Pre-Birthday Weekend

My Birthday weekend started with a major party at my house. I had prepared for it all week cleaning and straightening bit by bit. Finally, this is what my back room looked like at showtime:


Based on my final count 35 invited guests showed up, and the real headcount was over 50 once my neighbor's party came to crash mine. I don't think at any point more than 25 were there. It was great to catch up with those I've not seen for so long (Ricky, Chris K) This was by far, the largest shin-dig I've hosted. There was lots of drinking, lots of dancing, and lots of warmth coming from the fire-pit out back. My favorite part was when my brother showed up, as I hadn't seen him in what felt like months, but was probably just a few weeks. Oh, and by then I had stopped playing host and started playing birthday boy. I think I got to bed around 5 AM!

Naturally, our departure to NYC was delayed considerably. I think Miss Two and I hit the road at 1 PM. It took us three hours to get to the top of DC, a journey that should take no more than two hours. I-95 was grid-locked North of F-berg, so I detoured off to Rt. 1, which was also grid-locked as a tractor trailer had broken down in the right lane. Fudge! Finally, I got back to 95 and it was gridlocked again (still?). Now, I'm not particularly proud of what I have to say next, but here goes: I ended up following some fools (geniuses?) a mile or two on the shoulder. This saved at least 20 minutes of what would've been total grid-lock in NoVA. I was actually awaiting an HOV emergency entrance as they had opened the HOV lane as we were sitting in the mess, but we got through the traffic before hitting an opening. "Everyone else was doing it". Then as luck would have it, DC-295 was entirely shut down. WTF!? After battling what turned out to be traffic for the shut-down highway, we had to detour along surface streets about 10 miles in DC to get to the next entrance. Shesh! After those four 20-minute delays, it was smooth sailing.

Its a good thing I crept up the shoulder during that traffic because we had just enough time to get to NJ, get ready, drive in the city, park, and walk a few blocks, get inside, Radio City Music Hall, take a few pictures, get a drink, and sit down before the show began. The show was absolutely amazing! My favorite part is when the cannon shoots the Rockette's and they all fall down.



After the show, we checked out Rockefeller Center for the tree and ice rink, Time Sq, and had a brew in a bar around those parts.

Sunday we woke up as early as possible and spent the entire day in the City. We stopped by Liberty Park to see the Statue of Liberty, rode a horse carriage ride through Central park, went window shopping down 5th Ave, went back to Rockefeller Center, and took a bike taxi to Grand Central Station. The City is really cool during the holiday season.



And if that weren't enough, I'm headed back to NJ tomorrow for a week! Giants game Sunday, work from "home" Monday-Wednesday, lots of Christmas Wed-Thur, possible Snowboarding Fri or Sat, and home Sat or Sun! That would mark the 4th and 5th Saturday in NJ. I wonder if my grandma is going to start charging me rent.