I finished up my month in the States with a week in NYC. I haven’t been there for more than a day since I left 5 years ago to move to Florida with Joe and I wanted to wander around the city, meet friends for lunch and shop.

One my first day I had to make a stop at one of my favorite stores, the Cosmetic Market, in Midtown. I stocked up on all the makeup I can’t find in Spain and then headed over to my friend Christa’s office. For dinner Christa and I met up with our friend, Jessica who also works in Midtown Manhattan.

Dinner at Haru for some much needed Japanese food with Christa and Jess.

After dinner I headed for Lido Beach, Long Island to stay with my old college roommate and sorority sister, Marie. It was so good to see her and catch up on all our new stories.

The next day I headed back into the city to meet my friend Sarah for lunch at Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Building in Columbus Circle.

Sarah and I used to go to summer camp together as kids and teenagers and we moved to New York City around the same time after graduating college in 2001. We haven’t seen each other in 5 years and it was so good to catch up after all that time.

After lunch I headed over to Central Park to rest my feet and get some fresh air. Walking around NYC in all that humidity was doing a number on my feet so a rest in Central Park was just what I needed.

Sitting in Central Park brought back so many memories for me of my time in NY. I used to love going to the Park on the weekends with friends and stroll around looking for the perfect spot to lay down and read a magazine.  After a rest in the park I headed downtown to the West Village for dinner with another long-lost college friend, Cheryl.  A yummy dinner at Benny’s Burritos and dessert on the colorful MacDougal street before we parted ways.

The rest of my week was equally as great, spending time with Marie and relaxing, enjoying all the food I can’t get in Spain.

Once the weekend came, my parents came in from Pennsylvania so we could spend some time in New Jersey and Staten Island with relatives.  My mom was having another baby shower for me for all the family that couldn’t make it to the PA shower.

My mom, me and my Aunt Janet at my baby shower at the Olde Bermuda Inn in Staten Island, NY.

Some of my best friends from college live in NY now so they came to my NY shower instead of coming home to PA.  (From left to right) Christa and Joey went to PSU and we used to work at the Nittany Lion Inn together in college, Marie (my college roomie and sorority sister), and Jess (we went to high school and college together and lived in NY at the same time towards the end of my time in the city).

These ladies have known me for a long time.  (From left to right) Ellen and Eileen are some of my mom’s best friends from high school in Brooklyn, and Meryl and Irene were my co-workers when I worked in NY.

These lovely ladies are my relatives on my mom’s side.

And these lovely ladies are from my dad’s side of the family.

The rest of the weekend was spent catching up with family I had not seen since before I moved to Korea in Jan. 2007.  Hopefully Joe and I will be able to bring Tripp back to Pennsylvania and New York next summer to show him off to all our family.