baby dates for spring break AND A VACCINE!

 last week was spring break for the kids, and another huge milestone- adults over 30 could sign up to get vaccinated in ny! 13 months after we locked down. a vaccine. through a magical vaccine fairy, after hourssssss of uselessly refreshing a multitude of browsers, mike & i both landed april 1st vaccine appointments at the javits center a couple hours apart (elle kept saying, "it's going to be an april fools joke- you're going to show up and they're not going to have any for you!).

i cried twice. not including when i cried in spin class across the street when mike told me he was done (after, like, 10 minutes, mind you! i anticipated it all taking hoursssss but it was so smooth and efficient). something about this insanely organized, military, medical, historical, heroically, herculean team-effort; something about it being here- the javits center, where literally 365 days ago it was set up as a 4,000 bed field hospital for covid. here we were. getting vaccinated. it was incredible. and i'm so grateful. 1 shot down, 1 to go.

i was literally jumping for joy when i ran out to meet mike. 

other spring break festivities included mike taking a day off & us all playing at hudson yards, cutting like 5" of elle's hair off when we were bored one afternoon, and mini dates w/ me & each kiddo on the remainder of the days. jude & i went to the sour patch kids store & out for pizza & root beer, harvey & me (he also insisted elle come) went to the "dinosaur museum" which basically meant we waited in a crazy long lines (even though we had tickets, they were over capacity), and spent the rest of the time in the gift shop. elle & me went to the met & got our favorite avocado toast. 

although it's been totally different than any year before, i loved the different pace of this break. it's crazy to think last spring we were supposed to be in switzerland & france, and in cancelling that trip i was sure we'd still be able to make the trip happen by summer. here we are a year later, and i'm hopeful we can go in 2022.

life.

but at least 2/5 of us are 1/2 vaccinated! 

dc for spring break, part 3: shots from my phone...

a few recaps about our dc trip- we used turo for the first time, which was awesome. it's like airbnb but for cars. we rented a pathfinder- which was HUGE, and had 2 sunroofs. it was amazing. driving a car is like a vacation in and of itself... minus driving in maryland, which is still as horrendously terrible as i remember. there is nowhere worse i have encountered on the planet (at least, all the planet parts i've come across). but driving was amazing. AND so was the weather friday when we crossed into maryland!! 62 degrees! and sunny!

our first stop was the amish market for pretzels & boston cream pie. 

then, cafe rio. 

priorities.

after cafe rio, mike & i took a call with our realtor where we accepted an offer on our condo, only a couple days after it was listed! i'm in shock. trying not to count our chickens before they hatch, but we're under contract, and so thrilled. the kids ran laps up and down the side of the building, and harvey ate ice chips & mulch from the sidewalk.

we checked into the hotel, then walked across the street to smash confetti eggs that mike found 80% off at cvs. we just played in the grass and enjoyed the wind & sunshine, then walked around campus until the sun started to set and the chilly air blew in.

saturday after our morning in dc we stopped for lunch at spice 6- my FAVORITE indian restaurant. i love it so so sosososo much!!! the kids & i got into a huge fight because, well, hangry, and as i watched all the psycho drivers back into their parking spaces like slow turtles, i cursed the land and wished to just transport spice 6 to nyc so i could enjoy those spicy chickpeas and naan from a land without maryland drivers.

then elle & mike ran across the street for empanadas at our favorite spot, cafe azul.

jude drummed. with his eyes closed. look, i know the photos here are less than stellar, but i just don't care enough, and i want to remember all the fun random events that filled our weekend;)

and this!!! we found gossner milk (LOGAN!) at the dollar store! which, by the way, was jude's most requested stop. we spent $40, and i'm fairly certain no one in the history of dollar tree has ever spent $40. we sort of went bananas.

on the drive home sunday we went to cracker barrel (2 actually- the 1st was too busy). the drive too far too long, and traffic was a beast getting home, but it's tradition to stop here, so we did. we also went to walmart in secaucus, and i have NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE IT IN MY LIFE! people filled every aisle. shelves were empty. the lines were wrapped through clothing aisles and into the craft section- we were in line almost an hour. but we stocked up on massive hoards of dairy & family size cereal boxes. it was amazing. but i definitely am not going to make that a frequent occasion.

we all took the car back to it's home parking garage, then took the subway back to our apartment hours past bedtime. ready to get up and jump back into life monday morning. loving that this was the reverse of our spring break when we lived in dc, here & here;) 

dc for spring break, part 2 - featuring the hotel & pool!

we drove by what is now the hotel at the university of maryland everyday while it was being built. we decided to stay there while we were in dc for the weekend so we would be close to campus & our old stomping ground, which is what the kids wanted to do most. i was SHOCKED how nice the hotel was! when i worked for the vice president at umd, i had to deal with a lot of hotel arrangements, and man, this would have been a great addition to the sole marriott in classy college park;) other than the pool being ice cold & harvey hogging our bed and not sleeping longer than his "usual" 60-minutes-at-a-time, the stay was super nice & comfy. plus, there was a bagel store on the first floor so we went there about a dozen times.

now, a lot of pictures from our stay. mostly at the pool. it was spring break, after all.