-Lucas & Shannon
Awhile ago when my Aunt and Uncle treated us to the wonderful evening in NYC they told us about a great tv show called New Amsterdam…
“In 1642, John Amsterdam, then a Dutch soldier in the colony of New Amsterdam – later to become New York – stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native American girl during a massacre of her tribe. The girl in turn rescued Amsterdam, weaving an ancient spell that conferred immortality upon him. Amsterdam will not age until he finds his one true love.”
Lucas and I were both enthralled with it because they do a bunch of flashbacks of NYC through the years and the main character weaves his way into a lot of history. Unfortunately the show was one a little over a year ago and only survived through 8 episodes. But thanks to the powers of hulu.com you can watch all the episodes for free. So if you need something new to watch during the dire tv situation called summer programming, try out New Amsterdam. Ok now I feel like I’m pitching a product to you but really it is just a good show that has some interesting history/stories to it. Enjoy!
-Shannon
Outside my window… is a beautiful summer day with warm weather (finally).
I am thinking… about what I should do this weekend and realizing that this time next week I will be off for 6 weeks!
I am thankful for… Lucas and his unending support in life.
From the kitchen… will come nothing tonight. :) Can you say “leftovers”?
I am wearing… comfy capris and a t-shirt.
I am creating… some new scrapbook pages…although they have been a long time coming.
I am going… to go to NYC tomorrow to enjoy summer in the city. But we might just sleep in and enjoy the day here. :)
I am reading… The Devil in the White City…very good so far.
I am hoping… that the rain will continue to hold off so we can begin to have a summer.
I am hearing… Lucas watching tv in the other room.
Around the house… cleaning needs to be done but not too much. :)
One of my favorite things… from today is the yummy cake I was treated to after lunch.
A few plans for the rest of the week… maybe the day in the city, church on Sunday, naps when needed.
Feel free to share your day as well. :)
-Shannon
I promised I would share some pictures from our afternoon in the city so here they are. Lucas wanted to take me around the village and the area he stayed at for almost a week. I loved poking my head around the neighborhood and these narrow streets with little traffic are definitely my kind of NYC.
Here is the building that Lucas stayed in. His room was on the back side of the building and his window looked out onto a little garden…
When Lucas came home from his time in the city last Wednesday, he brought with him a present…cupcakes from this wonderful place…
We grabbed some dinner at a little Middle Eastern restaurant and headed down to Hudson River Park to enjoy it. Thankfully it only sprinkled a bit during dinner and then stopped for the evening. After dinner we spent the rest of our time walking along the water’s edge making our way from 14th street to Battery Park.
We ended our journey with views of the harbor and then headed back home. Hopefully this Saturday we will have good weather because we plan to head back in and spend the day exploring some new neighborhoods.
-Shannon
P.S. Katie won 10 bonus points for guessing “Summer in the City” by Regina Spektor. :)
My sister passed on a link from NPR for Regina Spektor’s new album, Far. I love Regina…her musicality, lyrics, everything. So I thought I would share this with you on here…
Enjoy!
-Shannon
It has been a long time since my last post and since then there have been quite a few life changes that have been happening. One of my closest friends here in Princeton moved away and I am still missing her every day. We have seen that sorrow and joy walk hand in hand and have been experiencing this first hand. And while it doesn’t quite feel like summer here (our average high temp has been around 75 degrees with lots of rain), Lucas and I are still trying to enjoy our summer in the city.
Lucas spent most of last week in Greenwich Village as part of his field education through the UMC GBGM. After his time in the village he was excited to show me around so yesterday we headed in for the afternoon. We just wandered around and walked along Hudson Park. It was nice to top off a relaxing weekend with a quick trip into the city.
In a few weeks I’ll have 6 weeks off from my job at CTI. We close down for the summer since we have no scholars during that time. I am definitely looking forward to the time off and then our summer in the city will really begin. :)
I’ll share some pictures from our quick trip into the city sometime soon but for now I’ll leave you with a shot from the city…
-Shannon
*P.S. Bonus Points to the first person who can name what song I’m referencing in the title…
When my Aunt and Cousin visited we spent Sunday morning exploring Ellis Island. Even though I had recently visited I decided to check out places I hadn’t seen before. So here are some of my favorite pictures from the day…
This was in the display room that is mainly for kids but I enjoyed this American flag that as you walk past it changes to become the faces of America…
More views from the inside…
And a few from the outside…
Most of Ellis Island has not been renovated and so you see it just as it has always been. I loved poking around the old buildings and thinking of all the history that surrounds this place…
I find that I am simply amazed by Ellis Island. I don’t know of any of my family that passed through these walls but I love imagining the lives that these people were leaving and starting by coming to America. I actually find the entire history of NYC to be really fascinating. I am captivated by the brave people who journeyed so far to find a land they could call home. And even though this poem is more closely associated with the Statue of Liberty, I love the words that Emma Lazarus wrote in
The New Colossus…
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A might woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. ”Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddles masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I life my lamp beside the golden door!”
-Shannon
This past week my Aunt Shirley and cousin Carrie visited us as part of Carrie’s high school graduation trip! Neither one of them had ever been to NYC so I had fun showing them around and they even headed into the city on their own for a day. This past weekend the three of us girls stayed in the city at the New York Helmsley Hotel while Lucas enjoyed a weekend at home by himself. We all enjoyed dinner out on Friday night followed by the amazing experience of seeing The Lion King on Broadway.
On Saturday we headed out for the day and quickly came upon a little street fair…
We made our way up 5th Avenue stopping at the Library…
…St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Tiffany’s and eventually making our way to Central Park…
On Sunday morning we headed off to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And even though I had just visited these places with Lucas’ parents I still enjoyed looking around and catching new views…
After our weekend in the city we headed down to Philadelphia for the afternoon on Monday.
After our quick stop at Independence Mall I dropped them off at their hotel for the night and then they flew back home to Missouri yesterday. It was such a great visit and I’m so glad I got to spend some extended time with them especially as Carrie heads off to Williem Jewell College this fall. I love you two!
-Shannon
Earlier this spring we had an amazing day of weather. The day had been fairly cool with a ton of rain. In the evening the rain finally let up and the air warmed a bit with some afternoon sun. Lucas and I noticed lots of fog outside and decided to take an even stroll. This is what we saw…
Keep in mind there normally is no water around the golf course…
I’ve never seen water here before…
And just to give you some perspective, here is shot I took a few days earlier…
…and that evening…
Again, before…
…and after…
And don’t worry, by the next day most of the water had cleared out.
-Shannon
This past weekend my Aunt Dodo (her real name is Gloria but we call her Dodo…long story) and Uncle Mike came into town to visit NYC. They lived on Governor’s Island (right beside Manhattan) for two years when my uncle was in the Coast Guard. They have always enjoyed the city and hadn’t visited in quite a long time. So after a conference in Maryland they headed our way and treated us to a night in the city! We stayed at the Marriot Marquis (seriously, check out the website) on Times Square and our room was A-MA-ZING! I arrived before Lucas and enjoyed a little down time in our room…
Here was the view from our room…
We spent our evening eating and drinking the night away by enjoying the Broadway Lounge overlooking Times Square followed by dinner at The View, the only revolving restaurant in NYC. Our food was wonderful and we leisurely enjoyed our three course dinner over some bottles of wine. Both of these place were in the hotel so we spent most of our time there. However, after dinner we did enjoy a quick walk over to Rockefeller Center…
The next day Lucas headed back to a retreat he was on for his summer field education so I spent the morning wandering around the city by myself. But not before taking a few more shots from our wonderful room…
This is inside the hotel…
What a wonderful treat! Thanks Aunt Dodo and Uncle Mike!
-Shannon
