Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge

Today Ryan and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It is such a beautiful day, we are appreciating the low humity, the cool breeze and just the feeling of comfort. EnJOY!

I'm pointing to our building

The Financial District

Productive Tourists

We just had a very productive 5 days of being tourists. Ryan's Mom, Pat was here from Friday to Tuesday. The last timeshe visited NYC was when she was a little girl. Needless to say there was a lot of ground to cover. We were able to see the World Trade Center site, Greenwich
Village, Union Square, Washington Square Park, Canal Street, The Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Guggenheim Museum, a ride on the Staten Island Ferry, the Statue of Liberty and we had a picnic in Central Park. On top of it all we went to many delicious dinners in Soho, Little Italy, Battery Park and on our roof. We also saw the play "South Pacific" at
Lincoln Center. It was fun for Ryan and I because we hadn't done many of the touristy things. There were so many other little stops along the way and weird weather patterns to battle with which made Pat's trip a whirlwind, I'm sure. We were sad to say goodbye but now she can
have a little vacation from her vacation. Thanks for visiting us Pat!!!

A Job That Fell into my Lap

Our week in Arrowhead was amazing but it was time to part. Ryan went to SF because he had Brian Addington's bachelor party and I decided to fly back to NYC. Why I decided to do this and not just go home is beyond me, but I guess I felt like I hadn't spent much time in NY, and I should start trying to make NYC my home. My flight was a disaster, kinda don't feel like reliving it BUT I'm happy it's over with, I have my luggage . . . and my sanity.

I had set my own deadline of looking for a job, starting this week. Randomly, the week prior, I had received a note from a school saying they received my resume and would like to speak with me. I set up an interview on Friday, with no idea what the job entailed, but thought I should check it out.

Let me back up . . . leaving my job at MPMS was very bitter sweet. I loved the people I worked with and the school in general, so it was hard to say goodbye. BUT leaving this job made me think that I should maybe broaden my horizons and try something new. I've been teaching for 10 years and have never tried anything else, so why not?? Here's an opportunity to just move out of my comfort zone, but really, how easy is that????

I got a message from a school saying they wanted to speak to me. Of course I'm going to meet with them, but I was still just starting this search, so I really wanted to keep my options open. Okay, to keep this story short, I had a nice interview, they were asking for a kindergarten assistant's job. A very nice school, similar philosophies as Marin Primary, but not a typical beautiful NYC private school and not as many perks as I'm used to. Anyway, I got home after walking 100 blocks. Yes, I walked from 114th street to 14th street, with a few stops just trying to stay cool. I checked my e-mail when I got home and got a message from the school that said, "You're Hired!" What????? I just went into this to see what they had to offer, but then they hired me???? Called Ryan, no answer, called my mom, no answer. Tried them both 10 times and then had a glass of wine, "I need to handle this on my own" I thought. I called the women I had interviewed with, told a white lie and said I had another interview with another school on Thursday, and asked about the pay, which was more than I was thinking, but NOT enough. Hmmmmmmmm, what to do??? So, after a weekend of thinking of the pros and cons, finally talking it out with family members and friends, I was still very unsure when Monday came around and I was to meet with the principle. Well, I met with the principle, she was amazing, upped the salary to what I was happy with and I left her office excited. Last night I made the decision to take it. Ahhhhhhh, a weight is lifted off of me. I think I was putting too much pressure on myself to find a "new" job which is way harder to do when you don't have a big network. I will continue to look through the year, meet more people and then we'll see where this will take me.

Dunne's Wedding

After we got home from the Jersey Shore we unpacked, did laundry and packed right up again. Off to Lake Arrowhead in the LA area for Jackie and Bryan's wedding. I had never been there but Ryan had many fond memories when his grandparents use to own a house there (pictured). Lake Arrowhead was such a beautiful setting for a beautiful couple. We arrived Thursday morning where we were able to relax and meet everyone who was attending the wedding. We went to a lovely rehearsal dinner at one of their friends amazing homes (oddly it was right up the street from Ryan's grandparents house). The wedding was on Friday so the boys went out for a boat ride (they all got matching seersucker, initialed board shorts that they wore), Sarah Luckin and I went on a walk with their adorable son Aiden and then relaxed by the pool. By the way, this hotel was so beautiful, with a lovely spa, gym, pool and lake views, way better than Wildwood :)

The wedding took place with the lake in the background, they couldn't of asked for better weather. They had a lovely ceremony. They both seemed so happy and Jackie looked so beautiful. We had a blast at the wedding. Ryan did an amazing job with his speech for Bryan. Ryan was a bit nervous. If you were able to witness Bryan's speech at our wedding, he set the bar pretty high, Ryan wrote and rewrote many versions of what ended up being an amazing speech. We then had a great dinner and danced the rest of the night. Apparently we weren't the biggest partiers there, Jackie's parents and some others partied till 5 AM!

Because the wedding was on a Friday we were able to have a fun day on Saturday going out to breakfast, sharing stories of the night before and seeking out the grandparents home. We left on Sunday and we're able to have a fun meal with Ryan's Aunt and Uncle (Margaret and Dick) at their amazing home in Brentwood. We stayed at their house that night, the next day I left for NYC and Ryan went to SF because he has Mr. Addington's bachelor party next weekend. My nightmare travel adventure home is my next entry. Thanks for reading :)

4th of July at the Jersey Shore

We had a fun weekend at Wildwood at the Jersey Shore for the 4th of July. Ryan's friend Mark has been going to this area for the first 18 years of his life, with his huge Egyptian family. They all decided to go again and Mark invited us to experience the 4th with them and a new place for us. We hopped in the car early Saturday morning to get out of the city ASAP and fortunately missed all the traffic. We've heard many horror stories of stand still traffic and we are so happy we didn't have to experience it. When we arrived we met about 30 of his aunts, uncles and cousins. As the weekend progressed Ryan and I estimated about 80 Egyptians had taken over this hotel. Cannot remember one name, but truly the most gracious people you'll every meet. Ryan and I quickly got the nickname "white people".

Our weekend consisted of going to the beach (widest beach I've ever seen, your feet were toast by the time you got to the water), swimming in the pool, going to fun dinners with big groups and experiencing the largest boardwalk I've ever witnessed. The boardwalk was truly a place for good people watching and some great stereo typical "Jersey" looks. We enjoyed going on rides, eating ice cream and walking around. Very entertaining.

Overall we had a really good time, but we were ready to leave our hotel. Even though it had a pool, mini golf and was right on the beach, our room was definitely one not to remember. We hope to experience other parts of the Jersey Shore but we feel as if we got our fill of Wildwood. . . . . . ."check"