Cupcakes!

Cupcakes are apparently, all the rage...there are more cupcake shops in NYC than we will probably be able to go to during the course of our year here. We're making a good effort though to visit them all! Every Sunday, in typical Tongan fashion, we do a bakery run after church, each week visiting a new cupcake shop, in search of the perfect cupcake. These were very thick, dense cupcakes with very fancy frosting. Pretty pricey at $3.50 each, but the shop was quirky, with several rooms of old, cozy furniture providing plenty of seating for guests.

A cheesesteak sandwich & some much missed company

With the holidays here, several of our friends still serving in the Peace Corps in Tonga were home to visit family and friends, one of them was our friend, Sami, who was going to be in Philadelphia. So we hopped onto a Greyhound bus for the short trip down there, met up with a previous boss of mine, then reunited with Sami for a day of being a Philly tourist (it was Jason's first trip to Philly). We walked the whole of the city, rang the Liberty Bell, ran up the "Rocky" steps and devoured some cheesesteak sandwiches before departing back for NYC. The best part was being able to visit with our friend, who we last saw in December 2006.

Starting the New Year right!

...with a run along the Hudson with my best friend, Julie. It's been a year and a half since we've been able to run together. Today was the most gorgeous day here - we would run, then stop to take some photos and then run a little more...all while Jason was running for real. It was a perfect start to the year!

New Year's Eve in Times Square

We decided that since we would be in New York City for New Years Eve, we needed to spend the evening in Times Square. Of course, most people think about standing in the cold for several hours with a bunch of strangers and cringe...we thought about that, but more importantly we thought about the extreme lack of toilet facilities available to those who are trying to "enjoy" the evening. My solution? Adult diapers. Telling you this might be sharing too much, but you may as well know. Jason & I went to Target and bought a pack of Serenity brand adult diapers for us and our 4 friends (who I won't name, but are pictured here) to wear so that we could have peace of mind during our 7-hour marathon of standing in the cold. The evening itself did drag a bit...I don't think I've stood for 7 hours, ever. But, with good friends, the time did pass, we even bought a pizza which was delivered to us in the human corral that we were confined to for the evening. And, since I know you are probably wondering, none of us actually used the diapers we were wearing, although Jason had tested one to ensure it's reliability before we embarked on our evening adventure! All-in-all, we're really glad that we did New Year's Eve in Times Square, but we're equally as glad that we won't ever feel the need to have to do it again!

Friends for a visit

Our very good Peace Corps friend, William, and his girlfriend Adrienne have come to NYC for a visit as a side-trip to visiting Adrienne's family in Virginia. We haven't seen William since our wedding day and he is a very special friend for many reasons, but especially since he is the first person who knew that Jason was in-love with me. We were especially excited to spend some time with Adrienne and get to know the girl who has caught William's eye.

Christmas Eve

For Jason & I's very first Christmas together as a married couple, we were simply that - together. Away from all of our family and friends. It felt a bit strange, but we had such a beautiful Christmas. I tried my hand at making rack of lamb and it turned out pretty good for my first attempt.

Snow Day!

Our first real snow day arrived today. We had some snow flurries last month, but nothing that stuck to the ground. When we woke up and I glanced outside, I was delighted to see everything covered in a couple of inches of beautiful, white snow. Our "super" Al, was already outside salting down our stoop and the sidewalks in front of our building and the others he cares for on our block. It was only 21 degrees outside, but we bundled ourselves up and headed out to church, then continued on to explore the snow covered city. We had such a fun day. Since everything was already decorated for Christmas, the snow just added to the wonderful holiday spirit. We spent hours exploring (and only having had a cupcake for a snack!) and were definitely ready for some good food and warm house when we were done.