Labor Day 2012

            "Do not worry if you have your built castles in the air.  They are where they should be.  Now put the foundation under them. "  Henry David Thoreau

               With much trepidation, I started Labor Day weekend in a similar fashion as Memorial Day.  My trepidation this time was due the fact that I was driving a big van to New York City for our big move!  Thankfully, it was a breeze.

                Getting the drive over with, the move began, and reinforced that Kristi has a great community for herself here in New York.  On Friday, the plan was to move everything staying in New York from her old apartment to our “Happy Healing Home.”   With the help of a wonderful 
young Man (voted best Wedding Guest recently) it took about 2 hours, and went without a hitch.  I discovered that my parking gene works in NYC, even with a large van.  Thank goodness as I quickly 

Celebrating Move Part I

realized that no garages are big enough for the van!  Being a holiday weekend was definitely in our favor.

                Following that portion of the move, we headed across the street to our first neighborhood restaurant, Cascabel.  It is a great little Mexican place on 2^nd Avenue and 78^th Street.  So, of course, there were margaritas involved.  Spent the rest of the day and evening nesting, unpacking, and organizing.

                Saturday morning I meandered around the neighborhood walking just blocks over to the East River.  Finding East River DIner, on 1^st Avenue and 79^th Street, I had a lovely breakfast (omelet, hash browns, toast, and coffee) for under $10, and read for awhile, which is perfectly acceptable, almost expected, it seems.  I will have to have a routine like this on my weekend mornings as Kristi doesn’t  get home from work til 5am! 

                After breakfast I crossed the street to a market that looked interesting.  Oh my, it was and is.  It will definitely become one of my most visited places in the neighborhood.  Agata & Valentina is, simply put, amazing and wonderful.  I picked up food for our first dinner at our Happy Healling Home which we actually had on Sunday night. 

From Peter D on Yelp

Saturday at noon we finished the New York portion of the move by clearing out what was left in the old apartment and putting it in the van.  The great young Guy who helped us that day is actually from Brookline and went to college in Oregon with an extended family member!  The world gets smaller every day.  We celebrated that move with brunch at Don Pedros on 2nd Avenue between 96th and 97th, a great Dominican restaurant with bottomless sangria. (Although my sangria definitely had a bottom as I still had to get the van back to our new neighborhood and parked.)

Dusk in Centtral Park



Belvedere Castle in Central Park

Saturday evening I walked over to the Park (Central Park that is!) in the hopes that I might score a lone ticket to the last night of Sondheims’s “Into the Woods”.  That didn’t happen but I did explore some of the Park that I’ve never seen, including Belvedere Castle and the Delacorte Theatre where the play was and where Shakespeare in the Park is performed every summer.   Quick note: I was certainly not alone as I walked and Everyone who’s eye I caught  gave me a smile, which I very happily reciprocated.  Who says this is an unfriendly city?

Busy @ work

 I got a bit lost and ended up on Central Park West instead of the East side.  Not a problem,  I decided to check out Kristi’s new place of employment, Valhala, a  craft beer bar on 54^th Street and 9^th Avenue.

Sunday we continued to get settled, had that first dinner, and Kristi’s college roommate joined us for a housewarming glass of wine.  Monday we drove home to Milton, again easily and uneventfully, where my little home inherited yet more “stuff to be stored”.