NY, NY

I went to NY on a last minute, let's go have a different experience trip! My Aunt really wanted to see the US Open and invited Mom to join her... after loads of back and forth, Mom decided she was in! And then my Uncle jumped on board and wanted to go too. Mom didn't want to be a third wheel and so she asked if I might want to go... um, a trip to NYC?! Yes, please!!

So, plans were made to go to NYC for a super quick trip and to see the US Open... my aunt and uncle used their timeshare type thing (the same company from the Costa Rica trip) and we stayed at a place on 60th and Park. Lovely two bedroom condo! We all got in late on a Tuesday night (day after my roof labor day party) and then went to the Open on the next day. I had hoped to get together with a friend Tues night, but after delays and getting in... it was just too late for anything but going to bed.

After some delay due to pouring rain and a crappy forecast, the four of us headed to Queens for the Open. We took the train...

Which happened to be Jim's first NYC subway experience. He usually always walks or takes a cab in the city. Had to commemorate his first subway experience!

Walking in to the complex... and it's a huge complex with many courts and goings on.

the ESPN booth and the reporters giving their report

We had ridiculously good seats! Ellen picked them out and we were right smack in the middle behind the chair ref and only a few rows up - row E.

Not many people seated yet as it would pour, then dry up, then rain more, then dry up... back and forth, back and forth. Oh my... every time we thought we'd get to see some tennis, it would rain again. They dried the courts and brought out the ladies to warm up at one point, but then the darn rain came down again and that was that. Thankfully, we were able to finally start the tourney around 1ish and the rain managed to stay away the rest of the afternoon.

Mom, me, Ellen and Jim in our seats.

Maria Sharapova... she's 6'2 - who knew?! And stunning.

Sharapova vs. Bartoli... It was a huge battle and Sharapova barely came out on top!

Sharapova signed some balls after the match and tossed them to the crowd. Please check out that guy with the crazy pants next to her... no idea who the heck he is, but his style is awesome.

After the Bartoli v. Sharapova match, it was time for Andy Roddick vs. Del Potro from Argentina. Here's Andy!

 I caught Jim taking a nap here and there. It was a rather long day, but still! I'll give him a break... he's 70... but I did have to take a pic and send it to my cousins and give him a bit of a hard time!

Andy! Andy! The crowd was so behind him.

Del Potro... Holy moly ladies, this guy is HOT. HOT. Did I mention he is hot?! He also won the match - but Andy gave it his all. It was so great to watch!

Pippa was even there! She's in the yellow dress in the box.

Del Potro was such a class act. He gave his interview after winning and then lauded Andy and allowed Andy to give his emotional farewell speech.

Foreboding weather, but thankfully the rain stayed away. Andy was giving his farewell, retirement speech and was tearing up... it was so emotional and really cool being there for it.

Andy on tv being interviewed.

Jim's second subway ride! With Ellen next to him.

I was supposed to meet up with my childhood friend, Heidi, in Brooklyn after the match, but I was so tired, exhausted, and headachey that I just wasn't able to go to Brooklyn and meet up. It had just been such a long, long day.

The next day, all of us went to some art galleries. Ellen is interested in fine art these days so we wanted to see what was out there. We even had a guide to the galleries. However, the very first gallery we went to, happened to have a young artist on display and the very first room we walked in to happened to have this huge picture (above) that we had no idea what the heck was painted, other than it said in huge letters "widowhood" which of course threw mom and made her cry and really upset her. Thankfully, we ushered past that and went behind the scenes where we had a private meeting with the art dealer (who was hot, btw). Thankfully we didn't see any other upsetting art work that day... it was just so unexpected. and shocking. and probably not the best thing to see when it's only been a little more than 3 months.

That evening, I was able to meet up with my friend Meghan for some tapas and sangria... and then she joined me in meeting up with my old high school buddy, Ken. He literally just moved to NYC like 2 weeks before. We met up and had a few beers and caught up on everything... and then it was time to head back to the hotel... and the next morning, it was time to leave. Such a super quick, way too short trip as I definitely did not get to see everyone and that stunk... I definitely needed more friend time, but at the same time, it wasn't my trip and I kinda had to follow what the others wanted to do too. So, I need to make a return trip to see all the friends and spend more friend time together.