Trip to New York (2.28-3.2-2009)

(Molly Post)

So Cody decided it was time for a vacation. He had a Sunday/Monday off, so I took off Monday and we were going to try to get out of the city - we planned to go to Long Island to the wineries for 2 nights. However, mother nature had other plans - 2 snow storms in 36 hours. So instead of leaving, we took a "trip" to New York for the weekend. Saturday evening, we went to Carnegie Hall for the Vienna Philharmonic. It was really cool. We were in the first row, first seats on the 3rd balcony. Below is a picture of our view and a picture of Cody and I (with Cody's finger slightly over the flash...sorry).

After Carnegie, we went to PJ Clarke's (a bar my uncle took my parents and I to over Christmas), which was right across the street. We had a beer and some french fries. Very yummy. By this time, it was around 11 PM, but the night was young - we were in New York after all! ;) So we went to Rosie O'Grady's (same place we have our UCD/Ireland Reunions) - we figured there would be live Irish music since it was a Saturday night. We were correct, and it was even the same guy that normally places for our Reunions. It was a fun time!

On Sunday, we ventured to Brooklyn for the first time - to Williamsburg to be exact. I know it sounds lame that we haven't gone to Brooklyn in 2 1/2 years living here, but it's far! (Really, it took about 30 minutes to get there, and it was really easy.) We had looked up a few fun places go and I drew a map of the main streets from Mapquest, so we had a general idea what we were doing. Our first stop was Radegast Beer Garden for a couple beers and some sausage. It made a great lunch.

From there, we wandered around the town, in and out of little boutique stores. We even found a great hat for Jess (we figured we had to bring back a souvenir from our trip!). We also went to a Belgian Beer Store with over 100 unique brews. We bought a six different beers to try. Sunday night, we had a quiet dinner at home.

On Monday, we had a slow morning. It had snowed about 4 inches overnight, so the morning walk with Bailey was a ton of fun (she loves the snow). The rest of the day was pretty much a wash - we had some errands to run and we ended with a late lunch at a midtown Irish pub for some Chicken Pot Pie (it really it the spot - it was COLD outside). Below are some pictures of Bailey on the walk. A video is also attached.

Update...February

February

1) Superbowl Sunday/Brewing Beer: I had to work for part of the day on an event for a client. Luckily, it was just a few blocks away from our apartment, and I was home by the end of the 1st quarter. (I got Cody a beer brewing kit for Christmas) Feb 1st was the day Cody picked to brew his first batch of beer. It took a little longer than we expected it would take, but it was fun. I had to leave for work before it was finished, but Cody, Tim, and Jess did a fabulous job finishing. (I know, I've tasted the final product!).

2) Jen & Andrew's Wedding: one of the most beautiful I've ever been to. It was in New York at the Tribeca Rooftop (look it up online). They had a cocktail hour, then the 20 minute ceremony, then another cocktail and appetizer hour (and by appetizer, I mean 5 different food stations and passed hor d'oeuvres), then dinner with speeches, dances, cake cutting, etc. I knew a couple people from NBCU and a few more that I met at the bach party the weekend before. It was a fun night. Cody and I had to tear ourselves away around 1 AM since he had to work at 9 AM the next day.

3) Cody's 31st Birthday: not his best birthday...but then again, when you compare to last year...how could it have been good? We weren't in Europe! The good part was that Carol came to town to get her wedding dress. She drove into the city and I convinced her to have a few drinks so she couldn't drive home...whoops! ;) So she had to stay the night! It was great to spend some time catching up with Carol.

4) Michele's Birthday: For a New Year's Resolution, the NY girls have decided to have a monthly Thursday dinner...it's me, Jess, Amber, Erica, Michele, and Therese (Mish's roommate). January was at Jess' apartment, right after she moved in. February was at Michele's for her birthday. We had a great time. That weekend, for Michele's actual birthday, we went out for a decadent dessert downtown, and then to a trendy bar. I'll let the pictures do the talking here.

Update...January

January

1) The beginning of the month sucked. I had to go to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for a week...or what I thought would be a week. About 4 days into the trip, my grandfather passed away. He was 93 and it was his time. He was definitely ready (even if those he left be behind were not quite ready to say goodbye). I flew to St Louis and Cody joined me for 2 days (the important days). In a weird way, it was a gift from my grandfather. I was home for 5 days, the longest I've been home in two years. And since it was for a funeral, I didn't have the same errands/responsibilities that accompany most trips home. I just spent time with my family. I saw all of my cousins, got to spend time with my new little cousin (cousin Amy's baby), and of course see my parents & Lily.

2) Cody's sister, Jess, moved to New York! She moved the last weekend of January. Their dad, John, helped Jess move across the country. It was a ton of fun to see him in New York. Cody was so excited the week before they arrived, he was actually singing and dancing around the apartment. The only bad part was the physical move. Let's just say Jess doesn't know how to pack and she lived on the 5th floor of a walk up. I moved in 2 pairs of skis. And a water cooler the size football players use to pour Gatorade on the coach at the end of the Superbowl. What she will use that for....well, your guess is as good as mine. But we love her. ;) Below is a picture of me helping unload her truck, and one of the team that moved her in. She had more stuff than I thought would EVER fit in her studio apartment, but it actually all found a place - and her apartment looks great. (Cody also showed his dad around the city during his weekend trip...they went to the Intrepid and some other stuff...maybe if Cody ever posts a blog again, he'll tell you about it).

3) Seeing the old roommates/Jen's bachelorette party: So, on one jam-packed Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of seeing the summer roommates AND going to Jen's bach party. I started at Chrissy's apartment on the west side for some catch up and Guitar Hero. Then made my way down to the 20's for a tapas dinner and Champagne bar. It was a really fun night.

Update...December

Let's see. December was a bit crazy for both Cody and me. Sorry for the lack of pictures in this blog...

1) Work life = crazy for Cody. It's the holidays, people like booze, what do you expect? He was working like crazy, 6 days a week.

2) The economy kept going down the tank, so NBCU decided to lay off 500 people. 8 were in my division, including 3 in my department, one of which was my boss. I've been through layoffs before (three times actually), but this was the worst. At least the one that directly affected me most. With the reorganization, I ended with a new boss and a couple new responsibilities. Most was good, though some changes have made the day-to-day life a little more frustrating. A promotion did come of it though - not official until January, though I knew about it in December. I am now a Marketing Manager.

3) Amber and Erica decided to throw a Holiday Party. Jess was in town the same weekend looking for her very own New York apartment, which she found over at 78th and York. Pictures will tell this story...

3) My parents came to New York for Christmas. They arrived December 23 and stayed through December 27th. We went out to dinner a few nights and cooked Christmas Dinner at home. Well, not our home, my mom's boss' home. Aka, the gorgeous 2 floor apartment that overlooks Central Park. Their kitchen is 3 times the size of ours and they have never used it. We had to bring all the cookware to make dinner. Rob & Celia came for it also. We cooked Lobster Risotto and Beef Tenderloin. I know, fancy, but it's Christmas! We had a great time. Apparently, we have no pictures of Christmas...all I have is one of me decorating the tree...but if some turn up, I will re-post.

4) New Years Eve: we went to Jen & Andrew's for a "low-key" evening. We had a lovely dinner with lots of great Champagne. My cousin, Cece's, boyfriend was in New York for a concert and had a place to stay all week, except New Years Eve. So he stayed with us. After his concert (and about 10 minutes before the ball dropped), he joined us at Jen and Andrew's. We went to a bar with live music around 1AM, and were home by 2AM. It was a fun night. There are definitely pictures from this, but where the memory stick went, I have no idea (it was the sample memory stick that came with my NEW camera!). When it turns up, I will update with a photo or two.

Update...November

Let's see, November. We had a few big events.

1) Bailey got a parasite. She's all healthy now, but it took 10 days of medicine and 3 stool samples spread out 3 weeks apart each to be sure. Let's just say there went another $500 to "the dog that gets into everything."

2) We cooked our first lobster. My mother received a gift certificate to some Live Lobster website and decided that she could afford to buy lobster, whereas Cody and I could not. They were delivered alive on a Saturday morning. All day, I had to listen to the lobsters moving inside the foam box. It was a little creepy. That night, we cooked. It was an interesting experience...one that we have not repeated yet, but look forward to now that we have a HUGE pot (the beer brewing pot...).

Before:

After:

3) We hosted our 3rd annual (my 5th annual) pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving on the Sunday before the big day. This year, it got a little out of hand...that is to say, we ended up with more people than our apartment could hold. We invited the usual suspects: Brian & Erin, Amber, Michele; my aunt and uncle; Jen & Andrew; and Tim and Charles. But this year, there were 2 girls working at K&D that we'd hung out with a few times and really liked, so we invited them. Then Charles got back together with his girlfriend, so we of course invited her. THEN, one of the girls from K&D's boyfriend works around the corner, so he stopped by. Basically, we had to un-assemble our futon and put the pieces in the bedroom. We rearranged all the kitchen furniture and had to angle the 8ft table to allow everyone to fit. Oh, and we had to do a last call for the bathroom before everyone sat down, because once all the chairs were set, no one could move! The food and company were great, which made all the trouble and anxiety worthwhile. Best part of the night: our pastry chef, Val, trying to make homemade whipped cream (per Cody's request) after drinking her fair share of wine...let's just say the cream was all over the kitchen and a bitch to clean up the next day! ;)

I also went home for Thanksgiving, which was a lot of fun. Bailey and Noah (my cousin's baby) got along so well. We even discovered that they shared a birthday. It was great to see family and friends for a long weekend.

Update...October

October: Trip to Colorado

So I know it's been forever since we've updated. I left off with October. Basically there is no way I will catch up considering March 1st is about 36 hours away. So my hope is that the saying - a picture is worth a thousand words - is true. Because I'm basically going to let the pictures of the last few months tell our story...

We went to Colorado in October. It was a quick trip - in a Friday, out a Tuesday. We took Bailey, it was her first experience with the Wild Wild West and I can't say she enjoyed it. Mainly, she was just confused at why people didn't fawn over her like they do in New York. Also, she got attacked by Cody's parents cat, Rocky. Luckily, Rocky only nicked the bottom part of Bailey's eye lid so all was forgiven. :)

During the trip, we went to a football game in Laramie, WY with some friends. We started with a tailgating party with some of the best hot dogs I've ever tasted. Oh, and lots of Coors Light.

During the trip, we had a sad death: my camera. I apologize for the picture quality that follows. When I turned on my camera on that cold (blistery) October Saturday, it just didn't focus...and it never recovered. After about an hour or so tailgating, we went in for the game. We made it through the first half, until the winds picked up so much that I couldn't stand it anymore. We finished the day with a bar crawl to some of Cody's favorite dive bars.

The rest of October was filled with the normal routine....work, football on Sundays, etc.