Supermoon

Did you all see the supermoon this weekend? In case you didn't hear about it, a "supermoon" occurs when the moon is full at the same time it is at its closest point to Earth. We read online that the best times to see the supermoon would be when it rose at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, and when it set at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. We knew it would be rising from the east, so over the NYC skyline, and that sounded like a great photo op so we made sure to check it out.

It was AH-MAZING. We stepped out the door of our building just after 7:30 on Saturday evening and I think our verbatim reaction was, "holy crap." I have never seen such a huge, beautiful moon. It looked sort of orange-ish in color and was just above the skyline, at about the Village area. We spent quite some time outside watching that beautiful moon rise over the city. Incredible.

Pictures can't even do it justice, but this is the best we could do:

Supermoon rising over the city

Big and beautiful

Enjoying the view at a nearby park

Supermoon reflecting over the Hudson. To add to the incredible view, the ESB was lit in colorful yellow, blue and red!

We got to see the supermoon again on its way down the next morning when we left for the half marathon, but we were in too much of a rush to get to our train to stop and take pictures. It was pretty awesome then too, though. I have just never seen anything like it.

My Husband Is a Half Marathon Rock Star

Sunday morning Eric ran the NYC Half Marathon for the third time, and he ROCKED IT.

The first year Eric ran the half, it was August and beastly hot. I mean, just absolutely ungodly. He made it through, which was an accomplishment in itself, because he ended up crazy dehydrated. It was just too hot to replenish fluids fast enough. But, he did it. Last year, his goal (a bucket list goal, nonetheless) was to run a sub-two-hour half marathon, and he did it with a time of one hour and 58 minutes (in much more agreeable 55-degree weather, I might add). However, that time was according to his personal timer, but when the official results came out, they had clocked him at 2:00:11! Eleven seconds over his goal! That was a great improvement over his last half marathon time, but there was a little grey area there as to whether or not he had actually run a sub-two-hour race and achieved his goal. Plus, he had quite a bit of knee pain during the race that he ran through, but he was sore for some time afterwards.

This year, he was excited to run again, but really didn't place any expectations on himself. As you may recall, he has been super busy at work for about the last month or two, often getting home at or past midnight, and thus has had no time at all to train during the week. His training has been limited to only weekend runs, and he only ran two runs longer than five miles at all this year. He felt rather unprepared but just went in ready to give it a go.

And he ROCKED IT. He beat his time from last year, finishing with a time of 1:57:46, and now can most definitely cross that goal off his bucket list. He placed 4,599th out of over 10,000 finishers. I signed up to receive text messages of his progress as he passed the 5k, 10k, 15k and 20k marks, and his pace sped up with each new update. Clearly, he was feeling strong. He felt great through the whole race - no knee pain, no dehydration, nothing. He was sore a bit afterwards, but dude, he just ran 13.1 miles. All in all, he did a great job and I am crazy proud.

So, let me tell you about the day in more detail than you would ever want!

First, it was COLD. Remember my whining about weather yesterday? Yeah, Sunday played a part in my overall disgruntledness. First of all, we left at 6:00 a.m., which is just not okay in my book. And the temperature was in the 30s. Again, NOT OKAY. Unlike last year when I wore a nice lightweight summer jacket, this year I had to be bundled up in my winter coat, scarf and boots. I forgot my gloves and majorly regretted it later in the day. Eric wore a long-sleeved running shirt under his t-shirt, and wore earmuffs and a sweatshirt to the race that I kept with me while he ran. NOT OKAY.

Anyway. We left at 6:00 and took the PATH train to 33rd Street, then grabbed a cab up to 95th and 5th for the start of the race. They were pretty intense this year in that only people with wristbands were allowed to enter the park near the corrals, so Eric stretched outside the park then we parted ways.

He looks ready to go!

He went in to find his corral and I went to find the starting line. Because they were so crazy about PEOPLE MUST HAVE WRISTBANDS, I had to walk waaaaay out of the way to even enter the park. As a result, I barely made it to the starting line in time to catch the end of the introduction of super-fast people and the National Anthem. And then, off they went! Ready, set, go!

Ready to go at the staring line

TV cameras ready to lead the way

Here he comes! Do you see him?

He is blowing me a kiss here, because he is romantic even when he is about to run 13.1 miles.

The course was the same as last year, which if you recall takes the runners on a loop and a half of Central Park for about 8 miles, then south on Seventh Avenue into Times Square to 42nd Street, then west to the West Side Highway for the remaining three miles to Chambers Street. (See the course map here.) So, after Eric passed me at the start I made the mad dash straight across the park then south a bit to catch him just past the 5k mark. This year I made it across with plenty of time to cross the street without dodging through runners, and was even able to see the leaders making their way past me. And after a short wait, I found Eric again, looking as strong as ever! Go, Eric!

Runners snaking through the park. This picture was taken probably 10-15 minutes after the starting gun, and these people are still trying to make their way to the starting line. There's just a gazillion people running this thing.

Central Park at sunrise is quite nice.

Leading men just past the 5k mark

Looking good!

After Eric passed me at that point, I exited the park at 86th Street and hopped on the C train down to Times Square. I found a spot along Seventh Avenue and waited for him there. Times Square is always fun because they have lots of live music, and it's very high energy. The runners really get into it and it's just a lot of fun. (The only non-fun part was that it was FREEZING and my glove-less hands were like ice by the time I left.) Eric was still looking great when he passed me here, and even did the "YMCA" as he ran past the music stand! What a show-off.

Runners making their way through Times Square

The music stand - there are four singers there leading the crowd in song!

I love this guy.

I don't remember what he was saying to me here, but it was probably something far too witty and/or sweet for someone who has already run over 8 miles.

After Times Square, it was time to hop back on the subway down to Chambers Street to meet him at the finish. Well, past the finish line, anyway. The finish line is always just MADNESS, and there was no way I could get down there in time to navigate the crowds and find a spot to see him finish. I did try to work my way up close to sneak a peek in hopes I would just make it in time, but as I stood there, I got my final text message that Eric had finished. When I saw his time, I was SO EXCITED for him! I couldn't wait to see him and congratulate him.

Pandemonium around the finish line at Chambers Street

My text messages of Eric's progress! FINISH!

We met up at the Irish Hunger Memorial, where Eric was able to show off his medal and I was able to appropriately gush over him. Way to go, Eric!

Handsome Half-Marathoner Husband

Eric's medal! The back says "Run through the heart of it" with the date. Very nice.

We wandered through the post-race festival at North Cove Marina for a few minutes, but it was just so stupid cold that we packed it in pretty quickly and went on back to the PATH train. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and resting. All in all, it was a great day.

The runner and his proud wife after the race

Congratulations, Eric! I'm so proud of you. You're the best.

The Weather is Crushing My Spirit

First things first, I have to tell you that Eric ran an awesome half marathon yesterday! I can't wait to tell you all about it and share pictures and brag about him like crazy, but I have lots of photo sorting/editing to do first. So, in the meantime you get me being dramatic and whiny about the weather, and tomorrow will be Eric Is Awesome Day. Be sure to check back!

But today, the weather has crushed my very spirit AND it's a Monday so a whine is in order.

Can I tell you about the gloriousness that was last Friday? People, it got up to 72 DEGREES. That's a SEVEN in the front of that number! And the sun was shining! It was amazing. I took Achilles for a nice long walk - get this - WITHOUT A JACKET OR COAT. That is the first time in months I have not worn a jacket/coat/heavy sweater/sweatshirt outside. It was ah-mazing. We walked down the Pier A Park, where we sat and took in the view for a while, before continuing on the Pier C for a bit. Achilles even opened his face and panted a bit. It was so fabulous.

My view at Pier A Park. Check it out - no big winter boots! BALLET FLATS! Without socks! My bare skin is exposed to the elements and I'M NOT FREEZING!

This dog loves sunshine and warm weather. He's a Florida dog, after all.

Pier C looking pretty in the warm weather

Of course, I knew that high temperature wasn't meant to last. It was supposed to get quite chilly again over the weekend (and it did). However, Sunday (yesterday) was the first day of spring. That's promising, right? Spring! It's really happening! At long last!

And then I woke up this morning. To rain and SNOW. Snow, people. Yesterday was the first day of spring and today it snowed. And not only that, it's supposed to snow again Wednesday, and possibly also on Saturday. (Insert cursing here.) I know that really, it's just stray flurries and I'm sure there won't be any accumulation, but do you know how soul-crushing it is to come off a 72-degree day only to see snowflakes outside your window? Not okay.

All I can say is that next week's Florida trip will not be coming a moment too soon. I got my first taste of warmth and sunshine and now I need it in my life.

And that is my whine for this dreary Monday morning.

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!

Luck O' The Irish To You!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Are you all wearing your green? Drinking your Guinness and whiskey? Eating corned beef and cabbage? This Irish girl will be sporting green, making my Guinness beef stew (recipe posted last year) and watching the New York St. Patrick's Day Parade on TV (it's too crowded and long for me to be motivated to go in person!).

Of course, Achilles is Irish-by-adoption, and today he will be embracing his mother's roots to celebrate. He wishes you a very happy day.

Achilles is only seven in people years, but 49 in dog years, which makes him of legal age to partake in some green beer today. And if I know anything about Achilles, I know that he loves a good Irish par-tay, and I'm sure he would love for you to join him.

However, Achilles reminds you to drink responsibly, lest you end up looking a little unintentionally green tomorrow morning:

Happy St. Patrick's Day, friends!

Unexpected Fireworks

Last night Eric and I were hanging out on the couch, relaxing and enjoying our evening, when all of a sudden at about 10:30 we started hearing booming fireworks noises. I got up to look out our window and could see the colors of fireworks reflecting in the windows of the building across the street from us, which told me the fireworks must be over by the river (behind us). I wondered aloud how long they would last, and if we would have time to run downstairs to check them out. Eric decided to hop right up, grab the camera and run downstairs. Achilles and I were a little slower getting out of the house (since it is still winter coat weather here), but we met Eric outside.

Sure enough, there were fireworks going off along the river over in NYC, just north of Chelsea Piers. They lasted for quite some time, probably a solid 20 minutes or so. They were beautiful to watch, with the colors reflecting in the river. Lots of people along the Riverside Walkway stopped to watch and take pictures.

This is what Eric first saw as soon as he stepped out of our apartment building

We're a little washed out, but Achilles and I are watching the fireworks from our side of the river

I love the purple reflection in the water

Smiley face!

Wow!

This is my most favorite picture of them all.

VIDEO: Fireworks!

As soon as we got back upstairs, I scoured the land of Twitter to try to figure out what the occasion might be for fireworks. The two leading theories seemed to be that they were either the official New York St. Patrick's Day Fireworks, or they were just practicing for the official fireworks (if there even are official St. Patrick's Day fireworks!). Today NewYorkology (my favorite NYC info site) says they were for the 250th Anniversary of St. Patrick's Day (they even used one of our pictures in their story about it! We're totally famous.).

Whatever the occasion, I'm glad we got to see these fireworks. One of the things we have been most excited about with the move to Hoboken is the potentially amazing view of NYC's Fourth of July fireworks from this side of the Hudson this year. However, the location of the July 4th fireworks still seems to be up in the air. We would be super bummed if they moved them back to the East River this year, but even if they do, at least we got a little taste of what it might have been like!

Ah, you just never know what your day (or night) will bring when you live around here!

Delightful, Delicious, De-Lovely

The title of this post perfectly describes our Friday evening! I have Anything Goes to thank both for the title inspiration and the aforementioned wonderful night out.

As you may recall, my Valentine's Day was spent running around town in pursuit of cheap Broadway tickets, including three hours spent waiting in line for $10 preview tickets to Anything Goes at the Steven Sondheim Theater. As I stood there forever and ever I remember thinking to myself, this show better be worth it. Well, it was!

The show is scheduled to officially open on April 7th, but previews started Thursday night. So, we saw it on only the second night of previews. And it was fabulous. This revival stars Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney, and Tony and Academy Award-winner Joel Gray as Moonface Martin. (Full cast listing here, if you're interested.) Eric and I both thought the show was superb. It was rather entertaining and just an overall very enjoyable night of theater. The cast was excellent, the dancing was delightful, the music was great, it was just good wholesome fun. My favorite numbers were, of course, the two big showstoppers: the "Anything Goes" tap number at the end of Act 1, and the ever-so-showy "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" in Act 2. Overall, we really enjoyed it. (I'm not a very eloquent theater reviewer, but I did find this review that I thought was pretty spot-on, if you want to read more.)

To add to the fun, the audience was rather enthusiastic, probably the most "into it" crowd I have seen at a Broadway show. Every song was met with thunderous applause and hoots and hollers from the audience. Also, we were surrounded by what seemed to be a high school group (a choir trip, apparently), all sporting their letterman jackets (class of 2010, seriously?). They were just so excited to be there, which was really sweet. When the overture started, they all started bouncing excitedly in their seats, and they sort of danced along with a few of the numbers during the show. It was very cute!

All in all, there's just nothing like an evening at the theater, don't you think?

 

Anything Goes at the Steven Sondheim Theater

After the show, we wandered over to Times Square for a bit. Even though I generally try to avoid Times Square like the plague, sometimes it's nice to just be a tourist and take it all in.

 Hanging out in Times Square

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway...

Tell all the gang at 42nd Street that I will soon be there...

(Yes, I am singing two separate songs in this post. Well, three, if you count my post title. Times Square does that to me.)

Happy New Yorkers

As we made our way back to 34th Street to catch the PATH train home, we also caught sight of the Empire State Building up-close-and-personal. It was lit up blue, red and white for the Big East Basketball Championship, happening right up the street at Madison Square Garden (we went to it last year!). I do love that big ol' beautiful building.

Empire State Building towering above 34th Street

When we got back to Hoboken we picked up some food on Washington Street and then called it a night. It really was a lovely evening out and about in my most favorite city!