We are having September-type weather in August. It's weird. The nights are so cool that I find myself closing windows before I go to bed, otherwise the house is freezing when I get up. The days are beautiful: sunny, low humidity, and comfortably in the 70's. Although it feels great to not have the air conditioning on, it is just way too early for this. We are still supposed to be enjoying the pool folks! These nights in the low 50's are killing the pool temperature which has now sunk to 71 degrees F.

Our pool heater installation is going slowly. The heater is in and pretty much ready to go but we are waiting on the propane people (who are due on Monday) to lay their gas lines, etc., and also the electrician to make everything work. The electrician is going on vacation and not due until two weeks from now! Ugh. Dennis (our pool man) said he can rig something up in the meantime to get the heater running. So, we might have a few weeks to enjoy our heated pool before we have to close it for the season right before we leave for Colorado. It has not been a good pool year this year. I'm bummed. But, next year—just think—we'll have the heater to start us out early. Definitely something to look forward to.

Today our friend Carolyn arrives for the weekend. We have plans to go in to the city tomorrow to Chinatown for lunch and to revisit some of the shops that were on our tour of two years ago. It should be fun! I can't wait to eat at Dim Sum GOGO again. This time I also want to make it to the big department store, Pearl River, even if we end up taking a taxi!

Totally unrelated photo: bikes in Cartagena!

Here are a few photos from our food tour of Nolita and NoHo (north of Little Italy and north of SoHo or Houston Street).

NYC's new rental bikes. We didn't see anyone actually riding one that was rented but these bikes collected people sitting on them using them as exercise bikes (just sitting there pedaling away) or using them to sit on while they make a phone call.

Cupcakes! 

 Pizza!

 

 One of our food stops that made us feel like we were back in San Miguel, Mexico!

 

And photos from our trip to the Freedom Tower 9/11 Memorial. 

Driving in!

 

The reflecting pools and fountains are pretty awesome. To think that a very tall building once stood in its place. It's somehow right that they chose to go down instead of building something "up" again.

 

 

Reflected buildings. What is really in the skyline?

 

On our way home we took Lynn to the best view of Manhattan that we know of—a little park in Weehawken.

 

 

As you can tell, the weather cooperated for both city trips although it was very hot and humid on the day we went to the Freedom Tower. We enjoyed her visit so much!

Sorry about the lapse. Did anyone miss me this week? What I thought was just a cold or sinus infection turned out to be strep. So, I've not been feeling the best to say the least. I finally went to the doctor on Thursday afternoon and after one look at the pus on my right tonsil, she swabbed it for strep. The test came back a faint positive, but she said she was going for strep and the treatment as such. Three days in on the antibiotics and I am starting to come around to feeling human again. 

It didn't come at a very good time considering my mom-in-law is here visiting. Not that it stopped us much from going and doing as we had planned, but by Thursday I was dragging my butt behind me. I'm sorry I haven't been around to anyone's blogs but I just haven't felt good enough to sit and concentrate on much of anything. The pressure in my sinuses has been enough to blow my head off.

My mom-in-law's luggage finally showed up at 11:00 p.m. on Sunday night (she arrived Friday morning). She was so glad to see her own clothes again. Rick did have to take her out shopping for essentials and since those first few days that she was here were pretty darn chilly we loaned her some outerwear items. Not that she is needing them the past few days which have seen temps rise into the high 80s! She has seen quite a spectrum of weather since she arrived. We are all now huddled inside with the A/C blasting.

The 17 year cicadas have arrived and are starting to make themselves known. They mostly "sing" in the mornings and they sound different than our normal July/August cicadas. Rick found one by the shed and got to stare into its red eyes, but I have only managed to find the papery husks left over from them molting. They are more of a continuous hum than the back-and-forth banter of our own normal ones. When we first heard them I thought they were a machine running somewhere close by. I find it soothing but Rick finds it disturbing, like a plague about to land on us.

Still no fireflies. Rick and I thought we saw one the other night, but every night since when we look for them we see nothing. My mom-in-law has never seen one so we are hoping they will still make an appearance either tonight or tomorrow night before she has to leave.

The pool was opened on the 20th of May and the temperature was 54 degrees. Today we swam (yeah!) and it was 72 degrees. The new cabana is wonderful and hopefully I will have some pics to share this week.

I have more to say but I think I've at least caught you up a bit now. This is the first time I have felt like sitting here long enough to blog.

 

Photo: This tiny cat door was seen on our food tour of NYC last Sunday. I thought it was very cute.

 

 

 

Our venture in to the city went wonderfully the other day. Traffic was a little snarled heading up 54th Street but not too bad. We parked pretty close to Radio City Music Hall and walked up to Rockefeller Center.

We thought the tree was bigger and prettier this year. It wasn’t quite dark when we arrived. And of course everyone wants their photo taken with the tree. It was impossible not to get the screens of other people’s iPhones in a shot. (Doesn’t anyone use a real camera anymore??)

It’s also hard to get really good photos in such a crush of people. People pushing and shoving for a spot to watch the skaters, desperate to have their or their children’s photos taken. People suddenly appearing in front of my lens just as I clicked the shutter. sigh. So, I felt my pics were not up to par. I’m sharing them with you anyway since it’s all I’ve got!

I love the little square around the tree with its toy soldiers.

And the little walking street with all the lovely shops and the view of the tree and The Rock.

 

Several shops along this street caught my eye. One was Botticelli. Oh My. I don’t normally wear real fur, but what beautiful things were in the window! A gorgeous fur-trimmed sweater coat. To die for fur-lined boots!

We drooled over Swiss chocolates in the window at Teuscher’s and were surprised and excited to find this familiar little green box inside the shop. Ah, the Champagne Truffles we used to get in Europe! Rick always brought them home from his travels back and forth.

On to the window display at Saks Fifth Avenue. We were pleased to see a more old-fashioned display this year and not the weird Bubble Maker theme they had last year. It was more of a snowflake theme, and very cute.

This window had about 50 snow globes on rotating platforms that would shake them up at intervals.

This little boy was cutting out paper snowflakes.

It was snowing feathers in this window.

 

We walked back to the tree to see it in the dark.

We were still early for dinner so we stopped at a wine bar and had a glass of delicious Malbec. We sat at a table outside with a view of the center.

Dinner at Alfredo’s was delicious. We don’t normally order pasta out when we go to an Italian restaurant, but the pasta sounded good to both of us. I’m glad we made that choice because it was all homemade. I had spaghetti with a tomato basil sauce and veal meatballs and Rick had a trio of lasagne, ravioli, and fettucine alfredo. He wasn’t sure which one was the tastiest. A good waiter and a bottle of nice Italian red wine helped to round out the experience.

The seating was intimate (meaning close to other tables) and the table next to us was occupied by two young 20-something women. When we first sat down I didn’t think they were speaking English. Then I realized they were. After more eavesdropping, we realized that one of the women was switching back and forth in mid-sentance from (what sounded like) Russian to English constantly. Flawlessly, and without hesitation. She spoke English with no accent. Very bizarre. Her companion on the other hand, was only speaking English. We just hope she was following the whole conversation!

After dinner it was onward to the show!

 

 

Our seats were amazing! Orchestra, third row, center. The show was very enjoyable and also very different from the one we had seen a few years ago. The Rockettes are amazing. Such precision! So many set and costume changes! It really is well worth seeing.

The New York City skyline projected on the walls.

 

All in all a great night out in the city and a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season! I hope you enjoyed your visit!

 

 

 

Today kicks off our special holiday activities. Literally! We try to go in to the city at least once during the holiday season. Last year we ate at Butter and took in the tree and decorations at Rockefeller Center. It seems odd that we would have chosen almost the exact day again this year to go in without realizing it. But, we did!

Tonight we have tickets for the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall with the rockin’ Rockettes. The Rockettes are celebrating 85 years of kicking up their heels. I know I’ve said this before in the blog, but as a child my parents took us in to the city twice for my birthday (which happens around Christmas). We waited in the early morning darkness for the train to arrive and the whole trip seemed very magical since this was not a common occurrence. We saw a matinee show at Radio City with a movie and the Rockettes. This was back in the day before they featured in a whole show. The movie was Father Goose with Cary Grant and I remember it well.

We’re driving in late this afternoon and parking near The Rock. We’ll walk around, visit the tree and take in the throngs of Japanese tourists and their flashing cameras, the Saks 5th Avenue window display and the Christmas lights. Then it’s off to dinner at an Italian restaurant that we have not eaten in before, Alfredo’s. We chose something close by so we wouldn’t have to rush anywhere. We originally were going to eat at The Sea Grill which looks out over the skating rink at Rockefeller Center but they were closed for a private party tonight. I had some great restaurant recommendations from a fellow blogger who recently moved from New York City (thanks, Steve!) but since they were farther away we opted to stay closer.

And yes, I am lugging my camera plus my smaller zoom lens with me. Crazy, I know, but I also know I’ll be sorry if I don’t bring it along.

Yesterday presented yet another special treat for us this holiday season. Rick’s work had a raffle to give away two tickets to see the play The Sound of Music at the Paper Mill Playhouse, and Rick’s name was pulled out of the hat! How’s that for luck? We’re really looking forward to it. It’s on Saturday, December 22nd, the matinee showing.

To add to the festivities, there’s been talk of a possible stormy track to the weather. Does that mean snow before Christmas? I certainly hope so. How perfect that would be: the icing on the season, so to speak!

How about you? Are you doing something fun this holiday season?

P.S. Now we’ve added a 3D showing of The Hobbit to our list this weekend! woo hoo!