Birthday Favorites

The disc of the pictures Shannon took for Adrienne's birthday was waiting for me when I returned from our trip. It contains 421 images, and each one tells a story of a special moment. Because this blog functions as my journal and baby book, I want to make sure to include some pictures so that they are printed in the annual book. I'm still reeling over the beauty contained the pictures. I'm not talking about physical beauty of people, but of beauty in the mundane parts of a day, beauty in heartfelt emotion, and beauty in candid moments that go unnoticed unless some very talented person (read Shannon) purposely records it. Here are some of my favorites.

I love the look on Will's face as he prepares to push Jillian

No one hugs quite like my mom

The funny part about the above picture is that Matt accidentally snapped Adrienne's chin when he was trying to put on the hat. She cried, and he felt terrible

First taste of ice cream. Verdict? Yum!

The unmistakable fire in her eyes. Classic Jillian

Betcha she was saying "Mmmm"

Yes, I think this oversized dress will do nicely

Love that the book happens to be open to the last page of one of our favorites: Dimity Duck

Discovering her extra lovies in the drawer. This girl loves her "nigh nighs"

We have a lot of pictures together from the last 16 years, including some beautiful wedding photos. But this one? It is hands down my favorite of all. It just embodies who we are together. I love, love, love it.

No Kids Allowed

Matt and I just returned from a fantastic long weekend in NYC. We started talking about making a trip somewhere in honor of our 10th anniversary several months ago, and I told Matt that I just wanted him to plan it. Big life decisions are easy for me, but small decisions such as travel reservations, hotel, restaurant choices, etc are next to impossible. I am way too much of an overthinker and end up killing the fun. Luckily, Matt is really good at this so he was up to the challenge. He decided upon NYC for several reasons--easy to get a non-stop flight, great food/shows, would be a pain to take kids because of car seats/baby gear, and no driving a great distance to get to the destination upon arrival (meaning maximization of time away, not eating up precious moments traveling). So, a few weeks ago he booked the tickets and our hotel and we were set to go. He gathered recommendations from friends and family (this would be his first trip to NY, and it had been 15 years for me), and I contacted my oldest friend in the world, Michelle, to figure out how we could connect while we were in town. My mom arrived on Tuesday afternoon so that I could "prep" her for child wrangling, and we left bright and early Thursday morning to head to MSP to catch our flight. Leaving the girls is not easy for me (this was the first time leaving A). I talk a big talk about wanting to get away (and I really do want to), but I become ridiculously anxious about worst-case scenarios in the 24 hours leading up to departure. It is hard for me to eat, nearly impossible to sleep, and I make Matt miserable with my obsessive worrying (just ask him, I nearly ruined our Maui trip when Jillian was a baby). The point is that I am determined to let my desire to spend time with my husband and nurture our relationship win out over worry, and this trip, it did. Once we arrived I was able to relax and we really did have a wonderful time. After Matt got home from work last night he said, "You know, I was thinking about the trip and I think it is the most fun we've ever had on a trip". He's right. Here's my record of our time away:

After nearly perishing several times on the hour-long cab ride from JFK to Midtown, we dropped the bags at our hotel and walked around. We were only about a block off of Times Square, so we stopped to marvel at the chaos

We walked through Grand Central Station (also pure madness) and hit a local pizza place. I did not get what I wanted because I didn't know how to order. I asked for the "cheese" as I pointed to the thick deep-dish squares....should have asked for "the Sicilian". Next time I'll get it right. We wandered around some more, bought show tickets for the weekend, and sat for a leisurely cup of coffee. We also made a quick stop at Hello, Deli just to see if Rupert was in....lucky for us, he was! All you Letterman fans will appreciate this:

Once it was time to check in, we headed back to our hotel. I must pause and say I was a bit unsure regarding the hotel. Matt was pretty pleased with himself over the selection when booked at Night. Night is a small boutique hotel done in a Gothic style as play on Gotham City. I was convinced it was a hotel for vampires. To my surprise, it was not. Instead, I found a very hip, sort of swanky in appearance, room unlike any other I had stayed in.

And it was incredibly small. 200 square feet to be exact. Matt humored me while I did what I felt was a required bed bug check before we settled in (hey, it's legit--NYC is notorious for a bed bug problem. Google it!). Because I have no shame (and am not ashamed), I find this picture he took of me with my flashlight to be hilarious. Thankfully, I found no evidence of the little buggers.

We cleaned up and headed out for a fantastic evening with one of my very favorite families. Michelle is my oldest friend, and though I can count 6 occasions since 1989 where we have been together, it is always easy to pick up right where we left off. She and her husband, Mike, met us for a drink in Rockefeller Center (the famous ice skating rink is a restaurant/bar in the summertime), and then we headed to Del Frisco's for a delicious steak dinner with her mom, sister, and brother-in-law. I am still sad that we didn't get to see John (her dad) or meet her sweet baby, Michael, but I am so thankful for the time we all shared together. I took only one picture of everyone else as we waited for dessert. Thanks for making the effort to see us, Witkowskis! The time with you was such a blessing.

On Friday, we were up and at 'em early and grabbed a bagel at Ess-a Bagel. I was bummed to not find an egg bagel (my favorite) on the menu, but the oat bran was good second choice. Matt ordered an everything bagel and ended up with whole wheat. The place was nuts, I guess a mix-up was inevitable!

We took a stroll in Central Park while we finished our coffee, then gawked over $60K earrings in Tiffany's, and Matt politely declined my request to buy a purse in Louis Vuitton before we bought some bus tickets. City Sights turned out to be a great tip (thanks, Ryan) and for $50 each we had a 2 day pass to see every inch of Manhattan with ease as we rode atop the open-air bus.

 We did the uptown tour first, and though we weren't deterred by the rain that settled in, we were thankful for the ponchos we were given

We hauled our wet selves off the bus for a late lunch at Carnegie Deli. We enjoyed some matzoh ball soup and shared the Woody Allen sandwich, which was corned beef and pastrami. I wish I had taken a picture. My half was at least twice as tall as my widely open mouth and contained probably about a pound of meat. Though we found it to be a bit annoying to be smashed in so close to people we weren't actually dining with, we did strike up a conversation with the couple next to us. Besides learning that we ALL went to KU and grew up in the KC area  (what are the odds?!?!), they (now New Yorkers) shared their favorite restaurant suggestions with us. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for a much-needed nap and got ready to attend our first show: Mamma Mia.

 Matt was surprised by how much he enjoyed it, and I loved every second of it. I have seen a lot of different shows in various places, but this show had by far the best encore of any--3 songs, multiple costume changes, and the entire packed theater was up on their feet clapping and dancing along the whole time. Just plain fun. After the show we went to a Japanese restaurant suggested by our KU lunch buddies--Nobu. It was wonderful. I am still fantasizing about the "rock shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce". It won a unanimous vote for best dish of the trip.
On Saturday, we grabbed breakfast and hopped on the downtown tour bus. We rode down to the 9-11 Memorial and were humbled by the sight. I remember standing in the World Trade Center with Michelle when I was 16 and talking about the bombing of '93 that occurred the year before. I never imagined I'd be standing in the same spot viewing a memorial of such a tragic, defining historical event for our country.

We hopped back on the bus and took it down to Chinatown and Little Italy. As we drove through South Street Seaport I caught glimpse of a sign that both amused and (slightly) offended me. Chew on this, Midwestern parents.

If you can't read it: "NYC. Where people have more to talk about than their kids."

Chinatown was an assault to my nostrils--so many pungent, unusual smells wafted around the markets and restaurants. There was so much food waiting to be sold--live fish, vegetables, mushrooms, dried shrimp, etc--Matt and I wonder how in the world they sell it all, and what they do with it if it doesn't get sold that day??? Maybe I don't want to know. Here were the exotic mushrooms for sale at one market

I was surprised to learn (why? I'm not sure. I just was) that Little Italy and Chinatown are literally on top of each other, so after our quick walk through Chinatown we went to eat at Vincent's (thank you for that tip, Michelle!). It was delicious and authentic. What could be better than Eggplant Parm in Little Italy for lunch on a Saturday?

We ran to catch the bus back to Midtown and barely made it in time to catch our second show, Jersey Boys.

Jersey Boys was phenomenal...and no one seemed to care that we were still in shorts/running shoes since we ran out of time to change.  If it comes to a city near you, buy tickets. After the show, we ran back to the room and changed for dinner and spent way too long trying to hail a cab. Let it be known that I got one before Matt did--I was a bit more aggressive in my approach. We had made reservations at another restaurant suggested by our KU lunch buddies the day before: The Spice Market. The Spice Market is an upscale take on Southeast Asian street food, and the atmosphere is incredible. We enjoyed the multi-course tasting menu, and were surprised when they brought out our dessert

When I called for our reservation earlier in the day, I didn't think twice about them asking me if we were in town celebrating anything special. (for some reason this picture won't rotate...) It was sweet, and the dessert was unusual and refreshing. After dinner, we grabbed coffee and shopped around as we headed back towards Midtown on foot. Matt could sense that despite the earlier (very small!) dessert, I still was longing to try what I said my one food request in NYC was, so he hailed a cab (much more effectively this time) and whisked me off to Serendipity 3. When I finally sampled the famed frozen hot chocolate, I was a happy, happy girl.

We hoofed it back to the hotel, enjoying a last nighttime stroll through the city that never sleeps. On Sunday, we headed to La Guardia and caught our flight without incident (though they did try to (unsuccessfully)steal my apparently suspicious-looking tin of Jacques Torres hot chocolate that the Witkowskis gave me while going through security). Reuniting with the girls was wonderful--happy, excited emotion flooded our home. No matter how badly I want to escape the daily trials of raising children, there is nothing sweeter than coming home to your kids. Adrienne clung to me, quietly snuggling up to me long after we arrived, and Jillian kept saying, "I'm so glad we are all back together again".
It was back to reality Monday morning for both of us. Matt headed back to work, and I braced myself for the "grandma withdrawal" that always comes when kids have been (appropriately) spoiled by time with grandparents. I made one purchase while in NY (for some reason I have a hard time shopping on vacation), and I immediately put it to good use.

We can all use a little help from Wonder Woman to get through the day, right?? 

 

 

Thanks, Mom, for loving on and caring for my girls as you always did for us. You made this getaway possible for us and we so appreciate it. And Matt--start planning....our 11th anniversary is just over 9 months away!

Monitoring

Jillian decided that it is her job to monitor her parents, and she keeps us pretty accountable these days. In regards to me, she is vigilant about making sure that I obey traffic signals. Not long after she became aware of the difference between red and green lights, it began. A few examples:

-While waiting to turn left onto the highway (red light) and the cars in the right lane had a green light...
J: "Mom, go! Your light is green."
"No it's not, Jillian. Ours is red"
J: "Yes it IS! All the other cars are going! Go!"
So we had to have a little lesson about turn lanes.

-After making a legal right turn on a red...
J: "Mom!!!! You went on a red light! You can't do that!!"
"I didn't run a red light Jillian. In some situations, you can stop, look both ways, and turn right on a red light."
J: "NO. The light is red! You can't do it. You didn't follow the rules, Mom!"

-While sitting through a green light to make a left turn (no green arrow) and not being able to turn...
J: "Mom, the light is green, you have to go"
"Well, Jillian, I can't because there are other cars coming and we would get hit"
J: "Yes, you can. Go! The light is green""
"Jillian, do you want us to get hit?!? I can't go when there are cars coming, even if the light is green."
I hear a big, exasperated sigh from the back seat.

-After observing a yellow light...
J: "What is that orange light for?"
"It sort of looks orange, doesn't it? But it is actually called a yellow light."
J: "No, it's not. It's an orange light"
"You can call it orange, but it is considered a yellow light for traffic purposes."
J: "It's ORANGE!"
 Pretty sure I've decided it's Matt's job to teach her to drive someday.

Speaking of Matt, she had her eyes on him a lot this weekend. He recently ordered a trailer hitch to put on the back of my car, since it can haul up to 1500 lbs. He figures this will be an easy way to be able to haul yard waste and other things we can't just set on the curb to the dump (and eliminate paying someone to haul it off, as we always have to do) or bring home patio furniture, etc (instead of always paying for delivery). This is really a ploy to avoid getting himself a new car (yes, he STILL drives that '97 Cavalier he had in college...do not get me started) , or actually getting me a bigger car and taking my CR-V. I digress...the point is that Matt decided to install the hitch on his own (instead of paying someone), and had to do some digging behind the paneling in the cargo area to find the wiring for the brake lights. Jillian was outside playing as he did this, and she immediately started drilling him..."Dad, does Mom know you are doing this? I don't think Mom would like this very much, Dad. Does she know you are tearing her car apart?"
A little while later, they were in the detached garage building cleaning it up. Matt decided to measure the girls and mark their growth on the wall. Jillian immediately inquired in her usual dramatic fashion, "Dad! Does Mom know you are writing on the walls? That's against the rules. Does Mom know you are doing this?"

I guess I run a pretty tight ship--I'd never know it, though, because it's not often that our little hall monitor actually follows the rules herself....but now I know she's at least listening!