a good deal on a hotel in Manhattan had we not waited so long to reserve a room, but I'm so thankful we were directed to Brooklyn instead. We loved the neighborhood and we were only 30 minutes from midtown in Manhattan.

After traveling for six hours and reading something about pizza in the airplane magazine, we quickly found the nearest pizzeria and experienced what is sometimes called a case of "the eyes being bigger than the stomach." Look at all of that pizza! I finished mine way before Jake. It was a really sweaty hot day (week) and the pizzeria was tiny and without air conditioning. Truly romantic.

We dragged our tired selves to Manhattan for a few hours that evening just to squeeze in as much exploring as we could. Jam-packed days of activity quickly became standard operating procedure. This one included Soho, free Magnolia cupcakes and pink champaign at Bloomingdales, and the commencement of my typical cataloguing of any and all buildings that strike my fancy.

On day 1ish, Jake and Taylor learned that it's absolutely necessary to carry a huge water bottle with you at all times and, while traveling tiredly is okay, it's not okay to be inpatient or unforgiving of each other. Love and communication are essential at all times, but they will probably be most sorely missed if not employed while traveling. We learned our lesson big time and went to bed solemnly swearing to try harder next time. It made all the difference for our week together.

Happy Independence Day!

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures,

it's from a July 4th BBQ three years ago.

We've attended this same picnic/music fest ever since.

Hope your holiday was swell!

We're home! And my goodness, do we have stories to tell!

Like, for starters, this morning the airline semi-fatally damaged Jake's luggage and right there on the spot replaced it with a new one. How stellar! His old bag was almost dead anyway and coming home with brand new luggage is a starkly more fortunate situation than when we came home from Mexico minus my luggage.

Our time was mostly spent on foot, appealing to the corners and crannies of each neighborhood. We had an epic adventure and honestly, it makes me sad to think that on Monday Jake will be going to work and I won't see him for an extended period of time. I do, however, still love time to myself to be quiet. I'm certain I'll survive.

We saved for months to take this adventure and came home with $30 leftover, which we splurged with at Whole Foods because that, my friends, is luxury! Oh yes, and the vacation will be extended through two BBQs this weekend and a holiday crowd I'll be coyly diverting in Chicago by escaping to the 'burbs.

I can't wait to share (too many) pictures in the coming days. Consider yourself warned.