New York Moments to Love

You all know the phrase, "I Love New York."  And you know this Blog was started during my time as a resident in the Center of the Universe.  Last month, I made a pilgrimage back to Brooklyn to get my fix and have a mini vacation.  Whereas my trip in December reminded me that I needed to visit more often, this trip was filled with special moments that reminded me of what I love so much about New York.

I rode the train to New York and was listening to my iPod...there's a moment while traveling through New Jersey, on the very last leg of the journey, that the lower Manhattan skyline appears.  It's always beautiful and this time, Bon Jovi happened to be playing on my iPod.  After arriving in Penn Station, I walked across the street to meet my Dad in his office.  He gave me one of his great, big, hugs and we went off in search of some dinner.  Along the way to Eataly, we spotted this lime green caipirihna truck and had a discussion as to whether they were actually serving caipirihnas--probably not.  After seeing the truck all around town all weekend, I later learned that it was actually a marketing campaign to legalize some kind of Brazilian liquor in the US.  When we entered Eataly, Dad said, "Oh, I get it.  This place is like the Home Depot of Italian food.  Or the Fairway Market."

The next day, I met up with my friend Carey for breakfast at a great spot in Union Square called the Grey Dog Cafe.  We had a good chat and I made my way back through Union Square on a glorious summer day, then back over to Brooklyn where I met up with my friend Rain to meet her and her new baby for brunch.  We strolled and I stopped in at the YMCA where I used to workout.  I wanted to take a yoga class there--both to keep up with my practice and because it's the place where my practice really began four years ago.  I wanted to see what kind of progress I'd made.  The nice surprise about the Y was that they gave me a free guest pass!  After a tough class, I made my way to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, one of my favorite spots.

The Brooklyn Heights Promenade

Following a great afternoon stroll, I made my way back into Manhattan to meet Melissa, Chad, Kristen, Ryan and my Mom for dinner.  Mom would be my date for the next day and we had a BLAST.  On Saturday, Mom and I made our way to Tom's for breakfast.  Part of the experience at Tom's is waiting in line for a table.  This time while waiting, I felt a little tap on my bottom.  I turned around to discover it came from a baby!  Her parents spoke French to her, so I had fun practicing my French with this little girl while we waited.  Mom said, "you make friends everywhere you go!"

Tom's Diner, Home of Awesome, Awesome Breakfast in Prospect Heights

It would turn out to be a good thing that we fueled up at Tom's, because Mom and I had a full day!  As we were walking down the street, talking about what to do with our day, Mom put her fingers up to her left ear, sang "la la la la la" and said, "We can just play it by ear!"  Oh man.  We picked up tickets to see Sister Act at the TKTS Booth and made our way over to the Meatpacking District to check out the brand new High Line Park.  The High Line opened just after I moved back to DC, and I've been wanting to see this awesome new space.  It's a converted elevated railway that now spans from around 30th Street down to Gansevoort and it's just beautiful.  Mom and I loved exploring this great oasis.

Mom and I on the High Line Park

After the High Line, we hopped the Subway down to City Hall and began our walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  Mom has been wanting to do this for some time and she even set aside her fear of heights to make this beautiful walk.

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge

Mom and I enjoyed an afternoon break in the new Brooklyn Bridge Park, which was so exciting to see come to fruition. I had worked on this park a bit as a volunteer when I lived in Brooklyn; it's another great redevelopment story.  The park land has been converted from unused shipping piers.  We enjoyed some ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and met up with our cousin Mike before heading back in to Times Square for tourist dodging, dinner and a show.  It was time to send Mom back home when my sister Elizabeth sent a text saying, "Did you release my Mom?"

The next morning, I walked over to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at a great spot called Linger Cafe--they have this fun backyard with a canopy of trees...and a hammock that I really, really wanted to sit in, but it belonged to the neighbors.  It's a great gem.  Over to Manhattan for some shopping and an afternoon picnic in Bryant Park, where I finally met up with my friend Kim Perry--we had been just missing each other in the city all weekend.  Kim and her daughter Kayla found me and as we were chatting, a man approached us and offered a spontaneous poem.  It was completely bizarre.  He was describing each of us in turn, with lovely descriptions of Kim and Kayla's skin tone, such as "brown sugar," and then when he got to me, he described me as "pink."  I don't think I've ever been described as "pink" before, except maybe when sunburned.  We all had a good laugh over that one.

And then on Sunday evening, I met up with some of my former Blair students for dinner at Eatery, one of my go-to spots in Hell's Kitchen.  It was amazing to sit down with these great young ladies--now adults, with real jobs, as I told people--and hear about their lives.  One student, Kiran, even said, "I still have that pocket Constitution you gave us!"

With my amazing former students in Columbus Circle

Monday morning came and it was time to have fun with my nieces!  The weather, which had been fantastic all weekend, turned hot, but we still had a blast.  Allie really enjoyed riding the Subway and Christina and Nicole were up to their usual antics.  They didn't let the heat stop them from climbing their favorite giant rock in Central Park.  Keely, Liz and Mike rounded out our party which closed with a delicious lunch at the Shake Shack before we parted ways in Penn Station.