Back in the City

It felt really nice to be back in the city this week with no weekend travel plans to get ready for. The weather was also gorgeous all week, which definitely helped. I was wearing my new Nina Z clogs most of the week. I fell in love with her boots last fall, and I am equally as in love with these.

On Wednesday, my mom came into the city for the night from her business trip in Newark. She brought along a few of her co-workers, and we had a great time dining and walking around Times Square. We ate dinner at Ruby Foo's, one of our favorite spots when we need to meet up in midtown.

After dinner, we walked over to Rockefeller Center.

A trip to NYC for my mom is not complete without cupcakes, so we stopped in at Magnolia and stocked up on carrot cake and vanilla cupcakes.

After walking around for a bit, we said our goodbyes and my mom headed back to Penn Station as I got on the subway. Even though it was only for a few hours, it was so good to get to see my mom!

Thursday, this girl had a birthday.

We went out to dinner at Koi in the Bryant Park Hotel Friday night to celebrate.

It was great to get to see everyone and catch up.

After dinner, I jumped on the F and headed downtown to Sing Sing. I am in charge of planning happy hour at my school every week, and this week I thought we could all use some good old karaoke. I didn't get there until around 11, but there were still plenty of friends there to sing with. Before going to our first karaoke night out last summer, I claimed that I didn't really like singing in public that much... and then stole the mic the second I stepped in the door and saw friends singing Shoop. I have earned the reputation of mic-stealer, belting out tunes every chance I get. Luckily, as you can see, I am not alone...

Sahba and I were a little lost when Mike sang a Meatloaf song word for word that we had never heard... but by the end we were singing backup.

We had a great time. I love that after fifty hours a week at work, I still look forward to spending my Friday nights with my co-workers.

Saturday morning, I tackled this. After a week of falling asleep on the couch with all of the lights on and waking up hours later in a confused panic, my entry way (along with the rest of my apartment) was a hot mess. Purses, shoes, jackets, suitcases, stacks of clean laundry, books, and boxes were scattered everywhere. I am proud to say that after five weeks, my suitcases are now both tucked away on their shelf in my closet. Amen.

Saturday night, after Brian, Emily, and I had a movie night with home-cooked filets, fries, and Happy Feet, Brian and I settled in with fresh baked brownies and Ben & Jerry's to watch the Bruins game. Unfortunately, they lost, but fortunately the Red Sox beat the Yankees. 6-0. Yes!

We woke up early Sunday morning to monsoon rains pouring down. I cuddled up with a cup of coffee, a smoothie, and a stack of my kids homework instead of leaving as early as I had planned to.

When the rain stopped and the sky brightened a little, I headed to the gym. Everything was so calm, quiet, and beautiful after the rain. 

I met back up with Brian and Emily a few hours later for an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. Let me start by saying that we decided to go to this nightmare of a place Chuck E. Cheese for two reasons: 1. Emily had been asking to go for months, and 2. Brian cleaned his desk and junk drawers out and found enough tickets and tokens to last us the afternoon. And, let me also share that we have vowed to never go there again. Ever. We started the day with pizza.

Then we followed Emily as she walked from ride to ride. Our faces looked like this most of the time. 
First, Skee Ball took two of our tokens and never let us play.

Then we played this game, an updated, computerized version of Whack-a-Mole, which lasted for about 8 seconds.

But every time we would look at Emily, she was so happy.

So we were happy, too.

We did find one ride that was worth the tokens. Jett Rider was a virtual roller coaster ride that had three different options to choose from with each token. Emily LOVED it.

And Brian did, too.

We managed to have a great time hanging out even with the token-eating games, the broken ticket machines, and that sad little prize counter with cheap Slinkies and squeezy balls. But, we were very happy to say goodbye to Chuck E. Cheese as we lathered up with hand sanitizer.

Even though my week and weekend were pretty packed with plans, it still felt nice to be home and to get my life more organized and back on track. I am looking forward to several more weeks of my normal New York City routine before my summer travels begin. I hope everyone had a great weekend!