The City That Never Sleeps

Matt and I traveled to NYC this weekend with Michele and Jeff for Dodgers vs Mets baseball. We left after work on Friday and after holding onto our nipples several times, GiGi and Jeff got us safety to the hotel in great time. We hung in the room and Jeff and I fought sleep, while Michele and Matt slept peacefully. After waking up early, I did my run on the hotel's treadmill then enjoyed a nice continental breakfast. Matt obsessed over the weather channel worrying about rain and potential hail. The day started off cloudy and gray but I was convinced that the weather channel's guesswork was again, wrong. However, after exiting the Subway once we entered the city, we were subjected to some wetness. We stopped at a drug store and bought rain ponchos. Let me just tell you, we looked good, I mean real good...


May the force be with you Jeff...

We met Jeff's friends, Jim and Gina who live in the Upper East Side. They were so nice and it was great to talk to them about what it's like to live in the city. Jim is a writer who is working on writing a TV show pilot for Fox and Gina is a 2nd grade teacher in Harlem. It was interesting to hear her talk about how the kid's lives are. The kids come to school with bruises and if their elevator is broken in their project housing, alot of them don't come to school because they don't want to walk 54 flights of stairs. Many of the children's parents do not celebrate their birthdays or Christmas. So Gina will make cupcakes for their birthdays and give them presents at Christmas. It is one thing to read about poverty and the inner city but to speak to someone who sees it daily, firsthand, it makes me very thankful to have had the opportunities that I have had in life.

It was so nice of them to hang with us and take us to a couple "hidden gems" of their area, Jack Russel's for lunch and Gino's for dinner. With lunch, we were spoiled with delicious pitchers of Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat and great food. There was a street fair outside where I bought a big container of rosemary for only $2!


Jim, Gina and me



After lunch, we took the train back out to Queens where Shea is located. Matt and I became accustomed to being heckled for being Dodger fans but it was worth it to show pride for the Dodger Blue. The initial seats we had were a little on the nosebleed side but we were able to see everything, except when the clouds and or birds blocked our view. :-)


One of the reasons I heart NY


Matt and I removed our oxygen masks for this photo

Dodgers were leading 2-0 until the 8th inning when Broxton blew the game and Beltran hit a 2 run home run to tie the game. I blocked out how they took the lead but we were unable to recover from the Met's rally.


'cause it's ONE, TWO, THREE strikes your OUT at the old ball game!!!


HOMERUN!!!

After the loss, we headed back into Manhattan around Time Square to meet Bomber, Jim, Gina and a couple of Bomber's friends for drinks and dinner. After much discussion about where to eat, we decided on Gino's on the Upper East Side and I LOVED it. What a great choice. It is a small, family owned italian restaurant where Jim and Gina frequent. I ate until my body was mad at me and then ate some more. After dinner, I felt like stretchy pants and a bed where the best decision but we were in New York City so I rallied and we went back to Jack Russel's for drinks and the yankee game. We were there a couple of hours and then headed back on the train to Queen's where our hotel was located. I slept like a baby and after enjoying continental breakfast again, MD drove us back to VA.

See Matt's Blog and Michele's Blog for additional info and photos.

Thanks Michele, Jeff, Jim and Gina for a great weekend!

This upcoming weekend, Matt and I are headed to my parent's house to go to Busch Gardens with Steph. After 2 weeks of Bar prep classes, I'm sure she needs a break. I'll be writing in the next couple days to update my "running totals." Hope everyone had a great weekend and has a great week.