Walk or Don't Walk - crawling along the finish line

One of the perks of being a grand aunt is having grand nieces from far away land come for a visit. She didn't exactly just drop by on her way back home to the Philippines. Rather Nina's business trip to Costa Rica was definitely no vacation so she decided to make up for it by coming to New York. No problem you think! Eh, not so fast.

The wind-battered JFK Airport left the kid stranded overnight in Atlanta of all cities. She frantically worked with us through the night trying to rebook for the next available flight which didn't exist until the following day. And what do you think happens after half a dozen NY-bound flight cancellations? You got that right - her luggage was nowhere to be found. Let's pigeonhole that for the time being and make the most of your week long stay which is now cut down to five days thanks to that nasty Nor'easter.

And so we (the poor uncles, aunts and grand aunt) took turns in showing Nina around squeezing in as many city sights as we can in five freakin' days! It was a marathon, I had to load up on caffeine and power bars to keep me going. Thank heavens I had her blasting down the sidewalks of the city at warrior-like pace like a native in no time! Of course she's young but we New Yorkers have rules.


We have places to go and things to see so you have to walk fast!
We puttered the streets, sprinted onto the rush-hour packed subways and with a minimum of instructions Nina made it.

Dogwalkers have the right of way. Have your Metro card ready, the sidewalk is yours, cars will kill you, don't stare and that nut that gives you the finger could be a kickboxer so don't mess with him, just ignore. If you get lost, you know how to read! There are no signals underground inside the subways, or at least my not-so-smart phone never gets any, so follow me closely and don't fall behind. That's all, Nina. Whew!

It is beyond cool, despite all that walking. We covered most of the must-see spots including MoMA and the Met Museum. While walking in Central Park, she even got friendly with a couple of Irish teens imbibing alcohol without censure - only on St. Patrick's Day. The parade was awesome, perfect strangers but the friendliest crowd of Kellys, O'Gradys and what-have-yous.

So what's the big deal about Serendipity? Frozen hot chocolate and the $1000 Golden Opulence Sundae. For real! What a cool costume for St. Patty's, whoever you are.

Give it up you bull-hogging tourists, let Nina have her turn.

How many cans of Campbell soup can you eat? What's on Andy Warhol's mind, I wonder?

A first for me, Park Slope dining at Bogota was also awesome. Nina had a great time, while Auntie crawled along the finish line! I hope your visit was memorable. I'm sure she'll be posting a journal on Facebook so all you cousins out there, watch for that.

Update: Her luggage will be found just in the nick of time - one day before her departure!
Are you sure you won't want to walk instead of fly next time?

Whose birthday is it anyway?

In the end someone still has to do the dishes. I did some. Thanks to my family who portrayed me as the spic-and-span ferocious brigadier, Charlotte is now terrified of me. No you don't have to salute or curtsy, you just have to be neat and always prompt. That's the rule.

You see, our friend Charlotte will be traveling with us to NOLA for the wedding but now she's panic-stricken. With Auntie in command she now thinks there will be a pass-in-review everyday. Bad kids terrorizing Charlotte this way, but go on and practice your cadence call anyway.

See that lady wearing black
She makes a livin' on her back
She's a back-stroke swimmer
A back-stroke swimmer.... so it goes

It was Carol's birthday but look who's in the picture again. Grandma. Just watch that she doesn't blow your candles first. Gotta give it to her, she is photogenic if nothing else.

So how old are you now Carol? Hmmm. She doesn't remember.
Well, let me see. She's ripe enough to earn her well-deserved doctoral title this spring. The wait is over. Kudos to her and hats off to Ped who'll need to give her all the support as she defends her thesis. Too bad you can't just bribe the teacher with an apple, but I'm sure it'll just be a breeze for you. We'll be there right behind you, just promise to feed us after the graduation ceremonies.

Now if you'll excuse me, brainiac that I'm not, I have to get these goo off a basketful of pinecones I've squirreled away to make a wreath for Christmas.