Our 5.5 Wedding Anniversary 2015

Our five-year wedding anniversary was in June of last year, but Miranda was only six weeks old and I was nursing so we really weren't going anywhere to celebrate. At first, we were at peace with this, but 5 years is kind of fun, and when Miranda started sleeping through the night (!) we started looking at some options. Of course, none of this would have been possible without Grandma- thank you, thank you, Grandma.

"Before" picture by Grandma

Kevin found a new Argentinian restaurant he wanted to try in the city, and had the smart idea to book us at a fancy hotel for the night so we wouldn't have to come back to Long Island for the night and listen to the children scream. We set out for our "Anniversitine" or our anniversary celebrated closer to Valentine's than to our actual anniversary.

Since our dinner reservation was in the Lower East Side, we found a random bar to get pre-dinner drinks. We wandered into El Sombrero and it was pretty awesome. The music was straight out of my grandparent's living room, and the drink I got was great: tequila, cointreau, lime juice, passion & guava puree.

Tequila drink at The Sobrero

For dinner we went to Balvanera, an Argentinian (steak) restaurant and wine bar. We had the most amazing appetizer- Empanadas Caseras filled with hand cut roast beef. YUM! Kevin got the strip rare, and I got the skirt steak (entraña) medium. I know my choice sounds kind of gross to American ears, but trust me, it wasn't. Hispanic people pound flank steak into sweet submission. They were a little heavy on the steak but delicious. Both steaks came with thin fries. We washed it down with A Lisa Malbec from Patagonia.

After dinner picture

After dinner we weighed going back to the hotel, getting a drink near the hotel, or getting a drink near where we were on the Lower East Side. Kevin suggested The Magician, so we popped in for "one drink." Right away we spotted Briggs at the bar, who promptly told us that Nick and Emily were also coincidently there with another group of people. All of Kevin's friends like that bar, so it wasn't the craziest thing that's ever happened but it was kind of weird. Especially the part where Kevin and I were out together. We had a lot of fun running into everyone. We also ran into Kevin's college ballroom dance partner (there with Nick and Emily). I didn't even know he'd taken a dance class ever!

Nick, Kevin, me, Emily, Briggs at The Magician on Saturday night

We headed back to the hotel, but we were remiss to give up the good times so quickly so we stopped at bar near the hotel we'd never been to before, Session House, rumored to have a really good Guinness pour, which Kevin confirmed. They had a musician who just happened to play Miranda's early favorite song, You're So Vain (though now it's Itsy Bitsy Spider).

In the lobby of the Waldorf on Sunday morning

To top it all off, we stayed at the Waldorf Astoria over night so we didn't have to drive or take the train back at night, or take care of kids in the morning. The hotel itself is gorgeous, and I want to come back for the super luxurious Sunday brunch sometime. Our room was a bit more sedate, but it was in a corner away from any potential source of noise, and our window framed a view of the Chrysler building which Kevin loved. He loved sleeping even more, and though he assured me he didn't even know how to sleep past 8 am anymore, I'm pretty sure he would have slept through the check out time if I hadn't woken him up a bit before. I did wake up a bit earlier so I luxuriated in bed and finished my super long book. We grabbed some New York bagels for everyone and headed home. Great anniversary. Anniversitine. Whatever.

• The actual day of our 5th wedding anniversary at home in Long Island 2014
• Our 4th wedding anniversary on Cape Cod (Summer Shanty) 2013
• Our 3rd wedding anniversary in Martha's Vineyard 2012
• Our 2nd wedding anniversary at home in Long Island 2011 (because again, new baby)
• Our 1st wedding anniversary in Niagara Falls  (but also in Brooklyn) 2010

Lit Crawl NYC 2014

Kevin and his publisher participated in "Lit Crawl NYC" which is a yearly event. The organizers set up several events throughout the day involving literature. Kevin played led a team in "Literary Taboo" for his publisher Black Balloon Publishing against team captain Catherine Lacey Electric Literature. Basically they had to describe books and authors without using certain words.

Nick, who's kind of a trivia master, was on his team. The following exchange occurred.

Kevin: (Looks at card, sees book series he's never read) It's a job a young girl might have, and this is the central organization.
Nick: BABY SITTERS' CLUB!!!!
Audience: (Hysterical laughing.)

Nick, when it was his turn to give clues.

Needless to say, Kevin's team won.

Okay, okay, here's another good one, from the other team.
Woman we don't know: It's the book your asshole Republican college boyfriend buys you a copy of and insists you read.
Woman 2: ATLAS SHRUGGED!!

After that Kevin and friends went to a reading at Swift Hibernian Lounge, (Eric Boyd, Phil Klay, Abeer Hoque, Ali Power, and Genya Turovskaya) in support of the Guernica/PEN Flash Series and PEN Poetry Series. And finally, they went to the After-Party at the Magician, which is already one of Kevin's favorite bars.

Out with Friends in NYC- August 2013

Asking people  to go out in NYC with a week's notice, especially in the summer when most people have every weekend booked, well, it's not a good strategy. But our friends are awesome, so they worked us into their other plans. Since Kevin's mom was visiting we went out in the evening for dinner. We had salmon-and-cheese mazemen at Yuji Ramen Test Kitchen (Lower East Side), dumplings at Vanessa's Dumpling House (Chinatown), and then drinks with our friends at the Magician (back to the Lower East Side). Noodles were good, dumplings were good, and Peak Organic ale on tap- yum!

Jon and Becky had a concert that night, but they got to the bar early to hang out with us before they left. Becky and I delightedly gossiped about the Sister Wives show. Then, even though Rachel and Tim were celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary, they came by after their romantic dinner-and-a-show to hang out with us. How very sweet of them!

Rachel and Tim- seven happy years!

Then Jackie and her boyfriend Rob overlapped them a lot but also stayed for a while after Rachel and Tim had to head out. I haven't seen Jackie in ages, and I haven't met Rob before so it was great to spend time really talking and catching up. And it's not going to be forever again until next time!

Jackie and Rob at the Magician

Becky and Jon enjoying their night out! [Not pictured: Jon]

Going home on the LIRR- good night out!

Michele's Goodbye to NYC 2012

Before Superstorm Sandy, the worst thing that happened to New York this year was Michele leaving. In addition to trying to hang out with Michele as much as possible before she left (and becoming even more emotionally dependent on her than I already was) we decided to give her a big send off.  Her friend Kirsten lovingly and appropriately nicknamed it "Tears in our Beers."

Before we started drinking, we decided to do one last crazy thing in New York. Ash, Michele, and I participated in something called Accomplice New York, where you tour a part of the city in the guise of helping some mobsters commit a crime. You have to follow clues from one location to another, passing on messages and items to help the mobsters along. I was going to blog in great detail about it, but I decided that it might ruin it for anyone thinking of doing it. It was pretty fun, and we got along well with the tourists that were in our group. If you do it, I think I would recommend having a full group of 10 so that your group doesn't split up too much and you don't miss things.

Michele, me, and Ash in City Hall Park during Accomplice

One crazy thing about the fact that we did Accomplice on Saturday was that a lot of it took place in the South Street Seaport area, which was a Zone A flood zone, so there's been a lot of flood damage there since the Superstorm Sandy. Some restaurants and bars have had to be completely gutted because of the damage. Luckily, the bar we spent the most time in, Jeremy's Ale House, only had a little flood damage and is reported to be okay for the most part.

Our entire Accomplice team at Jeremy's Ale House in South Street Seaport

So then we went to Jadis wine bar in the Lower East Side to meet up with Michele's other NYC friends who wanted to come say goodbye. Things weren't sad, probably because everyone was in deep denial like me. Though there was some talk of getting back together for a support group when the reality of a Michele-less life sinks in. We all wore clever little name tags that said, "Goodbye. My name is ---."

Enjoying good company at Jadis

Michele and Yianice getting in some more snuggles

Some of my favorite ladies: Rachel, Ash, Michele and me at Jadis

Nina, Vinay, and Michele

Cutest baby ever and she has more attitude than Harper Beckham

After some drinks at Jadis we took the party to Loreley Beer Garden, where we had huge German beers and delicious German food. Some craziness ensued.

Yael watering Michele like a sexy plant?

From now on, I always want to wear matching lipstick with my girlfriends.

People always ask how I met Michele. We both went to GW undergrad. Freshman year, almost everyone lived in the large Thurston dorm with a 1000 plus students. There was a smaller freshman dorm on the other side of campus, called Adams Hall (and then later called Lafayette) of about 160 students, where Megan, Christina, Michele and I all lived. I lived on the 8th floor, and I knew Megan and Christina who lived on the 4th and 3rd floor respectively. But because Michele was one extra floor away on the 2nd floor, I didn't really know her. This is very detailed, but I think about it sometimes because what if you just walked by one of your best friends in the whole world on a daily basis and just didn't know her? And kept not knowing her for 11 years even though you had a close friend in common? Super super sad.

Rachel, Ash, Michele, and Janice in my dorm room when I didn't really know Michele

Even though I'm sure I met Michele and saw her countless times, I didn't really know her until I re-met her through Ash at Ash's 2008 Barn Party. I was a little jealous because she and Ash were so close and having so much fun. Luckily I got over it, and then we actually started hanging out about a month or so later. At first, we hung out mainly when Ash came to town, but eventually we were friends on our own, though we always still miss Ash when we're hanging out and she's not there. For the last 4 years, she's been there all the time, in good times and in bad. She's super fun, smart, and understanding. I basically feel bad for everyone who is not friends with her, especially for myself from 1997-2008.

  

Greenwich Village Bar Crawl, October 2008

Self-determined bar crawl in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, November 2008

At my bachelorette party in April 2009 (Shut up, my face is awesome.)

The night before my wedding, June 2009

This is when things started to get out of control. The rest is blog history.

I tried not to be too terribly sad when saying goodbye to Michele, because I plan on still seeing her as much as possible so I'm focusing on that. She officially drove a moving van out of New York City today, and now that it's super real I am having a little trouble coping. I can't hang out with Michele next weekend? And the weekend after that? No. No. Nooooooo.

I might have staged a protest outside her apartment, except that she is off to self-actualize in Richmond. She is starting a food co-op in Richmond, most likely with a clever name like Richmond Food Co-op. I'm not much of a risk-taker myself, but I can tell from the planning that she's put into this, from knowing her, and from hearing about the other people involved, that it will definitely be a huge success. Again, otherwise I would have chained myself to her moving van. Not. kidding.

Bonus picture of a super fun night in 2010.

Wendy and Clark's Wedding 2009

Our first wedding as a married couple! My high school friend Wednesday had been dating Clark for years, and they had long since resolved to elope. The first time they tried to do so was September 11, 2008. They got to the City Clerk's office right before it closed and realized they hadn't gotten out cash for the marriage license. Personally, I'm glad they were foiled the first time. They were able to avoid accidentally having a September 11th wedding anniversary, and when they actually made it back there this July 16, the City Clerk's office had been completely refurbished.

I kept hoping that when they finally got married I would get a last minute call. A month after Kevin and I returned from our honeymoon, I got an email on Tuesday that they would be married on Thursday. I was pleased and impressed that I was finding out before the actual day.

I was able to make it to the ceremony thanks to my job, and I was really thrilled to be there. Clark was happy and nervous and kept checking for their number to come up on the monitors. I got to spend time with them in the disco-music-playing waiting room and took a ton of pictures of them. It felt like having cocktail hour before the ceremony. I was touched that they used her parents' wedding rings. Though the ceremony was very brief, the way Wednesday's face lit up when it was finished was really beautiful.

First married hug

Knudsen family rings

Most people couldn't make it to the actual ceremony, but they had an after-party in a cool hotel in the Lower East Side after work. Kevin was able to join me for the after-party. He enjoyed the whiskey and made lots of new friends; I enjoyed the super-tasty wedding cake with coconut. We had a really nice time with them. Congratulations Wendy and Clark! May you have a lifetime of happiness.

Cutting the wedding cake at the after-party

Kissing in front of the Empire State Building