Nicole and Charlie Fish in Cincinnati

Wed May 16- Dinner at Ninja’s- we’ve been curious about this place right by our apt… All you see from the street is a little sign with a lantern. A guy Bill works with told him is was awesome, so we checked it out. After you check in, you are taken in an elevator down one floor, when I got out of the elevator (actually Bill pushed me out b/c he knew what was going to happen) a ninja jumped out and scared me- of course I screamed. We were taken down a secret passage to our table- each table is it’s own little hut- pretty cool. Our waiter was a ninja- we tried a sake sampler (they all tasted like vodka to me) and ordered dinner. We had a magic ninja come to our table and do card tricks- he was amazing. I’m not sure if it was all of the drinks or if he was actually that good… Overall it was a fun experience to try once-

Thurs- Funny Charlie moment at school today- he discovered he can walk on his knees and did so the entire class today- pretty funny & cute.  Then we went to our favorite park to dig in the sand- luckily it wasn’t crowded… we open the gate and walked in and who is at the sandbox with her son & mom??? Celebrity sighting # 11 ……..

Christie Turlington (supermodel, married to Ed Burns). Wow, is she beautiful. I couldn’t stop staring. Charlie was playing with her son who looks like her husband. No conversation, but it was my closest celebrity interaction. Thursday evening we had dinner with our neighbors who have a 7 year old daughter. We ate at Landmarc, a delicious American restaurant right down the street. The best part, they give you cotton candy and carmels at the end of your meal- yum. We had a great time- they are both artists and have lived in the city forever- they had lots of advice to give and their daughter entertained Charlie and is adorable.

Friday-I was at the gym today and saw this unbelievably HOT guy that I couldn’t stop staring at. A lady there told me he is a male supermodel (is there such a thing?) who models for Banana Republic- WOW, he was pretty.  The Scuglik’s arrived this afternoon for a visit- it was so good to see them. We went out with Karen, The Gavin’s, their friends, Jay, and Rob & Meg.

We had a great night- drinks at  McSorley’s Old Ale House (the oldest bar in NYC)- note the delicious appetizer (only choice on the menu) -saltine crackers, cheese, mustard & a raw onion-yum. The drink choices are either dark or light beer and you get 2 small mugs even if you order 1 drink- It was really fun- My dad would love this place :)   

Next we went for drinks at The Park and dinner at my favorite place, Buddakan- Lots of fun (and lots of drinking-mojitos).

Saturday-Major hangovers… Karen, Amy, Mike, Bill & I struggle thru the morning, but feel better after some breakfast. Charlie, Bill & I check out Taste of Tribeca- it’s cold and rainy today so it’s not much fun to be outside and it cost $45 per person for 6 meal tickets to try the food- no way- so we went home and all took naps. Dinner in Little Italy with Gavin’s, their friends & Jay.

Charlie & Grace in Little Italy

Sunday May 20- Went to the drug store and who did we see? Celebrity sighting #12………Campbell Brown (Weekend Today Show chick)- she’s really pretty.

Monday May 21- We are on a celebrity streak… We went to Dos Caminos restaurant in Soho for dinner and when we got there, there were about 15 paparazzi outside- Guess who was about 5 tables from us???Celebrity sighting #13…………..

Jessica Simpson with 3 of her friends. It was kind of hard to see her, b/c she had huge sunglasses on, but she was there- pretty cool for a monday at 6:45pm…. Look for her picture in US weekly soon- Bill said she wasn’t looking great and that her hair was too dark- I didn’t get a great look at her, but when she got up to leave, I couldn’t believe how tiny she was.

 Here are some recent pictures of Charlie’s friends (our favorite celebrities):

Baby Lucy- 3 months

Wed May 9- I took Charlie to get his hair cut at the cute kid’s place around the corner. We were waiting our turn when I heard someone else come in- I looked up & celebrity sighting #   8 3/4   ……………….

James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) 6 feet away from me. He was trying to get his son a haircut. Hi kid was being really naughty, not listening & James said “Damn it Hunter, let’s go”- he sounded just like Tony Soprano. I wanted to say hi to him and tell him I loved the show since we were the only people in the store, but he seemed crabby and I was a little scared of him.

Wed night Bill & I went to the Arcade Fire concert- not sure if anyone has heard of this band- I had not, but Bill really likes them. The concert was at Radio City Music Hall (awesome venue-nice, great view, great acoustics). The band has 10 people in it that play all sorts of odd instruments (think Rusted Root), but they really rock out- It was part Halloween, part cult, loud music, crazy crowd- one of the most fun concerts I’ve ever been to- Check them out!!

Friday May 11- My mom, dad & sister Allie come for a visit. I was so excited to see them- We sat on the patio having drinks & snacks- it was a beautiful day. We went to Hairspray fri night. It was very entertaining- I think the boys even enjoyed it.

Saturday- Another beautiful day- I’m telling you, if you want to visit NYC, May is the time to do it! We went to Central Park and walked around- what a beautiful place- it’s hard to believe you’re in the city- the flowers and trees are all blooming- what a fun morning.

We grilled out for lunch- my mom requested Bill’s burgers… My brother Matt came to visit. Saturday night we went to The Park bar for drinks before dinner- this is a very cool place- there are differnt rooms- the red room, the penthouse, the atrium, the park very fun. We had dinner at Buddha Bar- this place was awesome- the decorations were the coolest we have seen at a restaurant. The food was good- we tried sushi- a fun night on the town.

Happy 1st birthday to Baby Cole Mauer!

Sun May 13- Mother’s Day- Bill made breakfast for the mom’s- Allie, my mom & I went to the Bliss Spa for pedicures- the best ever! We shopped all afternoon and went to dinner in Little Italy. On our walk back, we saw lots of movie trailers and found out they were filming a movie with Matt Damon. The boys went back home and the girls stalked… We turned the corner and who was across the street?  Celebrity sighting # 9 3/4    …………….

Matt Damon- he’s very short, but very handsome.  We kept walking and a few blocks later we passed a guy and I said, “he’s someone famous” “it’s Todd from One Life to Live” and a lady we walked past and said, yep that’s Todd- he’s in the movie with Matt Damon. (Celebrity sighting # 10  only gets 1/4 since he’s not really that famous and to round things out)- That was so cool!!!! What a fun Mother’s Day!

Congrats to my future cousin-in-law, Brad, for graduating from Law School at the University of Dayton- Way to go Brad- Can’t wait to hear the “Spider Man” story (see stitches on his cheek…hmm seems like some celebrating was going on)

Monday May 14: Walked Battery Park, Financial District, Ground Zero, had lunch with Bill on Stone Street- then the family went home. What a great weekend we had with Mimi, Papa, Allie & Matt- Thanks for visiting!!!

Monday April 30- Thought I saw Marilyn Manson at the grocery store today (sunglasses, no make-up).  I followed him around the store-still can’t be 100%, so not going to count it as a sighting.

Tues May 1- Happy birthday Megan! Who by the way is pregnant- Congrats to her!!!

Wed May 2- Bill got tickets from American Express to this Tribeca Film Festival event. It was drinks, “heavy” appetizers, and a screening of the movie “Cake Eaters” at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. This was really fun- we got there and there was another event upstairs that had photographers and a red carpet-like part (no celebrity sightings). Our event was downstairs- there was an open bar, table of awesome appetizers (we ate dinner), and then best part….. A mojito bar!!!!! You could pick any fruit and they would mix it up for you-AWESOME!
Celebrity sighting # 7 3/4…..

Mary Stewart Masterson (she was in Fried Green Tomatoes and a few other older movies)-she was the director of the movie. Then they had a table with movie snacks (popcorn, candy bars) to take in the theater. The theater had about 100 seats- big, lazy boy, leather seats. The movie was really slow & boring, so we left after about 40 min, but the experience was so fun. On our way out, we got a gift bag (sorry, no sunglasses or anything fun- an American Express “camera” clock and a dvd). Since we had a babysitter, we bar hopped around the area.

Thurs May 3- Charlie had his 1st celebrity interaction… He played with Bill Cosby’s grandson at school today while I did pilates. He’s a celebrity stalker like his mom. The weather has been beautiful (sunny, 65 degrees) and we are enjoying the city more and more. The trees have bloomed and the city actually looks pretty (if you ignore the garbage on the streets, people smoking everywhere, and people swearing constantly). 

Friday May 4- Greenwell’s come to town (Katie, Eric & Baby Kate). Katie and I had a girl’s afternoon- shopping, lunch, manicure & pedicure- so much fun!!! Dinner with Gavin’s, Jay, Maggie & John at Spice Market.

Saturday- There was a huge family Tribeca Film Festival things during the day- It was a beautiful day. The streets were shut down with vendors, bands, lots of kid activities- lots of fun. Saturday night was our first NYC party- we had a Cinco de Mayo party. Bill invited his friends from work and we watched the de la hoya fight. It was a great night!

Sun- we woke up at 7:45am to loud talking on a speaker- I thought Bill was watching the fight again, no…. this is what was outide our window

 A huge bike race… only in NYC

So it was a great week- perfect sunny days, a film festival, time with my friend, a night on the town, and a party at our house… This is what it’s like to live in NYC!!!!