So for the rest of the week, I’m going to be in Scottsdale, AZ for a work event. I just looked at the temperatures for the week – a jacket will not be necessary. This weather reminds me why I’m in no rush to live in Arizona or to ever move back to Las Vegas.
So to get these photos out while they still are fresh in my head, here are the rest of the pics from this past week back East!
May 28, 2015 – LAX when on my way to Newark
This was the beginning of my journey. It was also the beginning of a very shitty set of flights, leading to me getting very little sleep. I have complained before about this fact. Anyway, for my flight from LAX, I actually had to take a shuttle bus from the American Airlines terminal over to the American Eagle satellite terminal. This bus gives you a tarmac-level view of the airport and it’s kinda cool!
May 30, 2015 – Larry’s Actual Birthday while also Jake’s 6th Birthday Party
There was a big family event happening on Larry’s actual birthday, so we celebrated Larry’s the night before and after. We headed over to his cousin’s amazing house where a very nice barbecue was being held, and it was a perfect chance to catch up with a lot of his family I normally don’t see all that much. I love them all and it was a blast.
My pics (including our morning walk with Fran):
Jon’s pics:
May 31, 2015 – Seeing the Mad Men exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens
There is an AMAZING exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image all about the show Mad Men. There are costumes, props, writers’ notes, etc all in an exhibition celebrating the show. Incredibly and most impressively, the sets for Don’s office in the SC&P building as well as the old Draper kitchen were re-assembled here. You can walk into them up to a point and it’s amazing. All the little details you remember are in place too, like ashtrays, record players, and family knick-knacks. A truly fascinating exhibit for a splendid show.
Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the exhibit. Feh! But I did get some of the museum’s exterior as well as the drive to Queens from Ft Lee and back. A must see though if you get the chance (it’s there until September of this year!).
June 3, 2015 – Visiting Alyssa, Jon & Stacey in New Jersey
June 1 & 2 were mostly focused around work. I went to Boston on the 1st (up AND back) and it was exhausting. Then i went into the city for work on the 2nd, getting back that night for Fran’s birthday dinner at a great Italian restaurant, which was a lot of fun.
But on the 3rd, it was the day when Fran & Larry were going to pick Stacey up from daycare. So while they did that, I worked from Jon & Alyssa’s house. Once they got back to the house, we then went to dinner – again, lots of good food and drink while getting to spend some extra time with Jon & Alyssa, which we don’t get to do all that often.
June 4, 2015 – Thursday in NYC
Thursday is the new Friday, as always, when it comes to going out in NYC. Larry and I went into the city on the bus together that day, but while I went to work, he met up with Treva and had some adventures over by the new Whitney museum, which pictures you can see included in this collection. I met up with Larry after work and then we headed over to Gramercy Park Hotel to have a drink (or three) with our awesome pal, Amy, who we met back in 2011 on our first Med cruise. So much fun. Larry & I then headed to dinner at Pigalle, the scene of our first date nearly 7 years ago. Where’d the time go????
June 5, 2015 – Morgan Library with Stuart & Treva
Friday night we met up with Treva & Stuart to close out our time back east in a proper fashion. It’s always necessary to see these guys as they’re also the best. The meeting point was at the Morgan Library, which was truly J.P. Morgan’s stand-alone library that he had built for himself. It’s fascinatingly over the top. The museum has some modern additions that make it quite a stunning space, as you’ll see in the pics. Of course the old-school libraries are stunning in quite a majestic way too. A Lincoln exhibit was there but it was fairly mobbed so I didn’t see all the writings there, but a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation I did see so that was cool.
After the museum we ate a fun taco place in the Murray Hill area (I think) and then grabbed dessert at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. The options for eating in NYC are endless and it’s wonderful.
June 6, 2015 – Going Home
Well, it was finally time to head home. Honestly, I was more than ready for our own bed again! I got back to LA first as we had booked our flights separately. I ended up getting through a majority of a book that Nicki highly recommended, Ready Player One. It’s realllly good and of course because it deals heavily in 1980’s pop culture and videogames, I’m totally invested. It’s also a very fun story in and of itself, but the sheen of the 80s on it definitely makes it more interesting.
And the pictures are now caught up! I’ll need to get some thoughts together on the movies I’ve seen over the past few weeks that I’ve neglected to write about, Pitch Perfect 2 and San Andreas. Maybe tomorrow from Arizona!
