Almost Done with the Move!

I am happy (and relieved) to say that the grey moving boxes have been completely emptied-out! They are ready for pick-up, and now all Javi and I have to do is sort out and stow away the stuff that was in them in an organized fashion. My Aunt and Uncle are visiting this weekend, so Javi and I have a goal to make the place look marvelous before they arrive :D I know for sure we can do it! Javi and I make a great team!

By the way, for those of you who are moving, we strongly recommend Movers not Shakers. They are reasonably-priced and are very efficient. We felt very safe with the movers. They took excellent care of our stuff. Kudos to Richard Hughes and to Akbar and his team!

A Medley of Events

There are just too many things I haven't been able to post, so below is a summation of everything that has happened since the move to today. I plan on setting this up so that when you click on each of these pictures, you'll be led to the album that shows all pictures of that particular event.

Holly's Going to Mexico!

First, let's start with a "Bon Voyage" to Holly! My colleague and good friend is going to Mexico. She was there with her husband, Michael, last March, but fell in love with it so much that she is going back for another exciting trip.

Specifically, Holly will be in Guadalajara for all of next week. Honestly, a few of us at the office are jealous ;) But if there's anyone who is most-deserving of her "me-time," it's her!

Make the most of your trip, Holly! Just don't drink too much tequila! Ole!

Fourth of July Weekend in Washington, DC

After an evening of watching fireworks along FDR Drive, the three of us went home to eat dinner and get some rest for the next two days' activities. John had never been to DC, so he asked if we could take him around. Saturday morning, we hopped onto a bus, and after almost 5 hours of our stomachs grumbling louder than the bus engine, we finally ended up in Ben's Chili Bowl!!!

Having devoured a jumbo beef dog each, we set out for our hotel.

Here's a tip if some of you are planning a trip to DC: in spite of the rooms and the mediocre service, the Hilton Garden Inn on 14th and H is a good place to stay at because of its price and location. It is walking distance from a lot of the DC tourist spots (if you're used to NYC walking), and is also very close to the famous Old Ebbitt Grill (featured below).

After our pit stop, off we went to tour the area. Here are a few pictures of our walking tour:

So obviously at this point, we knew we had to stop and rest :) Plus, we had to get back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for our dinner reservation at Old Ebbitt Grill!

As it says on its website:
Old Ebbitt Grill is just steps from The White House and museums in downtown Washington. Established in 1856, it was a favorite of Presidents Grant, Cleveland, Harding and Theodore Roosevelt and is still a popular meeting spot for political insiders, journalists, celebrities and theater-goers.

Here's a shot of John with his STEAK!

And here's my Firecracker Chicken!

And this was Javi's desert - The Butterscotch Blondie Sundae!

Whatta monster!

As a whole, our DC trip was a lot of fun! (Sans the trip back home which I refuse to talk about in this blog because I never want to remember it ever again!)

We hope John had fun being the tourist. We sure had fun being his tour guides ;-)

Back in NYC

Another restaurant Javi and I felt we absolutely had to take John to was Max Restaurant in Alphabet City. For those of you who want to check it out for yourselves, I shall warn you: the servings are HUGE, and the food is RICH. So come with a companion and a completely empty stomach, because everything on the menu is SUPERB!

Some of our favorites...

Insalata Di Barbabietole Con Caprino

beet salad with goat cheese and avocado

O Polpettone "E Mamma"

mom's meatloaf with potato pancetta gratin

Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina

homemade gnocchi with tomato sauce, basil mozzarella

Ok then! I think I'll have lunch now!

From Brooklyn to Manhattan

Yahoo! New blog template, new apartment, and it's Friday at last!

I haven't been able to write an entry since my conference because right after I got back from DC, Javi and I had to start packing our things for the move to our new apartment!

As we were packing, I realized how many things you can collect while you're in one place for over a year. I remember when we first moved to Brooklyn, we only used 10 storage bins to move, and this time, we were using 30! I wonder how many we will have to use for the next move?

It's also strange how all the material contents of your life can be contained in plastic, grey containers. I also thought about how we can choose to either take with us or leave behind these material posessions, but our memories, knowledge, and wisdom... that stuff we keep forever.

So July 1st, Javs and I migrated from Brooklyn to Manhattan. In half a day, the movers had been able to transport everything from one apartment to the next. So even if I felt that I had to be at least a little sentimental about leaving our very first apartment together, I knew I didn't have to. I may have been leaving behind a physical representation of the beginning of our life together, but I was in no way about to let go of the memories that were brought forth from living there. Below is a picture of the Brooklyn apartment before we moved in all our stuff.

Now here's a picture of our new apartment! It's still a bit disorganized, but I'm excited to show all of you how much nicer the new one is compared to the old one!

After the move-in, Javi and I went back to work for Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday evening, our friend John arrived from Seattle. John has been a friend of Javi's since they were in high school. I am told that John was the valedictorian of their class, and that he was very much into Arnis (Philippine stick fighting) in college. If i'm not mistaken, it was a year or so after college that John decided to join the US Navy, and wherever he was stationed, he would make sure to call Javi to catch up on how things were going back home.

Now that John is a civillian, he spends time with his Filipino friends whenever he can. Last Fourth of July weekend, he decided to visit NY once again and stay with us. John is not a stranger in this blog, by the way. He has appeared here in the entry where I feature Anton and our trip to the Wine Library.

John arrived late Thursday evening, and we all decided to just stay in because the three of us were just so darn tired, and we were saving our energy for Friday's activities. Javi and I wanted to take him to Old Fulton Street in Brooklyn, where tourists go to eat delicious pizza at Grimaldi's, then enjoy desert at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

Javi's hands, with dripping ice cream. Sorry, Javs!

After consuming all those calories, John wanted to see what it was like to cross the Brooklyn Bridge, so off we went a-walking...

After taking five shots for every footstep we'd take, we finally made it over the bridge! :) Below are John's and Javi's looks of relief as soon as they sat down at a bench in front of NY City Hall.

More stories to tell tomorrow!