BK

Guess who made it through her first flight!?  It was a red eye no less (not a fan of doing that with an infant by the way…never say never but, uh, never).  Focusing on the positive – we all survived.  🙂  But even more monumental than V boarding an airplane, was P staying behind.  We are so lucky that my parents are so close with my big boy because it made the trip way easier.  The only time anyone has taken care of him overnight was when we were in the hospital for the birth of baby girl (which was also on my parents’ watch).  And while that may seem crazy, it’s just the way things have worked out.  His allergies make it hard for me to trust anyone else.  And yet, I wasn’t even 0.0001% worried about him when we left him in their charge.  They are around him so frequently that it’s a seamless transition for everyone and that makes me soooo happy.  I could rave about how awesome my parents are as grandparents for pages, but instead I’ll just recap our time (back) in the big apple.

We hadn’t even boarded the flight when V decided to blast through her diaper and onesie and paint us all in yellow.  Sweet start.  And then she wailed for a solid 10 minutes as we lined up to board.  I think everyone at the gate was praying we weren’t their seat mates…but then out of sheer desperation, she conceded and took the pacifier.  For the record she has taken the paci like three times total in her life and none of them were enjoyable times for her.  She’s a boob girl.  She wants zero to do with fake nipples in any form.  So yay.

But we made it!

And then these two got to play, thus forming the foundation of their lifelong friendship.

If you told me at any point in time that Jess and I would one day have little baby girls rolling on toy mats together I would have said you were dreaming a crazy delusional scenario that only happens in fake cheesy movies.  But look at us!  Life is miraculous.

Bits and pieces only or this post will take a decade to write.

Lunch on Friday was at Hu Kitchen, a place I’d heard about through the social media grapevine and wanted to try.  It’s located just off Union Square, and walking there brought back SO MANY memories.  It’s the same commute home from work I did on a daily basis oh so many years ago.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure if we were even going to make it into Manhattan at any point during our visit because we were staying in Brooklyn, but lo and behold, we made it to the island quite a bit.

So about Hu Kitchen.  You can read the philosophy behind their food here, but essentially they are all about real whole foods from quality sustainable sources.  They are completely transparent when it comes to ingredients – listing everything and describing where it’s from in an almost excessive way.  They don’t use preservatives, added sugars, GMOs, emulsifiers, yadda yadda yadda.  Only good stuff.

I wanted to buy everything and take it all home in my suitcase – kale chips, chocolate bars, pressed juices – everything.  Alas, the prices are very…shall I say…New York, and therefore discourage such actions.

Kyle and I got a few things to share, including (the above) sautéed vegetables, with organic chard, bok choy, carrots, and escarole and (the below) sweet potato hash.

WANT.

We also got a smoothie to share.

Oh hey rainbow juice wall of yum.  I want to drink your faces off.

Poor sleeping beauty was trying to sort out the time change.

We ate upstairs, which gave her some peace and quiet, not that she needed it.  Girlfriend sleeps where she wants to, when she wants to.  [We borrowed the stroller from Jess]

The smoothie had almond butter, almond milk, kale, banana, and strawberries.  It was exactly what you want after you’ve been traveling for 13 hours.

There were two fried eggs with the sides we got, as well as a grain free roll.  I didn’t know the roll came with the order, and even when the plate came I didn’t know what it was (Kyle told me).  If I’m being honest, I had low expectations for it (for the simple yet shallow reason of it’s aesthetics).  I mean it looked weird.  But both Kyle and I liked it!  It is hard to describe and doesn’t really compare to any other food I can think of, but did it’s job as far as soaking up egg yolk (and that’s all carbs are for anyway right?).

After breakfast/lunch/whatever meal that was we set off on foot to see some stuff while trying to fend off the sleepiness.  The High Line, Chelsea Market, Whitney Museum, and Washington Square Park…and then finally back to BK to check into our hotel.

Showers make everyone feel better.

So does chocolate.

That honeycomb one on the right?  MAAAAAJOR yum.  I ate half with an iced soy decaf which was the kick in the pants I needed to make it to dinner.  I haven’t tried the firecracker one yet.  I almost got more at the airport to take home but they are $$$$$.  What the heck!?  File this away as super special treat that will be repeated never again.

Hotel room take-out.

As a former New Yorker, it’s weird that I never tried Shake Shack.  But as a former vegan, it’s weird that I tried it now.  I just felt like it was something I should do.

The crinkle fries are good, but I think it’s more hype than anything else.  I had a plain burger, and Kyle had his with bacon and cheese.

I made a ketchup and mayo sauce for dipping which I learned from Sir Kensington’s condiments.

The fries were good, but nothing super special.  It was a good one time experience, but I don’t feel the need to gawk over Shake Shack the way the rest of the world does, and I would probably be just as happy eating the same meal from Burgers N Brew here in Davis (because I have yet to try In N Out).

This angel slept allllll through the night – including us watching an episode of The Good Wife on Kyle’s computer.

After nursing and pumping the next am, I went to work out in the hotel gym and came back to this.

Such sweetness.

Speaking of sweetness.  Besties FO lyyyyyfe.

Thank goodness we grabbed Starbucks on the way to Jess’ place because breakfast was wayyyyy later than my stomach wanted it to be.

Building on Bond has the nicest staff!  They were totally cool about accommodating two strollers and babies which is rare for the weekend scene in NYC.  I even nursed at the table without anyone knowing (or caring if they did notice).

My benedict wasn’t super thrilling (standard breakfast option), but the soy milkified decaf more than compensated.  I got one to go, and off we went to the BK Flea.

The flea market was hotter than hot and none of us lasted very long after a stroll through, so at that point we said our adioses and parted ways.  Kyle and I took V and the stroller for a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  This has always been one of our favorite things to do in New York (we took every visitor when we lived there).  It’s people watching at it’s finest and you get amazing views along the way.

Eventually Kyle and I found ourselves in lower Manhattan to see (the new) 1 WTC.  The area is so different from what it used to be.  It’s nicer but way more touristy.  The inverted fountain is cool, but there’s still a lot of contraction and stuff going on.  There’s a mall nearby (Brookfield Place) that I don’t think existed when we were there.  We went in to find some food and were totally overwhelmed by Le District – a marketplace very similar to Eataly (but French) with “stations” ranging from meats, cheese, crepes, and coffee to candy and rotisserie.  You can explore, shop, or sit down at the counters to enjoy the “plat du jour”.

I found myself at the candy area for most of the time.

I bought two caramels and a bag of chocolate covered “olives” (roasted almonds dipped in dark chocolate and white chocolate).

I also got a kale and banana smoothie to balance the chocolate out.

Chocolate is where the heart is.

I couldn’t decide what to do next (back to BK or stay and wander in Manhattan??) so Kyle lead the way.  It was nice to have no real plan.

Central Park diaper change.

We ook up residence on a park bench and googled sushi take out options for dinner that night.  Take out was the easiest thing to do with V.  As much as I wanted to go out to fancy dinners, there were things I didn’t anticipate about traveling with a baby.  I mean, sure I knew it would be different and hard in certain ways, but I kinda thought she’d just fall asleep in the stroller and then we could bring her with us to various eateries.  During the day, that worked, but she made her bedtime pretty clear.  Also, space is limited in NYC and strollers aren’t as welcomed in nicer restaurants.

On the way home we grabbed kombucha and chocolate to go with our sushi.  OMG look at all the different kinds of Vosges!!!!  And they were all on sale!!  Can you even believe I only got ONE!  I am already regretting it.

We chose Ki Sushi on Pacific Street for take out based on yelp reviews.  It’s located in Boerum Hill, a few blocks from where we were staying, and has been Michelin nominated (and has great Zagat scores).

We got a few favorite rolls (Rainbow, Spider, and California) and one new one (I think it was called an angel roll – it had seared tuna and avocado inside and was topped with salmon, tobiko and a delicious sauce).

The new one was my favorite.

Kyle got the peanut one because he smartly took advantage of our time away from the no nuts zone.  I thought the smoked cinnamon and bacon one sounded way too interesting to pass up.

We watched another episode of The Good Wife once V was down and then got another great night sleep.  Which was good because the next day included another 10+ miles of walking.

Next morning we hit the subway station right away and jetted up to the park again.  Central Park is Kyle’s favorite thing about NYC.  It’s his happy place.  He gets so nostalgic when we are there.  I like it too, but nothing like Kyle.  For me, it represents the best years of running.  When we lived in NYC, I was the fastest I’ve ever been.  And did so so many races in the Park – through every season.  I bet I logged hundreds of miles on the main loop.  I know it like the back of my hand. I know every incline and curve.  So it was fun walking it again, but this time with a stroller.

We cut over once we hit the 80s to grab breakfast.  The place we intended to go (Good Enough To Eat) wasn’t stroller friendly, so we ended up across the street which was meh.

Nothing especially amazing about the meal.  They didn’t have soy milk so I drank my coffee black and the potatoes weren’t really my style (too many onions and bell peppers).  My eggs were cooked perfectly though and the side of lox that I got was delicioussssss and the hugest portion ever.

Naturally we stopped by our old apartment on 92nd.  And Starbucks.  And then made our way back to Columbus Circle via Riverside Park.

Post showers we met up with Jess & co.

They hadn’t eaten yet so we got brunch with them…I sipped on a pomegranate mimosa.  And maybe stole some chips with guac.  YUM!

Later in the afternoon I had this fresh pressed juice (kale, beet, carrots, apple, ginger) modeled ever so nicely by Kyle.

And this macro bar (because peanut things!).

We spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up time with them before we had to say the saddest of goodbyes. 🙁

More takeout in the room (it seemed to be working so why mess with it).

I left ordering to Kyle because this is definitely his domain.  We shared the meat (ribs and chicken) and then he got sides for each of us (coleslaw for me, mac n cheese for him).

I had the rest of my Le District chocolate for dessert.

The next morning we set the alarm for an obnoxious 5:45 am and from there on it was trains, planes, and automobiles and BART.

Ergo snuggles for the win.  Hashtag so many bags under the eyes.

And now we are reunited with our little man who had the most fun ever with grandma and grandpa.  He was so excited to see us, but probably more thrilled to see his little sister.  And then he blew all of our minds when he said (AND I QUOTE) “thank you grandma, for letting me play at your house with you” as we were buckling him our car to head back to our house.  SWOON.  Please and thank you training for the win.