Love abounds

This year Valentine's Day was a whole weekend affair. We started on Friday night by saying goodbye to school for the beginning of Winter Break, baking some cupcakes and having a few friends drop by for dinner. Then Saturday was a brunch party with a few families, lots of good eats and plenty of candy and balloons. And Sunday we met up with my friend Dessi at Magnolia's on the UWS for a little afternoon treat and some good conversation. But back to the party, the girls were thrilled to see the heart-shaped balloons for the third year running, and truth be told, so was I. It's a cheap thrill to celebrate a day of love and friendship, and I always feel the joy multiplied in our friends. I don't need much of an excuse to have people over and my girls are growing up the same way. I like that. It also helped us pass the time since Nacho was working both Friday and Saturday. With more snow, bitter cold and winds expected this weekend, we weren't even sure he'd make it back late Saturday. But he did. And that we were out delivering some goodie bags and balloons to friends who couldn't make it earlier in the day was perfect timing. We ran right into Nacho on our way back home. The hugs that ensued were proof positive that today was in fact a day of love. And we are lucky to have so much of it in our lives. 

Almost Valentines

Hope you are feeling the love wherever you are. Happy Valentine's Weekend!

Photo A Day

At the beginning of the month I started a photo-a-day challenge on my photo blog to see how much I could push myself to keep my camera handy and also to experiment a bit with my editing.  So far, I've been somewhat limited by the cold snowy weather and lingering head cold to indoors and, truthfully, late night shooting. So the photos aren't a real revelation. But they are little glimpses of our life and for that I'm happy to have them. Making sure I have my "good" camera at my disposal more often is something I really need to practice in these quieter times--when we're just us at home being silly or serious. It reminds me of the photo blog I did with Maggie a few years ago and how much I enjoyed looking back at that year in photos. All the tiny moments added up to something really spectacular. And so, just for this month, I'm hoping to see the same results. Time will tell. 

Snowed in

Since mid-January, we have really seen an uptick in the number of snowstorms around here. What started off as a fairly mild winter in December has become a little bit of a flashback to last year's never ending snow-a-thon. And so, we have tried to make the most of it by embracing the cold and letting the girls get their fill of snow ball fights and icicle hunting. The other night after we made it home from a somewhat treacherous Manhattan slush, the girls begged to play at Lou Lodati for a few minutes. It was a much harder, more icy snow that we encountered there so the snowballs weren't great. But we did find some icicles and the girls made a few quick runs on the slides. Winter might only be half way over, but we've already had our fill of snow. Here's to hoping there will be warmer temps soon! (*after then next 4 days of snow* *gulp*).

Happy birthday

Well, the past few days weren't exactly the rousing finale to Stacey's NYC trip. She came down with the flu on Saturday evening and by her birthday morning on Tuesday wasn't feeling like making it home quite yet. So we had a low-key evening at home with bento box and sushi takeout from TJ's Asian Bistro and a chocolate chip cookie cake made with mom's old heart shaped pan. Seeing her up and showered after a few bad days was a welcome change. Now I'm hoping she feels good enough to enjoy one more day in the city before shipping off home. Either way, I think we conquered a good chunk of our NYC checklist. And anything we didn't can wait til next time....happy birthday, stissy! And remember, you aren't 43 til you feel like yourself again!

Deep freeze weekend

Never underestimate my ability to rally despite the weather or my better judgement. On Saturday when the highs were only going to be in the low 20s, I soldiered on and got everyone up and ready to hit the East River Ferry for a bumpy ride to Brooklyn Bridge Park and a lunch at Shake Shack on the waterfront. To be honest, my main motivation was to use up the ferry tickets Dad had purchased on their trip here over the holidays. We didn't make it on the much smaller water taxi that balmy 50 degree day in December, so we held on to the tickets and I was hoping to use them with Stace and Mia. I am nothing if not thrifty--at least when it comes to travel!  The fact that this was our last day to do so meant we needed to bundle up and get going. There was a bit of an "Amazing Race"-style dash from parking to the ferry which had pulled in a few minutes before schedule. And kudos to Stacey for sprinting with Carolina in tow. Whew! That was some start to the day.

Once on the boat, we were treated to a spectacular 7-alarm fire at a storage facility in the Williamsburg and an FDNY boat spraying it from the river as we passed by. Seeing two large storage tanks with "PETROL" written on them just adjacent to the raging fire was a bit unnerving but the girls were enthralled. Carolina asked if the fire was going to come up from the water and I then had to carefully explain that the water was putting out the fire. Love that 3 year old mind sometimes, and I forget how confusing things are. But no, were weren't in danger, I told her....mostly. As we pulled up at the Brooklyn Bridge dock, I was happy to exit since my stomach had been churning with the choppy waters. What a warm ride, though. The winds and bright sun greeting us at the pier were just enough to endure before racing over to grab lunch. It was my first time in that Shake Shack and it was perfectly empty on that cold Saturday. There was even a roaring fireplace! So we settled in and had a great lunch with a s'mores shake and Brooklyn pie concrete to finish. 

On Sunday I had a photo shoot and the girls went off with Nacho to a Super Bowl Party. Then on Monday it was time to hit the city one last time with Mia. I let Elisa play hooky from school, partly because it was her last day with her cousin and also because the snow/slush made the commute a little uncertain. Little did I know how true that last statement would be. The 7 train went out of service early morning because of ice on the third rail, and so our bus adventure into Manhattan was a stroke of sheer luck. We hit Dylan's Candy Bar for Mia to buy some presents for her friends, and the girls were elated to get their own goodie bags. Then Patsy's for a pizza lunch (you can never get enough New York pizza apparently), followed by a trip to FAO Schwarz since Mia had never been. Not sure I recall if that's true or not, but she was game for the idea, and the girls were overjoyed. Helping them pick out something for less than $10 was quite the challenge, but in the end, we made it. As we waited for the Q32 bus home, it was just before rush hour and I had every confidence that we'd get home okay. Until I didn't. The 7 train still wasn't working at all, the bus we were tracking on the app disappeared, and the snow and winds had picked up again. Seeing a cab pull up right next to the bus stop to discharge a passenger gave me a sudden impulse to grab it. And that I did. We piled in with Nacho up front and off to Queens we went. It was a completely luxurious end to a pretty fantastic day. 

Storm of the Century

A week ago we were preparing for the storm of the century. At least that was the prediction. Two to three FEET of snow, school was preemptively closed on Tuesday, subways shut down over night, and we were all wondering just how bad it was going to get. I even sent Nacho to the wine store in the city for more bottles since I only had white wine left at home. Who could drink that in a snow storm? I needed some full bodied reds to keep me company. I mean, what if we couldn't get out for days? The news and Facebook were flooded with messages of impending doom and, because this is New York City, recipes for great winter weather comfort food. As I later read, most of the country prepares for snow storms by taking precautions stocking up on salt for the driveways and bread and milk. New York City residents talk about all the fabulous food they are going to eat as if they were going to throw the most fabulous dinner party. Funny, but true. And so on Monday night, as the bus pulled up to deliver Elisa home in a white out, we settled in for a long night watching the skies and snow fall. The subways were closed for only the second time in a hundred years, and there was an 11 p.m. driving curfew. We were encouraged to stay home and stay warm. I can't say I minded. One quick peek from the roof and later the street and I can say for sure it was bitterly cold and the snow was drifting down. But by the time we went to bed around midnight, it didn't look like an epic snow storm was in progress. There were a few inches already but nothing like what they were predicting earlier. 

Waking up to realize it hadn't in fact snowed 24-36 inches, but a paltry 10 inches at best, was a disappointment. I really wanted to believe the hype and be snowed in for days. Oh well. I suppose it was good that didn't materialize since Stacey's trip would have been scrapped. The kids ran to the window to see the snow that I had told them might come up to their waists. But no, it wasn't there. Elisa just wanted to make sure we could still go sledding and I assured her that was on the list for the day's activities. We layered up and I made hot cocoa and spiked cider for some warm nourishment. Nacho grabbed the sled and off we went towards Lou Lodati first where we bumped into some friends. A few runs down 43rd Street, and a tired Nacho hauling them back up the hill and we were ready to conquer the big hill: Doughboy Park. The good and bad thing about that hill is that it is the sledding hill in Sunnyside/Woodside.  So of course it was packed with nearly every family we know in the neighborhood. And those that weren't there had either just left or were going later. Yes, it was swarming with kids and sleds and all I could see were the head injuries and stitches waiting to happen. I really don't think I'm opposed to sledding, but rather that place. It's just such a bad hill that ends in a sloping ditch up against a fence. We found a little spot to let the girls make some runs and fortunately Nacho and Joan were both able to help the kids enjoy their time. But I did get blindsided by a couple of boys as I took a photo, and I think the same duo ran into Elisa and gave her a nice scrape on the chin. Not sure exactly how that happened, but when it did, it was all over for the day. She wanted to leave. And it was almost time anyway. So we drank our hot beverages and then scooted over to Carmen's for a pizza lunch and more playing around in the backyard with Birdie and Jasper. The girls had pre-arranged a snowball fight, so this was our chance to let them have at it. Unfortunately, everyone was a little ragged at that point in the afternoon, but we gave it a good shot. Leaving around 4 p.m. to get home in time to catch a spectacular sunset was just the way to end a beautiful, stormy 48 hours. And though it wasn't the storm of the century they predicted, it was a great highlight of our winter so far.