Day 68: Celebrate One Year of Marriage

Our one year anniversary is fast approaching. I wanted to celebrate in style and go somewhere fancy. I suggested a Caribbean island -- somewhere with a short flight and all-inclusive food and booze (Shawn loves a buffet). Since both Shawn and I are pragmatic and practical people, we decided to go away the weekend before our anniversary, since we knew we would not have access to our Hamptons share that weekend. Why waste a weekend in the Hamptons we have already paid for when we will just be sitting around New York the week before anyway? And since we are both practical people, we decided not to go to the Caribbean during hurricane season and save what we would have spent on our flight by going somewhere close by that we could get to by car.

That's how we landed on Newport, R.I. and I made my second trip to the country's second-smallest state in two weeks. We started our journey around 3 p.m. this afternoon which, it turns out, is possibly the worst time ever to leave the city and drive across Connecticut. First, we drove up to my parents' house to drop off the dog, then we hit the road to Newport. After several hours of practically stand-still traffic, we arrived in Newport around 8 p.m.

We spotted a rainbow during our long drive

Our hotel, Hotel Viking, is beautiful and stately with Adirondack chairs on its porch and outdoor seating at the restaurant. We were starving and ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant, but it was not the best. Still, we told the waitress it was our anniversary and we got a free dessert! That certainly did not disappoint.

We ate it up!

After dinner, we took a quick walk around our hotel to explore a little. Though it was dark and late, we did notice a few of the houses in the surrounding neighborhood are really, really old. We also realized that our hotel is a good 10 minute or so walk from the bustling downtown/harborside area of Newport, which should make getting around a little more difficult than expected. Tomorrow morning we're going sailing and we have many more adventures in food ahead this weekend.

Day 64: Weekend in the City

This weekend was the last summer weekend we'll have at home in New York, and we really tried to live it up. On Friday night, Shawn went to the farmer's market and cooked dinner. We enjoyed brunch, we took Ginger on a long walk over to Chelsea Piers, had dinner with Shawn's brother and even got to catch up with friends of mine from business school over drinks on Saturday night.

Ginger is Queen of the Mountain at the dog park

All in all, a successful, relaxing, low-stress summer weekend in the city, just the way I like them.

Even Ginger is pooped

Day 62: Drinks and Dessert on a Friday Afternoon

Just another summer Friday in the city with Anne.

Day 61: Ginger, Hanging Out

 I received this email from Ginger's day care D is for Doggy today, with this photo attached:

 One of our handlers (anik) took the cutest picture of Ginger and we wanted to share it with you. We hope you enjoy it.

Enjoy it!?! I love it to pieces. And I love that we have a day care that sends us adorable photos of Ginger during the day!

Day 59: Visit Old Friends and New Babies

Brianne Rose, not quite 2 months old

Just call this the summer babies!

Today I'm in lovely Cumberland, Rhode Island visiting my very dear friend and former college roommate, Jennifer, and her sweet brand new baby girl, Brianne. I'm happy I picked this week to visit the girls because Jennifer's husband Mike is on a business trip and a new mom can use some back up sometimes! That means I get some special one on one time with Miss Brianne, but I'm not complaining. As long as she's happy and not crying, like she is in the photo!

Day 58: Hanging with Ginger

I'm seeing a theme in my photos -- Ginger and my feet...

Day 57: Don't Forget Your Priorities

Ginger and me enjoying a sunny Sunday on the porch

When I say that having a dog is like having a kid, some mothers roll their eyes at me. But what I mean is that having my dog -- my high strung, high maintenance, easily sickened, demanding dog -- means, more often than not, putting this creature who can't feed or take care of herself before myself and my needs and desires. 

For example: today, I wanted to go to the beach with Shawn and our friends. It was a gorgeous, warm summer day, totally making up for yesterday's grim sky and sprinkling showers. But a couple people were staying behind to clean up the house. Not wanting to leave the dog home alone without one of her owners being here, I decided to stay home and hang out with the Ginger.

I'm sure the dog would have been fine if left alone with our friends. But just in case I wanted to be there, to protect my baby and keep an eye on her so she didn't run into the road and get hit by a car (worst case scenario). Sure, I missed a glorious day at the beach, but there will be more later this summer. There never can be another Ginger. 

What's more, I take pleasure in spending as much time as I can with Ginger while I have this time off from work. I'm going to miss the little girl when I'm sitting at my desk each day.

Ginger spies a bunny

On the way home again