Dique and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on February 21st - conveniently this date fell during the 20th week of the pregnancy. For you experienced folks at home this means our anniversary fell the week in which you can find out your baby's gender. Some people find out beforehand or later - it depends on your ultrasound schedules and your baby's modesty. Luckily for us, our son had no shame and we confirmed boy status almost immediately. Not that anyone was surprised; Dique and I both thought we were having a boy, most everyone we talked to also agreed, there's a woman at my work who can't keep her hands off my tummy and told me every day leading up to the ultrasound "boy, definitely, boy!" Well, we were all right. Look at that cute little profile! We can't wait to kiss that little face and meet our boy, Desmond.
The weekend leading up to our anniversary and the big baby gender reveal was an excellent one. Dique and I wanted to sneak in a final trip together (what some folks call a "baby-moon") and after debating Mexico and Hawaii, we headed east instead. We took the red-eye to New York on Friday the 17th of February and arrived in Manhattan on a crisp and clear morning. We flew Virgin America which we both love for the WIFI and entertainment options, Dique can even rest a bit stretching his long legs in an aisle seat and I was as comfortable as one can be in a middle seat at 20-weeks pregnant. We dozed on and off and that was fine. The cold air and energy of the city kept us going all day Saturday, anyway. The only disappointment was that our flight was delayed and thus our plans of getting in line to see that night's taping of Saturday Night Live were thwarted. We still got in line, but we were WAY back on the waiting list. Spoiler alert: we didn't make the taping of the show, though we did try to get into both the dress rehearsal and the live show. Alas, all we saw of the NBC building was the lovely Art Deco lobby. So we picked up some cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery and watched the show from our Waldorf Astoria hotel room, a mere six blocks away from where it was happening.
Prior to waiting for SNL to welcome us or turn us away, we spent Saturday on foot. We walked up and down Broadway and had a delicious brunch across the street from that beautiful main city library. We took the metro down to the edge of the island and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, something I've always wanted to do. We had pizza in Brooklyn's DUMBO district (no, really, it's called that. Much like how NOPA - North Panhandle - in San Francisco is silly, Down Under Manhattan/Brooklyn Overpass is also a bit ridiculous), looking out over Manhattan as the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped. We took the subway back from Brooklyn as it had started to sprinkle and then began our evening of waiting to see if we could see SNL live.
Sunday morning we woke up to church bells, had another cupcake and grabbed a coffee from the lobby before beginning our morning stroll to find breakfast. Dique and I, it seems, no matter what city we're in, take lots of walks in search of breakfast. We found a greasy spoon up by Central Park and settled on that when the cute little English tea shop (Alice's) was packed. After breakfast we walked through the park which looked so very different from my memory. After all, the last time I was there was Summer 1997 - I was in awe of all things metropolitan AND the tress had leaves. It was still incredible to stand there and see all the surrounding buildings rise above us. We spend so much time in Golden Gate Park which is wild by comparison, lush and full of foliage. Central Park is all lawn/fields and trees. Fewer shrubs and plants abound and it somehow felt "all business" to me. Pleasant but I couldn't spend a full day there at random, which is something we often do at home.
Sunday afternoon we followed Dique's parents' advice and took a sightseeing ferry cruise around the entire island, around the Statue of Liberty, under every single bridge. It was a great way to see everything from a warm place where we could sit with some hot chocolate AND nachos. This was our touristy outing of the trip since we had already done Empire State Building, Lady Liberty, etc. in previous trips in our younger days. This way we got to see a lot but I got to stay off my feet. A win, win. The tour is narrated by a lovely older gent who sat near us the whole time and answered various questions. It was a super sunshiny day, and we had a great time.
That night was the highlight of the trip and, frankly, the main reason behind it: we saw The Book of Mormon and died a thousand deaths of laughter due to politically incorrect and raunchy humor. Oh my goodness. It was amazing. Created and written by the South Park guys and the fellow behind another favorite musical of ours, Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon is fully inappropriate and fully hilarious, you know, if you're into that kind of thing. We are. I highly recommend it to anyone who can get tickets - the tour is coming to San Francisco in the fall, too - though I'll admit our tickets were more expensive than our hotel bill. Hell, the tickets were even pricier than our airfare. But super worth it! We saw the evening show with the original cast, we had stellar seats and we beamed for days - weeks! - thinking about the songs and lyrics. Just so good.
Monday was our last full day and full it was! We started the morning with brunch at my godmother's home in Manhattan, riding the subway up past 100th street. It was so good to see her and her husband, still basking in newly-wedded bliss. We then hopped back on the train and rode it all the way down to 4th where we met one of Dique's old friends for a walk around Greenwich Village, SOHO and down Perry Street so I could see where one Carrie Bradshaw lived - or at least where they filmed all those Big and Carrie scenes.That 's right, still a Sex And The City fan, even if the second movie was ridiculous. Love that show, still. Oh, and we ate more pizza. It was great to see the city through the eyes of a friend, and thankfully the weather cooperated and we stayed warm and dry throughout. After saying our farewells we once again got on the subway to come back to "our neighborhood" and walked over to FAO Schwartz. We still didn't know what we were having, but we knew the baby needed a teddy bear. With our final NYC mission accomplished we walked home. It was getting dark and cold, we were both eager to get home to our doctor's appointment to find out about this baby and that's when we saw it. A restaurant on a side street around the corner from the hotel, though we hadn't seen it before. Desmond's. We took it as a sign - our little man was telling us something. Always with us, he is.
We love you, too, kiddo.
And so soon will he be truly here. Now that our New York adventure is behind us, we need to make ready for baby. That means I have a fun project ahead, stay tuned for nursery news! Boy oh boy, what fun!
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