The Rogers' take on New York City!

Eric and I were so excited to have my parents come visit.  Not only was it fun because it was their first time in New York, but there is something nice about sharing where you live with the people close to you.  One of the harder parts about moving away is that I don't feel like my close friends and family can really understand what our lives look like now (though this blog certainly helps with that...).  So needless to say, it was fun to share that with them.

I knew my parents were looking forward to seeing us, but I didn't know how much they would actually enjoy the city.  I was pleasantly suprised that they took it on like champs!  My mom was her usual busy-body self, wanting to see all of the sites and experience what New York has to offer.  My dad was his usual easy-going self, and went along with it.  While we were at work on Thursday and Friday, they walked the Brooklyn Bridge, shopped at the Seaport, came to see my school in Harlem, explored Times Square with my lovely cousin and her son, tried out new restaurants, and probably walked about 5 miles each day to do it all. 

When we got home from work in the evenings and on the weekend, they were still energized enough to do more with us! We tried some of the best restaurants I have been to so far, including Bubby's, Eatery, and Armando's.  Now we know some great places to take our future visitors!

Saturday was by far, my highlight of their visit.  We had so much fun all day long.

We started out with a my parents' first experience on a subway train...

Then we did the lazy man's tour through central park.  Eric and I had been through Central park several times already, so we though this would be fun way to see it.  Turns out, we learned a lot about different movies or scenes that were shot there.  We even saw the fountain at the opening of all Friends episodes! 

This is Charlie Brown, the sweet horse that pulled us through the park:).

Then we walked down Fifth Avenue to see Rockefeller Plaza, where the Today Show is filmed.

There was a beautiful church across from Rockefeller.  My unfortunate camera doesn't do it justice.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Eatery before going to see Billy Elliott.  I have eaten here twice, and both times it was amazing.

The desserts are just as good as the entrees:).

I forgot to mention that Eric got his brand new IPhone that morning.  Therefore, he was playing with his cool new apps throughout the day.  He decided to create a couple pictures for us on this app called Color Splash.  Fancy eh??

We ended our day with the show Billy Elliot.  I always forget how much I LOVE musicals.  They move my soul:)

As we left, we walked through Times Square one last time at night.  My dad wanted me to take this picture of this enormous Pepsi display for the Heaths.  If you read the blog, this one is for you Mike and Brenda!

We had such a fun time with my parents.  We will have no shortage of visitors over the next few months, as we have a steady stream of great family and friends coming.  We are looking forward to spending time with the Voights, Meg, Sarah, Chad and Kim, and the Welu's!   Then it won't be long until we are back home for the holidays!

Five Boroughs, One Week!

In one week I (Kelly) was able to step foot into all five boroughs of New York City! Eric was along for three of them.  Well, we live in Brooklyn, so that one is a given.  Then, I flew into LaGuardia airport after my stint in Indiana.  LaGuardia is located in Queens, so that takes care of number two.

Two days later, I left for my first day of work.  I say "left," because my first day of work consisted of a four day/three night retreat at a college campus on Staten Island.  I will have to devote an entire blog post to my new school system, because so much about it is noteworthy.  But, I will save that for another day!  My lovely husband woke up early to send my off on my first day of work and take a picture of me:).  Isn't he handsome??

After the four day work retreat, Eric and I were ready to spend some quality time together.  We decided to explore the one and only, Central Park in Manhattan.  We had both been there several times to pass through.  Neither of us had really spent any time scoping out the place though.  We probably walked a total of six miles going through the beautiful park.  Who knew some of these things were in there??

Who knew there were lakes with row boats?? Not me.

Who knew there were historical log cabins? Not me.

Who knew there was an enormous reservoir? You guessed it...not me!

Who knew there were remote control sail boat ponds? Nope, not me.

Who knew there were shirtless men who performed Jack and Diane for a participatory crowd? I probably could have guessed that one. 

Who knew there were the two coolest people in the world?? Joking, joking....

 Eric's favorite borough of the tour would be the one we went to two nights ago.....the Bronx.   Why the Bronx, you might ask?  Because it is the home of his beloved Yankees, of course!  The first time I met Eric's parents, his dad set me down to ask me some tough questions.  I learned quickly during that Q&A session that my favorite teams were to be Ohio State and more importantly, the Yankees, if I ever wanted to be a part of that family.  So, as my wedding gift to Eric, I got us two tickets to the Yankees/Red Sox game on Saturday.  We had a great time.  

Mmm, delicious ball park food and drinks.

We spit on this guy a lot. (just kidding mom!)

So there they are....the five boroughs in a nutshell! We are looking forward to my parents visiting this weekend....stay tuned!

Fun, Friends, and Family

It's official....I have started work.  That means my blogging may become a bit less frequent.  However, I am going to try VERY hard not to let that happen.  Not that I think people will throw fits if they can't read about my life regularly (I know better than that!), but because I really want this year in NYC to be well documented.  That way, when we are old and boring, we can look back at this and think, 'Man, remember when we were younger and hip?'  I am not sure that is what we will say...it may be more like, 'Man, remember when we were silly and liked to go out to eat alot? Yeah, nothing's changed.'  Well, so we can look back and feel like nothing HAS changed, I want this year's memories to be documented. So, on to documenting.....

Eric and I are really trying to get into the habit of eating at home more often.  This helps us save money, eat a little healthier (not much, by the look of the food we have been cooking...), and avoid the craziness of this city a little bit.  Some recipes are very average, but I do have to say we had a delicious one a couple Friday's ago. 

This one is Rosti Casserole with toast.  It is basically cheesy hashbrown goodness with baked eggs on top.  Click on the link of you are interested in trying it. 

Because we tend to stay holed up in our apartment eating homecooked dinners on Friday nights, we have made Saturdays our day to explore.  Two Saturday's ago we decided to discover more of Brooklyn.  We went on a long walk to the new Brooklyn Bridge Park.  

This is eventually going to be an enormous park along the East River on the Brooklyn side.  It will be six piers long, though they only opened pier one and pier six.  We at pier one in the picture above.

If you notice the central building in the distance, the park will eventually go past that.  It is a pretty fabulous place. 

This trendy little hipster bar/restaurant called Superfine is another fabulous place.  Eric and I had the best fish cakes ever there.  Actually, they may be the only fish cakes we have ever had. 

Last week I had the pleasure of being surrounded by friends again.  Mallory came to visit her sister and myself in New York.  We all spent a lot of time together. 

John (Lauren's boyfriend, Lauren (Mallory's sister), and Mallory

Then, I went back to Indiana during the later part of the weekend.  I got some quality time with my peeps in Indianapolis, and then I got to spend lots of time with my family at a wedding.

BRIC's ice cream, yum!

All the ladies....

Chuck with his dancing face....

Silly faces

Too cool for school.  Don't worry, those weren't Chad's sunglasses.

Maddy learned the art of taking her own picture.  She did it with such seriousness! Kim and I decided this would be a great slide show picture someday:)