Date Night: The New Museum

Months ago, I found a great idea for a date for Seth and me. We don't often go on "real" dates, but after our mystery date to Sleep No More I decided it'd be fun to plan dates for each other... Unfortunately, this date has been postponed Thursday after Thursday. 

We were down to the wire with this one though. I hadn't told Seth much about it, because I thought it'd be fun for it to be a surprise. Yet, he figured it out after I mentioned I had seen an ad on the subway (of course, immediately after that, the subway we were riding on happened to have the ad right in front of our faces & Seth figured it out!) 

 One of the highlights of the exhibit was called Untitled (Slide). It was, in fact, a huge slide. One that went started on the 4th floor and ended on the 2nd floor!

 It was quite a fast ride and over in only moments! The gallery on the 2nd floor had bright flashing lights and a few other exhibits to experience.

Another highlight was a slow moving, shiny swing. 

There were mushrooms which contained 3 different mushrooms in one. 

The one thing we didn't get to try out were the goggles (if you look in the mushroom photo you can kind of see the person to the left who has a pair of the goggles on). Thursdays are Free night (we didn't take advantage of it - standing in line outside just didn't sound too ideal for this cold evening & paying money towards art is ok by me) and by the time it had started the line for the goggles made us quickly lose motivation. 

Anyway, date night was a success - fish tacos before and our first visit to the New Museum with a ride on one of the biggest slides I've ever been on (inside a building ;). 

Top of the Rock

We have guests in town visiting. Having guests is about the only time we really get out and do any sort of "sight seeing" in the city. Today, we were off to the Rock to see the view after sundown. 

 

Night photos on the roof! 

We have friends in town for the weekend. After they got in last night, we headed for the park to watch the world's fastest fiddler (from Ireland). Summer concerts in the park are truly one of my favorites! When it was over, we headed home and climbed to the roof to see the view. Of course we had to try out my new camera (G12 - a gift to myself for working extra this summer). We got some fun group photos with the self-time multiple shot function. It was like we were in our own photobooth! 

Today, we are off to explore the city. :) Love when guests come! I get to be a tourist for a day! 

Lunar Eclipse

I didn't even realize there was a lunar eclipse tonight until I was reading a new blog I found (& absolutely love)... I set our alarms and out into the freezing cold night Seth and I went. I don't think I've ever seen a lunar eclipse before... it was beautiful and amazing!

Swooning for the Sun

Two rainy days in a row around here. Today resembled something that seemed more of a fall day pulled out of October. I can't say I was terribly sad. I am craving another Northeast fall. Most of all, I'm just hoping Seth and I can pull a trip upstate or into New England for the fall colors!

This photo was taken back in July on an evening bus tour while my stepmomma was visiting. I actually have quite a few photos from the last month that I haven't shared... Sad right? Photos I never get around to share. My goal is to get back to photo sharing. (Why have I gotten so bad when it's so easy - I can literally email them from my phone!)

Although we didn't see the sun set, we did see the city lights under the clouds from our good friends' new roof view tonight. And I'll take that any day, even if it feels like the middle of November and nothing like August!

Another Week, Another Bridge

[Ooops! This was supposed to be posted 2 weeks ago! I didn't realize it never went through... Soooo I'm posting it now :)]

Another Friday found us meeting in Union Square wondering what to do to kick off our weekend. Last Friday, we headed across the Manhattan Bridge to dinner... This Friday, we decided to walk the Williamsburg Bridge and get dinner at a place called Diner just south of the bridge in Williamsburg.

As we headed up the bridge, walking and talking, a guy on a bike rode by and stopped quickly. He turned to Seth and asked if he'd been at the Yeasayer concert last weekend. It took a second to realize, but this was one of the guys from the hand clapping circle that we created on the ferry. One of the other guys that was also a part of it was just ahead of him. We couldn't believe the chances of running into them!

It's interesting... Last weekend, we'd had so much fun. I'd kind of wanted to get their information and try to hang out with them again. But Scott pushed us to move on - saying that it was something that just happened, that we couldn't re-create. So off we went, thinking we'd never see our hand clapping friends again. Yet, by some random chance, we met them again! This time, we made sure to share information :) They were talking about how people had approached them after the hand clapping performance asking if the group did events!

I love when things like this happen... Things you'd never think would being in such a huge city. It makes it feel a little smaller, and even though I love the large size of the city, I also love feeling like it's a little bit more like home, not so incredibly big.

One of my absolute favorite things about the Williamsburg Bridge is the graffiti. Even the ground is tagged... Yet, not as much as it was last time I crossed the bridge - They've redone it. Only a matter of time before it's completely covered again I'm sure.

Hello sunset! Hello favorite bridges! Hello New York City!

Safely in Brooklyn.

Comedy in the Park

Remember last week, when I shared a quick post of the Norah Jones concert we saw in the pouring rain? Tonight we were back in the park to Celebrate Brooklyn with a comedy show. As to be expected, it was hilarious! We hadn't planned on going, but a friend from the neighborhood text earlier today asking if we'd be interested. I almost canceled because I'm so exhausted from lack of sleep this week and sickness. Good thing I put socializing over myself ;) because I would have missed out on a great time!

Some of the acts included: Eugene Mirman, John Hodgman, Michael Showalter, Janeane Garofalo, and Jerry Minor. The band Blitzen Trapper played a few songs to end the show, too.

Anyway, off to bed... I think I might have laughed myself to a headache tonight (which is JUST what I needed after the breakdown and stress I went through at work!)

The Roof Walkers

Last night, Seth and I joined his brother for a show in Greenwich Village to watch some friends perform in their band. They are just getting ready to release their EP. I can't wait to put their music on my iPod! Check out some of their songs at their myspace -- The Roof Walkers.

Manhattan Bridge

Friday night, Seth and I joined two of his brothers and Kendra and walked across the Manhattan Bridge for the first time. I was so excited to mark that off my list of things to do in the city! It was a perfect night. The sun was just past setting and twilight was slowly fading into night. The subways stormed across the bridge feet from us but the view of lower Manhattan was worth the noise.

Brooklyn, here we come.

Gone to Governors

Summer is here! I always feel like the kick-off of summer in the city is the start of the free concerts! This weekend, Seth and I headed out to Governors Island (for the first time! Love the weekend of firsts!) to see Yeasayer at the first free concert of the summer. Gone to Governors Live Music series has quite a few concerts planned for the summer season, and we Must return for another after all the fun we had at last night's!

Seth and I joined our good friends Chelsea and Scott, which guarantees a night of once in a lifetime memories!! We got in line for the ferry from lower Manhattan just before it blew up. Once in line, we found out they weren't allowing any food on the ferry. So we started shoving food in our mouths from the picnic we had brought and sharing whatever we couldn't finish with people in line around us!

The ferry was a quick ride, considering Governors Island is so close to Manhattan (even closer to Brooklyn, but they don't have the ferry running for concerts yet.)
When we arrived, we found a spot on the "beach" to lay out our sheet and relax while waiting for the show to start. Drinks and talking and laughing took place as the sun set behind us.

The sun is heading down.

Passing the time playing hacky sack.

The show was great fun! We didn't really know the bands, but live music is almost always great. And the view of the city, the crowd surrounding us, the perfect warm summer night...!!


After the show, we headed with the masses towards the ferry. Being a part of the mob of people wasn't quite where I wanted to be, and we were definitely waaay too far back in the crowd to make the first ferry. Standing in that crowd for another 40 minutes sounded like a horrible idea when the beach was just a few steps back through the crowd. So I convinced the crew to return to the beach to wait for the next ferry. We got one last round of drinks and laid the blanket back out. The crowd had thinned quite a bit and there was enough room for a handstand contest... It started between Seth and Scott and the loser ended up with a volcano mound of sand on his stomach. Soon, we had more joining us! It's a good thing the sand is a nice soft place to fall! These boys were tumbling all over the place. Some very resourceful guys started a game of T-ball using a coconut and part of a fence divider, and Chelsea and I joined the game.

The next ferry arrived, and security pushed us off the island. Once on the ferry, we joined all the people on the bottom floor where cars are usually loaded. A group of the people that we'd been "playing with" on the beach had started a beat circle (much like a drum circle) with dancing, clapping, and yelling. It was intense and fun. Before long, we'd all joined in and there were about 20 people clapping and jamming and dancing on the ferry! I videoed of moment of it as it was starting using my iphone. The whole experience was awesome, something that couldn't be planned, something intense and unique!

And to top off the night, when we reached the subway platform, we pulled out our beach blanket and settled onto it while waiting for our ride home :) Luckily the only other people there were all coming from the show and no one minded a bit.

O and there were bubbles :) Essential for a perfect night!

Street Fair in Little Italy

Last weekend, Alissa and I headed out to dinner and to watch the new Sex and the City movie. After the movie, we headed towards SoHo for dessert. As we walked towards Rice to Riches, we passed a night time street fair going on in Little Italy. We decided to wonder through and enjoy our yummy rice pudding. At the end of the night, as I headed back up to the Broadway-Lafayette stop, I kept thinking about how much I absolutely LOVED this city and all that happens in it!

PS: If you love rice pudding, you must try Rice to Riches! I had the french toast rice pudding, and it was absolutely divine!

New Park - Brooklyn Bridge

After brunch Saturday, Seth and I wondered for a moment in the green market at Grand Army plaza - people watching more than looking to buy any of the fresh produce and other products being sold. Later in the afternoon, we headed to Brooklyn Heights to walk the promenade and check out the new park just south of the Brooklyn Bridge.

See the new green space? It didn't really look that big from the promenade... But once we got down there in it, it indeed was quite a bit bigger than it seemed. I Love Love Love that they are making use of the piers off the East River. I've always thought it was such a waste of space to leave them sitting abandoned with such a view surrounding them!

A photo I've never taken before from the new park!

Ahh my love with the reflection of the downtown skyline in his glasses.

Watching the sun set from the new park. I am in love with the steps that are built into the side of a hill in the new park. They are perfect for sitting and watching the sun go down. It felt like we were soooo close to the skyline, in the best seats in the city, right on the front row! I cannot wait to take visitors there to watch sunsets!

After the sun set, we headed to dinner with a friend and her boyfriend at Rice. Then, of course, we had to capture the beautiful night lights before heading home.

It was a perfect way to spend our Saturday!