feelin' groovy

this time last week we were having dinner here.

i will elaborate on the deliciousness of our entire dining experience in another post.

we returned last sunday afternoon from a 5 day, 4 night trip to nyc. i have been dying to share about everything that we saw, did, learned, heard, ate, and drank, all week! but it has been craziness around here. the weekdays usually are nowadays. i told pb last evening that my friday night kickoff for spring break was going to be here.

and my plans were for him to make guacamole, listen to music, enjoy our home, and start blogging about our trip. he was more than fine with that.

but where to start? we needed to get out of town and away from the normal busyness of everyday life that can consume us if we are not careful. the purpose of this trip was for me to attend the naea national convention and we were so happy that he was able to come along for the ride...and some great photo taking. my mornings were spent learning about new methodology and ideas for the classroom, seeing new products from hundreds of art vendors, listening to famous artists and critics, being around several thousand other educators that do what i do every day, and just getting inspired and rejuvenated. all in the heart of manhattan. i was so moved by the session we had with artist, chuck close, that i couldn't take notes fast enough. and trying to recap all of it later that afternoon was frustratingly lost in translation. i couldn't do justice for all that he said.

so i'll begin with day and night one. we arrived at la guardia around noon on wednesday.

i hadn't been to nyc with pb yet. i cannot express how excited i was to be there with him. i have listened to countless stories of the time he spent living there and have waited for the day that i could go with him...to see new york through his eyes. the past two times i was in nyc, i saw his old apartment building, ate pizza at his favorite pizza place, and rode the subway that he rode so many times. but we had not been together until this trip.

the taxi ride was just as it always is. same smell, same feeling...but this time with pb. the buildings were clouded with a grey fog and light rain as we crossed the 59th street bridge into manhattan. we were geeking out.

we were both snapping photos as fast as we could until we reached the hotel. the wrong hotel. our taxi driver let us out at the old sheraton. but luckily the right one was just across the street. so we pulled our luggage in the rain, up one block and crossed the street to our correct destination. we checked in and headed out for a slice of pizza. starving! after lunch we got on the subway and headed down to chelsea to see chelsea market and some other local shops. it was raining...blowing raining. pb kept apologizing. for what? i was having the time of my life. watching him take me places and seeing how comfortable he was. seeing how much he loves that place was all i needed.

here is chelsea market.

we left there, back into the rain, and saw some of the west village, the coolest record shop on bleeker street, and the tavern bar where pb spent many a weekend.

so at 4:00, i am sitting in the west village having a glass of wine, watching the rain drizzle, people bustle around, and feel like i am in heaven. we left there, hopped back on the subway and went back to the hotel. i went to check in at my conference and pick up all of my loot for the morning sessions.

dinner that night was at pb's favorite new york restaurant. supper. check it out here.

again, the perfect rainy night to be nestled away in a cozy restaurant in nyc. we shared the black kale panzanella that was to die for. pb had the tagliatelle al prosciutto di parma. i had the pappardelle wild mushrooms. yum. so fresh. so different. so not rome, ga.

full and completely happy, we snapped a few more photos and then headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. i was so content and so thrilled to be in the city with pb.

will share about day two, tomorrow. tgif and happy spring break!