One Saturday morning in early May, we decided to go to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to see the cherry trees in all their pink glory! It was really an amazing sight! They have a Japanese Cherry Blossom festival there, too, but we just went on a regular Saturday. It was PACKED with people, for good reason, but we were still able to relish the beauty of the trees and flowers. One thing I have missed since we have been living here is my backyard, where I used to sit and drink my coffee on weekend mornings. It was so peaceful and I loved taking a minute to get back in touch with nature. Here, you almost always have something blocking your view. It’s so wonderful to be able to go the parks in Brooklyn and the city and have some breathing room, and a place to enjoy nature again – listen to the wind through the trees and the birds singing. It helps that they are all beautifully designed and created for people to enjoy!
David wore his pink polo to match the flowers. 🙂
A carpet of fallen blossoms makes a great backdrop for my favorite black and white friend.
Pretty tree in our neighborhood…corner of 3rd St (my fave street in all of Park Slope) and 6th Ave.
On May 7, we celebrated 4 years of marriage by going to our favorite little bistro in our neighborhood for delicious pasta and steak. I can’t believe it’s been almost 5 years now! Life is big and weird and scary, but I always know everything will be ok with this guy by my side. He makes me feel so safe and takes such good care of me and our little dog. I don’t know where I’d be without him!
Enjoying the sunshine on our bed. Mostly she’s giving me the stink-eye, because I woke her up from her nap.
Warmer weather meant that we could finally explore farther from home! We walked to Windsor Terrace, which is a neighborhood south of Prospect Park, to the East Wind Snack Shop for some amazing Chinese dumplings, short ribs and Vietnamese bao (tiny sandwiches). The chef has been named one of the top chefs in NYC, and has trained with some very famous chefs here, but he decided he wanted to open a restaurant that reminded him of his childhood in Chinatown. They make everything by hand each day, and only have limited quantities, so some days they actually sell out!
The restaurant only has about six tables, and we were lucky to snag one by the window, so I could take these pictures of our delicious food!
And then! My BFF, Katy, came to see me!!! David was traveling for work, and her husband wanted to send her to see me for her birthday, so we coordinated her trip with David’s, so we had a whole weekend to hang out and catch up. I cannot tell  you how good it was to see her! I don’t think we had seen each other in over a year by that point, and I just loved getting time to actually talk and be together. Life is busy for both of us, so it’s rare for us to get more than a 20-minute phone conversation once a month. So, three uninterrupted days was amazing!
Michal and her family were in town the same time as Katy, so we went one afternoon to see them in the park. I love that I get to see Michal more now than when we lived in Austin, as she’s here several times a year to see her NYC friends.
Humid day in the park, but so good to be together!!
Day 2 of Katy’s visit, we went to lunch at The Plaza and did a little shopping. Staying one night in The Plaza is on my bucket list. It’s just so beautiful and over the top there, I think it would make me feel like a movie star or a princess! 🙂
We also went up to Serendipity and had a frozen hot chocolate. OMG, was it delicious! Some nice girls at the next table took this picture for us. (PS… I totally didn’t notice until someone pointed it out to me when I posted this pic on Instagram, but check out that painting over my shoulder! LOL!)
We had been talking with James and Alaina for a while about going to Smorgasburg with then one weekend, so we finally made it happen!
Every Saturday and Sunday from April through November, Smorgasburg showcases 100+ local and regional food vendors to upwards of 10,000 visitors, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Brooklyn. It was amazing to see all of these vendors all in one place!
The one we went to was in Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is right along the river that overlooks downtown Manhattan. We ate a ton of different things, from truffle fries to buffalo chicken fingers to tacos, and sufficiently stuffed ourselves in just a few short minutes!
Us on the boardwalk of Brooklyn Bridge Park
We left Smorgas (as the locals call it…haha!) and went to a pub that J&A knew about nearby, where James schooled us in darts (as you can see by the scoreboard up there) and Alaina killed us in skee ball. We should know better than to play against them in bar games – they are really good! 🙂
We went next door to have some pizza afterward at Table 87…yumtastic!
In June, we got to go back to Texas for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary party. David had to work through the week, so I went home a few days before him and got to see some of my friends that I had been missing SO MUCH!
These two are two of my most favorite people in the world. They made going to work each day so fun, and I miss chatting and hanging out with them! I absolutely adore them and I have loved staying in touch since we have been gone. It’s not the same as seeing them every day, but texting and chatting online are as close as I can get and I’ll take it!
I hated coming to town and not having enough time to see everyone individually, so I asked these three high schoolBFFs to come to Maudie’s (where else?) for dinner and drinks. I hate that I don’t ever get to catch up one on one with these friends, but I was so happy they took the time to come to dinner. As much as I miss my family in Texas, I really miss my girlfriends!
And then, the whole reason we were home! My parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary party! They decided to have it at the country club they belong to, so we didn’t have to worry about much besides decorations. Mom worked really hard getting all of the decor together and I wished so bad I could have been closer to help! I did order & mail the invitations, and take the RSVPs for the party, and it was so much fun getting to hear from all of their best friends and getting some stories about Mom and Dad from some of them.
As we approach our 5th year of marriage, I am just in awe of my parents sticking together for 50 years. 50 years! That is for-ever! Marriage is hard, y’all. It is not always sunshine and roses, as I am sure my parents would tell you, too, but it is all so worth it to have your best friend beside you each and every day. They have set such a great example for me and my sisters.
I love how my parents are still friends with so many people that they knew in college or in their newlywed days. I think that says a lot about them! They are GOOD people with GOOD friends, and they are loyal till the end. It was so heartwarming to hear their friends get up and talk about how wonderful it has been to be a part of their lives for all these years. We had such a fun afternoon with friends and family celebrating this milestone and I hope it was all Mom and Dad could have asked for!
I didn’t really prepare a speech or anything, but I did get up and read the lyrics to the Bob Dylan song, “Forever Young.” I think they are very poignant words about living life together over the years, and I really thought it was perfect for the occasion and for my parents:
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
Some pictures of the beautiful decorations:
Mom printed out pictures of herself and Dad through the years and placed a few on each table. People loved them! The yellow and white flowers are the same or similar to ones that Mom chose for their wedding. She loves yellow daisies!
The sign in table with a large picture of them at their wedding…I love this shot – so much ahead for these two kids! The bouquet on the table is a nod to the bouquet that Dad gets for Mom each year on their anniversary – daisies (sometimes white, sometimes yellow, depending on his memory that year 😉 ) with three red roses, representing their three daughters. So sweet.
Are they not the CUTEST!? I love how Mom chose to wear a white lace jacket, just like a bride!
I just adore them both so much.
Since there was so much family in town for the party, my Aunt Susan and Uncle Phillip asked us all to come to their house for dinner after the party, so we could all keep visiting. They are always such gracious hosts and I adore getting to spend time with all of my extended family, especially since we live out of town now, and get to see them even less than we used to.
My cute cousin, Anne, and her husband, Joe. We LOVE them and loved getting to spend time with them on this trip, as they live in Houston and we don’t get to see them often enough. Joe is a chef, so he always has something yummy waiting for us when we see him, and he and David love chatting and drinking bourbon while Anne and I do girl-talk and drink Frogs Leap. 😉
The day after the party was deemed an “H&L Day,” so we went over to their house to snuggle Ryland and drink vino. Look at that little facey!:
We ended up going to Maudie’s for dinner, because David had missed out on my first visit there this trip (he just came in for the weekend).
Ignore the guy in the background shoving chips in his face, and focus on how much Ryland loves his Uncle David. All the heart eyes there.
He’s our favorite.
Mom and Dad had decided (or it was probably more Mom’s idea) that we needed to all go somewhere the week after the party since all of the kids and grandkids were going to be in town. Amy and Rex have a house in Rockport, on the Texas coast, and so do my Aunt and Uncle, so Dad asked Uncle Dennis if we could borrow their house for the week, and they were so kind to let us stay there. Their house ended up being just up the road from Amy & Rex’s, so it was perfect for their family to stay at their house and Ginger and her family, me and Mom and Dad could stay at Uncle Dennis’. We had a fun few days spending time all together, which is very rare these days. I was sad that David wasn’t able to stay with me for this part of the trip, but he had to get back to NYC for work.
This is the first thing I did when we got there:
Nothing like a green beer on the porch at the beach.
The house was on the canal, which makes it ideal for going out in the boat for fishing, but we had to drive to Port Aransas to go to the beach. We only went for part of one afternoon, but it was wonderful. All the grandkids, me, Mom and Ginger went, while the guys and Amy went out fishing.
It’s not gorgeous white sand, but it’s TEXAS.
Me and my three pretty nieces!
Must make ceviche at the beach! This picture makes my mouth water…it’s truly one of my most favorite things in the world!
This girl is going to be a senior next year. Time flies!
Mama and baby dolphin in the canal on our booze cruise one evening.
Me and my nephew putting the hurt on some crawfish/shrimp/crab boil at The Boiling Pot. Messy, but so damn delicious!
Crushed it! Yum! This was our last day at the beach – we all got up and left the next morning, and mom drove me to the airport in Corpus Christi to fly back to JFK.
Meanwhile, back in Brooklyn, it was slowly becoming a super heated swamp. June and July were just so. damn. hot. I think it’s the fact that we have to walk everywhere here – to the grocery store, to the post office, to the bank, etc…it’s hotter in Texas, but you don’t have to be out in it as much. Here, you are sweating a half a block from home and you don’t stop until you get back!
Beautiful flowers at a bodega in our neighborhood.
Walking home at sunset
When I go walking in Prospect Park, this is where I enter the park and it takes my breath away every time I walk in. These tall, tall trees and the beautiful walkways through the park allow you to forget that you are in the middle of a giant city.
These were taken in Union Market, which makes my heart go pitter-patter EVERY time I go in. It is the quintessential NYC market, but it is so well done – they have great selection for being such a small market, and the way they display things is just so beautiful. They have a wonderful selection of cheeses and homemade breads, along with a full deli and a meat counter. They also roast their own coffee, which is delicious. They stock a lot of organic, wholesome products on the shelves and even though it’s a little pricey, I’m always wishing that we lived closer to it and I could pop in there every day to grab stuff for dinner. Luckily, it’s not too far away, so I can walk over when the weather is nice, or when I’m feeling really strong (I have to carry everything I buy home!).
So, that was the longest post in history and bravo to you if you are still reading! I’ve decided to stop trying to play catch up, since I think it’s near impossible now, but I will be posting some of these “Flashback First Year” posts every now and again, because I don’t want to forget all the fun times we had in this first year in the City! Looking forward to “real time” posting now! 🙂
Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn 
Enjoyed your new post while waiting in the TSA office. 😋
Sent from my iPhone Kaye Berry
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