Four's Company

It's now been more than a week since this foursome left NYC in the dust, and we continue to miss them! My two aunts, Sheila and Stacie, and two cousins, Maren and Maleah, bravely survived our 250 square foot apartment. They were troopers! Here we are, on our way to earning a Ph.D. in air mattress inflation.



This crew accomplished more in 3.5 days than some do in a month. They visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Times Square, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Little Italy, Central Park, the Natural History Museum, the New York Public Library, and Union Square. Throw in a Broadway play (Wicked), a bus tour, shopping in Soho and Chelsea, and a thwarted attempt to visit the Met (it's closed on Mondays, they found out the hard way), and you can understand why they were exhausted when they left! Below are some photo highlights.

Us at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. They enjoyed it as much as we thought they would. I think they even got some ideas for their own gardens.

The bonsai collection fascinated us.

Maren found a secret entrance to this tree (sounds weird, but it makes sense, trust me) and we enjoyed the shade.

Shopping in Soho with these girly girls was an adventure that often left Bryan out on the sidewalk, playing games on his cell phone (rarely). He was around long enough to snap this photo of us in the Prada elevator.

Maleah surprised me when she requested to go to Marc Jacobs. What a fashionista! Though it was closed when we got there, she passed for a true New Yorker.

While we were shopping in Soho, Sheila and Stacie were on the bus tour of a lifetime! One of their tour guides kept saying, "And that's the difference," even when there was nothing to compare, which became the running joke of the weekend. It's so funny, I may just start using it in my day-t0-day conversations. "I would like to order a grande mocha. And that's the difference." The bus also pulled over to a "scenic" location (below) and tried to convince tourists this was a huge photo op!



We ate dinner in Little Italy in perfect weather. What fun! We felt like world-travelers - that is, until I ordered fettuccine alfredo. I probably should have been more adventurous.



The girls were always up for a treat - the best quality a visitor can have! We sampled the peanut butter and jelly gelato, but ended up getting lemon-lime gelato. In case you didn't know, second to Bryan's attempt to find a good malt, he's always on the hunt for lemon gelato (not to be confused with lemon sorbet - they are totally different, according to Bryan). We still haven't found the real deal, but the lemon-lime gelato was close.



The group wanted to try some New York deli pastrami. Artie's came through for us!



How can you go wrong with pastrami? Add cheese, sauerkraut and dressing - how is this legal?!



Umm....oops. Another treat stop. This time it was Rita's. Maren enjoyed her Italian Ice/Custard combo, but the real hit was the lemon "Blendini" with pretzel pieces my aunts ordered.



Some of our best times were the random moments, of course. Check out Maleah's new pal to the left. It doesn't get much more random than this.



When the conversation slowed (okay, actually, it never did), the only obvious distraction was to figure out how to get Maren and Bryan in the same photo as Maleah's reflection in the mirror. Mission accomplished!



It was so great having this cheerful group out to visit. It was like a big slumber party. We heard talking and laughing well past midnight - always a sign of a good time! Thanks for visiting and you're always welcome back!

Museum Mile

New York museums are incredibly expensive, so when we found out about Museum Mile night - the once-a-year event where the Upper East Side museums open their doors to misfits like us looking for free admission - we put it on our calendar!

Our first stop was the Met. Two free admissions = $40 value. Cha-ching!

Cheer up, dudes! It's Museum Mile night!

The Met has paintings of flowers, trees and a bearded man. Alyssa said they are famous or something.

For us, this was the best undiscovered part of the Met - the view from the roof!

On the downside, the Met custodial staff must be experiencing cutbacks - they are allowing a huge bird's nest to be built up there. Actually this is "art" made of bamboo that the artists will continue to build throughout the summer.

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Two free admissions = $30 value. Cha-cha-ching!

Museum of the City of New York. Two free admissions = $20 value. Cha-cha-cha-ching!



Of course, the entertainment of the museums was not enough for New Yorkers. On the street, there were kids' shows, jugglers and musical performers. Way to go over the top, New York!

Although it was very crowded, we had so much fun, especially considering the great value! Total savings = $90. ChachachachachachachaCHING!

Jet Setters

This was a jet-setting weekend for everyone but me. Bryan flew to Omaha for a friend's wedding and my two friends, Marnie and Jessica, flew to NYC to visit! While Bryan was living it up in Nebraska, we managed to have our own fun here in New York.

We kicked off the weekend with a lovely late lunch on the Upper West Side. Our next stop - the Staten Island Ferry and the Statue of Liberty, of course! That evening we caught up on old times at Academia di Vino, a wine bar in our neighborhood.

The next day was jam-packed with activity. We wandered through Central Park in the blistering heat, walked to the Met and then took a much-needed gossip magazine break at our apartment. Seeing celebrities in fancy clothes on the cover of glossy magazines is enough to put anyone in the mood for some Fifth Avenue shopping, so away we went.

After checking out (and feeling incredibly uncomfortable in) Fendi, we stopped by Gucci.

No Fifth Avenue trip is complete without a stop at Prada. While inside, Marnie spotted a pair of flip-flops for $210. Are you kidding me. It's no surprise that our Fifth Avenue adventure left us shopping-bag-less.

In addition to fancy shopping, we went to an NBC studio tour together and saw the studios of SNL and Jimmy Fallon. That evening, we headed to an improv show and made the ever-relaxing stop at Times Square. You'd think all of the activity would have tired out the weary travelers, but not these two! They were up the next morning by 9:00 and ready for some brunch just in time for another day of shopping.



The shopping destination was Soho, and it treated us well. Jessica found joy in a Kate Spade bag....



....and I found joy in free appetizers at a promotional event nearby. There's something for everyone in this city!



Marnie couldn't leave the city without finding a special souvenir for her adorable one-year-old son, so we were off to FAO Schwarz.

I'd never been to FAO Schwarz and while it was amazing, I quickly concluded that I would not bring my child here. The begging would be out of control!







The Big Piano.



My favorite part was the design-your-own Muppet station.





Lucky for me, Jessica and Marnie's flight was delayed for a short time and despite my wish that it be delayed indefinitely, they eventually flew back to Minnesota. The visit was too short, but we made the most of every moment!

Eric & Kate

Memorial Day weekend brought us a couple of familiar faces - my brother, Eric, and sister-in-law, Kate! As an added bonus, we got our first glimpse of our growing niece-to-be! We're sure it was tough for them to leave Mr. Jakes but they managed to take off for the long weekend.

The first night we decided to go to the Museum of Modern Art where the weary travelers saw a very interesting exhibit of performance art. The next morning, I got up at 6 a.m. to wake Eric and Kate so that they would feel right at home since they have a toddler. For some reason, they didn't appreciate this as much as I thought they would. After allowing them to sleep just a bit longer, we walked over to one of our favorite places - Central Park. Luckily we've had some good weather for our visitors and this weekend was no exception.



Since Eric had never seen the Statue of Liberty (first time in New York!), we went down to Battery Park to take the Staten Island Ferry across the bay. As you can see, the lovebirds enjoyed every minute of it. If you can look past the radiating glow of love that surrounds these two, you can see the Statue of Liberty in the background.





In addition to a free look at the Statue of Liberty, the Staten Island Ferry provided unbelievable views of the Manhattan skyline. As a side note, we couldn't believe how many sailboats were out that day.



After getting back to our apartment, we were starving. What better way to satisfy your hunger than family-style Italian? For dessert, the restaurant had something called the "Titanic." Believe it or not, the below picture is only a "half-Titanic" or as they call it, a "Tugboat."



Even with all 4 of us, we couldn't quite finish (but came embarassingly close)!



On Sunday, we thought we would try somewhere new - well, a new part of Central Park.

In the afternoon, Eric and Kate took in a matinee Broadway show, Promises, Promises and gave it great reviews!

For dinner that night, we met up with our cousin, Bret, and his girlfriend, Lindsey at a cool Cuban restaurant in Nolita (North of Little Italy - I had to google it). Great food, and a new place for us!

On Memorial Day, there was an event not far from our apartment where Mayor Bloomberg was speaking. We timed it perfectly and were walking by right as he was getting out of his car. Even more impressive, though, were all of the troops in attendance.





That afternoon, we were attacked by dinosaur skeletons.



The Natural History Museum is practically right next door to another favorite place - Shake Shack. Kate ventured past the regular burger and ordered one topped with a cheese filled mushroom. She loved it! (And we were all a little jealous.)

On the final night, we went to a great French restaurant in Greenwich Village where Alyssa and I ordered the Croque Monsieur, something we've always wanted to try! It was basically awesome.

After dinner, we saw an improv show featuring some of our favorite comedians. While the show gave us a lot of laughs, nothing compared to the laughs we had watching The Bachelorette (Eric is hooked). The point is, the best part of their visit was just hanging out together. And we can't wait to be back in Minnesota soon, hanging out with our little nephew Jake! Thanks for visiting Eric and Kate!