We'll Make It Anywhere

How much time can pass after a vacation before it's just plain too late to write a blog post about it? Well, my answer is more than 14 days because today it's only been 13 days since we returned from New York and seeing as I am on a plane (returning from my last trip to Philly for the year), enjoying free Wifi (thank you, Delta and Google), I am going to take this opportunity to tell you about one of our best family vacations ever.

At some point a few years back I'd decided it would be fun to go to NYC over Thanksgiving and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. It's not like I've ever been obsessed with the parade, it just seemed like a cool family thing to do in NYC. This summer, we decided this would be the year.

A bit of research revealed that it was possible to book hotel rooms on the parade route, thus eliminating both the staking-out-sidewalk-space-at-6 a.m. problem and the freezing-child-who-has-to-pee-in-the-middle-of-Times-Square problem. This appealed to me, so I set to work finding a hotel room that did not cost as much as a small car.

The answer was the Doubletree Times Square, but I'm going to come out and tell you that although it cost less than some of the other options I found, it was way more than I would normally pay for a hotel room...especially a Doubletree. That being said, it was nice and it was another one-bedroom set-up where the kids got the "magic bed" (the pull-out couch) and we had our own room and therefore were not forced to go to bed at 9 p.m. when they did...although walking around Manhattan with two seven-year-olds in the winter is exhausting enough that there were nights when I may have fallen asleep before my boys.

Despite the physical exhaustion, the trip was awesome.

Some highlights:

Taking the boys through Times Square the first time

Owen's comment: "This is kind of like the State Fair." An interesting and relevant connection made by someone who is 4-feet tall and doesn't spend a lot of time pushing through masses of people in a place full of strange smells.

The parade

We watched the parade in our pajamas while eating room service. Sure, it would be a totally different experience on the street, but it was hard to feel like I was missing anything as I stared down at the crowds smushed onto every corner, while I sipped my mimosa in heated comfort. And by the way, the acoustics were amazing.

Touring the Statue of Liberty

This was a highlight in that it's pretty cool to see a national icon right up close. It would have been a lot cooler if I had planned 6-9 months in advance and reserved tickets for the crown. As it was, we went up to the pedestal. With all of the security and lines, it more closely resembled a long, cold trip to the airport than a fun family outing, but I'm glad I did it once.

Blue Man Group

It turns out that seven-year-old boys are just about the perfect audience for Blue Man Group. Owen laughed so loud and so often that I had to shush him. I know the boys don't really understand what performance art is, but they know that weirdos doing cool stuff is awesome, and that's good enough for me.

Thanksgiving in Brooklyn

I didn't end up crossing #16 off my 40 by 40 list, as I'd originally planned, because we got a better offer: Thanksgiving with friends who were celebrating their very first Thanksgiving in their very first house! It was so warm and homey and delicious and nice. So much better than dragging tired kids to a fancy restaurant. (We'll save that for another year.) Plus, Aidan karate-kicked a centipede, smushing it all over a white wall...which was totally disgusting, but retelling the story makes me laugh everytime, so I consider it a fond memory.

Cold Spring

Another friend of ours went and got married last year and moved upstate to Cold Spring. I'd never been out to visit, so we hopped on the train at Grand Central (try explaining the saying "It's like Grand Central Station in here!" to small children who have never heard the phrase...they will be unimpressed), took a beautiful ride up the Hudson River -- completely failed to get off the train fast enough, missed our stop -- and then eventually made it to Cold Spring. Imagine a quaint little town out of a Norman Rockwell painting (did he paint towns? I don't know.) and that is Cold Spring. It is the definition of picturesque. Plus, we got a VIP tour of the fire station and a firetruck thanks to our friend's firefighting husband. Awesome. Plus, we got to stay there overnight and it was the exact opposite of Manhattan (quiet, cozy) and I was worried that would seem anticlimactic after three nights in Times Square, but it turns out it was exactly the right thing. So nice.

There was more. I didn't even mention the food. Mac Bar, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, Norma's. We ate well.

We did a lot of fun stuff, but my greatest joy came from getting to see my boys experience so many things for the first time. There was also the wonderful hospitality our friends showed us, which was not just kind and generous, but also provided a unique counterbalance to our otherwise very touristy vacation. Thank you, Heather, Rolla, Maggie and Danny for taking us in and for giving my kids the perspective thatyes, people actually live here.

I've ♥ 'd NY for many years, but now my boys ♥ it, too, and that makes me happy.

Living Simple/Traveling Complex

I have travel on the brain today. Coincidentally, I also just read this New York Times article, which backs up my long-held theory that travel is a good way to spend money. Now I just need to make some more progress on the whole spending-less-in-other-areas thing so that I can actually afford all of the travel I want to do.

Actually, the most immediate reason travel is on my mind is that I'm leaving in the morning for Denver. My first business trip since 2005. I'm feeling both excited and not so excited. I'm almost overwhelmed at the prospect of having an entire hotel room to myself for two nights...think of all the quiet! And the space! And the leaving of items in a place, only to find them still there when I return! But, of course, I always miss the good night kisses and the little boy pitter-patter (which is really now more of a stampede) in the mornings.

I'm going to be doing a bit of business travel over the next few months, which, again, is kind of exciting and kind of not. I wouldn't go so far as to say that my husband and I are doing a full-on role-reversal because my travel won't be nearly as frequent as his once was, and we'll be able to plan around it, but there is a definite sense of flip-flopping with me being the one getting dropped off at the airport. It's weird. But good. Or rather, I'm determined to make it a positive thing. (and to rack up lots of airmiles)

As for fun travel, we are plotting our next great family adventure. This time we're taking on the Big Apple...at Thanksgiving...because we are crazy. However, I will get to check off #16 on my 40 by 40 list, although I don't think it will be at Per Se unless they're running a kids-eat-free special (I believe Thomas Keller just felt a shudder down his spine).

My kids already have a running list of places they want to go in NYC (thank you, Food Network) so once we lay that over my list, subtract all the non-kid-friendly things, and add in the parade to end all parades, we should have ourselves a pretty fantastic little family vacation.

Yes, nailing this simple living business in our real lives would really help with my travel complex.

New York State of Mind (and Stomach)

Every time I blog about my anxiety, I proceed to feel anxious for at least 24 hours about whether or not I should really provide such peeks into my neuroses...It makes me feel like one of those crazy girls who corners you at a party and misinterprets a friendly gesture as an invitation to explain how her parents' divorce when she was three has caused her to develop unhealthy coping mechanisms and she thinks that's why she only dates kleptomaniacs or something. You know, one of those girls.

Anyway, how about some lighter fare this evening?

My husband is in New York City for the week and might actually get a long enough break from his button-pushing to venture out on the town once or twice. As I was thinking of places to suggest that he venture to, I remembered that I put together a list of restaurants in Manhattan where I want to dine. You'll note that a large percentage of this list feeds my desire to integrate reality TV/Food Network/celebrity chefdom into my life. (Perilla was on this list before my last trip.)

I don't know whether I'll ever make it to all of these places, but I figured it would be fun to post the list here so that anyone who has been to any of them could advise for or against. Or that possibly the next time you find yourself in Manhattan, you could refer to this list, go to one of the restaurants and tell me all about it, so that I can live vicariously through you.

Here goes (in no particular order):

• Babbo
• Bar Americain
• Del Posto
• Esca
• Lupa
• Les Halles
• L’Atelier
• Per Se
• Le Bernardin
• Otto Enoteca and Pizzeria
• Craft
• The London
• WD-50
• Maze
• Café Boulud
• Bouchon Bakery
• Mia Dona
• Centro Vinoteca
• Kefi
• Bolo
• Paladar
• Morimoto
• Payard Patisserie & Bistro
• Anissa
• Butter
• Barbuto
• Spotted Pig
• Masa
• Momofuku
• Mercer Kitchen
• Nobu
• Jean Georges
• Gotham Bar and Grill
• Pastis
• Convivio
• Sarabeth’s
• Le Cirque
• Max Brenner

Yep, so only like 30 trips to go...no problem.

I ♥ NY

"They just use your mind, and they never give you credit. It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it!"

I've been back from New York for three days and I've still got "9 to 5" running on a loop through my head. But I don't mind because it brings back my fond memories (from Saturday) of seeing Allison Janney on Broadway!

I want to tell all of you to run and see "9 to 5" because it's so much fun, but it's only running through Sept. 6, so unless you're in the New York area right at this moment, I'm afraid you will miss out on Miss Janney's Broadway brilliance. (It's not just her, either, the entire cast is great.)

So yeah, I went to New York. It was my expat BFF's last hurrah before returning to India. Or, more accurately, it was our last hurrah with him (that would be Gretchen and me), as he was actually fairly ready to return to his new home after spending nearly a month here with nonstop work and social engagements.

Aside from the Broadway musical (man, I love musicals), another highlight of our NYC adventures included seeing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex and the John Lennon: The New York City Years exhibit. It opened the day after I left New York the last time, so I was delighted to find that it was still open when we wandered down Mercer to shop.

It's total coincidence (or fate?) that I was just at the real Rock and Roll Hall of Museum, but I have to say that the way they've conceptualized the museum experience at the annex – with headphones that play the appropriate soundtrack as you walk from exhibit to exhibit – is actually superior to the way they are doing things in Cleveland.

Btw, they have pieces of CBGB on display in the annex. Now, while I think it's a nice tribute to the venue, I was just a little weirded out by seeing a place I've actually been, reassembled in a museum. It makes a girl feel old.

As for the Lennon exhibit, it was both heart-warming and sad. He could have done so much more...a fact that you are solemnly reminded of as the exhibit ends with the actual brown paper bag the coroner sent back to Yoko with the clothes in which John was murdered. It's intended to make a statement against gun violence. It just reminded me of how people can be taken from you in an instant.

Ok, so that was depressing, but in a culturally-relevant way. Onto lighter things...

Saturday night we had dinner at Perilla, the restaurant that belongs to Top Chef season one winner Harold Dieterle! The place is adorable and the food is amazing (hello, goat cheese tortellini), but the best part was when Harold himself emerged from the kitchen in his chef coat, suggesting that he actually might have cooked our food.

And just as we were recovering from that star struck moment, Neil Patrick Harris waltzes into the restaurant (possibly on a date) and is whisked away to a table in the back. I pondered meandering back there to strike up a conversation about how Aidan often reminds me of Doogie Howser, but then I remembered that he probably prefers to think that people don't only remember him for that particular role.

Anyway, Perilla is amazing. It would be amazing even if Harold wasn't a reality TV winner, but let's be honest: Knowing that I've further intertwined my life with Top Chef brings me a special kind of happiness. Could be worse.

And this is not a highlight exactly, but later that night, in a cloud of sleepiness and cocktails, Gretchen and I had the brilliant idea to wander around Times Square in search of cream cheese wontons. I mean, we figured they must be on every street corner, right? Wrong. But we did have a lovely stroll through Times Square until it began to rain, at which point we ran into a bar. Upon exiting, I tripped and tore off nearly half of the nail on my big toe. Oops. And then we ate hot dogs and called it a night.

Anyway, our final day in New York included one last highlight, which was a lovely trip to the gigantic Whole Foods Market in Columbus Circle, where we acquired lunch and then went and ate it in Central Park. Ah, Central Park. It was a lovely end to a lovely weekend...which is to say that I'm making an effort to block out the ensuing debacle with missing our return flight being stuck in the airport for four hours while all the promise of Manhattan loomed just over the horizon.

No, I'll just let Central Park on a perfect, sunny day with the BFF trifecta, be my last memory of the trip.

But what I really, really want is...

I wrote this post about Mother's Day for Examiner.com today and it's left me feeling a bit conflicted. (Go ahead, click on it - I'll wait.)

It's all true, mind you, I do actually like spending Mother's Day with my kids...I guess I just feel a little hypocritical because this year I've been presented with the amazing opportunity to spend Mother's Day both with and without my children. 

I get to start the day with the mega brunch buffet I mentioned in the piece (my kids have seriously been looking forward to it since last year) and end the day having a romantic dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Manhattan. 

No, I haven't recently won the lottery and purchased a private plane (I promise to blog about that if it happens), my husband just smartly turned what could have been a disastrously-timed business trip into what could be the best Mother's Day ever. 

Yay for thoughtful husbands! And frequent flyer miles! And for mothers who will accept babysitting their grandchildren for two nights as a Mother's Day gift!

Help Us Win!

Remember weeks ago when I told you my family was entering a contest and I'd be requesting your participation? Well...

I am proud to announce that we have submitted our video to Welch's Ultimate PB&J Challenge! As you can see, our video is an awesome homage to Iron Chef America. 

Now we need you to go to the contest site and Watch it. Rate it. Repeat. 

And please also leave a comment mentioning how hungry the video makes you for Welch's jelly...

Finalists are chosen based on which videos receive the most views and highest ratings from the general public, then it's up to Welch's and the Food Network. That means that we need everyone we know and everyone all of you know to get us into the finals! 

In case you missed that other link, click here to vote now.

Why are we doing this? The winner gets a trip for four to NYC. But this isn't just any trip, it includes a tour of the Food Network studios and dinner at one of the Food Network chef's restaurants. Now, I know you're all familiar with my love for the Food Network, but I'm more excited about the possibility of giving this experience to my kids, who choose the Food Network over cartoons most days. They have watched Rachael Ray since they were three...they get excited when they see Bobby Flay...Aidan has recently taken a liking to the Barefoot Contessa...this would be a big deal to them.  

This could be the pivotal thing that motivates little Aidan to become the next Anthony Bourdain! Or the inspiration Owen needs to take molecular gastronomy to the next level! Their culinary futures hang in the balance here! Please vote! Right now! 

P.S. My husband worked really, really hard to edit this video together. Were it not for his art school education, we probably would have been stuck with a clip of my children smearing jelly on a piece of bread. Thank you, sweetie.

Manhattan, please

I am meant to be in New York City this weekend. It is my destiny...or should be, anyway.

Not only is my talented writer friend Larry opening his very first off-Broadway production, Umbrella, which I think is one of the coolest things ever (The fact that he has a real off-Broadway show, I mean - I haven't had the opportunity to actually see the show itself, though I'm sure it's fabulous.)...but April 13 is the "Night of Too Many Stars," the benefit for autism hosted by Jon Stewart.

I want to show my support for both events. Unfortunately, I lack a plane ticket and the $500 ticket fee for the autism benefit. Damn. What I need is a corporate travel sponsor...

On a related note, I just happened upon this little article about the "Night of Too Many Stars" and winced when I saw this sentence: Autistic children are unable to communicate and understand, leaving them incapable of functioning normally in the world; even playing with other children can be impossible.

Ummm...not quite accurate (and a bit fatalistic, yes?). So I posted a comment saying so and within minutes, got an email from the writer apologizing and saying she would add the word "severely" to the beginning of the sentence to clarify. Ok, so it's not what I would have written and it stills seems a bit harsh to me (and really, aren't we learning that many of these kids do understand?), but I was still impressed with the response time and the willingness to make a correction.