Forest Park in Autumn

Also, I’ve added photos to flickr of my wanderings with Justin.  Take a walk in Forest Park, visit the western Catskills, and check out Salem for Halloween.

Ape for Apples

Just a quick post to link to some photos showcasing the outdoorsy fun we’ve been enjoying during this lovely season: Fall!

An Apple Picking We Will Go

Over the weekend, Justin and I went apple picking, wine tasting, stopped by a dairy for some fresh bread and cheese, and even spotted a baby black bear!  It was awesome!  I also go to sleep in on Saturday, which was brilliant and much needed.

Setting Up Camp

Rugged Campers With Our Air Mattresses

The weekend before last, we went camping with some friends (Olivia, Alex, and Marisa) in Clarence Fahnestock State Park.  We also brought along Ruby and Eve.  Olivia was accompanied by her pup Winston.  Good times – even if our Hyundai was a little weighed down!

We sat around the campfire until the wee hours of the morning.  We hiked.  We roasted marshmallows.  Good times were had.  Marisa and I saved the day by jogging two miles down a windy road, mostly uphill, to locate our car.  Yah, we’re tough.

Enjoy the photos!

Five days until mine and Justin’s fifth anniversary!

Sandra and Goeril, our German couchsurfers

Yessiry!  I am fixin’ to be saying Howdy to Houston!  I am meeting up with my mom and sister who are already there visiting Ma.  It will be a nice way to spend a couple of days.  Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve really written much.

I just updated the Examiner website with a little blurb on Houston’s Mixers & Elixirs event and linked up Val’s Youtube video. Give it a looksee. :)

In May, we had some great guests from Germany (couchsurfers) stay with us for a few nights (ok, five nights). They even accompanied us to Texas when we went down to celebrate my Mom’s bday (check out the photos)! 

Brennan's Baptism

My little cousin Brennan was also baptized last month (photos on Picasa). He’s grown sooo much in just a short period of time, it’s pretty incredible. I just hope Sheila and Justin, the proud parents, can return to a normal sleep routine soon. Having a newborn is certainly taking a little bit of a toll on them.

I considered writing about people that seem to be born knowing exactly what they want to do and follow their goals like arrows toward a target.

Shoes on a Wire - Richmond, Virginia

I considered writing about Val!’s current trip in Europe. She’s been great so far about updating her blog and adding photos to her Picasa galleries.

For the meantime, I am just going to post photos from mine and Justin’s drive from San Antonio to New York over Christmas.  We really wanted to have wheels here.  Sorry not much of an update, but there ya go. I’ll try to hunt down some inspiration.

This is Art - Thao and Vanessa at the Waldorf Astoria

Last Tuesday, Thao invited me to attend the Project ALS gala held at the Waldorf Astoria. Since she works for Viacom, sometimes these random opportunities appear out of the blue. Ben Stiller was hosting and it sounded like a good time plus we both got to get dressed up!

Though the subject matter was quite sad, Ben Stiller and Sarah Silverman were hilarious, the food was good, and the wine flowed unceasingly. After the event, Thao and I wandered the halls of the Waldorf Astoria, literally, and took a bunch of photos. I hope you enjoy the photos of our drunken wanderings as much as we enjoyed taking them!

Justin and Vanessa at Castle Wawel in Krakow - Vistula River flowing past

As some of you already know, Justin surprised me with a trip to Poland for our fourth anniversary.  While we did things tourists are typically expected to do, such as visiting Castle Wawel and snapping photos in Rynek Glowny (the grand square) in Krakow, and strolling through Stephansplatz and along the Danube Canal in Vienna, the primariy purpose of our visit was so that I could experience, first hand, the land of my ancestors.

For a time I’ve been working on a family website based on research my great aunt,

Justin at St. Stephen's Cathedral - Stephansplatz, Vienna, Austria

Vanessa in St. Jacobus in Nysa, Poland

Hiking near Red Lodge

First of all, check out my photos from Montana including my brief stopover in Denver.  Warning: too many self-portraits.  There are some lovely scenic shots though. ;)

This morning I wanted to spend some time writing but I was uninspired so I just decided to describe a bit of mine and Justin’s journey home from Brooklyn last night.

Last Night

We stumbled every few steps over the uneven sidewalk, scarred as it was with thick bands of wild grass, broken and even shattered to bits in some areas from neglect…  The streetlights became soft orbs of light in the humid night air. On a bridge in the distance, the line of lights was distorted so everything glowed, seemingly uniform.  To our east, a fair distance beyond the nearest buildings and the river, the city was entirely obscured by the thick, hazy moisture.  All we could tell of the city was a strange purple glow, refusing to acknowledge the presence of a sunless sky – ignoring the notion of twinkling stars above.

Calvary Cemetery by Tony the Misfit

An impressive cemetery stretched out along the western side of the street.  All the stones were black, slate, grey.  Towering obelisks and massive crosses crowded together, interspersed with hulking sepulchers.  As crowded in life as in death in this city of ours.  We could’ve been in New Orleans – my imagination readily allowed.  My companion snickered as we clambered passed the Best Western City View Hotel.  All of the windows facing the cemetery were frosted.  I suppose this was out of concern for their customers rather than deference toward the dead. It would’ve disappointed me had I stayed there.  The cemetery was really quite lovely, and at sunset, I imagine it would be breathtaking to behold filled with warm golden light.

We walked into a more residential neighborhood where the sidewalks notably improved.  Spanish voices serenaded our march as a mother ushered in her little children at 10PM – their playground an empty street with one lone Latin bar.  I suspected that the bar was completely abandoned, though the loud music emanating from within suggested otherwise.

A few minutes later we came to the corner of a couple of streets flanked by tall, red brick apartment buildings and spotted a small yellow cab.  It was one of the new, more energy-efficient hybrid models.  We were lucky to flag it down easily.  Upon climbing in I was surprised to discover that the safety glass I’d become accustom to which separated driver from patron was non-existent in this state-of-the-art vehicle.  I wonder if it speaks to the current safety of New York city streets or something else entirely that has yet to occur to me.  I gave the driver our address and we sped quickly home.

At first, Saturday morning was dreary and rainy.  I was disappointed because I’d hoped Justin and I would make our way to Red Lodge and to the Beartooth Mountains.  I knew there was hiking around and supposedly Red Lodge was a cute little town.  Everyone told us to go there on our first trip to Montana in June, though the pass was still closed due to snow.

Despite the weather, we decided to head toward Red Lodge anyway.  We had a delicious lunch at a pizzeria in Red Lodge.  Slowly but surely, the day began to improve!  We browsed in the local shops and Justin tried on, decided to buy, and then deciding not to buy a coat from an antique store.  The store also had a really rad German hat from WWII but it was super tiny and wouldn’t fit my gigantic head, so I didn’t get it.  We noticed intermittent patches of sunlight and decided to continue on our way to Beartooth Highway and the Beartooth Pass. I’d heard it was beautiful, but words could not express the truth of the beauty of this place.  Check it out for yourself – captions and photo notes accompany the images: Photos of Snow, Hiking, Chipmunks and Kisses>>

After a lovely day of exploring a new town, a scenic drive and a bit of hiking, Justin and I relaxed in the hotel room, watched some TV, and noshed on hamburgers at Fuddruckers for dinner.  We also played a hunting video game where we shot moose – that was a blast!  Justin won (but I still killed more turkeys on the bonus round!).  I love you, sweetheart.  Thanks for coming out to Montana and showing me one heck of a good time. :)

Val!, Karen and Mike - Pink Pony Luv

Val!, Karen and Mike - oh the masquerade!

Love you guys!!! And I miss you! XO XO

Nessy

PS: If anyone out there wants to take silly photos and email them to me, that’d be awesome too! :)  Maybe we can get Peanut in on the action… She kinda looks like she is “E” shaped in the photos below. :)

Update: Another one!  I love this one! The lighting is great! Look how long and pretty Karen’s hair is!  I definitely dig everyone’s expressions on the “N” here.

Val!, Karen and Mike - Stinky feet!

8 week sonogram of "Peanut Roan"

I am so glad that my awesome cousin Sheila is pregnant!  I doubt I’ll ever have a child and Val!’s pretty much in the same boat, so this is the closest I’m going to come to being an Aunt… well, Aunt-Like. Ok, a really cool cousin. :P

8 week sonogram of "Peanut Roan" saying Hi

I am just so darn excited about “Peanut” Roan!!!  Sheila sent sonogram photos out to the family yesterday.  I am sharing them here, now.  I wish I could tell you more, like how she is feeling (I think a little nauseous!) and what she is thinking (yay baby!), but I can’t… she hasn’t updated her website.  :P

In these photos, you can make out little numbs that represent Peanut’s appendages!  We don’t know whether Peanut will be a girl or a boy. Mommy and Daddy (Sheila and Justin) supposedly want to wait til the baby is born, but we’ll see if they can stave off their curiosity.  Personally, I am hoping Peanut is a girl, but I’ll love it either way. ;)  Congratulations She and Justin!!!