Scenes from the weekend.

JR's Inside Out New York City- Oh how I wish I would have had my picture taken for this! 

Times Square. 

Grand Central and the Chrysler Building. 

My favorite peanut butter fudge pretzel Italian ice from Ralph's. 

Breakfast at Brooklyn Bagel. 

Sockerbit candy stop. 

7th Annual Dance Parade

One of my favorite rooms in the MET- Degas. 

The Mall in Central Park. 

When I first moved to New York City back in 2003, my family took turns visiting me in my new home. We explored the city together, discovering new restaurants, shops, and streets with every visit. My little brother Lucas visited for the first time in August before my sophomore year of college. Unfortunately for him, most of his time was spent helping me settle into my first off-campus apartment downtown and making countless trips to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Poor guy. So, during his second visit to the city this past weekend, I treated it like his first.

On Friday night we caught up over dinner in Butcher Bar's back garden. The weather was absolutely perfect that night, and I am so glad we took advantage of being outside as much as possible before the rain arrived Saturday afternoon. After dinner, we walked through midtown and then made our way down Lexington Ave. to Ralph's for a late night treat. On Saturday we had breakfast at Brooklyn Bagel, walked The Highline, and wandered around the West Village. That night we saw live music on the Lower East Side at The Living Room, which was really fun. After two sets, we concluded the evening at Katz's deli with the most delicious pastrami sandwich on rye. On Sunday morning we battled the rain while most New Yorkers opted to stay in their pajamas all day. We walked across the bridge, indulged in a brisket sandwich at the Brooklyn Smorgasburg, toured several galleries at the MET, and walked the southern end of Central Park from 84th Street down to 59th Street. By Sunday night we were both exhausted, so we decided to order in Indian food instead of making the trip to Jackson Heights. It was a wonderful weekend, and I am excited to spend one more day with Lucas before he flies back to Chicago tomorrow night!

Life according to Instagram.

Skyline views from DUMBO and Herald Square.

My favorite bridge, taken on a trip with my second graders.

Bryant Park and the Brooklyn Museum.

A candy stop at Sockerbit on Christopher Street.

An afternoon reminiscing with my little brother on the NYU campus (my freshman dorm and Bobst Library).

John's Pizzeria on Bleeker and live music at The Living Room.

Late night sandwich at Katz's.

Walking across the bridge in the rain.

An afternoon at the MET.

Star struck- Anne Hathaway sat behind us at One Girl Cookies while Olivia Palermo was being photographed at the counter in front of us.

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The first annual Anderson/Ankrum Half.

While visiting my family in Florida a few weeks ago, my brother-in-law challenged me to a race against my nieces. Both Reese and Sage just placed first in their age categories at a mile-long kids' run in Florida, and Todd bet that I could not beat their times on a one mile run. Since I knew he was probably right, I quickly declined his idea and instead confidently countered that I could beat him in a race. Considering neither of us had run since high school, I figured I definitely had a chance... 

After hours of joking and shit talking poolside at my uncle's, Todd and I returned home at 11 pm and threw on our running gear. We were racing. By the time our sneakers were tied, my sister had messaged the neighbors and set up our finish line table, complete with bottles of water, medals, and bagels. Spectators across the street sat outside in lawn chairs and our bibs were pinned on with care. Reese giggled as she watched her dad attempt to stretch, and I nervously paced and did jumping jacks in hopes of warming up before the run. And then we were off. About an eighth of a mile in we turned the street corner and heard more neighbors cheering us on. As if running wasn't already hard enough, we now were both hysterically laughing as friends screamed our bib numbers and encouraged us to keep going. By a quarter mile both Todd and I were in pretty bad shape, so we opted to cut our mile-long run down to a half. My sister ran ahead to get the finish line ready, and after four minutes and forty seconds we completed our first annual half (mile)! Todd came in first by a few feet, although I think I recovered a little faster than he did... he was a hot mess drinking Gatorade and gnawing on bagels for the rest of the evening. 

Our first annual half will go down as one of my favorite family memories. Let the training for next year's race begin!

Smile like you mean it.

What started as a blah Tuesday, complete with an old college sweatshirt and tired eyes, quickly changed with a text message... Want to see The Killers at MSG tonight? Xtra ticket! My friend Jen knows me well- I can't resist a night with friends or a kick ass concert. I fell in love with The Killers back in 2005 when I studied in Italy, and hearing them perform last night brought me right back to my days in Florence. So many good memories. The Killers rocked for almost two hours, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Thanks Jen and Mike for such a fun night! 

Scenes from the weekend.

Once Brian and I heard Saturday's rainy forecast, we declared that we would not get out of our pajamas. Aside from a quick trip to get a manicure/pedicure and 16 Handles, I stuck to our plan like a champ. We brewed pots of coffee, watched Friends, played our favorite iPhone games, and lounged around the house all day long. It was wonderful. On Sunday we were a bit more productive. After cleaning the house all morning, we spent the afternoon on the west side. We shopped around Chelsea Market, ate a delicious lunch at Le Pain Quotidien, and then enjoyed a slice of Monkey Cake from Amy's Bread and iced coffee from 9th Street Espresso as we watched the traffic in the 10th Avenue Square. We concluded our date day walking the length of The Highline. How was your weekend?

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing moms I know and love. I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating all of the amazing things you do. I am incredibly grateful for my own mom and grandmas for their endless amounts of love, support, and encouragement they have given me over the years. Without them I would not be the woman I am today.

The past few weeks according to Instagram.

Time seems to be flying by these days. With a long weekend in Florida and a marathon of beautiful spring weather in New York City, I have been spending as much time outside as possible. Here are some highlights from the past few weeks, according to my iPhone... 

New York City blooms.

Fun in the Florida sun.

Sister love.

Bright flowers.

An afternoon in Madison Square Park.

An amazing dinner at Vesta, followed by an afternoon at Emily's first communion.

Buy one get one Chipotle burritos for Teacher Appreciation week!
Brooklyn brownstones and Habana happy hour.
Subway geometry.

A date day at the New York Botanical Gardens.

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