a new york state of mind

my mom and dad were born and raised in new york (brooklyn & bronx), but cara and i were born and raised in california. since a very young age i have traveled to new york to spend my summers with grandma, visiting friends and family. up until my nana moved to florida a couple of years ago, i'd usually go to new york a couple times a year. when i was 17 i worked at a sleepaway camp (8 weeks) full of long island kids and when i was 21 i worked at a busy cafe in montauk. both summers might have been the worst summers of my life, but i definitely grew... that's for sure.

i stopped doing touristy things in new york long ago... but after high school graduation katie and i went for our senior trip and had a blast. since then (now 10 years ago!), i mostly just go to visit friends/family or go to weddings/bar mitzvahs. my grandfather was one of 11 so i have a really large family... plus as you can imagine my parents are incredibly social (wonder where i got that from!), so they've got tons of friends there.

i headed to new york this september to:
  • go to the US open
  • see my cousin carrie's new baby
  • visit jess and adam
  • visit family/friends


i saw some new parts of new york on my trip. we started the week with jason mraz and christina perri at jones beach theatre. WOW, what a venue!! jess' mom has an awesome apartment in long beach (new york, not california), so we went to the beach, bbq'ed with friends and went out in the area. there was this awesome bar/restaurant called POPS that was half inside and half outside. a few minutes after we got there it started to rain and we just stood out and enjoyed it. the outside part was all in the sand... it was amazing. we then headed to another bar that was pure college scene, but so much fun. crazy
crowded dance floor with a band playing, drinks spilling everywhere... good times. 




monday we headed back to the city, i met up for dinner with some of my cousins... always great to see family. since jess was working tuesday i geared up in my lululemon and headed to central park by way of 5th avenue. i haven't been to central park in i don't even know how long. definitely not since i was an adult. i had no idea how beautiful it is. and there's all these fun paths and secret passageways. water and rocks and trees for days. when you stand in the middle, you feel anywhere but new york city. it was a muggy day, but i had a blast wandering around the park looking at horse drawn carriages, bikers, runners, kids, a huge water reservoir, etc. a perfect way to spend a new york summer day.


tuesday night we headed to the US open. oh man i was excited! unfortunately it was raining, but it was still really awesome to see the village and be in the stadium. we got to watch a little bit of andy roddick's last match before it start raining pretty hard and they cancelled the match. if the match rains out they give you tickets for the following year, so i guess i'll be going to the US open 2013!


since i had no plans wednesday during the day i bought a ticket online and attempted to US open again. it rained for a couple hours but the sun FINALLY came out and i got to watch some good tennis. sharapova vs. bertolli. i watched a little bit of the continued roddick match and then headed back to the city to meet up with my cousin.

from there i left the city and headed out to long island for a family/family friend tour. first night - the old brookville glassmans, then the axels, and finally off to the indenbaums in smithtown to meet baby abbie and hang out with my first cousins and aunt and uncle. the rest of the week involved good food, great company, lots of hugs, and a surprise 60th birthday party for my aunt.

while i usually travel to NY at least once a year, this was definitely a unique trip. saw new sights, FINALLY made it to the US open, and bonded with friends and family that i don't get to see often.

i was definitely in a new york state of mind. 

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