I received a package from my mom today with a bunch of easter tree decorations to add to my small collection. Here is the freshly decorated tree along with our new couch.

Both as a belated honeymoon, and as a one year anniversary vacation Adrien and I decided to take a trip somewhere tropical. We ended up being swayed by the barrage of ads for "Bahamaventions" we saw on subways and trains all over the city. So we settled on finding a resort in the Bahamas for spring break.

We took a short three hour flight on jet blue arriving in the Bahamas at their small main airport where we took a short bus to the hotel. After a quick group check it complete with champagne and cookies we went up and unpacked out bags and explored the resort. The resort included 8 restaurants, three pools- each with a swim up bar, an off shore island reached by boat.





Most mornings we had continental breakfast delivered to the room, some mornings we also we to one of the breakfast buffets or the French themed restaurant for a served breakfast. The days were mostly spent laying in various beach loungers with a frozen drink in one hand and a book or magazine in the other. During the week we managed to go through two full bottles of sunscreen and lotion. Most dinners we were required to make reservations and dress up for the various themed restaurants. Throughout the week we drank copious amounts of pina coladas, and champagne (they replaced the champagne bottles in the room daily.) We had enough to do that we never needed or wanted to leave the resort.






The evening we arrived there was a pirate themed outdoor bbq dinner, complete with a band and the staff in cheesy pirate themed gear. Day two I had an exfoliating massage to try to get rid of all the dry dead New York winter skin. Than we soaked up some sun before dinner at the Italian restaurant. On the third day Adrien had some spa time and than we took a boat out the the small island for some island themed food. On the forth day we went kayaking in the ocean and ate dinner at the Japanese restaurant. The fifth day was the most active, in the morning we kayaked, than Adrien played volleyball, in the afternoon we took a mini sailing lesson and went out sailing, and dinner was at the fancy continental food restaurant. The sixth and last day went by way too fast, for the most part we layed around soaking up the sun and ended the day with a meal at the French restaurant.




Coming back to New York was hard. While we were basking in the sun the city was hit with yet another snow storm and we arrived home to find snow and ice all over the city. A drastic change from the warmth and the sun of the islands.

Instead of writing up a whole post on my parents visit, I will just steal the text from my moms e-newsletter:

"Last Thursday we flew Jet Blue to JFK and took a taxi to the hotel where Susan and Mahmoud were staying. We walked a couple doors down to a cute Italian restaurant for lunch. We got to enjoy a good lunch and catch up a little before we heard that Karen had finished at her job. We said good bye and walked to Grand Central Station to meet Karen. It is huge and beautiful inside. I was amazed by the interior decoration and all the stores and eating places.



Karen arrived shortly after we did and we took the subway, two of them to get to her apartment in Brooklyn.( The whole visit we got everywhere by subway which sounds easy, but it involves many stairs and long corridors. It was quite a work out, but it was fascinating. The people watching was one of the a highlights of the trips. I have no idea how many languages we heard spoken.) That afternoon we walked around the are near Karen's apartment. We brought home a pizza from a place near Pratt where Adrien is in graduate architecture school.

Their apartment in on the third floor. I can't imagine how hard it was to carry all their things up those steep and narrow stairs. They have done a very good job decorating it. It was warm and cozy after our days of sightseeing.


Friday Karen took us to the New York Botanical Garden where she works. We took a short bus tour around it before going to the special orchid show they are having now. You can not imagine how beautiful the orchids were. It was practically empty too because it was raining outside so we almost had the place to ourselves. After we admired the flowers we went to see the children's area where Karen works. It is a really beautiful place to visit. Right now the theme is vanilla and chocolate. The vanilla beans come from an orchid plant and we saw a cocoa bean growing in the conservatory.









We returned to Manhattan and had Indian food at Grand Central Station. Then we went to Bloomingdales to get some socks for Karen to wear to her interview. That is a huge store, I could easily get lost there. For dessert we walked to the toy store, F.A.O. Schwartz to have a hot fudge ice cream sundae. It was delicious! We enjoyed looking at the baby things. Then that night the four of us had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. It was in an old pharmacy with lots of wooden cabinets lining both sides and a big glass window in the back where the pharmacy used to be, but now was the kitchen. The food was so good.

We decided that we could see the most by taking the sightseeing loop tours. It was also good to get out of the cold wind. So Saturday we took the lower Manhattan tour. We got to see ground zero,Wall street, little Italy and Chinatown. We got out at a big Asian store and bought a few things for "Sweet pea" and a tea pot for ourselves. We went in a few other sores too. We finished up the tour at Times Square which is incredibly crowded with tourists. Karen headed back to her apartment to meet Adrien and got see a dance performance in Brooklyn. Terry and I mostly killed time at Starbucks to keep warm before we could go to the theatre. Karen and Adrien had given us tickets to see Wicked for our Christmas present. It was wonderful. The music, costumes, sets and singing and acting were just what you would expect of a fabulous Broadway experience.

Sunday we continued our bus tour with the Brooklyn loop. On each of the trips I saw places I want to return to on our next trip . At the end of this loop we bought some cheesecake to go at a famous Brooklyn pace called Juniors and met Adrien for a very good hamburgers. Adrien was busy a lot of the time getting ready for his midterms. After lunch we went back to Manhattan to take the Uptown loop that goes around Central Park and through Harlem. There are many museums that I would like to see someday. We returned to the south edge of Central Park and went to the Time Warner building where there were many stores and a big Whole Foods. Then we took the subway to the Chelsea district. I had seen something about it on one of the shows with Rachel Ray. We went in the building where they film some of the food channel shows. There were lots bakeries, an Italian grocery, and coffee places there.



From there we walked to the area near Parsons where Karen went to school in the fall. Karen and I got a $10 manicure while Terry walked around. Then we went back to the apartment for dinner. Karen and Adrien often have food delivered because it is so convenient. That night we had a pasta dinner and they had a salad delivered. They also had the best bagels I have ever had delivered for breakfast.

Monday was Karen's interview for graduate school at Bank Street School. We tagged along to see more of New York. The school is on the upper west side of Manhattan. We went in an incredible Episcopal cathedral which was as elaborate as any I had ever seen while we were witting for her. We also walked up and down the street looking at all the restaurants. The menus are posted on the windows. It was the same street that Columbia University is on. After her interview we had lunch at a French restaurant. Karen had a glass of champagne to celebrate finishing her interview. Then we took the subways back to Brooklyn. We were only there a short time before we headed to the airport. Karen went with us on the first two subway trips. She got us to the air tram that goes to the airport and then headed back. I think that she was on subway about six hours that day! Our flight was delayed and then there were computer problems so instead of getting home around midnight it was closer to 3 am."