New friends

I'm so thankful that we're slowly starting to build some new friendships here.

Central Park

Can I just say how happy I am that it's no longer raining here on the east coast?!?  Can I get a "whoop whoop?"  (Whoop whoop!)  Baby Chuck and I are loving the bright and warm days.  We're doing our best to soak up every last bit of sunny goodness before winter comes. 

I think last Saturday definitely marked a turning point in the weather.  Hubby, Baby Chuck, and I seized the day by meeting up with some friends and walking through Central Park.  I loved seeing the swarms of tourists and natives out enjoying the good weather.

Even though we live just across the river, we really don't visit the city as often as we'd like.  Whenever our car crosses the river, I always begin "oohing" and "ahhing" over all the sights. 

I really love New York City and it's just so beautiful in the fall. 

This must have been wedding photo day because we saw a total of three brides walking around!

I so want to make this bubble man's special wand.

Hungry Caterpillar party prep: DIY Number Pinata

I just realized this week that September is right around the corner.  Eek!  Summer is slipping through my fingers.  Nooo!

Baby Chuck's birthday party is almost here.  I have all these marvelous DIY plans dancing in my head, but I have yet to fully complete one.  Fortunately, Kim is super crafty and creative.  I'm mucho thankful that she was able to help out.  

Here's our first birthday party project:  The pinata! Ole!  (Note:  I've never hit a pinata before, but the whole idea seems very fun.  What? You get to hit something with a big stick?  And it's ok?  And it spits out candy?  Sign my kid up!)  After looking through pages and pages of pinatas, I skipped the paper mache route in favor of cardboard (using this awesome set of directions).  I'm not sure how sturdy the structure will be since we used flimsy cereal boxes.  Luckily, only a couple of young kids will attend our party, so I think it'll be ok.  *Crosses fingers*

I'm not going to lie.  It was loads of fun to make, but it took a looooong time.  We could only work at night when Baby Chuck was sleeping.  (Unfortunately, that meant that we were both also exhausted too.)  Having Kim as my slave helper really helped.   If you were to try this project, I recommend that you get yourself a Kim too.

Here are some photos from our efforts:

I added thicker cardboard to reinforce my flimsy ones.

This was all we were able to accomplish the first night.

Note the ice-cream in the background.  We needed to keep our energy up.

We started from the bottom and then slowly worked our way up.

Delirium sets in.

This is all we accomplished the second night.

And then when I work up the next morning , our pinata was magically completed!  Just kidding, we finished it after another night of work.

Now I just have to fill this baby up and then we can see it in action. 

We like to party

During the Summer, our town hosts small Sunday get-togethers in the park.  They serve free food and drinks.  Plus, they hire a dj to play music.  Week after week I kept meaning to go but something always came up.  This past Sunday Kim, Baby Chuck, and I finally joined the festivities.  It was  a lot of fun.  We ate delicious food, people-watched to our heart's content, and even got roped into a little dancing.

Boy oh boy, West New Yorkers sure know how to party!

Love em and leave em from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

New York Aquarium Part 1

We've been trying to follow the "work hard, play hard" mentality.  Hubby works long hours during the week and we try to cram in a whole bunch of fun during the weekend.  Last Saturday we visited the New York Aquarium. It was amazing.  We felt like we were visiting another world.      

 

A girl named Kim

Hi everyone!  Sorry that things have been a bit quiet around here.  One of my good friends Kim is visiting

us for a couple of days.  We've been really enjoying having her around.  I'm definitely going to miss her when she leaves tomorrow.   

(Luckily, she's also a bit photo-crazy like me, so I have TONS of photos from her stay.  Here are a couple of my shots.)

Strong women

Here are some photos from this past weekend:

Hubby, Baby Chuck, and I were fortunate enough to hang out with some old friends that we met while in grad school.  Like Katie, these three are also lovely, amazingly talented, and hard working.  I look up to them so much and I'm glad they got to meet Baby Chuck.

Goodbye Katie!

Our apartment is quiet again.

I miss her already.

Why do I always take photos of our feet?

“In friendship…we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another…the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting–any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends, “Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.”  ~ C.S. Lewis

My friend Katie

Hubby is away in Texas.  I'm so thankful that one of my best friends from elementary school is currently visiting us and keeping us company.

It's her first time meeting the new man in my life.

Goodbye ice-cream

A couple of nights ago we shared some goodbye ice-creams with my friend Lisa and her family.  Lisa and I met at church and became good friends.  She's a fellow mommy, lover of Anne of Green Gables, and blogger.

She also has two adorable kids who are always so sweet to Baby Chuck.    

We're going to miss them lots and lots and lots.