9/11 Memorial

While Jodi and Jordan were here I was able to go with them to the 9/11 memorial that opened this last Fall. Pat have had tried multiple times to go and see it but we things always came up. It was such a heart wrenching and breath taking experience all at one. 

The fountains were built in the footprints of the old towers and are outlined with the names of the individuals who died in a tower, a plane or at the Pentagon. 

It was hard because as you passed by thousands of names, I tried not to think of them as just "names" because I knew there were families and loved ones associated with each person. It was hard to imagine the tragedy that took place in that very place a little over 10 years ago. 

Although I don't like subjecting myself to sad things, this is definitely a "must do" when you come to New York.

Fun at the Park and Dave

It ain't no trip to NYC if you don't visit Central Park, especially on a busy Sunday afternoon when the weather is great. It is inevitable, it the weather is nice, Central Park will be hoppin' and there will be some stellar people watching. 

Another day that Jodi and Jordan were here we attempted to go see the David Letterman show. We called early and got standby tickets and were really excited because our numbers were 8,9, & 10. They said we had a really good shot of getting it. It must have been really crowded that day because Will Farrell was going to be the guest but we will were confident we would get in until they took the last guest #7 (the person RIGHT before us) and said they had no more seats!! What are the chances!?

But it wasn't all bad, Jodi and Jordan got to go see it the following day and this cool black man in this vintage car was blasting Frank Sinatra while we waited in line.

Oh, and one day when Jodi and Jordan were here we saw Ben Stiller. Isn't New York awesome?

The Accomplice

Hello blogging world. It has been oh so long. I have been the worst at documenting events and blogging since I have been pregnant. Pregnancy has really wiped me out! I feel lucky because I didn't really have morning sickness, in the sense of throwing up an what not, but I did feel extremely fatigued and nauseous all the time if I didn't ever hour on the hour. Food has never been such a good friend. However, when I say fatigued I mean the most draining exhausting feeling you have ever felt. I was not expecting this. I mean, I know that you body is creating a human being, but no one ever really told me about how tired I would be. It was too the point where even watching TV was too much effort. I was going to bed at 7pm and would have to take a break after taking a shower. 

Anyways, just the thought of blogging would make me nauseous, but I am glad that I am slowly getting out of this phase and I am able to think about it with minor nausea. 

Anyways, let us go back to almost exactly a month ago when my sister, Jodi, and brother-in-law, Jordan, came to visit us once more. It is so fun living in a "destination" city because we are able to visit friends an family in the comfort of our own home. 

The first day they arrived we were on the move, first with a little "entertainment" I heard about from a co-worker called "The Accomplice." I really don't know how to describe this experience except for the fake that I have never done anything like it. 

Basically we met on a corner in the West Village with about 6 other people besides us. From there our "tour" guide met us and the experience started. However, the tour guide was only with us for about 15 minutes until she left us on our own suddenly (all about of the plan) leaving us to figure out our next stop with a clue she gave us. From there we were led on a 2 hour scavenger hunt/tour/mystery/detective experience where we met actors on the street (but we didn't know if they were actors or just passerby-ers) and were led to a series of different places and clues throughout the West Village to solve a mystery. 

The website explains it a bit better but still doesn't give much info: 

Part game, part theater, part tour. Using the sprawling backdrop of the city as its stage, utilizing elements of improv theater and scavenger hunt, Accomplice will make you laugh, think, and experience the city in a whole new way.

The Accomplice sites, naturally, are kept secret - it's all part of the fun. "Not enough information," you say? Trust us—the fun is in the surprises.

I didn't take many pictures because you have to be so involved in order to solve the mystery. We had a great group. I didn't think I would like being with strangers but it was actually really fun to get to know them.  

We worked up quite an appetite throughout our adventure, and since we were in the area we went to one of my favorite (and Jordan's) restaurants in the city, Katz Deli. And of course we had to keep up with our tradition and take a picture with the Dietch Wall when we passed by! (see also, here, here and here)

If you didn't get one...

I sent these announcements out to our families about a month ago. 

For those of you who didn't get one...

 

Pat's almost 30!!!

On March 3rd, Patrick celebrated his 29th birthday! Yikes! When did we get so old!? It boggles my mind that next year we will be the dreaded age (hahah for all you over 30-ers) of 30. I guess we are adults now? But what qualifies you being an adult? Even though Pat, and soon to be me, are 29 do we meet all the qualifications for adult-dom? Who knows. All I know is I am living by the saying "You are as old as you feel."

On Saturday Patrick had a relaxing day of playing his new Nintendo 3DS that he received from his brother, David, and flying his toy helicopter that he received from him mom (see what I mean about being adults!) while I prepared for his party that evening.

One of our traditions on our birthdays is that we eat out as much as we can. So we went all the way downtown to go to a Quizno's for lunch and then to a Uno Pizza for dinner.

Then came Pat's party. Pat is such a social butterfly. For his birthday, naturally he wanted to to spend it with as many people as possible. Me on the other hand, like to keep things low key and intimate. But I am glad we are different because we have a lot of fun because of his natural outgoing nature.

In addition to wanting a party for his birthday, Pat also have very specific instruction for his birthday cake. He wanted a dirt cake. You know the kind of cake that resembles dirt that you ate as a kid? Yup, he wanted that kind, but it had to be in a flower pot, with fake flowers on top and gummy worms throughout. Once again, let me refer to my comment above about us being adults?!

Since his party was not a surprise and his cake was not a surprise, I wanted the party games to be a little surprise. A few days before the party I emailed his friends and family and asked them to write a few "Did you know facts" about Pat so I could hang them around the apartment for the party guests to learn more about the birthday boy. I think this activity was way more fun for me, to see what people came up with, than anything else. Some of the Pat "did you know facts" included:

Did you know Pat's finger doesn't work on an iPad?
-Jared Beauchamp


Did you know that Pat got sick from falling into a golf course pond late at night canoeing in said pond?
-Jeff Scalbom


Did you know that Pat thew-up on a male-nurse when pulling cactus needles out from Pat’s face.
-Bill Koelling

We also played "Pin the Glasses on Pat" where there was a large picture of Pat and black framed cut out glasses that each guest pined on while blind folded.


Last but not least we played "Pat Phrase," very similar to our favorite game "Catch Phrase" the only difference being all the words were related to Pat in some way. This game actually embarrassed Pat, which is really hard to do because some of the words included: Patient, kind, funny, friend to all. Hahahha. There were other words in their like: Zombie Apocalypse, Lake Powell, Motorcycle and Ferret, but those few personality traits made the birthday boy feel a little uncomfortable.


We had so much fun that I totally forgot to take pictures of the party and the guests! I was so sad as that last guests were leaving that the thought occurred to me that I didn't take any pictures!!!!!!!!!! I was majorly bummed, but hopefully the memories will not fade even though we don't have pictures to prove all the fun we had.