I love NYC

Jon and I took this week off to hang out and get some stuff done.  One of our "to-do's" for the week was to take a trip to NYC, climb (well, not really) the Empire State Building, then meet up with our friends Laura and Alex and eat some crazy good steak.

Empire State Building

Going to the 86th Floor of the Empire State Building is wicked touristy, but we figured, what the heck.

Sunset - 4:23pm

We happen to get to the top right at Sunset which was rather beautiful.  Unfortunately, someone talked me out of bringing my DSLR and said we'd be fine with our little digital camera.  That little someone needs to get his butt kicked.

Us at the top

Ah, and there he is right now.  Are you listening, my little someone? 

View from the Empire State Building

My lack of DSLR didn't stop me from taking way too many pictures.

Chopper

While we were at the top, the NYPD chopper decided to show off a bit.

NYPD Chopper

Needless to say, we all loved it.

Peanut and I

This was Peanut's first touristy trip to NYC.  Say "hello", Peanut.  Don't be so rude.

Pop Tart World

From there, we decided to walk slowly to the restaurant.  And stop at every single tourist trap.  Apparently there is a Pop Tart World.  Who knew.

Posing at Times Square

M&M Store

And finally made our way over to Rockefeller Center.

Here's a useless piece of information for you - pregnant women aren't allowed to get a nice massage in the massage chairs at Brookstone.  Who knew?  We stopped by one across the street from the restaurant and after spending hours on my feet, I couldn't be more excited to see a super duper crazy massage chair that not only massaged your back, but reclined, massaged your hands and feet and pretty much did everything minus cook you a steak.  Right as I settled my tired little butt in the chair, a nice store employee walked over and stuttered something about me being "uhh.....pregnant?"  So I had to get out.  I honestly thought I was going to cry in the store.  For the record, I didn't.  I just walked away.

Laura & Alex

Finally, we got to our destination - Del Frisco.  This is where we had the most amazing steaks (some of us also had the most amazingly delicious wine, sigh).  Jon is still talking about his steak.

The End.

Well, of this trip.  But not to worry, we did lots more this week that I'll have to fill you in about.

Be careful what you ask for

"Hey Kat"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Smile!"

"But I'm eating! Are you taking pictures of me eating?"

"Yes. Smile!"

"Fine."

"Hey, you asked for it!"

Mohegan Bluffs on Block Island

When Jon and I decided to take a trip to Block Island to spend the day together celebrating our 3 year anniversary, everyone around us had advice on what to do and what to see while we were there.

The number one attraction recommended by almost every person who's been there?  Mohegan Bluffs.

Mohegan Bluffs drops 150 feet to a rocky beach below, which leads to some pretty impressive views.

A long wooden stairwell leads the way down to the beach, providing its tourists with a challenge.

Obviously, we rarely say "no" to a challenge (and neither does Peanut).
ps- Gotta love the pedometers! Go Sightlines Walking Challenge!

Jon and I walked the 2.5 miles from the ferry to the South end of the Island and greeted our challenge head on.

But really, who can resist these views?

What we didn't know is that once you reach the "almost" bottom, you are greeted with this:

Umm, okay.  People who told us about the awesome views failed to mention the cliffs we had to climb up and down.

But we're no wimps.

We got down to the beach, played in the water for bit, looked at the stacked rocks, and headed back up the 144 stairs.

Totally worth it!

So if you're ever find yourself looking for a day-trip or a weekend getaway in CT, NY, or RI, take a trip over to Block Island and don't forget to walk, bike or scooter over to the South end of the island and check out Mohegan Bluffs.

Drama queen

In Russia pretty much every kid was pushed into gymnastics.  When I was old enough, my parents signed me up and I loved it and hated it, depending on what day it was.

Some days I couldn't wait to get to class.  I loved learning hand stands and cartwheels.  I loved getting the extra energy out after school; and boy did I have extra energy and then some.  Then there were the days that the instructors would force us just a little bit farther than my stubborn self was willing to go.  On those days I would throw a huge fit and storm out.  I was so dramatic.  I would tell everyone that I was there by choice and that they couldn't make me do anything I didn't want to do.  I threw my little hands up in the air and swore that I would never come back.   Then I would run outside and sit on the curb, huffing and puffing, until my mom would pick me up.

The following week my parents would drop me off at gymnastics again and I would walk in, my head low.  My instructors would just smile their snarky little smiles to themselves and go on with their days.   This happened at least once a month.

But that's got nothing to do with this picture.  This picture is about my sister and me.  See, in gymnastics I learned how to do a back bend.  I was very proud.  My parents would ask me to do it as entertainment for their friends.  My sister always watched me and, the copy cat that she was, she tried to do it too.  But she wasn't in gymnastics yet and so she didn't actually know how.  But it was a good try.  And a pretty good indication of much she adored me.  And I adore her.  To this day.

A trip down memory lane

When I was looking for pictures to post for my Mother's Day post, I also found this:

Wow, Russian hats were, um, interesting.

And this:

I was a chubby baby.

And apparently had a very keen sense of style.  Especially in purses.

There's that awesome sense of style again.  Even I thought I looked great.

A serious face.  Because I'm wicked serious.

I have very little idea why we were dressed like little boys, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the cold.

I think this might have been my sister's birthday.  Apparently we were excited about fruit.

This is my sister and I picking mushrooms.  In wicked cool outfits.  That lady bug velvet suit I'm wearing?  It was my favorite suit for like 5 years.  I wore it almost every day.  Even when it got too small.  Did I mention I had an awesome sense of style.

I'd love to make excuses here, but really, my sister and I wore funny dresses.  A lot.  We were children of the 80's.  Please forgive us.

More dresses.  And fruit.  And bangs.  Why, oh, why, mother? Did you insist on us having bangs?

OH! So in Russia squirrels are totally different.  In the winter they sort of look like the squirrels here so you can't tell too much, but in the summer it's a totally different story.  They're poofy and brown.  They're totally cute.  And they're friendly.  Here's a picture of my sister and me feeding some squirrels.

I have no excuses.  I'm cooky.  But fun.  But yeah, totally nuts.

Ah winter in the Motha land.

That's enough for now.  I can't decide if I should be laughing or crying right now at these silly little memories.

Earthquake Zinfandel - Lodi Appelation - 2007

Tonight, Jon and I decided to go for a special little treat - a bottle of Earthquake Zinfandel.  Jon and I bought this bottle of wine on our Valentine's Day getaway this February.

We've never done something big for Valentine's Day, which is only a few days after Jon's birthday.  But this year I talked to my best friend, Inna (the one that's about to have a baby), and she told me that she and her husband once went to Portsmouth, NH for a weekend and had an amazing time.  Jon and I were feeling stressed and overwhelmed from work and life, so it was the perfect little getaway.  We got a co-worker to doggie-sit for us and took off to Portsmouth.

Portsmouth is gorgeous!  If you are ever looking for a little get away (and live nearby) or if you live far away but want to visit a quaint little town, Portsmouth, NH is your kind of place.

This quaint little town has everything for a romantic getaway, or even a nice weekend with some girl friends: good food, cute shops, amazing wine, and beautiful scenery.  Some of our favorite places were The Friendly Toast (there's another location in Boston area now!), Ristorante Massimo,  Popovers on the Square, and Cava.

Oh the food...mmm...I can barely stop myself from drooling right now.  Anyways, a bunch of the shops had some fun things like hilarious cards, dog treats (we got some v-day presents for Travis and Cailey), and entertaining tourist traps.  We had a really good time just walking around the streets, drinking coffee, and stopping in various shops to get souvenirs for ourselves.   One of the shops that we sopped in was a cheese and wine shop, and they had a tasting!

I love love love wine tastings!  Like food, wine is something that I love and enjoy tasting varieties of.  We went in and had an amazing time tasting chocolate flavored wine, a red sparkling wine (we bought a bottle of this as well that I'll blog about when we open it - it's delicious!), and some red Zinfandel.  I was still day-dreaming about the tasting when I decided to browse the isles of carefully arranged wine and tasting their cheese and crackers when I stumbled on a rack of Lodi Appelation wines, as well as M. Cossentino wine.  These vineyards are among my favorites!  I'm dying to visit them next time we are in CA.  In the meantime, I settle for buying these somewhat pricey bottles of wine.  Naturally, Jon and I bought a bottle of Earthquake, Seven Deadly Zins, and CigarZin from Cosentino.

Jon and I had the CigarZin before vacation so I'll have to blog about it another time.  Tonight we opened a bottle of Earthquake red Zinfandel.  And let me tell you - it is delicious.  We enjoy a bolder taste in our red wines, so if you usually drink Merlot or Pinot Noir, this is probably not your kind of wine.  But if you prefer a bottle of red zinfandel, a good Cab, or a nice thick Malbec, then this would be right up your alley.

There is nothing like taking your cutter and slicing the top of the wrapper in a perfect little circle.

Admiring the top of that cork makes my insides squirm.

Then I use my electric wine opener that my little sister gave me for Christmas and voila!

Oh yuck...please ignore that my fingers are all cracked and bleeding...I just washed my hands about 50 times because I was cooking chicken and Jon won't let me touch a single surface unless I've washed my hands twice. 

Anyways, here is my delicious bottle of wine.

It is magically delicious.  Now I am off to drink my wine...and make another post about dinner (the one that made my fingers crack).

Final post- the Real DR continued

This is the last of my vacation posts.  I am currently trying to pull myself out of depression and convince myself that I since I loved my job and life before this vacation, I will love it again.  So far - no success.  

On to our next destination - the Ranch.

I rode a horse.  Jon chickened out.

About mid-day we ate at at the Ranch - an authentic Dominican lunch.

 Took some pictures.

Fed bread to our new friends.

We saw how cigar are rolled:

And checked out some tourist traps souvenirs:

I swung on the home-made swings,

and then we moved on to our next destination.

But not before we saw a crocodile.  No, he wasn't fake.  We all thought he was fake, until one of the tourists threw a rock at him.  The little cuddle-bunny snapped his trap and jumped into the water.  I sat back down in my seat and decided to never ever go into the water again.  Unless it's a pool.

Our next stop was a school.

In DR the kids go to school in two shirts - morning and afternoon.  The younger grades attend the morning sessions, while the older grades go in the afternoons.  The kids all have to wear the same uniform of khaki pants or skirts and a blue shirt.

There are two classrooms - kids get divided into two groups.  This afternoon session had a second and third grade in one classroom and fourth and fifth in the other classroom.  All grades learn 3 languages - Spanish, French, and English.  In addition to those our guide also spoke Russian and Italian.  They're truly impressive.

Our last stop was the beach.

It was gorgeous, but dirty because of the storm they had a couple of days before.   We experienced the storm first-hand and it was not pretty.  Anyways, it washed all this dirt into the pretty ocean.

Everyone still enjoyed the ocean and the break from the bumpy truck.

Took some pictures and moved on.

Next stop - our hotel!  And after a long day, we were happy to be back and relax in a cabana by the beach.

The End.

PS- If any of you are currently planning a tropical vacation, I fit very well into a checked bag and whine minimally.