1. Matt and I FINALLY went out to celebrate our anniversary last weekend. We went for a sunset sail around the southern tip of Manhattan on a schooner with a dozen or so other people. The boat set sail from the pier just west of the World Financial Center (a really beautiful new neighborhood, by the way...lacking in general NY old character and grittiness, but so *pretty* and clean). We got there early enough to listen to a swing band perform out by the water, then spent two hours contentedly sailing. It was really, really fun and a fantastic way to spend some nice romantic, beautiful and low-key time together. I forgot the camera, but it may be better that I did, since I also lost my metro card to the ocean at some point.
2. Another afternoon/evening Naomi and I were at Carl Schurz and happened upon a GREAT concert by Martha Redbone. I'd never heard of her, but loved her soul/funk/rock/you-name-it music. Again no camera, but lots of fun.
3. We also went to the Bronx Botanical Garden last weekend while Matt was at work (unfortunately he is having to work a fair amount again...). This was also really cool (and I did bring my camera), especially because it is JUST SO ENORMOUS that we really only visited about a sixth of the gardens in the two hours we were there. The only down side was that it took ten years to get there on the subway, and twelve years to get back on the train. Oh to have a car in times like these....!!! I can't really think of a good solution to the problem...the botanical garden is only a few miles away, but renting a car is prohibitively expensive, and riding a bike through the chaos of the South Bronx doesn't seem like a great option either. Maybe next time we'll just take a cab, or go on a weekday when the trains run more frequently. Still, the Henry Moore sculptures scattered throughout the garden were really cool, and Naomi and I made friends with a little family we spent most of the day with, which was fun.
4. We have a new babysitter we think is fantastic. Naomi really likes her. I like her, Matt likes her. We're happy. Plus, an additional upside is she's really very flexible about hours...so I had the option last week of going to two evening classes, then coming home around two o'clock the other three days to spend the afternoon with Naomi. This is really, really a major plus for me, and something we didn't have at all with our last babysitter (and couldn't really ask for from daycare).
