Brooklyn Wedding Weekend

This past weekend I went to New York for my dear friend Celia's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and a fun weekend in the big city!

First, let me backtrack and quickly cover her bachelorette party which was a month ago, and which I also attended in New York (I flew straight there from Anchorage!). It was 90s themed, and included a private trolley tour (sort of 1890s themed) of Brooklyn, a big taco dinner, and singing 1990s songs in a private karaoke room.

My 90s outfit

Her 90s outfit (and our private trolley)

A Polaroid from the after-karaoke party. I think I went to bed around 4am that night.

Okay, back to the wedding weekend. Friday there was a pre-wedding dinner at an Italian restaurant. There was so much good food! And I got to catch up with a friend from junior high who I probably hadn't seen since college.

I got to sign her ketubah!

Saturday morning I went for a run along the water in Long Island City. Then I joined Celia and some others in her bridal suite to get ready for the ceremony.

A beautiful day for five miles!

Celia and her dad (whom I adore)

The wedding itself was on the rooftop of a hotel in Brooklyn with views of the city. It was a little too cold to keep the roof open but even with it closed it was a pretty amazing venue. The ceremony was lovely, the cocktail hour had jalapeno margaritas, and the dinner was really good. Throw in ice cream sandwiches, a roving photo-booth-type thing, and the highly-entertaining cover band Vanilla Pop all the way from New Mexico, and it all added up to an awesome and fun wedding.

Sunday there was a wedding brunch, after which I visited the Brooklyn Museum, ate ramen, stopped by Times Square for kicks, and ended the night tasting a few beers at the Fifth Hammer Brewing Company.

The new Kehinde Wiley statue that will eventually move from Times Square to Richmond!

Monday my flight wasn't until later in the evening, so I had time for my first-ever visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Liberty Island has a new museum that was pretty neat, and though I spent nearly two hours on Ellis Island I wish I'd had more time to see all of the immigration museum. Alas, it was time to take a boat back to Brooklyn to enjoy a big polish dinner in Greenpoint before heading home.

I'm on a boat!

The Great Hall on Ellis Island, which used to be the Registry Room for processing new immigrants.

It was a great long weekend in New York and I'm so happy I got to share in Celia's big day!

a western two-parter

If you know my family well, you know March means family vacation in Las Vegas time. But this year I added a Washington state bonus to my trip.

I flew to SeaTac on Wednesday the 27th, and took a rental car down to Tacoma. After checking into my AirBnB, I walked less than a mile down to visit a couple who I'd known back in college. The wife was my core group leader for three years, and the summer between my sophomore and junior years they let me live with them. They're great people. We ate dinner at a restaurant down on the water, and then chatted some more by the fireplace of their home overlooking the Puget Sound. It was great to catch up, and didn't feel like more than a decade had passed. On my way back to my AirBnB I stopped into my favorite little bar, the Parkway Tavern, and enjoyed a beer and missed the friends I used to go there with back in the day.

View from their house!

We used to play shuffleboard here.

The next morning I went for a 7-mile run down to the water and all the way to Ruston. I used to go for long walks from campus down along the water, and this was the number-one thing on my to-do list for my short Tacoma visit. It did not disappoint. Blue sunny skies and Mount Rainier visible in the distance!

Mount Rainier!

 

At the end of my run I stopped into a coffee shop where I used to love to get a scone. They didn't have the cranberry-orange I'd hoped for, but blueberry was a fine second choice. I ate my scone and drank a latte on the walk back uphill to my room. Then I had to quickly shower and pack up to check out by noon. I drove back to Ruston and got a bison burrito at Tatanka Take-Out for lunch. Feeling fortified, I next visited Point Defiance, a really neat big park. I took a short walk on Owen's Beach (and saw an otter!), then drove the 5-mile loop once through before finding a place to pull off and take a quick hike into the mossy and ferny forest. I also saw about twenty raccoons on the side of the road, which were cute but also a little creepy since there were so many of them. Luckily I didn't see any while outside of the car. After the hike I stopped into the Antique Sandwich Company for another latte. It was another reminder of missed friends.

Raccoons!

At this point my Tacoma time was over. I headed up the interstate to Bellevue, and went to
Sam and Allison's house to meet all their kids and catch up on the ten years that have passed since they moved away from Richmond. Josefina and her husband and baby also joined us. Allison and Josefina and I met freshman year of college and were in the previously-mentioned core group together. So good to catch up! At the end of the night I drove up to stay with Josefina in Lake Stevens, and the next morning I got to hang out with her and her cute little boy. We went for a walk by the water in Everett, then had lunch in Snohomish. And then all my Washington time was over and it was time to drive back to the airport, getting my only peek of Seattle while stuck in traffic.

I had been missing Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest a lot lately, so it was a lovely little visit.

After that whirlwind came a flight to Vegas and family time! I arrived Friday night, and after my parents picked me up from the airport we ate dinner at the barbecue place at our hotel. The next morning I hit the treadmill for a few miles, and then hung out with mom all day while dad went to the Nascar race. We headed down the strip and stopped at an outdoor spot for nachos and margaritas. Then we checked out the conservatory at the Bellagio. We went to Planet Hollywood (where I saw Gordon Ramsey at a distance, but in real life!) for a spin around the shops and a little slot time, and next we headed back to the Bellagio to visit the art gallery, where we were humorously underwhelmed by the two pieces on display. Eventually we met back up with dad, and enjoyed dinner at the Shops at the Forum. Then we headed back to our hotel and for the second night in a row I went to bed relatively early.

Art! (Apparently.)

More art. Forty-five seconds worth!

Sunday dad was off to the races again. Mom and I ate lox and bagels at the Carnegie Deli at the Mirage, and then ended up at Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. We watched a dolphin training session, checked out a baby dolphin, and visited the lions and tigers. Oh my!

Four-year-old while lion brothers.

After all that fun we walked to the High Roller and took a ride. Had the pod to ourselves!

Next up we drove downtown and visited the Container Park for a bit, then grabbed dinner before going to see Sarah Brightman in concert. Dad got us box seats and it was a fun show! After the concert we finally got to meet back up with him, and he and I hung out a while walking around the Venetian and playing some slots until after 1am. Yikes.

Monday the three of us ate brunch at our hotel, then headed out to Red Rock Canyon. I always love going out there. We stopped at the red rocks and dad and I climbed around for a short bit, then we drove over to the Lost Creek Trail and all three of us hiked! Mom stopped at a boarded viewpoint, and dad and I continued on to the waterfall before turning back around.

After our outdoorsy fun we went back to our hotel and walked to the Venetian for dinner. Then we played a little there and back at Treasure Island before calling it a night. The next morning I hit the treadmill one more time before they drove me back to the airport.

Very thankful for my week out west!

new year new yogi?

I've been curious about yoga for a while, but always too nervous to do anything about it. But not this year. I just completed a six-week intro to Vinyasa yoga course at my gym. I was determined to complete all six, with the hope of liking it enough to continue on afterwards. And so far so good. I'm still a little too nervous to go to a "regular" class, but the instructor of the intro course teaches a Vinyasa I/II class earlier on the same night. Two nights ago I went, prepared for my first real class but with a familiar person who would know I still don't know much. It was an unpleasant surprise, however, to find out there was a sub this week! But I persevered. I was brave. And I survived.

I'm currently getting over a knotted calf that has messed up my running. I even went to a sports massage therapist to help deal with it. And once again, just like a few years ago when I went to physical therapy for my IT band, I've relearned that everything is connected and weakness in one area (ankles, hips, glutes, etc.) can affect others. And ruin my running. So I'm trying to be good about doing my strength and mobility exercises, and I think yoga should help with my stiff and inflexible self. Fingers crossed.

Santa Fe Christmas

I went home to Santa Fe to hang out with my parents for the holidays. It was so nice to be back.

I was there for ten nights and don't remember all the details so I won't give my usual rundown, but I'll throw out some highlights.

Christmas Eve I went for a five mile run outside that included stopping briefly for two last-minute shopping errands. I liked being able to multitask.

Family came over for our traditional posole and tamales on Christmas Eve before we all went to church together. Then Dad and I walked Canyon Road to see all the farolitos, walked down a really long street with neat big old houses I'd never seen before, and checked out the lights on the plaza. Then we went to the cozy bar at the Hotel St. Francis (which has also become our Christmas Eve tradition) and enjoyed fancy cocktails.

Setting up farolitos at our house on Christmas Eve

Enjoying the lights on the plaza

Christmas Day my parents and I had a nice breakfast, then Granddad joined us for "tree," then more people joined us for "dinner."

The day after Christmas it snowed! Dad and I walked around downtown in the snow.

Santa Fe in the snow!

Snowy plaza

One day the three of us ate at Tomasita's before seeing the new Spiderman movie at Violet Crown. Mom and I really liked the movie. Dad napped. It was also neat to visit another Violet Crown (since there's one in Charlottesville).

We only went out for New Mexican twice, and both times I got a giant burrito with green chile.

The three of us also watched Godless on Netflix over a few nights while I was there. Dad still napped some though.

With all the snow, I helped Dad shovel several times. We also shoveled over at Granddad's house.

Mom made scones one morning for breakfast that were supposed to have cranberries but had to be substituted with dates. They were still really good. I love scones.

One afternoon the three of us headed to Museum Hill, where we visited a great modern exhibit at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts, took a quick spin through the Museum of International Folk Art, and arrived at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden just in time for sundown and their Glow. The place is small so we made two laps (the second one after it truly was dark), and took a hot chocolate break in between because it was freezing. Way below freezing, actually.

Snow and art on Museum Hill

Bundled up to enjoy lights at the Botanical Garden

Hot cocoa!

 To warm up after the Glow we visited the Chili Line Brewing Co. (new to all of us) to taste some beer. They do all smoked beers, and they had red and green chile flavors. Those weren't my favorite but it was a fun experience.

Tasting smoked Chili Line beer

 Sunday after church we ate lunch with Granddad, then Dad and I attended a little handbell concert at St. Francis. Then we walked around downtown some more.

Handbell concert at the Cathedral Basilica

Dad and I saw the new Mary Poppins movie, which I really liked, though he did a little napping again. Sheesh.

On New Year's Eve I went for another five mile run, only this time everything was covered in snow. It was so pretty! That night the three of us played Tri-Ominos. We had played earlier in the week too. And it snowed some more.

Snow packed running!

I think those are all the highlights. I also got to catch up on my sleep while there, which was really nice. (I didn't do it during the movies though!)