Lil Bub

We are back and finally pretty much recovered and thawed out from our long weekend in NYC - we had a great time as always and I have lots of pictures and memories to share that I hope to post about soon. In the meantime, Conley and I paid a visit to a sweet little cat named Lil Bub this week at a Meet and Greet at Austin Pets Alive. This sweet little kitten and her dad travel the country to raise money for homeless pets and other special need animals. You can learn more about Lil Bub and her great cause on her webpage: http://lilbub.com/about.

Conley was a trooper while we waited in line for our turn and was very excited to visit the "meow" and "b bub" as he calls her. He was a little bit shy when our turn was up, but her owner was very sweet and held Lil Bub right up to Conley so he could see her and pet her and after a few pictures he was ready to go in for the pet. We even got an autographed picture signed "Good job Conley!" and he loves looking at it multiple times a day as it is displayed on our kitchen counter until I get around to framing it - I think it will be a cute addition to the play area side of the Kanga. A fun little outing for a great cause - so glad we got to meet this sweet little angel!

The Weekend Freeze

I'm super excited about our annual return to New York tomorrow, but just slightly worried about the range of temperatures we will encounter : anywhere from 16 - 39 degrees! I enjoy a little winter seasonality on our March trips, but this is the first time we've gone when it hasn't made it into the 40's. Since our favorite activity is walking around, this will make it a little interesting, but I'm planning to bundle up and carry on!

I've made some progress on a rough itinerary for our long weekend and while I hate to try to plan out every moment, I find that if I don't at least have an outline it's easy for the days to slip by and we may miss out on a favorite restaurant or activity with our limited time. So with that, here's my rough plan with a few open spots. This time tomorrow we'll be nice and cozy in our little apartment on Bleecker!

NYC Trip:
------------
Tentative Itinerary:
Friday (flight arrives at 12:30pm):
Late Lunch: The Breslin
Shopping in Soho, Nolita, West Village and Chelsea?
Walk the Highline
Dinner: Eataly

Saturday:
Bakery Breakfast:
Union Square Greenmarket
Levain Bakery - grab some cookies!
Natural History Museum
Lunch:
Walk in CP and horse ride for Conley
The Met and drinks in balcony
Dinner: Bread?

Sunday:
Bakery Breakfast:
Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasbord
Shopping in Williamsburg
Brunch: Zucco?
Peter Happy Hour at 3pm
Dinner: The Meatball Shop? Or Yakiniku?

Monday:
Bakery Breakfast:
Central Park Zoo
UES Shopping - Bloomie's
Old neighborhood walk
Lunch: Vermicelli
MOMA
UES Shopping - Bendel's, Barney's, etc
Peter Gala at 6pm
Dinner: Me and C on our own, take-out from City Bakery?

Tuesday (flight departs at 5:59pm):
Bakery Breakfast:
Lunch: Minetta Tavern
Leave for airport at 3pm

Shopping by Neighborhood:
Soho/Nolita/NoHo:
Global Table - 107 Sullivan St b/t Prince and Spring
Taschen - 107 Greene St b/t Prince and Spring
Kiosk - 95 Spring St b/t Mercer and Broadway
Santa Maria Novella - 285 Lafayette b/t Houston and Prince
Jack Spade - 56 Greene St b/t Spring and Broome
Steven Alan - 230 Elizabeth St b/t Prince and Houston
McNally Jackson - 52 Prince St b/t Mulberry and Lafayette, boutique bookstore
The Future Perfect - NoHo - 55 Great Jones b/t Lafayette and Bowery
Splendid - 111 Spring St b/t Greene and Mercer

West Village:
YOYA (baby store) - 636 Hudson @ Horatio
Albertine - 13 Christopher St b/t 6th and 7th Ave
CO Bigelow - 414 6th Ave b/t 8th and 9th St
James Perse - 411 Bleecker St b/t 10th and Charles St
Jack Spade - 400 Bleecker St b/t Perry and 11th St
Greenwich Letterpress - 39 Christopher St b/t Waverly Place and W 4th St

Williamsburg:
Catbird - 219 Bedford Ave b/t N 4th and 5th St, best jewelry!
Bird - 203 Grand St b/t Bedford and Driggs
The Future Perfect - 115 N 6th nr Berry
Beautiful Dreamers - unique gifty, 326 Wythe Ave nr 1st St

UES:
Bloomingdale's
Henri Bendel
Sprout NYC - 1375 3rd Ave b/t 78th and 79th St.

UWS:
A Tempo - 74th Columbus - carry delicate animal necklaces (I've got quite a few from when we lived there and a few trips since)

Chelsea:
ABC Carpet & Home - 888 Broadway b/t E 18th and 19th St
Books of Wonder - 18 W 18th St b/t 5th and 6th Ave, lots of kid books
Chelsea Antiques Garage -Sat/Sun 9-5, 112 W 25th St - moved to Hell's Kitchen

A Little Sparkle

I am definitely a fan of sparkly things, and my latest obsession has been the Lulu Frost shoe clips at J. Crew. I have a few pairs of plain leather (and patent leather) ballet flats that I love, but I don't get too excited about wearing them and I think what they are missing is some sparkle! Unfortunately, the Lulu Frost versions are pretty expensive so I have also been perusing Etsy for some cheaper alternatives. I've found a few possible contenders, but you can definitely tell even in the pictures the difference in quality. I've never owned a piece of Lulu Frost jewelry, but I may be joining the rank of fans soon. It seems like my options would be to buy a few different sets from Etsy that I sort of like or one that I really love from Lulu Frost. I imagine it's pretty obvious which way I am leaning on this one.

In other news, another season of Downton Abbey has come to an end and I am missing it already. They really need to make more episodes per season, I'm not ready to say goodbye for another year! After last season's dramatic ending, I wasn't sure I could ever enjoy the show again - and it even took a few episodes into this year's season for me to accept that Matthew was gone, sob! Even after accepting that part, I didn't think I would be interested in a new love interest for Mary, but I have to say that now I am ready for it - and I am on Team Gillingham. From what I've read it seems like I may be in the minority, but I just have a better feeling about him even though he was pretty quick to declare his love for Mary! I have a feeling it may not end well for him, but I am rooting for Tony! We shall see next season - this will be a long year!

Little Valentines and NYC Take Two

My Valentine's post is a few days late, but Conley and I had a lot of fun last week getting ready for the big day! He was much more involved this year in making his Valentines and I think his favorite part this time around was the stamps - that sure was a mess, but fun for him! We made the first few cards with glitter as well, but I soon abandoned that plan - I'm sure all of the recipient's moms appreciated that move as well! It took us a few days to get through them all this year because we had to make an extra 13 for Conley's classmates and teachers. I think they turned out really cute in the end though and Conley enjoyed the process! He had a blast at his school party and is still toting around his Valentine box and inspecting all of his Valentines. It is so fun to experience these holidays through his eyes, especially as he gets a little older!

I've never been a big Valentine's Day fan and prefer to stay out of restaurants that night, but my mom had offered to babysit so we opted for a late lunch at Sway - probably my second favorite restaurant in Austin. It is definitely a different experience without Conley, so we really got to enjoy our pad thai jay (among other yummy dishes), but I was bummed that the "soy" dessert was no longer on the menu. The replacement just was not the same! We had a great lunch though and it was nice to spend the rest of the day at home with our little cupid. It did end on a sad note though when Conley grabbed the brownie pan and burned his little hand - so sad! After a good cry and alternating between running his hand under water and holding an ice pack, he did eventually recover with no trace of the burn (I think a couple extra brownies is what really did the trick).

The final product - the one Conley made for us had a little less bling,
but the general idea was the same!

In other news, I finally got a new pair of running shoes and they sure are bright! I technically never took up running again after I got pregnant with Conley - after getting through the nausea, I stuck with walking and since then our morning walks with a stroller and two big dogs just didn't seem conducive to running, although I know many people do it. I think I'm just a little more clumsy than others! All that to say that my last pair of running shoes was probably at least three years old - and in desperate need of replacement. I've been loyal to the classic grey New Balance running shoes for my last two purchases, so I thought it was time to finally break the rut. I've seen the super colorful neon running shoes become very popular and I was resistant at first, but they finally grew on me and I gave in. I stayed true to my New Balance roots though and went with the 1400. I got them in the mail last night and am actually pretty excited about them - yes, they are loud but I really like the color combo and they are extremely lightweight - not nearly as bulky as my usual pair. I'm going to take them for a test-drive this afternoon, so we'll see how they do. Since I'm not an avid marathon runner or anywhere close to that, I imagine they will work out just fine!

As for our soon-approaching NYC trip, I am still doing some final planning and keeping my fingers crossed that the weeks of record snow they have had lets up by next weekend. Although it might be fun to be stranded in NYC a few extra days, I really hope our flight doesn't get delayed or cancelled due to weather. In the meantime, here are a few memories from Conley's second trip to the big city last year, at about 14 months.

A return trip to Eataly

Loved his morning walks in Central Park on dad's back!

A yummy brunch at The Breslin

Walking the streets of Nolita

Conley's First Snow!

Back to NYC

Our annual trek to New York is fast approaching - we leave for a long weekend at the end of the month and I am excited as always and have started planning out our itinerary (my absolute favorite thing in the world to do - planning out trips in super detail!) This will be Conley's third trip there in his short little life - I didn't make it there until I was around 20 I think! While we usually hit up all of our favorite restaurants and sites, I really want to try to visit a couple new (or less-visited) places this time around to spice things up a bit. I also think since Conley is older this time around that he would really enjoy the Natural History Museum (which honestly isn't my favorite) and we might even do the Central Park Zoo (he loved our zoo trip in Buenos Aires) or a carriage ride (cheesy and something we never did before, but he would LOVE the "neighs" as he calls them). I also want to throw in at least one new restaurant -and since our beloved Zucco has closed (so sad :(, although it never was the same since the namesake passed away), there's an open slot among our usual regular spots to visit.

I'm finishing up my lists of shops, sites and restaurants to consider, so here is what my current Evernote entry looks like below. Next up will be narrowing down and then organizing by neighborhood and day - I know, super dorky but I love making lists and sub-lists as much as I love planning trips - and lucky for me, those two tasks go hand-in-hand!

NYC Trip:

------------

Shopping:

A Tempo - 74th Columbus - carry delicate animal necklaces (I've got quite a few from when we lived there and a few trips since)

YOYA (baby store) - 636 Hudson @ Horatio - West Village

CO Bigelow - 414 6th Ave b/t 8th and 9th St

Sprout NYC

Catbird - best jewelry!

Bloomingdale's

James Perse

Santa Maria Novella

Chelsea Antiques Garage -Sat/Sun 9-5, 112 W 25th St

Books of Wonder - lots of kid books

Kiosk

Jack Spade

John Derrian

Steven Alan

ABC Carpet & Home

Taschen - Spring in Soho

Greenwich Letterpress

McNally Jackson - boutique bookstore

Global Table - Soho 107 Sullivan St

Home store in Williamsburg?

------------

Eat:

Zucco - closed :(

Levain - 74th and Amsterdam - BEST chocolate chip cookies ever 

The Breslin

Eataly

Olives

City Bakery - more great cookies and thick hot chocolate

Vermicelli - old neighborhood spot, the Bun Ga Nuong is my order every time!

Cafe con Leche

Fetch

Lil Frankie's

The Meatball Shop

Freeman's

Balthazar

Frankie's Spuntino

New options:

Somewhere with yakiniku

Minetta Tavern - black label burger, 113 MacDougal St b/t Bleecker & W 3rd

Rubirosa - pizzaria, 235 Mulberry bt Spring and Prince

Smith & Mills - 71 N Moore st

Pastis

il Laborarorio del Gelato

--------------

Old Standby Sites:

The Met - plus balcony and rooftop cocktails

Central Park

MOMA

Guggenheim

Old apartment visit/neighborhood walk

Soho and Nolita walk

Highline

"New" and less-visited Sights:

Union Square Greenmarket - Saturday,  14th  and Broadway

UN Tour

Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Carriage ride in CP

Trinity Church

Chelsea Galleries: D'Amelio Terras and along 22nd St b/t 10th and 11th

Central Park Zoo
Natural History Museum - Conley would love it!

------------

Less likely to happen:

The Cloisters

Cooper Hewitt

The Frick - no kids

Broadway show - kid-friendly

Metropolitan Opera

Neue Museum - Cafe Sabarsky

First NYC trip at 7 months old - pit stop at Prince Street
for a cookie and a beer for dad

Drinks in the balcony at The Met - mom's favorite museum!

Back for another visit to The Met - this time for drinks on the roof

Lounging at Central Park!

Lunch at Eataly

Happy Heart

Earlier this week, Conley had an appointment with a cardiologist to check on a heart murmur his pediatrician had noticed during his last two check-ups. She was 90% sure it was a harmless Still's murmur, but suggested we schedule an appointment to confirm. Luckily everything turned out fine, but it was still so sad to see Conley go through the different tests they did, even though they were pretty harmless. He was such a big boy the whole time and sat very still and just looked around worriedly with his big blue eyes. He had an EKG, a few nurses and doctor listen to his chest multiple times and finally a sonogram - and he was definitely happy to walk out of there at the end of the appointment. And I was happy that we left with good news - no need to worry. I feel very lucky that we have such a healthy little guy! That night I was telling Peter about the appointment and Conley definitely caught on to what I was talking about and started lifting up his shirt and pointing to his chest and my hand saying "stickers, stickers!" - so he definitely remembered what happened that day!

Conley is quite the little crafter - we worked on his Valentine box for school and he was so serious about his work. He had a blast and was very excited to show his dad all his hard work when he got home. Next up: working on his Valentine cards. Last year I made them and we'll do something similar this year - but I imagine he will be much more willingly involved this time around!