Sunday, September 1, 2013

Other Glimpses Into Our New York Adventure


Caitlin already posted a few pictures from our anniversary celebration, but here are a few more from the rest of our stay in New York City!


Goldman Sachs has agreements with most all of the museums in New York City allowing employees and families to get in free, so Caitlin and I were able to see a lot of cool exhibits from many different museums while we were there!




We were also able to explore Central Park a few times.  I could not believe the number of squirrels in NYC!



In addition to staying with Kirsten and Wil, we were also fortunate enough to cross paths with Arie and Abi!  It was great to meet our newest nephew, Caleb!


We will be eternally grateful to Kirsten and Wil for letting us invade their home to the degree that we did!  I stayed with them my first night in the city, and Caitlin infringed upon their privacy for two straight weeks!  They provided us with many fun evenings and tasty meals, including first anniversary dinner and cake!


Ashey and Jenny accepted Caitlin as one of the family by the end of her stay.


The 9-11 Memorial is still partially under construction, but what is built thus far is beautiful!



 The new World Trade Center building is almost completed as well.



This is Survivor Tree.  It was planted at the base of one of the twin towers, and after removing the wreckage from the area, it was discovered to still be alive!  After replanting it in a park to fully revive, it has again been restored to its original location.


Caitlin kept her streak alive: she is yet to visit NYC without winning the Broadway lottery for Wicked!


She also visited the bakery from the TV show Cake Boss with Kirsten.


Below is a picture of Caitlin and I walking along the High Line path.  It is a 1-mile elevated walkway in Manhattan that was once an above-ground train line.


The picture was supposed to show the surrounding area, but our arms are not long enough.  Here is what the path looks like:


The New York City Library is pretty incredible!


As is Columbia University's campus.


Goldman Sachs has two amazing buildings in the area.  First, the Manhattan building is the furthest left (of the tall buildings) in the picture below.


The second tower is just on the other side of the Hudson River, in New Jersey.




Unfortunately, below is the building in which we had the majority of our training sessions.  It was great inside, but the outside looked pretty crappy.  I didn't really mind though, as we had events in both of the other buildings throughout my training in New York.


The building we were in was right next to Wall Street, so it made for good exploring sessions during lunch breaks.


Between work and meeting Caitlin in both Brooklyn and Manhattan, I got pretty good at maneuvering the subway lines!


After Caitlin left, I went to a Yankees' Game with a few friends from work.  It was my first professional baseball game, and Yankee Stadium is pretty amazing.  I feel like a true American now.



The Flatiron Building is my favorite building in the city.


We had a great time in New York City!  These pictures are only the beginning!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Anniversary in the Big Apple


We celebrated our first anniversary in style in the great city of New York!  Matthew had training for his new job in NYC which happened to coincide with our wedding anniversary.  I was lucky enough to go as well and stay with my sister and brother-in-law in Brooklyn.  I can't thank you enough, Kirsten and Wil, for letting me stay with you guys!  


The night Matthew flew in, we had lunchables in Prospect Park, reliving the night we got engaged.  Yes, it rained, and yes, we didn't care.


Church, dinner, and an incredible replica of one of the cakes at our wedding reception (the one with honeycomb on top) thanks to our amazing sister Kirsten.  So delicious!


Matthew didn't have to work his first Monday in the city so we had an entire day to celebrate our anniversary and explore NYC.  We started off the day by walking the Brooklyn Bridge!




Top of the Rockefeller Center!  Awesome views.




Tandem biking through Central Park!  It was so hot and humid; we were drenched in sweat.  Totally worth it.  We followed our biking adventure with an early dinner at the Shake Shack.  Not quite as soon after as we hoped.  Our subway took about half an hour before it would go because the police were "investigating."  That's all they would tell us.  More and more people kept shoving onto our subway and it was so crowded and hot.  But I found my new favorite fries in the whole world, so I was happy.



The Shake Shack is right across the street from the Museum of Natural History.  Who knew?  Matthew got free admission, including one guest, to all the museums in NYC with his Goldman Sachs's ID, so we decided to check it out. 




Grand Central Station


A long walk through Central Park on our way to dessert.  Matthew gets artistic with his photography. :) Looks pretty cool though, right?




Dessert at Serendipity: frozen hot chocolate, of course.  What a cutie!  It was a great anniversary and a great year of marriage.  I really love this kid.