Class of 2014..

It's unbelievable but my little brother is really not so little anymore, in fact he graduated high school!

I was pretty sure that I was going to California for the graduation but i also knew the following weekend I had to go for a wedding.  Since I couldn't take the time off of work to just stay through the whole week I was always wishy washy with Pavel about coming out.  When I did decide that I would fly out I thought (maybe making up for my big mouth during childhood) maybe I will keep it a secret.  I knew this would be hard though because one, the big mouth two, my brother can be on the nosey side, especially with text messages. SO all of my communiK was done verbally which doesn't sound hard but it made me realize how dependent on texting and emailing I am.  Anyway, I flew out the Thursday of the graduation and popped out from behind and really surprised him.  I think he was genuinely shocked with pleasure that I had made it.  I gave him a whole spiel the night before about how sorry I was and how he had to facetime me and yada yada, what he didn't realize is that his older sister has some tricks up her sleeve :)

This was right when I popped out from the hallway to actually surprise him.  I wasn't sure how I was going to do it but the opportunity presented itself and on a whim it worked out!

Waiting to receive his diploma..

 

Officially graduated

I'm upset the bottom of this picture is blurry because it is such a great photo.

I was really happy to find that it was a small graduating class.  Only about 200 kids, give or take.  It was a beautiful day and great to be with family. 

Another reason I wanted to go out was because of the family that was coming into town for his special day.  My aunt and uncle from San Francisco, an aunt in NorCal and my step mom's cousin and husband from Indiana.  I couldn't believe how quickly time goes but it has actually been years since I had seen them and I was just so pleased I could be able to spend that time with my family. 

Dad, Kitty & the Graduate

Father & Son

Brother & Sister

Smooch!

My cousin Ryan and his girlfriend turned up during the pictures and also made it in!  Charlie and I were close with him when living in California so it was an extra treat that they made it to the party. 

And of course...

The rest of the evening was filled with BBQ, margaritas, laughter and presents.  

Pavel, I am so proud of you! 

Beach Day...Finally!

Well summer has begin to sprung around here.  The warm weather has arrived and mother nature has been delivering some waves as well.  Charlie got a beach pass which allows him to park at different state beaches all along the island.  His favorite spot to go lately is Coastguard where you drive in the sand right to the shoreline (almost).  It was a little surreal for me because I have never driven on the beach!  Last Sunday was our beach day and it was so nice to lay  out and soak up the sun with a book and my camera.

                                                    Trying to decide where to paddle out.

It was so clean! No wind, all sun.  Some of the sets rolling in were head high.  

This was more like waist high though..

                       I don't know if this was Charlie or not but it was a nice spill. KOOKY!

I did my best to get some shots of Charlie.  He surfed for almost three hours so I didn't have my camera out the whole time but I managed to snap a few. 

It was nice to finally get a beach day in!

A Concert in the City

About a month ago I heard about a concert for an artist that Charlie and I both really like. At the time I was in a bit of a funk, missing sunny San Diego, so I decided that buying tickets to the show would be the perfect thing to pick me up. And i was right!  I am usually the one that initiates doing things like that, Charlie is content doing our usual mellow weekend around town which i like too but everyone needs a little spice in their life.  We decided to make a whole day of it in the city before the Mason Jennings concert.

We took the train in to Penn and hoped a cab to go to this place called the Highline in lower Manhatten.    It is an elevated path alongside an old central railroad.  Along the path is a lot of buildings, plants (during the appropriate time of year that is, we soon realized that it would probably be really nice during the Spring when plants and flowers are actually alive), sculptures, street art and artists.

I saw this drawing of the family in a few different places across the city.  I was really drawn to it and just liked the message. 

After cruising the high line for a bit we went to the Chelsea market which was a lot of fun.  Tons of different places to eat and shops.  I had a lot of fun perusing. Next it was off to dinner at a classic Italian pizza place called Lombardi's.  We shared a salad and meatball appetizer and enjoyed some authentic new york pizza.  We stuffed our faces for dinner but we managed to have room for ice cream, sweets and coffee before the show.

As I bet my Father suspects i went with an eclair instead of a cannoli.  Don't worry Dad, right before I took a big bite i said "this ones for you" :)

After our dessert it was time to head to the concert.  We ran into more then one person there we knew, kind of random.  The Bowery Ballrom where we saw the show was pretty much an all standing venue but it was small and intamite.  We had an up close view of Mason Jennings and the sound was pretty good too.  As I suspected the show was great.  He didn't play a lot of the old stuff but when he came back for an encore he took requests and I got to hear a few of my favorites.  What i really enjoyed about his performance was that he was one of those rare artists who sounds very true to his recordings.  He played piano, guitar and harmonica and the acousitcs  were great.  It was a really memorable show and worth every penny.

So much cool art!!

After our dessert it was time to head to the concert.  We ran into more then one person there we knew, kind of random.  The Bowery Ballrom where we saw the show was pretty much an all standing venue but it was small and intamite.  We had an up close view of Mason Jennings and the sound was pretty good too.  As I suspected the show was great.  He didn't play a lot of the old stuff but when he came back for an encore he took requests and I got to hear a few of my favorites.  What i really enjoyed about his performance was that he was one of those rare artists who sounds very true to his recordings.  He played piano, guitar and harmonica and the acousitcs  were great.  It was a really memorable show and worth every penny.

50 Degrees can feel like summer

We had a freak few days where the temperature went up to an almost whopping 50 degrees.  It was funny because in San Diego we would have been bundled up with teeth chattering but here it was like tshirt weather!  AND it was on a weekend! It was such a taste of spring I couldn't believe it, it was short lived but revitalizing.  Charlie and I thought it would be nice to take Johnson to the beach.

Charlie wondering where all the waves are.

Johnson's still got it he just gets tired a little quicker!

Well it was nice but short lived.   We are supposedly getting another snow storm on Monday so not pulling out the bathing suits yet..

Lots. Of. Snow...

I always knew that transitioning to life on the East Coast would be just that, a transition but i never could have predicated how much snow lied ahead.  You would think it was Alaska or something but nope its Long Island.  Record breaking cold? Record breaking snow days? And record breaking inches of snow. Ok universe, I get it, you wanted me to really get the idea of what a real winter is like.  I HEAR YOU and YOU CAN STOP NOW!

Ok Ok I will stop the moaning but hey, I had to get it out somehow! I know I will look back on this while soaking up sun rays on a beach one day saying "HA, what winter?" :)

But at least someone enjoys it :)