Sitting on a bench in Soho.

Kylie Nixon took our family photos last Thursday down in Soho. Quinn was well behaved, & besides the bazillion percent humidity that made my hair wrinkly, everything went really well & we had fun. We're super excited to see how they all turned out, especially since taking photos with three of us (one of whom has a bit of a slobbering problem) is a bit more complicated than it's been in years past. We really love Kylie, so we try to grab her when she's in town visiting Kelsey (she also did Q's birth announcement & our photos in Central Park a few summers ago).

It's basically impossible to find a cab during shift change (4-5pm), so we took advantage of our location & walked over to Cafe Habana for an early dinner. We really love that place, & although we're huge fans of La Esquina, Cafe Habana would win in an elote fist fight any day.

Saturday in Stripes.

We took a family field trip to Soho today, & had a little photo shoot with Q before we headed out the door. We cannot get over this child (or his cheeks!), nor can we even get close to adequately describing how excited we are about him every day. He's just fun. Really, really fun & happy & just a wonderful little boy.

In Soho: We ate tacos at La Esquina. Sampled chocolates & macaroons at Kee's Chocolate. Tried out the hot chocolate at Maribelle's (so-so), & window shopped until I decided my toes were freezing off.

(I remember how much I despise winter.)

Quinn slept through all of this, of course - warm & snuggly in his down suit that Mike gifted him for Christmas - perfect for this weekend & the upcoming frigid weather.

Tonight - Mike took care of the care & feeding of our son, & I ran across the street for a manicure, neck + back massage (breastfeeding might be the death of my back), with a little brow waxing to polish things off. It's been a while, & I told Mike that this needs to be a weekly monthly ritual. My body needed a little R&R. Speaking of which, so do my boobs. Or at least a nice new push up + padded bra when this breastfeeding business is over. I fear that the girls have gone the way of empty water balloons. Next summer & bathing suit season should be really interesting. 

And, behind the scenes just for fun:

Purl Soho.

My lovely mother kindly offered to make Baby Boy a quilt when we're at Priest Lake this summer, so I dragged a few friends down to Purl Soho so that I could pick out the fabric for her to use (with this pattern that I found & love). Eleven different fabrics! It's going to be soft + modern, & relatively gender-neutral in tones. I'm giddy. 

Purl is inspiring. Such an amazing store, & so many beautiful colors, textures & patterns. Maybe someday when I have the space (??) I'll discover my craft potential. I'm a little obsessed with this bear amongst other things, but until I become a master knitter, I'm just excited to make some great mustard colored pom-poms for the corners of my quilt.

Other almost crafty things I'm working on:

• Finalizing my grey selection for the paint in our new apartment (& loving Caitlin Wilson's suggestions)
• Picking out some new rugs, curtains & brightly colored mattings to update some of my simple frames + photos. Dreaming of a new bed frame (only dreaming, but plotting winning the lottery in the meantime).
• Brainstorming ideas for Baby Boy's (tiny) nursery. Checked off of the found list thus far: A crib, a rug & bedding. Still working on a dresser, lamp, a simple + modern lounger, & some accessories. I suppose I still have quite a bit of time.

Soho.

(I love sales.)

And then my camera died.

Happy Hour, Mormon Style.

I may post somewhat often about food, but it's sort of a package deal with living in New York (& being LDS). We don't have backyards or massive homes to congregate in. We can't congregate in large groups in people's homes because very few of us have more than 800 square feet. And, separating us from much of our peer group, we don't meet up at bars to grab a drink. So what do we do? We improvise. We eat. Together. And it's tons of fun, so don't even make fun of me.

It turns out that Big Daddy's (our favorite neighborhood diner) has a happy hour every day from 3-6pm every day. All shakes, appetizers & desserts are 1/2 half off, which means that their yummy shakes go for about $3. A few of us met up there yesterday afternoon & I've decided that it should be an almost-weekly tradition.

The sad news is that I met Mike in Soho an hour later for an early dinner at Cafe Habana. All I could fit in my stomach (after my oreo shake at Big Daddy's) was a piece of their corn. I mean, it's really, really amazing corn - topped with spicy chili, cotija cheese, & a creamy white substance that I won't mention by name because it grosses me out to think about it. It's like La Esquina's. But maybe better. And their Cuban sandwich is fantastic. I just couldn't do it. Any of you who have been there understand what a sad situation this really was.

.

But Big Daddy's? It's a really great excuse to get together with friends on a Friday afternoon, even if it means maybe spoiling dinner. And obviously - an open invite to anyone who wants to come next week.

Weekend Highlight: Friday night in Soho (con Elder Dave).

Dave requested Mexican food. We chose La Esquina on Kenmare. 

We found him a new wardrobe at the new JCrew Men's Store on Broadway & Broome. 

We ate stuffed cupcakes at Baked By Melissa on Spring Street. 

Yogurt Land, & a little story about how Karma came back & kicked me in the pants.

I went on an outing to Soho & Yogurt Land yesterday to partake of the wonder that all of my girlfriends seems to be talking about. They weren't kidding. Move over, Pinkberry - this stuff is unbelievable & absolutely worth the trek. Friends, would set tri-weekly visits be appropriate? I think so.

The yogurt was ridiculously good, but karma paid me a little visit before I got there.

Context + explanation of days events:

There are good young people in New York who want to make a difference. Good for them. Blessings to them from Heaven, of course. They are saving whales, children & the environment. They probably don't get paid. I commend them. They wear blue vests & they can often be found on 86th Street or around Union Square. They sort of remind me of Mormon missionaries. Cheerful. Friendly. Persistent.

But they're pesky.

Often times, they will sprint with you down the street if you don't stop to talk.

They throw out things like, This will only take 2 minutes of your time. You won't regret it.

Or, they make a comment that is supposed to make you trust them & want to talk with them. Hey, great bag! Where's it from? or Hey, my name's Dave, what's yours? Can we talk for a minute?

See, the thing is, New Yorker's are often in a hurry, often have an agenda. I've been approached (harassed) by these good-intentioned people many times in the past four years, often when I'm really needing to get somewhere. It gets old.

Cue yesterday, 5th Avenue, Chelsea:

I was rushing through Chelsea to make it to the subway at 14th street so that I could meet Erin at Bleecker Street. I ran out of a store & saw a blue vest. I quickly veered to the other side of the sidewalk in an effort to avoid him. I didn't make eye contact, but knew that I was spotted. I heard, Hey, what's your name? I'd love to talk with you. I kept walking. Quickly.

Out of nowhere, this man JUMPED in front of me. Literally jumped in front of me blocking my way on the sidewalk, 4 inches away from my face.

Defense mechanisms may have kicked in.

I sort of maybe kind of lost it. There was perhaps some loud speaking involved.

You can't jump in front of people on the sidewalk! You just can't do that! You can't make me stop! I don't want to talk to you!

I sprinted away.

Maybe not the biggest deal, but I sort of spoke forcefully, & like I said, my volume was sort of kind of a little bit loud, & these things combined could have been construed as me maybe being not super nice, & the look on this guy's face sort of confirmed that.

Cue Bleecker Street, Soho:

I exited the subway, & walked towards 6th Avenue while talking to Erin on the phone, admittedly not really paying attention to my surroundings - but I was trying to find Yogurt Land. It was important.

I crossed the street. I guess I didn't notice that the light was green & there was traffic heading straight for the BlackBerry attached to my head.

A large & appropriately scary looking man on a motorcycle missed me by about 4 inches, & proceeded to scream at me so loudly that my eyes watered.

It was totally my fault. The almost dying, part. I guess he didn't have to scream quite so loudly, but like I said... karma.