usa usa usa! week 2: vermont, nyc, long island and new jersey

The important thing to note is that the boys are hanging in strong. I am guessing when they are older they will cite their early phenomenal ability to fall asleep in any crib or pack & play worldwide as one of their proudest accomplishments.

vermont

Last Saturday, Bryan, Simon and I left Jonah with the Long Island family and headed to Vermont for a friend’s non-wedding. Nikki is a great law school friend who, for a variety of immigration and human rights reasons, decided with her partner Scott not to officially marry at this time, but to get the perks of a wedding anyway (oh they registered alright- I was impressed to see one could donate to Nikki’s law school debt on her registry). Their UNCOR took place in gorgeous Warren, Vermont. And just because they are the kind of people they are, their non-wedding also included: sponsors (like Magic Hat beer), a funky venue that is a working industrial design workshop, some Olympic swimmers, a porta potty, root beer floats for dessert and a 3-hour variety/talent show. The show included toasts, roasts, musical numbers, poetry readings, a group stretch and at least one performance art piece of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham. Lots of girls wore fascinators and hats. Oh, and the non-bride and non-groom did a duet of “Islands in the Stream”. I’ll just go out on a limb and say that was Simon’s favorite part.

    

I am obsessed with wedding (or non-wedding) details and have always kept a mental catalogue of my favorite touches from all the weddings I have attended. At Snikki’s, it was the tree they drew together that showed via branches how every guest was linked to them from different parts of their lives.

manhattan and brooklyn

My family of four had exactly 72 hours – 42 hours if you subtract sleeping time – to see every friend we wanted to see in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We missed some and those people know who they are. Next time, dear friends. But I added it up, and we managed still to hang out with 22 friends and 13 of their kids, not to mention visiting our former landlords and my former colleagues. I am so grateful for the time and effort these friends made for us, the love they gave to Jonah and Simon and for reminding me yet again of the good juju from this place. And a special holler to Kara and her boys who hosted us in the lap of downtown NY luxury, homemade apple pie included.

our old stoop

 

long island, again + nj

We said our sad goodbyes to Bryan’s side of the family, with time for one more triplet cousin shot (sorry, Simon) and to visit Bryan’s grandfather on his mother’s side. Another four generations display. Jonah got a special one-on-one tour of the nearby fire station, which was a nice experience to have leading up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Our northeast tour was capped off with Bryan and his mom at the opening day Jets game (I watched from a hotel room by Newark Airport). I appreciate the 11th hour victory. Superbowl, playas.