true boy tales: A small bite of the Big Apple

Sunday, December 11, 2011

A small bite of the Big Apple

Jon decided it was time to part ways with his beloved BMW since it has passed 250,000 miles and with traveling every week, the constant repairs were getting too much. He needs something more reliable and could use something with much better gas mileage. So he started shopping around the US via Cars.com for his perfect match. He found his new lovely lady (an Audi A6) in NYC so lucky for us, we got to take an unexpected babymoon and spend a couple days together in the city. It was actually my first time there so we just hit the major highlights and then drove home over 2 days.

Jon was able to use his points from all his traveling to get a free hotel right in SoHo (yes, there are some benefits!). We had dinner at a great Italian place that friends recommended in Little Italy where everyone was named Anthony or Joey and brought dessert back to our tiny hotel room. It was so strange to walk out of our hotel the next morning into a city full of people. It really felt like a different world than little old Des Moines (and I noticed how out of place we were since I'm pretty sure we were the only ones in the city not wearing leggings or skinny jeans...or all black :)

We walked around Times Square and Rockefeller Center and then went to Chinatown for lunch.

We had Dim Sum (which we learned were "small bites" served in steamer trays that they just walk around offering to you one after another) at a very authentic Chinese restaurant. It was a fun experience. I enjoyed watching a four generation Chinese family at a table nearby with a little baby eating noodles off of her mom's chopsticks.

We went to the park near the statue of liberty that overlooks Ellis Island. It was amazing to think about Judie sailing into that exact spot on the Queen Mary when she was 7!

It was the perfect little short visit. We had so much fun together, like we always do when we have a little break from the rigors of parenting. It's always so refreshing to be able to focus only on each other and to still feel so in love with my adorable hubby! :)

4 comments:

NikkiDecember 12, 2011 at 7:00 AM
Brent and I still talk about our babymoon to NYC over 5 years ago! We went for Dim Sum too and laughed because we had no idea what we were picking from the carts passing by because everything was in Chinese! When we left to come home, brent said it was the first time in his life he felt like he was leaving a place where he belonged :) maybe someday :) so glad you guys got to cram so much in a few days!
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Elisa ClarkDecember 12, 2011 at 7:48 AM
What a fun trip! Great 'excuse' to go to NYC. I need to remember that if I want to get Michael to go somewhere with me I just need to find a good deal on a minivan in a fun place! :) Clever!
Looks like you had a great babymoon. And Hav, you look great!
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mandaDecember 12, 2011 at 11:36 AM
SUPER FUN!!!! I have always wanted to go to NYC!
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Rick GlassDecember 20, 2011 at 3:32 PM
We LOVE NYC!! ...where's the car pictures??!
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for the book lovers {my recent favorites}:

Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan: An incredibly haunting medical memoir. There's a lot of medical info to read through but I didn't find those parts boring and difficult to wade through. I thought she shared just enough. But if you like a book that's easy to read, this isn't it. I couldn't get this one out of my mind for a very long time. An unforgettable true story.
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes and What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty: I'm just going to lump these two together because they're in the same category. I'm calling them deep chick lit. A perfect summer book to get lost in. Read them. Both. I promise you from the bottom of my heart that you will LOVE them. (I liked them both way better than Where'd You Go, Bernadette.)
These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner: Most of my favorite books have a main character with a whole lotta grit. I wasn't quite sure about this one when I first started it but, oh, did it sweep me in and not let me go til the last page. I also love a book that makes me "emote out loud" as I like to think of it. This one had me smiling all the way through and crying my eyes out at the end. It follows a young girl through her life in the Arizona Territories in the late 1800's. A must read for anyone who likes Historical Fiction.
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. I LOVED this book. Its a very well researched historical fiction novel about a young girl kidnapped from her village in Africa and sold into slavery. It follows her through her whole life and the unbelievable heartache and trauma she lives through. I've been telling people I liked it as much as Unbroken but the main character is so much more endearing and has so much spunk.
Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison. I have a thing for modern day memoirs of utterly heartbreaking stories (Like Breaking Night and Blackbird). This is a Foster mother's first-hand account of the children she took in over the years and the unbelievable trauma they went through before they came to her.
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. I loved this lighthearted yet emotional story of a strong woman making the best of a hard life in the Southwest, beginning in the 1930's. I love her writing style--just cuts to the point of every story without too much "fluff" and yet tells it in a way that you can picture everything in vivid detail. Her memoir, The Glass Castle, is one of my all-time favorites, and this true-life novel about her grandmother didn't disappoint.
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Modern day fiction about a girl raised in Foster homes and her struggles throughout life. She learns about the Victorian Era language of flowers and that becomes a huge part of her life. I finished it in two days. An easy read but very emotional and moving.
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. The true story of a man's experience after Hurricane Katrina when he decided not to evacuate in order to look after several properties he owned. Quite an unbelievable story and so hard to believe this happened in the US only a few years ago.