Warm weather activities

Today we had an actual summer day. It was over 70 degrees outside and we had the chance to munch on our usual cheese and salami snack in our yard. Yay! I'm sure that won't be so fun once the summer actually hits and everything inside and outside feels like a sauna. For now, we are enjoying the lapse into summer.
Last weekend we met a co-worker for dinner which was nice and delicious and attended a going-away party at a bar for the photographer friend. We also walked the city all day on Sunday looking for cool signage to take pictures of so Mark can use it for work reference and bought a painting from a poor schmuck painint on the street. He needed the money and we like supporting local artists.
Also had the chance to get the torturous Chinese massages again and for once even Mark thought they went too far this time. We are still sore.
Went a couple of times to the park last week as well since it's only about 10-15 minutes away from our place and it was packed. Whoever said that NY is not a place to raise a family obviously hasn't seen the gazillion families in every neighborhood and especially in the parks. I suspect in the summertime, there won't be a single green patch left to sit on. Heard that people bring their grills with them and it's a huge bbq where everyone shares. Can't wait to see that.

Stores and restaurants details

It’s April already and our days are just flying by. Not sure where, but they’re flying.

We have been making new friends, going to new places, eating new food and generally having new experiences.

Went to a Mexican restaurant yesterday (not like San Diego Mexican, more like Oaxacan Mexican) and had fried grasshoppers. Yuck. Went to a Russian birthday party over the weekend. That involved many cakes and too much booze, followed by two lazy days afterwards. We’ve been cleaning like crazy, and still staying on top of food and entertainment budgets.

Slowly we are settling into local market routine. We’re trying not to shop at just one place because of course one place specializes in something, another place in something else, etc.. Also, not sure if I mentioned this before but the grocery stores here don’t sell alcohol. There are a handful of major chains that might sell beer but that’s a rarity. We were used to going to Trader Joe’s in SD and maybe picking up a bottle of wine either for dinner or to take to a party. Can’t do that here. Here you have to look for a store that sells only alcohol, and I’m not talking about a liquor store. It’s an actual fancy store that has all sorts of booze. Some even have beer or wine tastings to round out the shopping experience. It’s really kind of weird.

Also, the grocery stores don’t stay open late and we are so used to picking up something at Ralphs late night (if a midnight snack is in order). Here you’re out of luck past 8 or 9pm. Thought in NY out of all places stores would stay open late but guess we were wrong.

Hm, let’s see what else about stores since I’m on the subject… Guess this is not related to stores but restaurants. A lot of places are mom and pop establishments and don’t accept credit cards. This is something that drives us nuts because we go out to eat every weekend and have to first make a dash to the ATM. That’s not a big deal but then the ATM fees pile up. That’s a real hassle. Keep that in mind if you come visit.

That’s it for our store/restaurant information. I’m sure we’ll have plenty more to share with you soon.