It has been AGES since I have had an opportunity to write a blog post and I had finally found some time to write this - back in February - then promptly became super busy again. Either way, here is a very tardy catch up of my and Jared's second half of 2015, from late August through the holiday season.
L: Late Summer
August 2015 was months ago, but included a few super fun family and friend celebrations, and some of our favorite traditions. Early in the month the extended Anderson clan came together to celebrate my Grandma’s 90th Birthday at Uncle Mickey and Aunt Winnie’s house. The entire family was in attendance and the adults (my grandma’s children and their spouses) even dedicated two special performances to her. ** See below ** It was a really great afternoon.
A few weeks later we also helped celebrate Blake’s First Birthday at a small park picnic on Long Island, before I helped celebrate Ashlyn’s Bachelorette Party with some club hopping in the Hamptons. Jared and I made it to one outdoor movie, Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, at Brooklyn Bridge Park. With great weather, take-out goodies from Whole Foods, and lower-Manhattan as the backdrop, it was one of the best city nights of the summer. We also did an overnight to Montauk the last weekend of August, with one day at our new favorite place, Ditch Plains, dinner at Swallow East (get the Sweet and Sour Calamari -- it is delish), another beach-morning at Hither Hills, and rounded out the little get-away with an afternoon at the Hampton Classic for the Grand Prix.
Other August and September highlights included a girls night dinner with Katie W., Katie D., Lisa and Ally at the Stanton Social, and drinks afterwards; a great beach day at Robert Moses with Tim, Phil and Meredith, Rob and Piya; an evening at the U.S. Open, which included some of the craziest tennis we had seen there yet. We didn’t want to leave, but after the matches kept going and going, we had to call it quits around midnight. The 2015 tournament was one of surprise winners, which we continued to follow from home. Jared spent another two nights in Montauk (at the Montauk Yacht Club, super jealous) for the annual Behance retreat before heading to Atlantic City for Ben’s bachelor party/weekend. Katie D. and I took our first, last, and only Whole Foods cooking class at the Bowery Whole Foods (they closed their little cooking school the next day) but learned how to make pot pies, donuts, and apple crisp. JV and I rounded out September on Long Island with members of the extended Anderson clan to celebrate September and October birthdays (Brian, Uncle Bill, Cathie, Olivia, Jared and I) with diner and dessert at Brian’s house in Patchogue. And September included the start of my second semester of grad school, taking Children's Literature in a Multicultural Society and Psychology of Child Development and Learning.
Oh…and in September we had our Co-Op board interview for our new home, but more on that later.
M: My 30th Birthday
A few days into October Jared was off to Los Angeles for the annual Adobe Max Conference. The conference always falls during my birthday, so last year I was home alone on my actual birthday. But this year, as I stared down 30, we decided to celebrate it in California. I flew out Wednesday after class, arriving in LA a bit after 1:00 am. Jared’s hotel (the Omni) was in Downtown Los Angeles, not far from the Staples Center. On Thursday morning we grabbed a late breakfast, rented a car, drove to see the famed Hollywood Sign, then down to Santa Monica and walked the historic pier (and grabbed lunch) eventually navigating down to Venice Beach – a unique place to say the least. The Venice canals are super cool though. We headed back into downtown LA (experiencing their famed traffic) for a wardrobe change before heading out to dinner.
On Friday morning we were up and out early, hitting up the Grammy Museum near the Staples Center (which is a unique museum with lots of memorabilia and fun facts) before heading off to Santa Barbara. We travelled up the Pacific Coast highway, through the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, with just one detour into Oxnard. We're still not really sure how that happened, but it gave us a glimpse of some serious California farmland where huge amounts of U.S. produce comes from.
We arrived in Santa Barbara midday, grabbed lunch, and headed to the beach. We stayed at Hotel Milo, a great little place, and one of the more affordable hotels in Santa Barbara. On Saturday we were off, bike riding to Butterfly Beach, where we actually saw a number of butterflies along the way. This beach was only ok though, so we headed back towards one closer to our hotel. After lunch we explored downtown Santa Barbara and its great shops, and went for a Himalayan salt massage. (Basically a full body scrub with Himalayan salts – exfoliating to the max – then a relaxing massage.) You begin the session with a half hour of meditating in a salt cave, which was basically one of the best naps ever. We took in the amazing California sunset at Burro Arroyo Beach and had a quiet dinner before calling it a night.
On Sunday we were up early, and back to the beach for a few hours before the warm California sun drove us away. We grabbed lunch at the famed La Super-Rica Taqueria, known for not only for its Mexican food, but also for Julia Child being a fan and her willingness to wait in line like everyone else. It was pretty good, though maybe not worth the 40-minute wait in 90-plus-degree weather. We headed further up into the mountains of Santa Barbara checking out the view of the city, and explored the Santa Barbara Mission. We spent a few more hours at the beach before making our way back towards LA, and then home to New York.
N: Newlyweds, the Grand Canyon and an Arizona Break
In October we also spent a week and a half in Arizona, to celebrate Ashlyn and Ben’s wedding. The wedding ceremony was in Surprise and the reception at Rancho De Los Caballeros where we all spent a few days leading up the big day. It was a great weekend, including a quiet family dinner on our first night, nature walks and horseback riding, and a cookout-themed rehearsal diner complete with a wagon ride and s’mores. Ashlyn and Ben hosted a wonderful wedding celebration in the open air with beautiful Arizona as the backdrop. Jared and I had a great night - dancing a bit, visiting with members of the extended Verdi and Behrens families, and of course, celebrating Ash and Ben.
On Sunday, we departed midday for the Grand Canyon with my mom and dad, who had travelled to Arizona for the wedding. (The Grand Canyon was about 3 hours north of Wickenburg where the wedding festivities took place.) We arrived late in the afternoon, but were able to catch one great Grand Canyon sunset before getting diner and calling it a night. We stayed outside the Grand Canyon National Park, which is a stones throw from the actual park grounds. A week pass costs $35 dollars so after buying that we could go back and forth for the three days we would be visiting. On Monday we were up BRIGHT AND EARLY (well not really bright since it was still dark) so we could see the sunrise over the Grand Canyon. We got in with plenty of time and scoped out a good viewpoint. And let me just say, it was totally worth it. The Grand Canyon is gorgeous from every angle. I was a bit skeptical that staying there for more than just the day would not be worth it, but walking from viewpoint to viewpoint along the southern rim was really interesting. As with many national parks and monuments there are fun facts along the way. We did a small hike down part of the Blue Angel Trail with my mom on Monday (a bit too steep for my day who was suffering from a flair up of his gout) and toured through the art gallery at the Grand Canyon (with spectacular art). Later we rendezvoused with Dolores and Tim, friends of Mindi and Rich’s who were also visiting the Canyon. Shortly thereafter Mindi and Rich also joined us, driving up from Peoria to spend some time with everyone.
The larger group continued to travel along the Southern Rim pathway, taking the Canyon in from a number of viewpoints. Luckily October is a relatively quiet time of year in terms of tourism, so the number of park goers was manageable. That evening we all had dinner together, which was a hoot for the adults, who got along swimmingly (Jared and I, clearly the Debbie downers, were exhausted from all of the walking and just wanted to hit the hey.) The following morning we had breakfast with my parents before they headed back to Phoenix to see my dad off to New York. We met up with Mindi and Rich again and headed back to the Blue Angel Trail again, and hiked down again, this time a bit further. The hike down was easy, but going back up was hard, and we treated ourselves to some serious ice cream. After lunch we all headed back to Peoria.
My mom met up with us at Mindi and Rich’s (she stayed in Arizona one more day before heading to Texas to visit with friends) for the evening. Mid-morning Wednesday we headed to Phoenix, where we toured the Botanical Gardens. This was our first time there and it is beautiful. There were even some special saguaros in bloom, which was a treat to see. We dropped my mom back at the airport before heading home. We spent the next few days enjoying the Arizona sun. We did a little shopping in the design district in Phoenix, explored some the Hohokum Ruins in Tonto National Forest, swung past a small Halloween festival in Cave Creek, and toured some model homes in Peoria for interior design ideas. On Halloween we helped hand out candy to trick-or-treaters, before heading back to New York that night.
O: Other News
In November I travelled up to Vermont to help celebrate Annalisa's Baby Shower. We spent a quiet Thanksgiving on Long Island with the Menghini's. That same weekend we took in our third opera, La Boheme, at Lincoln Center which was wonderful. And as in years past we split Christmas celebrations between New York and Boston: the morning at home, midday and dinner in Medford, and night at the Mack's with the Anderson's at-large, and celebrating with the Verdi's in the days after. We also celebrated a "cozy" New Year's Eve in our new apartment, with a low key gathering with Katie D., Katie W. and Ally, and later Rob and his girlfriend. We enjoyed snacks and drinks and desserts, the Prospect Park Fireworks at midnight, and one another's company as we rang in 2016!
P: Pack It Up and Move Across Town
You will also notice in my annual Christmas tree photo above, a new apartment building in the background. That's because Jared and I purchased our first home! So, in November we finally packed up our little studio and moved across town - literally. Our new home is just 20 blocks south east of our old one. But, more on that to follow!