Live: Weekend Trip to New York City

 Last weekend I took my third trip of the summer (that means that there is one my weekend away and a day trip left for those keeping track at home!). This time to NYC. My sister in-law Kelsey and I drove out to stay with my cousin and his family for the weekend, before they return to Michigan so he can complete Medical school.

Our wonderful tour guides Amanda and Sienna greeted us at their summer rental in The Bronx. They have a nice large place only a block away from the Subway. After grabbing some lunch at there place we headed into the city. 

 First stop on our trip, Purl SoHo. It was lovely and I took a lot more pictures that I will share with you next week.

 We then walked around SoHo, where I was guilted into buying a necklace from a guy on the street. I'll try and show you my NYC swag next week.

 Loved everything in Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Shop. I would have taken the whole place home with me if I had the cargo room and the cash! For now I'll just have to settle for her collection at Target.

 We did a lot of Subway riding over the weekend. Sienna charmed everyone on the trains, I mean come on, wouldn't you want to ride next to this gal?!

When I was growing up my Aunt and Uncle lived in Connecticut not to far outside the city so over the years I have been to New York more than a few times, but it was amazing how many places we visited this trip that I had never been to. Including St. Patrick's. How had I missed this beauty all these years. I was only sad that the exterior was being cleaned or something and covered by scaffolding.

 The next day we went to the MoMA, another spot I've never visited. I don't really do pictures at the art museum, but I loved the view out of this wide open room (that houses a Richard Serra sculpture) and the overlook into the special exhibit space on the third floor.

 It rained on and off throughout the day on Saturday so by the time we made it to Central Park the temps had dropped and the people had cleared out leaving the lake almost empty for us to enjoy.

 The bridge was my favorite! So great.

 My last shot of the day Sienna and her Momma getting coffee with us before they headed home and Kelsey and I went down to Time Square to see Mary Poppins.

I have a few more pics of The City to share with you next week!

Live: When you take a road trip with your 12 year old sister

A few weekends ago my sister Phoebe and I took a quick little trip to visit our brother and his family in Virginia. Would you like to take a look-see? You would? Great, lets go! To get started, when you take a road trip with your 12 year old sister you must first stop by the library to pick up a few books on tape (we went with a few Princess Diaries books and a couple  by Sarah Vowell, if this trip wasn't kinda last minute I might have also run out to Target and pick up one of those "Now -eight million and twenty-five" cds, those make for great road trippin' music.) You will also want some snacks and your sun glasses, oh and don't forget to grab money for the tolls.

After quickly getting yourselves out of Dodge (read: Michigan), you might end up feeling lost in Ohio, but once you fix the very unhelpful GPS you will finally feel like you are on your way. (Really it took us a million years to make it through, but we did finally wind our way through the night to the 10th colony. Arriving just after dawn at the Marine base Quanico, where we enjoyed spending time with out niece, nephew, brother and sister in-law. Maybe I'll share some of our VA adventuring later.)

When it is time to head home you might choose to do the drive over an afternoon, as it turns our drive home was perfectly timed, no traffic not much construction easy, easy, easy. You might also want to let your sister take over the camera for the drive home, she will try very hard to grab a shot of every state sigh you drive past (and do an okay job even if they are a little blurry), she will also try and take a picture of all the places that you say are a beautiful view even when they all look the same (none of those will turn out, oh well)!

One thing is for sure you will have to stop at Chick-Fil-A before you leave Maryland, because really how can you go to the south and not grab a chicken sandwich with a pickle on it? Plus they have the really good kind of ice!

When you drive through Pennsylvania you will find yourself saying over and over "isn't that beautiful?" and your sister will say yes even though this beautiful place looks just like the last five and they are all just farms nestled in among mountains and nothing all that great.

When there is a farmers market at one of the rest stops you will have to buy a bag of apples and an assortment of jams, fruit butters and relishes to take home with you. If only so you can say while presenting the gift of spicy Chow-Chow to your dad that you just picked it up at a rest stop!

On your drive you might forget all about getting cash for the tolls before you leave town, so your sister will have to pay them. She might take a picture to help you remember you need to pay her back.

As the sunsets and the land you drive through looks more and more like home, you will think that going someplace for the weekend is great, but getting there is half the fun!

 Finally when you go on a road trip with your 12 year old sister you will have to let her DJ from time to time. So I'll leave you with a little playlist she made of Phoebe's road trippin' jams!

P.S. The Princess Diaries books are a little dated I had to explain many references to my sister.

Also a quick google search tells me that there is a Chick-Fil-A in Toledo, Ohio so I guess they have been working their way into the Midwest.