wakesurfing

having fun at the lake...

i love ny -4 & 5 of 10

70. going to saturday brunch with friends-especially if we get seated out on the sidewalk
69. visitors. and playing tour guide. not that i won't get any in CA, but I've loved living in a destination city so people come to visit lots. craig feels the same. (hah)
68. Craig's classmates from columbia
67. cheek kisses. at first, i was a little confused about the "air" cheek kiss. after i figured it out, i loved it, and did it with everyone i met (that was all the first time i lived here). then when we moved back 4 years ago, it wasn't as novel to me and i was over it. lately, love it.
66. my blue backsplash in my kitchen
65.H&M. especially their kids clothes
64.our dodgeball team. thanks andrea. it was fun being NY city champions and being in the church news for it.

63. turtle pond, and the racoon family that lives there, and the castle.

62. "the status"....dorky, i know. it just feels cool to say you live in Manhattan
61. broadway shows. my top 3 favorites through the years.... 1-thouroughly modern millie, 2-wicked, 3-jersey boys.

a few days ago we went to soho, and i experienced all of these next ten things.
60. riding the subway. (it took me a long time to like the subway... to get to the point where i thought of as first option over a taxi. the farther i am going, the more i like it).
59. skinny, cobble stone streets
58. street vendors selling cute things. not the ones all over the city selling ugly bags. the fun jewerly ones in soho.
57. cafe habana-really good cuban food.


*56. la esquina. great mexican food. you can get cheap take-out at the counter or eat at the nicer cafe inside or eat at the super nice resturant downstairs- if you make reservations a month in advance or are a celebrity.
55. constantly running across photo shoots or a movie/tv show set (we saw gossip girl being filmed on lafayette and prince while in soho).
54. boutique stores...fun when they are one of kind, but i even like regular chain stores in soho because they are so cute. i've never being to a cuter looking jcrew.
53. SHOPPING in general. OH, the shopping in this city.
52. really trendy people everywhere...though the upper west side struggles. not that i dress in the latest fashion trends, but i at least like knowing what they are and can wish i was wearing them.
51.** Purl Soho. by far the best quilting fabric store i've ever seen. there isn't an ugly roll of fabric in there. purlsoho.com

*didn't eat there this trip
**went there 2 days later, sans family

the perfect Bar BQ chicken

I used to make this fancy marinade every time we had a bar bq that involved measuring. julia first introduced me to using salad dressing and it it so much better than any marinade. people always ask how i make this, so i thought i would type it out since it's pretty complicated.

marinate chicken tenders* in creamy Caesar salad dressing overnight, all day or just for a few hours (the longer the better), cook over the grill and serve with stonewall kitchen honey bar bq sauce.

*for some reason the perfect size. you can just cut half a breast into a few strips, too. I usually buy around 1/4 lb of meat per adult.

parker quotes

yesterday i discovered that some of our baby cherry tomatoes in our window boxes were finally ripe, so i opened the window and showed parker that he could fit his hand through the child window guards and pick the red ones because they were ready. "just the red ones", i said. ten minutes later he came to show me his treasures. his tshirt pocket was overflowing with about 20 tiny tomatoes...red and green. i didn't say anything. just gave him my eyebrows raised mom look.

he said, "that's ok. that's ok mom. the green ones get ready in my pocket. it take looooong time. green ones get ready." (he eventually transferred them into one of his crocks, and put them next to his pillow while he slept. miles found them around the house today and ate most of them.)

today i said, "parker, will you help me clean up this messy house?" he said, "no. sorry mom. i can't. i have to play mr. potato head."

central park pics

when julia was here last month, she took a bunch of pics in central park. i loved every single one. here's just a few....

mi familia

my family went on a back east church history motorhome tour last week and came by the lake for a day while we were there. craig was happy to have little playmates that don't get tired of his endless activity list and that teach him how to make marshmellow guns. the highlight was going over to the pratts and going down there amazing new waterslide. it's probably 200 ft long at starts at the top of a steep hill and ends with you flying into the lake. awesome.

you should be listening to this

music blog. check it out:
you should be listening to this

winni for the 4th

i can't think of anywhere i'd rather spend the 4th of july then lake winni. recipe for a perfect holiday: bluebery pancakes, followed by decorating the golf carts to drive to town to watch the parade from (mitt decorated them assisted by parker and thomas), a small town parade full of crazys, barBQ with a flag cake, and finish by watching fireworks from the boat in the bay.and try to squeeze in some volleyball.





a little nap waiting for fireworks

miles is just happy we woke him and took him to fireworks

i love NY -100 things i'll miss about NY ( 3 o f10)

80. seeing famous people everywhere....ok, kind of a lie. i cannot spot one for the life of me. i bumped into julianne moore once in james pearse in soho and didn't even know it was her til craig told me. but craig can spot one from down the block, even when they are in sweats, sunglasses and a hat (he pointed out david schwimmer to all of us at the park friday night).
79. central park zoo. the perfect size zoo (really small), really pretty, and a short jog away.
78. william. he is our superintendent and i love him. this old Irish guy that takes good care of us and loves my boys.
77. watching crazy dog people with their dogs. it is hard to pass someone pushing their dog in a stroller or better yet, wearing them in a doggie bjorn and not laugh out loud. i guess that we will know davis and melissa for the rest of our lives, so we will still get our fill watching them with lyla.
76. the occasional sunday dinner at the Moe's or Whitings. for some reason, i always feel like i've left the city when we are hanging our at the moe's mansion (what it feels like to me) or the whitings tribeca loft.
75. meat packing district. just recently feel in love with it when craig and stayed at 'the standard" for a few nights for our anniversary. i could wander around cobble stone streets for hours. especially when there is a great french restaurant at the end.
74. grimmaldi's in brooklyn. a little scooter ride over the brooklyn bridge, followed by the best pizza ever, eaten with a group of friends in ron's perfect picnic spot is a good night.
73. the sunset over the hudson seen down every street. because the buildings are all so tall, you can't see the sun going down past a certain point, if you aren't on the river. the exception is if you look down the side streets as you walk/run/drive north or south. you get to see it over and over.

72. Zingone's. a little market on our block run by this italian family. it's where i get my last minute groceries, where parker reaches from the stroller to grab a banana/apple from the outside stand while yelling, "i'm taking a banana mary!" (not to me...the main cousin there is named mary). i have my cc on file, which feels so decadent for some reason. the old mom/grandma/aunt runs the front desk and has full conversations with me and parker in italian and has no idea we don't understand her. cousin vinny is getting more ground turkey tomorrow and brother tony will give parker a sucker everyday. they also deliver. if i'm in the middle of making dinner, and am short an item or two, i just call. " hey mary, it's mary. can you send up an onion and a loaf of french bread?" "oohhh. wantchya making? Pasta? I'll send up some fresh basil, too. but you gotta come by tomorrow. i got to should you pictures of tony dancing to the salsa band i got to joey's 50th birthday. you'll die!"...........
71. symphony/opera in the park. which i'm sad that i'm missing tomorrow night cause i'm out of town.