Best of 2013

Best of 2013 List:

Sharon's Novels

(1) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
(2) The Birth House by Ami McKay
(3) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
(4) The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
(5) The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer


David's Books

(1) Native Son by Richard Wright
(2) Wild by Cheryl Strayed
(3) The Road Back by Michael Vitez
(2) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitgerald

Our Favorite Movie Rentals

(1) Just Another Love Story
(2) Let the Right One In
(3) This Is 40
(4) Sophie's Choice
(5) Infernal Affairs
(6) Rust and Bone
(7) What Have I Done to Deserve This?
(8) Bus 174
(9) Deliverance
(10) Holy Motors

Best Black and White Film Events @ United Palace Theatre in the Heights:

(1) Casablanca - We dressed up in a white jacket and evening gown and celebrated film returning to the Heights in this classic theater after 44 years

(2) It's a Wonderful Life - We sang Christmas carols "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and also "Buffalo Gals" before the movie

Favorite People/Places/Publications to follow on Twitter:
1. Lisa Bonchek Adams - @adamslisa
2. EarthPics - @Earth_Pics
3. Jesse Lasner - @Jesselasner
4. New York Magazine - @NYMag
5. KJ Dell'Antonia - @KJDellAntonia

Best Art Exhibits/Gallery Shows/Public Art

(1) WaterFire in Providence, Rhode Island
(2) 40 Part Motet @ The Cloisters
(3) Mike Kelley @ PS1 (one word: phenomenal)
(4) The Clock @ MOMA
(5) Caterpillar @ the High Line
(6) Behind the Screen Core Exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image

Best Broadway Show: Once

Best Family Event: Inflation Eve viewing of the Macy's Parade Balloons

Best TV Series: Boardwalk Empire (currently watching Season One on dvd)

Best Sporting Events: Yankees Game (MJ's first Yankees Game and they beat the Giants 6 - 0!)

Best Travel Destinations

(1) San Feliu, Spain
(2) Sintra, Portugal
(3) Perpignan, France
(4) Mystic, Connecticut
(5) Providence and Newport, Rhode Island

Best Vegan Restaurant: Blossom

Best Ice Cream: Oddfellows in Williamsburg (homemade waffle cones!) and Sugar and Plumm on the UWS

Best Vegan Ice Cream: Lula's Sweet Apothecary (RIP)

Best View of NYC: The 102nd Floor of the Empire State Building (staff let Alexi turn the crank to power the elevator up from the 86th to 102nd floor - Alexi's dream come true!)


Top 5 Reasons to Love New York City:

(1)Vegetarian/Vegan Food/Baked Goods - Whether dining out at restaurants, dining in on take-out, trying out the latest and greatest pizza (in Brooklyn at Julianna's!), tasting the best (and most unique) ice cream flavors in the city (Oddfellows), making homemade baby food for MJ from CSA fruits and veggies, or eating the latest and greatest cookies and cookie sandwiches, doissants, and freshly baked vegan cakes, NYC is the food capital of the world
(2) Washington Heights and Inwood Community: Picnics in Bennett and Fort Tryon Parks, Little Seed CSA,  Evening Playgroup, Harvest Festival, Easter Egg Hunt, Soccer and Fort Tryon Park Volunteering
(3) NYC Farmer's Markets - We were at the Union Square Farmer's Market monthly this year, and discovered two (new to us) Greenmarkets right in our 'hood: the Fort Washington and 175th Street Farmer's Markets
(4) New York Film Festivals - Tribeca Film Festival (Lenny Cooke), NY Film Festival @ Lincoln Center (About Time) and NY Documentary Film Festival (Breastmilk)
(5) School Choice - Progressive, Charter, Montessori, Private, Dual Language and Public - We love Alexi's school because it truly has a community feel and Sharon loves teaching at Bronx Prep

Fall Foliage Camping in Mystic and Providence

Our fall foliage camping trip this year took us to Mystic, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island.  We camped at KOA Mystic and stayed in a warm, heated cabin.

KOA Campsites are wonderful for children, offering fun crawling opportunities in the cabins for pre-walkers and limitless jumping opportunities for school-age children on the bouncing pillow.

David and Alexi enjoyed riding the banana bikes around our campsite and Sharon and Mateo are total foodies who love dining out at restaurants.
















Mateo loved both being worn by David as he scores a hole in one in mini-golf and getting dressed up to go to Leilani's birthday party at Billy and Romina's house.

We absolutely loved seeing WaterFire in Providence Rhode Island.  We got there in time to see the procession of light down from the state capital and the boats traveling around to light the individual bonfires in the water.











The following day we drove to Newport, Rhode Island, and loved being so close to the Atlantic Ocean.

The water and waves were actually pink which was quite amazing and beautiful to see.












We traveled to Newport to do the Cliff Walk, which is a 3.5 mile public access walkway that borders the shore line of Rhode Island.  










Alexi and I ventured down the 40 Steps and got this seaside view.

It is amazing to see and walk on the properties of ginormous mansions that belong to another era.  This National Historic Landmark is The Breakers, a Vanderbilt mansion located on Ochre Point Avenue.

Due to Hurricane Sandy about half of Cliff Walk is closed off, so we had to end our seaside hike a bit early.















On the last day of our fall foliage trip we had lunch at Mystic II Pizza (we ate at the original Mystic Pizza back in September 2010).













From there we headed for an afternoon to hang with the magnificent Beluga whales at the Mystic Aquarium.















At the Mystic Aquarium we also saw the penguins, touched the sting rays and explored The Titanic special exhibit.

We love being a family of four and look forward to continued adventures both here and abroad.

Spain 2013

We vacationed again this summer in San Feliu de Guixols, Spain.  This was Mateo's first time at Cap Ducal, and he loved being there surrounded by his family (though he had to show his NYC pride of course!).

The big difference in our trip to Spain this year was we rented a car!  Our trips down the hill to the beach and to town that used to involve a 20-30 minute walk now take a mere 5 minutes.  We definitely embraced car culture in Spain.

Alexi, as always, had a fabulous time in Spain.  This year he left the baby pool behind and spent all his afternoons in the big pool playing with Mami and the big kids.  Halfway through our trip Alexi jumped into the big pool all by himself and started swimming ladder to ladder.  He also jumped into the pool 101 times in a single afternoon!  Go Alexi!

Mateo spent time poolside also.  He went into the shallow pool in his baby float and spent lots of time napping in his own personal tent.

We spent most mornings at la playa.  Both boys enjoyed playing in the sand.  Surprisingly, Mateo did not try to eat the sand as Alexi had his first summer in Spain.  Alexi enjoyed building moats with Papi.

We had so much fun taking in the sand and surf at the beach.  There were some big Atlantic ocean size waves this year!

Every year we spend an evening each week in town, walking La Rambla, having a pizza dinner at Cibu, enjoying some ice cream and hanging out with our friends Nina and Sven who have a daughter Ana who is the same age as Alexi. 

We visited the home of David's dear friend Jordi Palleres in Vic on the occasion of his birthday party.  We were warmly welcomed as family.

One of our favorite destinations in Spain this summer was Castell, a beautiful, small beach a short drive from Cap Ducal.  It was recommended to us by our friend Gloria. 

 

We went to Castell two times and spent the entire day, swimming in the Mediterranean, eating lunch at a restaurant on the beach and going for walks with Mateo.  We even got to check out some Iberian ruins.

Alexi's favorite activities in Spain as a five year old were reading (in English and Spanish!) and riding his boogie board.

Since we had the car this year we took many day trips together as a family.  We spent one day visiting Girona and La Bisbal.  In Girona we climbed the medieval wall surrounding the city and were thrilled to find that the vegan restaurant we visited back in 2010, B*12, is still around and thriving.

Our last week in Spain we took a day trip to Perpignan, France.  We were psyched to so easily cross the border without showing any passports and be in another country.















In Perpignan we had lunch at a local outdoor cafe (pizza of course!) and then toured the Palace of the Kings of Majorca.

 

Next year Alexi will be swimming laps in the big pool with Mami and Mateo will be standing on his own tossing the ball with Papi in the baby pool.  We are already looking forward to Spain 2014!!!