My little, beautiful, happy niece Hadynn is turning one this week! Family and friends celebrated her birthday on Saturday in Viv and Newman's new house near downtown Baltimore. How quickly a year passes by! She is almost walking and is using sign language ("Hi, dog!" More, please." "No more, please." "Open, please." She's probably not really saying "please," but she's so cute and cheery, it looks as if she is).
Pete and I stayed the night, so we also had some QT with Jordan and Devin, who both had a bit of a growth spurt in just one month. Jordan is becoming quite the artist, and Devin is becoming quite the dinosaur. I have the cutest nieces and nephew.
Hadynn's first cupcake. Sneezed on.
A mischievous Auntie Mel and Jordan and a passed-out Pete.
Last weekend, Pete, Wook, and I participated in the annual Century Ride, a New York City bike ride hosted by Transportation Alternatives. At 4:30 in the morning, Pete and I woke up (painful on a Sunday) and took the subway to the north end of Central Park. We then rode down Manhattan (crazy to ride my bike down Broadway virtually traffic free) and into Brooklyn. Pete and Wook finished the 75 mile ride (which at the last minute became an 86 mile ride, going into Queens and then back to Central Park). I ended in Coney Island and rode back to our apartment, completing about 40 miles. Any more, and my kids would have had a substitute on Monday.
It's been a long time since I've been on the Brooklyn Bridge (other than as a driver), and I forgot how breathtaking it is to see Brooklyn in front of you and Manhattan behind you (just as the sun is rising, too). I don't know why, but I've been filled with New York pride lately. Perhaps it's because fall is in the air (and that's the best season to be in NYC, in my opinion). New York, New York!
The Brooklyn Bridge facing Brooklyn, Governor's Island, the Verrazano Bridge into Staten Island, at the original Nathan's.
After three weekends of being latchkey poodle, things have returned to normal. So much so that Chocolate doesn't even get up from bed in the morning any more. In the summer time, he's usually up and about with me, but I think he knows that he's not getting a walk until Pete gets up. That, or the 6 am wake up time is too early for even him.
Today marks our adoption anniversary. I can't believe it's only been one year! What a glorious milestone for a dog who has no idea why we're showering him with hugs and kisses today. Pete and I can't imagine life without Chocolate. His presence has made us into a little family, as silly as that sounds. And among our friends, he's become a center piece, a beloved dog with plenty of extended family to show him affection and to dog-sit when we're out of town.
When we first adopted Chocolate, I confessed all my reservations to his then foster mom, a lovely woman who fosters three or four dogs at a time in her Brooklyn townhouse. She calmed me by saying, "You just have to do it. After a few days, you'll see."
I sure do. After a year, I still feel the same way I did just a few days after Pete and I brought him home: just plain lucky.
Chocolate with a leftover lamb bone. In front of Pete's wine fridge. Classy, we know.
A scruffy Chocolate, blogging back in February.
This past weekend, Peter and I traveled to Cincinnati to attend our friend Priya's wedding. Priya and I met as Fulbright teachers in Taiwan (where she heroically killed roaches in our first apartment). Every year, my girlfriends from Taiwan--Julianna, Katherine, Mary (who was very much missed this weekend), Priya--and I try to get together for a mini-reunion (see August 2005 posts for the beginnings of a glorious friendship). This year's reunion was extra special.
Priya ("I don't think I'll ever get married") was a gorgeous bride, both in a resplendent red and gold sari first and elegant white gown later. Like Priya's younger sister said in her toast, Nathan and Priya will take care of each other in just the ways each of them needs. I couldn't be happier for them.
Sitting at dinner, Julianna, Katherine, and I marveled at how quickly four years have gone by since we first met each other. In many ways, these girls know me better than friends I've known much longer--my time in Taiwan was that formative (for all us, really). Seeing them is like breathing a much needed breath of fresh air. I can't wait till next time. 我很想妳們!
Me, Julianna, and Katherine on Roebling Bridge. Pete and Katherine's boyfriend Adam.
Across the Ohio River at Hofrabrauhaus in Newport, KY.
Wearing saris for the morning's Hindu ceremonies.
The extended wedding party and the beautiful bride!
Priya showing her mettle by symbolically carrying water to her husband's family as groomsmen dance to block her way.
The handsome couple.
At the reception.
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