New York!

Well, it took me a while, but here are the pictures from our New York trip. Oh my goodness, there were so many; I think I've managed to narrow it down to the best, but it's still a lot, so bear with me :)

We stayed at a really great little place in Harlem just near the top of the park, Margot Guesthouse. It's an old brownstone apartment building that's been turned into a little hotel. There are only six rooms, two on each of the three floors, and the owners live in a little apartment below the first floor. The details in this place were so fun!

Here's our room! The bathroom is around the corner across from the green door.

And from the other side. This place was huge. So many of the hotels we looked at had itty bitty rooms... I mean you could stand in the middle, stretch out your arms and touch both walls. It was so nice to have a real "home" to come back to each night.

The day we got there, we got settled into our room, immediately found some food, 'cuz we were starving, and then did some walking through Central Park. Probably a little too much for the first day, since I ended up with shin splints... ouch! Let me just tell you, six months pregnant, record breaking temperatures for summer in New York, and smothering humidity... not exactly relaxing. However, we did make the best of it, and I really fell in love with this city. We will definitely be coming back when I'm not pregnant and when the weather is much better.

We didn't go in, but here's a great view of the Guggenheim from outside on the street. Just one of the amazing museums along museum row on 5th Avenue. We only had a few days in the city, so we didn't want to spend the whole time indoors. We did however make it to a couple necessities...

We started off day two (the only day I remember clearly, so the rest of this will be in absolutely no particular order) by taking a bus ride up to the Cloisters, an extension of the Met, and walking through some of their incredible gardens.

I just couldn't get over the hydrangeas. They were everywhere! I wish I could show you pictures of the museum. It was an incredible compilation of rescued pieces of architecture (doorways, windows, entire cloisters, etc.) that had been brought over from Europe and reassembled naturally into the museum as they would have originally been used. It was like walking through an old monastery in Europe. I did take some great pictures, but was told that pictures were allowed only for personal use, not to be published. So, you'll have to go check it out for yourself sometime!

Once we got finished up at the cloisters, we rode the bus back down, grabbed some lunch, and headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I've dreamed of coming here for so long. It was such a thrill to finally be here. We seriously didn't even scratch the surface, but it was great just to walk through.

Other familiar sites included Grand Central Station (sorry for the poor exposure)...

... a night view of Times Square...


...a quick look into the lobby of The Plaza...

...Washington Square Park...

...where we were entertained by a seriously gifted pianist... seriously...

... and the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn side.

We even stepped into Bloomingdales's to take a look around. Ok people, seriously, this place was ten, I repeat, ten stories high... AND took up an entire city block. I kid you not. Only in New York, I guess. The first floor... perfume and cosmetics. The second floor... ladies' casual. You get the idea. I believe the only proper response to this monstrosity is laughter. I enjoy shopping occasionally, trust me, I do, but really?

So, much of this trip centered around food. There were so many restaurants to choose from, and we wanted to sample some of the best. You would think, with all of our choices, we would never eat the same place twice, but we did. That's right, folks, we made a special trip back to Serendipity... and here's why:

The wait was somewhat ridiculous (this is just the line to put your name on the list), and we did end up waiting the entire 45 minutes the first time we went. The second time, we lucked out a bit. Apparently, the secret is to actually wait around, which we did the first time as well, but the second time it really paid off. We had just checked in and were hunkering down for the long 45 minute wait when the waiter steps outside, yells one party's name... no response; yells another party's name... no response; yells a third party's name... no response; huffs a bit, then yells, "Anybody out here a party of two?" We wait a second to see if any of these poor people who've been waiting for who knows how long speak up; when no one does, I yell back, "We are!" He waves his arm and says, "Come with me. I like people who wait." And that, folks, is how we managed to get into Serendipity after only a five minute wait!

This place is filled, and I mean absolutely filled, with crazy junk. It's a bit of a visual overload.

And THIS, people, is why we came back. Really. Need I say more?

Another of the few restaurants we had on a must-visit list was Once Upon A Tart. Remember this book? After cooking my way through many of it's incredible recipes, I just had to visit the original source. Sadly, to my disappointment, the owners were not present, but the food was just as wonderful as I had imagined it would be. And I must say, I think my renditions have come out just as tasty! Whew! I passed the test :)

And right next door to this little gem was another item on the to-do list: Purl Soho (or where Purl used to be, rather.) They actually had just moved about a month prior.

And here is their new location. Oh how I love SoHo and Greenwich Village!

As you can imagine, if you know anything of my love of sewing, we spent quite some time in this little shop. And I did walk away with some gorgeous Anna Maria Horner finds for the makings of Olivia's baby quilt. I can't wait to get started!

And just down the street from Purl, was ANOTHER glorious treasure! Kate's Paperie!

We may have spent more than a little bit of time at this location as well.

And before anyone starts to feel too bad for poor Luke who has been so faithfully following me around on my pretty-art-things tour... he did manage to find a few treasures of his own. Here he is outside the entrance to the underground Apple store on 5th Avenue, though he opted not to go in... don't ask me why.

THIS location, however, he did not pass up. His eyes lit up like a 5 year-old on Christmas at the sight of this two-story Nintendo World.

And that about sums up New York. We had a great time and can't wait to go visit again!

Happy Birthday Patrick!

We celebrated Patrick's first birthday with a BBQ with both of our families. I made these fun cupcakes with a Martha Stewart cake recipe and some good old Duncan Hines frosting. I added a little bit of green food coloring to the frosting and piped it on. The cute cupcake papers and animal toppers came from Williams-Sonoma.

Patrick experienced bubbles for the first time...

...as well as hot dogs.

He had a blast opening presents, especially once he figured out that underneath all that useless paper were new toys for him to play with. The first one went rather slow, but after that, he was grabbing for the next present, one after another.

Taking his new fire engine for a test drive.

This was the first time he had ever had anything remotely sweet like this. I think he liked it.

And then came the look of, "Mom!... Why did you let me eat that???" Haha, he was definitely wired the rest of the day. Good thing birthdays only come once a year.

Hello Summer!

It may be hot enough here in the summer to fry an egg on the sidewalk, but I think the produce ALMOST makes up for it.

I sauteed these asparagus and tomato pieces in a little olive oil with some Italian seasonings, threw in some chunks of chicken, and then stirred in a creamy alfredo sauce and served it all on top of some of that flavored linguine I had (habañero this time).

Inspired by my first experience with a whole artichoke at my brother-in-law's house, I decided to try my hand at this tasty side. I served it along with some orange ruffy filet, seasoned only with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I topped it all with a yummy homemade hollandaise sauce for dipping.

Cuteness!

Patrick's First Trip to Indiana

Patrick handled his first ride on an airplane- and a very long one at that- extremely well. He, of course, made friends with everyone on the plane, and never even cried once. Nonetheless, I don't believe I will ever be flying alone with an infant again. Let's just say that TSA isn't exactly the most helpful bunch of folks and leave it at that. Thankfully, we made it safe and sound to Indiana and enjoyed a great week visiting with family. I think Patrick took quite well to his new woodsy surroundings as you can see above. He was ready to explore.


And explore he did...

Well, more like, mom posed him for pictures around the cabin, but come on, what mommy/artist could resist this great backdrop???

My grandma got out the old Fisher Price barn and animals that I used to play with when I was little. Patrick loved them. This was all it took to keep him entertained the entire week.

He got to meet some of his little cousins.

We even made a trek out to the Cincinnati Zoo. This zoo was absolutely gorgeous, and it was so much fun watching Patrick enjoy the animals. He is really starting to notice things more.

He even got his own miniature dish of ice cream. I think it was a little too cold for him...

...but he soon got over that and was practically clawing at us to get every last drop.

We also made a stop at the Hillforest mansion in Aurora, Indiana. It's an old river house, overlooking the Ohio River, that was built in the 1800's by a wealthy family. For a short period in the late 1940's to early 1950's, it was bought by the VFW to be used as a sort of clubhouse. My great grandpa happened to be the president at the time, so he and my great grandma and my grandpa (below) lived there to maintain it. They lived in the upstairs section, but the downstairs became a party hall with drinking, gambling, and all sorts of other crazy stuff that my grandpa has told us about over the years. Thankfully, they only lived there for a short time, because it was obviously not a great environment for a young boy of 12 to be growing up in. Also, as my grandpa has relayed to us many times, the home was probably spiritually oppressed, though he has always described it as "haunted." He still gets uncomfortable talking about a few experiences he had there. I have been to this house a few times, but this was the first time I was able to go inside for a tour. The poor tour guide didn't really get to give much of a tour though, as my grandpa spent the whole time telling her about his time living there and pointing out changes to the architecture and household items. Thankfully, we were the only ones on this particular tour.

I just had to include these next few pictures. They're just too stinkin' cute not to.

Overall, we had a great week visiting with family and enjoying the beautiful weather. We are already making plans to go back next year with baby number two, though I have strongly vowed that Luke will be coming this time :)