New Year's with Jaime 2015 --> 2016

Happy New Year! Jaime has been visiting us!

Jaime arrived Wednesday evening, and we spent the last day of the year working at a coffee shop.

For New Years Eve we did a countdown with the kids at 7 PM (midnight in London because why not!) with the help of a Netflix countdown cartoon! We also ate twelve grapes at "midnight" and drank our champagne and sparkling apple cider for the kids. Wooo!

Happy New Year! (Photo by Jaime)

Here's to a happy, healthy, 2016!

Hugh Hefner sipping bubbly in his jammies in front of the 70s fireplace.

Immediately after, Jaime and I went for a sushi dinner at Benten. We ordered the best rolls ever: Orange dragon, Oshizushi (favorite), Wrong Island (my second favorite), and Isami (not for everyone because it's mackerel). We also had Tobiko and a Ikura sushi with quail egg. You guys, AN IKURA WITH QUAIL EGG. Do it.

Jaime, saki, and happiness on a plate

Ikura with quail egg about to disappear!

We closed out the year with the Trevor Noah documentary, "You Laugh But It's True." We also began 2016 with the Trevor Noah comedy special, "African American" so we're off to a good start.

Don't feel too badly for Kevin, we brought sushi home for him and he got a nice long solo hike to start off the New Year.

Kevin dressed as Where's Waldo to go hiking

Jaime also started the year off right by going for a run on the beach near my house. I started the year right by taking a big nap while she did so.

Jaime enjoying the beach even in the winter

When she returned, we mostly spent the afternoon making rice pudding which we had planned and debated the previous day. We settled on this recipe and then added a bunch of cinnamon to it. Then we ate a lot of rice pudding! Thanks for visiting Jaime!

Little tea party with kids and doll.

Jaime Visits- August 2015

Jaime visited from Friday to Sunday and we had so much fun! On Friday she got in late in the evening so we had ice cream at a place I hadn't tried before, but kind of near our house, McNulty Ice Cream Parlor. They were cute, and Jaime loved her flavors but they were out of a lot of things we asked for. I will probably still go back because they had a rainbow of adirondack chairs that will make for some great pictures. We took our ice cream to go and ate it at the nearby beach. There were a lot of people just hanging out there with friends. I'm hoping that I'll become part of that community of evening beach bums. It seems like an awesome way to be.

Jaime gets in and says hi to Miranda. (James was already in bed.)

Beach at night

Saturday we had big plans to drive farther out to an ocean beach for nicer sand and more waves. Corey Beach was really nice. It was really small but large enough for the number of people there, and the ocean was roped off so it will be a great place to go back to with the kids as they get older. There's also a nice playground there. But it was girls' beach day so no kids this time.

Playing an early morning game of Candyland with James

Chilling at Corey Beach

Corey Beach Selfie

After the beach we were so hungry we went straight to dinner at Benten again. I was hardcore craving sushi and it was even better this time than last time. We got the "sushi & sashimi combo for two" and it was awesome (except for that one mystery chewy white thing- gross). We went home on a sushi high and got ready to go out in Port Jeff. Jaime is a big advocate of me learning to drive for real. (Insert blog post here about my lack of driving skills.) So she bravely got in the passenger seat so I could drive to Port Jeff. While the drive there was basically fine, once we got there locating a parking space was challenging for me-- I felt like I was playing Frogger while trying to get into lots. Might not repeat that drive for a little.

Once we got there we went to try the rice pudding place. We were really excited to try it but it's no NYC Rice to Riches. Rice pudding should be made of rice. This was more like gelatin pudding with a few pieces of rice thrown in. Very sad. After that we went to Wave for drinks on the waterfront. People were really friendly.

Sweet 'n' Savory of Port Jeff

We were a little wiped out already because of our beach day so we went home and finally opened the champagne our real estate agent gave us. Jaime also just bought a place last month so we celebrated all together.

Cheers to home ownership! (They are bemoaning my camera timer and silliness.)

Jaime really loves the beach. So we went to the beach again, this time the one closest to our home. We brought James with us. I drove to the beach and oh boy- it's terrifying to drive and make mistakes with my child in the car. I will likely try that drive again soon because there's nothing actually hard about it, but hopefully I can get comfortable with it before the kids come with me again.

Jaime and James playing in the Sound together

Fizzling out at the end of the beach visit. Delicious snuggles.

Come back before beach season is over Jaime!

Jaime Visits- September 2014

Jaime came to visit! Officially she was in New York to take a yoga class with a yoga master, Sharath Jois. But when she was done with that, she picked up some rice pudding for us at Rice to Riches and came over. She helped me with the kids while Kevin was in Manhattan for another literary event, I made dinner, she put James to bed while I put Miranda to bed, and then we stuffed ourselves on rice pudding with just a little bit of wine. Seriously, I have the best friends.

I think Jaime is supposed to brush James's teeth, not the other way around?

Chocolate, French Toast, and Coconut rice pudding. Done, done, and done.

Jaime's Super Fun Birthday 2013!

Partially at my insistence, Jaime had a four-day birthday extravaganza, wherein she attempted to do 35 Fun Things. (Thank you Sarah B. for teaching me this game!) The numbers below track her fun.

Muy caliente at Hill Country

Jaime's birthday extravaganza started in DC on the 3rd, when she attended "A Capital Fourth" rehearsal with her friend Erin and got to hear some of her favorites live: Barry Manilow (#1) and Neil Diamond (#2). Neil Diamond even sang Sweet Caroline, which is a song that is very near and dear to Massachusetts girls and Red Sox fans like Jaime. (#3)

 

A Capital Fourth on the Third

Jaime and I have spent some of our birthdays together in the past, so I invited her to come on up to New York and do some of her favorite things here. This officially made her birthday a multicity tour, and she had no traffic on her way up! (#4) As per the last post, we kicked off the weekend with fireworks in Long Island. (#5) Then on the actual day of her birthday, she started her day with the famous FloPa mani-pedi andcomplimentary shoulder massage. (#6) James used his bath crayons to draw this surprise for her in the shower. (#7)

After a brief fashion show of outfits, we picked our favorites and went to the city to meet Christina for dinner at Hill Country. (#8) They have pretty good Texas-style BBQ but I think my favorite part there is all the delicious sides. I am very picky about mac n' cheese, but their's is so good I think it deserves it's own number. (#9) And Jaime even ordered a spicy margarita. (#10)

Rice to Riches! Yum!

Our trip to Rice to Riches was more of a friendship pilgrimage than just a craving. Those of us who like rice pudding seem to be in the minority, but Jaime and I both really like it, and she introduced me to this Nolita treasure back in 2007 when I was working in New York for the summer. Since then, we talk about it regularly even though we haven't been back there together since then. (I think I did once drag Kevin but he doesn't like rice pudding so it wasn't too much fun.) Anyway, we finally made it back there, and we greedily ordered 3 flavors. (#1`) she also discovered her favorite flavor, "Fluent in French Toast." (#12) Despite the picture, Christina doesn't like rice pudding so... more for us!

Since we were already in Nolita, we decided to stay and go to some bars there. First we tried Milano, which might be my new favorite dive bar in the city. They were super nice and the place was plastered in photos. I approve! (#13) I got Jaime a birthday drink. (#14) Milano's bartender recommended the cider to her because it has "handpicked apples, so it should taste of sweat used to make the cider." (#15) Sounds kind of gross to me, but I guess the bartender and Jaime share the same sense of humor.

Jaime, Christina, and me at Milano

Then we went to Botanica, where we were carded! (#16) Botanica was a little nicer, but super weird with random people seemingly dancing by themselves on a non-existant dance floor. Jaime seemed to like it though, in part because they had Anthropologie-scented candles. (#17) The drinks were great though and Christina treated Jaime to something called a "Ginger Yum-yum." (#18) Yummy indeed. Some guy kept trying to chat up Jaime, though she generally denied it, so I can't count it as a "Fun Thing." Then she thought she saw Corbin Bernsen dancing. At the time I didn't know who he was, but after I looked him up on Google I thought he really did look like him... and maybe it was him? (#19) Now a few yum-yum drinks in myself. I psychoanalyzed Jaime and determined that she is generally untroubled. (#20)

Jaime at Botanica

We made a half-hearteda ttempt to go home after that, but instead we went on a longish walk through Nolita and SoHo. Jaime came to a sign with her name. (#21) When we finally got on the subway, we rode with the most fabulous dragqueen ever, (#22) and a significantly less fabulous group of guys that were talking nonsense using big words. The latter group inspired Jaime to try to talk like them, creating new amazing words like "Jacksonomically" and my personal favorite, "stimulicious." (#23)

Street sign named for Jaime!

Since we managed to completely miss our first train home, we went for a walk in Koreatown, which Jaime had never visited before. (#24) We ended up at an Irish pub, where we shared another drink, and took a cutesie selfie. (#25) The bartender probably thought we were an item, haha.

Selfie!

By the time we finally got on the train it was 2:30 a.m. Jaime is a big fan of How I Met Your Mother and declared that we were "officially on the drunk train!" (#26) We proceeded to eat more rice pudding on the train. (#27) The last time Jaime visited we had so much fun that we missed our train stop, and we had to call Kevin to pick us up which was decidedly not fun. So this time, when we successfully got off at our stop, Jaime decided that not missing our stop was a fun thing, and some locals knowingly smiled and agreed with her. (#289) We were pretty excited that despite our advancing age we had managed to party until 3:30 a.m. (#29)

The next morning, after more rice pudding for breakfast (#30) we went off to Jones Beach for the day (#31). We had a little time to ourselves before a bunch of other friends and a time-intensive James joined us. We even dipped into the icy ocean. In the evening we cooked out in the backyard with friends. (#32) James was a big fan of Jaime and gave her hugs and kisses and even washed Jaime's car for her. (#33) Finally, we ended the evening drinking and playing a hyper-dirty version of Apples to Apples. (#34)  Kevin was in such a good mood after the party that he even conceded to Jaime that she was right about something. His exact words were, "You're right." Jaime was beyond gleeful at this admission. (#35) I think all in all, a very fun 4-day birthday celebration even if, as Jaime says, I was "slutty with counting fun things." 

Jaime hearts Jones Beach 

Cookout spread

Friends at the cookout

James washing Jaime's car