Thursday, May 31, 2012

Our Epic Memorial Day Adventure Across All Five Boroughs

I'm quite delayed in recapping our holiday weekend as we got back Tuesday night from picking Nia up in Maryland where she was with my parents and we're preparing for Boston this weekend (it's my 10 year Wellesley College reunion). 

First, the BIG news: Nia's weaned! 

Thank you to my wonderful parents for their instrumental help in making this happen. I have a separate post with details on how it happened. 

Thursday I was en route to my parents home when I saw this tweet in response to Zip Car's Memorial Day Weekend contest I entered on a whim:

I had been wanting to go strawberry picking with Nia as I just saw an article about places to go in New Jersey so I put that as my answer as to what I'd do with my Zip Car. Alas, Lil Love Bird was with her grandparents, but we are planning on going next weekend. We ended up using the car to go to every borough in NYC. Yep, that's right! Every single borough. Here's how it went down . . . 



Friday

I met Mr. Love Bird after work and we picked up the Zip Car in Manhattan. Traffic was a BEAST and it took us an hour just to get to and through the Holland Tunnel. We were in traffic so long I even saw a newly married couple we know walking down the sidewalk in Soho - they appeared to being moving faster on foot than we were!  

Saturday

We went up to the Bronx to see our good friends April, JJ and their son Aiden. They prepared brunch for us, and it was wonderful to see them as we're quite a distance away. {Not having to worry about gas was great!} I showed Nia the pictures of us after I picked her up from Maryland, and I think she was a little confused about why she was missing, but we're looking forward to another play date soon!


After we went to Queens to visit Mr. Love Birds' family. His brother James was in town from Maryland, and we had a belated birthday dinner for my sister-in-law Nnenna at Pio Pio, a Peruvian restaurant. I LOVE that place (especially the green sauce), and it was a definite hit with the family. I had been telling Mr. Love Bird about it before, and I'm so glad we were finally able to go.  

A bit of a DSLR pet peeve: manual was coming out orange so I did Custom Auto so the waiter could get this shot - if anyone has tips how to de-orange please let me know!
Yes, I had to include a picture of the succulent chicken! I get hungry just looking at this!

There are so many large, colorful murals at the Queens' Pio Pio - it's definitely my favorite one I've been to!

Sunday

We got his/hers mani/pedis then went to our friends' Veronica and Tudor's wedding in Staten Island. It's crazy how close Staten Island is to us and since we've learned about some other places we should visit there (beaches and the children's museum, especially). 



The wedding reception was in Brooklyn, and 2 minutes from where Mr. Love Bird grew up so we drove by his childhood haunts afterwards. It was fun hearing him reminisce and he was blown away by the gentrification that's taken place there. 

Monday

The car was due back in the morning so we dropped it off and headed to Penelope a Manhattan brunch spot we hadn't been to but saw received rave reviews. I was begging to go to Clinton Street Baking Company (my all time favorite brunch place), but Mr. Love Bird insisted we try something new, and I'm glad we did. I enjoyed my Nutella stuffed French toast (but my stuffed French toast is better!) and Mr. Love Bird had an omelet. Their $15 prix fixe brunch isn't bad and includes a mimosa or coffee and juice.  


After we walked through Eataly, another place I frequent, but Mr. Love Bird hasn't. It's an Italian bizarre owned by Lydia Bastianich and Mario Batali and they have imported ingredients from Italy so you can create just about any authentic meal you crave or enjoy it sit-down style at one of their many restaurants.  

Next we walked part of the High Line - an elevated train track that was turned into a park. I've been with Nia a few times but again not with Mr. Love Bird. It's SO hot up there when the sun is directly overhead, there's not much shade and it's mostly very narrow so Mr. Love Bird was not impressed. {You can see Nia's first visit to the High Line here.} 

A mural above the High Line
It was time for me to head to Maryland to get our Lil Love Bird by then so we walked up to Port Authority so I could catch my bus. 

A big thank you to Zip Car for making our Memorial Day Weekend so awesome! We're huge fans of them already so this was just icing on the cake! 

I'll come back with more about my reunion with Nia and weaning, but overall, it was so refreshing to have a quiet apartment and just spend some quality time with Mr. Love Bird! The next time we'll have a little break is when we go to Las Vegas the week after my birthday for Blogalicious. Can't wait!

Now off to Boston . . .

How was your Memorial Day weekend? Try anything new or have an epic adventure?



P.S. Check out last year's Memorial Day recap here!