Houseguests, Hot Dogs and Spectacle Trouble

As I mentioned in my last post (sorry about the pics not showing up by the way. Hopefully I fixed the problem) I had a lot of family visiting all last week. This place has never been so messy or so fun. Our living room was wall to wall air mattresses sprinkled with a healthy dose of baby books, stuffed animals, designer baby shoes, water bottles and cheap jewelry we kept buying from street vendors.

I loved having my sisters here; it was like old times staying up entirely too late talking about absolutely everything and analyzing each other's lives. Except for the bit about the babies and the husbands, they weren't around before and they served as a necessary reminder that we have grown up and aren't teenagers anymore.

Exploring New York is always fun, but it's more fun to show off the city to other people and be able to see it all for the first time again through them. Sharon lived in New York as a young single interior design intern, but hadn't been back in several years. Allysann had never been here before. So we packed the days full and saw New York.





It has been on my To Do list ever since I came to New York to get a hot dog at a real NY hot dog stand. I can finally cross that one off the list. Pretty tasty I must say, but then, I imagine everything tastes better on 5th Ave.




I have lived in New York long enough that I have my favorite areas of Central Park, and I took the girls to one of them. The Bethsaida Terrace Archade is a beautiful area with a gorgeous carved stone staircase that leads to a huge water fountain featuring a giant winged angel. Under the arched bridge there are mosaics on the walls and ceilings and the whole place has the feel of a cathedral even though it's outdoors. I didn't take these first two pics, but they give you an idea of the area.






I also took my girls to see the Turtle Pond in Central Park, which Pete and I happened upon once by accident and I thought it was so charming I keep bringing visitors back. There are actually turtles in Turtle Pond. Dozens of them. And you can see them if you lean over the end of the pier.






And of course, what's a trip to New York without a visit to Time Square? By this time my poor babydoll was exhausted. My favorite pic from Time Square really doesn't show the buildings, billboards, lights, etc. Just the sweetest little face I've ever seen.


Notice Amelia is missing her glasses again. The next pair is in the mail; this makes three pair of glasses and over $900 in six months. Sweet face or no, this kid is in trouble.