New York Vol. 3: open-mouthed

Ok, these people look normal. That's Lizzie, my high school buddy, with my nephew, John. He's now standing and crawling and singing (with help from Grandpa) and is exceedingly cute. This was his quilt, in case you're keeping track.

I'm not sure what he and my mom are doing in this picture, but it's the same thing Snoopy's doing in the next one...and Meade is doing in the following one. Hmm. Sorry, guys, couldn't resist!

New York Vol. 2 (aka I Ate New York)

Like Rrufus before him, Snoopy enjoys his morning walk with my dad to pick up breakfast from the Starlite Diner. I went with them a few of the days I was home (not every day...although it was tempting!)

Oooh...the anticipation!

Sigh. In order to replicate this in the UK, I need: streaky bacon, American cheese, and a soft kaiser roll. Not going to happen. Definitely worth the trip, though!

This was the inaugural self-portrait on my new S95 (thank you David Pogue...seriously, he wrote a love letter on his blog). I need to sort out the winking feature (so cool!) and this one would have been improved by a fill-in flash. Oh well. Emily and I look fab anyway. In case you can't see, her dress is a vintage-bicycle print (white on navy). I *nearly* stole it from her. I only restrained myself because she would have had a hard time finishing out the work day in only her underwear. Apparently it's Anthropologie from last year and cannot be purchased anymore for love nor money.

She works close to to the Time Warner Center, so we went up to Landmarc for lunch. At her suggestion I had the nicoise salad. HOLY MOLY it was awesome.

After lunch, I strolled across town to meet up with The International Book Group That Doesn't Read. I can't believe we've been not-reading together for almost 10 years. WHAT?! (Another self-portrait, hence the slightly-off-center poses.)

The day after, I had a meeting on Long Island for work, so we made plans to meet up with my mom's high school friend and her husband for lunch. (Bonus: she's Gnomemade's mom and the recipient of this amazing quilt, which I can attest is even more amazing in person.)

Yes, that's another self-portrait, but we all needed to be in the picture!

Jane made the most fab lunch - I think the best way to describe it was Emphatically American. The pasta salad was, I think, an amalgamation of a back-of-the-pasta-box recipe with some other additions. It was delish: chicken, broccoli, oranges (!?), flaked almonds, bowtie pasta, and honey mustard dressing. Honestly, not a combination I would have ever thought of, but we'll definitely be making it. Future visitors, be warned.

She also made devilled eggs, which I hadn't had in years. My grandma used to make them all the time and I should make them more - they're one of my favorite foods. My grandma always used dry mustard powder, but Jane used grainy mustard, and it really gave them a good zing. These where the only two left. Ahem. Not that I ate 4 (or 5) or anything. Nope. Nothing like that.

See? I really did eat New York (and it was delicious).

New York Vol. 1

Sorry for the blogging break - I went to New York! For Two Whole Weeks. It was really great - now that I have an amazing team working for me at the office, it meant that I could really relax while on vacation and not completely dread coming back to a mountain of unanswered emails. Hooray!

My brother's birthday was 3 days before I arrived. So, I brought him this London Underground cycling jersey. He LOVED it. It'll be handy, you know, for him to be able to find the nearest Tube station while he's riding his bike in New York. Oh, wait, never mind. Anyway, it's still cool.

My parents gave me an early birthday present. SO shiny. And immediately appropriated by the assembled Toys as their iPad. Hmm.

The morning after we arrived, I had arranged a trip down to Trinity Wall Street to ring the bells with them. We had an obligatory photo-op in Grand Central.

And then on to the ringing. The upshot: I need to work harder at my striking! I rang plain hunt on 9 with their band and their striking was flawless. Mine? Lumpy bumpy oops crash. Hmmm. Must try harder. A great tip from one of the band was to stand behind someone and pretend to strike their bell, listen to where they pull it, and compare that sound to where I would have pulled it. Definitely going to work on that.

After the epic bell-ringing session, we went to Chinatown. The place we'd aimed for was closed, so we went around the corner to my brother's favorite place, Nice Green Bo Restaurant. Instead of ordering main courses, since we were planning for dim sum, we ordered a selection of noodles and dumplings from their appetisers. The soup dumplings were amazing (as usual), and the rest of the dumplings were all super-delish, too. My great-aunt Ruthie (below) was slightly mystified by the whole thing, but we all chalked it up to an Excellent New York Experience.

Here we are, after lunch. Yes, that bag is full of leftover dumplings. And yes, they were just as good the following day.

And then, because my mom is now an Angry Birds uber-fan, we had to take this picture. Teehee!

Wet Bank Holiday Weekend

Well, it's England. In August. And we just had the August Bank Holiday weekend. Therefore, it rained. Between the showers, we visited Melford Hall (and met the original Jemima Puddleduck). Gorgeous countryside, but we still like Kentwell better.

I also went to Walsham le Willows' annual open gardens day. Again, with the rain. Between the showers, I got some great pictures.

And when it wasn't raining, I was snacking. Lunch: leftover spinach, sauteed, with melted blue cheese on a panini. YUM.