Weekend

This has been a great weekend so far! Unfortunately, the fun will be ending shortly, as I have to leave for a business trip shortly. However, I'm very happy for what I did get.

Friday night, Michael and I went to Hoboken for dinner. We walked past the places where we used to live, and dined al fresco at Anthony David's. That was the first time we had been there since the night Michael proposed, back in August 2006. This time we didn't make the mistake of ordering a cheese platter, appetizers, then entrees! Back then, we were so stuffed that we almost didn't make it out to the pier, overlooking New York City, where Michael asked for my hand.

Instead, we had a plate of four cheeses: Rocchetta, Vento d'Estate, Crottin de Chavignol, and Aged Gouda. Sooo good! And Michael had the Maine Lobster with gnocchi, and I had Truffle Risotto - so rich, I couldn't even finish. It was complemented by a bottle of Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, left behind by my parents from Easter. The wine and meal were truly divine!

Michael had been away much of the month because of sailing, so it was the first weekend we had together in a while. After our dinner, we took a long walk with Othello through our neighborhood. The Jersey City Heights are really a fascinating place. There are so many different kinds of houses. I plan on taking pictures and giving you all a virtual tour of some of my favorites. Stay tuned!

Yesterday, we had breakfast at a place called Tommy's Family Restaurant. This is a tiny diner on the main drag, where the family atmosphere is truly authentic. We witnessed arguments, sass, and teenage-like rebellion between the workers. Unfortunately, because our waitress was trying to prove a point to her boss (who may or may not have been related to her), our plates sat about five minutes before being delivered to our table. At least the food was good, though not quite as hot as we'd like, for obvious reasons.

Then we did a multitude of errands, including finally donating bags of clothing and books that had been sitting in the trunk of the car since we'd moved, getting some things at Macy's and Target, and doing our first supermarket run since maybe the end of April! It's been that crazy since moving time. We completely loaded up at our favorite place, Trader Joe's.

When we finally got home, we hung out with our lovely neighbors, Rebecca and Kola, who had been taking care of Othello while we were gone. He and Boris have really hit it off. Can I say how GREAT it is to have wonderful next door neighbors? This is the first time I have really talked to neighbors since I lived in Germany, which is now over six years ago!

The last place we lived, in Union City, was particularly bad because no one spoke English, and everyone very much kept to themselves. I have no idea how many people lived in that building and certainly no idea if all of them were in the US legally.

The community I enjoyed with my neighbors in Berlin was the best thing about my time over there. It is something that I have missed greatly ever since I left. I am really excited that one of the changes of this year is this new community.