Summer in the City

We had a glorious summer weekend in New York. Friday, Matt was able to leave work a bit early, so we made the spontaneous decision to explore Battery Park.  I took the ferry over from Brooklyn and we met up on Wall St.

We enjoyed walking along the water and hanging out on the grass before riding the coolest carousel I’ve ever seen! The sea glass carousel has beautiful fish that go up and down and also rotate on the platform.  Emerson was obsessed and I loved watching her experience the ride.

We debated getting drinks, and decided it would be more relaxing to head home and get bath time underway while we opened a bottle of wine.  We enjoyed our usual pizza and movie before getting in bed to read.  I finished Match Made in Manhattan and started An American Marriage.

Matt had soccer on Saturday, so I took Emerson grocery shopping.  Once Matt was home and Em was napping, I went to a glorious yoga class and got a pedicure. I came home to Matt cleaning the apartment, so it was pretty much my dream afternoon. Once Em was up, we headed back out the door and walked along the water to Dumbo for dinner at Gran Electrica.

It’s no secret that we love modern Mexican food, and when I read about this great patio, I knew it’d be a perfect choice for a festive summer dinner.

I had two amazing drinks: one made with mezcal and pineapple bitters and then a to-die-for spicy grapefruit margarita.  Emerson enjoyed eating limes until she got juice in her eye and had a meltdown. Luckily, her quesadilla arrived and we were able to calm her down before our own entrees were served.

I had this al pastor bowl made with pork and pineapple and a spicy + sweet sauce that was excellent.

Even though we were approaching bedtime, I couldn’t resist stopping for Ample Hills ice cream on the walk home.  We put a few spoonfuls in a bowl for Emerson, and I’ve never seen someone so proud to be holding her own ice cream.

I’ve also never seen such large peanut butter cups in ice cream before and it was ridiculously good.

Sunday was another busy and fun day because we took the commuter train out to Garden City to visit one of my college fiends and her two kids. The town has this awesome pool; although it was a bit chilly and cloudy, the kids had a blast running around before we ordered takeout for lunch and went back to their house to watch the world cup final.

Em played a bit more after her nap (they had all the toys and she was in heaven), and then we hopped back on the train for the 30 minute trip home.  I think I’m ready for suburban life!!

We finished off Friday’s wine, made a sweet potato + black bean casserole for Sunday dinner, and called it a weekend.  Gosh it was a fun one!!