While I'm Waiting: While I'm Waiting...to see my family again.

I know. I know. It has been way too long since I've written anything. I either forget or am not in the mood to write when I do think of it. So I'll try to briefly catch you up on my summer adventures...well it's probably going to be long and with lots of pictures. Don't say I didn't warn you.

A couple of weeks ago my mom and sister, Colleen, came to visit for four days. Colleen had never been to NYC before so it was a sightseeing filled weekend. It was nice to have family around and was wonderful to be a tourist for a few days. Our weekend went from walking around Times Square to seeing the World Trade Center site to shopping on Canal Street. We ate well, laughed lots, spent money and walked till our feet could not bear it anymore.

Times Square

New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street

One of my favorite things we did was we took the subway to Brooklyn and stopped to eat at Grimaldi's Pizzeria. We were told it was the best pizza in New York and it did not disappoint! It was located close enough to the Brooklyn Bridge so we got our pizza and had a picnic under the bridge with the beautiful New York skyline as our background. To burn off our calories from the perfect pie, we picked the option of walking back to Manhattan by going across the Brooklyn Bridge. There were many opportunities for pictures and gorgeous views of the Manhattan skyline. This is definitely an experience I'd like to do again before leaving.

Grimaldi's Pizza...YUM!

Pizza Picnic

Brooklyn Bridge

One of the easiest ways to see NYC is to take a tour on a double decker bus. We took FOURS of them! We took a couple of tours that took us into Brooklyn (which I loved the area), Harlem and all across the East Side and the West Side. It is the quickest way to see so much of the city and learn cool facts about the buildings and learn where celebrities live. Of course, we had the worst luck and it rained EVERY time we got on one! I'm not talking about a few drops or even a drizzle, I'm talking complete down pour at times! Mom took cover down below and Colleen and I laughed it off and remained on the top level all alone. It was a memory made.

ponchos!

Probably one of my favorite things I've done while in the city was our visit to Flushing Meadows in Queens. For those of you who don't know, this is where the U.S. Open takes place. It is also where my favorite player, Andy Roddick won his first major in 2003. We didn't get to see inside the big arenas but on some of the side courts they were having ballperson tryouts for the Open that takes place at the end of August. I've seen how it's done before when Regis Philbin "tried out" for a segment on his show. It was intense, to say the least. There was at 65+ year old man who did try out this year. He was surrounded by older teen. Each person was judged on their ability to retrieve balls in the net using their speed, catch balls, and throw them all the way across the court. The competition was fierce and we picked out a few good ones we'll be looking for on the courts in August.

One Court of Ballperson Tryouts

Arthur Ashe Stadium

So proud!

Because we walked so much, we treated ourselves to fabulous meals. I already mentioned Grimaldi's Pizzeria, but we also ate at Bubba Gumps in Times Square. We knew it'd be a hit and it lived up to our expectation. On the day Colleen and Mom arrived I took them to The Shake Shack (which we later heard had the best burgers in NYC). It is located in Madison Square Park right next to the Flatiron Building. They have lights strung through the trees and a scene from "Something Borrowed" was filmed at this location. They have amazing burgers, fries and milkshakes. We also ate at the famous Carnegie Deli. So many famous people have eaten here. Every wall was covered with framed signed pictures from celebrities who had eaten there. Near our table included (the few I can remember) Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Dennis Rodman and Barak Obama. Mom and Colleen tried the signature sandwich of pastrami and corned beef. Colleen wasn't a fan so I was glad I stuck to my chicken fingers :)

Shake Shack

corned beef and pastrami

Our most interesting place we ate was at Serendipity 3. If you don't know, Serendipity 3 was the inspiration and crucial set that inspired the 2001 movie "Serendipity" starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It is popular because of the movie but it is also known for its delicious desserts like their frozen hot chocolate. Because of it's popularity and small dining area, our wait was around and hour. The weather was finally nice so we sat outside on a bench and waited for our name to be called. While were were sitting there a black suv pulled up behind us. I glanced over my shoulder and a man was in the drivers seat and a woman in the passenger seat. After a few minutes of sitting there, the woman got out and went inside. I just happened to look over my shoulder again and in the back seat sat another woman with her window down. As soon as she saw me look at her she mouthed something and rolled back up her window. I thought to myself, 'that looks like Kirstie Alley'. But it was one of those things where I thought it couldn't possibly be her. The car then pulled away from all the people waiting outside the restaurant. Then a young girl thought it was her as well. Her dad walked down to where the car had moved to see. He came back and reported her window was down and it was her. Mom and Colleen went to see but by the time they got down there, the girl had returned from inside and they left. Apparently they didn't have reservations and the restaurant surprisingly doesn't give special treatment to stars, according to the host. So that was cool. It's funny to think about Kirstie. Mom knows her best from "Cheers". I know her from the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movie, "It Takes Two" and the young girl who recognized her probably only knew her from "Dancing with the Stars". She's done a lot over the past few decades to win over so many different age groups. Too bad I didn't get to dine next to her inside. BUT, she will forever be my first spotting of a celebrity in NYC!