metropolitan

this is one of the most photographic spots there is. there is a post below so read that too.

life in the city

 

This right here, is why I love this city. Look at that. This has been such a beautiful summer up until this point. Though there have been some ridiculously hot days...and some serious humidity...overall, it has been so beautiful. Last week, Julie and I did one of my favorite things, which is to spend time on the Brooklyn Bridge. This time though, to make it even better, we went over to Brooklyn to Grimaldi's and got this incredible pizza and took it with us on the bridge and ate some dinner there together right on the bridge. It was an absolutely beautiful evening.

 

When we got there, the sun was just setting, so we got to see the sunset with the skyline in front of it.

 

This little hole in the wall has some of the best pizza I have ever had.

 

Here we are dining on the bridge. I gotta say that is one of my favorite things about living here in New York. It is basically like, you want it, you got it. You want authentic Italian pizza on the Brooklyn Bridge, you got it. You want a little Shakespeare in Central Park you got it, you want a little BO wiff when you walk past someone on a hot day, you got it...and so on. We are having an incredible summer...work is going great for both of us. I am working with Noah and really enjoying it, and Julie is temping and finds herself in all sorts of offices from hedge funds to banks, to you name it.
We had a great trip up to Boston, but Saydi has the pics and I haven't got them yet. Mom and Dad were here last week, and now Josh is here. So we are definately keeping busy. I have been helping Noah remodel his bathroom over the last week or so and I must say it looks quite nice. And to put icing on the cake. Kristi had her baby girl this morning at like 7. We (me, Julie, Tal, and Josh) were all over for dinner last night, and all was perfectly fine. Noah has been guessing for weeks, that the baby would come on June 30. And he must be able to read the future or something, cause this morning I got a message that they were at the hospital and Kristi was about to have the baby. So, I am here with McKay while we wait for Kristi to rest a bit, then I get to take McKay to the hospital to meet his new little sister!
Life is good in New York.

marriage/new york/you have a fire/mugginess

this has to be one of my favorites from the wedding. how beautiful does julie look. i love seeing julie every day and thinking wow that is my wife. i can't believe how time flies. it seems like just a minute ago that i was sitting there taking this picture with my beautiful wife of a couple hours. now all the sudden it has been nearly a month and half and we are here sweltering in Microwave City aka New York City. it was 97 today with enough humidity to make your body wonder if you are at the center of the earth or something. the good news is...it will be 98 tomorrow.

but who am i to complain. i am here in my favorite place with my favorite person. it has been so incredible to experience all of this with julie. here in new york, on our own, walking into this whole marriage thing. we learn so much about each other each day, and things just keep getting better. i am loving her a little more every day. it is so crazy to go from being single, (being your own self, doing what you want, when you want) to being married where suddenly you aren't making decisions for yourself anymore, you are making decisions two. what an incredible transition it is. so fun in so many ways, so tough in a couple of ways, but mainly just an awesome ride and a part of our lives that julie and i will certainly never forget.

it is so amazing to always have someone to turn to for advice. or to turn to tell a story, or someone just to talk to. and to know that that person loves you as much as you love them. it is just something you can't really imagine until you are there in the moment. all of you married people who are reading this are probably like "man just wait for this or that, or you don't know what the heck you are talking about" but really, i am just telling you what i am experiencing.

it has been an awesome week, and couple of weeks now that we have been here. one of my mission companions and his wife were in town, had some fun with them catching up. mark, one of my best buddies from childhood was here with his dad as they were passing through on their way home from europe. we have had a lot of fun with noah an kristi, including a trip to Hershey PA for some good chocolate, a sweet 1.5 star hotel, getting into Hershey Park for free (a theme park there with some wicked awesome roller coasters, we asked like 30 people to let us in for free, finally someone gave in and let us in (tix were 60 bucks a pop) so we lucked out), and some awesome amish country and amish people. see the pics below.

one quick story, the other day, julie and i went out for our "sweet we made it throuhg the first month of marriage" dinner at this awesome thai place that julie found. anyway so the food was awesome, there was this greek guy and his girlfriend sitting next to us, probably in the 50s or so. and throughout dinner they asked a couple questions about nyc and the states as this was their first trip. so julie, got up to go the bathroom and while she was gone, the guy asked me if i knew any night clubs in the area where they could go have a drink. i tried my best to think of somewhere to send him (really had no idea what i was talking about (i gave up clubbing in 9th grade). anyway so he is in the middle of sentence in a thick accent and he says in the same tone "you have a fire," and i was like "what?" then again he says, "you have a fire" in a total monotone voice. just then i see something out of the corner of my eye. my napkin was on fire. i picked it up and tried to shake it out which just made the flame bigger. so i had a pretty nice fire going in the restaurant when this sweet asian dude comes running over and just like me, he picks up the napkin and shakes it, only to make the flame a little bigger. so then he grabs my big glass of water and starts dumping it all over the the table, and finally the fire went out. it was hilarious though, you kind of had to be there. but just imagine a monotone accented voice saying "you have a fire" then the confusion or a big fire on your table and then an asian guy dumping your water all over the table. that might make you chuckle a little. and oh ya, the cause was that i accidentally pushed the napkin over the candle where it was sitting.

so anyway life is awesome here in new york. it is hot and muggy, but that is all part of the experience. thank goodness for cold showers and refridgerators. not thank goodness for B.O. and the nasty smells that the heat does to garbage bags on the street. here is a pic or two of the hershey adventure, more pics to come when i load them on my computer. hope life is beauty in your neck of the woods.