NYC

Joe and I traveled to New York City last weekend, where he accompanied me as I worked on the last Harvest event of the year at Madison Square Garden. We decided to leave Gavs at home with his grandparents since we were only away for two nights, and Joe really wanted to be able to check out the event at The Garden (every man's sporting dream, I guess!). Surprisingly, after leaving Gavs for four nights while in Philly a few weeks ago, this trip wasn't as hard for me. If you remember, I boo-hooed my way through the last one. Of course, I missed the little guy, but it was REALLY nice to sit in a restaurant with my husband and not hear little grunting noises whilst in the middle of my entree. Although I did miss the coos and giggles.

We arrived in New York on Saturday afternoon and checked into the Sheraton Towers in Time Square before lunching at a local cafe called Maison. It was relaxing to chill out with some nice pate and salad before hustling across town to mega department store Century 21. I've wanted to visit Century 21 since before 9-11 (when it was closed for a while since it is literally across the street from Ground Zero) and I finally had my chance on this trip. Honestly...it wasn't all that. Why? New York. Saturday. Crowded. Hot. Same merch as Loehmann's and TJ Maxx, but with a $10 mark-up. You get my drift. I am a pretty good bargain shopper it turns out. We did find some pretty groovy L.A.M.B. sneakers for Gavin, as well as shoes for Joe and a belt for me, but that was about it. No worries, though. We had a great time checking out the merchandise.

Taking the recommendation of my friend Nicole, we dined at a new restaurant called Elattaria that evening. For those of you who follow foodie news, Elattaria is co-owned by two chefs from Craftbar. The space is incredible--warm wood, beamed ceiling, "French apartment" decor. The only odd part was the close proximity of the kitchen to the dining room. I would have preferred they be separated due to the small size of the restaurant. Regardless, the food was tasty (I had tagliatelle with pork shoulder and Joe had the bivette: read, skirt steak). Check it out the next time you're in New York; it's in Greenwich Village.

Sunday was our morning for sleeping in, except I did not really sleep since I kept waking up thinking I had to nurse Gavin. Arrrghhhh! How frustrating. But at least Joe got a good night's rest while I did some work. After a nice lunch and a walk down 5th Avenue, we headed for Madison Square Garden to get ready for the event that evening, which was the main purpose of our trip.

During a Harvest event, it's always amazing to see the stadium doors open and people flood inside, all of them there to hear a Gospel presentation and some good music. This is the fruit of more than a year's worth of work for more than 100 churches, and is a highlight each time. At the end of the evening, more than 1,300 in attendance made a commitment to Christ. Pretty cool.

As I continued my work late into the night back at the hotel, Joe decided to go in search of food for us since we felt it was morally wrong to pay $20 for a room service hamburger. Afterall, if you can't find food options in Manhattan at 11 p.m. (a.k.a. "the city that never sleeps), there's nothing more I can do for you. Joe decided to visit the food cart we had spotted the night before, just down the block from our hotel, since the line was wrapped around the block. It had to be good, right? It turns out that the cart on 53rd and 6th, called "The Original Halal", was serving up delicious morsels of lamb and chicken served on a bed of saffron rice, replete with hot sauce, dill yogurt, and lettuce. We decided on the spot that it was the best food we ate in New York, and for only $6 (be sure to click on the link for some interesting Yelp reviews of the cart).

Alright, I know I'm overdoing it on the food talk, but I don't get out a lot right now so bear with me. I could tell you about Mercer Kitchen (pretty mundane) and our visit to the MacLaren showroom (Joe wanted to check out the Spitfire stroller. Don't ask.), but I want to be sure to save some stories for later. Later.