A friend gave me a few pieces of 2T clothes, the best of which was this princess nightgown. Tatum absolutely adores it and also has been refusing to sit in her high chair as of late. I pick my battles.
CASTLE! She is really proud and since building this at Imagination Playground has obsessed over castles at home too. Tonight at dinner she lined up her milk cup, water bottle, yellow fork and bowl of noodles and announced "CASTLE, mama!" with those same two fingers of victory.
To get a tour at the Federal Reserve you have to book tickets within like the first 5 minutes of the date opening. When Scott went on, this Tuesday afternoon tour was the only one available, and once on the tour people were telling us how they got up at 3 and 4am just to reserve spots. They were interested (and likely miffed) that a child got one of the cherished 25 spots. Our tour guide was really good. Knew her facts and was interesting to listen to, focusing on impressive stats and fun facts. We learned all sorts about the US economy and security of the gold bars in the cellar. It is SUPER safe down there, and luckily they were taking inventory on our day, so we got an even better look! Each gold bar has different quality and value, and the US stores them for free as a gesture of goodwill to other countries. Our country destroys an equivalent of $4 million/DAY in torn and old bills. And also, our tour guide was really proud and mentioned more than once that the new chair of the Board of Governors is Janet Yellen, a female. When we were thanking the guide afterward for a spectacular tour, Scott commented on what a thrill it is to have Janet serving in this position, especially in this financial "boys club." Our guide was so pleased with Scott, flattered and proud, then offered him her business card and an invite to get in touch with his classmates from Columbia for a tour in the future. And this, my friends, is why Scott is loved by his professors.
Then Wednesday, zoo day. We hadn't made it to the "pay what you want" day at the Bronx zoo yet, and since it was nice weather we decided we'd better seize the day. Scott's classes are primarily at night and on the weekends, so a 2-3 hour activity during the days breaks up the studying and then he usually heads straight to the library or school for class after.
T's favorite were the giraffes! She just stared and stared. When I told Scott I'd like to go on an African safari, he replied "Me too, I think that will be a lot of fun! It's near the top of my list too." Tatum piped in, "I go too, Mama! I coming too!" Ha, we'll have to see, child.
The girl is a ham. I'm really enjoying these outside days because I remember all too well what a New York winter locked inside feels like.
Thursday we visited our friend's new baby boy! He is such a sweet little guy. And for the entire (maybe 45 minutes) we were there he never made one peep or fuss, he was awake and happy and perfect. May this be a foreshadowing of my future. Good job Joanna and Mike, he is precious!
Not the best pic, but "Fry Rice" is a Hathaway staple. Whenever I make rice for another dish I'm always sure to make more so we'll have some leftover for fried rice. Special green bottle sauce, plenty of cilantro, egg, green onion, tomato, more special green bottle sauce. It's all about building the flavor as you go. And adding fresh herbs at the end.
I present, my first attempt at the braided crown! I'm getting pretty bored with my hair these days, so this morning I pulled up a tutorial and got to work. (Side note: It has taken many years to get to this point, but Tatum does sometimes play independently enough for me to do projects of my own without a constant watch on her. I thought this day would never come, but it has!) I thought the braid went fairly well, but Scott says I better do some more practice before I wear it out. This, in conjunction with my friends #40cakesproject has inspired me to do 30 days of all different hair styles. Some simple, some elaborate. I figure I'm going to have hair to do every day of my life so I'd better get some skills. The only real requirement for it to count for my #30hairstylesproject is that I will wear it out of the house. I imagine I'll post a few to instagram, but the thought of so many selfies is stressing me out, so I'll probably post them in photo strips of 5 or so here on the blog.
Scott found Yonah Schimmel Knishery on Yelp so we went to the Lower East Side to check it out. Having Scott home is REALLY keeping me moving. He is totally wearing me out. Every day is something. I knew I married a mover, but some days I just need a break. But with his alluring agenda I always manage to pull myself together and come along.
This is the spinach knish. It is basically potato, onion, cheese and in this case, spinach, all wrapped in a very thin bread dough and baked. It was pretty good with some salt. It's a Jewish specialty. I'd eat it again, but I'm not adding it to my NY tour list.
But Katz deli on the other hand? Now that's a pastrami sandwich! The place was mayhem! Absolute mayhem. Crowded as crowded gets, huge slabs of meat flying around, pickles, mustard, the works. Jewish deli at it's finest. The pastrami was everything it is hyped up to be, and it better be at $20/sandwich. Yikesorama.
And for the best story of the week: We were just walking through the streets of the East Village and perusing the stands when I came upon these glasses. I acted nonchalant even though I really loved them, mostly because of the gold arms (is that what the sides are called?) and how they are small so they actually fit snugly around the side of my face instead of slipping or falling off every time I look down into my purse to get a dry diaper. Anyway, I acted like I didn't even care, and Scott was like "Wow those look really good on you." Then T pulled 3 glasses off the rack and this wandering vendor from like 3 shops down suddenly appeared acting like this was his shop too. I put all the glasses back and asked for the price as I wheeled Tatum away from the scene. The glasses were $10. After paying $20 for a single sandwich, it wasn't really the right climate for me to spend another $10, even though I recognize that is cheap for a pair of good lookin' sunglasses.
If you don't care about sunglasses, don't read on. I just feel really victorious about this and am mostly posting this story for my mom, who will probably be equally as proud.
So we leave the stand as quickly as possible to wander over through the Irish Tenement Museum. Ten minutes in I mention to Scott, "Maybe I should go hang out in that Starbucks and send you with $10 cash to get a head start on my birthday shopping?!" He was like "What are you talking about? I don't get it." He'd totally forgotten all about the whole experience and honestly didn't know I was alluding to the glasses. So I said "Forget it, I'm taking $5 cash and going to just ask. If he says yes I get the glasses, if he says no then I'll know I tried and have no regrets." He's like "Your birthday isn't for a while, and we are coming into winter. We just had an expensive lunch..." trying to discourage me. But I know that $5 is ONE round trip subway ride and I was going to go for it. So I head over there and walk toward the shop with a long, confident stride and shy smile. I've had a lot of experience negotiating with vendors... I find the man and just say "Hi... I went through my wallet and I just have $5, do you think that'll be enough to buy the glasses?" The truth is, I really did just have $5, and I don't want to be a big spender, so that really is all I was willing to pay. I think they can tell when you are serious about walking away. He said "Oh no... that won't even cover the cost..." So I flashed a not so shy smile and turned my body toward the glasses. He beat me over there, grabbing the exact pair I'd tried on and handed them over, "for you pretty girl, $5." And that is how it's done.
And when I came back across the street toward Scott wearing the glasses, he grabbed them off of me saying, "You got them? Give me those! I'm wrapping them up for your birthday!" Ha, yeah right, Good try!
We came home worn out (me) and wired (Tate), ready for the weekend. (Read: Scott in school so we can get a rest!!)
