Unexpected Sunday

It has been a long Monday. Most seem that way. This one however seemed just that much longer due to an unexpected Sunday trip. I found that a cousin of mine was visiting the States from Germany. My mother and daughter met up with him early Saturday morning to watch the German Pride Parade in the city.They had a great day. I stayed home and was super lazy while a trip to the city sounded like a lot of fun the $$$ was not in the budget.

Sunday the plan was for my Mom,the Kid, a cousin Christoph to head over to NJ for an annual family get together. I had no intentions of going but since Christoph asked I sucked it up and went. It is not that I do not like family things but it is a very long story of why I pick and choose. Today is not the day to stir that pot.

The family reunion thing was not what any of us had expected. It started at 12pm and ended by 3pm. Mind you it was about a 2hr drive from our home.  Also ,Christoph was not able to check in where he was staying until 9pm. Since he was dragging his suitcase with him we did not feel right putting him back on the train to walk around the city until 9pm.

So what to do? Seemed easy enough to me,drive him into the city,find parking, leave his suitcase in the car and go find a place to eat.  We walked through Chelsea.Decided to get on the Subway and head to China Town for dinner. Christoph knew where he wanted to go so we tracked down the address only to find it was closed.Oops. In the end we went to the next place down,because at this point we were starved.

After dinner, we headed to Little Italy where the Feast of San Gennaro was underway. Just walking enjoying the scene. We didn't eat a thing ( I think a first). Then we made our way back to the car. We ended up taking a few different trains due to things we did not know about. I guess that just proves my point that I do not spend nearly enough time in the city and that I must correct this soon.

Highlight of the day,picture 3 adults and an 11 yr old. Tired, full and ready to call it a day crammed on the C train.  Then a lady nearly pushed herself over to us and leans over to Cousin Christoph and says," Um,are you from here?" Christoph just looked at her blankly and then got this smirk and said something to her in German, She laughed and punched him in the arm. The Kid,my mom and I just looked confused.  After a little banter back and forth between Christoph and the lady we finally got clued in. Of the millions of people in NYC, Christoph bumps into a family friend from Germany who is in the States as an Au Pair. If that wasn't crazy enough, she tells us that she thought she had seen him yesterday at the parade but was like  no could not be him he is in Germany.

This my friends is why I love moments in NYC you never know what will happen.

The Kid

Me & the Kid

The Kid

Cousin Christoph

Love this view even when my heart misses the old view more

 

Till we meet up again NYC!

Fall-tastic !

Do you feel it, smell it, taste it? Fall is so in the air. While I love those lazy hazy days of summer there is something about the crisp autumn air that has me craving for all things fall.

Like sitting on my front steps with coffee early on my weekend mornings,the air crisp and quiet, just me and the squirrels that are collecting their treats for the winter. It's a great start to the day.

Pumpkin time! While we do not go pumpkin picking every year, it is still something I look forward too. I have seen a couple of pumpkin pictures all ready this year that I would love to reproduce in some form.

The smells of fall are another love of mine. It is when people seem to start baking again after the summer hiatus. Who doesn't like the smell of apple pies baking? I know there are other smells but I think the baking ones stand out for me. There is also something about the fall air that screams apple cider, pumpkin lattes, hot cocoa, apple crisp and homemade cranberry anything.

I live in an area where we get a lot of people who drive up on the weekends to see the leaves during the season and while I might laugh and call them leaf peepers at times... I myself am just as guilty for enjoying the beautiful changes. Lucky for me I can do it everyday not
                                                                                       just on a weekend trip.

A fall wedding. The endless color combinations that pop into my head, the centerpieces, the dresses. I could go on for awhile but I wont. I just know that in October, I get to see my friend marry her best friend . I can't wait to see how she put together her fall wedding.



Oh the colors. The colors of fall are amazing.From the vivid oranges and yellows, to the deep reds and browns and all the shades between. How amazing it is that Mother nature produces such a beautiful palette to work with each fall. The colors alone make me want to take pictures and paint on the regular.



















Some of my favorites pictures of my daughter have been taken during the fall months.

I hope to take many new favorites this year.

What things excite you about the fall?

I just feel like dancing

This weekend was a lazy,dance filled,referee playing,cleaning kind of weekend. I guess calling it lazy is a bit of stretch but honestly, I was. I spent all morning on the couch trying to clean out the DVR , in anticipation of the new fall seasons and shows to begin. I dragged myself away from only to get some laundry done,and catch up on some of my blog reading. I said it was lazy but it was such a nice way to spend by Saturday morning and afternoon.

That night though I had plans, I was gonna get my dance on. A good friend and her BF and I went to a little scary hotel bar to listen to a cover band we know. I danced for hours and had a blast! Made me miss the nights of endless dancing when I was in my early twenties.However, my feet and body clearly were like "Honey,you are not 20 anymore". HA! Still good times.

As the night went on though I ended up playing referee between the couple I was with. Not exactly how I was dreaming on ending my evening. My dream ending would have most definitely
involved me and Mr. Henry Cavil, or Mr. Ryan Gosling, or BOTH. I know don't be greedy  but like I said , it was my dream ending of the night.

The only person I ended up with that night was myself once the feuding couple dropped me to my door.  

Sunday, I just finished cleaning ,made a casserole for dinner and made sure the Kid and I were prepared for another Monday. Then I crawled into bed watched a movie and then crashed for the night. 

Wish all my weekends could be so lazy!

Oh how time flies

Oh wow how time flies. Middle school years have now officially begun.May all of us going through these next few years with our kids survive it.