A Whirlwind Weekend in the Big Apple

With a new baby on the way, Thomas and I decided we only had so many months left to travel.  So, when an invitation from a dear college friend came for his wedding on Long Island, we decided it was a perfect excuse for a New York trip.  Virginia stayed behind for a fun-filled long weekend in California while Thomas and I headed east.

The first stop was New York City, where Marriott hotel points scored us a nice room in the Renaissance Hotel right in the heart of Times Square.  Since it had been years since we'd been to NYC, we decided we had earned as much.  It turned out to be a good thing that we saved on the room because theater tickets were sky-high!  It didn't help that I wanted to see one of the hottest shows in town -- Matilda -- which had recently opened on Broadway.  Matilda was based on my absolute favorite childhood novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, so it was a can't miss for me.  It was truly a magical theater experience and an amazing show (made all the better by second row seats).  We even had a chance to meet up with a college friend, Justin Zaremby, before the show for drinks.  And after the show, we had a chance to see another Yalie, Rachel Pasternak, who happened to have Matilda tickets the same night!  Talk about lots of reunions.

Very happy Roald Dahl fan!

Speaking of reunions, as luck would have it, my Aunt Lynn happened to be in New York the same evening too.  She was taking a girls trip to shop and see shows, so we met up with her crew at Sardi's.  What fun!

Sardi's with the girls!

Thomas, Auntie Lynn, and me at Sardi's.

The next morning, we had the opportunity to see even more Yale friends, as we met up with Marc Suskin and his family for brunch.  Marc and Thomas were Spizzwinks and Whiffenpoofs together, and their oldest daughter is right at Virginia's age.  We were sad that Virginia couldn't be there for the reunion too, but I know we will have a chance to see them again soon.

With Marc & Alexa and their girls.

Then it was off to Connecticut for the rest of the day.  We crashed for one night with Uncle John and Aunt Joyce at 1918 and had a nice time visiting with most of the CT Mack family as always.

Finally, the big event -- Roric Tobin's wedding on Long Island.  We drove Sunday morning from Connecticut down to Long Island, where we reunited with even more Yalies for the shindig.  We also had the chance to see our UVa law friend, Brett, who also happens to be Roric's brother (small world!).  We had recently seen Brett and his family in Hawaii in March, so it was nice to catch up with him and his daughters again.  The wedding was a blast and I danced my pregnant belly off.  Best wishes to the happy couple!

Leslie & her favorite boys -- Brian & Peter

The boys doing Blue Steel.  Very little has changed in the 12 years since we graduated at Yale.

With the illustrious Mr. Eric Paul Harding.

Thomas & Brett

More Yale pals.

Thomas and the blushing groom.

Daddy-daughter dancing.  Cuteness.

November Memories

Got a little behind on the blog post, so here I am in April 2013 updating our blog for November 2012.  Better late than never!

In any event, November was a pretty quiet month for the Harvey family.  We played lots of Candy Land -- Virginia's first board game -- and finally helped Miss V transition from the crib to her very first big girl bed.  We hosted our usual Yale-Harvard game viewing party, and Yale disappointed us again by losing in standard fashion.  And we spent a quiet Thanksgiving at GayGay & PopPop's house.

Boola Boola

We held our annual Yale-Harvard game party at our home in Alameda again this year.  As always, Yale completely folded, evidencing its embarrassing lack of football prowess for almost as long as I can remember.  But we had a grand time reuniting with old friends.  Virginia and Sebastian O'Neill (son of one of our classmates) played a rousing game of football in the yard, and Virginia got the chance to meet the newest Bulldog-to-be Andrew Alexander (son of Vanessa Alexander, one of my dearest Yale friends).

Yale 10th Reunion

Thomas and I took a weekend off from parenting in early June to travel to New Haven for our 10 year Yale Reunion! We had a blast, and we heard that Virginia didn't have too bad of a time her self spending the weekend with GayGay (pony rides, trips to McDonald's, and lots of time with Phoebe dominated the weekend).

As for us in Connecticut, we stayed quite busy with Mory's trips, singing with the Whiffs, trips to Thai Taste and the Elizabethan Club, visits with the Mack family, and lots of catching up with friends at the reunion events.

The Game

The the air has turned crisp, the leaves are turning firey colors, and I am wearing a moth-eaten Yale jersey saved from my days in New Haven. Yes, it is that day of year again, when Mother Yale pits its glorious football team against that of the finest technical college in Eastern Massachusetts. This year, we decided against watching the Game at the Yale Club, and instead hosted our own party in Alameda. Who knew that this matchup would be available to us on basic cable?!

At times the game looked like it was being played in a Pop Warner league. But that does nothing to take away from storied football tradition of the Bulldogs. A little known fact about Yale football: until recently, it was the winningest football team in the history of football. (Mostly due to the fact that it has placed the most games.) A few years ago, Michigan overtook the top spot after threatening for many years.

I will not delve into the details of the on-field play, or the final result, since both were unremarkable. What I will say is that we had a great group of Yale friends with us to celebrate, various breakfast delicacies from guests all over the bay, stiff bloody marys, and a wonderful time.

Whiffenbabies of the World, Unite!

One of Thomas's fellow Whiffenwinks/Winkenpoofs (Spizzwinks who were also in the senior singing group at Yale), Marc Suskin, recently came to the Bay Area for a visit. And he brought along his beautiful wife, Alexa, and their 12 month old baby Sylvie!

The girls had a fantastic time playing together and baby cuteness abounded. We took the girls to a local pumpkin patch run by the Alameda firefighters and also to ride on the steam trains at Tilden Park. While the weekend had plenty of highs, it was also a comedy of errors at times. Virginia had her first urgent care visit while the Suskins were in town - she dropped a pack of Jello pudding cups on her toe, causing it to turn very blue. Then, Marc and Thomas managed to catch a stomach bug. Plus, it rained nonstop too! Despite the hiccups, we had a blast. And the parents even got a night out on the town - we attended a neighbor's Halloween bash.

Boola Boola

It is never too early to start indoctrinating our daughter with Yale pride, so we took the chance to visit New Haven while we were in Connecticut. We took Wormy to Thai Taste for lunch - one of our old dating haunts many years ago. We roamed the campus and shopped for Yale gear with Uncle Steve and Douglas. Virginia Harvey - Yale Class of 2031!

At lunch at Thai Taste:

Notice the Yale banner in the background: