Sisters in the City 2

On Tuesday E and I had a massive shopping day in New Jersey. (no sales tax on clothing!)  As a shopping break, we ate lunch at Bobby's Burger Palace (my 2nd time there - YUMMY).  Pat has been studying a lot for the CFA test, so we kept out of his way and went out to dinner at Felice's that night... and then stayed up late watching silly movies.  So fun.

Wednesday, we commuted into Manhattan on the bus, grabbed coffee and walked up to Lincoln Center. 

It was much hotter out on Wednesday and I kept refilling my water bottle and then needing to find facilities. :o)  Anyhow, we walked through Central Park, past the great lawn...

 The boat house...

A lady trying to pose her dogs for photos...

the pond for motorized boats....

And then made our way down to FAO Schwartz...

Then we grabbed a bite to eat at Rock Center, checked out Saks, then found our way to the theatre for our 2 pm matinee of Sondheim on Sondheim at Studio 54.  In my opinion it was a kind of slow musical.  I know lots of Sondheim so I was expecting to really like it, but I did not.  My favorite parts were the video clips of Stephen Sondheim himself speaking which I found quite interesting.  The set was cool, but I just missed a true storyline.  We both agreed that American Idiot was way better. 

We had exciting dinner plans that night at Del Frisco's.  Pat and brother-in-law Mike met us for a steak dinner. Unfortunately Maura couldn't join because she was on a work trip.  All four of us opted for the amazing pre-fixe: salad, fillet, sides, and dessert.  Delicious!  When we were leaving we saw Mary J. Blige coming to be seated.  She sat just 1 or 2 tables from where we had been sitting.  Cool!

I hope I showed E a good time; I sure had fun.  Saying goodbye to her at the airport on Thursday was a little sad, but I know she is happy to be back home to her puppy.  I obviously needed to get back to work too - very happy to know I'll see my sis again in July!

A couple pictures to show I even got her to puzzle.

Love ya E!

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend!

Bronx

Sister fun continued! 
Sunday was a lazy day around the house, TV time, neighborhood walk, and driving into Hoboken (yes, Hoboken again) for book club.  After 2 months off of book club, Ginny kindly hosted us during her moving week.  She's been in the same Hoboken apt for several years and I have to say I'll miss the place.  But I'm happy that she's now got her own place in the Upper East Side.  We happily sat around the floor (and the last remaining furniture) eating pizza and Crumbs cupcakes, just chatting about new jobs, travel and lots of random things.  Of course we also discussed the book, A Reliable Wife.  In general, I'd say we all gave it a pretty favorable review.  I was pretty impressed because E even read the book as an honorary book club member.  :o)  She however was not wild about the book.  (Ginny also gave us all a party favor!! more on that some other time)

The next day, E and I took quite an adventure.  I mustered up the courage to drive across the George Washington Bridge and into the Bronx.  Destination - Bronx Zoo.  I have always been a little bit nervous driving in NYC and have majorly avoid it, but luckily all went very well.  That morning we had debated postponing our zoo trip because the weather was a little questionable as there was a chance of rain.  I'm happy to report the weather turned out perfectly - a little overcast and therefore very comfortable, not too hot.

The first thing we saw was the Chilean Flamingo.

And then some really neat birds.

The gorilla we saw was pretty far away, but I thought this huge gorilla hand print was pretty cool.

One of my favorite parts of the zoo was that peacocks were just walking everywhere.

We took the Asia Monorail to see some of the animals that are otherwise not accessible.  (I guess it would be too much ground to cover with walking trails)

American Buffalo

And now the American Flamingo. (I found their colors more vibrant than the Chilean)

Then again, maybe I just liked them better because they were closer. :)

Hard to see here, but it's a peacock - with 2 of her babies that are visible.  We had just watched her shield the rest of her babies by basically sitting on them.  We also got to see the last remaining babies go under moments after this picture.  Very neat. 

The zoo had a lot to offer.  Of course I didn't get pictures of everything, but possibly my two favorites - 1. dwarf mongooses and their newborns and 2. wild little squirrel monkeys chasing after each other. 

That night we had a feast of grilled beef tenderloin, baked potatoes, and roasted asparagus.  And it sure was fun to have a girl around to watch the season premiere of The Bachelorrette! 

White Skirt Night

Our third annual Summer Kickoff took place in Hoboken again this May.  Even though the number of attendees were down a bit from last year, I still had a blast!  We started off at the W hotel's Chandelier Room yet again.

Here's me and Candi:

E and Brett:

Laurisa, Candi, Erin:

Candi, me, Erin:

Meredith was in town from LA, so she made it too!

Group shot before leaving the W.

Next we walked over to the Wilton house, where the wonderful bartender Jack was expecting us.

This is what I would call the typical Meredith picture :)

And typical Candi...

Not so typical E?

Good times!

And let me give credit to Andrea, for making the trip to Hoboken at midnight.  You rock!  I wish I had a picture of you in your sparkly white dress!  Good thing you made it - I doubt there will be a 4th Annual.  :-P

And credit to Pat for picking us up in the wee hours too. xoxo