Headed Home

We went to Stake Conference with Courtney. She was excited because the Temple President was speaking and she's gotten to know him well after doing baptisms so often. So it was fun to hear from a man who she admires so much. Also, coincidentally, my friend Becky Smith and her husband spoke. They are mission presidents in Manhattan right now, coming home in July. AND, a friend's son from Salt Lake was visiting with his BYU business group. Such a small world in such a big city!

Always so fun to be with Courtney! It's never long enough. Also, I could live in that city. Oh wait, I did. Well, maybe we will again some day. For now we are planning our next trip back over Thanksgiving!! Makes it easier to leave when you know when you're coming back! Also, when you're going home to your beautiful home that you love that now has grass in the backyard and the tulips are blooming!

Saturday... in the Park...

I so wish I had a picture of Dan and I on bikes in Central Park. 

Central Park on a Saturday is CROWDED!!!

We rented bikes for an hour so had just enough time to do the 6 mile loop twice. 

We were definitely weaving through crowds of walkers, bikers, horse-drawn carriages and rickshaws! 

When we got past the Met, the crowds died down a bit, but we hit them as soon as we looped around back down to the 80's. It was a blast! And surprisingly good exercise!

I ditched Dan while he was getting a smoothie so I could get back to the hotel with enough time to shower and dress before we met Courtney. But when I got to the room he was already there. 

He totally ran while drinking his smoothie so he could beat me back.

We are too competitive about some things! But it made me laugh. Especially because I kept thinking,

"He's totally going to run back so he can beat me." Because of course that's what I would have done.

I would have run back to beat him beating me, except I wasn't entirely sure of where our hotel was

(something I realized after I started walking back alone). So I had to follow landmarks to get me back... too slowly, clearly!

We met Courtney and the boys and went to Columbia to see her lab.

It was so fun to picture Courtney in her element! Last time I was on campus with her was when I was there in August to find her apartment. So we walked all about campus exploring. 

And now she's a regular. I love that about life.

This photo doesn't quite do her lab work space justice because what you can't see is the whole bank of windows to her right!! They have 4 computers and desks set up in that area so each student has their own workstation. And they have natural light! It's awesome.

Cutest ever!

Showing off one of the many "clean" spaces they use to conduct research.

They are trying to keep the cartilage alive in some of their research, so it's necessary that the experiments are conducted in a sterile environment.

Her official letter of acceptance to the PhD program!!!!

Includes tuition and stipend for her work in the lab. 

And the stipend is almost enough to cover her budget. 

She's planning on continuing tutoring to make up the difference

 (right now she tutors a girl in high school a few times a week to make extra $$).

Such a cute family walking down the halls.

I'm sorry to post this when you have such a weird look on your face, Courtney!
But now that I'm thinking about it, I kinda recognize that look from when you were little. I think it means, "That's weird."

After Columbia, we got brunch and then were so excited to head to Brooklyn to take the kids to a cool flea market we found a couple of years ago. Sadly, it has moved locations and we didn't figure that out until we arrived and the lot was empty. The kids were planning on going to a record store in Brooklyn and Dan and I were going to the Botanical Gardens for the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival (shout out to Marty!). So we decided to go to the flea market the next time we're in New York and we parted ways.

Kids on a corner waiting for the Uber.

Well, the cherry blossoms had bloomed probably a week ago. The Botanical Gardens were Jam-Packed and apparently most people were there more for the festival and Cos-Play then the cherry trees blossoming. It was fun to walk around anyway and appreciate the gardens. And people-watch.

This gal grunge band was from Fukuoka! So we were excited about that.

Excited about Fukuoka. Not their grunge music!

We caught one still in bloom!

On our way back, we got off at the Grand Central Station exit so we could check it out.

It's big and beautiful with lots of shops and places to eat.

Constellation ceiling.

We met back up with the kids for dinner at "Pizza Beach" which I would not recommend again. 

On the Upper East Side -- fun and cute location and ambiance. But SUPER loud and the pizza had a healthy/different angle to its toppings. It was tasty, just mostly so loud it was annoying.

And you really can't beat Patsy's for sit-down. So why try.

Actually, Dan took me to a hole-in-the-wall side-street pizza place near our hotel and we shared a slice. It was delicious!! So yeah. We should have chosen something different for dinner.

Afterward we went back to Courtney's apartment and the kids ate ice cream. Dan went to the market around the corner and got berries and greek yogurt for dessert for us. 

We hung out and played "Psych," an app game I'd learned about with my friends in Midway.

It's a fun group game and made us all laugh!

Pretty Much Everything Nature

We woke up to a rainy day in New York. But that didn't stop us from jogging in Central Park. The trees were in full bloom as were the daffodils. Everything looks amazing!

We also visited The Cloisters for the first time in Tryon Park, clear up at 190th Street. It was a beautiful park and all the flowers were blooming.

Beautiful small red cardinals were flying about, but I couldn't get a picture of a single one.

When the drain covers have your initials...

In the afternoon we shopped at Evolution and bought a meteorite for Dan's office. So cool! 

Something I've always wanted!

Other stuff I have my eye on...

 We also visited and "oddities and antique shop" which was actually kind of creepy.

We had dinner at Aquagrill -- the sea bass was amazing -- and then got back to the hotel with time to watch a movie (Brad's Status... I liked it, Dan didn't.)

 AND watch the Jazz beat the OKC Thunder to move into the next round of the playoffs! 

(Dan watched it, I blogged and kind of watched it.)

26 Years and a Birthday!

Dan and I often celebrate our anniversary at boys' baseball games. Or Marty's orchestra concerts. But then we zip up to Deer Valley, check into a hotel at 10 p.m., order room service and get back home by noon the next day. The hotel front desk always looks at us strangely when we come so late and are checking out the next morning, but it's fun to get a night away.

This year we had Nick's baseball game and Chris came with us too. Nick got a win and then we all went out to dinner together. 

But we had Thursday to look forward to... We were flying to New York to visit Courtney and arriving on the night of her birthday, with just enough time to get dessert at Serendipity!

(Originally Chris & Nick wanted to visit Courtney on their own. But because Nick is under 15, he’s considered an unaccompanied minor. And even though he’d be travelling with Chris, because Chris isn’t 18, we had to pay the minor fee as well as have Courtney check him in and out of the airport. The fees would add up to about $450 (when you factor Courntey’s additional taxi ride to/from the airport) so we decided to go with them to New York and get our own hotel, like we did the last time.)

Happy Birthday, Courtney!!

While I Was Gone

Grass! And trees and bushes!

Oh happy day!

We also got to go to a Jazz playoffs game -- totally dominated OKC. It was an amazing game!

If Only We Had One More Day

Sunday morning we arranged late checkout and rode bikes from the hotel to Venice.  

(The hotel had 20 beach cruisers free for their guests!)

There's a bike/walking path next to the Santa Monica incline to get you to the beach path along the ocean. It was a warm, sunny, beautiful day!

It took us about 30 minutes to get to Venice. The paths and parks were full of families and friends out enjoying the beautiful day together. There was something really uplifting about it.

We had brunch at The Rose in Venice. Avacado Toast was a favorite for breakfast. 

We got back to our hotel with just enough time to quick shower and finish packing 

and check-out by 12:30.

With not too much time before we had to leave to the airport, we stopped at the Brentwood Country Mart to window shop and eat lunch. The Country Mart was a favorite spot for the kids and I to meet other moms and their kids. Ate there with Lisa and Peri & Erin a lot. Also Leslie, Andrew & Taylor. 

Such good memories!

It was fun to look through Gwyneth Paltrow's shop, Goop.

Browsing at Goop: "Face mist? Don't mind if I do!'

And then it was time to head to the airport to go home!

I'm so grateful for the time I had to spend with my best friends -- my sisters.

We laugh and laugh. We know our lives and our histories. They love my family, I love their families. 

We get each other. We're different but the same. Our differentness and our sameness makes us beautiful and valuable to each other. 

I cherish these relationships and these beautiful women who make me laugh, who listen, who are thoughtful, who make me think deeper and who love, love, love.

Walking and Working Out Around Town

As much as we loved our hotel, the fold-out couch that was meant for two people was not comfortable at all. (At least that was what I was told... I got the King Size bed with Bekah the first night!) Poor Sheree and Rachel were not only sleeping on cardboard, but were also freezing with just a sheet and a light blanket. Bekah and I were wrapped up in down comforters!!

We had one rollaway bed that Michelle slept in (because she snores.) (Guess what... so does Bekah!)

So we requested another rollaway and then put blankets on the couch. The second night Sheree and Rachel got the comfy bed and I took the couch. We put the snorers in the rollaways in the corner. 

Bekah was our room rearranger/organizer. She moved around a club chair and a cute chess table & chairs so that the rollaways could fit out of the way and we could comfortably move around the room. She's a great stager!

The couch was super comfy! (When not in fold-out position.) And we requested more blankets -- and the hospitality guy who brought them showed me the closet where we could help ourselves to more... including a down blanket! The 2nd night everyone was happy! (Unless Michelle and Bekah on the rollaways were just being good sports. They said they were comfortable!)

We met Flex for our training session at 10 am so hurried to a grocery store to get protein bars, juice and fruit to eat ahead of time. As soon as we walked up, he put us to work. Maximized that 60 minutes for an excellent nearly puke-worthy workout. Worked every muscle extra hard. Going up 2 flights (equivalent of provably 5) holding a 25 lb kettle bell was what almost sent me running to barf. Then when we thought we were done and free, he circled us up for a meditation session. (Dang! I just remembered I forgot to play my favorite mediation song for my sisters. "I Am" by Nirinjan Kaur. It's super spiritual.) It was hard, but it was really, really fun!

After working out we walked back to Montana for lunch. Then back to our hotel to relax by the pool for a couple of hours. (Or one.)

We had plans to meet Susan and Annie Wasserman for an early dinner. It's always so good to see them! Susan is the most generous person and Annie is incredibly smart and delightful to spend time with. Our links to them are many... We met Susan and Annie at Carlthorp when Annie and Courtney were in the same Kindergarten class. We hit it off immediately. Susan also had a daughter, Emma, same age as Marty. A couple of years later we were looking to move closer to school. Susan said we should see her rental. It was a little out of our range, so I demurred. (vocab!)

One day we were at a birthday party with our kids at Bel Air Bay Club. I was just coming from looking at houses. She insisted I look at hers and she'd give me a good deal. I went straight there and it was perfect! Clean, new kitchen, a great yard perfect for our kids, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths on the most amazing street. We took it! A year later we were needing to lower our budget that included looking for a place with cheaper rent. Also, "laying off" Rachel who was nannying for me. Susan lowered our rent so we would stay AND was ecstatic to meet with Rachel to talk about hiring her as a nanny. It was a good fit for both and Rachel stayed with her for a lot of years. Until she graduated with her nursing degree. In addition, Susan also hired 2 of Rachel's roommates for various jobs over the years. 

Annie just graduated from a top undergrad business school and is working for a firm that is doing work for Dan's company right now. What?! Small world! She showed me a photo of Courtney and her together with a few more of their friends in Kindergarten. That little group has gone on to do some amazing things: Annie, working in M&A for an investment firm, Courtney getting her PhD, Lily working on Wall Street, Maddie in grad school, Taylor is an actress and model in LA, Madi in her last year at a top undergrad school with a job lined up at Goldman Sachs. Um, yeah. I'm proud of these amazing girls!

After dinner we ran across the street to take photos. Then we had a great idea to leave the car, walk back to our hotel, change into comfier clothes and shoes and then walk down to the Pier. (Sheree was dying to go on the roller coaster and talked us all into it too!) We made it back to the hotel and changed. Then sat our tired, aching bodies down and just talked. An hour later Bekah voted and I seconded to stay at the hotel and forget about the Pier. But fortunately Rachel remembered that our car was still parked back by the restaurant a mile away. So we all headed out to pick up the car. Beech elected to not come and instead ordered flowers for Susan who had treated for dinner and figured out her flight info because it was a fiasco on the way out.

When we got to the car area, Sheree talked us into going all the way to the Pier. So we walked another mile and went on the Tidal Wave and Ferris Wheel. We got popcorn for a treat and enjoyed being out with the crowds on a Saturday night. Then we walked to gelato and then the final way back to the car. Only we went two blocks too far and had to go backwards a bit. All in all I think Michelle's watch tracked us at walking 12 miles that day!

Ferris Wheel Selfie!