Happy New Year!

Welcome 2011! There. Was that enthusiastic enough?? I don't know whether it's because we've celebrated the holidays without family this year or because Nacho's been working a lot lately, but I'm kind of having trouble getting my mojo back. December started off with a bang and slowly wound down with a whimper, but I am determined to kickstart the new year with a different attitude. So in that spirit, I thought we needed to get out on this first day of 2011 and celebrate with some good food and even better company. Our neighborhood friends Micki and Harley have a wonderful tradition of eating dim sum on the 1st of each month as a way to honor their wedding anniversary (coincidentally on New Year's Eve!). So when they opened up the invitation to join them in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn today for a sumptuous feast of Chinese goodies, I thought why not?! Here is Harley stealing the tray and making sure no one goes hungry...

Their son Hiro was a champ--coloring, eating, and generally showing Elisa how to behave appropriately at a restaurant.

And here's Elisa pausing only too briefly for a photo. Today was not her best behavior at a restaurant. It's been getting harder lately to keep her occupied and seated without lots of crying and fighting. I'd like to think today was a bit harder because she wasn't at 100% with her lingering congestion and fatigue, but who knows. Nacho did his best to wrangle her back to the table every few minutes, but there were lots of run-ins with the carts and the smiling ladies bringing food around. I think Elisa just wanted to work the room, but of course, this was not the place.

A few hours later, we were on our way back home. The trip down was an easy connection from the 7 train to the N all the way to 18th Ave. About an hour door-to-door. I knew Elisa wasn't going to make it home before napping, and sure enough, she was barely on the train before the eyes started flickering and she couldn't stand it. And Nacho wasn't much better. We all three had our eyes shut for a bit on the journey home which was a perfect end to a good meal. The jostling movement of the subway kept Elisa asleep until we made it back to our street. Not bad for a first outing of the new year--trying something new and sharing it with people we enjoy.