Happy Labor Day....A Little Late!

It has hit me this week that summer is over! School started this week in the city, everyone is back from vacation and the streets are busier, the air is crisper, we have our big kickoff Sunday for Children's Ministry at Redeemer this Sunday, and fall activities have begun. I have to admit I am a little sad. I had a great summer enjoying the park, enjoying a less crowded city, late nights with friends, and all the summer activities that NYC offers. Before this "fall" week began, my parents came to the city for Labor Day weekend....and they came to work!

It was great to have them here and they helped me get some projects accomplished in my apt. We spent the first day painting. (My dad actually did most of the painting, but I do not have a picture of him in action)It is so nice finally have some color in my apt to help make it feel a little bit like a home!

The 2nd day we did quite a bit of shopping! We hit up the fashion district to pick out fabric to make curtains and pillows for my living room. Fabric shopping in NYC is a whole new experience!

We left fashion district (with fabulous fabric in tow) and headed downtown to one of my favorite stores, the container store. If you live in a city you totally need to go here. It has everything you could possibly imagine to help you get a small space incredibly organized. I had a personal shopper help me pick out a metro shelving system for my kitchen as well as a few other things to help me organize my bedroom. By the way, does anyone recognize name on the bag I am carrying? I actually got all my fabric for my apartment at "Mood" fabric store , which happens to be the fabric store that all the designers buy their fabric from on the show Project Runway. Watch the show, and you will see this store on there every week. They have some great stuff, check it out. I will have to show you pictures of my fun fabric after my mom makes my curtains and pillows. (Thanks Mom!)

So after painting, shopping, and having my dad do some projects around my little apt (Thanks mom and dad) we did get to do some fun things!

We walked through Central Park. Isn't Poet's Walk gorgeous!

We spent some time in Time Square

We went on a 2 hour boat cruise that took us down the Hudson, into the harbor, and up the East River. It was so cool to see the city skyline and bridges from the water. of course we had to sail by Lady Liberty

We spent quite a bit of time on the water this trip. Most people's first thoughts of NYC are not the beauty of the waterfront (even though it is an island), but some of my favorite places to go in the city lie along the rivers. The next 2 pictures are taken at one of my favorite restaurants, The Boat Basin. It was a 2 hour wait to get seated, but at least we had a pretty place to wait.

Although I could not fit all the pictures from our weekend, we had a very full few days. My parents helped me get a lot done and I showed them different parts of the city. I took them to some of my favorite restaurants to eat, my favorite ice cream parlor (which actually happens to be in Brooklyn), and a few really fun spots in the city. The nice thing about having guests come visit me here is that we never run out of things to do or sights to see. My parents are coming back for Thanksgiving. Don't hate me, but we actually will get to watch the Macy's Parade from my office building which sits on Broadway 2 blocks from Macys. It's a tough life, but somebody has to do it!:-)

Happy Fall!