Our Tales of Two Cities: Celebrations galore

Happy Summer from the city!

I just got back from Amsterdam...yup, awesome...that's my next blog post, but in the meantime there has been lots of celebrating in NYC! Governor Cuomo signed the same-sex marriage bill the same weekend of the New York Gay Pride festival and parade and it was the 4th of July! Both of these things mean LOADS of people coming into the city, crowded sidewalks, parks, packed restaurants, and of course more street trash and noise.

I live in "The Village" in nyc...then if you really want to get down to neighborhoods, I live in "West Village"...the village includes East Village which is a little more grungy and rough around the edges, Greenwich Village which includes NYU, famous high end Bleecker Street shopping, and home to famous artists, music venues, and the epicenter for the bohemian movement. West Village is primarily residential with tree lined streets and small restaurants and shops. Quiet, quaint, friendly, and cozy :) The village has always been known for it's gay population, so the parade runs right by our street and the crowd is everywhere. Because the same sex bill was passed on Saturday night...things seemed even a little more rowdy than usual. The festival brings a lot of people in from outside the city that wouldn't normally celebrate gay rights so there's a lot of police on hand and you need to be pretty aware of your surroundings when out and about. Still though...Saturday night in New York is a Saturday night in New York...there's always tons of people out. Sunday was spent watching the parade crowd below from my friend's balcony (drinking games with "drink every time you see a creatively placed rainbow" may have been involved)...here's a link to some of the scene.

Nick was in Bologna, Italy and Amsterdam, Netherlands during the week to have meetings with two clients...then I took an overnight flight to meet him in Amsterdam for a 4 day weekend.

Nick and I made it back from Amsterdam just in time to celebrate the 4th of July in New York! Macy's puts on a "4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR"...what doesn't Macy's sponsor...over the Hudson River. We are lucky enough that we live 2 blocks from the Hudson River park which was prime viewing location. (mostly lucky b/c we wouldn't have put any more effort into seeing the extravaganza) It was PACKED with people...we showed up around 8pm and barely found a spot on the boardwalk along the railing. Luckily it was just enough space for us to put a blanket down, eat some dinner, let Cole greet the people around us and chill for a bit. Just to give you some perspective, the Hudson River park runs along the west side of Manhattan island from 59th street to Battery Park and has a bike and running path, a boardwalk with tons of trees, benches, lawns, and dog parks, along with piers that have lawns, playgrounds, tennis courts, volleyball sand pits, soccer fields, basketball courts, and a recent discovery of mine....putt putt! It's awesome....it's where we walk Cole daily. There were also a ton of boats and yachts in the water, some were really rockin with club music. Fireworks started at 9:30pm and by that time there wasn't a space around us to stand! They shot off synchronized fireworks from 6 barges along the river. It was a great show! Cole did great too...made friends with everyone and licked all the little kids around us. Nick and I swear that he's the only way most of the people in our neighborhood know us, haha.

Love from the city!