On Set.

(White Collar on W. 85th)

I am on a (blog)roll! 2 posts in a row? Unprecedented! (except for that 1+year I posted a photo a day. oh yeah).

This will be a post about movie-making in New York City (sort of), typed while I watch the finale of The Voice (go Juliet!). Okay. On any given day in New York City you can find a film crew set up with their big trailers and big lights and orange traffic cones and fancy trays of fruit and muffins. Much to my delight, the neighborhood of choice lately seems to be the Upper West Side (my neighborhood!). Miles and I like to take walks in the late afternoon/early evening around the 'hood and have stumbled upon some pretty impressive looking productions lately. White Collar (twice in the last few weeks), The Newsroom and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (filming on my street today), to name a few. Two goals: 1) we try to be subtle lurkers (Miles is pretty good at that) and stalk the stars. today we were looking for Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig. No luck. And 2) we try to look cute and nice and interesting so they will ask us to be in their show/movie. or least walk by in the background.

We're still waiting for our big break.

(Ben Stiller's new movie)

Weekend Recap.

a new favorite photo -- boat basin on sunday afternoon 

(look at him flirting with the camera!)

A really great weekend. There was:

~a late dinner of take-out and a movie on Friday. (ok, compelling movie, but anyone else somewhat traumatized by some of the scenes? eek. still trying to shake it off).

~central park swings on a gray, overcast saturday. 

~a cinco de mayo dinner gathering at our place with friends saturday night. fajitas! 

~finally the sun(!) on sunday, a street fair on broadway, a walk along the river and beers at the boat basin late sunday afternoon with friends. 

~and then...the real big winner of the weekend...Miles slept through the night last night! what a pleasant ending :) 

~the end.

a walk by the river. and a horse!

boat basin fun

Hudson, New York.

A few instagram photos to share from our little getaway last weekend to Hudson, New York. Such a lovely town right on the river, just 2 hours north of the city. 

Dan's mom was in town for a few days and generously volunteered (as she has in the past) to give us a reprieve by watching the munchkin for a night. Okay! Up to Hudson we went. :)

Even though we spent a lot of the time missing Miles' little face and squeals and smiles (and maybe pulled out our iphones to watch videos and look at photos over dinner) it was so nice to get away and reconnect in a different setting, a setting that's not the busybuzzy city in which we dwell.

Hudson is a quaint and historical town that is known for it's antique shops and art galleries (according to my friend, Wikipedia, that is, which I pulled up on my phone over icy cold beers at a cute bar on Sunday evening). Seemed to be true! Antique shops and galleries galore, making a stroll down the main strip all the more fun and interesting. 

The inn where we stayed was rad, especially the sitting room/self service bar, which looked like something out of a magazine. Exposed beams, exposed brick, eclectic furniture, a ladder, books! I was in heaven. :) 

We had the place to ourselves...so of course we decided to pose and be silly and take a bunch of photos.

Everything about Hudson felt very unique and charming, including the coffee shops. This one (above) felt like someone's home, with cozy furniture and cool artwork on the walls. We bought a couple of cups on our way out Monday morning before hitting the road. 

It was a wonderful day/night away (the car ride to and from was pretty great, too...sometimes it's just nice to hit the open road with good tunes and open windows, ya know?). By the time we got to our building, though, we were practically tripping over one another to get inside the apartment and smother Miles in kisses. That's the funny thing about parenthood. You just want a break sometimes...pleaseohplease I just need a break! But then when you're apart, you just want to be cuddling and kissing your little one. Though hard, I still say: breaks are good/healthy/needed. Makes me appreciate this little face even more! 

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{coming soon: Miles' 8 month update. 8 months?! holy cow}

(Overdue) Photos from Easter Sunday.

Thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from Easter Sunday. (better late than never? :)

We decided Miles was a little too young for a basket full of candy, so we wrote out a meaningful card instead -- his very first Easter card -- and "hid" that for him to find Easter morning. I think he liked it :) And it's a little keepsake for the future.

We had a great time at the Easter service at our church. Miles was a champion baby, sitting quietly for the entire 1.5hr+ service, cooing and smiling at everyone around us. He was definitely a hit :)

After church (and a couple of naps) we headed to Central Park for a little picnic. The weather was gorgeous -- one of the nicest, warmest Easters I can remember in a long time -- and Central Park seemed like the perfect place to end such a lovely day. 

(rawr! he's excited about our picnic)

Last stop: swings! A very happy ending indeed. 

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7 months.

Here he is, our little 7-monther (as of April 1st). Lots of changes this month for Miles. The most obvious one here: sitting up on his own now! 

This has been a really fun month so far. We introduced solids, which he's a big fan of, and he is still babbling away -- his latest sound being da-da (much to Dan's delight). He loves to grab anything and everything that crosses his path (some of his favorites: noses, glasses and anything that crinkles) and we now have to always be aware of our surroundings, otherwise an entire table's worth of contents could be on the floor within seconds!

He has also become quite the little acrobat, spending those minutes in his crib before sleepytime perfecting his rolls, squats, half-crawls and downward dogs, and providing endless amounts of entertainment to Dan and I  as we watch the video monitor :) Oh and I am also happy to report that his sleeping has improved (hooray!) and we are now down to just one night feeding, which is a HUGE improvement from several months ago. 

We are just so thankful for continued improvement. So thankful to be this kiddo's parents. And...I mean, just look how cute he is! Geesh.

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Spring and Central Park.

I love Springtime in New York City. Hard to beat. Especially in my most favorite place: Central Park. Sigh...magic. Here are a few photos from our frolic in the park on Easter Sunday. (more photos of that day to come, as well as Miles' 7 month update!) Sadly, these photos just don't do the park justice!

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Brooklyn Bridge Adventures.

Last Saturday was probably one of my favorite adventures we've shared as a family since we had Miles. The weather was perfect and spring-like (and Miles had gotten two good naps in before we left -- very important!), so we headed downtown to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, which is one of our favorite NY things to do. We took a lot of photos, as usual :) 

all napped up and ready for the journey

a pause on the bridge for a snack

posing for the camera 

(on his forehead there is his sweet little 'stork bite' birthmark that pops out when he's warm/happy/upset, etc. :) 

one of my new favorite pictures in life 

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It was such a glorious day -- the weather, the city, the company. Glorious. After we walked across the bridge, we wandered around Brooklyn Heights, one of the most charming pockets in New York in my opinion, and picked out which brownstone we'd like to live in one day (a very fun game :). It reminded me of the old days, when Dan and I would set out on a warm summer Saturday and explore the city by foot. Miles' nap schedule sometimes makes it feel a little impossible to think about such adventures anymore, so this gave me hope that *maybe* we can do things like this more often!