falling apart at the seams

When it rains, it pours.

At least it did in our bathroom last night. Water was bubbling up behind the paint in two spots–we were experiencing heavy rains–and when Andrew cut them open, water trickled down the wall. Andrew did some ‘exploratory drilling’ and sure enough, he found wet drywall and wood. Thankfully, it does appear localized to a small section of the bathroom and Andrew thinks he’s identified the problem: our crappy aluminum roof.

Fantastic.

Andrew’s already looking at roof work and siding for this summer…and that’s in addition to the mandatory garage project so we can actually PUT our cars in there.

And just when I thought the dust was (mostly) confined to the downstairs…

…it managed to get INSIDE my medicine cabinet when Andrew was dealing with the wall. Because I needed MORE dust in my life right now.

And this happened MOMENTS after Andrew said to me, “Let’s just get this house moved into and hang some pictures and finish the pantry and kitchen and really make you feel like this is your home.” Well, add the bathroom to the list!

I’ll be honest; the house isn’t just falling apart at the seams (it’s not really); Andrew and I are in a tough spot right now. Between runny noses and tears, we went through an ENTIRE box of tissues just the other night during a ‘discussion.’

If you’re praying folk, we’d appreciate some liftin’ up. Andrew is still feeling the affects of his head cold and mine won’t go away, Andrew is really feeling the pressure of these house projects and planning for our upcoming Italy trip, and I passed my stress limit awhile ago. School is at an all-time high in terms of tension–we find out about our acceptance (or not) into the coordinated program any day now–tests and finals are coming up, the house has been FILTHY lately, the animals are making me crazy and I ate my weight in Easter candy last week. So, let’s just say my already low stress threshold was reached.

All that to say, it’s a bit tense around these parts.

Please pray for Andrew to have wisdom and strength for the things ahead–both projects and otherwise. Pray for patience (I know–scary!) for me, and that I would find joy despite my burdens. And for healing! This silly little head cold has killed my motivation and all I need is REST, yet it is so hard to find.

Can this week be over already??

NYC: Sunday

We awoke Easter Sunday in time to go to the early service at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on 83rd and Amsterdam. Before we went on the trip, I’d messaged a friend from college who used to live in the city and is on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for a recommendation for a church. She recommended Redeemer and also mentioned that Cafe Lalo, the one featured in the movie ‘You’ve Got Mail’ was just down the street. So glad I asked her.

So, we quickly grabbed bananas and coffees at the downstairs awful breakfast (which was packed even at 8 a.m.) and headed to the subway.

We had perfect timing and were blessed to hear a sermon by Dr. Tim Keller, who heads up the three-location Redeemer Church. He was only preaching at the first service that morning, so I’m glad we were early birds.

Notice the hot-pink scarf: an Easter gift (a.k.a. Italy trip gift) from Andrew. So glad I brought my trench–it was the perfect light jacket for Sunday morning and I felt so classy 🙂

After the service, we walked about a half-block to Cafe Lalo and were seated right away:

The photo really does not do it justice; it was decorated with French dancing posters and was bright and warm and welcoming. My friend admitted to me that it had become a ‘date night’ spot for her husband and her, and I bet it would be ours’ if we lived in the city. I think Andrew loved it more than I did!

We ordered a belgian waffle with cinnamon whipped cream (Andrew) and the ‘Lalo Special,’ a berry-topped frozen-yogurt bowl with a scone of my choice (me) with coffees. (Note: Andrew liked the cinnamon-whipped cream so much I whipped (haha! I’m so punny) some up this morning to top our pancakes. It’s fantastic–try it with your breakfast carb of choice next time!)

After breakfast and on our way back to the hotel, we had a bit of an adventure on the subway: we got separated! I knew it was going to happen some time… Andrew hopped off just as the doors were closing and I couldn’t follow him! Thankfully, it wasn’t terribly difficult for me to grab another train back and in less than 10 minutes we were reunited.

Our last stop of the trip (sniff, sniff) was Bouchon Bakery:

It’s one of Thomas Keller’s establishments and I’ve been to his Bouchon restaurant in Vegas before. I just had to have a macaron. Or three.

I chose a three mini-macarons so I could try different flavors: pistachio, chocolate and cassis (kinda like blackberry/raspberry) with a lemon filling). I got my treats to go and we rushed back to the hotel room with just enough time to give each other our Easter baskets:

…and pack up before heading home.

For lunch, I ate a hot-cross bun from Bouchon (hey, it was Easter) with an apple and a cheese stick.

And that’s pretty much where the health-kick ended. I started with my one Reese’s egg that Andrew got me:

…and munched my way home on jelly beans, popcorn and all sorts of snacks. I blame a too-small lunch and boredom.

I did, however, exhibit great restraint and ate only ONE of my mini-macarons.

If you haven’t had a real macaron before, they are DIVINE. Seriously. Lightly crunchy on the outside, and the filling and the inside of each ‘sandwich piece’ is a bit fudgy…oh my. However, I have no idea where to get one in all of Buffalo. I’ve had them in Paris and New York City. Up next on my life ‘to-do’ list: learn how to make macarons. (Incidentally, those heaps of lightly browned coconut, sometimes dipped in chocolate, are called ‘coconut macarOOns.’)

We got in at about 6:30 on Sunday night and quickly unpacked the car and vacuumed (Andrew) while I ran into Tops for groceries. However, we quickly found our favorite pizza place was closed (it was Easter Sunday), and just about everywhere else, too. It was a refreshing reminder of the holiday, after being in NYC where it wasn’t even a blip on the radar. We settled for one of the only places open–Jim’s Steak Out–and took our cheesesteaks to go and relaxed in front of the TV for the rest of the night.

It’s been a whirlwind week since then, and I still don’t feel like I’ve truly recovered. In fact, Andrew had a cold all week and now I feel like I’m coming down with it…fantastic. Why can’t vacations really be vacations?

NYC: Saturday

Saturday morning we chose to eat the free breakfast at the hotel to save time (and money). GIANT mistake; it was so crowded you could barely move to get your food, and we almost didn’t even find a seat. It was truly an awful experience.

Terribly unsatisfied by breakfast, we grumbled our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, via the subway and a walk across Central Park:

I was surprised at how many photographs were being taken in all the museums; very few exhibits had posted “No Photography” signs. And in the age of camera phones and such, I suppose anything goes.

Andrew said his favorite experience was seeing the copy of the ‘Burghers of Calais,’ since we’ve seen the original ourselves!

I loved some of the modern art:

Between the MoMA and the Met, we were able to see Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream,’ Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and his self-portrait, as well as multiple works by well-known artists including: Rothko, Kandinsky, Pollack, Manet, Monet, and so many more. I should have taken more photos.

Before we left the Met, we ran back upstairs to see this treasure: ‘Washington Crossing the Delaware.’ I’ll admit, spending much of my ‘growing up’ years outside Philadelphia, (not to mention living NEXT DOOR to the home Washington himself spent time in during the Revolution), I feel like I have an appreciation for things related to that time in history.

Yet again, we showed up at our lunch stop closer to dinnertime than ‘lunch time,’ and still had a bit of a wait at Lombardi’s Pizza, which claims to be America’s first pizzeria:

It’s in Greenwich Village (or maybe the West Village?) and surrounded by little cafes and things. After lunch, we took the opportunity to walk all over SoHo, Greenwich Village and the West Village.

…until we found ourselves at the ORIGINAL Magnolia Bakery, at the corner of Bleecker and 11th Streets! We waited in line and I was jazzed to get my photo taken under the awning.

After having a treat at the bakery, we walked back to a subway to get home and I snapped this photo:

I was amazed that some of the subway stops were super clean and beautiful (like the one above), and others were smelly, trashy and gross. Again, should have taken more photos.

We had wanted to go to a little cuban restaurant, Cafe Cortadito, in the East Village, but we couldn’t get reservations! Bummer–guess we’ll just have to go there next time.

Instead, we tried Pig and Kaho, located just down the road, but the wait was too long. Foiled again. Thankfully, along the walk we’d passed Yunnan Kitchen and thought it looked interesting. Can you tell Andrew was really feeling ethnic food??

Well, Yunnan turned out to be a gem of a place and I’ve already written two stellar reviews of it on Yelp and TripAdvisor. We were seated right away (although we noticed people waiting shortly thereafter), had awesome service and even better food. My pictures of our dishes didn’t turn out that well, but we split four small plates of a fried rice, some pickled duck, a green papaya salad and a spicy chicken. Everything was excellent.

After dinner we walked through Chinatown to the end of the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn’t too much of a walk, but we decided to head back via subway without crossing the bridge. Another itinerary item for next time!