Happy Halloween!

I thought this would be an appropriate post for Halloween. As I waited at the 14th St. station last Friday, I heard a familiar voice. I turned my head and saw a man walking past. It was Crispin Glover, better known as "George McFly" from Back to the Future. Also known for playing some rather creepy characters (Willard, below, and the Thin Man in Charlie's Angels).
I wonder if some of the rats in Willard were subway rats? :)

The Big Lull

There hasn't been much to blog about lately, sorry! We are having a lull in visitors and have stuck closer to home over the weekends. Fall has finally arrived (about a month late) and it's been rainy and much cooler. Time to put away the tank tops and get out the sweaters. Trees are just starting to lose their leaves, although I'm a little disappointed. I thought there would be more red and orange lining the streets but instead it seems like the leaves are just dying and falling off the trees a nice shade of brown. People here tell us you have to go outside the city to see all the spectacular colors. I'd like to take a day trip out to Pennsylvania or up to Connecticut-- anywhere we can be surrounded by wide open space, no crowds and fresh air.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The End of an Era

The Joe Torre era is over for the Bronx Bombers. It's a sad day in NY for all the Yankee fans. But a happy day for us! Let's hope the team starts to unravel. Maybe the Mariner's will sign Torre and make the playoffs for the next 12 years. :)

Ethan's 30th Birthday

Ethan turned 30 yesterday and we celebrated over the weekend. Ethan's brother Matt flew up from VA and their cousin Joel drove over from NJ. On Friday, we went out to eat at restaurant/bar near Madison Square Garden called Stout. We watched the Indians/Red Sox game and had some good food.



The next day, we headed back into Manhattan. We stopped at FAO Schwartz ---that place is a zoo---complete with any kind of toy ever made. There were demo people showing how to play the toys (including someone getting really excited about a Dungeons and Dragons type game). There were people playing the lifesize keyboard--- you know, the one from the movie Big. It was fine when kids where playing and hopping on it...but once the 2 FAO Schwartz performers started playing, it was hard to watch.... a little too cheesy.

Here's the brothers at the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. As you can tell, it was a beautiful, sunny day!



I had to include this shot. I spy with my little eye the Wizard of Central Park.



Saturday night, Matt, Ethan and I went out for Ethan's birthday dinner. I surprised E by getting reservations at Wild Salmon, a Pacific NW themed restaurant. The chef at Ray's Boathouse moved to New York and opened up this restaurant, complete with salmon dinners, Tillamook cheese and NW beers. Ethan was very excited and we had a great time at dinner. It was like being back home again...

Since yesterday was Ethan's actual b-day, I baked him a cake. We had a laidback night, went out for Italian, talked to family and that's about it. Turning 30 takes a lot out of you!

Celebrity Sighting!

We saw Robin Williams walking down 57th St on Saturday. Ethan saw him first and pointed him out to me. As Ethan says, "He is a tiny, little man".

Wonder who else we'll see.....

Rooftop Garden at Rockefeller Center

It was Open House Weekend in NYC on Saturday and Sunday. This meant that 350 different buildings throughout the five boroughs held open houses, celebrating design and architecture. There were historic sites, churches, museums, monuments, hotels, architecture firms, artist studios, etc to visit---all open for visitors. Some are never open to the public except during open house weekend. We went out on Sunday, with our number one choice in mind. The British Empire Building in Rockefeller Plaza has a rooftop garden and reflection pool ---and apparently is one of the sites off limits to visitors during the year. This was our chance to go somewhere we'd never be allowed again. Here are some photos from the roof--- it was only seven stories up, but high enough to make me nervous while looking over the edge). We had a good view of St. Patrick's cathedral and the Polish parade happening on 5th Ave. It seems like we always discover something happening when we are in Manhattan. Today it was a parade.


The Rockefeller ice rink opened this weekend---in 80 degree weather. There's nothing like ice skating in shorts and t-shirts!

The Polish parade is just getting started. After going back down to street level, we waited a bit by the parade route, hoping to see some floats, a band, something. No such luck, we were at 50th St and the parade started at 29th..... But we did overhear a funny comment from a kid. His family was telling him that the Polish parade was today and the Italian parade was on Monday for Columbus Day. He asked his mom, "How come there aren't any American parades?"

Well, that does it for the open house weekend. We only stopped at one place....it was hot and humid and trekking around the city didn't sound too appealing. So instead, we headed to where there was air conditioning --the movie theater. We saw 2 movies this weekend. Michael Clayton and The Assassination of Jesse James. Two real pick-me-ups. :)

Subway Reef

Looks like the transit folks have figured out a creative way to get rid of old subway cars. About 600 cars are being dumped off the Jersey coastline and starting a new life as a reef for fish and other Atlantic Ocean sealife. Pretty clever.