Father's Day, aka Ellie's Big City Adventure

First of all, a warning: It is safe to assume that any post that is entitled anything along the lines of "Ellie's Big Adventure" will probably contain an obscene amount of pictures. You have been warned...

We had such a nice day as a family for Eric's first Father's Day! His weekend really got off to a great start with two full days of golf (with work people) on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was our family day.

Ellie and I gave Eric his gifts first thing Sunday morning. His gift from me was a framed print of Amen Corner (from Augusta National...you may notice a golf theme here), and Ellie gave him a framed picture of herself in her finest golf-wear:

My little golfer girl

Eric had once told me that he just wanted to see Ellie hold her little wooden golf club in her hand, because he thought that would be awesome. Well, my dear, not only did she hold it, but she really looked the part! Big shout-out to Etsy for the whole ensemble. I just can't decide if the argyle diaper cover or golf shoe booties are my favorite part.

She even re-wore some of her golf outfit on Father's Day, so she was quite festive:

"A whole day to celebrate Daddy?! Whoa, awesome! Count me in!"

To celebrate, we decided to have a day in the city. We took the PATH to 33rd Street, where we stopped for some shopping (my fault) and a snack for Ellie before continuing northward. We also had to make a stop at Crumbs for a Father's Day cupcake for Eric. Hey, it was a golf cupcake! The theme must continue!

Ellie's all, "where's MY cupcake? Rude."

From there it was on to Times Square for Ellie's first experience with what could probably be described as the Overstimulation Capital of the World.

Ellie and Daddy

Ellie and Mommy

The whole family!

There was lots for her to look at, but she handled it all in stride...for a while.

Aaaaand, we're done.

Of course, before leaving Times Square, we had to subject our poor sweet baby to a quick bad parenting moment:

Oh boy.

Yeah. We had our baby take a picture with the Naked Cowboy. Hey, he's a New York City institution, no? Yeah, I know. Shameful. Even Ellie couldn't believe it.

What a look of shock and disbelief!

My poor baby.

From Times Square we headed westward to our old neighborhood, to show Ellie our old stomping grounds. She was treated to some of the great sites of Hell's Kitchen (more specifically, the sites within about a three-block radius of our old apartment), including our old apartment itself, the Colbert Report studio, DeWitt Clinton Park (where Achilles and I spent many an afternoon at the dog park), and The Daily Show studio.

Ellie in front of our old apartment building and The Colbert Report

Ellie at DeWitt Clinton Park

Ellie hoping for a Jon Stewart sighting

Oh, how I miss our old neighborhood. Sigh.

We then made our way over to Daisy May's, our favorite NYC-area BBQ joint. We picked up our favorite meal and took it over to the Hudson, just past the Intrepid, where we had a lovely picnic.

Napping while we wait for Daddy to get our lunch

Ellie admiring the Intrepid

Picnic time!

By that time we were about ready to head home, so we caught a ferry back to Hoboken - Ellie's first boat ride!

Ellie says, "I'm on a boat!"

And that was our big Father's Day outing! By the time we got home Ellie was all tuckered out, so she settled in for a nice nap while Eric and I relaxed. The rest of the night consisted of salads and cupcakes for dinner, a bath for Ellie, and a nice early bedtime for everybody. Even though Eric's Father's Day Celebration really turned into Let's-Take-Pictures-of-Ellie-In-Front-of-NYC-Sights Day, I think we all had a nice time!

Happy Father's Day, Eric! You're the best!

Another Dose of Darren

Last night Eric and I had another weeknight date night, this time to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway. I have had this show on my January calendar ever since I heard that Darren Criss would be taking over for Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role of "J. Pierrepont Finch" for three weeks this month, before Nick Jonas comes in for a longer run. We all know how I love me some Darren Criss, so I was all, "sign me up for that!"

Darren Criss in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

(source)

Eric was very sweet and knew how badly I wanted to see this, and time was running out as Darren's run ends on Sunday. So, yesterday he took a break from work and went to get us tickets at TKTS. He had actually planned to try for the lottery in the morning, but apparently that's a "camp out" situation, which we did not realize. So, as of an hour before lottery ticket distribution, he knew there was no chance. That left us with TKTS as our best option, and Eric came through. He's a keeper, I'll tell you what. This is twice now that he has inconvenienced himself to enable me to see Darren! That's love.

Eric and I met up after work and walked west over to our old neighborhood. Man, I miss it like crazy. Even with as much as I do like Hoboken, if it were not so incredibly financially stupid to do so, I would move back to our old neighborhood (and preferably our old apartment) in a heartbeat. It just still feels like home over there, even though it has almost been a year (already!) since we moved on out. Our savings account sure was happy about the change, but I still miss it!

Anyway, we grabbed some pizza on 8th Avenue then found our way to the theater. We found our (rather cozy) seats and the show began shortly.

The theater before the show

As soon as Darren Criss was visible on stage, the crowd went wild! Darren sure does have a faithful fan club.

The show itself was great; I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was funny and cute and Darren was just about as charming as could be. Beau Bridges ("J.B. Biggley") was also excellent, as was the rest of the cast. Darren will only be a part of the production for a few more days, but I liked the show so much overall that I definitely recommend it, regardless of the lead!

Darren Criss and Beau Bridges

(source)

Ever since learning of Darren's January Broadway run I have been devising a plan which would result in him hugging a crazy pregnant lady outside the theater, so needless to say, we planned to hang out by the stage door after the show for autographs/pictures. However, when we saw people start leaving the show before it even ended (presumably to stake out the best spots by the stage door), I knew we were in trouble. Sure enough, by the time we got outside after the show, the crowd was probably 10-deep back from the door, and continued across the street with people scaling lightposts and the whole shebang. I just did not have the energy to fight with that kind of a crowd, even for the sake of another photo with my beloved Darren. The original picture will just have to do!

Me with Darren Criss at Joe's Pub last month

Another great night at another great show! I love this city!

Back on the Bike

It is now T-minus 13 days until the Five Boro Bike Tour! Less than two weeks?! Ack!

This Saturday was ruined by some utterly terrible weather - rain, thunder, lightning, and gusts of wind so strong that trying to use an umbrella was simply pointless. Eric and I tried to salvage the day by hitting a museum, but after walking two blocks and nearly getting blown over by wind and pelted by rain we were all, "not worth it." Back home we went.

Thankfully, the rain cleared out on Sunday, so we were able to fit in another training ride. This time we decided to take our bikes into the city via PATH train to Christopher Street (where we quickly learned there is no handicap access - so no large turnstiles to fit your bike through, and no elevator), then we rode north to 90th Street via the bike path along West Side Highway, then over into Central Park to ride the 6.2 mile park loop, then back out to the west and home again along the West Side Highway. Total planned distance: about 18 miles. Quite a leap from our 10 miles last week!

So, we got ourselves ready and off we went. I bought a new handlebar bag for my bike this week, so we were able to take the camera and some snacks along with us, which was very nice. And now you get to see some pictures!

The path along the West Side Highway is just lovely. Eric has run that path many times, but it was my first time seeing much of it. Of course I am familiar with the portion in our old neighborhood, and when we passed the Intrepid, our former local riverside park, and the spot where we watched the Fourth of July fireworks I caught myself still thinking, "ah, home sweet home!" I wonder how long that will take to wear off?

North of our former neighborhood, however, was also very nice. There is really some fabulous park space along the water and it's so scenic. We could see the George Washington Bridge in the distance ahead of us, trees were blooming, there were boats on the water, and it was all just so pretty.

View along the bike path

Yay, bike riders!

We even found a new landmark along the way: the Soldiers' and Sailor's Memorial Monument at 89th Street and Riverside Drive. We spent some time checking that out, and were treated to some live "theater" by an acting group rehearsing at the base of the monument.

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Looking up at the monument

Pretty scenic, yes?

Actors at the base of the monument

We then made our way over to Central Park, where we set off on the 6.2 mile loop. Did you know that now Eric has walked, ran, roller-bladed and biked that loop? I'll bet he thinks he's fancy.

He probably thinks he's fancy for all his Central Park experience, but he also thinks he's too cool for school when it comes to wearing a helmet while bike riding.

People, help me peer pressure him! Leave a comment and tell him to WEAR HIS HELMET!

Enjoying my ride in Central Park (WITH helmet, mind you!)

Also, did you know that Central Park is full of stupid hills? Eric knew of a couple big hills from his regular runs along that path, but let me tell you, you notice hills a lot more on a bike. It was a pretty consistent up-and-down ride, and it was brutal. I started off feeling strong, like my daily trips to the gym were really paying off, and I ended the loop cursing at every slight incline. It was rough. Also, I nearly got side-swiped by a horse. So that was fun.

We did make a couple of stops to take pictures of lovely park scenery, mainly along the Lake and the Reservoir. The trees and flowers are really starting to bloom, so it's a wonderful time of year to spend some time in the park.

Scenery along the Lake

There were lots of boats on the Lake! Everyone was enjoying the nice(-ish) weather.

Tulips by the Reservoir

Blossoms along the Reservoir

So pretty! It reminds me of the cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in D.C., which I miss terribly.

Taking a snack/picture break!

Needless to say, by the time we finished the Central Park loop, I was pretty exhausted. No rest for the weary, however, since we still had the last stretch of our trip to go - our return along the West Side Highway. We rode back towards the river along 77th Street, which to our surprise, was also uphill. The street we took over to the park had also been uphill, so we anticipated an easy downhill ride when it was time to leave the park. Not so. It was literally uphill both ways. Did you know that uphill both ways actually does exist? I just thought it was something parents made up to make kids feel guilty and lazy ("When I was your age, I walked 50 miles a day, in a blizzard, uphill both ways!"). But hey, guess what? It does exist. I HAVE LIVED IT.

Things did not get easier when we finally made it to the riverside bike path. Our storms from Saturday had cleared out, yes - but they forgot to take the wind. The wind on the way home was just relentless, ridiculously strong, and right in our faces. It was like the entire ride home was another hill to climb. Thankfully, I got Eric to agree that we should NOT ride the entire way back to Christopher Street to battle with the inaccessible PATH station again, but rather, we should take the ferry from 39th Street. More expensive, sure, but soooo much easier. So, we battled on to the ferry terminal then took our (rough, choppy) ferry ride back to Hoboken.

When we got back to our side of the river we stopped for a few more pictures at the ferry pier. Hey, it was a beautiful, clear day (windiness aside), so we couldn't help ourselves.

My artsy shot!

Midtown

Exhausted, but almost done for the day!

We then knocked out the last mile of our trip along the riverside in Hoboken, back to our part of town. We did it!

Let me tell you, I was SPENT at the end of this ride. Absolutely exhausted. But, there were definitely some positivies! First of all, padded bike shorts ROCK MY SOCKS. Guess who has been able to sit totally normally after this bike ride, something not at all possible last week? That's right, I have virtually no pain! A little soreness, sure, but not like the torture I felt last week. Also, my shoulders are sore and my thighs feel a bit tired today, but all in all, waking up today was significantly less painful than waking up last week, and I nearly doubled the length of my ride. Maybe this training is paying off!

So in some respects, yesterday's ride gave me confidence, but it also made me very nervous. Yes, I'm getting better, but I just don't know if I'll get to where I need to be by race day. By the end of our ride yesterday, I was so exhausted. I could not have powered through another 20 miles on top of what I already did. So how am I going to ride 42 miles on race day in 13 days? To be honest, I'm not really sure I can do it.

But, I'll just keep on training and hopefully I'll keep making good progress. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can get in another good ride next weekend that will really boost my confidence for May 1. I hope, I hope!

Hell's Kitchen

How was everyone's St. Patrick's Day? Eric and I had a nice, quiet evening in with delicious stew and a lovely look at a festive Empire State Building, which was lit green in honor of the holiday and stayed lit until dawn (usually the lights turn off at 2:00 a.m.) in honor of anniversary of the ESB groundbreaking in 1930. Yay for trivia!

St. Patrick's Day Empire State Building last night

You know about our Hoboken St. Patrick's Day celebration, but last weekend we also did another Irish-inspired activity: we took a walking tour of Hell's Kitchen (our old neighborhood!) that covered the Irish political history of the area, and New York in general. Very interesting!

Just a little bit of information and brief history - Hell's Kitchen generally refers to the area west of 8th Avenue, between 34th Street and 59th Street. (Our old apartment was at the corner of West 54th Street and 10th Avenue, so we're definitely in that range!) In the mid-19th century, Irish immigrants (many fleeing the Great Famine) settled in this area. The Irish population grew rapidly, and at one point it was estimated that there were more Irish living in New York than non-Irish. The congestion and poverty in Hell's Kitchen led many Irish immigrants to gang life and gangs soon ran the neighborhood, including one led by the notorious Owney Madden, who is said to have been the model for F. Scott Fitzgerald's character of Jay Gatsby. As gang life turned to more organized crime during Prohibition, Owney Madden became one of the most powerful mobsters in New York.

Hell's Kitchen was also the inspiration for West Side Story, which highlights the conflict between the Irish and Italians in the neighborhood when the Puerto Ricans moved in during the 1950s. The area continued to be home to violent gang life until gentrification in the 1980s changed the demographics of the neighborhood. Section 8 housing was set aside for actors and those making a living in the nearby Theater District, and campaigns were launched to run out the pornography stores and prostitutes from the area. Today, Hell's Kitchen is an increasingly upscale neighborhood, home to many young actors and young professionals.

Got all that?

Our walking tour started at St. Patrick's Cathedral, continued west through Times Square over to 10th Avenue, then south to 42nd Street. Our guide was clearly exceptionally knowledgeable about Irish political history, and told us all about Owney Madden, Tammany Hall, Jimmy McManus and other notable New York Irishmen. Although the tour was very informative, there were not a lot of sights to see, so I felt it might have been better suited for a lecture hall than a walking tour. However, I do love Hell's Kitchen, so I am always glad to go back "home!"

Our tour group listening to our guide's introduction on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral

An interesting piece of trivia from the tour: See how the building in the foreground is shorter and doesn't match the buildings around it? That's Magnolia Bakery, formerly Hurley's Pub, owned by an Irishman. When Rockefeller wanted to build his center, he bought up any surrounding buildings to use the land. Hurley refused to sell his pub, and so Rockefeller built around it!

Listening to our guide in Times Square, telling us about Broadway stars Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler

My handsome husband in Hell's Kitchen, just a few blocks south of our old apartment

Because I don't have many pictures to share with you from the tour, I thought it might be fun to take a look back at OUR experiences in Hell's Kitchen. I know, our pictures have nothing to do with the Irish political history of the area. But, Hell's Kitchen itself is very near and dear to my heart now, and we had some great times there. So, since we're on the subject, why not take a quick trip down memory lane?

Here are few of my favorite things/sights/places/memories of Hell's Kitchen...

Frequent street festivals in the warm-weather months, including the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival:

Watching the Fourth of July fireworks from the West Side Highway:

The Intrepid, movie nights on the deck of the Intrepid, and the surrounding parks:

Beautiful sunsets to the west (including Manhattanhenge), and great riverside parks in which to enjoy them:

Great shows taping within blocks of our apartment:

Fun shows to see at New World Stages, a great off-Broadway theater just blocks from us:

All the delicious food you could ever want (including our favorite regular spots: El Centro, City Lights Diner, and Daisy May's BBQ):

And of course, I love that in Hell's Kitchen, city zoning regulations prohibit buildings from being over a certain height. It was this regulation that enabled us to have our old view, because if there had been skyscrapers across the street, we never would have been able to enjoy this:

All in all, it was a great place to live!