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Beer and Pickles in NYC

As mentioned above, this was my 6th visit to the Big Apple. I've went to a broadway show (Phantom of the Opera), saw the Rockefellar Plaza Christmas tree several times now, taken a carriage ride through Central Park, and a few other typical "New York" things.
But the thing I love the most, and the times when I have the most fun, is when I can just hang out with my sister- my best friend- and let the day just take us where it wants us to go!
On this particular visit, Katie and I ended up at "Spanky's BBQ", a place where she and her husband Johnny frequent on a fairly regular basis. Spanky's could be compared to a Famous Daves, although some of the items on the menu are a bit different. The one food item that they DO have, which Katie often rants about, is their DEEP FRIED PICKLE SPEARS! As mentioned in the State Fair post, I am a deep fried pickle fan, and can usually indulge in these little bites o' love one time per year. Well, folks, Spanky's has deep fried pickles and this is where our fun began.


We got to Spanky's at 3pm on a Sunday, split an appetizer of pickles, each had a meal, and a few beers. Katie and Johnny are regular-enough patrons that Katie and I actually drank for free. We sat there and visited with the bartender until about 6pm. HA!
Then, we decided to head back out on the city for awhile and see what else NYC has to offer. Well, when you can drink for free, and you've already "Been there, done that" during the day, we decided to go back to ole' Spanky's, get us another round of deep fried love, and have a few more beers.


Around 830pm, Spanky's needed to close and so the bartender shared a homemade shot of some sweet crap (Jolly Rancher?? Bluch.) with us, and we were on our way. Off to the bus station with a belly ache and big smiles. All because of DEEP FRIED PICKLES. Oh, and the beer.


(Katie, I love ya. Thanks for a great time, as always!)

The lines are always long in New York City

I have been to NYC about 6 times in the past 3 years, due to my sister living in norther NJ. Can you believe after all of these trips, I have never been to the Statue of Liberty or to Ellis Island? I have never been inside the Empire State building, or to the front row of the "Today" show! (See next post of what I DO love to do while there!!)
This time, I thought I'd try to see the Statue of Liberty and at least take the ferry to Ellis Island. Katie and I got up (fairly) early and decided to head to Battery Park, which is about a 15 minute subway ride from where we get dropped off by the bus. We had to stop at a cool store, called "Century 21" that is about 5 floors worth of designer and namebrand EVERYTHING at huge discounted prices. So, we spent about 2 hours looking around in there.






By the time we got to Battery Park, the line was super duper long, as you can see by the picture, so I decided to take a picture with a plastic statue instead, and show you how close I got to the actual monument.
















These two pictures are a perfect example of "You had to be there" to enjoy the humor. However, I'll try my best to make it funny for you? (Okay, maybe not.)
Right across from Ground Zero (which they had entirely blocked off by the way, no more wall of names or anything right now as they are working on something) there is this statue of a man sitting and gazing into his briefcase. As Katie and I sat there, you would not believe the people that were absolutely fascinated by this statue and wanted to take their picture with it! In about 15 minutes, at least 20 people took random pictures with the statue; pretending to talk to him, look into his briefcase, having him listen on their cell phones, etc. It was SO FUN to watch everyone go crazy over this statue. If anyone out there reading this knows the significance of this statue (was it there when the towers came down??), please let me know, as Katie and I were stumped! Anyhow, we felt very left out and decided that we, too, would take our picture with the businessman statue. Don't I look intrigued?

Date Night

No pictures to include, but Tim and I went on our first date night (yes, alone!!!!) in many, many months! We have be so fortunate to find a babysitter...3 actually, all from the same family! The oldest of the three, Kate, is 16 and drives and we have had her watch Gage twice now. She is so good with him, and he doesn't even cry when she puts him down for the night, OR when we leave the house. What a reassuring feeling for us!

Tim and I tried a local restaurant, "The Refuge" located in Hammond about 6 miles east of our house. They serve a lot of wild game, which Tim was all excited about and he ordered the elk while I stuck with the traditional filet mignon. VERY DELISH. And would you believe that we had an appetizer of escargot (yeah, in Hammond, WI!!!!!) which Tim loves and I tried for the first time. He'll eat it again and I will continue to live without it. That's all we'll say about that.

A high school friend of Tim's lives about 10 miles West of us in Houlton, WI and they had a end-of-summer party on Saturday night. After our dinner, we headed over there and played some games and drank a few beers around the campfire. It was so good to get out!

Upcoming events in the Fox household:
1. painting the hallways (that are currently sponge-painted gray)
2. Cousin Hunter is coming this weekend to stay with Tim and Gage while
3. I am gone visiting my sister in New Jersey from Friday night through Monday night.

I haven't been to NJ since New Year's 2006 when I was several months pregnant and suffering from major morning/daytime sickness! So, I am really looking forward to getting out there and hanging out with just my sis. I will miss my boys, really I will, but I deserve this time away too and will take full advantage of it! NYC, here I come!

State Fair

We headed back across the border to our old digs in MN, to enjoy the best (fatty) food there is!
We were there almost 5 hours, and in that time we both ate deep friend pickles, (I specifically go to the fair to indulge in these) hot turkey sandwiches, a couple of root beers, ice cream, and I think Tim had both a deep fried Twinkie and a Snickers on a stick! Gage had bites of everything we did, along with his own snow cone and popsicle. He even fell asleep in his stroller for one hour, which he rarely does anymore...
We had to stop several times and let him out of the stroller to run around, which was fine. It was a great day, and I'm already hungry for more of my pickles!

I love my cousins!!!

With Aunt Carrie's marriage to Donny, Gage got to add two more cousins to his family! All three of them have so much fun together! From the first day that Hunter met Gage, there has been a definite bond there...Hunter adores Gage, and Gage gets so excited to see Hunter it is just amazing! Their relationship brings tears to my eyes, as I know how much they love one another and it is so awesome to see Hunter be such a gentle role model for Gage. He will most definitely be the big brother that Gage will never have!

Fun with Friends

Gage and I spent a lot of time this summer with friends. Here he is with a few...







Gage, Annika and Gabrielle
















Gage and Eddy















Jazz counts as a friend, right?!




















And so does Auntie Katie!!

Dakota County Fair

We spent the day at the fair with my cousin Christopher, his wife Shelly and their 5 month old Jonathon. First it rained, then it got really HOT! It was a nice day, and we spent most of our time in the beer tent, as it was shady, just visiting and enjoying a cold one (or two).

I tried. Really, I did!

So this job that I was so excited about? I quit. Yep, you read that correctly. After being there less than two weeks, I quit.

I had very valid reasons, and if you were lucky enough to call me, or receive a call from me between Monday night and Wednesday morning you most likely assisted in my problem solving. Or at least had to hear about it.

I really did beat myself up over it. I pondered. I questioned aloud, "What will people think of me if I quit already?" and "What if I ever want to apply there again, in a different department?"
Then I asked myself, "Whose life is this anyhow??"

What it comes down to is this: I am blessed that I can be so picky. I am a full-time stay at home mom who wanted to get out of the house a couple days out of the week and if I am going to be paying for daycare, I want my job to be of enjoyment to me. I want to look forward to going, and be okay with the fact that I am dropping my son off at daycare while I'm enjoying myself and doing something productive. Many things came about within my first few days that had me down-right dreading the position. I would be doing much more work than my paid time allowed, and the money really wasn't all that good. (Really...it was comparable to my very first job out of college and may have even been a bit less). Therefore, after really thinking about it, I quit. And I have to say I feel so much better. Gage even smiled after I hung up the phone and I dropped down to the floor in a huge "sigh" as the stress of this decision really had me in a physical state the past few days! I am not a quitter, and I hate nothing more than letting someone down...especially myself. But, there is something better out there for me. Even if I don't find it for awhile (a few years, another baby??) I will find it eventually.

Oh, and about those pictures I promised?? They're coming...