it was an absolutely wonderful weekend minus elle whining of course, but we'll just pretend that never happened...
they arrived thursday night and we ate at my favorite little restaurant here in brooklyn heights called colonie. they all got to see where i am living including brooklyn heights which my dad fell in love with... i think after him seeing this neighborhood he would actually be okay with me moving here for a few years! woohoo :) elle slept through dinner which was a much needed nap for her considering the fact that they were awake at 3am to get on the plane... of course this meant she was WIDE awake at midnight and receiving cookies from the bellman at the hotel as the clock stuck 12. boyyy was that a mistake. nothing like going to work on a friday with about 4 hours of sleep under my belt all because of ellebelle jumping off the walls!
friday went by quickly at work because i was so excited to meet up with them... once i got off we went to carnegie deli and enjoyed ginormous sandwiches all of which it looked like we hadn't even touched by the end. we spent the later half of the day roaming 5th ave. and the american girl doll store which is an experience in itself... i would have died for that when i was 7 years old. elle got her first american girl doll, julie, which looks almost exactly like her... and they even have matching clothes for the dolls and the little girls (of course elle is the proud owner of several outfits that match julie's now too...) luckily we didn't have to eat at the american girl cafe, go to the american girl "doctor" or the beauty salon, dentist, etc. (yes, that all exists..creepy right?). finally we made it to soho for shopping and then to the palms restaurant for a wonderful steak dinner.
--flashback-- 2 years ago when dad and koleen came to visit our waiter was antonio at the palms and after chatting and getting to know him we came to find out his uncle was a professor at university of idaho and his (antonio's) dog is actually named vandal.. of course, my dad being the vandal fan that he is, they became buddies and antonio ended up buying our entire meal for us which was definitely not cheap. to return the favor, my dad sent him a very nice bottle of wine and u of i jacket... when we went back this past weekend my dad requested antonio as our waiter and he remembered us after we reminded him of who we were and he actually had to excuse himself from the table because he was choking up and was so appreciative of the jacket and nice gestures... leave it to me to start crying, cuz that i definitely took care of. haha. just goes to show "what goes around, comes around"... its nice to do nice things for people. :)
saturday was spent uptown near columbia. we went to my favorite breakfast place, artopolis, and then went and visited the church that is up there, st. john the devine. we attended the broadway show, wicked, which was good...but still not the top of my list. however, it is amazing the talent everyone on broadway has...its so admirable. more shopping was done in soho that afternoon in spite of kat's birthday (shopping is always our main priority) and then dinner in soho that night at a very modern chill restaurant. Our last event before their 7am departure sunday morning was a trip to the top of the empire state building. pictures cannot do the view justice... it is more one of those things that just has to be admired in person and taken in while you are there.... breathtaking though, you can see the entire city!
all in all, the weekend was wonderful... elle wasn't a huge fan of the subway because i wouldn't allow her to treat the polls as a jungle gym... she was all for hailing the taxi's any chance she could get... reminds me of myself when i was that age and how i thought a block was soooo long!!. everyone was happy though, and i was happy to have them here.
the only negative part was realizing everything that they are going through still with the tragedy in our family... its so easy to remove yourself being in NY from the situation when your not constantly being reminded of the death by sweet little elle even though its constantly running through my head. hearing her say little comments about her mom really changes the way i have learned to appreciate life and family/friends in general and to not take anything for granted. its impossible not to choke up at least a couple times a day when you around her and think about what her and the other kids are going through...everyone is doing good though and it seems like everyone is getting through it the best they can. i will always worry about the kids and my dad too and just pray that time will heal everything (as much as possible) and it will all be okay. koleen is missed very much and as elle mentioned a few times this weekend it would have been great to have had her here with us. i miss the times we had 2 years ago when her and my dad came to visit for the fourth of july weekend... we had an amazing time and i can't believe that will never happen again. still so many things don't feel real... instead elle saved her favorite postcard and was writing a postcard to her mommy with my dad saturday night before their flight left sunday morning... [we love and miss you koleen<3.]
on a more postitive note, she is in a better place and watching us everyday..
i can't wait to see my family/friends in a month again though!! even though i'll miss new york, i really miss my family! love you all (mom-dad-kat-elle-michael-madeline-zack-michael-matthew-alli-benjamin)hugs and kisses from NYC!
and to my gamma phis---- can't wait to be back to 709 elm! see you in a month xoxoxo <3
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