New York City Days 3 & 4

Saturday morning, we did a little bit of shopping on 5th & Madison & in the Upper East Side... shopping meaning Laura & Emily bought & I simply looked because I'm not about to buy new clothes in my "condition." (Ok, I did get one scarf, thanks to Daddy C.)

We had lunch on the Upper East Side as well and then headed to Central Park.  It was neat to see part of the NYC marathon course and also some features of the park we had never seen before.

a pic of us by this fountain was our 2009 Christmas card!

L loves her little nephew. And the fact that I'm getting "fat." 

The Boat House

LOVE Central Park in the fall w/ my hubs :-)

 We went back to the hotel and my sisters and Grant and I went out to dinner as my parents had a black tie event at Ellis Island and we were not invited.  We split up after that and Grant and I saw a second show- "Follies," staring Bernadette Peters.  Grant loved it, I liked it (it was cool to see Bernadette Peters)... however, I preferred seeing Harry Potter perform & I'm still talking about it two weeks later  :-) It was a good show though, and the entire cast was super talented. It was fun to walk back at night as everything is slowly getting lit up for Christmas.  Someday, I will go when the tree is in Rockefeller Center!

the glittery scarf was my one new purchase in NYC. Thanks Dad. And sigh... someday we will visit NYC when it's fully decorated for Christmas!

again, the once too big North Face makes it look like I'm barely pregnant! thanks Mom :-)

Times Square after the show

Sunday morning, we took the subway to Chelsea and explored Chelsea Market.  I could have spent hours eating there... but we had just had breakfast, so I settled for a Jacques Torres Wicked Hot Chocolate that was by far the richest, thickest hot cocoa I had ever tasted.  

 We also visited the newly opened High Line park, which was built where there used to be a railway... it's pretty neat because the whole park is elevated above the city.  We ended our trip with a stop at a food cart, and since it was marathon Sunday, we took off a few hours early for the airport.

the Clark girls

The whole trip was almost flawless... until we got to the airport.  We printed off our boarding passes at the hotel's business center and since we were not checking luggage, we headed directly to security.  We waited in line for a good 40 minutes or so, had our IDs and boarding passes checked a first time... and then we got to the second security check, right before you strip down and throw everything on the conveyor belt.   The friendly TSA guy looks at our boarding passes and goes "these are for a flight out of LaGuardia."

"WHAT?!?"

I almost burst into tears on the spot.  I book all of the travel for our family, and I distinctly remembered that I was getting the best possible deal by flying CMH to LGA and then JFK to CMH on TWO DIFFERENT airlines.  Both were one way tickets.

The TSA agent said "maybe the ticket counter can help you out."

We head to the ticket counter, with me trying to hold back the tears while also trying to stick out my stomach as far as possible hoping that she would notice that I'm pregnant.  The woman asks to help us and I explain what happened.

She begins the tappedy tap tap tap on the keyboard... It felt like one of those moments in the movies where they were just clicking the keys to pretend they were doing something... and then she says, "No, this ticket was always out of LGA."  Then she asks, "were you checking any bags?"  She leaned over to the agent next to her and asked something about a fee, to which the woman shook her head.

She looks at me and goes, "Ok I have you rebooked on a flight out of here that leaves in one hour.  Here are your boarding passes.  I have waived all fees."

WHAT!?!?!!? (The good kind of WHAT?!?!?!)  I thanked her and vowed silently to use Delta more often.  We could not believe this actually worked out.  For free.  And on top of everything, the flight she booked us on got us home AN HOUR EARLIER! That hour was like gold on a Sunday night after a weekend away.

Dad, if you are reading this, thanks for a WONDERFUL trip to NYC :-) LOVE YOU! 

New York City: Day 1 & Day 2

We had an AWESOME time in NYC with my family.  In April 2009, Grant and I went for about five days and packed every minute with the touristy stuff we had never done on previous trips.  We covered most of it, so it was nice on this trip because we didn't feel like there was anything we had to do or see.  (When traveling with 5 other people, it is much harder to make decisions/be able to do whatever you want when you want...)

We arrived Thursday night while my parents were enjoying their dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.  My Mom did not know we were coming, so it was super fun to surprise her! And fortunately, there were tons of desserts leftover, so we were able to eat. Grant & my sisters went out afterward... and I went to bed :-)

"What?!?!"

Surprise?!?! (She was SO surprised)

 Friday morning, Grant & I FINALLY took the NBC Studio Tour.  It was really cool to see the studios from which some of our favorite shows are taped.

Me in front of 30 Rock...thank you Mom, for always thinking I needed an size bigger than I wore when buying outwear... never realized I'd be able to wear my usually too big North Face when 6 months preggo :-)

SNL's studio (thanks Laura)

where they film the Today Show (which Justin Bieber was on the first day we were there... didn't get out of the hotel in time to see him though.)

Grant was super excited b/c this tour was sold out when we tried to go during spring break in 2009.

Grant and I then went up to the Top of the Rock... last time we were in NYC we did the Empire State Building... but the views here were better because you could actually see the Empire State Building.

Baby boy's 2nd trip to NYC... I was about 6 weeks prego the first time, and it was just a quick overnight stay in the airport hotel in Queens... in this pic, I'm 24 weeks along (6 months already! AHH!!)

In the afternoon, we went to Greenwich Village to meet up with my parents who were taking a tour.  Washington Square Park was under construction the last time we were there, so it was fun to see it not under construction.

sisters in Washington Square Park

love my husband's artsy pics :-)

our little family

Em & L

this pic of Laura makes me LOL.

 We walked from Greenwich Village up to where they camp out of Occupy Wall Street is taking place... definitely interesting... 

We also went to the newly opened World Trade Center Memorial.  It was beautiful, but definitely a bit eerie.  Seeing the names carved into the memorial and thinking about what happened was just odd, especially since the memorial consists of two fountains that are in the exact places the twin towers once stood.  They are rebuilding that area though, and it is looking beautiful. 

rebuilding...

That evening, we grabbed a bite to eat at a pub and then went and saw "How To Succeed in Business," staring DANIEL RADCLIFFE.  Oh my word.

 Can you see the joy in my facial expression?!? I loved every minute.  I couldn't believe I spent three hours in the same room as Harry Potter! He was so good... he spoke and sang in an American accent for the entire show... and then when it was over, switched back to his normal British accent.  They were raising money for a charity, so he auctioned off two bow ties he wore in the show- they got $1200 for each one, which also allowed the lucky buyer to meet Daniel.  I wanted to win... but that is also a lot of money.   The best part was his personality coming out during the auction.  A few hundred later, someone shouted out "TEN GALLEONS," to which the audience burst out laughing.  (Apparently I was not the only Harry Potter fan...) He said, "You Americans think you are SO funny, don't you?" He was hilarious and the show was great. After the show, we walked back through Times Square, made a family pit stop at Starbucks (of course!) and went to bed (well... some of us did).

Nantucket Vacation: Part 1- getting there & the B&B

first view of Nantucket from the ferry

 Grant & I wanted to do a beach & big city combination vacation, sans car.  Turns out, this is rather hard to manage when your destination is the east coast. (Which is why a cruise on the Mediterranean through the Greek Isles was my first choice...).  After a bit of research and some good recommendations from friends, we realized we could visit Boston, which I loved when I was there 13 years ago and then Cape Cod (or the Cape, as the New Englanders like to call it)... except you need a car on Cape Cod... so we went further, to the island of Nantucket.  The travel was complicated- but definitely worth it. Here's how it worked: flight to Boston Logan, followed by a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to Hyannis (on Cape Cod), a less than a mile walk to the port, followed by a 2 hour ferry to Nantucket (there is a high speed ferry, but for $39/person one way, we took the slow one). Good thing I've learned to pack light. 

enjoying the ferry ride

Nantucket was surreal- so beautiful, so quaint, and so preppy. Seriously, so preppy.  And my solid-color, Gap-loving self was delighted for a few days, as I walked past the valet parkers wearing "Nantucket red" (yes, that is a color!) shorts, Sperry top-siders and white polos.  The only name-brand stores on the island (the rest being boutiques): Lilly Pulitzer, Ralph Lauren, Vineyard Vines and Jack Wills. Definitely not your typical shopping at the beach.  (But yes, there are plenty of shops where you can buy tshirts... they are just a bit pricier than your average shirt from the beach.) 

Valet guys sporting their "uniform"

 

 

 I have always considered myself to be anti-bed & breakfast.  It has to do more with the decor than the general concept.  To be honest, sleeping in an old bed with a floral bedspread in a room full of knickknacks is not my ideal setting in which I like to relax.  Well, on Nantucket, there are pretty much only B&Bs... so I looked at all of them and The Veranda House, the #2 rated  B&B on Trip Advisor was exactly my style- modern, clean and simple... and the website bragged about their amazing breakfast.  

Let's talk about this breakfast...  It WAS amazing.  A 3-course continental (only 2 B&Bs on the island are allowed to serve eggs & meat) breakfast was served to us each morning.  It started with coffee, and their own juice blend that included a little yogurt, making it taste a little like a light smoothie.  Then the bread basket appeared, with the warm muffin of the day and some other breads and crackers.  It came with five different types of spreads: unsalted butter, strawberry butter, butter with sea salt & chives, raspberry preserves and honey. Delicious.  

The second course was always two slices of fresh fruit, followed by a mini smoothie, topped with whipped cream and granola. 

 The third course was our choice: toasted bagel, granola, raisin bran or the special of the day.  We had bagels one day, and the special of the day the other two.  Here's one of the specials: 

banana crepe with raspberry & peanut butter sauces

I wish I could eat like this every morning.  Especially on a veranda, looking out at a garden, in the warm sunshine.