NYC - Day 4

We attended mass at the Cathedral of St. Patrick on 5th. The cathedral and the traveling Irish choir were breathtaking. We were hoping to meet my friend Janet again here, but there were just so many people! After mass she waited outside for us and we waited inside for her ... oops.

After church, we decided a Sunday brunch would be the best time to try New Leaf Cafe, which came highly recommended. So we made the trek up to Washington Heights, and speaking of heights, we particularly loved all of the hills in this neighborhood. I wish Chicago had hills!

A friend told Jake that he must try Mr. Softee, and only Mr. Softee, for a mobile ice cream cone experience. He had been on the lookout nonstop for a Mr. Softee, we saw plenty of impostors. Finally, from the top of a hill, there he dawned, Mr. Softee. Even though we were on our way to brunch, Jake had a cone right there. I had one on our way out, it did not disappoint.

Brunch was delicious! After eating, we spent a long while walking around Fort Tryon park, in which the cafe was nestled. Do you know how much I love trees? Because this park was like magic!

Since we were in the hood anyway, we visited the George Washington Bridge, one "Key to the City" scavenger hunt site.

Then we went all the way back down to Broadway and 23rd to visit an Argo Tea. It was rather trippy to see something so Chicago in New York. The cafe even had the same furniture. Argo's owner just so happened to stop by during our visit. He asked, "Didn't you move to Mexico?" Then he tried to convince Jake and I to move to New York and become baristas.

It was a leisurely morning/afternoon, followed by a trip to Greenpoint Brooklyn (so hipster but with a vacant look, it reminded me of Logan Square in Chicago.) Jake's cousin Syd played a show at a fest in Brooklyn. This is a picture of Jake and his cousin Amy who I admire so much! Not to brag, but she is kind of famous ... and the rest are pictures from the show. It was a lot of fun to visit a music scene across the country. The kids looks a lot like the kids we see in Chicago. And the band was awesome!

NYC - Day 3

A fabulous day it was! Something about this vacation made time move through us so quickly, and yet so fully! I could say this for nearly every day, so I'll only say it once; we did so much, saw so much and ate so much on this day!

The morning began early with a trip to a Brooklyn farmers market near our hotel. Sorry, no pictures. But we continued on to this crafty Lower East Side Manhattan market.

After spending some time browsing, we crossed the street to Jake's cousins' apartment for brunch. I had never met his cousins before but they were so welcoming and lively, I felt instantly at home. Here's a picture of Jake with his aunt, who I did already know ... and following is a picture of our lovely little Lyla, the smartest, most graceful and most dramatic three-year-old you've ever met. I was smitten!

After brunch, Jake and I made our way to Times Square to sign up for a city-wide art project/scavenger hunt called "Key to the City." We didn't directly pursue the project sites, but we thought about it each time we were in a neighborhood near one.

We spent the afternoon galavanting across Brooklyn and landed at a restaurant near (in?) Dumbo, called Superfine. ... Our experience was a little closer to Supermediocre. The food wasn't so bad, but the service was. I'm hoping our waiter was just having a rough night. The place was ornamented well, though, and the bus boy did an excellent job. It was here that Jake and I began what will most assuredly be a very long and prayerful conversation about the future.

I was quite keen on this little nook of Brooklyn, with its hip industrial architecture. Some streets strongly reminded me of San Francisco. We wandered for a while, slowly winding down our evening. I recall that it already felt like we had been in the city for years and home felt so far away. The breathing room was immeasurably good!

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.