Fireworks and Broadway

Before I can tell you about our weekend trip to Boston, I first have to go back and fill in some of the gaps of our Heather/September 11th weekend that I haven't told you about yet. It's that need for things to be in chronological order again, you know? It just is forever rearing its ugly head.

After Heather left (boohoo!) on that Saturday, Eric and I hung out at home and watched the Gator game. Later that night, we stepped outside for a bit to enjoy the Italian Festival Fireworks, set off at Pier A. We had a great view from our spot on the walkway at Pier C.

Italian Festival Fireworks

Ooh, aah

I always love fireworks, although these started a half hour late (I'm impatient) and were LOUD. We had poor little Achilles with us, who is not usually bothered by fireworks - in fact, he usually sits with his back to them and casually looks the other way as if he has no idea anything is even happening. But this time, as soon as they started to go off I could feel him back into my legs and start shaking. I sat down on the ground with him and he climbed right into my lap, where he stayed the rest of the time. I covered his poor little ears as best as I could but he was still shaking, drooling and being startled with every "boom." Please don't have me arrested for doggy torture, but we might be able to add fireworks to his list of fears along with fire alarms. Poor thing.

That Sunday, besides checking out all the 9/11 memorials around town, Eric and I went into the city to catch a matinee of Man and Boy, starring Frank Langella, at the American Airlines Theater. I once again found a great deal: $10 tickets to a selection of preview performances for this play. I'll see just about anything for only $10, so Eric and I went, and quite enjoyed it. Man and Boy is basically the story of a ruthless, unethical businessman and his relationship with his son, who is essentially the only conscience he has. Frank Langella was excellent, as was the rest of the cast. Good show!

Man and Boy at the American Airlines Theater

Frank Langella and Adam Driver in Man and Boy

(Photo credit: Joan Marcus, 2011, taken from the Roundabout Theater Company's Facebook page)

And that was the rest of our weekend! Not a bad time, right?

So, I'm Pregnant!

Thanks for all your congratulations and well wishes after our Big Announcement last Friday! Eric and I are thrilled to be expecting our first little one in March and I'm so glad to finally be able to share that with you! Eric and I decided not to make this pregnancy "Facebook (and blog) Official" until the end of the first trimester, which I'll be wrapping up this week. I've been dying to mention things here and there since we found out but have kept my lips sealed! Now it's time to play catch-up, I say.

I found out I was pregnant on July 19th, the week of my birthday and our Pennsylvania Road Trip. I saw my doctor the next day, on July 20th, for some blood work. She wanted me to do follow-up blood work two days later, on July 22nd, my birthday - also the day we were leaving at the crack of dawn for Hershey/Gettysburg/Pittsburgh. So, Eric and I actually found a lab in Pennsylvania between Hershey and Gettysburg and stopped along the course of our trip so I could get blood drawn! Happy birthday to me, eh?

The first people to know about this pregnancy (other than Eric, of course!) were my sister and my cousin Molly. I called them both right away, largely because they are two of my most favoritest people ever, and also because I knew that I would be expected to down large amounts of red wine at that weekend's family reunion, because that's how we roll at family reunions. So, I needed help keeping the booze away without arousing suspicion, as I was obviously not yet ready to spread the word. Molly and Heather were great wing-women (does that apply here?) and I made it through the reunion weekend with pomegranate juice in my wine cup. Less fun, but still delicious! And it looks strikingly like merlot.

I have spent my first trimester feeling fairly lousy. I was never full-on sick, and for that I am most grateful, but I have been nauseous pretty much constantly, and especially if I let myself get even a little bit hungry. So, that means I eat ALL THE TIME. It's so counter-intuitive to eat when you feel nauseous, but it worked. The other time it was particularly bad was during my morning commutes - have you ever been pregnant, nauseous and stuck in a hot NYC subway that smells like...well, NYC subway? Brutal. Ginger gum and seasick bands became my friends, both during my commutes and anytime I was feeling gross, really. In fact, if any of you were particularly observant, you may have noticed my oh-so-stylish seasick bands that I accidentally posted in my Chicago recaps:

Day #2 in Chicago was a rough day.

Those bands and I really were BFFs for a while there.

So you know I've been eating constantly, but as far as what I have been eating, I started off with cravings for Mexican food (mmm, Chipotle) that were quickly replaced by cravings for carbs, basically. And by carbs, I mean PASTA. I could eat pasta all day, every day. Luckily, I married an Italian (and it seems I am now clearly carrying an Italian kid), who was sweet enough to make a giant pot of his delicious sauce to have with our constant pasta. And if not pasta, I needed potatoes (hooray, maybe the kid got some of my Irish genes, too!) or rice. Basically, if it was a carb, I was stuffing my face with it. Bonus points if it was a cheesy carb! (Macaroni and cheese and Hot Pockets rocked my socks for like three weeks straight.)

The other symptom that really hit me was the fatigue. I always used to hear pregnant women talk about being so tired and I would think "how bad can it be? I'm always tired anyway, no biggie." People, it was BAD. Of course, starting a new job right when I got pregnant was pretty much the dumbest idea ever, because the combination of pregnancy fatigue and trying to adjust to a new schedule nearly killed me. There was one day when I literally spent 20 minutes sitting at my desk trying to figure out a way I could go take a nap in the office bathroom that wouldn't be weird or gross. Hey, guess what? There is no such way.

Also not mentioned on the blog, but related to fatigue: after sightseeing each day during our Chicago trip, Eric and I went back to the hotel so I could take a two-hour nap. Yeah, I would say our vacationing style has changed a bit in light of first trimester fatigue.

This feels like a good time to mention that Eric has been an absolute SAINT for the past 12 weeks. Not only has he been eating pasta like it's his job, and going wherever I want for lunch (even though he has been dying for Subway, the smell of Subway makes me nauseous so he skips it so we can eat together), but he has really stepped up and has been taking care of business around the house. He does the dishes every morning, and when I come home from work so exhausted all I can do is flop on the couch, he cooks our pasta dinner for me even though he just had a long day, too. Really, whatever he could do to make my life easier, he has done it. It makes this crazy hormonal pregnant lady teary-eyed just thinking about it. I hit the husband jackpot.

As for how I look, no real defined bump yet but I am definitely getting thicker around the middle. Of course, this could be either bloat (sexy!), a result of nonstop carbs for the last couple of months, the start of Baby W. making his/her presence known, or some combination thereof, but for now I just sort of look like I've been eating too many cupcakes:

This picture was taken last Tuesday, when I hit 12 weeks

Oh, mentioning cupcakes reminds me of another weird thing - I completely lost my sweet tooth. I mean, I'll still eat sweets, sure. But I used to need to have a bite of something sweet after every meal, and my obsession with Crumbs cupcakes has been well-documented. But since getting pregnant, I'll eat sweets if they present themselves, but I'm just not interested enough to seek them out. What has become of me?!

As far as how we are feeling as parents-to-be, sometimes we feel just over-the-moon, omg-I-can't-possibly-wait-till-March excited, and other times, we feel like this:

That is, FREAKED OUT. Of course, these two emotional states are not mutually exclusive, and overlap probably more often than not. That's normal though, right? I would imagine so. I think we'll be okay, though. I know Eric will be an incredible dad, and hopefully I'll do okay as a mom, so hopefully we'll be able to raise a pretty decent person if we put our heads together here.

So, now you know our news! I decided to make the big announcement after our 12-week ultrasound on Friday, when we were able to see our little one looking like an actual baby, complete with arms and legs and a head and the whole bit. It even kept waving at us! The heartbeat was a strong 164 bpm and we were just in awe.

Baby W. in profile, with a little blob above his/her nose that was the little arm he/she kept waving at us!

Now that we're all caught up on this subject, I should have some fun non-baby-related talk coming up this week, including a recap of this past weekend's trip to Boston!

And really, thanks again to all of you for your congratulations, etc. Eric and I are so thrilled and can't wait to share our experiences with you!

Achilles Has A Little Something To Say...

No, we are not getting another dog - we're giving Achilles a sibling of the human variety. Baby W. is due March 27, 2012!

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!

Remembering 9/11

As you may expect, the last week or so has been filled with 9/11 memorials around New York City, all very moving in their own way. We didn't even try to make it out to the main memorial service at Ground Zero, but we did made sure to take in as many other memorials as we could.

One of my most favorite tributes was done at Bryant Park. There, they lined up 2,753 empty chairs on the lawn, one for each person who died at the World Trade Center on September 11th. The chairs all faced south towards Ground Zero. Seeing all those empty chairs in perfect rows on that lawn was so striking and quite emotional. It was artful and beautifully done.

Chairs on the Bryant Park lawn

2,753 chairs, all facing Ground Zero

Poignant.

As you may recall, my sister Heather was in town this week, and on Friday we went into Times Square for another 9/11 tribute put on by the Broadway community. Apparently, after 9/11 ten years ago, the Broadway community got together and performed "New York, New York" in Times Square as a way to encourage and uplift New Yorkers. On Friday, to commemorate the tenth anniversary, they did a repeat performance in the same spot in Duffy Square. Members of the cast from all (or at the very least, nearly all) of the Broadway shows were in attendance. Former Broadway performer and NYPD Officer Daniel Rodriguez sang "God Bless America," and then the Broadway casts performed "New York, New York." It was a great moment.

Crowds gathered at Duffy Square to see the Broadway performance

Broadway stars singing "New York, New York"

VIDEO: Broadway stars performing "New York, New York" in Times Square, 9/9/11

On September 11th, Times Square was decked out in remembrance of the anniversary.

Flags and memorials decorating the tower below the New Year's Eve ball

More flags on the other side of Times Square

More remembrance on Aeropostale's sign

American Eagle's huge sign was completely decked out as a flag

Of course, it wasn't all beautiful tributes - there were some reminders of what it really means to live in a post-9/11 New York, like road blocks in major areas of Manhattan, letting only one car through at a time. (It is my understanding that this was in response to the rumored car bomb terrorism threats last week.)

NYPD keeping the flow of traffic under control

Hoboken had its own memorials, too. Hoboken lost 57 citizens in the World Trade Center attacks, the most of any zip code. Many of those were young professionals, in their 20s and 30s. Many young husbands and wives were widowed, and many of those who were single were not even identified as missing until mail started to pile up, cars were not moved, or dogs whined to be let out. For those who were safely on this side of the river on 9/11, Hoboken has an exceptional view of downtown Manhattan and many people gathered along the Hoboken waterfront to watch the events unfold that day.

To commemorate Hoboken's ties to 9/11, they have posted plans for a new permanent memorial to be built in Pier A Park.

Flowers adorning the depiction of the future memorial

Last night Hoboken held a lovely interfaith memorial service along the water at Pier A Park, facing downtown towards where the Twin Towers once stood (now replaced in the skyline by the ever-growing new Freedom Tower, clearly visible as it now seems to be the tallest building in lower Manhattan). The Hoboken High School band played the National Anthem to start things off, the Mayor and several Senators/Congressmen spoke, and religious leaders from a wide range of religions and denominations offered their thoughts on the day.

Crowds gathering for the memorial service

And of course, at dusk, the city turned on the Tribute in Light: two beams of light to symbolize the two towers, as they have done every September 11th for the last ten years.

The Tribute in Light, now standing alongside the new Freedom Tower (the tall building with the blue lights - it was lit red, white and blue all weekend)

That evening, Hoboken made a national television appearance when a U.S. Marine played Taps in Pier A Park, which was broadcast before the Jets Sunday Night Football game. Eric and I were there for that, and it was quite moving, as Taps always is. To see that soldier playing such a touching piece with the Tribute in Light behind him was very emotional.

U.S. Marine

The scene

VIDEO: Taps/Tribute in Light at Hoboken's Pier A Park

We stuck around for a few minutes after the Taps performance to take in that beautiful skyline, and that concluded our day of remembrance.

 Our family with the Tribute in Light

All in all, it was a week filled with lovely tributes, and I'm glad to have been here to be a part of it.