Day #2 - Serious shopping.

This morning we were up after 8am and on our way to Pain Quotidien by 9:30.

We then took a cool picture in our mirror because neither of us have long enough arms to take a "kid" picture.

And here are some pictures of our amazing studio apartment!

Kitchen!

Another view of the bedroom

I then introduced Theresa to NYC's Lord and Taylor.  We spent at least two hours checking out the shoes and trying on clothing. And boy did we score! Theresa and I both got shoes; we also bought shorts and capris. After L&T, we needed some food, so we checked out the the restaurant at Bryant Park. I had lovely lamb tacos; Theresa had a pedestrian Caesar salad - the only so-so entree she had this weekend.

We also retrieved my umbrella from Joe Allen (I had left it behind the night before) and got Theresa's girls some souvenirs  -- and we walked past the Once theater.

While Theresa was buying t shirts and stuff, I found a great sign; I didn't buy it -- just took a picture.

We took the subway to Grand Central Station and checked out the beautiful ceiling.

Back at the hotel, we discovered that happy hour was every evening rather than Monday-Friday -- yay!

We rested for a little while and then had dinner at Artisanal, a favorite and really close to our hotel. I had carrot gnocchi and octopus; Theresa had brick cooked chicken.  Everything was so delicious - it's still a great place when you're too tired to schlepp over to the Chelsea/ Meat-packing/Soho, etc., areas from Murray Hill...

For dessert Theresa tasted her first real macaron; we also had Madeleines and petit fours. All desserts were, of course, absolutely yummy.

After dinner we strolled down to Eataly for beer and cheese... Quite a hopping place.  We walked through the shopping area on the first floor and then ate at the rooftop Biererra.  I ordered cheese but ended up taking it home because I was just too full.  I didn't take this picture, but it shows the ambiance of La Bierrera during the day.

Afterwards, our path took us up Park Avenue and back to our hotel -- bed by 11:30.

Day one -- NYC

So this morning Theresa and I were up by 6:00, had coffee and bagels, and left for NYC a little past 8:30. Our drive up was painless (unlike Theresa's 5 hour drive the day before), and we checked into our hotel by 11:00. Then it was off to Chelsea. Our first stop was the Chelsea Market, where we checked out the shops and bought some earrings. Then it was time to introduce Theresa to our favorite NY restaurant, Colicchio and Sons. I had called earlier in the week to see if Chase, the manager and resident beer expert, was working. I didn't see him when we walked in, but he came to the table after we were seated. We had a nice conversation and I followed his recommendation for beer.

Theresa had a witbier and I had a quad. We ordered the 2 course lunch but had some gazpacho delivered first (compliments of the house)!

Theresa had a salad and I had beef tartare (which did not photograph well!) followed by skate and duck confit.

We both ordered dessert but ended up with 3 desserts (another compliments of Chase)!

This was our view of the restaurant.

When we received our final bill, we realized that we'd only been charged for our two course meal and my coffee...wow.

On our way back to the hotel, we saw Matt Bomer from White Collar walking by!! Unfortunately, Theresa didn't know who he was until I could make a Glee connection...

We stopped at Macy's so that Theresa could look for a pair of walking shoes. I rested in the shoe department -- that third dessert must have taken the life out of me. 

She was successful in finding some great walking shoes, and we walked back to the hotel to rest before our show.

This is our lobby, and we actually have a studio apartment!

After taking a short nap, we walked from our hotel to the Jacobs Theater. On our way we saw the Chrysler Building.

We were able to go up on stage for beer in a sippy cup from the Irish bar set! How fabulous to able to look out into the audience at the Jacobs Theater. The play was so ingeniously put together - terrifically talented ensemble cast.  I wondered how they would take an intimate little movie and make it a Broadway show - this was as good an adaption from film to play as was Amadeus from play to film - incredible.

And a carb-laden post- theater snack at Joe Allen.

NYC's celebration of DOMA's defeat! Bed at 12:30.

Pre NYC dinner.

This was my entree at our annual dinner with Harriet Zeff, Theresa Colvin, and Marianne Green! We had a lovely evening catching up. I met all of these lovely ladies through the Riverfront Dinner Theater.  Harriet and Marianne are still involved in local theater; Theresa and I choose to have drama in our jobs...!!

June 21 - a day of remembering and sharing.

Today I've been thinking about all the amazing people we've met because of Sam as well as the loving family who remembers him always, and it's only fitting that his birthday is the day I choose to think about how Sam would have reacted to all the changes in his world.

Sam would have...
Alec- not been surprised at the fine young man you've become.
Alicia - been amazed by your talent.
Ashley - thanked you for making sure Cassel family gatherings continue. He would also have been totally impressed with your law degree as well as your choice of partner.
Amanda Schweitzer - loved the book you made for us and also your dogged pursuit of Will R-S to join us for brunch annually!
Andrea and Marlon - been all over your adorable kids just like his parents!
Asher - been all over the road trip idea.
Betsy - admired your strength in taking care of your family.
Chrissy and Jeremy - frolicked with Bea, Archie, and Gus and loved your sense of family.
Connie - taken a ride in that boat and fallen in love with his birthplace all over again.
Dave and Heather - laughed at the inappropriate Wiemer-ness of you and your boys.
Drew - been impressed with the man you've become.
Fran - loved that your avocation has become your vocation.
Frank and Chris - admired your 12-year-long loving relationship and told everyone how important that was.
Heather F. - been honored to have the child conceived close to the date of his passing named after him.
Ian - loved your Cassel-ness - the quiet smartness of you.
Jackie - been so happy to see a confident PhD facing the world.
Jess and Camilo - enjoyed how much you enjoy little Lucas.

Karl - been pressuring you to have Max read some Vonnegut -- and loving that you and Deirdre are parents.
Judy - commiserated with you annually about people and how you both hate them (some things never change!).
Kelsey - talked sports and maybe even math with you!!
Lauren and Scott - been so excited for both of you with your careers and your lovely family.
Nicole - been awed by your career and talked beer with Charlie!
Ray and Lisa - laughed with you and loved your willingness to host our crazy reunions!
Ruth - been impressed by your grandmother skills
Sarah - admired your strength in deciding your own path in such a positive way -- would still be loving your wicked sense of humor.
Steve - totally visited you in San Francisco for the adult version of boys night out...
Swanna - been with the girls who kept you whole on your wedding day -- he was that kind of guy (and he'd already spent a wedding eve with his friends Jess and Chrissy in the honeymoon suite!).  And he would have loved your choice of partner - imagine the conversations they could have had about SR....
Terri - been grateful to have a child named after him.
Will - still been bugging you to go to the Grand Canyon!!

The end is near.

School ends for the students today and graduation is this evening.  Our week ends on Friday.  I've spent the last few days cleaning out my closet and sending in all the forms that we have to finalize before we can leave the building on the last day -- so many emails, so many blocks checked.

During the last full week of classes, we read "Metamorphosis" and then discussed surrealism while looking at a famous Dali painting.

And then it was time to take the vocabulary mastery test for the second time -- crazy!

As if there wasn't enough drama in the classroom, Bob's stepmother neglected to include his mother as part of his dad's obituary. So his sister Ruth and I put together one for the Philadelphia paper, another thing "neglected" by the aforementioned stepmother, who just happens to fit the stereotype to a T. And we are having a memorial of sorts at Bob's brother's house this Saturday.

On a happier but no less stressful note, I picked out tile and flooring for the kitchen -- wedgewood was the tile choice.

The flooring is engineered oak with a gray tinge.

And back in the classroom -- my students are "enjoying" their last few reading quizzes by showcasing their drawing talent!

And by commenting on the final quiz...

Our baseball team won the state championship, so I toasted the team and coach/English teacher colleague Kevin Manero!

Last Saturday morning, I took a picture of the view from our side porch.

And this is the faucet I ordered for our kitchen.

The room is almost clean; the books are now on the shelves instead of on top of the shelves. 

This is the chandelier I picked out for the kitchen -- and now I just have to pick the colors for the walls and cabinets.

What a week.

This week has been sooo stressful...

On Monday we had to change our vocabulary mastery test because a targeted list was out there, which we're not supposed to give to the students.

On Tuesday, I spent over an hour fixing up the new test in preparation for copying.  New tests were given to all teachers.

On Wednesday, Bob's dad passed away.  At first we were planning a memorial here on June 22, but that was a bust...not sure what we'll do to get everyone together (he lived in Florida).

On Friday afternoon (the day of the test) just before the final period of the day, it was discovered that a student had somehow taken a picture of the answer key and was selling the answers.  So after school, I created another test, which the students will take on Tuesday -- and they won't find out about it until Monday morning.

ARRGGHH.

And it rained and rained and rained yesterday -- a fitting way to end the week...

On a happier note, we're redoing our kitchen, and I chose a piece of granite for the new countertops.  Here's what the kitchen looks like now.

And here's the granite I chose.

 Frank and I also attended the awards ceremony where our Samuel R. Cassel scholarship was given.  The recipient was thrilled -- so cool. And his guidance counselor thought that a younger Sam had a resemblance to this boy (there's a bunch of pictures of Sam as part of the video).

Not the world's best picture, but you get the idea...

So not all was stressful this week, on second thought. :)

Day #3 -- Post-wedding brunch.

We were awake by 7AM because we had pretty much crashed relatively early the night before. First, we decided to take some pictures of the lobby of our hotel, the Monteleone.  It's a beautiful old-style place.

This was the inscription on this beautiful clock.

We also checked out the rooftop pool - really lovely, but we hadn't brought our suits (not that I would have sat there in my suit anyway!)  We also found the newlyweds' nephew Teddy swimming with his dad  - how cute.

Bob took an arty shot of a mosaic mural and flower by the entrance to the pool.

Since we had yet to taste a real New Orleans beignet, we decided to try Cafe Beignet, another coffee/jazz place not too far from our hotel.  The place was hopping at 10AM on a Saturday morning - there was a jazz duo playing, and of course there was a drinks machine where you could get daiquiris and margaritas.  We chose coffee & chicory with 3 beignets, which taste curiously like funnel cake (or maybe fastnachts) - fried dough with powdered sugar. 

Bob standing by the entrance to Cafe Beignet

Then it was time for the post-wedding brunch. We saw Swanna and Christian, looking smashing, as we were having yet another drink at the Carousel Bar.

 Since the place was about 8 miles away, we planned to take a cab and ended up sharing a ride with the Smythe family -- Christian's parents, sister and brother-in-law, and baby Teddy. The place was a private home - the owner had offered it to Swanna's friend when the first place they chose fell through.  It had a pool and some shade and a big porch, but the day was HOT with little breeze.  We chatted, ate, and sweated a wee bit.

Bob made me take this picture of bamboo gone wild - my sister Fran's neighbor was so angry that her husband had planted some in their yard because grows and grows and grows...case in point.

 Swanna's friend Gina took a little siesta before joining the people in the pool...

Of course, she was wearing a bathing suit while Swanna jumped in in her darling dress...

Then some more people joined in...

By this time, we'd gotten word from the Smythes that the cab was due to take us back to the hotel in about 10 minutes.  We all piled in and had a nice chat on the way back to the hotel.  Mrs. Smythe is an artist, and she and her husband often visit the Lambertville-New Hope area.  She gave us her card.

Bob was very tired by this time, and so he took a mega-nap.  I'm so jealous because I just don't do well with naps anymore.  I either can't fall asleep or, if I do, I wake up all groggy.  Anyway, he slept almost 3 hours while I read the novel Paris by Edward Rutherfurd. I woke him up at 5:40, and we got ourselves freshened up to walk across the street for some Mr. B's barbecued shrimp.

The staff there served us with a sense of humor!  We both ordered Crescent City coolers (which used to be called Breeze Specials because of the Saints quarterback).  We both ordered the shrimp--what an eating adventure. It was INTENSE.

They look innocuous, no?  NO. Think about it. How does one eat these things?  They're headed shrimp still in the shell.  You must eat them with your fingers, and they're swimming in this amazing sauce. So you, your fingers, and at least two napkins are slathered with shrimp and sauce; hence, one must wear a bib.

But getting totally shrimpy is totally worth it!!! These babies were swimming in the best sauce I've ever tasted on shrimp.  And because you're getting down and dirty (literally), you really have to just EAT THE SHRIMP UNTIL THEY'RE GONE.  Do NOT try this meal on a first date - or even a fifth date.  Luckily, they bring really hot towels and lemon after you've finished and - voila - your hands are shrimp and sauce-free. A dessert went by just as we were cleaning up that caught Bob's eye, and we shared in some delicious profiteroles.

So sometimes my camera decides no extra lighting is needed...

After dinner, we strolled the streets of the French Quarter and saw another two weddings with second lines -- so cool.  As we returned to the hotel, we saw Swanna and Christian headed out for pizza.  We said our good-bys and had our last drink at the Carousel Bar, where the people-watching on this particular evening was totally awesome.  Because of our early flight, we were in bed before 10PM after an action-packed three days in New Orleans!