08 July 2011

when michael came to town...

this week has been outstanding. i'm not going to lie, i was nervous about this trip. i mean, these were the only five days out of four whole months that my sweetheart and i were going to see each other this summer. i was afraid that it was going to be difficult to focus on the present with two more months of extreme distance looming overhead. fortunately, all sadness of his all too soon departure was quickly washed away by the utter joy that filled my heart being with michael again. one of the ways i committed to take full advantage of our time was by not blogging, which is why this post is so late and so long. here it goes:
after making the long trip to and from newark, michael and i got all dressed up for a lovely little date night. we ate outside of this italian restaurant, via della pace. the food was excellent and there was a lot of it, which is always a plus in my book. after dinner we stopped by the wafels and dinges truck and got a liege wafel covered in nutella and strawberries. it was heavenly. i was clearly very excited about our sweet treat. 
being the planner type that i am, i had every minute of michael's birthday planned out. unfortunately, the weather did not get the memo about my plans for us to go to the beach. luckily, we both love thunderstorms, so after a lazy morning we went to whitman's to visit my lovely roommate who was working at the time and get michael a juicy lucy. apparently he's been dreaming about them since our last visit. i decided to change things up a bit and get the bacon, egg, & cheese burger. you can never go wrong with any of those items. we also tried out one of the new items on the menu, blue cheese fries. they were unbelievable. after whitman's we spent some time wondering around and happened across a theatre showing only one movie, the names of love. we really enjoyed it. the literal translation of the title is actually the names of people, but i think the american marketers wanted to market it more as a romantic comedy. there is a lot of real meat to it though. it is definitely more than a lighthearted romance (although it is very romantic and funny). i highly recommend seeing it, if it is in a theatre near you. 
that night, we went on michael's birthday surprise. 
a very long time ago, i saw cup of jo's post about a sail around the harbor she and her husband took and thought that would be a lovely surprise for michael's special day. we have always talked about doing something like it but during the school year we rarely have the time or the money to make the trip. i am so glad we went. the rain had stopped and the weather was just delightful, minus high winds at some points. it was also oh-so romantic. the jazz band on board was a nice touch too.
the fourth of july ended up being rain free so we decided to take our chances on the beach, after we stopped at veselka for my favorite icy drink. my cousin, rachel, had recommended fort tilden to me so we decided to give it a go. two trains and one bus later, we arrived. the area the bus dropped us off at was super crowded so we decided to walk down the beach until we could find a quieter spot. we eventually camped out about a mile down the beach in what we think might have been a beach community we are not a part of. either way, it was not nearly as crowded and there were not broken bottles, cigarette butts, or diapers in the sand (unlike coney island). we packed a yummy picnic and just spent hours laying in the sun and playing in the waves. naturally we were in our most festive swimwear and did not forget to bring a watermelon. how cute is michael's swimsuit? he found it in a drawer at his lake house and thought it might be a little too short but i assured him that it was just right for the trendy new york beaches(: 
note: despite how white i am in the pictures above, i was a lovely shade of crimson when we got back to the apartment. i don't know how it happened...i even reapplied the sunscreen! i guess when you haven't been in the sun for a year, there isn't much hope.
we ended the night watching fireworks and celebrating on a friend's roof down the block. we couldn't see all the rows but we could see one perfectly through the buildings and that was enough. a roof or two north of us there were people with a huge outdoor screen that they were watching the live coverage on. i am super jealous that they have such a cool spot to watch movies outdoors. after the firework show ended you could hear people cheering from rooftops around the city. it was a very unique experience.
tuesdays and thursdays are going to be my crazy days this summer session. i basically have school/the little one from 11 am. to 9:30 pm. on tuesday, while i was sitting in freezing classroom after freezing classroom, michael was running around town stocking up on supplies for his trip. after class, i met him at target in brooklyn. as we were wondering through the food aisles, i had a sudden urge to eat complete junk for dinner and top it off with a mediocre movie. michael didn't need much convincing. two hours later we were back at the apartment with buffalo wings, a pizza, spinach artichoke dip (that counts as a veggie right?) & chips, and various sweets. and, yes, we are using the dining room chairs as a makeshift table. we are just that resourceful. naturally, i was asleep well before the movie was over.
our last day together was spent running even more errands and preparing michael for his adventure. i cooked (for the first and last time during michael's stay). i made tomato and sausage risotto and a buttermilk pie. the first is a new recipe that i came across on smitten kitchen last week. the second is a classic back home in texas (and in this apartment).
warning: one of the following photos may be extremely distressing (especially if you are a neat freak like me or are my mother).
after four (long) hours, we finally had michael packed up. in addition to his clothes and such, he had to take an entire suitcase full of supplies and things that the hospital in uganda needs. you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find measuring cups with milliliter markings and, as you can imagine, people look at you kinda funny when you are buying forty travel sized hand sanitizes. michael left early this morning and is currently somewhere between boston and amsterdam. i already miss him like crazy but know that he is going to have an incredible time and be able to help a lot of people. i told him that if he finds any abandoned lion cubs, then he should definitely bring them back for me and he assured me he would be on the lookout. we pretend it's a joke but we both know i'm pretty serious. 
well, the first two months flew by so hopefully the next to will go by just as quickly. until then, i have some delightful new memories to brighten my days and plenty of work to keep me busy. i actually planned ahead and will be escaping to upstate new york with rachel for a long weekend starting tomorrow. it will be nice to see some nature and swim in a swimming pool. it has been at least two years since i've been in one of those.
i hope everyone had a wonderful week. i can't wait to catch up on everything blog. 

4 comments:

  1. Holy Jeepers! The Husband and I were just talking about dinner and how we wanted to go to a place with good fries and look what you've posted! Too bad NY is too long of a drive...but looks like you had a wonderful time!
    -Linh

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  2. You two are like a breath of fresh (Abilene) air, and I am so happy that you are so happy! Cute suits; yummy food; shopping and fireworks? Sounds like the PERFECT combination to tide you until he returns! Keep writing, sweet child!

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  3. i am so glad you had such a good time with michael before he left:) i also love your polka dot dress and black striped skirt!

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  4. i love your blog! what a sweet life! by the way, my husband and I did long distance for a year and it was torturous but I really think it's what made us realize that we were each other's The One. We missed and missed and missed one another. xoxo

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