Vacation Almost In Sight

Over the past couple weeks I’ve been preoccupied with my upcoming vacation. All plans seem to center around my vacation, from what I need to get done at work to what I need to buy or get done at home before I head off to have fun in the sun. I have no doubt bored some of you with these details but it's almost over. I hate the thought of adding to the pile of work that will be waiting for me when I get back so the goal has been to get through as many of the pesky tasks that I have avoided doing until now. And, more than anything, I fear forgetting to pack something that I will need so needless to say, I’ve been running through a mental checklist of what I’ve done, what I’ve packed, and what I still need to do. This is in addition to planning details of the trip as far as hotels, activities, transportation, flights etc. In a word, it’s been an overwhelming experience which is probably why I so enjoyed the distractions of this past weekend.

Hanging out with K and T is always a fun experience and this past Friday was no different. During this outing, we visited Café Habana in Nolita. I especially liked my snapper dish as the smoky flavor reminded me of the shellfish that I grew up eating on my home island. From there we made our way to Emack and Bolio’s Emack and Bolio’s so that we could have something sweet to “cleanse our palates.” The ‘chocolate eruption’ ice cream flavor was tempting but I went with the mango instead. We capped the evening off with a movie at The Angelika and while The Brothers Bloom is not something that I'd had any intention of seeing, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend it for a good laugh and intelligent story line.

The rainy weather on Saturday thwarted my plans and made staying in seem an attractive prospect but I made up for it with my trip to City Island with family the next day. It had been a long while since I’d been there so I was once again surprised at the small town feel of it. It seems that every time I venture outside the slice of New York that I’m familiar with I’m surprised, happily so, that these places exist so close by. It was definitely a nice pace from the rat race that is city life. But, the weekend is over now and my vacation is even closer at hand so it’s back to the rat race, the mental lists and last-minute planning.