Lisa in the Rain

Oh Lisa, I wish you lived in NYC! Look at how beautiful you look caught in an unexpected mid-summer rain storm! You don't get many of those in Los Angeles...



We were walking on the Bowery when the storm started. Instead of heading home when the skies opened up, we pulled out the camera and continued on. I am reminded of the many "photo shoots" Lisa and I would stage growing up. We would style hair, make-up, & wardrobe; I was usually the photographer & Lisa the model. Looks like we still got it.







I think that Biet liked the rain. When she's a bit older & a summer storm begins, we'll take off our shoes, close up the umbrellas, & brave the elements (It's exhilarating. I highly recommend it). Everyone on the streets will hurry to shelter, everyone except us. We'll run through Tompkins Square Park, barefoot & soaked in the hot summer air, and for a few moments, the park will belong to us alone. Maybe Aunt Lisa will be there to run with us..

Naps

Once in awhile, in the afternoon, we open up the bedroom windows wide, call Nico onto the bed, put on a record, and take a nap. Biet usually lays on Gaby's chest. My very favorite is napping during a summer thunder storm, like today. The rumbling of rain & hail fills the apartment, the street noise is drowned out, and we rest, safe & warm, on our bed, as a family.

Auntie Lala

Another sister is in town.. Biet's Aunt Lisa, or "Auntie Lala" as she has already been christened by her nephew (we'll see which name baby girl prefers). I have a sneaky suspicion that "Lala" may be on the list of first words. I also have a slight suspicion that Lisa will one day be Biet's "cool" aunt, providing hip & exciting adventures and endless phone calls filled with advice. Once again we'll just have to wait & see.

Lisa was in the city for a whirlwind visit with us, and I already miss her so. We went thrift store shopping (I have dearly missed shopping for non-maternity clothes). We tried cupcakes from a new bakery (they were pretty good, but my favorites are still from here & here). We went on an emergency adventure at two in the morning to New Jersey & Brooklyn to rescue Gaby & his coworkers (they blew out their tire coming back from a gig) which involved a car seat, Junior's Cheesecake Factory, & a minivan full of Hasidic Jewish men.. long story. We made hummus. We got done up & went out to dinner. Lisa gave Biet her first bottle- a semi-successful attempt- while officially babysitting her for the first time. And we relaxed at home & talked & made food & took care of baby girl together. It was a truly lovely visit & I can't wait until we see her again this autumn. Oh how I love & miss my sisters.

A Father's Day Moonlight Picnic

Growing up, my Dad always told us three girls that the best gift he could receive on a holiday was something handmade by us. In lieu of a new shirt or tie, we would make Dad a painting or picture frame or home-cooked meal. That's just how we did holidays.

So for Biet's first Father's Day with her Papa, I contemplated making a little card for Gaby "signed" by her, but reconsidered. I want this to be her and her father's holiday. I want him to begin receiving cards as soon as she is big enough to make them. I want each year for his gift to be handmade, from the heart, & from her.
So instead of gifts, we celebrated with an all-day outing through the West Village that included a trip to the bakery, the record shop, & one of our favorite Italian dinner spots. Biet stayed strapped to her Papa the whole time.


Along the way, we spotted one of the street pianos (upright pianos placed in outdoor spaces all around NYC for public use by an amazing organization called Sing For Hope) and wandered over. A man sat down and started serenading Gaby & Biet, who both began dancing to the old-timey song, which started the whole street corner dancing, which elicited excited barking from Nico, which caused everyone to burst out laughing. Spontaneous corner dance parties: yet another reason why I love this city.



When we finally made it down Sullivan street to the restaurant, it was full (all 3 tables) & we were starving. So we ordered to-go & had a little moonlight picnic at the park instead. The air was summery warm and the city seemed so quiet as we dined alone in the park. It is a day I will not soon forget. And that memory is better than any card.

A Late Afternoon Stroll...

..through Central Park! For Biet's first NYC park experience, we (Gaby, Aunt Adi, & myself) figured it HAD to be Central Park. A short ride on the F-train and we were laying in the grass watching the sun set. I am sure that before we know it, Biet will know every park in the city like the back of her tiny hand, like a true born-and-raised New Yorker.
**gushing with both parental and New Yorker/East Coast pride**

Little Argentina

Biet's first car ride was through 3 boroughs & over 2 bridges to a quaint Queens neighborhood called Little Argentina. She was happy as a clam sitting in the back seat while Mama drove. I'm already planning the next drive with our new baby companion (I'm thinking the beach)..

Once we arrived in Little Argentina, Gaby & Adi were transported back to the country of their childhood. They were both over the moon. We were no longer in NYC, but instead a Spanish-speaking land filled with steak (so much steak!) & sausages, chimichurri, tea sandwiches, flan, dulce de leche, mate, & old-fashioned soda bottles.

We ate (a ton) & shopped & gazed through bakery windows at endless rows of pastries. For once, I was the one with the funny accent. I am so happy that Biet will grow up bilingual, and that we'll be able to bring her back to this little neighborhood where her heritage is celebrated so. One day we will journey to Buenos Aires, Gaby & Biet with their Argentinean passports & me with my American one, to see the city where Gaby was born. I can't wait to try the steak there.

These two ate too much..

Aunt Adi!

Baby girl has people traveling half way around the world for her! Gaby's sister Adi journeyed all the way from Israel to come meet her niece. Adi is a veteran mom so she knows just the right way to hold Biet & pinch her chubby cheeks & sing to her. She also knows just the right way to make ravioli & empanadas & pastries, for which we are oh so grateful.

She came bearing gifts (!)


And we walk together each day all around the East Village


With Biet in tow


Usually wrapped up tight


Like a little babushka


And at the end of the day we all feel like this

COFFEE FOR THREE

Every morning since we've been married Gaby makes me coffee, & he's promised to continue for evermore. This is yet another reason why I love him. I usually am awoken in bed with a hot cup straight from the stove (yes we make our coffee in an old-fashioned stove-top percolator), but times have changed. Now I am usually awoken by a darling little baby who's hungry for breakfast, and the coffee comes later. And I'm ok with that. Because now I've promised to feed (and clothe & bathe & teach & love & make magic with) a little person every morning, and for evermore.

So this morning the coffee was pushed back to afternoon. And when it finally arrived it came with a surprise: ice. For it is finally true summer here in New York City; sticky, sweltering, break-a-fire-hydrant-open summer. I LOVE IT. I love NYC humidity, frizzy hair, living off of watermelon and Italian ice, Coney Island, block parties, black feet from wearing sandals in a metropolis, coconut vendors on the corner, impromptu baths in the Washington Square Park fountain, rooftop BBQ's, summer dresses, ice-cream, and iced coffee.

Gaby made us iced coffee for the first time this year, and to celebrate we went outside to drink it. We sat outside the cemetery across the street from our building. We let Biet feel a little sunshine on her cheeks, sipped our coffees, mingled with neighbors, & snapped a few photos. Happy summer!