Highlowaha: 1 Hour Four Minutes to Spare!

One hour, four minutes. That's how much long until the weekend is over (EST). I am making this post, intent on making good on my I.O.U from yesterday morning!

I wish I had great news to report. I wish I was "Scoop" reporting to you from the streets of New York City - sharing all the latest , most cutting edge, artsy finds that you, "just must see." I wish I was reporting on fun fashions, the latest and greatest Broadway shows, and what's on the menus of all the restaurants you should see and be seen.

Then I woke up and there I was - me, Richard, and our three boys pushing and shoving our way through the crowded streets of Manhattan... on a rainy Saturday. Yesterday was a creativity bust. We saw rain, bumpers, pretty fall leaves, more rain, more bumpers, family members, pretty fall leaves, and more rain and bumpers. We arrived in the city with just enough time to meet up with my brother in-law and niece, so they could pick up Ricky and head to the family farm in New Jersey (not ours, my brother in law's).

The next hour and twenty-five minutes was driving 60 blocks cross town to Chelsea's Pier where our other cousin's were having a 5th birthday party. In Texas, the "hot" birthday party for five year-olds is Pump It Up - an indoor facility jam packed with inflatable bounce houses. Not in New York. New York's version is a two-story, six square blocks of indoor recreational facilities. The pier was fun to see, but if I have a "take-away," it's that birthday parties from on state to another don't vary all that much.

The day was saved by my and Richard's much anticipated dinner with Maureen and Chris. The food was great, dessert was to die for, and the company was nothing short of perfect. I wish you could all have been there, laughing and enjoying each others company the way we were. It was the perfect end to our day.

That was yesterday.

Today we woke up with high hopes. The weather was markedly different, but the traffic in New York was just as bad. We had a party to attend at 3:00, but we were bound and determined to walk around the city for a few hours before heading to the party (and I, of course, in search of anything that strikes me as creative). After a one-hour Babies-r-Us experience (which I will tell you about someday), we had three hours to kill. We headed straight for Little Italy, because I have been on a year-long search for an authentic Little Italy Dominic the Donkey apron for my sister in-law. Up and down the streets we went, searching high and low. We returned to a place we visited last year with a store owner whose name was Julietta (think FULL-BLOWN Italian woman!). She remembered us, but still didn't have the apron. She sent us down the block and around the corner to Ernie Rossi. Thing is... Ernie doesn't open until his store until 2:00. Whatsamattayou, Ernie? We don't have that kinda time! We're outta here.

A quick stop at Ferrara's for some of their famous pastries and then back to the parking "deck" and to the party by 3:00.