Did I Mention. . .

. . . That Rob was pretty sick while I was gone.  He had an eye/nerve thing that could have threatened his vision, which led to some serious stress on his part.  After all, what is a radiologist with impaired vision?  Jobless.  Anyway, he took great care of the kids anyway, saved some of the harvest from frost, took the kids to the dino museum, and did all the laundry/cleaning/carpooling.  Thanks Rob.  

(Oh and by the way, congrats to Rob also, who passed his written board exam...phew!  Only one more big hurdle: oral boards in the spring.  That will be good fun!)

Pashmina Tying 101

Ladies (you know who you are), as per our request, Katy has offered a brief tutorial on Pashmina tying over on her blog.  Thank you Katy Kathryn.

What We Did

Sorry for the endless NYC posts.  I know, I know, boring. But....well, so what?

(Thank you Emily and Challey for some of the photos.  I stole them, sorry.)
Here is a rough sketch of what we did and ate:

Our home base was Sharon's apartment here on this street on the upper west side.  It was a great place to stay.

Next was Central Park and the Met

We saw Mary Poppins

After we ate giant slices of pie at Carnegie Deli

Trinity church right across from Wall Street, near Ground Zero

The Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry 

(which was very cleaned up since the nanny days)

Some disapproving looks in front of the NYSE

Ohhh the pizza here was to die for.  Well worth the wait, 

and the location under the Brooklyn Bridge is prime.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and 

they happened to be filming 30 Rock and

yup, that is Tina Fey.  The picture of me getting a picture of 

Challey getting this picture struck me as humourous.  Jennette got the 

best picture of all.  I will have to steal it when it becomes available.

We had some fun subway adventures.  Highlight was definitely

being serenaded by some performers.  See the footage on Emily's blog.

We did some 5th Ave. shopping.  Here I am talking to Lucy

at the American Girl store.

For my sisters:  PRET WAS CLOSED!!!  Sad.  We tried hard, but, oh well.

The Europeans were out shopping in full force (the weak dollar a boon for them).  We fought a lot of crowds 

and it was tiring!!  But we got some cute stuff.  Here we are resting our wearyfeet in Macy's.

We rewarded ourselves with a delicious Indian food dinner and these

amazing cream puffs.  YUMMM!

Our final breakfast, blintzes from Zabars.

Street fair on Amsterdam Ave.

The Natural History Museum.

Yummmm, a Reuben Sandwich.

The End

Soul Food In Two Parts

Part 1:
If ever there was a group of girls that could eat their way through New York, it was us.  And eat we did.  But this post isn't about food, but about soul food.  It is about talking our way through New York. It is about spending time with the greatest people and being so comfortable that we could talk about ANYTHING.  And talk we did.  Sometimes over food into the wee hours of the night, sometimes on the subway, sometimes in Sharon's living room, sometimes as we should have been sleeping.  We just had a lot to say and it was wonderful.  Sharon (Jennette's mother- in- law) bought us all socks and called them our Sister Solidarity Socks to remind us of our weekend.  Sister Solidarity is a great description.  I can't tell you how great it was to be able to discuss anything, not be judged, to be totally understood.  How lucky am I to have such amazing friends?  Friends where we can pick up just where we left off.  My soul was fed.  Thank you girls for being such amazing people! I feel extremely fortunate.

Emily, Becca, Jennette, and Challey in Times Square

Part 2:
What would life be without art? Perish the thought. How bland would it be without Vermeer, Cezanne, Matisse, Rossetti, and on and on? I loved the afternoon we spent at the Met. It definitely "nourished and strengthened" (even if my feet were sore and tired by the end). Thanks Dad for making me stick my nose in the painting from an early age. Like I said before, lucky me.

resting our weary feet and taking a brief break from gabbing in front of a very fine Breugel.

Lucky Me

I just got back from a wonderful trip to this place:






Where I got to hang out with these lovely ladies:

Check back soon for more pics and some of the highlights!

It was a wonderful time.

Garden Bounty

Sometimes garden's overwhelm.  But always, they please. (not pictured: more swiss chard than a human could eat in a lifetime, two huge bowls of tomatoes, melons, basil, and enough zucchini to feed the world).