I Can See Why People Heart NY

Yeah, try getting those down the stairs to the subway - fortunately we had an entourage to help. One might argue at the least the infant should have been in a carrier/sling type thing but I have a gaping hole in my back that would make such a thing impossible. (Had minor surgery last week.)

New York surprised me, it really did. I expected it to feel and be a certain way, and it was totally different. When I went to most European cities they were exactly as I knew they would be. Paris, especially, felt like it had always been in my heart, like it was mine. Though conversely I did feel very inferior there - like, if I lived there for the 25 years it still wouldn't be good enough and could still not call myself a 'Parisienne.' NY, on the other hand, was not at all like it is depicted and I surprisingly did not feel inferior. Maybe because there are so many types of people there, I don't know. And I expected it to feel oppressive and small like Toronto (grrr... I hate TO) but there is a surprising amount of both physical and mental space in that city. It truly is magical. And the people? Very friendly. I KNOW, WEIRD! Oh, and I felt safer there than I do here in Virginia. Figure THAT one out.

We made a last minute decision to go to last week to see a friend play at Carnegie Hall. Why would we choose to drive 360 miles each way with two little kids, you might ask? Well, since we live on the eastern seaboard, relatively near all these great places, and never go to them, always having a reason not to take the time or spend the money, having a friend play at CH was just the once-in-a-lifetime push we needed to make the trip. Sure driving 8-9 hours with two little kids was not the best time I've ever had, nor was it super good times to breastfeed all over Manhattan, but it was overall a very fun trip. Nadia, especially, surprised us by being an awesome traveller. Who knew! And Snugs, after spending nearly 3 days in the carseat, rewarded us by not sleeping either night in the hotel. Hey, we deserved it.

The highlight: (Besides, obviously, seeing a concert at CH and sightseeing with my peeps from back home.) Running 6.5 miles in central park. Seriously, I could do that every day.

Lowlight: Delaware.