A Mother's Day with Everything on Top

I just got back from a long weekend in NYC....without the kids. I took this trip for a few reasons:

1. I just completely weaned Evie after a year, so I needed to reward myself a little. The last time I weaned Eli, I was rewarded with a trip to Boston to see friends. (I know, my husband is very nice.)

2. One of my closest friends, S, recently ended a really long relationship and had been a bit sad so I thought she could use a good distraction.
3. My other good friend, AG, was also visiting from Hawai'i around the same time, so I figured it would be a good time to catch her. I haven't seen AG in about 7 years. Sad, but true.
I have always been a big fan of NYC in the spring. I just love all the beautiful flowers and the mild weather. We have flowers in Texas, but there's something about southern heat that just makes plants look a little harder and hardier. Everything up in NYC just looked soft and beautiful....tulips, peonies, azaleas. I love it. This time S and I made it to the NY Botanical Gardens and I was in heaven. They were having an Azalea Garden Party and it was great. There was music and food tasting. Of course we decorated and ate our own cupcake...we also bought some local peanut butter. Yum! The flowers were also amazing...a sea of bright pink azaleas...peonies as big as my head. This might be my new favorite place. I also hit my fave museum while I was in town--the Museum of Natural History. I think the science-y side of me just loves this museum. I don't visit the Met or the MOMA often, but the Museum of Natural History is always a must for me. My favorite room is definitely the Hall of Minerals. It's my inner geological engineer coming through.
I even managed to do a little bit of shopping during my visit. (Thanks, S, for carrying my heavy backpack while I tried on clothes! What a great friend!)

Besides these 2 places, all the other things I did involved food. I ate an amazing Neapolitan Regina Margherita pizza at Keste Pizzeria, where I kinda felt like I was in Italy because not only did the owners speak Italian, but so did most of the customers. Then I had yummy Latino food from Malecon (which AG and I took to Bryant Park to enjoy). I also had dim sum in Chinatown, gelato on a stick from Popbar (hazelnut chocolate dipped in almonds), and doughnuts from Doughnut Plant (I brought home a box just for J as per her request).
I was also fortunate enough to have 2 great dinners at 2 Top Chef restaurants. I'm in the midst of watching Top Chef Masters, so I had asked S if we could hit a few during my visit. Luckily, S is as cheesy as I am, so she agreed to take me. The first place was Thai food at Harold Dieterle's Kin Shop. Everything tasted delicious, especially the goat curry (it's supposed to be the best goat in NYC). Then S and I treated ourselves to the tasting menu at George Mendes' restaurant, Aldea. It was amazing! The most memorable courses were the palate cleansers (which were usually refreshing sorbets), the arroz de pato (the duck and rice were cooked to perfection!!), and the dessert was the best dessert I've had in my life. Seriously. It was this banana creme brulee with chicory ice cream (kind of dark chocolate, kind of coffee tasting), and these cocoa crispy-like things. Everything on this plate was delicious and went so well together....the textures, the flavors...amazing. S and I kept scraping our plates with our forks to get every last bite. S said that if we were at home, she would lick that plate clean. I have to admit that I would do the same thing as well. I could have eaten 5 servings of that dessert. I will definitely go back just for the dessert!
As you can see, I had a wonderful Mother's Day...albeit I was without my children...which is weird since it's a celebration for "mothers," but I was certainly not acting like a mother for Mother's Day. Being amongst the hustle and bustle of the city made me really appreciate how quiet my life is. It probably seems boring to some...too routine, too uneventful...but honestly, I love it. Sure, I can't eat at Top Chef restaurants all the time and I can't get really great donuts and bagels, but it's worth it.

Before I left for my trip, Elina's school had their annual Muffins for Moms one morning. I took all 3 kids and we enjoyed some yummy muffins together.
Then we went to Elina's class and the kids performed a song they had learned just for the moms, "You are My Sunshine." They sang it and signed it. Way cute. (In the video Elina is looking at me because everyone's supposed to look at their moms while they sing.)


Then for their homemade Mother's Day gift, everyone made homemade paper in the shape of a sun. It was awesome.
When I got home from my trip, I saw that J had decorated for Mother's Day. She hung up all these pictures of me and the kids over the years (a la Martha Stewart). Then the next morning, the kids gave me their homemade Mother's Day cards. It was great. J had printed these blank "Mom's Gazette" newspaper pages and each kid drew in a picture of me with each of them. So cute. On the side of the newspaper, there was a column that was a checklist of what a mom is--craftsy, smart, terrific, funny, loving, silly. Unfortunately, Elina did not check the box that said, "Energetic." How sad is that?? I guess since Evie is small, I'm still always tired. Plus, since Elina is at school, she sees me at my "prime times"--when I first wake up in the morning (yikes!) and in the afternoon (when that afternoon slump occurs). I need to work on that. Hopefully I can start appearing more energetic once school is out.
Anyway, I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. I have an understanding husband who knew I needed to go on this trip to take a break...I have great children who love me...I have wonderful friends who I can always count on...and I have eaten to my heart's content. What more could I ask for? (Maybe some more of the dessert from Aldea...but I won't be that greedy now.)

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful moms out there!! (And thanks to S for taking me everywhere and for housing me! S and AG, we'll have to get together again soon!! Miss you guys!)