Lori Wow, It's been a whole month since I wrote in my blog... I back to school shopped... (where does our tax money go??? Not supplies) sent the kids to school and then took them out three days later to take a trip to New York for a week for my Birthday. We flew into NY on Tuesday and checked into our apartment /hotel in the midtown area. Really close to times square and in walking distance to Rockefeller Plaza. The first evening we went out to artery's in Greenwich and had true NY pizza... It was AMAZING!!! Then woke early the next day to see the empire state building not before Joe and I ran out of authentic NY bagels...mmmm (if you think this trip was all about food you are right and have not heard anything yet!!!) My friend from Phoenix that moved out to Delaware 6 years ago Lori (she was my wedding coordinator) met up with us and her family. They came out to spend the whole day with us. We did the Empire state building. It was an amazingly clear day and we had a lot of fun hearing the history of the city. Then off to jackal and Hyde restaurant. That was fun and very interactive... The walls talked and the eyes moved in the paintings. The kids loved it. Then we raced back to the hotel and changed and got ready for the Broadway play "The Producers". I really wanted to see Wicked but it was sold out and the only tickets we could get was scalped and they were $350.00 a piece and I could not ask my friend Lori to pay that for them... I did not even know if it was any good or not. Produces was fabulous and all I could think of is that I wish I saw it with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick... Oh well it was good even with out those two... The next day we got up early (really early since there is a 3 hour time difference) and went to the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. The trip was amazing and then were were off to Ground Zero... That was very emotional since the last time I was in NY was October 2001 (less than 30 days after the terrorist attacks) and the mood and smell and appearance of upper Manhattan was much different. It was all cleaned up but very sad with the big hole in the ground. Then off to the Soup Nazi's for some soup for lunch. We walked around a lot and finally took a cab home. That night (Aug. 17th) we had
reservations at Otto (Mario Battali's restaurant) for my special occation. It was amazing too. I had a great day!!!
The next day we were to leave for Long Island to meet up with my long time childhood Friend Lisa. We have known each other since we were two years old. We are practically sisters. We vacation and our kids and husbands get along so good it's scary... Good scary. My youngest has already declared she is to marry her oldest son... hehehe we'll see!? We were not quite ready to go so we went to the Rockefeller Center to do the NBC tour but got side tracked and by the time we got to the NBC building, there was not enough time to do the tour and catch the train to LI. So we rushed back to the hotel to check out and pack up. We raced down to Penn station and barely caught the 12:35 train to Sayville. We had to catch a van taxi because of our luggage and we had 5 people. That was harder than we thought. We squeezed on the train with no seconds to spare. The train was full...Standing room only... The kids were real troopers... They never complained or anything. Finally when the train passengers thinned out and we had to transfer trains... The doors were broken and we could not get in... We raced to another entrance and finally got on again with seconds to spare... And no seats again... Tell me when we are having fun???? My Friend Lisa was waiting at the station with signs for the welcome party...Cute :)!
We had a steak and lobster bake (not a seafood girl) but enjoyed the LI corn... mmm. We crashed the sheets that night. The next day up late(finally a sleep in day) well for some of us. Joe and Willie went for a mountain bike ride. Then off to the beach!! Long Island has some of the most gorgeous beaches in the country... I mean the world. We spend most of our beach time in San Diego and then do not even compare to there, with there super soft sand and not even crowded. We had an excellent day. Wore the kids out for the sitter and we grown ups went to dinner. The next day we took a ferry to Fire Island kind of late due to the rains but the kids loved the boat ride. The trip flew by so fast it was scary... They were going on vacation the next day to upper NY state and we chose to leave that night so that we might get to see the NBC building again and do the tour. We stayed in the Michelangelo Hotel ***** very nice and the service was amazing!!! Got up early and did the first tour of the day. Took a cab to Little Italy and then had lunch at Mario's other restaurant Casa Mono... mmmm again! Great meal. Not before shopping on 5th avenue and going to sacks. Gabi had one request and that was to go to the American Girls store and we did that too. The plane was leaving at 6:30pm and we had to get there early due to the recent capture of the London terrorist's with gel bombs.... We were flying out on Southwest and we had pre-boarding passes but wanted to be there early for security. Because I was shopping and my bags were checked I bought some lipgloss that they made me send home(or throw away) to myself. It cost me thirty dollars to mail my self three packages to my home... Eyeliner, lipliner, lipstick and eye crayon. The security person was not very nice to me... Yea I look really shady and like I would bring my family if I wanted to damage... Think about it.... I'm not the right profile... I finally found a kiosk to mail my stuff (3 broke mail machines later) I almost missed my flight home. When we finally boarded We took off to Chicago to change planes to Phx. The lay over was a few hours and then out plane was late from PA. By the time we got home it was past midnight and they took a handle and wheel off my carry on bag I had to check since the new gels and liquid rule. I did not bother to make a claim even if there was personal to take the info... Which there was not.
I finally unpacked my bags a few days later dn noticed I had missing stuff out of my broke bag. I called Lisa who was not home yet and left a message on her phone ... "Did I leave anything on the dresser?"... Thursday she replied... "NO"... I had over $5,000 of jewerely stolen out of my broken bag... can you believe that... I made a claim and no response yet... I really wonder if they are going to do anything about it... Or am I going to have to make a home owners claim... yukk! Higher premiums... And we get cash back if we do not file any claims... Well the trip was amazing but I'm trying not to let the looting ruin it... What can you do... Nothing... I could have, should have, you know the routine... But I did not and need to move past this... Glad to be home and the poor kids had home work like crazy... Do they do work in the schools anymore??? or is it all sent home??? Miss ya and waiting to hear about your camping experiences... I really enjoyed last years stories and waiting for more... Miss yah!