New York

We just spent a whirlwind weekend in New York City to attend Aaron and Julie's wedding. We arrived on Thursday night, and after checking into our "cozy" room at the Park Savoy (1 block south of Central Park!) with Andy and Julie, we took a cab over to Aaron and Julie's Upper West Side apartment to relax and have a drink. On Friday, Jay and I met up with Eric in the Lower East Side, where we went on a long walk through Chinatown, Seaport Historic District, and Wall Street. We hopped the subway back to the Lower East Side to catch a tour of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. It was pretty interesting to envision how immigrants coming to New York in the late 19th and early 20th century lived. (No photos were allowed, but you can see pictures on their website.) After the tour, we gave our feet a rest and stopped for a pint at an Irish Pub called One and One, located in the East Village. After enjoying a snack and watching a bit of the Euro Cup, we started walking again, this time through the East Village and Alphabet City over to the East River Park. Finally, we met up with our respective groups for the bachelor and bachelorette parties. On Saturday, I woke up early and headed down to Times Square with Julie. I got to the TKTS line before it opened in order to get our half-priced tickets to Avenue Q! I met Jay back at the hotel and we headed out for lunch and back to Times Square area in time for the 2pm show. Avenue Q was really funny and we definitely recommend it, especially to those in our demographic. It was pouring after the show, so we waited it out a bit, and finally took the subway back to the hotel. Dinner was with Kristin and Martin at Café Luxemburg in the Upper West Side. To cap off the evening, we met up with the wedding party and friends at the Juilliard Penthouse for dessert and drinks after their rehearsal dinner. To let you know how highly respected Aaron and Julie are in the Juilliard community, this penthouse is where people like Yo Yo Ma stay, and they were able to reserve it for a whole night!

On Sunday morning, we met up with Kristin, Martin, Andy, Julie, and Martin's brother for a birthday brunch for Kristin, followed by a walk in Central Park. Next we headed to Aaron and Julie's first wedding ceremony at Advent Lutheran Church in the Upper West Side, where Aaron is Music Director. It was a lovely ceremony and we enjoyed some cake afterwards. To pass the time between the first and second ceremony, we stopped for pizza and then walked through Central Park to our final destination, The Loeb Boathouse. Aaron and Julie celebrated their nuptials again with a beautiful Jewish ceremony overlooking The Lake in Central Park. (We also had some raccoons as guests outside the window!) Dinner, drinks, and dancing followed, but we finally had to say goodnight so we could catch a few zzzz's before catching our early morning flight. To top off our New York experience, we had a celebrity sighting at LaGuardia. Dan Rather was in the security line and I even sat down next to him to tie my shoes! It was a little too early for small talk and photographs, so you'll have to take our word for it!

It was an incredible weekend and we had a great time hanging out with my high school friends again! Mazel Tov to Aaron and Julie!