We arrived in new york at 1:30 AM phoenix time friday morning........can you say...TIRED?! But, definitely anxious to be in NYC! We were picked up at the airport by Erik's old family friend and babysitter from when he was little... Sharon. She was MORE than amazing for us for this trip. And her husband, Michael also. She picked us up at the crack of dawn and then drove us back to her apartment in Manhattan. She had to head to work after dropping us off, but her husband helped us navigate our day as far as all the subway and train routes to help us get to where we wanted to go....WONDERFUL people! Thanks Sharon and Michael!
It worked out pretty good because we got the chance to take a train from the city to check out where we could possibly be living next year after graduation for Erik's 5th year of school. The train ride was only 20 minutes from the city! SO cool! There's a hospital in New Rochelle in Westchester that he could work at and that's the city where we'd live. We got off the train and took a walk to the hospital and actually got to meet and talk with the lady that's in charge of the Guadalajara medical students that come there to do their 5th years. Erik was so excited to get this opportunity! Actually seeing it first hand got both of us pretty excited about the next part of our adventure! I can't believe we are going to go from living in Mexico to living in New York. Crazy exciting!
After taking about a MILLION different subways and the train to and from New Rochelle, we were exhausted! A little exageration, but my pregnant body and mind was begging me for a nap!!! We'd only had about 2 1/2 hours of sleep at this point and had walked SO many blocks! We headed back to Michael and Sharon's to grab our luggage to head to our hotel. We were starving so we invited Michael to join us for lunch before we were on our way. He knew of a little italian place really close to their apartment so pizza and salad it was!
We got back to the hotel and crashed!!! I was worried we weren't going to wake up until the next day! We ended up sleeping for about 3 hours and then got up to get ready for our next adventure...A Mets baseball game at CITI stadium. I was still feeling pretty yucky and tired, but rallied because I knew how much fun the game would be;) And, that it was. A date with my hubby at CITI stadium, eating hot dogs and drinking beer.....him, not me of course;) Afer the game, we headed to Brooklyn to meet up with some friends that were in town for the wedding from Guadalajara. The rest of the night was kinda random, but fun. A fun story to tell! Our friends told us to meet them at these girls apartment in Brooklyn. So off we went, more trains and subways from CITI stadium! When we got to the apartment, our friends weren't there yet! So Erik and I were welcomed by two really sweet girls......they invited us in and offered us drinks. Super nice. Shortly after, our friends got there and we just hung out talking for awhile. One of the girls, Bree was an amazing singer and guitarist. Her roommate kept saying how good she was and that she should play for us........so, of course we all were asking her to show us what she could do! Boy, were we in for a TREAT! She had the most beautiful voice and could play the guitar like nothing I've ever seen before! Thanks Bree....you were so BREATHTAKING!!!! I want my Halle to play the guitar now after watching you play!
It started getting pretty late, and the rest of the crowd wanted to go out.....I had to be the party pooper of the bunch and say NO......I just couldn't do it. It wasn't going to be physically possible for me, I was still so tired. Plus, we had the big wedding the next day so I wanted to feel refreshed. I felt mean to my baby for not sleeping and running like a crazy person all day! Bed was calling my name. So, Erik and I said good-night to everybody and headed back to our hotel. We topped off the night with some fresh delicious Boar's Head sandwich from a little deli on some corner in Brooklyn before getting into a taxi. A night I will never forget!!! I'm just so bummed I didn't take any pictures with the new friends we met!!!
The next morning we had to hurry up and get ready! We had another train to catch! This time we were taking the train from the city to Conneticut, where our friend Chris was going to pick us up to head upstate for the wedding. It was my first time in Grand Central station. It was so neat! We ended up missing our first train but lucked out with another one coming 20 minutes later. It's so awesome how everything is a train ride away! Very convenient, but chaotic at the same time. I don't think I'm a city girl at heart!!! The excitement is fun for a few days, but don't think I'd like it for my everyday.
The World Cup was going on, so the boys really wanted to watch the game that day. The drive to the wedding from Conneticut was 2 hours so we were just going play it by ear and find a place along the way to stop at and watch it. We drove for about an hour and ended up at this "cocktail lounge" called Whisper's! Um, yeah......it looked a little creepy from the outside but actually ended up being just fine on the inside. It's the old rule of thumb, "never judge a book by its cover"... I ended up getting ready there...right in the bar next to the pool table! Did my hair and makeup....guess there's a first time for everything right? So funny. I must say, I was pretty impressed with my hair! I did it all up! And doing it in a bar? It turned out great! The bartender lady was really nice and let us even order food there from another restaurant close by. Thanks Whisper's for your hospitality!
The picture above is inside of Grand Central StationNext stop......Canter wedding in Hurleyville! We have been hearing about this day for the last year now.......so exciting! Over the last 3 years, Adam and Marguerite have become amazing friends of ours. We do a lot of stuff with them in Guadalajara. They truly are a match made in Heaven. Awesome couple....so in love. The evening was spectacular. The had the ceremony and reception at Adam's moms house that she grew up in, in upstate NY. SO pretty! And, the weather couldn't have been more perfect for them that day. Adam is jewish, so he had ordered Yamika's for all the men. Erik was pretty excited about this! It was funny to see them all in their Yamika's! At the end of their ceremony they even broke a glass and said "mazel tov!" It was so cool to witness a true jewish wedding. Everything was so beautifully decorated! But, I must say probably mine and Erik's favorite part of the wedding was the band they had! They were SO good! I've NEVER seen my husband dance as much as he did that night....so fun! The energy they created in the room was like nothing I'd seen or experienced before. Pretty intense. When the reception finally ended about 1AM we were all escorted across the street to a pond where there was going to be a "surprise!" It just happened to be right right were the fire department was also. All the firefighters were in their gear, just in case something happened. SO...you can guess what we were about to witness? FIREWORKS! A 20 minute firework show........it couldn't have gotten any more spectacular, and then it did! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Canter, we wish you all the joy and the happiness in the world!
But, the night didn't end! These people were ready to party!!! Everybody got changed into their swim suits and the party went on! There was even MORE food. I couldn't believe it! Ribs and wings, and lots of beer. LOTS of beer. I, of course was the only one freezing and in my sweats and sweat shirt! The prego girl;) To tell you the truth, It was super fun to watch everybody and I wasn't tired! What the heck? I don't know what my deal was that night and why I had so much energy(must have been the band and all the dancing we did!) but I was good to go and ended up staying up until 5 in the morning!!! NUTS! We were just having too much fun.....well everybody else was, and I was watching! Erik was so sweet, just hanging out next to me making sure I was all good....rubbing my back. Such a good hubby. At about 5, I went to the basement where everybody had planned on sleeping on blow up beds. There was a twin bed that I had my eye on and didn't want anybody else to take it! Thank God, nobody had got to it yet and I got to sleep on a real bed! Although, I was sleeping in a room with about 30 other people not like I got great sleep or anything! I felt like I was back on my 8th grade retreat or something. It was hilarious!
The next morning, they hosted a brunch that everybody was invited to. Everybody was "hurting" pretty bad! Yikes! I even felt sick because my body was so mad at me for depriving it of sleep! We ate and then got ready to head back to the city.........everybody was pretty much done.
Sunday night, Erik and I had the chance to catch up with one of my old friends from high school, Brianna and her husband Kirt....they live in New Jersey. It was so great to see them! It was like time hadn't even passed, she's still the same Brianna. LOVE her. We went to a pretty good Japanese restaurant and then went across the street and got some yummy gelato. We just talked and talked like old times. It was awesome!
Monday was our last day in the city so Erik and I left our hotel fairly early in hopes of finding the kiddos some "surprises!" We walked several blocks and saw nothing! So annoying......we thought for sure we'd see a souvenir shop of some kind, but nothing. We did stop and have lunch at a french cafe called MRKT......it was so good! I had the lobster bisque and Erik had a burger. Perfect ending for our trip! Thank God for souvenir shops at the airport, we got the kids a really cool book all about New York and some other little trinkets! We had a wonderful time, it's amazing what a few days being love birds alone can do for your marriage. Refreshed and SO in love!!! But, when it came time to get home to the kids we couldn't get home soon enough!!!!!!!! We MISSED them and couldn't wait to smother them with hugs and kisses! Thanks again Papa, Grandma Gloria and Grandma Dottie for all your help with our kiddos you all truly are angels! We love you! XOXO
Wow what an eventful weekend! I can't believe they had fireworks at their wedding. HOW AWESOME!!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you missed the kiddos, but isn't it so great to have some time with ONLY your hubby?! It can do wonders, huh?