My Trip To NYC

As promised, here is the fantastic view from Paul's apartment.

His apartment is on Howard Street and this is his view looking north up Crosby. Pretty fantastic, huh? I just emailed Maura for some pictures of her view, too. In the meantime, I'll post some pictures of my time spent with my step-daughter ("Dogger" for short), Ivy.

That's Ivy on the right. The other chick is Maggie, Ivy's best friend. We were at Balthazar celebrating Paul's (Uncle Balls') birthday on Saturday afternoon. Friday night was all about Ivy. It was my belated sweet sixteen present to her. We went out to dinner in the city and then had a sleepover at Uncle Balls' house. But before all that I got to meet her crew.

Like most 16 year olds, Ivy travels in a pack. Maggie and Ivy make up one half of that pack. Here's the other half. That's Peter on the left and Jared on the right. They're not as retarded as they look. I don't think. I was actually pretty impressed with all of Ivy's friends. They try and make conversation with adults and look them in the eye when they do. That right there is half the battle with any teenager, right? These kids were smart, funny and gracious. Maggie is the hottie of the group even though she's coming in at just about 5 feet tall. Ivy is the brains and the glue. Without her, there might not be a fierce foursome. She keeps them focused. Jared is the personality and Peter is the male hottie. Although as I told the girls, focus will switch from Peter to Jared very soon, that kid's got swagger. And girls love swagger.

Here's a picture of the king of swagger.
Yep, that's my step-son, Nate. This dude is funny, good-looking, (getting) tall, and can dance his ass off. He's nice to girls and boys alike. He's the guy everyone wants to be best friends with. Thoughts of him at 18 terrify me.

All in all the trip was a success, I spent some quality time spent with the kids, with Paul, with Maura... the one thing I didn't get to do was walk the picket line. Thursday was my only opportunity and I slept through it. Sometimes that city takes hold of you, plies you full of drink and then spits you out nude on the wrong side of 3am. Good times, indeed.