First Trip to Long Island ( 6.24.2007 )

There is no rest for the wary this summer. On the last Sunday of June, Molly and I made the trek out to Long Island for an engagement party for her friends, Claire and Josh, friends from college.

We started out the day at about 11am taking the subway down to Penn Station (which is in midtown on the west side, about a 30min subway ride), where we caught the Long Island Railroad out to some town, where we transfered to another train and rode for about another 45 min or so. The whole trip out took about two and a half hours or so, but it was really nice to get out of the city and see trees and country. Josh and Molly's other good friend, Joanne, picked us all up at the train station out in Stony Brook, NY.

At Josh's parents house there was a big buffet for everyone, with lots of food, beer, and bocce. Molly got to talk to all her friends that she hasn't seen in a long time, and I got to do some meet-n-greet. Which we all know I'm not great at, but her friends are all real nice, which made the event a lot easier.

After a couple of hours we had to leave to catch our train back to the city, it was a short event, but fun!

Chrissy and Joanne, two of the "Summer Roommates".

There was a mean game of Bocce played which I ruled of course! Josh then informed us of their house rules (a little different then the way we played back in the boat) and therefore Molly was the winner. This will not be the end of the match rest asured!

Yea, I played with the cat outside, I don't know his name, or even know if it's a he, but it liked me. Go cat go!

At one of our many train transfers during the day. Even though we spent four hours on the train for two hours of face time, it was worth it. Getting out of the city for a few hours is always nice, and to see some old friends, priceless. Oh when we got home, we went straight to Tasti D Light. Good times.

Park Naps and an Appetizer Crawl ( 6.17.2007 )

Our friend Amber had been out of the city for over a month, and this Sunday seemed like the perfect day to catch up now that she had moved back to the city. The plan was to go and spend the day in Carl Schultz park over on the East river in the 80's, since we have never been there. It was a great idea on Molly's part, except it was (what I thought then) a really warm day. So, in all my wisdom I said that we had never spent a lazy afternoon in Central Park with Amber. It qualified for Sunday rules (something we had never done before), so we made a lunch, grabbed all the sports equipment that I could stuff into one beach bag (soccer ball and Frisbees) and found ourselves under some big trees in between what must have been two extended Hispanic families. We had good tunes and kids running around us all afternoon. We ate lunch, threw and kicked the ball, and slept in the shade for about three hours. It would have been great, except for the next day I woke up with little bug bites all over my arms and legs. Stupid bugs.

Molly and Amber. Welcome back to the city Amber! We all missed you.

Damn I'm a cool versatile sports kind of guy. I can throw Frisbees and bounce balls off of my head.

After the park it was way too hot to cook anything and Amber didn't really feel like going home yet, so we decided to go out and visit some restaurants on the Upper East Side. A great way to visit a lot of restaurants is to go in for appetizers and drinks. So we decided to do some restaurant hoping for a four course meal. The first place was an Italian place called Bardolino. We had some Carpaccio and Martini's. Good, not great.

Second was a place picked by Molly called Uva. It was an Italian themed wine bar. My expectations were very low. These joints are usually filled with hipster jerks or uppity wine snobs, but to my surprise this place was full of parents and grandparents, and nice staff. Who knew that wine bars could have nice servers? Anyway, we had a sweet cheese plate with unpronounceable Italian cheeses and figs, with bread and olive oil, and I enjoyed a Lambrusco in a traditional bowl. Yea, I'm traditional. (Note my concentration on not spilling a drop)

Third was an Irish pub. Enough said.

Last was a place Molly had eaten with her parents. Baraonda. She said it was great, I disliked it immensely (Hipsters, loud house music, Euro trash), but I've been told that before 10pm it is very good food, and quite nice. One bad experience should not ruin something, but it did for me. That is what was so fun about the evening though, lots of different experience, and we never even left the one block.

A Nice Little Sunday ( 6.10.2007 )

It was the day of the Puerto Rican Parade, a rather large event up here in the El Barrio. Since we live on the border of Spanish Harlem and the Upper East Side you could feel the energy in the air, and at about 2am you could hear it as well. It seemed like everywhere you went, there was another Puerto Rican flag on a car, or a painted face, it was crazy. The Puerto Ricans put the Irish on St. Patty's to shame, which by the way is no small task in this city. Their parade ran basically the same route that the St. Pattys did, up fifth ave to somewhere up in Spanish Harlem.

Molly and I had other plans than people watching this day though, we had Home Depot on the mind. We decided to walk down to 57th and enjoy what was a very nice day. We stopped for some pizza and a checked out Dylans Candy Bar, then to the Depot for celling fans and supplies.

The quote to sum up our day: "Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time. "

This guy was so cool, I actually made Molly run about three blocks so that I could get a good picture of him. He was singing songs in Spanish, selling flags, and weaving down Lexington Ave in his wheel chair making traffic drive around him.

Our new Fan! After Home Depot, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond, to cover all the Big Box Stores. Some more purchasing was in order, but carrying the fan three Avenues and five blocks was real fun. Makes you feel like a New Yorker.

We took a taxi home and got our new fan opened. That's when I realized that someone had pulled a fast one on Home Depot. Our fan had clearly been used, abused, fixed (poorly), and returned. It was unrepairable and unusable. The wires had been cut too short, and where the covers had been dented, the previous owner had repainted the fan with white-out. This incident also made me feel very much like a New Yorker. My rage was increasing with every second. Good thing Molly took over and made the call to the "Home Despot". They were unwilling to deliver us and exchange our old for a new. So off to the Subway we went. Molly is sporting this years new line of fan!

Back home, the installation of the new one was a dream. No extra trips to the hardware store, nobody got shocked, just cool cool air from our new friend, Windy.

Madison Wedding ( 6.1 - 6.4.2007 )

My cousin, Beth Anne, was getting married and she (foolishly) invited the Steamboat family out to join in the affair. Of course since she is the best cousin I have, I only asked when and where. Jess flew in from Denver, the folks from home, and I brought Molly to Wisconsin to meet the family. It had been nearly 7 years since I had last been to WI, so as usual there was a lot of catching up to do with a lot of family members that I normally never see. While there were a few that we didn't catch, the group of people that we did see was as great as ever. Cousin Kathy still makes us all laugh!

When you pull into the driveway at my Grandfather's house, this is the first, and largest, thing you see. Yes, they like the badgers in Madison. Just wait till they play the Wyoming Cowboys, then they will see what real fans are like. GO POKES!

Mom had planned a large BBQ at Grandpa's house and invited all the family to come over. Unfortunately, the weather was crummy so we had to play inside. The boys (Austin, Josh and I) found things to do, such as play on Grandpa's rocking horse of death and break out the squirt guns in the rain. Josh and Austin started spraying each other until they turned on Austin's little sister, Megan. (Austin and Megan are Beth's kids, Josh is Kathy's) Megan recruited me for her team and she won when I pinned the boys together and she sprayed them with the super soaker. Good times!

Water Guns + Football Helmets = Fun

On Saturday, Mom, Dad, Jess, Molly and I went to the farmer's market, which was once again rained out. So we went and visited the War Museum. It was once housed in the Capital building on State Street (similar to Pearl Street in Boulder for reference), but it outgrew the Capital and is now housed across the street. Molly thought it would be fun to call the 1960's and tell them to bring back bell bottom pants.

After a little war culture, we decided to go to one of Dad's old haunts down on State Street, "The Brat Haus" (although it is now called something else). He claims that he used to be able to eat six double red hot brats and drink a pitcher of beer back in the day. Of course that was when he would walk uphill both ways to school in a foot of snow and Madison was farm country as far as the eye could see. Still, it was fun to see a place that really hasn't changed all the much since the time that they went to school. Oh, and it's a lot cooler than CU Boulder.

A Badgers Clothing shop, apparently the color wheel in Wisconsin is only made up of red and white!

On Saturday night, we all went out to Beth and Gary's house to meet the other side of the family. Gary's friends and family were all present. We had lots of food and beers, and Molly, Jess and I played with the kids again. Austin and I threw the baseball some, until my bare hands were bruised from catching the ball. Next time, I bring my glove. Then, we played tag until I got a little spinney from running around the car in circles too many times. Oh, we graffitied the driveway with chalk as well. The whole driveway was tagged with my name, a little something I picked up from my time in Spanish Harlem.

Afterwards Jess, Molly and I went to the Mid-Town Pub for some pints of the cheapest beer I have seen in a year, since the Wyoming wedding. 5 dollars a pitcher. Good times. Thanks for the beers Jess!

Sunday was the wedding. Early in the morning, Dad, Gary, Austin and I built the Archway for the evening's event. It took a little rigging but it worked alright. Dad and I then went home, got dressed, and took the rest of the family on a scenic view of the countryside. Once again, there was farmland as far as the eye could see. After the scenic detour, it was time for the main event. It was a nice little wedding. They took their pictures right next to the arriving guests. Then, cool ceremony. Megan was the flower girl. She did a great job tossing petals everywhere, and then tried to pick them all up when the ceremony was over. The above picture is Beth and Megan. Sorry it's not a better picture, but I only have a phone as a camera, what da ya want?

We sure look sharp! You can take us out on the town.

Oh yea, that's a six foot tall Bucky the Badger statue in the airport gift shop.

We ended the trip by spending all of Monday being delayed all over the place, but it was a great trip. Just seeing my parents would have been worth it, but to be there for Beth Anne's wedding and to get to play with the kids was sauerkraut and a beer with a double red hot from the Brat Haus. Oh yea, and farmland as far as the eye can see.

Memorial Weekend Bridal Shower

(Molly Post)

So Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, while Cody was working and my parents were enjoying their 35th Wedding Anniversary together, I took a train about an hour north of the city to my friend, Gabby's, Bridal Shower. She is getting married to her high school sweetheart in July. Gabby and I lived together Senior Year of college. Erica came to pick me up at Garrison, a small train station about 40 minutes from Gabby's house. It had pretty views looking across the Hudson River.

The bridal shower was supposed to be a surprise. Her finance, Sean, dragged her out of the house in the morning for "brunch", giving all of her family and friends a chance to get to her parent's house. Everyone was waiting on the back porch to surprise her when she came back home. Unfortunately, from where Sean parks his car, she could see all of us waiting, staring at the door to the house waiting for her to walk outside. She ended up sneaking up behind us and surprising us!

We hung out for a few hours. Gabby opened all of her present. I was giving the task of creating her rehearsal bouquet (for those of you who don't know, it is a paper plate with all the ribbons from presents given to the bride at the bridal shower, that she uses as her bouquet for the rehearsal ceremony the day before the wedding). Look at my handy work below!

After all the official festivities, the girls hung out around Gabby's pool for awhile catching up and planning the bachelorette party.

Memorial Day BBQ's

Memorial Day was a busy weekend here in the City. In fact it was the start of the craziness that has become our first summer together in New York. It seems as if every weekend is now full, with people visiting, or us running errands or flying of for weddings. This summer is going to be fun that's for sure. Molly and I started it off with a bang. Molly's folks came to visit the city for "meetings" which means that Molly was going to be going out to dinner a lot, and that I would join at any time I could because a dinner that is paid for is the greatest thing you can hope for here in the land of the $10 burger. Thank you again for all the great food Patty and Greg.

Molly was able to go out for dinner and see her parents, aunt and uncle on Friday night. They went to a little restaurant down in the village.

She also spent all day on Sat with the folks. I of course was at work, slaving away, making the big money, someone has to pay the bills. On Sunday I was able to join in all the fun. We first went to the Met with the folks for a nice roam around the Impressionist Gallery. It is always the highlight of the gallery. Lots of color, and great people watching.

On the walk over we ran into this building with lots of paper flowers dangling off the side. Why they have all those paper flowers dangling off the side I couldn't tell you, but it was cool!

On Sunday night, one of Molly's good friends from work invited us over to their new apartment on the U.W.S. for dinner. The apartment was sweet! I had met Jen and Andrew late last year when the four of us went to the Bears v. Giants football (where we all nearly froze waiting for the game to start). Jen was foolish enough to ask us over to partake in food and wine, and did we ever. We ate what must have been half a cow, a forest of greens, and drank two wineries dry. I'm not sure where Andrew kept finding all of the supplies but we walked away from the evening happy and full. Oh and they served the greatest dessert. We will pass along the recipe next time we see them again. Thank you Jen and Andrew again for a great night!

On Monday, we took a walk with Molly's parents. We went to the Conservatory Gardens in Central Park and it was at least 10 degrees cooler in the shade of the trees. Here we sit on a bench. Man we are all good looking.

Once again, this was Monday at the gardens, but this was such a cool photo taken with my phone that I had to put it in.
Molly's folks stayed at a hotel that was about five blocks from our house. They had a huge rooftop garden with a view of the Reservoir and of the San Remo Hotel (the two little spikes across the way in the middle of the picture). It was a good weekend, and a nice start to the summer.