Spring!!

I realized I am doing a horrible job blogging.  I haven't blogged at all since we have gotten back from our trip to the United Kingdom.  I need to go through all my pictures from that trip and do a blog post about it, I just haven't gotten around to it yet!  Meanwhile, the weather here has been sunny and beautiful.  Here is what we have been up to lately.

We have been taking long walks around NYC (which I told David will have to come to end soon or become much shorter...6 mile walks are a bit much for me now!).  A few weeks ago on Saturday, we ate at a restaurant called Mission Chinese.  It is pretty well known, and the first location was in California.  It is not traditional Chinese food, but it was excellent.  Here is what we had, I know it looks kind of gross in the picture, but it was really good food.  We had the beer brined Sichuan Pickles, Kung Pao Pastrami, and the Egg Egg Noodles.  http://missionchinesefood.com/ny/

I have also been busy hanging out with friends here in Jersey City.  I think some of the husbands are starting to catch on that maybe we are spending too much money while they are at work;)

 

Last week my friend had us over for Wine Wednesday (or in my case Water Wednesday;)).  Her view of NYC is amazing!  The tall building on the left is the new Freedom Tower.

 

Two weekends ago we went for a walk along the Highline (an old elevated railroad track converted into a public park).  We have been there numerous times, but it is such a nice break from the traffic and streets of the city.

 

After our looonnnggg walk, we went to one of our favorite restaurants on the

 Upper East Side called Peking Duck House. 

On the way home, we had to stop at David's office for him to print some stuff out for work.  He is not this messy, it's actually not his workspace.  Because they are out of the office at clients so often, they don't have permanent desks, they "reserve" them while they are in the office.

 

 

Last week David had to go to a client in Princeton.  I decided to tag along and explore more of New Jersey.  This area of Jersey is VERY nice (now I understand where a lot of the tax money goes, since we are living in the highest real estate taxed state in the country!).  I had a nice day walking around the campus of Princeton and shopping.

 

 

 



 On Saturday across the Brooklyn Bridge and we went to the Transportation Museum in Brooklyn, it was a lot of fun!  It is in an old Subway Station.

We had lunch at a pizza place in Brooklyn called Krescendo, it was excellent!

On the way home, there was someone who climbed up to the top of one of the arches of the Brooklyn Bridge to jump.  The police shut down the bridge when we were not even 5 minutes from Manhattan, so we sat and waited for an hour until they opened it back up.  The police were eventually able to get the guy down.

 

I just realized this post includes a lot of food - I think David has learned that in order for me to take such long walks, I require good food:)  He also surprised me with roses on Tuesday when he came home from work!  This Thursday I will be 28 weeks pregnant!  What is even crazier is that as of last Wednesday we had only 3 months until the due date- I can't wait!!!

 



I miss the sunshine!!

I am so over this weather, I think it might send me into a depression!  It makes it worse to see the weather in Atlanta....60 degrees this weekend!!  I can only handle so much snow, wind, and rain!  So, today I have decided to protest the weather (in the dumbest way possible) by not wearing a coat, only a sweater. 

Despite the weather, we have been going for lots of walks.  Here are some pictures of the 9-11 memorial in Jersey City right where we live, across from WTC.

       These are actual pieces from the Tower.  The tallest tower in the back is the new Freedom tower.

We finally got around to registering our car in New Jersey.  One might think I would be used to it by now, but it still made me sad when we took off our GA plates and put on the NJ ones.  AND, to make matters worse, NJ requires a front license plate, so I had to say goodbye to my VT plate that David bought me years ago:(

I have been up to the same old stuff, tutoring at the elementary school in NYC and going to lunch with other friends that don't work during the day.  I also started volunteering a block away from our house with a kindergarten class here in Jersey.  I need to be careful not to over commit myself, two days a week where I have to be somewhere at a certain time is about all I can handle right now;)  Tax season for David is still in full swing. 

We had our 20 week sonogram last Thursday, the baby was moving around so much the tech left the room at one point for a few minutes while the baby switched positions. It was adorable, we saw the baby trying to do a flip.  We held out, we don't know if the baby is a boy or girl.  If David wasn't so insistent on not finding out, I probably would have given in!
David took this picture of the screen, I think it is slightly better quality than the printed pictures they gave us.

 

We still haven't decided on names. So, we decided we will each come up with our top 10 girls and top 10 boys names and then compare lists.  We aren't keeping the names a secret, we just need to come up with one of each! 

This past Saturday we went to see Spiderman on Broadway with David's friend and his girlfriend.  I forgot to take a picture outside!!!!  Anyway, it was actually better than I thought, except for the ONE HOUR SET MALFUNCTION!!  That really threw the entire feeling of the show off, and I felt badly for all the kids in the audience, 4 hours in a seat is a long time!

Lately

David is still working insane hours and usually 7 days/week...I can't wait until tax season is over!!!
A few weeks ago my friend Liann and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, had lunch in Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), and then walked back.  Which by the way, I never realized NYC had so many acronyms.  Luckily David, for whatever reason, knows them all so I don't have to look them up.  We had a great time, and it was much better walking across the bridge this time of year than it was in July when David and I did before.  Unfortunately, the sun wasn't out, so most of my pictures didn't turn out very well.

 

Two weekends ago, David and I took a long walk around New York.  Thanks to modern technology, we were able to Skype David's parents and show them parts of the city.

 



Back in February, I helped Liann move.  As a thank you, we went to get our nails done last week, and she treated me. It was the first time I have ever had gel.  I LOVE THEM!!  It takes a while, about two hours, but they dry immediately and last about 3 weeks.  However, I do not love the price, so I am not sure it is something I will keep up or not (of course David says no way, but every time we are out and someone compliments them, I try to convince him they are worth it;)). 

 

Friday of last week I met my parents in Philadelphia for the day.  We went to the English garden show and had a great time!  Some of the flower arrangements and little English gardens were beautiful!  My dad took a ton of pictures, so I was lazy and didn't, but this is the only picture he has sent me.

Over the weekend, it started to warm up a bit.  I met David after work on Sunday and we went to an awesome Italian restaurant.  I was just so excited the sun was finally out!

 

Tuesday we went to the doctor, the appointment went well!  The doctor said I am doing "stellar" and that my weight gain is perfect (5 pounds total so far).  Now that there is finally a bump, the pictures are worth posting on here.  Yes, there is wine in the picture....since I can't drink it, I like to at least look at it ;)

Yesterday was SUCH a nice day.  I took a long walk with a friend and it was so nice.  Today it is FREEZING again :(  Spring can't come soon enough! 

Happy 32nd Birthday!

Last Friday (well all weekend really) we celebrated David's 32nd birthday.  He took the day off work and told them he couldn't work the weekend either...which was so nice since we haven't spent any time together since tax season started.  David wanted to go to the Met, so we did that during the day.  We were there for 3 hours, and barely touched the surface of things to see.  We have been before, and it's funny because we always find ourselves back in the same place looking at the same stuff we have seen before. 

After the museum we took a walk through the Upper East side and through Midtown (our old stomping ground).  Then, we headed down to the West Village for dinner at Spasso (http://spassonyc.com/index.php) ...which was great.  We had the housemade stracciatella cheese to start, David had the skirt steak for dinner, and I had the scallops.  We also shared the brussel sprouts, but I have to admit, I have yet to find any in a restaurant that taste as good as how David makes them at home.  David had a Prada to drink - whiskey, limoncello, honey, and lemon - which apparently he liked so much that we had to rush out to buy a bottle of limoncello over the weekend for him to make one at home.

On Saturday we went to see "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" on Broadway.  I bought the tickets as David's birthday present because he has been talking about seeing it since we moved here.  It was horrible.  I don't even know how to describe it.  I could barely keep my eyes open and at intermission, I knew it was bad when David said he couldn't wait for it to end.  It dragged on and on!!!!  We had reservations to go out to eat afterward, but we were both so exhausted that we cancelled them, came home and ordered pizza.

 

Sunday we had a relaxing day, David made beef bourguignon and we watched some of the Oscars. I can't stand watching too much, I feel like it is a bunch of people out of touch with reality. 

This week I have been hanging out with my friend Liann, we met about a month ago.  She just moved from New Zealand for her husband's job (she is originally from the UK), so we have had a lot of fun exploring the city since we aren't working;)!  I am also still doing my tutoring, which I enjoy...the kids are so sweet. 

Parents, Snow, and Happy New Year

I know it's been a long time since I have blogged!!  I am really going to get better about it!

Last week my parents came to see us so that they could take some of our stuff back to store in their basement.  They came on Thursday, and we packed so much in my dad's truck, it feels SOOOO much better in our apartment now.  We actually have some space and a guest room that actually looks like a guest room!  I think my dad was taken back by the fact that we have 3 Christmas trees, but in my defense we used every single one of them in our house in Atlanta, and they are nice trees, so I didn't want to get rid of them!  The plan was for my parents to stay until Saturday, so that they could see the area on Friday, but we had a blizzard coming Friday night, so they left Friday morning.  We did manage to go to Hoboken and get some cookies from Carlo's Bakery...which was empty!  I couldn't believe it.

Saturday we woke up to about 9 inches of snow.  I was hoping to get some pictures, but we didn't leave the house the entire day. We were lucky, north of NYC they got anywhere from 12-30 inches of snow.  Sunday we headed to Chinatown for lunch, not remembering that it was the New Year.  It was insane, and it was a fun experience.  There were mini parades everywhere in the streets, and people were using the crackers....the streets were a mess!  We ate a restaurant that was recommended to us by someone David works with, it was decent.  We had duck and a noodle dish (very descriptive, I know;)). 

Even though this picture is dark, I am sure you can figure out why I took it.

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment in Hoboken, so we stopped in to Carlo's Bakery for coffee.  As soon as we walked in, David said "there is Buddy".  I looked around and didn't see him, so I thought he was lying.  Then, David said again, he is right next to you...and he was.  I didn't recognize him in his "regular" clothes.

Sooo Cold!

I haven't been keeping up with blogging like I should be this year.  It has been SO cold here, cold is actually an understatement.  David has been working around the clock (literally), and last week he went to Orlando for a few days.  So, I took that time and went to visit my parents for a week.  It is so nice to be an easy 3 hour drive away from them.  We really didn't do too much, but that's what I like the best about going home....the coffee is ready when I wake up and I revert back to being a kid again;) It was freezing at their house, and it is just as cold here in NJ. 

In the mornings it has been the temperature has been about 15 degrees, and only gets up to about 23 degrees during the afternoon.  In fact, it is so cold that David has actually been wearing a coat...and a hat and scarf!!  Friday evening we got a dusting of snow, about an inch.  Yesterday morning we went for a walk and the wind on the water is the worst.  I realize we only lived in Atlanta for 2 years, but I would like my 50 degree winters back...I swear my blood thinned while living in the south;) 

We are STILL surrounded by unpacking to be done...the problem is we don't have anywhere to put the stuff.  Apartment living is treating us well so far, I think the biggest difference is that we don't have places to just put the stuff we aren't using...which I guess means we don't need it.  Hopefully David's work schedule will start to slow down a bit soon.  And, hopefully spring will be here soon, it is so hard to be motivated to leave home in the freezing cold temperatures!!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!!  I need to blog about our Christmas, but I am waiting for someone to send me some pictures (DAD!!!), so I will do that soon.  We went to my parent's house in PA and had a great time with my mom, dad, Kara and Kevin.  We were able to Skype with Jill and Frank, David's "mum" and dad, and Emma, Damian, Sophie and Daniel.  We also had a white Christmas!!!  More details and pictures to come about Christmas.

We were back in New Jersey for New Years.  On New Years Eve day we went down to Times Square to see the action in the afternoon, it was around noon and already packed with people.  I don't think anyone could pay me any amount of money to have stayed there until midnight.  It was nice to walk around and then come back for a New Years Eve night at home.  I was asleep at 11:15 and I don't think David stayed up much later....so much for seeing the ball drop on tv.

Since then, we have just been settling in, and David has been working like crazy...tax season has officially started.  While he has been at work, I have been selling a bunch of stuff on eBay, the more we can get rid of, the better!  Sunday night was a big bummer since the Redskins lost, but our season was still a HUGE improvement over the last few (or many) years. I will also start volunteering again soon at the elementary school.....while I of course study for my NJ certification exam. 

I am not one to usually make new years resolutions, but this year my goal is to update my blog more.  Not because I think many people (or anyone other than family) reads this, but I love going back and reading previous posts.  It's fun to look back at what we were doing this time last year, and to look at our old house etc.