Ignore The Weather

Sometimes you just have to forgo. Today, my sisters and a close friend came to visit. They are here for 2 days, and the two worst days NY has seen in the past 10-14 days. We were especially spoiled after last weekend and the start of this week. As this weekend approached and the forecast was telling nothing but bad news, there were brief talks of trying another weekend. Ultimately it was deicded that, despite the bad weather, this was the most convenient weekend.

Sure, there was a lot I wanted to do that was 100% dependant on good weather like walking High Line Park, eating lunch in Union Square, walking the Brooklyn Bridge and spending some down time in Battery Park, but you do what you can. Today we hit a bunch of places and were in the city, and on the go from 1 pm until 11 pm. Fortunately for us, not until we reached the final part of our night - searching for a restaurant for dinner, as well as the trip home - did we really battle the elements.

Tomorrow is looking to be a bit worse, but after spending a few hours online we came up with a few options, keeping in mind the volume of people in the city on a Saturday and that many will be looking for similar indoor activities. Hopefully something works out, and if not, we already have lunch reservations in the city, and the plan to have some quality down time in my home, capping the weekend off with a trip to Arthur Avenue for Little Italy before heading to Penn Station.

Highlight of the day was the boardwalk at Southstreet Seaport overlooking the river with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. They really loved it - everyone had their cameras out taking pictures. If you haven't been to this area I would check it out - the mall/shops combined with the restaurants are all great entertainment in an area with such an impressive view as this.

Happy Birthday!

Who knew waking up at 530 am after crashing at 230 am would be pretty easy. Easy enough that I actually stayed up until 7 am, when my sister came downstairs to go to work, to make her pancakes too. And in between I caught up on Fringe. I continue to amaze myself at how much I can do/accomplish on such little sleep.

I got back in bed at 730 am feeling pretty awake even though I kept myself from having a coffee. All of a sudden it was 2:40 pm. I am not sure if I was actually rested (I would hope so) or if I was just in pure shock of the time but I popped right out of bed.

After screwing around online for about an hour it was time to get ready for dinner because I had to pick up my little sister from college before heading to meet my family for a nice Italian meal.

Looking forward to one of this tomorrow:

The Rain Won't Stop Us

And it didn't. Today was a great day, after a great weekend. When I woke up today I didn't think I had enough energy in me to get through the day. Last night's party was a lot of work. It is not easy to have a 25 person party in your apartment - the organizing and prep work, cooking ,etc. Luckily everyone was awesome. I had a lot of help from Claire (especially as the party wrapped up.)

When all was said and done things could not have gone better. We had so much extra food and for an apartment that has been ordering/buying every meal out of having no time to go food shopping - that's nice. Having 10 of your best friends dancing around your room with christmas music playing - everyone doing their best charlie brown moves and such is just amazing. Ill have some pictures soon.

Today we had our gift exchange and I was really impressed at how creative, thoughtful, or interesting the gifts were. Headed into the city while some friends and my roommates lunched on some of the left overs. Met up with my sisters and grabbed food at Max Brenners. If you have not been there - you should change that. Order everything.

Made it Rockefeller with them and Alex and took some pictures with the tree despite the rain. Also, a brave male proposed on the ice. He must really have had a good feeling about that one to subject his future wife to the cold rain for it. There must have been a good inch or more of water on the ice that he knelt in, too. It was great - everyone watching cheered. What it must feel like to get engaged in that setting or any where you have a slew of people applauding/cheering for you.

We finally headed home on the 7 pm bus following the eagles game via gamecast, car radio, and then tv when I got home.

Tomorrow is my dad's birthday. He turns 51. This is why i am home. It is also why, in a few hours I am waking up to make him pancakes. He doesn't know this. Nor did he know I was coming home tonight. If you know me, you know I like surprises/big gestures. So I sneak home, show up - and make him an actual meal to eat before he heads to work on his birthday before most of the world is even awake.

Night everyone.