nyc with the ladies {6.26-29.09}

Nothing screams a weekend of fun like hanging out with old roomies in the big city. Allison wrote is so much better than I could (see here), but I must give it a whirl for journaling sake, if nothing else.

preface--->
2.5 years ago I was a busy college student buried up to my elbows in schoolwork and taking years off my eyesight daily by spending hours on end in the computer lab. I had a record of taking routine detours away from my schooling to experience this (nannying in NY) and that (mission en la gran Argentina), but at that point I was at long last tired of seeing all my friends move on and graduate while I was barely scraping away an occasional semester. I thus determined that it was my time to bite the bullet, take a seat, and stay put until I too could join alumnus status, with high hopes of leaving starvation and student poverty behind and finally earning a decent income for myself (fingers crossed). Stay-put goals fully in place, I also realized to gain said income, it might be somewhat beneficial to gain experience prior to my grown-up job. Stumbled upon a DC internships sign, saw one last chance for a final excursion, loads of forms and interviews later, and I was flying cross-country to a completely new experience, to live with people I entirely did not know.

And I lucked out.

Four amazing, fun, hilarious, ambitious, let's-all-be-goofy-together, inspiring, beautiful girls. Lucky, lucky me. They were just what I needed that summer, and it was they who screamed the morning after I kissed Jon Smith for the first time on August 8.









Who wouldn't want to keep in touch with people like that? Seriously? And who wouldn't want a weekend get away with some of them?

We were missing Kami & Mindy, but Ash and I made the Chinatown bus trek with Van man from DC to NYC to land ourselves a stay at the lovely Riley home in Harlem. We'd all been to NYC together once before and loved it, while living on a scarier-than-starving-college-student intern budget, and we have the photos to show for it.



This time, however, with baby Van in tow, we opted for a more relaxing NYC weekend (ever heard of that?) and Allison and Noah gave us just that. Low key hanging out, movie watching, ordering out (meaning Noah goes and picks up the food), girl gabbing, and even getting all ambitious and taking a few hours out on the town. We checked out the awesome High Line Park that opened that day (check it out, it's awesome), took our sweet time walking, and later indulged ourselves with a little Times Square cheesecake. Yum. Best hosts ever award goes to the Rileys. Oh how I love your crepes and beautiful array of street-vendor fruits. And oh how I love your stories and down-to-earth-ness. Don't be surprised if I come running back soon!

{note: I took WAY too many photos, and couldn't choose between most, so there are quite a few here. Also...totally behind=totally unedited photos.}

our stunning hosts:


the ladies + van:


high line highlights:













pieces of the big apple:























in the square:




this cracks me up. (Thank you Noah for so kindly doing the baby carrying!)




I'm not posing here, I promise, I'm pulling my hair out of my face. But I had to post this one, because look at Van's face! It's so funny! I think it's safe to say his little baby brain might have been a little overstimulated.


my cute roomies.


photo of the trip:



and @ the pad:

van's hand-fashioned crib (thanks Noah!)


the babe. so THIS is what it's like to have natural light in your home. LOVE IT.








the royal treatment for breakfast.



I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Ladies? Who's in?

ferry, harper's {May 9-10, 2009}

quaint + historic = anniversary celebrating worthy.

Not that it we have to have those things wrapped up into a fancy location to celebrate our years (we can say years now) of marriage, but it sure makes it fun if we do. I imagine this could be the last year in a while that we'll be able to just take off to some random place to soak up charming streets and each other, seeing as children probably cause some alterations to those plans as they get older, but since Van is still a wee one, we just toted him along and made it a family celebration. And how could we not want to? Look at this guy!




Harper's Ferry is a darling little historic town, built on a hillside with sharp inclines, and based on a small outreaching peninsula bordered by the Shenandoah on one side, and the Potomac on the other. The town was an industrial town chosen for its unique location at the joining of the 2 rivers. It's in West Virginia, but from its shore you can see both Virginia and Maryland. Est. 1763. Current population: 307. It has a lot of industrialization and Civil war history, which you can read more about here. We tried to catch up a little on our history, but we didn't do our usual "print off the important stuff to read on the drive so as to be well-versed in all aspects upon arrival" routine, and therefore the history kind of got muddled in our heads, but we certainly appreciated the picturesque streets and homes, shops and views. :) It was kind of a spontaneous trip decided the day of, so we took the spontaneity theme and went with it.








Check this dog out with his own personal peep-hole/arm-rest from the deck.


We ate dinner at a fun rustic restaurant where many an Appalachian trail hikers had stopped to eat (we knew this per their clothing, facial hair and trail talk) and an Irishman belted out old folklore songs. Following our fitting dinner, we stayed at a nice hotel, (by nice I mean Holiday Inn, but who doesn't want an awesome continental breakfast?) and another day full of a genuine West Virginia flea market experience, nailing Harper's Ferry history hot spots, photo taking, and ice cream eating (twice). If you have yet to be to a West Virginia flea market, you should probably put it on your list. It's a funny culture that we got the feeling many people dedicate a good portion of their life to there. We were completely entertained. We walked away with a sweet hand carved little wooden trunk and an old OLD camera, missing the lens, but complete with the billows (comparable to this) for $1. A steal. Annual anniversary weird purchase: check.

We couldn't get enough of the town. I especially loved the old signage, Jon loved the rocks, stones, and ivy that reminded him of Switzerland, and Van especially loved the ice cream. Looks like addiction genes run high in this family when it comes to frozen sugarized milk.








A remaining hint of the industrial hub it used to be (apparently many locals commute daily to DC from here for work via train...who knew?)




And a visit to the town cemetery at the very top of the hill, wherein lies the grave of the town founder, Robert Harper. Nearby are old church ruins and fantastic views of the river.







This one (Harper's Ferry) has been on our list for some time now, so I'm glad we've conquered it at long last. I'm torn between thinking it would be dreamy and freaky to live here. But it's simply lovely to visit.