Grateful
Briony got sick on Saturday - nothing life-threatening or earth-shattering, just a typical January cold.
Having a sick baby is never fun, but it took a turn for the SUCK this weekend when Geoff was scheduled to work nights on Sunday and I got *just* sick enough to have all my fibro symptoms seriously flare up last night. Briony + I had a rough night and a rough (early) morning, and I was just about in tears thinking about how we would manage today.
Then Geoff stopped and got the groceries I needed on his way home from work this morning.
Then Katie offered to come and play with Briony for a couple of hours.
Then Amber agreed to stop by after work to help me with Briony's dinner + bedtime.
It's still a difficult day, but I am completely overwhelmed by how our little family is blessed with people who love us and help us function. It's the only way to successfully parent with a chronic illness. I actually think it's the only way to successfully parent PERIOD.
It's definitely taking a village over here. And our little village ROCKS.
Labels: Amber, Arthritis/Fibromyalgia, Briony, Katie, Mommy Stuff, My Friends, The Boy
On Love
When I was 15, I honestly thought that I understood love.
Over the next decade of my life, I encountered people and situations that caused me to laugh at what I'd called 'love' before, increasingly certain that NOW I understood.
Then I met Geoff, and we got married... We made a baby together and welcomed our beautiful Briony Evangeline into the world. That's capital letters LOVE. (Right?)
I am learning that love is full of layers and levels. I am learning that it is impossible to understand. I am learning that it is everywhere.
And love in its purest expression looks like this: caring for your sick family when you are also sick.
Labels: Married Stuff, Mommy Stuff, The Boy
Reality Bites
Nothing kills all tiny little remnants of a vacation-induced afterglow quite like REALITY. Geoff went back to work last night - his first shift after vacation and, more notably, his first shift in two months because of his knee injury back in October. And today was my first day back at the office since our trip.
Of course, Briony chose not to have a nap yesterday afternoon and instead ended up hanging out with me (so of course, no work got done and she was just kind of generally clingy and miserable).
Of course, Briony was looking borderline sick all day yesterday.
Of course, Geoff and I were feeling borderline sick all day yesterday too.
Of course, Geoff ended up having a lousy night sick at work.
Of course, Briony + I ended up having a lousy night sick at home.
Of course, I couldn't take any good cold meds because I was home alone with B and needed to be alert-ish when she woke up and needed me.
Of course, I slept through my alarm this morning and then felt icky and sluggish and then couldn't find anything I needed to get ready because I haven't put on makeup, left the house, or didn't make it into work until almost 11.
Of course, I made myself pretty(ish) and dragged myself in for what appears to be NO GOOD REASON WHATSOEVER.
Of course, the pay machine in the lot where I usually park wouldn't read my credit card. I was so fed up at that point that I just scribbled a note that the machine was broken and left it under my wiper on my windshield. So of course, I can expect a ticket later :)
*sigh*
I'm determined that it's not too late to turn today around... I'm just not quite sure exactly how I'll accomplish that.
Labels: Bitching About Nothing, Briony, Mommy Stuff, My Life, The Boy, Working Girl
Such Sweet Sorrow
How is it possible for a human to feel SO sad and SO happy at exactly the same time? I'm really kind of dramatically sad that our trip is winding down... But I am ridiculously excited to see Briony. I MISS HER. I'm pretty sure I had a dream last night where I could SMELL her. And I don't feel like I have any right to be sad. It's been an incredible trip - everything we wanted it to be - and how can you be sad about that?
We went back to Les Halles for breakfast today before taking our last trip uptown to Central Park. I know, it's funny that we waited until the very last morning of our trip to see Central Park - but we'd planned all along to do it this way. We had tentatively planned to be cheesy and do the whole horse and carriage thing, but we were there too early in the day. And so we walked.
We spent a little over an hour wandering through part of this massive greenspace and I was SHOCKED at how much I recognized. Like so much of this place, it felt totally familiar. You see these places in movies, in photos, on television so often that it seriously feels like you've been here before. I kind of loved that. But it was so odd to start to add context and orient yourself.
And then it was back to the hotel to do our last few minutes to packing (we'd done most of it the night before... I was totally wired after Wicked) and check out of our hotel. The taxi ride to the airport felt SO short, and before we knew it we were through security and having lunch at La Guardia, waiting for our plane.
As we took off and gained altitude, we plane turned and give us a perfect view of Manhattan. Very slowly, the clouds began to block our view until there was nothing left to see.
Sad.
And happy.
Labels: New York New York, The Boy, Travel
Big
Yesterday was our last full day in NYC and we didn't want to waste a moment. Our first stop of the day was Soho where we grabbed coffee + breakfast goodies from Balthazar (YUM) and tackled our official Shopping Morning with visits to the MOMA Design Store, Uniqlo, Topshop, KidRobot for Geoff, and a bunch of other favourites that we simply do not have in Winnipeg.
One notable stop was at the WIRED pop-up holiday store to visit Oi - cellular furniture designed by friends of mine. Oi is a client of mine and I worked on some of the PR when they were chosen for this year's WIRED holiday gift guide, so it was very cool to get to see what I'd been working on. I so rarely have that opportunity doing freelance.
After lunch and a quick stop back at the hotel to drop off bags, we took the subway uptown and walked the 'good' shopping streets... I'll pause here to wipe away a single crystal tear. With an unlimited credit card getting billed to someone else - and my husband does NOT count - I could have done some very serious damage in this city. It was super cool just to see, and we managed to sneak in quick stops at a bunch of other places on our list - the Plaza Hotel, Serendipity, Bloomingdale's, Tiffany's, FAO Schwarz (that piano is awesome), the cool glass cube Apple Store, Toys R Us (there's a freaking FERRIS WHEEL in there!), Bryant Park... And a stop at the world's largest Build-A-Bear, of course, for our little B.
Again, there's no way I could even make a proper list of everything we did and saw and experienced. It's just incredible to me that there's SO MUCH in such a small space. London is close, but this takes it to another level.
Let's pause here for a moment, shall we, and talk about how happy New York makes me. Geoff's been bugging me to decide if I like London or New York better, and I will die insisting that they're just DIFFERENT. But this trip to New York felt like a visit to my mothership. And I fought that a little, because it seems so incredibly shallow. But I WORK IN ADVERTISING. And very much on purpose. I eat this stuff up. And it was just FUN to me to be at the centre of all of it - even if we were just visiting.
Dinner was at Maze by Gordon Ramsay. At risk of sounding incredibly obnoxious, it was okay. It was GOOD. It was totally more than good. But it wasn't the best meal we had on our trip. (Funny, hey?) I think that Del Posto has ruined us for all other food forever. In a good way.
The Gershwin Theatre was just down the street and after showing our tickets we were surprised to discover a mini-museum set up in the lobby. We saw an original production script for Phantom of the Opera, the skull used in the Broadway production of Hamlet, the scribbles that would become the song 'Tomorrow' in Annie. And I think it was even more special to see it because it was so absolutely unexpected.
And then (...drumroll please...) it was time for WICKED. We has booked it thinking we would save the best for last. And it was glorious. It was absolutely everything I had hoped it would be. The only thing that would have made it better was seeing the original cast - with Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel - which is clearly not a possibility. So it was perfect.
Which made it the perfect ending to our kind of perfect trip.
Labels: New York New York, The Boy, Travel
No Clever Title
(I'll finish this up later. Just want to get it down a little before I start adding new memories today!)
Went to the Met. Had my mind blown by so many things... Saw a bunch of paintings that literally brought me to tears. Saw everything from medieval armour to Egyptian mummies to ancient Greek and Roman artifacts (some from places we've actually been) - and got to walk inside of a pyramid tomb that's been reconstructed inside the museum. Crazy. Can't decide if I love the Met or the British Museum more, I just LOVE THEM and wish I had another week just to spend inside checking it all out and soaking it all in.
Travelled down to Rockefeller Center - saw a bunch of ridiculous stores and places along the way. Walked around the skating rink. Checked out the ginormous Christmas tree. Just generally had my moment of just being there and soaking it in because I've wanted to see this in real life for a long, long time.
Did Top of the Rock where we went up to the very top of the building and saw a great view of the city - including Central Park (which, even though everyone tells you how BIG it is, is still SO MUCH BIGGER than I realized) and the hotel where John Lennon died 30 years ago TODAY. Random.
Went to MOMA. Cried a bunch more times over a bunch more paintings. Cried again just a little bit when I realized that we'd seen both paintings from Olivia (Briony's favourite book) today - I MISS HER. Can't decide if I loved MOMA or the Tate Modern in London more, I just LOVE THEM.
Saw a taping of Jimmy Fallon. The schedule changed, so we saw Amy Adams, 'The Situation' from Jersey Shore, and a comedian - Adam Ferara. Didn't win the awesome holiday sweater giveaway, but definitely ended up on TV because we were sitting two rows behind the girl who did. Didn't get to high-five Jimmy either, but it was a super fun experience. The Roots were so incredible... They totally make that show. And the little private concert you get before, during, and after the taping is awesome.
Walked over to Broadway and stopped for a snack along the way - some street meat for Geoff and a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery for Lindsay. Mmm, CUPCAKE. It wasn't the 'correct' location of the bakery from its moment in Sex and the City, but it was the same cupcakes and they were pretty delicious.
Saw 'Promises, Promises' - with Kristin Chenoweth + Sean Hayes. Molly Shannon plays a supporting character but was out tonight - too bad because you could 100% tell which was 'her' part and it would have been hilarious. Anyway. The leads were both in, and they were better than I'd even hoped they'd be. To see him do his physical comedy thing live... And to HEAR HER SING live... You guessed it. I totally cried again. And you would have too, if you'd been the one sitting in the darkened Broadway Theater, watching and listening to Kristin Chenoweth sing 'A House is Still a House'... GOOSEBUMPS. The other highlight for me was 'I Say a Little Prayer for You' - it's just perfect for her. Anyway. The play was amazing, amazing, amazing. I know we're seeing WICKED tomorrow, but it has a heck of a lot to live up to now.
Last stop was some quick and dirty late night pizza + pasta at Otto - another Mario Batali place. I don't know if it was all the food, or the super late hour, or the drink I had while we were waiting, but I demolished my pizza and it was SO GOOD.
Almost as good as it felt to TAKE MY SHOES OFF and crash into bed.
*Should note quickly that the schedule changed and we didn't see Ben Affleck today... It was Amy Adams, 'The Situation' from Jersey Shore, and Adam Ferara on Jimmy Fallon. It was a great show! But I would REALLY like to know how THE SITUATION published a book before I did...
Labels: New York New York, Photos, The Boy, Travel
Iron Chef at the Museum... Night.
WHOSE STUPID IDEA WAS IT TO USE TELEVISION/MOVIE REFERENCES IN ALL OUR TRIP POST TITLES?!
Anyway.
Today started at Starbucks, like most good days do. From there, we quickly moved on to the rest of the day's activities. It was another day that simply REQUIRED caffeine :)
Our first stop was at Ground Zero. The former site of the World Trade Center is now a rather formidable construction zone, but it was still important to me to see it. It's hard to explain the experience of standing in that place - somewhere that felt oddly familiar even though I've never been there before. I remember everything about September 11th and I've seen images of this area of New York a million times, but it was still kind of profound just to BE there. It was also interesting to see the church right beside the World Trade Center site - totally and completely unharmed when the towers collapsed. Kind of gives you goosebumps, doesn't it?
Century 21 was pretty much the opposite experience. I was hesitant to go because I'd heard how completely insane it is (think Winners for 'real' designer stuff... on four gigantic floors... with the entire population of New York PLUS tourists trying to get the best deal). Honestly? I was expecting sport shopping and it was no big deal. Primark in London was about fifty times worse, I thought. Anyway. I found a fabulous new bag and discovered that there is a DKNY baby/toddler line. Um, SERIOUSLY?! Yeah. A couple of things came home for Briony :)
From there, we were off to the
Chelsea Market - which was totally cool in itself. Any place that boasts an incredible cupcake + cookie shop followed by a brownie shop followed by an incredible cupcake + cookie shop is pretty much the best thing ever in my books. It was an odd mix of business people and tourists having their little foodie pilgrimage moments. Like everywhere else, it's all decked out from Christmas - but the Chelsea Market hired a local artist to do it all sustainably. He used reclaimed white cardboard and old cue cards from SNL to make snowflakes to hang from the ceiling EVERYWHERE and it was gorgeous. I could have spent an entire day (and an entire year's worth of calories) there.
But there is no rest for the wicked... Not when the wicked have lunch reservations at
Del Posto - one of
Mario Batali's NYC restaurants. I feel like I've been speaking in nonstop hyperbole since we got here, but this was the most incredible lunch I've had in my life. We're talking RIDICULOUS service and more staff than diners. I am actually kind of at a loss for words. How crazy was the food? The starters were sprinkled with gold. Actual factual GOLD. Everything was *so* delicious and the experience was even better. Awesomeness.
We walked it off by wandering through a few of the shops on West 14th Street. Cool neighbourhood. And I found
our family Christmas ornament in Anthropologie. It's lovely. I've picked one up every year since we got married - the first in England on our honeymoon - and it's such a fun little tradition.
We needed to drop off our (ahem... MY) bag from Century 21 at the hotel and so our afternoon had a bit of a pause in it as we made our way back uptown via the Carlton. We jumped off the subway at Grand Central just so I could see... It was one of those places that I've seen in photos and movies and television shows a hundred million times and I just wanted to see it for myself. I'm glad that I did.
Then we did a speed-tour of the Museum of Natural History. We saw giant dinosaurs, hundreds of stuffed dead animals, the origami tree, A GIANT WHALE... I loved it.
I decided to help y'all out and help demonstrate how large a dinosaur is in comparison with an average sized human female (ME!).
A tiny treasure hunt lead us to
Levain Bakery. Any place with cookies as highly reviewed as Levain deserves to be taste tested and OH MY GOD. I have been forever ruined for every other cookie. It was an itty bitty place in the lower level of a bunch of brownstones and sells pretty much nothing but cookies - and milk, of course! I had the chocolate chip + walnut and it was HUGE but I pounded that sucker back on our trek over to... EEEEEEE!... The Colbert Report studio.
As much as it pains me to speak ill of my Jon, our Colbert Report experience was sooo much better than The Daily Show in terms of accommodations. I'd emailed both shows ahead of time and the Colbert team was awesome. I'll have a whole post about both experiences sometime after we get back... We showed up half an hour before the tickets were handed out, checked in with security (who were totally expecting us), and were pointed in the direction of a coffee shop around the corner. Half an hour later, we came back to get our tickets and were the first people ushered through security.
I didn't need any kind of special seating (and I told them that), but Geoff + I ended up in the front row anyway. THE FRONT ROW. It was crazy. And when Stephen came running in before the taping began, he high fived us. I touched Stephen Colbert. And he's REAL.
The show itself was really cool. I loved both the Daily Show and Colbert, and both were very different experiences. Like Jon, Stephen took time to answer a bunch of Q+As before the show and, also like Jon, he was genuinely funny in his answers. The guests were
Julie Nixon Eisenhower and
David Eisenhower. They were fascinating. She's the daughter of former President Nixon and he's the grandson of former President Eisenhower (and the 'David' behind Camp David). They met when they were eight. It wasn't a particularly funny interview, but it was super interesting and it was just kind of incredible to be in the same room as these people - and one seat over from their daughters in the audience.
Dinner was at
Les Halles, the
Anthony Bourdain restaurant around the corner from our hotel. At risk of sounding annoying and repetitive, it was really great food. And we strolled back 'home' with tired feet and happy hearts.
Randoms from today...
Geoff + I totally had a 'date' to buy better insoles for our shoes. Oh yeah. It's come to that after only two days here :)
On a similar note, I am super grateful that I threw my Tiber River bath salts in my bag before we left Winnipeg. I travel with them quite often, and I've had a bath every night in NYC so far. They're a special kind of awesome.
I was super upset yesterday when we saw on the news that Elizabeth Edwards was stopping her cancer treatments. And then tonight when we heard that she had died... I have no idea why it affected me like this, but I'm a very real kind of SAD. I don't understand every decision she made while she was alive, but I think she was an incredibly classy lady who made the most of her time here. And my heart just kind of breaks for her kids. I can't imagine.
Labels: New York New York, Photos, The Boy, Travel
The Whole Nine Yards
I'll be honest. I hesitated over the idea of doing something as horrifically touristy (can you hear me spit that word out?) as a tour bus. But there was SO MUCH I wanted to see in NYC and SO MUCH that we just couldn't fit in any other way. So this morning, Geoff + I jumped a subway to Times Square, grabbed a couple of lattes, and jumped on a bus.
BUT. Between that bus tour and some walking around today, we managed to see so much of lower Manhattan. Seriously. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS LIST?? We saw the the Conde Nast Building (OH MY STARS), the Empire State Building, Macy's (all done up for the holidays), Madison Square Garden, Greenwich Village, Union Square, Soho, Chinatown, Little Italy, East Village, Wall Street, the World Trade Center site, Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, the UN, the New York Times building, Rockefeller Centre (including the tree and the skating rink), Radio City Music Hall... Um, and that is nowhere near a complete list. I can't actually believe we saw so much so fast. I'll still be processing all of this long after we get back to Winnipeg. And we're going back to a bunch of these places, so I'll skip crappy photos for now and take (and share) better ones later this week.
In between, we stopped for lunch at
ABC Kitchen - one of the places on our list we were most excited to try because of its status as the best new restaurant in the city last year, and it did NOT disappoint. AT ALL. In fact, it's easily my new favourite restaurant. Anywhere. Ever. We had the most incredible bread and roasted cauliflower soup, arctic char and vegetables in some completely ridiculous carrot basil sauce, and then a salted caramel sundae for dessert. Oh, and it was all organic / local. Oh, and I ate it all with a perfect view of Amanda Peet sitting at the next table over Geoff's shoulder. Craziness. (For the record, she is absolutely stunning in person, even totally dressed down... The universe is SO UNFAIR. Except that I'm pretty sure she's substantially shorter than me. Hey, I'll take what I can get!) We heard murmurings that Mary Kate Olson was also there, but we never saw her.
The stupidest part of all of this is that we had accomplished ALL of this by 3 pm, when we showed up at The Daily Show to line up (we had tickets, but they WAY overbook so seats are not guaranteed if you don't suck it up and work for your spot). This was not a good part of my day. Unlike The Colbert Report - more on that tomorrow! - The Daily Show was not very willing to accommodate a sick chick, so I needed to wait in line like everyone else. We were supposed to be waiting for 90 minutes. It was FREAKING cold, but I figured I could do it. Unfortunately, the taping was delayed and we didn't get inside until 60 minutes AFTER the 90 minutes were up. You can do the math. The saving grace in this situation was being in line beside some pretty funny people who we ended up talking to for most of the afternoon - a couple from New Mexico and a woman from Kentucky who were my parents' age but as excited to be there as we were.
By the time we got in, I was in a boatload of pain and questioning my decision a little bit. But we warmed up quickly, and then I GOT TO SEE JON STEWART. In the words of my precious Briony, "Oh my GOOD-mess!" (She's having a FABULOUS time at home with Grammy, by the way. YAY. I guess it's a vacation for all of us.)
It was awesome. It was glorious. It was everything I hoped it would be, and something I've been looking forward to for a ridiculously long time. Jon's Q+A with the audience was hilarious, the segments were funny, and the interview was fascinating - and went into serious overtime, which kind of made the extra wait seem worth it. We didn't get to see any correspondents, which was a tiny itsy bitsy little bit disappointing, but no worries. I GOT TO SEE JON STEWART :)
After the show, we went to a ridiculous sushi buffet for dinner. I know, I know... I can't believe I went to a sushi buffet either. It quite overtly breaks one of Lindsay's Rules of Life, but the friend who recommended it is half Japanese - and so were most of the patrons inside, which I like to think is a good sign. It wasn't the best sushi I've ever had, but it was good and we left FULL.
We ended the night with a visit to the Empire State Building. I knew it would be interesting, but it was awe-inspiring. This city is SO BIG and it was just gorgeous at night.
We walked back to our hotel, full and happy and COLD and talking about everything we saw and did today. It was awesome. And I can't believe we have three and a half more days of this to look forward to before we fly away home...
-
A couple of randoms from our bus tour (in no particular order...)
Apparently, my name is 'Lizzy' in New York...
Empire State Building
Labels: Food is Yummy, New York New York, Photos, The Boy, Travel
The Amazing Race (Part 2)
We landed at La Guardia without incident - I should probably say without FURTHER incident, hehe - and made it to our hotel despite heavy traffic, closed streets, and a seriously impatient cab driver. I wasn't expecting it at all, but we actually got to see Central Park, the Guggenheim, the MET, the Waldorf Astoria, Grand Central Station, and a handful of other landmarks along the way. Awesomeness.
Our hotel -
The Carlton - is incredible. We are SO happy with our choice. We knew it would be pretty, but I *way* underestimated how much prettier it would be all done up for Christmas. WOW.
Oh, and the advertising nerd in me is positively GIDDY over the fact that we are staying on Madison Avenue. I may never get a chance to work here (sniff sniff) but visiting is seriously cool.
Once we were settled in and unpacked, we set off to find the subway and got ourselves into Brooklyn. While waiting at a transfer, we ventured back to ground level to see the courthouses where so many Law + Order scenes are filmed. And Sex and the City's Hollywood Kiss, of course. I was super nerdy-excited :)
So back to the whole 'subway to Brooklyn' thing. I did not think that all the way through. We were sitting in the subway when I dawned on me that WE NEEDED TO CROSS A RIVER TO GET THERE. Then I started worrying about whether we were going UNDER the river or OVER the river at bridge-level. And then I realized that those were two different yet equally horrific options and I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I PREFERRED. But we made it there in one piece (bridge-level, way up above the water, if you really must know) and easily made our way over to
Peter Luger Steakhouse.
Peter Luger made it onto our advance reservation list because of the many, MANY websites that have named it the best steak - in New York City, and sometimes in the entire US. We decided that we had to try it... We had the porterhouse steak for two with their 'special potatoes' and broccoli and a particularly good glass of wine.
Apparently, Gordon Ramsey was eating there on Friday night. Sorry we missed witnessing that, but it's still kind of cool.
Now, I'm no EXPERT on steak. And I certainly haven't tried every steak joint in the world. But that was really, really good steak. Geoff + I just kept making dorky faces at each other across the table, like OH MY GOD this is amazing. Easily the best steak I've ever eaten. And not just by a little bit. It was so worth the effort to get ourselves across the river, but we were SO tired by the time we got back to the hotel.
Tired. And full. And happy. And IN NEW YORK CITY :)
-
Enjoying dinner at Peter Luger...
Around our hotel...
Labels: Food is Yummy, New York New York, The Boy, Travel
The Amazing Race (Part 1)
So we had a decent night and woke up, packed up, and headed downstairs to have breakfast and grab a cab to the airport (we booked a hotel package that included - among other things - a ride to and from the airport and vehicle storage while we're away). The taxi driver was about 100 years old and the car might have actually been older than that. Lucky 7 Taxi. The whole thing just felt like a sad news story waiting to happen. I was concerned that he might die loading my big suitcase into the back of the car, but we all made it to the airport in one piece. I was thanking God it was only a three minute drive. HE WAS SO OLD.
Geoff is apparently playing backseat editor with this blog post, and he claims the car was not 100 years old. It was an early 80s Lincoln Something. Which he kindly reminded me is LESS old than I am. Thank you, Geoff.
Anyway. We made it to the airport and waited in line behind one person to drop off my bag (yes, I'm married to one of those annoying men who can inexplicably pack a week's worth of stuff in a carry-on suitcase). We sailed through security faster than I've ever gone through security in my life, I think. Or rather, LINDSAY sailed through security. Geoff's knee brace made the loudest siren in the world go off. I may have laughed just a little at his expense.
And then we waited. At first, we were told our flight was 20 minutes late and that our connecting flight in Minneapolis would not be a problem. Then we were told nothing. And we waited... And we waited... And we waited.
By the time we were taking off in Fargo, we were 45 minutes behind schedule. With a scheduled 60 minute layover before our next flight took off. ARGH. We kind of made our peace with missing our flight to La Guardia, but figured that we'd still try our hardest to do whatever we could to make it. You never know, right?
But we were seated at the back of the aircraft. And the flight attendants' announcements (at my request) that people PLEASE let off the individuals sitting near the back who had tight connections went totally unnoticed. And the Delta worker at the gate when we ran off the plane was useless. She told us that our next flight was on time and that we *could* run but it was likely to be a waste of energy. So we decided to go to our new terminal and figure it out (we could also rebook from there). We'd gone about thirty steps when we heard a final page for us on our La Guardia flight. I took one look at Geoff, told him to get to the gate whenever he could, and I ran like the wind through two terminals.
Well, IN MY MIND, I ran like the wind. In reality, I was cursing audibly and promising God that if I made this flight, I would start running again when we got back to Winnipeg. Oh dear LORD, this girl is out of shape. But guess what? I DID IT. I made it to the gate and threw our boarding passes and passports at the Delta lady at the same time I collapsed against the side of the counter, and managed to gasp out that my husband - with a knee injury - was still coming. And he showed up just a minute or two later.
Hey, it wouldn't be a Geoff + Lindsay vacation if someone wasn't sprinting through an airport. (See Also:
Patmos and
London.)
Apparently, our pilot was running late and hadn't boarded the plane yet. The flight was supposed to be on time, but was pushed back by almost ten minutes while they waited. That was absolutely the only reason we are currently sitting on our scheduled Minneapolis - La Guardia flight.
THANK YOU, PILOT. (And I don't even want to know why you were late.)
We walked onto our flight and someone was sitting in Geoff's seat. She looked up and said, "I didn't think you were coming." And we just smiled and said, "NEITHER DID WE."
Labels: New York New York, The Boy, Travel
What Not To Wear
Know what's boring? Driving from Winnipeg to Fargo.
Know what's the opposite of boring? FARGO.
Geoff + I had kind of an awesome evening checking out the fashions on display at the mall - on the people, not in the stores. I have no idea where people find that stuff, considering the stores all sell the same stuff we have at home (albeit a little bit cheaper). Seriously. We saw every variation on pajama and/or baggy zebra print pants. I wish I could erase it from my memory.
It was good to stretch our legs and even better to call it a night after we drove four hours in equally gimpy states.
Our hotel was good - actually a little bit nicer than we'd expected - minus what I can only assume was a hockey team also staying there this weekend. I got over my issues with public hot tubs and made Geoff come downstairs to the pool area with me, only to turn around and return to our room a few minutes later. Holy lazy parenting. I mean, we're parents. We get that kids make noise, especially when they're having fun. But we're talking about fifteen mostly-unsupervised hooligans running, jumping, screaming, yelling, cannonballing, towel snapping, and just generally working their way through the list of THINGS YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY NOT DO IN OR NEAR A POOL. Including a swarm of very young children in the hot tub by themselves, around the corner from where a couple of adults sitting and looking like they could not possibly have cared less about what was going on. It was ROWDYISM at its very, very finest. Oh, and this was just before 10 pm (which might actually explain why the kids were SO wild, but most definitely does NOT explain why they were still there).
Yes, I complained. No, I haven't received a response yet. No, I have not always been THIS un-fun (but almost always).
Anyway. Did I mention that the entire hotel appeared to be BIRD-THEMED? Really, they looked a little more like ducks, but a girl can never be too sure. Everything had birds/ducks, from an embroidered pillow on the bed to the snooze button on the alarm clock (was that REALLY necessary?!).
Oh. Geoff is telling me they were most definitely ducks. THIS IS WHY I BLOG ALONE.
The best part of my day was getting to spend time with Geoff - and have whole, uninterrupted conversations. I even ate dinner straight through from first to last bite without jumping up for anything... AND THE LAST BITE WAS STILL WARM. I know, I know. The mind boggles.
The worst part of my day was ALREADY missing Briony. I'm not surprised. At all. And we'll still have a great trip. It's just very clear to me that part of my heart was left behind in Winnipeg - and in a week from now, I'm going to be VERY excited to see her again.
It's off to the Big Apple tomorrow. I'm super excited, but it's also not feeling real yet. Today was a good day, but Geoff + I both agreed that it felt like some kind of lame layover / purgatory, just waiting for our REAL vacation to get started.
Labels: Briony, New York New York, The Boy, Travel
Happy Birthday, Geoff!
I can no longer say or write 'Geoff' without hearing Briony yelling it in my head... hehe.
My husband turned 36 today. Is it wrong that this was kind of funny to me? It just sounds so very grown-up... And I suppose we are :)
Last night, we went out for dinner and watched a movie with Emily + Paul, which was *technically* Geoff's birthday celebration. Today, we had a lovely, low-key family day that started with pancakes and ended with a moonlight walk to Starbucks.
I love this guy. And I feel lucky to be sharing this life with him. He is every bit the wonderful husband and father I knew he'd be when I first got to know him, and he's still my favourite person to hang out with. He's the person responsible for most of the fun in this family and he takes *such* good care of his girls. We are so lucky.
Labels: Photos, The Boy
Doing Our Best
This has been one of the hardest weeks I’ve had in a while.
I’m not even sure why. We started out with such wonderful intentions. But work EXPLODED for me this week - to the point where I cried about it. Kind of a lot. And then Briony’s been higher maintenance than usual. And then I flared up to the point where walking became incredibly difficult. And then Geoff’s recovery kind of took a baby step back in terms of pain. And then I got sick - real, old fashioned cold + flu sick.
Oh, and did I mention that this weekend is Briony’s birthday party AND Geoff’s birthday? OF COURSE IT IS.
I’m not really proud to admit that I crumbled. The other day just before dinner time, I ended up in bed in the dark, sobbing and seriously considering never getting out of bed again.
But I did.
And we’re doing our best over here. Fortunately, our incredible friends and family have stepped up and helped ‘our best’ be more than enough this week. My mom came and did laundry, a few people surprised us with food, and Emily took me grocery shopping last night (and even unpacked it all into my fridge + cupboards when we got home).
Briony’s party - and our modest little birthday celebration for Geoff - won’t be *quite* everything I hoped and dreamed they would be. The house isn’t going to be as clean as I’d like it to be. And that’s okay. I’m looking forward to this weekend, and celebrating the two people in this world who took me from ‘just me’ to a full-on little family - and make every day totally worth getting out of bed for.
Labels: Arthritis/Fibromyalgia, Briony, Emily, Family, My Friends, My Life, The Boy, Working Girl
A Poor Me Moment
Lots to catch up on - lifewise and blogwise - after this weekend. For now, I have another client deadline to tackle. And I'm working very hard to fight against feelings of 'poor me' that are threatening to creep in tonight. It just feels a little like my life has been The Suck lately, and I'm running around like a crazy person trying to get things unpacked, prepped, cleaned, sorted, planned, organized... and Geoff is lying on the couch watching cartoons. STUPID FREAK DANCING ACCIDENT.
Labels: Bitching About Nothing, My Life, The Boy, The Great Knee Catastrophe of 2010
Day At A Glance
Stopped at our friendly neighbourhood Starbucks today, and our 'regular' barista came around the counter to shake my hand and introduce himself. 'I want to know your name. Right now, to me, you're Double Tall Nonfat Vanilla Latte Girl - and you're married to Scooter Guy.' It made me smile. And the smile turned into a full-fledged grin when he gave me my Double Tall Nonfat Vanilla Latte for free. My usual. I have always wanted to have a usual somewhere. Given how I'm *so* much a creature of habit, I suppose it was just a matter of time before someone caught on :)
Took Geoff for his follow-up appointment with the surgeon today. He got his staples out and the surgeon is super happy with how it's all looking. Geoff got permission to increase the angle of his leg brace. It will be sloooow and steady process, but today was a step forward.
While I was sitting in the waiting room during Geoff's appointment, someone came out of the clinic area holding his leg brace (he's gone in a few minutes earlier wearing it). He had the biggest smile on his face. He walked right past me, then turned around and came back to tell me that we'd make it - that my husband would be the one walking out of there holding his brace before we know it. Kind of random, but it totally made my day.
Woke up more tired and in pain than usual today. It feels like I've been trudging through quicksand as I've been working through my to-do list. I HATE THAT.
Tomorrow is our last day with Libby here. I drop her off at the airport EARLY on Wednesday morning. It's going to be sad to say goodbye... We've had a great time with her, and she's been such an incredible support for us over the last two weeks.
As I'm sitting here, I can smell beef barley vegetable soup in simmering in the slow cooker and an apple pie baking in the oven. I AM A DOMESTIC GODDESS. Even if the soup is pretty much just last night's leftovers repurposed and the pie was totally just pulled from my freezer ;)
And speaking sarcastically of my Domestic Goddess title, I hit up M+M and Safeway with Geoff today to pick up some prefab meal components to help get us through the next couple of weeks. And another salad kit (turns out they're actually kind of good... and Safeway sells organic ones!). I'm done apologizing. It's not like I'm running through the McDonald's drive-through every night to feed my family. Some chicken breasts that have been pre-stuffed by some factory machine rather than yours truly will probably not kill us.
All my clients collectively decided to wallop my inbox today. It's going to be a crazy week. OF COURSE.
An eNewsletter that I've been working on launching for MONTHS finally went out on Friday and it felt GOOD. Just about ready to wrap up the content for Issue 2 and it's going *so* much more smoothly so far. That makes me happy. New projects are fun, but so is finding your groove.
Briony's been tippy-toeing around the house in her ladybug tutu off and on all day today, waving her wand and twirling around. And wearing my cat ears. I love her.
I was Bitchy Paranoid Mom today and cancelled Girls Night because my friend's daughter (who was going to tag along) was sick yesterday. Crazy? Maybe. Responsible? I like to think so. I was super sad to have to reschedule but I cannot imagine dealing with ANY of us being sick right now on top of everything else I'm attempting to balance this week. Seriously. CAN YOU IMAGINE?!
We totally bought some discount Halloween candy today. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I have a bowl of candy on my dining room table. And a few leftover cupcakes from yesterday. And the aforementioned PIE. I have a sneaking suspicion that this won't be my best-ever eating week.
Brainstorming ideas of things that Libby could take back as a little treat for her family that would be distinctly Winnipeg-ish. Any ideas?
Labels: Being Domestic, Briony, Food is Yummy, Going Rogue, Libby, My Friends, My Life, Random Joy, Starbucks, The Boy
