Camping

Packing right now to go camping for a long weekend with Rein and Christa. Haven't camped in so long that I forgot how much stuff you need to take with you. We're taking Greyhound up to Ithaca where we'll meet Rein and Christa. Traveling by bus with our backpacks makes me feel like a student again. Looking forward to campfires, hiking, using a flashlight (since you never really need one in the city) and starry skies.

big box weekend

Two movies, two big box stores and some amazing stormy skies. Saw Wall-E Thursday and Dark Knight Saturday. Had dinner at the new Red Hook Ikea on Friday night and braved a ransacked Target this afternoon. After many trips to the Ikea in NJ via Manhattan and the Port Authority, it was great to travel there on the G train!

The rain was on and off today and at one point the clouds looked like some kind of trippy screen saver. Truly beautiful.

Many birthdays last week. Happy 16th Birthday to my cousin Mary Liz, 79th Birthday to Mommoms and 65th to my friend and old boss Steve!

Rein and Christa in America

Last Thursday Rein and Christa flew to NYC for their annual summer visit. Met them at their hotel downtown, which has amazing views. Enjoyed dinner al fresco at Battery Park, walked around outside and battled the heat the best we could. Saw the movie Mamma Mia in a lovely cool theater. For Saturday Erik had bought tickets to see the NY Red Bulls take on LA Galaxy. It was fun to see David Beckham play and to hear the screams (from the girls) and the boos (from the boys) every time he got the ball. R and C are now on a camping road trip of New England. Sounds like they are having a great time. We are looking forward to meeting up with them next weekend.

Cold Spring Weekend

To celebrate our fourth anniversary, we took a weekend trip upriver to Cold Spring, NY. Stayed two very relaxing nights at a B&B. No TV, no internet, no phones, no traffic, just singing birds, nice meals in the garden, some scrabble and afternoon naps. Took a sightseeing cruise along the Hudson, past Bannerman Island and West Point, to continue our wedding boat ride tradition. It was fun to take a vacation so close to home.

Shark and the City

Took a trip out to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in the afternoon. The Verrazano Bridge was great to see up close, but while walking along the water, we saw a sad, surreal sight: a small shark had been fished out of the ocean and was left on the curb. I am hesitant to post the photo, but I can't imagine anyone would believe me otherwise.

Edwin's Chair

Had brunch in Brooklyn with Edwin and stopped by his place afterwards. Couldn't resist getting out our camera and having some fun!

The 4th

Had a very relaxing fourth of July. Painted my nails red and wore white and blue, had a few friends over for dinner, headed towards McCarren Park to watch the fireworks from Charlotte's new roof deck. Amazing views! It was lightly raining throughout the show, but we didn't mind at all.
A big first for us yesterday...we shopped at one of our neighborhood Polish meat markets! We had always been intimidated by these places and were worried we'd feel like foreigners. We did feel that way, but the kielbasa made it all worth it.

Happy Birthday America!

You don't look a day over 200!

evening walk

Last night we went for a long walk to the waterfront park in Williamsburg. The sunset was amazing. We were about to walk back when we noticed that everyone was still staring at the sky. We turned around and saw the giant glowing red sun across Manhattan. Gorgeous...and a little hard to look at! Treated ourselves to Tasti-delight on the way home. Notice Erik's new glasses? He ended up with the Nike pair, complete with a magnetic sunglass attachment.