New York

My friend Chris and I went to New York to celebrate her birthday. We took the train from DC up to Penn Station Friday afternoon. It's just over 3 hours by train. We got there took a taxi to our hotel ~ Hilton New York (on Avenue of the Americas). Since we got in close to eight we hurried out to find someplace to eat. We stopped at Rosie O'Gradys (they were participating in restaurant week). I'm glad I chose the restaurant week menu because I was not impressed with the food or the staff at this restaurant. We strolled around Time Square for a little bit before we headed back to the hotel. Saturday morning we woke up and walked by the NBC Studio, walked up to 5th Avenue (we were up to early to shop at this point though). We then headed towards Central Park and sat at outside seating just outside of FAO Schwartz. While we were sitting there we noticed the Wiggles having some sort of special with GMA (I think it was GMA). We also walked into the Plaza and were taken aback by how beautiful it was in there. Afterward we headed into FAO Schwartz and ironically enough I ran into a co-worker (I had no idea she was in NYC) ~ what a small world. Then we perused through Tiffany's (and no I did not buy anything).

We had lunch at the StarDust diner (the staff sings at this restaurant). While it was a neat environment it was way too loud for me! You are just stuffed into this restaurant ~ it's very hard to have a conversation there.

Chris was able to get us tickets to Wicked. It was FANTASTIC!!! I highly recommend seeing it.

Chris also made reservations at the oldest fine dining restaurant in America, Delmonicos (located in the Financial District). Whom also was participating in restaurant week. So we had a meal that cost us $35 a piece (would normally be well over $100 a piece). I had a salad, petite fillet mignon, and chocolate peanut mousse. Everything was absolutely delicious!!!

The only bad part of the weekend was our seven hour train ride home. We had some horrible weather come through our area that knocked trees on the the tracks and onto wires close to the tracks. We were two stops away from our vehicle and then we came to a complete stop for several hours.

Hope you enjoyed your birthday celebration Chris!! It was a great idea!!!

New York City

Happy Valentines Day!

Thanks Tim for the beautiful roses! Love You!!

Lori, Doug & Terry's DC visit

Lori, Doug and Terry came for a week to visit DC. We went to Mount Vernon, The National Mall, saw the movie Night at the Museum, Arlington Cemetery and made it to an Amusement Park. Doug went to his very first baseball game ~ he was able to run the bases after the game. I think everyone had a great time despite the rain we had a couple of days.

NYC

I love NYC ~ even though it's a total tourist destination. We went for our 7th anniversary. The first day was bone chilling cold yet we braved the lines to get on the Staten Island Ferry to the Statue of Liberty (BTW you need tickets to see ~ apparently none are available until spring). We went up in the Empire State Building and rode around on a City Sights Double Decker Bus (I think I would recommend Grey Lines over City Sights). We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and went on the night tour with the City Sights, this took us around to see all the Christmas lights and a stop at Grand Central Station. We couldn't even get close to Rockefeller on this tour ~ they had a detour because of the Hanukkah celebration. We actually were stuck at a stoplight for about 20 minutes because of the Hanukkah celebration ~ there were several vehicles with the Menorahs on top of them that were driving through the city give out things and music blaring from their vehicles. It was very interesting to see. We stayed at the Hilton NY which was just down the street from Radio City Music Hall. On Sunday, we woke up and headed straight to Macy's to see Santa. What an event that was! It went smoothly b/c we got there so early. The decorations were fabulous. We looked at all the decorated windows at Macy's ~ the theme every year is Miracle on 34th Street. When we left Macy's it had already started raining but at least it wasn't as cold as the precious day. We also did the NBC studio tour ~ we saw the SNL stage, Jimmy Fallon's studio. We learned about a 7 sec delay on television so they have no more Janet Jackson incidents. At the end of the day we decided to go see a movie, so we went to see Up in the Air and afterward we found an amazing Italian (Daniela) restaurant to celebrate our 7th anniversary at. I felt like I was back in Europe!! Monday was our last day in NYC, so we got up went for a walk up to Central Park, down 5th Avenue and made our way to Rockefeller center. While at the NBC studios we saw Kathy Lee and Hoda talking to James Cameron about Avatar. Our last event was the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. We had an interesting taxi driver back to the airport. He was telling us how Bloomberg is trying to get the middle class out of Manhatten. They ticket people like crazy in NYC but the cops that are there to manage the streets hang out of site and socialize ~ until an opportunity to ticket someone.

Christmas Tree at the White House

I must have been in Germany too long because I was highly disappointed with the White house tree. Total of 3 hours commute to see this tree and the trees that represent the states ~ now I know why no one talks about going to see the White House tree. Again, I may be marred by living in Germany and visiting the Munchen, Ludwisgberg and Stuttgart Christmas markets. Where people take pride in Christmas!! There were no decorations outside of this little area with the Christmas trees. Is that the way it has always been or is it because we are supposed to say Happy Holidays now and bypass Christmas!!!

Theo's Visit

Tim's Dad came for a visit over the summer. He stayed with us for about 12 days. A few of the days he spent on his own exploring the National Mall/Smithsonian. We went to the Holocaust Museum with him. We took him down to Fredericksburg and did a walking tour through the old town. Tim also took him to Mount Vernon. We were able to go to Baltimore and catch an Orioles game (which I believe was his first National bball game). Tim and Theo also found time for a bit of landscaping in our back yard.

Visit to St. Louis

Although I am always happy to visit home ~ it was a bittersweet visit. My Dad's mother was in a hospice and passed away while I was in St. Louis visiting. It's a rare occasion that I am around to help my family so I was grateful to be there for my Dad. I did take advantage of my time and caught a Cardinals game in the new stadium with my brother. I also was able to spend a lot of time with my nieces and nephews.