Fun Times with Heather

As you know, my sister came to visit me last week. I am pretty sure she has been our most frequent visitor since we moved to New York (and in D.C., too, perhaps), and I am so grateful that she continues to regularly make the effort to come visit us! She rocks, and we had a great time during this visit, as we always do.

Heather got in around 11:00 a.m. last Wednesday. She took the bus into the city from Newark, where I met her at Port Authority (as she passed time talking to a crazy guy) and brought her to Hoboken. Wednesday was a rather drizzly, dreary day, so we spent the afternoon just hanging out at my apartment.

Wednesday night we had tickets to a great show at Lincoln Center: in honor of the 50th anniversary of the West Side Story movie release, the New York Philharmonic showed the movie on a large screen as they played the musical accompaniment live. It was awesome. But first, before the show, we met up with Eric at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle, where he had occupied himself by watching celebrities arrive for the Contagion premiere.

Marion Cotillard

Michael Douglas

Regis!

From there, we all walked over to Lincoln Center together.

With Heather at Lincoln Center before the show

The show itself was fantastic. The New York Philharmonic was right on with their accompaniment, and it was so cool to watch. I was seriously amazed with their precise timing. I mean, how do they do that?! But I guess it is the New York Philharmonic, after all. After intermission they also introduced a few members of the movie cast and crew who were in attendance, including Russ Tamblyn ("Riff"), George Chakiris ("Bernardo") and Marni Nixon (the singing voice of "Maria"). The crowd went nuts! Really, it was a fabulous show.

On Thursday, we once again spent the day relaxing around the apartment before heading out at night. Thursday night was Fashions Night Out, and after having so much fun at FNO last year, we were excited to try it again this year. We started off at Saks on Fifth Avenue, where it was rumored Lea Michele and Darren Criss of Glee would be signing autographs. Well, we were about five minutes too late, because they cut off the autograph line about three people in front of us. Rude! Although, it seems Darren didn't end up being there. We didn't get to see Lea, but we did see creator Ryan Murphy pass by, and walked past Anna Wintour on our way out (though we didn't get a picture).

Ryan Murphy

We then walked over to Manolo Blahnik, where Sarah Jessica Parker was hanging out. The line to get in was crazy long, so we decided to skip it and go off in search of free drinks. We had our first round of success at Gap, although it was just sparkling grape juice. Whatevs, it's free! Cheers!

Ready for some fashion and fun!

At Juicy Couture, they did have the real stuff - free champagne! They also gave out free perfume samples, and if you made a purchase, you could get a fashion sketch done of yourself.

People being sketched

After Juicy we made a stop at Rockefeller Center to walk the red carpet.

Sisters

Ah, there's that handsome guy!

Then, it was more champagne and hors d'oeuvres in Tommy Hilfiger, where we just missed Tommy himself. Was our celebrity timing terrible or what? We must have really been off our game.

Two of my most favorite people

We also stopped in Fendi for a quick photo-op:

Yay for free photos!

From there, we mostly just wandered and checked out the outside displays and windows. Lots to see!

Edgy brides outside one store

One of the live window displays at Bergdorf Goodman

By that time, the streets were getting crazy crowded and things were starting to close down. We had heard Pauly D of Jersey Shore fame was going to be DJing at Dash in SoHo, so we decided to hop on the subway and go see if we could end our night with some Pauly. However, they weren't even letting people into Dash, and this was the scene outside:

Madness.

MESS. So, no waiting there. We found the train and made our way back to Hoboken, where we stopped for a late night dinner at Johnny Rockets before calling it a night.

On Friday, I took Heather out to show her our new hometown. We walked south along the waterfront, then north along Washington Street, past some of the gorgeous homes between 8th and 10th Streets, up to Castle Point for a scenic view then back down to the train station. Heather said she really liked Hoboken, so my tour was a success!

Heather enjoying the view at Pier C Park

Terrible picture I took of us at Castle Point - please pardon the fact that my head is blocking all of downtown Manhattan.

From there we went into the city to check out the Bryant Park 9/11 Memorial and see the Broadway performance in Times Square, but I already told you about those! So then it was back to Hoboken to relax and wait for Eric to get home from work.

That night we went out for some more Hoboken fun: The Italian Festival. Apparently, this is a huge annual festival that draws big crowds and lots o' fun. It started on Thursday and went on through Sunday, with a big procession through town and fireworks on Saturday. The main street fair part of the festival (and the live music) was happening right outside our apartment, so we were quite close to the action. The four of us (that's Heather, Eric, me and Achilles, of course) went out that evening to partake in some of the fun. We checked out the live music (and saw Hoboken Batman dancing to it), played some games, Eric climbed the rock wall, and Achilles and I ate some cannolis (mine was from the Cake Boss booth, and Achilles' was a special doggy cannoli). Of course, Achilles ate lots of other stuff, too - that dog sure does love a good street festival, thanks to food droppings. Good times for everyone!

Ready for some Italian fun!

That dog is sooooo busted.

Hoboken Batman's Bat Bike parked at Sinatra Park while he boogeyed down to the live music

Cannolis!

Heather, Eric and I all did the speed pitch (how does Eric keep getting me to do these things?)

Heather and Eric did the "test your strength" game

Go, Eric!

Way to go, kids!

Eric climbing the rock wall

Achilles loves it.

After the festival we went home and ordered dinner, and spent the rest of the night hanging out and having a great time at home.

Saturday we pretty much slept in and then hung out until it was time for me to take Heather to the airport. I was so bummed to see her go! I always miss her quite a bit after she leaves. I wish we lived in the same place!

It was a great visit - thanks for coming, Heather! Come back soon! Maybe for your birthday? I say yes!