Memorial Day With Brant, Susanne & Junior

I seriously had the craziest May, ever. Holy crap, I overbooked myself big time but, even with all I had going on, I was totally psyched to have Brant and Susanne finish off the month with a Memorial Day visit. They've come to visit me so many times and I'm totally blessed to have friends who make that kind of effort. This trip was especially meaningful for two reasons: 1) Susanne is just about four months pregnant and 2) it might be their last trip to see me while I still live here (holy moly, I can't even think about that!). As soon as they arrived, I just knew Susanne would look absolutely darling and she surely did. Apparently, she and Brant had joked about naming the baby something ridiculous like 'Junior' but now the name has affectionately stuck...and I love it. :)

Since Brant and Susanne have done mostly all of the touristy things here, this visit was far different than all the others. They decided they really wanted to be locals for a weekend and Upper East Side locals, at that. The only request Susanne had was a little shopping for a cute maternity dress or two. That was the only planned thing on our agenda other than a long bike ride I'd already had on the calendar. They'd actually gone to DC a couple of days before coming to NY so they ended up getting in on a pretty late train on Friday night. Come Saturday morning, I was off on the bike super early and they had a nice, relaxed morning in the 'hood. 65 miles and lots of sweat later, I was more than ready for a cold beer and to finally start our visit.

We had the absolute best weekend together and it was by far my favorite visit of theirs. We laughed, reminisced, talked about everything under the sun and really just relaxed. We took them to so many favorite local spots like Cilantro, Libertador, Gina's, Swig, Vero, Cafe D'Alsace...just all the places we love so much and go to on any given day. They got a real taste for life in the city on an average weekend which was so fun! We also had our fair share of shenanigans and I won't even get into explaining that, hahaha. It was just so nice having them here:

We're all quite excited to meet Junior come October and we're pretty psyched that NY has been the first trip he or she has been on. Mine and Brant's relationship has stood the test of time and a great deal of hardship so being where we all are now is such a joy. The years have been kind to us as a whole and we're all truly like family which is quite special. Junior is going to be welcomed into this world with lots of open arms and love, I can tell you that. Thank you for making the trip up yet again, Brant and Susanne; it means the world to me!

Happy May, Happy Spring!

Spring was here in full bloom, no pun intended, this past weekend and it couldn't have been more appropriate to welcome in the month of May. I've decided to stop talking about how fast time passes and just do my best to make the most of each day even if they fly by. :P

I was thrilled over the weekend that my brother, Michael, came in town last minute for work. I'd originally had my long bike ride planned for Saturday and Hearth for Sunday but I was excited to postpone Hearth in order to spend the day with him. First off, Saturday could not have been more amazing for a ride. We did 60 miles and I enjoyed every minute of it. We actually stopped for lunch at this great park in a town called Pascack, NJ which was so pretty:

I'm just loving the vibrant colors of trees and flowers right now. We rode along the water a bit as well and I'm mad I didn't get a picture of one of the coral/pink trees I saw. It was stunning! Finally, Spring is sticking around for a bit for us to enjoy it!

On Sunday, I met Michael and Allison at Starbucks and we walked over to church. Tim Keller gave a great service, as usual, and afterward we took a nice walk along Park Avenue to show Michael the metal art that is just so beautiful:

We stopped a few times to look at other flowers and I'm just lucky that they plant my favorite tulips everywhere:

Tulips are such happy flowers. I love how they look like they're just reaching for the sun. They make me smile. :)

We had a lovely brunch at The National which I'd been wanting to try for a while and then we roamed all over Michael's old stomping grounds in the west village for the rest of the day:

There are so many memories there for Michael and it was really interesting seeing several places that had closed down even in just two years that he and Wynn have been in LA. One of his favorite bookstores had closed and turned into a trendy cafe which made him so sad. It's strange to re-visit something, either physically or emotionally, that you were once so tied to. It's a reminder that life keeps moving on whether you're a part of it or not. Then, you look at where you are now and there's joy in that, too. Life's a funny thing, isn't it? 

We stopped by Michael's two apartments and sat on one of his old stoops for a while watching people come and go:

Josh Brolin was one of those people and a) he's hot and 2) he's short. I was shocked. He's still smokin' in my book, though.

We rounded out the day back in our 'hood at Libertador for some caipirinhas and snacks, mmm: 

We talked for a long time there and it was just the perfect way to end such a great day together. Though the visit was short, it was quality. That's so special and I'm very thankful for that time together. Lucky for me, Vermont is less than two weeks away where I'll get yet another wonderful visit with Michael. :) I can't wait!