Too awesome not to post

**These fellows are in no relation to me, my family, or my friends, although I wish they were**

Is Tuesday too late?

to write a post about last weekend? I didn't plan on it but after uploading all of our pictures, I thought I should document it. Tom has had the last week off from work, he is in between jobs right now. So in between him working rigorously on his portfolio, and me nagging him, we have had some good family time.
Friday morning we took Luke to the park, and I guess wore him out.

:This is one of his only custom outfits from me, I tend to enjoy sewing for myself a bit more:

Friday night, we met up with friends at the Shake Shack. Outdoor eating, good friends,a kid friendly environment, and amazing custard shakes, and burgers, make for a pretty good night, and worth the 20 extra points I will have to make up in running 20 miles. (For those fellow Weight Watchers).

Saturday was nice but not overall exciting. We got up early and went running. It makes running so much more fun now that Tom goes with me. We put Luke in the running stroller and sometimes he even takes his a.m. nap. The park is beautiful in the morning and so full of energy. The dogs are off their leashes running through the grass, and so many people are riding bikes, horses, and running. Saturday morning there was a big bike race. Tom dreams of owning a bike again, we don't have anywhere to store one now so he just pines after them every time one passes us. I knew what he was thinking as the wind from the racers pushed us up the hill. It was very invigorating.
That afternoon we hung out in Dumbo. Dumbo actually stands for " down under the manhattan bridge overpass". The neighborhood is filled with old factories turned into condos and cute shops that line the cobblestone streets. In the summer they play movies next to the water every Friday night. I can't wait. Oh,  Dumbo is also great for candid photos.

My friend Erin says I need to post more pictures of stuff I make so here is a dress I made recently, from an old vintage tunic pattern, just lengthened and altered.
Saturday night I stayed up til 2:30am to make this one for church the next day. This really isn't the best picture but you get the idea.

Sunday, well church, & I guess Tom decided to skip class and have a little photo shoot with Luke.

Sunday night, The Pulfer's had us and friends over to celebrate the arrival of our friends the Woodward's
from North Carolina. They were actually our very first friends in New York. Our first Sunday they introduced themselves and that night brought us cookies. I guess their bribe worked, we are still pretty good friends. We had a great time  catching up and watching Christian follow the kids around and  cleaning anything they touched.

This is a total side note but sometimes it hits me how lucky I am to have weekends again. It has been 13 years since I have been able to enjoy both Saturday and Sunday together without working, talking on the phone with the store, or worrying if we are going to hit our sales plan.  Ah, so nice.

And Monday?

Luke woke up with a hangover.

Memorial Weekend

I have been putting off this post, and not for any other reason than I don't have many great photos that really captured our trip. We left our camera behind for one whole day. And lets be honest, that is all anyone is really interested in.

After recognizing that Memorial Weekend was a few days away, we quickly made plans to drive to Boston to take advantage of the holiday. After a few days, we finally convinced our friends the Riches that they needed to come along too. We set off early Saturday morning. The drive really wasn't bad at all. Traffic was smooth and the lush vegetation made the it quite lovely and relaxing. One of our goals before we leave New York is to pack as many east coast destinations as we can in before we move. It was nice to drive through Hartford, Greenwich, & Rhode Island, all on the way to Boston. The east coast, is a great place for weekend getaways,everything is close, and the scenery is amazing. We took a couple of opportunities along the way to let the kids out and enjoy the country.

We pulled into Boston around noon. Our friends the Kelly's were so nice to offer up there sweet cozy apartment in the quaint neighborhood of Brighton. They unfortunately made plans to go away just before we contacted them so our hanging out consisted of seeing them off on their road trip to Canada.

We met up later at the Boston Commons to ride the swan boats. It was a beautiful way to start our sightseeing.

I did make a promise to myself that I wouldn't go shopping or even step foot into a store while we were there, but that night we happened on an H&M and Newbury Street. Newbury street, for those that haven't been is quite possibly the nicest shopping destination in America. It is comparable to my favorite parts of New York but minus the trash, and street vendors. I was good, and only bought a few things. We did finish off our day with some tasty burgers and a beautiful sunset.

The next morning we set off for Beacon hill for some breakfast before church. Such a cute charming neighborhood. I wish I had photos. Cobblestone streets, beautiful brownstones, steep hills, I was ready to move in. The neighborhood even has zoning laws to keep the continuity of the charm . Note the 7 eleven.

After breakfast we took the train to Cambridge for church. I was also equally impressed with the meeting house. Imagine looking at exposed wood beams and ducts verses carpeted walls and pastel upholstered furniture. Even the exterior of the church was great.

The rest of the afternoon we spent exploring the two front runners for Luke's college education. Hard to decide Luke looks good in front of both MIT and Harvard.

The only bummer  part of the day was the kinked neck I woke up with. I had a hard time seeing anything that was higher than Luke. Katie got a good laugh out of this picture, I wasn't laughing when she took it.

The next morning we explored some of South Boston. Also very charming. We grabbed brunch after walking several miles only to find the famous Charlie's was closed. Memorial day isn't always the best day for Boston city hot spots we found. Mainly we spent the day walking around downtown and the beautiful Charles river. We failed to take many pictures.

I love Boston. I would move their if the winters weren't so rough, and our families lived there. The architecture is amazing and not to mention the people are incredibly friendly. If you took New York's best neighborhoods, cleaned them up, and placed friendly people on the street, you would have the entire city of Boston.

For a better written perspective of our trip read Katie's post.

I guess I kept him up too long

A few reasons I love my neighborhood

Just two years ago we left our quaint cute neighborhood of Park Slope to become official home owners in  the neighborhood of Prospect Heights. Prospect Heights. Some great parts, and some not so great,like like our street, Washington Avenue. Picture a street lined with liquor shops, beauty parlors, and unemployed people just hanging out, with what it seems like, nothing better to do.  Luckily, we do have our friend Chip who is aggressively working to change it by accosting every business owner on Washington Avenue, offering plenty of unsolicited advice. If only they would listen.

There is a silver lining though. Besides the fact our best friends live just two streets away, lucky them too, just one additional block away are the things I will miss most not only about Brooklyn, but New York. I will start with the Brooklyn Museum.

This is just a few feet away from us. Every first Saturday of the month they throw a huge party from 5pm-11pm. Admission is free, they play fun dance music, and serve drinks. And one of my favorite things about it is, it attracts a pretty great crowd. In addition, at least once a week Tom, Luke, Addy, and I just come here to hang out on the grass and watch the fountains. Sometimes if they are lucky, I pack a lunch.

Lucky for us, right next to the museum is the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. I love coming here mainly for the fact for just a minute I forget where I am. I love New York, but sometimes I hate it too. The Botanic Gardens especially in the spring, are like heaven. Note the azalea's, peony's, and wisteria. There is also a Japanese pond where giant fish wait for little ones to feed them big hunks of bread. Unfortunately for them, Luke's bread never makes it to the water.

A few other honorable mentions in my neighborhood go to the Brooklyn Library, almost done with its renovations, Tom's diner, and quite possibly the prettiest subway station entrance in New York, the Brooklyn Museum stop.