Holiday Shops at Bryant Park

Today was a pretty nice day for November...the temperature was in the mid 60s. And since Chris had a lot of school work that he needed to do, I decided to go into Manhattan and do a little Christmas window-shopping. Per Chris's suggestion, I headed to the holiday shops at Bryant Park. Seriously the most versatile park I've ever known, Bryant park becomes this winter-shopping-wonderland in the months of November and December. The ice skating rink is situated in the middle of the park with around 100 individual shops in greenhouse-esque buildings. The normal things to love about Bryant Park - Wichcraft, seating, ping pong etc. - are all still there as well. I had a lovely time browsing the shops and then grabbed some tomato soup and a goat cheese sandwich from Wichcraft, and sat and watched people ice skate. I'm really ready for Christmastime in the City now!!!

It Really Is a Small World, After All

Two things happened this weekend that made me realize what a small and crazy world we live in. Sunday morning, Chris and I went to church at Redeemer on the upper east side. It's a pretty huge church that has multiple services and this particular service meets in a large auditorium at Hunter College. Well we sat next to this couple and came to find out that they were visiting from North Carolina, grew up in SC, and went to Clemson. Then, it turns out that the people they were staying with live in our neighborhood in Brooklyn and also went to Clemson. What?! So crazy!

The second thing happened as a result of reading the Brownstoner blog, a blog that has a reputation for reporting on all things Brooklyn. They posted about a family who recently launched a blog documenting the renovation of a Victorian style house on Albemarle. When I saw pictures of the street I thought that surely that can't be so close, just south of Prospect Park. It also got me feeling guilty that I had never ventured to that neighborhood. There are so many parts of New York City - so many parts of Brooklyn - that we have never explored and probably won't ever get the chance to. So, partly feeling guilty of not knowing my own community and partly doubting that such a place existed so close to my neighborhood, I decided to go on an adventure. It was a beautiful, 65 degree day, perfect for a walk. It took me about 25 minutes, and sure enough, there is a whole neighborhood full of BEAUTIFUL, huge, victorian style houses. It absolutely blew my mind. The neighborhood is called Prospect Park South and was planned in 1899 to be a "country in the city." Amazing. I can't get over how this exists so close to us.

On the way, I passed the corner of Windsor Place and Terrace Place, so of course I had to get a picture! I heart Windsor Terrace!

The Laforces Visit!

Way back in early October, we tested whether or not our apartment could handle six people when the Laforces - Keith, Megan, Eric, and Emily - came to visit! Although our tiny apartment was a tight squeeze for the crowd, we managed and we had a great time with them. This was the first time we had gotten together since Emily and Eric's wedding so it was fun to spend time with the newlyweds.

The subway system decided to shut down that weekend...literally. Every subway line except three (two of which were shuttle services) had some sort of service disruption that weekend. The F was not running from Church Avenue to Jay Street and was replaced by...dum dum dum...shuttle buses. Normally when this happens, we just stay in Brooklyn for the weekend. But of course we didn't want to do that this weekend, so the Laforces got to enjoy the shuttle buses with us ha. They were great sports!

Saturday we walked around midtown and that night we went to see Avenue Q, which was hilarious. We are so glad they came to visit!!!