The rest of beach week

Sunday

The big event involved going to the Ocean Drive http://www.theod.com/ to see a former student perform with the group Go Go Gadget. Frank also arrived for a night -- yay! The OD was a crazy place -- 20-somethings gyrating to loud music on a sticky floor. Fran and I took a selfie.

Perry and Frank were so into the place.

And of course I got my hand stamped.

Frank felt as though he was "in a reality show."

We stayed from 9:30 to about 11:15  and got to hear Eric sing and play various instruments (such a talented guy with such energy) and then went back to our place for a laughter-filled couple of hours. Bed at 1:30!!

Monday

We all slept in after the previous night's festivities. Nurse Nicole arrived with Sammie. 

The weather improved each day, so most went to the beach. Frank and I went out to lunch and then hit the beach at 3ish. He left before dinner -- so glad he decided to come down.  We had fish tacos for dinner -- yummy!!

Tuesday

The weather was spectacular! We spent part of the morning making center pieces for Nicole's upcoming wedding.

Fran also played a little solitaire, complete with tiara.

I went to the beach for a while and took some pictures after helping Judy pick out a beach hat -- this one pretty much took up the entire aisle!

On to the beach!

Dinner was provided by Steve and Connie on this particular night, and we played some Cootie until the table broke...

Wednesday

Tracey, Tyler, and Wayne came today. Tracey bought all of us "redneck" glasses - fun!

Judy also bought me a flip flop holder -- keen!

We celebrated Connie's birthday at dinner with Perry's sausage, peppers, and onions along with delicious cake from Isabel's in Avalon.

And we ate that whole cake!!

And sometime during the day, Sammie photo-bombed me!

Thursday

A rainy day. Tracey and the kids left at noon. Plan B involved heading to a shopping area in the afternoon. We chose Stone Harbor, but we left late enough that the skies had brightened a bit, so Fran and Perry stayed behind. And I ended up buying the dress for Nicole's wedding at a place called Talk of the Town. I tried it on in a smaller size first, then tried on a larger size and various other dresses. Just before we left, Judy made me try on the original dress, and I finally said yes to the dress!

Steve and Connie also found an ultra-cool bayside bar, so we had some afternoon cocktails.

We headed to the beach after our trip to Stone Harbor, and Alicia's friend Lauren joined us, too!  It was my turn to cook, so we had leftovers along with my oven-fried chicken.

Bed by 10:30.

Friday

What an amazing weather week! Today was another perfect beach day. Judy and I had lunch at Uncle Oogie's after checking out Kixx, a place located next door to the liquor store on 63rd Street, where I noticed Patron taps!

For some reason, I decided to take pictures of the view from our front deck. 

I got to the beach at 4:00 and stayed for a few hours. We had our pizza around 9:00, packed most of our stuff, and then, at 11:30, decided to check out Kixx.

We tasted orange, coffee, and regular tequila! Fun!

Saturday

We were all gone by 8:30, and Fran was informed that the owners are no longer renting. Glad I took those shots from the deck.

New York, New York August 2014

Thursday

Theresa arrived on Thursday afternoon, and I picked her up at 30th Street Station.  For dinner, we chose Cantina Feliz, always a favorite.  The meal didn't disappoint although I had to let one of the managers know that the trainee who sat us used her sleeve to dry a water ring on the table...  But the meal was great, as always.  And we shared a decadent chocolate dessert.

Friday
On Friday morning we left at about 8:45 for NYC.  The trip up was easy, and we parked and checked into the Park South Hotel with no problems.  I was able to move up our reservation at Riverpark to 12:30, and we took a leisurely stroll from the hotel to the restaurant.

Lunch was $25 for three courses because it was Restaurant Week.  We both had delicious meals, and we enjoyed sitting inside but looking out at the East River.

I had smoky Spanish gazpacho, prawns, and basil cream puffs.

We walked to the nearest bus stop, found out that the "select +" bus option meant putting the metro card in a machine and getting a piece of paper that you carry on the bus.  What?? Another step??!!  Crazy.  Anyway, we rode through Chinatown on our way to South Street Seaport, where we bought matinee tickets https://www.tdf.org/ for Saturday's Pippin.  So easy -- not the line you'll find at Times Square, and if there's a matinee the next day, you can buy the tickets a day ahead.  We also did a little shopping -- I bought a really cute top and a gorgeous ring. Here's the owner's dog at the shop where I bought the top.

We then had a beer at an outdoor bar right on the main street in the Seaport and got rained on for a very brief moment.  After our Seaport excursion, we hopped on a subway and headed for Macy's.  Our transportation glitches continued as the express train became a local because someone was sick on another subway.  Not sure of the logistics of that, but we finally arrived at Macy's, and it was MOBBED.  We looked at shoes, didn't find anything, looked at clothing on the next level, didn't find anything there either, and went back to the hotel to rest a bit before our dinner at Birreria.

After a side trip to Fishs Eddy http://www.fishseddy.com/, a funky dinnerware, glassware, etc., shop, we arrived at Eataly http://www.eataly.com/nyc-birreria/ just in time for our 8:45 reservation.  Because it was a cool, lovely night (instead of the predicted somewhat rainy evening) the staff opened the rooftop so that we were sitting under the stars with great views of various NYC buildings. 

We tried some different beers and had some delicious cheeses. I also had sausage and potatoes, a bit of a disappointment because the potatoes were way undercooked -- raw, in other words.  We strolled back to our hotel and had a great view of the Empire State Building.

Bed after 11:30.

Saturday
Neither of us slept very well -- we were on the street side on the 2nd floor, and there were people talking and garbage trucks making lots of noise....  Oh, well.

This morning we headed to Lord and Taylor http://www.yelp.com/biz/lord-and-taylor-new-york  after breakfast for about two hours' worth of shopping. The store is beautifully laid out with lots of choices.  I bought a Swarovski ring, and Theresa and I both purchased some really nice shoes.

The staff was pleasant and helpful, and it wasn't the mob scene of the previous day.  I made a L&T believer out of Theresa!! We walked back to the hotel and got ready to have lunch and then walk to the theater for our matinee. And Park Avenue was closed to traffic until 1PM, so people were walking, biking, jogging down the street.  Cool.

For lunch we chose another favorite, Artisanal, both for its location (close to our hotel and on the way to the theater) and its good food.  This meal was probably the best overall we had on this particular weekend.  The place had a Restaurant Week choice, which we both took (nice because the ads say the 3-course meals are only during the week!).  I had chilled corn soup, Scottish salmon, and ice cream.  We also had Bellinis -- how sophisticated we are!!

We had plenty of time to walk to the theater, and Pippin http://www.pippinthemusical.com/ was excellent: a combination of energetic singing, acting, dancing, and acrobatics!  Quite the tour de force, and the highlight of the show came when one of the older cast members, playing the grandmother, showed her acrobatic chops.  Wow!!!

After a fruitless search for "jazz hands" for Isabella, we walked back to the hotel, stopping at the HBO shop, where Theresa did find something for Isabella -- hope she likes it!!   We stopped back at the hotel and changed shoes (our dogs were definitely barking, especially Theresa's); our next trek was to Rosa Mexicano in Union Square. http://www.rosamexicano.com/newyorkcity/unionsquare/index.php?action=page&id=1976&group_id=1955&location_id=9  Theresa had never been to this one, and we enjoyed the energetic vibe, the guacamole, and sangria and pomegranate margaritas.  The menu has changed to reflect the popularity of tacos, and we both agreed that our choices were delish!!

Camarones with pineapple and corn and spicy sauce-- yummy.

We walked back to the hotel and stopped in on the rooftop for a nightcap.  Service was much better than last time, and the cool evening was perfect for sitting outside away from the noise of the street.
Bed by 11:00.

Sunday
We were up by 8:00AM and on the road by 10:15.  I dropped Theresa off at 30th Street Station and arrived home at 1:30.  What a great weekend with a good friend.  We'll definitely schedule next year's trip to NYC during Restaurant Week -- such choices.

The beach!

This is beach week with my sisters. We've been doing this in different locations (first Ocean City and now Sea Isle) since 1993, the year after our mother passed away. She loved the ocean and came to the Jersey shore later in her life, staying in Stone Harbor for a week in June.

I spent the week before getting ready -- this was Thursday's car load.

I met Judy on Saturday morning at Patti's Party World http://www.pattispartyworld.net/ in Cape May Courthouse to get some party items to celebrate Connie's 60th birthday. Afterwards, we met Steve and Connie for breakfast at Clary's Country Corner http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46342-d857410-Reviews-Clary_s_Country_Corner_Restaurant-Cape_May_Court_House_New_Jersey.html -- a great find!

We were able to get into our place before 1pm!  Saturday was a bit cold, but we were okay with that!

Dinner consisted of hamburgers and hotdogs -- standard first night fare.

In between trips.

We got back home a week ago, and Bob is now on his way to Edmonton, Alberta, a much better destination than anywhere in the South during the summer. We continued following the World Cup, watching the Brazil-Germany debacle at the Pizza Pub. Frank joined us for the end of the game, so we watched some of the World Cup with our "German" sons and two of the matches (USA and Brazil versus Germany) with Frank -- fun!!

Bob also had time to make his brand of kimchee -- Assi, the best Asian market ever, re-opened after a fire, so Bob could buy his supplies.

We also had time to have dinner at Cantina Feliz before Bob left.

I had a day and a half to get ready for the AP conference in Philadelphia Friday and Saturday. More packing, this time for only one night.  I feel like George Clooney in Up in the Air -- I can pack that bag in 10 minutes.

The conference was, for the most part, quite worthwhile.  I attended six sessions, some on pre-AP topics and some on English AP topics.  One of my colleagues presented, and her presentation was really awesome. I contributed as well, reading a kick-ass version of Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.  Oh, yeah, I could BE that woman in a play somewhere.

On Friday evening, I treated myself to a night a Loew's Hotel and had dinner with niece Nicole and Charlie along with my sisters Fran and Judy.  We went to El Vez, a Stephen Starr gem, and had good food and lots of fun.

Saturday after the conference I met up with Nancy and her brother's family for dinner at Sabrina's in Fairmount.  Mark brought some yummy beer, and we all had delicious sandwiches (note to self - need to come up with more adjectives for good food!!).  Back at the MacQueen house, we had ice cream for dessert, and then Nancy drove me to the train station to pick up my car.

So now I'm getting ready for a birthday breakfast with my niece Alicia, who turns 22 today.

We hit Fred's for a birthday breakfast - yum.

Now I'm finalizing packing for tomorrow's sisters week at the beach.

Another month flies by -- Part III: Another retirement and the end of the school year

Retirement party: check.  Graduation: check.  The end of the school year was next.  One of the things I'd participated in was the teacher section of the Senior Class Video. The girls who were in charge were both dancers, so they decided to have the teachers dance to Pharrell's "Happy." I had a lot of fun during the filming as I'm sure the other teachers did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFhe9vWM1Dk

The morning after graduation, a number of teachers congregated to celebrate the retirement of another English teacher.  She had decided to end her career on her own terms: running a celebratory mile around the school's track with whoever wanted to join her.  What a great idea!  The first video is getting ready to run.

The second is part of the victory run.

We then celebrated with sticky buns, fruit tart, and Rita's water ice!

Patti made some bricks for Pat representing Fried Green Tomatoes, a book she unsuccesfully tried to add to our curriculum..

Normally, Thursday is Purple Thursday, but today Rich and I both wore green, so we called it "Green Day"!

The next morning we had a faculty meeting followed by the second annual Hotdogs and Homers, a way to get the faculty together for lunch and some fun at-bats.  I was talked into participating in the "game" -- silliness.

Here are random pictures of our team and the department.

There was a rainbow around the sun!!

Andrea's grandson with Sakita

 And some more department shots.

 Our team!

 Two-thirds of our department!

Ending the year this way is absolutely fabulous!