Vacation, all I ever wanted….

Vacation have to get away… to the central American country of Belize (formerly British Honduras). This was Jean’s and my first official international voyage, and I do mean voyage. We stayed on a tiny island, Caye Caulker, 45 minutes from the mainland accessible only by water taxi.

This tiny place, which was probably like 4 miles around, has a few small hotels a number of hostels and several small shops and restaurants- that’s it. Most days we sat in the sun drinking fresh juice and relaxing, others we got a change to explore a little both on the island and on the mainland. I went on the most awesome snorkeling trip and saw some gorgeous coral and fishes and, since I’m hooked on the tropical beach vacation, gave Jean a few swimming lessons so he can join in next time.

 

 

 

 

I should also add that on Caye Caulker it’s happy hour every day until 8pm- so drinks are 2 for 1. And at $6 per rum punch, and a 2 to 1 conversion rate for dollars, you’re basically getting drinks for $1.50. It’s almost wrong NOT to order a pitcher. Oh and they have like 20 different types of TANG, like tamarindo, lima, duranzo/peach, mixed berry, coconut, cinnamon— so awesome. Jean tried to make fun of me for wanting to try them all- but when we got home and I made the Kracken Rum Punch with fruit punch flavored Tang- it was all smiles.

One Year

In a lot of ways a year is an arbitrary measure of time, but we ascribe a lot of meaning to it- especially when it comes to anniversaries.  For me, knowing that we survived a year is nearly as surprising as when we survived 6 months or 8 weeks. I spent a lot of time at the beginning of our relationship waiting for the floor to drop out, waiting for Jean to want something from me, waiting for him to reveal that he wasn’t the man I thought he was. That never happened. Our relationship has had it’s ups and downs, fun and not so fun times, and it’s grown magically and beautifully.  The floor is still here, and sturdy, and knowing I can stand on it fills me with so much gratitude.

Year One :Jean

so I joked with Rebekkah the other day about if I thought we would make it this far, and I said that I thought that she would have gotten tired of me by now.

 

 

 

I think that the thing that most excites me about being with her is she is very smart.  Yeah i know that sounds like a cop out, but check it.  She knows exactly how to make me laugh when needed, knows exactly how to be supportive but not be a crutch for my continued madness, …….she has adapted to me pretty well, and I have learned how to count on her.

 

We have managed to survive three trips together, a hurricane, netflix addiction, and still managed to have fun.  I couldnt imagine the last 365 without her.

 

 

The Birthday Weekend

so isn’t it convenient?   Her birthday is two days after mine…..and they are hovering around the weekend this year……so why not plan a long weekend?

 

Unfortunately, it all had to be planned with me still suffering from Bell’s palsy.  Tough time responding to “Cheese!’ when you can’t move the left side of your face. oh well, worse things.

Thursday night was my bday night, and it was all about drinks at Katra.  we had a nice turnout of my friends and a couple of Rebekkah’s as we chatted and laughed the night away.  Later, it was hanging out in Brooklyn Bowl while Biz markie dee-jayed for the crowded dance floor.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday was all about RE-LAX-ING!  It was our spa day, courtesy of Body by Brooklyn.  They did their thing.  we were a little skeptical because of some questionable reviews but we were pleased.  I actually got a good face message, which helped my condition a bit. I don’t think that there was a better idea for that day.  The evening came, and we sat down for dinner and music at Brooklyn Academy of Music.  We worked our way over a nice wine bar, and toasted at midnight to Rebekkah’s day.

 

Saturday night was the tale of two dinners as Rebekkah and her bestie dined in Manhattan, and I ate it up in BK with my friends.  We met up later with a group at Madame X lounge.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday was another group get-together with friends…..a Bossa Nova brunch at SOB’s.    music and sangria made for a good time, and an end to a busy weekend with my lady.

Celebrate we will…

for life is short, but sweet for certain.

This was Jean’s and my first holiday season together- kinda like baby’s first Christmas- only without the personalized ornaments. A few weeks before Christmas I was on a business trip in California and I returned home to find that Jean had decorated my apartment- including putting up 2 trees, with lights, stockings, ornaments and presents. It was amazing. In things less amazing and more cheezy- I purchased us Christmas tshirts in lieu of tacky holiday sweaters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For New Year’s we went to dinner at Pane e Vino, this newer spot on Smith Street. After a lovely meal, we went over to Prospect Park with a bottle of bubbly to watch the fireworks. The show was great, mostly because we were so close to the launch point. The booms were so loud that you felt the vibrations in your body- defs the top 10 of fireworks shows I’ve ever seen. Add to that a nice prosecco, an unseasonably warm January morning and an attractive man to kiss- I really couldn’t ask for anything more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rounded out the holiday season with a walk through Rockefeller Center for a  look at the tree and the store windows at Saks as well as a tour of houses with overboard totally tacky light displays aka the “true” meaning of christmas– wattage.

 

 

5 points

So do you live in New York City?  Have you been to all five boroughs(or boros)?  Have you been to all of them in one day?  I was able to answer the first two of the three for a bunch of years now, but I came with the plan for us to do an eating tour while visiting all five boros in one days.  Aggressive? yes.  Crazy? Yeah, when we tell the story we do get those looks but we pay high rent so we need to take advantage of the city.

We started at about 1pm on a Saturday(late, as I realized later), at a Mexican Bakery and restaurant called La Flora.  There were a ton of beufitul drawings of flowers around the place, and some flowars depicted through nice broken tile art.  The food we had was a good way to compliment the brunch mood that we were in.

Next, We took a voyage to the boogie down Bronx for some Jamaican patties.  I was fairly familiar with the area from  work,and Rebekkah told me of friends that she had in the area.  We made our way to Champions Bakery for a of their patties and some drinks.  Rebekkah had a bottle of Ting, and I had some Irish moss, which she was surprised that I liked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Rebekkah hadn’t been on the Staten Island Ferry before, we opted to use that method of transport to get on the island from Manhattan.   We trudged along and made it with some effort to a Sri Lankan place called New Asha.  This place was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s TV show.   We LOVED the food here. Dal, fish and other goodies.

We had tried to eat light at each location but we indulged here, which pushed Rebekkah to wonder if we could endure two more boros.  We went back to manhattan and got some cookies from a bakery called Milk and Cookies.

Being that it was 9pm, We were confident that we could make a quick drive to downtown BK fo0r some appetizers.

Our last stop was a Mediterranean restaurant called Zaytoon’s.  The decor there was beautiful and it was pretty quiet for a Saturday night.

We munched on a ladyfinger and some appetizers, and called it a good night. Five boros done at 1030pm.

M.I.A.

 

My friends Leslie and Andrew got married in Miami on 11/11/11. I was afraid for Jean to come to the wedding with me at first since we had to RSVP back in September and our relationship was still really new at that point- but months later we spent the weekend in Miami doing wedding stuff and hanging out with family and friends and it was all good.

Jean even bought a new blue pinstripe suit to wear to the ceremony. I was surprised how good he looked in it- especially since he picked it out himself. I think sometimes I underestimate him. I’ll work on that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jean’s sister and her children live in Boca, so we drove up there to surprise them one night. I found it hilarious that his oldest sister calls him Junior- and refers to him as Uncle Junior.

All in all it was a full weekend, friends, family, cafe con leche, black cake and one of those new gunmetal color Nissan Ultimas that don’t need real keys. I kept asking Jean if he would ever be interested in moving down there- where it’s warm all year round and pastel-colored houses are affordable- but he was not as sold on the pleasantries of southern Florida as I was (except for the cars).

Fall folliage

One the first Sunday in November, we went to Cunningham Park in Queens.  This was peak time for all the beautiful colors that fall has to offer.

I think that when you catch everything at the right time, its all beautiful.  Rebekkah is so smart.  She has all the types of trees figured out by the types of leaves, which we collected as we walked along.

Cunningham Park has what is somewhat of a secluded forrest just of the road.  That is where all of the magic begins. I think I walked into some thorns, but I am ok.   I like the beauty that fall brings along with the mystery.  When you hear the leaves scraping the street as they blow in the wind, its almost music, or a creppy scene out of a movie. In just a few weeks, Winter will surface and all of the trees will look like bony hands except for snow days.

San Gennaro and Halloween

On an unseasonably warm September evening Jean and I decided to check out Little Italy’s San Gennaro festival. While this day commemorates the feast day of a saint whose miracle is blood liquefaction, not much of that was mentioned- just your standard Italian American stereotypes from   sausage and peppers to canollis and the fist pumping Staten Island contingent.

We walked a bit, marveled at the tourists, and eventually picked a restaurant for dinner- the highlight of which included a waiter cleaning an entire table with one arm. After dinner we decided to check out some of the carnival games. We passed a booze truck Jean got a “piña colada”  drink with “rum” in a blue lady cup (free refills!). It was a good dinner and a great night of people watching. Not sure why they need 9 days of that though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as people watching goes, Halloween is certainly the best occasion to do that. Add costumes to a random snowstorm and the fact that on even a regular Saturday the freaks come out at night- you have the perfect storm of weird. Jean and I went a club with some friends. Halloween is Jean’s favorite holiday- he plans his costumes like a year in advance. This year he was a genie, but everyone kept calling him Shazam (Kazaam).

Labor Day Weekend part 2

There are days of the year, like Chirstmas and birthdays, when certain friends or family members rise to the occasion as if they were quarterbacks leading a fourth quarter comeback.  Labor Day brunches are those days for Rebekkah.  She puts together these awesome meals and drink combinations which leaves the invited group to be merry and mellow.  This was my first year participating, so I expected a lot and got a lot.

Of course, the day centers around the West Indian Parade on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.  It is a celebration of Carribean culture that usually draws about 2 million observers.  Rebekkah did her thing, cooking up pancakes with maple rum syrup, quiche, hush puppies and other treats.  To go with that, she quenched our thirsts with coconut rum mixed with coconut water, along with other rum based drinks.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, which made everything even more awesome.   I was Rebekkah’s special helper throughout the day, making sure things stayed on track.(not like she isn’t a one woman show).

The parade itself was loud and crowded as usual, but was also beautiful.