Tuesday, March 30, 2010

NYC trip

We arrived in NYC to find a field of taxi's awaiting us...Literally there was a lot full of taxi's waiting to take people to the city.
For lunch we ate at a diner famous for their huge sandwiches. We arrived on St. Patricks day so we were also served these very green pickles!
Hence, the huge sandwiches.
Welcome to the big city!
We stopped by the Hershey store on Times Square and drooled over all the chocolate- just look at the size of this candy bar! No, we didn't buy it, kinda heavy for our luggage...
We also stopped at the M&M store in Times Square, where you can find every color imagineable. But the price? $12.99 lb.
See. Expensive!
Dinner was at a fun diner called Stardust Diner. The waiters and waitresses sing broadway tunes while they are waiting tables. It was so much fun there!!
Stopped at the huge 3 story Toys 'R' Us on Times Square and purchased tickets to ride the ferris wheel inside. Our tickets say " your ticket to fun!" So cheesy, but funny. We kept those tickets so we can pull them out later for our ticket to fun.
The toy store had a lego section- Jonah's favorite toy. They had a huge lego building of the empire state building, the statue of liberty and some other buildings. Jonah wanted this one.
Times Square! (the three of us)
One of many subway trips- hence the terrible lighting, can't help it.
There are open markets along the street, it's so great.

We saw a white pigeon roaming around.
Lots and lots of walking, my feet were so sore, I ended up taking my shoes off this day!
Nothing like greasy yummy, huge NY style pizza. Real pizza.
I found Belle and Boo cards in a cute artsy shop! I love her stuff, my sister and I read her blog!
We also had lunch one day here- it's the restaurant they used on Seinfield.
Quick trip to the Museum of Modern Art:
this is an Any Warhol
Seurat (famous for pointillism)
up close of Seurat's piece where you can see the dot pattern from his brush.
Finally saw it! Van Gogh's Starry Night. And it was actually a lot smaller than I thought.
Mondrian.
Pretty impressive- Monet's water lilies.
See how big Monet's piece is?
Dinner at an Italian place, delicious.
the old, kiss in the hotel lobby in front of the mirror picture.
this orange juice was $6!
and Jonah chasing the pigeons.
waiting for the subway...my 28 week picture too.
chinatown.
famous Broadway Street.
Ground Zero.
there she is!
our looking at our reflection on the ferry window pic.
Parsons school of design.
Our visit to FAO Schwartz- fabulous store! You have the option of personal shopping with a soldier :)
One of my favorite toys there- an elephant, so soft!
We went to see the West Side Story on Broadway.
Our fabulous sparkly view from the Empire State Building, so beautiful!
And it was very very windy!!!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

currently

Well, I have not been great at taking weekly pictures, but here is a recent one of me now- past 29 weeks. I do have one in NYC to count for 28 weeks, I'll have to post later. Still editing the many many shots from NYC, we had so much fun shooting everything.
We also picked up a onesie for little baby Fish, to match our own I love NY t-shirts. Too cute! Another purchase was this little bunny from one of my favorite illustrated stories, "Guess how much I love you". We found the bunny at FAO Schwartz- did I mention I love that store? I guess it's a good thing there isn't one near us, or I'd spend too much, and then taking a child in there too? Did you know that you can have a worker there shop with you? We saw a man dressed like a toy soldier assisting a little boy and his family, they were riding scooters too! I'll have to post the picture Jonah took of him.
We also picked up an ornament there (the blown glass t-shirt) as we like to try to pick up ornaments on all our trips, good memories!!


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

NYC

NYC what is it about you??
Yes we survived our big trip to the city. I was so nervous about the flying and walking but it was fabulous and I'm so glad I could go! We saw so much in the few days we were there (Wed-Sunday). What exactly did we do? I had to write down the details in our travel journal so I wouldn't forget as I already am...it was so much! We saw Rockefeller Center- which is really small, and that was surprising, they make it look huge on T.V. but it's this little area in between some buildings. We went to Times Square of course, where all the tourists flock and take pictures- there are even tables and chairs there so you can just sit and watch the cabs and people around you. The Broadways let out there too, so it's gets crazy at night. We went to the huge Toys R Us at Times Square (three stories of fun) and rode the carousel in it ( a real life sized one). We went to the M &M store- where they have every color imagineable for only $13 a pound- we didn't buy any, and the Hershey store, where it smells heavenly like chocolate. We went to my favorite store ever- FAO Schwartz, where they have 3 floors of toys- it's where the movie Big was filmed with Tom Hanks playing on the life size piano- which is there and you can play on it. They had some awesome toys there, some life sized, including an elephant and giraffe I'd love to have (but for $500 each, a little too high for us!). We did get a little rabbit for our son from my favorite book and illustrator, Guess how much I love you.
We also went to Ground Zero to see where the twin towers were, we stopped in St. Peters Chapel which was across from it, a memorial now since fireman and workers all rested there during that horrific event.
We went to China town, where I picked up a lovely scarf for $5- the fashion everywhere is leggings and scarves. The whole wearing the leggings as pants, doesn't really fly with me, but I think they are cute with a long shirt! We also picked up some scarves for a friend that asked us to get her some and gave us some money, and I tried my very best to haggle with the street vendor, which we did end up with a good deal I suppose.
We did get some real NY pizza- which was so yummy, the thick cheese and pepporoni was delicious, and the crust was thin. It was greasy and I have pictures of us wiping it down with napkins but soo good! The pizza in NY is different, I kept getting a small scent of anise, maybe it's the water they use?
Other sites we saw: MOMA (modern museum of art) where we saw Monet's Water Lilies- very impressive scale, Andy Warhols pop art, Mondrian, Seurat's pointillism in his work, and Van Gogh's Starry Night, and some other works. It was cool to see them close up after learning about them for years, and being artists we can appreciate their work all the more.
We also saw a broadway- the West Side Story, and Jonah waited in line for tickets so we got them for 40% off, still pricey but a good discount. The theater was a new experience too, it was cool to attend a broadway, and pretty good, but the seats were so close together!! Our leg room was smaller than a plane, crazy!
Then we stopped at the Empire State Building at around 11p.m. which was breathtaking. The city went on for miles, and was all sparkly and shiny with the millions of lights. It was so windy up there too!!
Then on Sunday we attended church in Times Square (there's really a Times Square Church) and went to a tour at NBC studios. Then we flew back home and passed out on the couch....
It was a fabulous whirlwind trip full of activity, new experiences, great food and good memories. I'm sure we will look back and remember this trip for years to come and I'm so grateful for the chance to go!!
It was so different going there after hearing about it and seeing it for so long (I'm a NY native, originally from upstate) and it was definitely different from what I thought.
The space is so much tighter and smaller almost than I pictured, but overall it was much safer than I thought. If you keep moving and don't target yourself as an obvious tourist that doesn't know what there doing your fine. We utilized the subway and walking along with some crazy cabs to get around. I learned I'd never ever drive there- you have to be out of your mind to drive there. Everyone honks and swerves, delivery trucks park along the sides, sometimes in the middle of the road, you just go around them, cars cut each other off, pedestrians are always walking across intersections...craziness.
The sounds I became familiar with were the honking of horns- all the time.
It's such a different lifestyle, I am thankful I grew up in the country, this trip made me realize I could never really be a city girl, it's just not for me! I saw kids with their moms and I can't imagine how it must be to go to school, get groceries and such all in the city. The nice thing is everything is so close, you can pick up an apple from a cart, or a bagel, or grab some fresh produce from the open market, or fresh cheese from the deli, but then you have to cart it back by foot or take the subway. Then the buildings are smaller inside too, bathrooms are smaller, unless you are rich and famous and can afford a big space. It's expensive too! I am a coupon girl and I don't think you can use the couponing system at their markets!
So overall, it was a wonderful trip, a good experience and full of many memories to come. I have so many pictures, I'm editing now, so perhaps I can post a couple soon.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Glucose test done- 28 weeks.

I can't believe I'm a little over 28 weeks now, where has the time gone? I took my glucose test yesterday,and I was actually the most nervous about how the orange stuff would taste. How silly eh? It wasn't too bad. I think chilling it helped- and it reminded me of these little bottles of koolaid we used to get as treats at the grocery store. We also had our regular appointment with our doctor. It's so nice that Jonah goes with me, have I mentioned that? I love sharing these appointments together. My doctor said that I'll start coming in every 2 weeks now. I was surprised. I guess I haven't realized how far we are now, getting closer each day! That's exciting, but also a little scary to be honest. I'm thrilled to meet him, but I also am still so unsure about a lot of things. This year is certainly flying by. Each month brings us closer to this little baby, and reminds me how fast life is. I'm sure when he's born it will not slow down.
So what is 28 weeks like? More pains in weird places, I've started having rib pains and aches, ligament and joint pains in my hip/pelvis area. My doctor said it's normal and will probably not get any better. But I am also at the end of the pregnancy so that's encouraging. At least I didn't have these pains 6 months ago! My body is just stretching and growing away, and will continue to til birth. I'm relieved everything I feel is normal, that is reassuring. You know I tend to want to think the worst!
But anyways, another check on the list with the test done! I was told no news is good news, so I'm praying that's the case!

Monday, March 15, 2010

NYC

A fresh new week already. This past weekend we turned our clocks ahead, so we are all missing that hour I'm sure. Actually I haven't really noticed. But I do need to change our microwave clock- it's the only one still showing the old time so it keeps confusing me whenever I look at it!
I am looking forward to our flight out Wednesday to NYC! We have narrowed down our list of places to go so we are a little more focused now. It looks like the weather is supposed to be nice but we'll see what happens- with all this rain lately!
Here are some cool finds we may try to visit:
a fish and chips place, an italian bakery with fresh cannoli's, a famous pizza place, a bakery with italian goodies, and a cheese place (fresh mozerella is made and a variety of cheeses and italian imports!), and a ginormous sandwich place,  along with breakfasts at cafe's we are sure to get some good eats.


Everything looks so good, but the prices will add up so we are going to try and plan our meals with a budget in mind! Along with food places, we are planning on seeing the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, FAO Schwartz, and the big Toys' R Us, Times Square (our hotel is very close), the Met, Soho, Empire State Building, Little Italy....and a variety of other places. Praying for a good flight and good weather! Today I have my glucose test- yeah. I am praying it goes well and it's not discusting. I have my little orange bottle of sweetness waiting for me to drink! Then onto packing later tonight. So it will be a busy two days before our trip, but it's sure to be fun. I just hope we don't forget the camera!