janice's mash-up

treats from the trip

I did pick up NYC tshirts for Neil and the boys, but really, do they need any other "stuff"? No, so instead, I brought home treats that I knew they would enjoy.

I picked up Liberty Bell chocolates at a huge chocolate shop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philly (kind of like Granville Island, but not an island!).

Empire State Building lollipops!

The boys were also lucky to get a bag of treats from Dylan's Candy Bar in Manhattan as well as some classic NYC Black & White Cookies.

Mini-cupcakes (the famous tie dye ones had already been eaten when I took this photo) from Baked by Melissa. This is my niece's and nephews' favourite cupcake place in Manhattan.

And my personal favourite - chocolate, raspberry, lemon and praline macarons from Laduree.

I think I've set a new standard with the variety and indulgence of the sweet treats from this trip!

weekend wrap-up

This weekend was all about coming home. On Saturday, I spent the morning with my sister's family in Pennsylvania and then headed to the airport...flew to JFK and then on to Seattle. As I came up the escalator to the baggage area, Colin ran right over to me, with Adam not too far behind. It was so good to see them. I had never been away this long, always limiting my trips to a maximum of two nights. I am so proud of how the boys managed, getting themselves up and ready and off to school on their own each day, helping around the house, etc. 

We drove home from Seattle Saturday night and that drive is comfortable and familiar. 

Sunday was all about settling back into being home. New flowers are blooming in the garden - I love the bleeding hearts, and the Mexican orange blossoms are one of my favourite scents ever.

Scones for brunch and bbq hamburgers for dinner and random hugs from the boys. I love being home.

a day in NYC

My sister and I drove into NYC to spend the day on Friday and we had lots of time to talk as we drive to and from NYC on the New Jersey Turnpike. We packed as much as we could into one day starting with an express trip up the Empire State Building. The view up there helps you see the expanse and density of Manhattan. Crazy! Because my sister lived in Manhattan for so long, she was able to tell me about all the buildings, landmarks, neighbourhoods, etc.

It was so windy and cold up on the deck and I took so many photos. I've only been to NYC once before for a couple of hours and didn't really see much so seeing this view was such a great overview of the city.

The next stop was the 911 Memorial. My sister hadn't been to this yet so it was a special visit. I will never forget that day and how it affected our family. My sister was in Manhattan at the time. We walked by the building my brother-in-law worked in which was right across the street from the World Trade Centre. Eery. The memorial was really well done and we both appreciated the story of the survivor tree...a true story of hope. It was amazing to see the first of the new buildings almost completed. 

  

We then walked over to City Hall and part way across the Brooklyn Bridge. There is construction work going on so it wasn't as open as usual but it was still great to see this iconic bridge!

My sister knows how to drive New York style which is fast, aggressive and with no room to spare. There is lots of honking involved too.

Next stop was Dylan's Candy Bar for treats for the kids!

And then to Laduree for treats for my sister and I (and a small box to bring home too!).

We drove around the Upper West Side and I got to see the three apartments that my sister and her family lived in and then we found a great parking spot and had a lovely walk through Central Park. Such a peaceful respite in the middle of such a busy, loud and stimulating city.

We hopped on the subway (now there's a true NYC experience) to Times Square. Talk about crowded, loud and bright! There were so many people there!

We had a super fun dinner at Starlight Diner...the entertainment was amazing! The wait staff are all aspiring Broadway singers and are so fun to listen to!

We took a NYC taxi back to my sister's car. Boy, do those guys know how to drive in the city!

It was such a great day...full of so many things and a bit of an escape from the regular stuff of life for both my sister and I, at least for a day!

nctm in philadelphia

NCTM is a huge math education organization. Every year they hold a huge conference with about 20-30 thousand educators attending. I've been fortunate to travel to and present at NCTM conferences in Anaheim, St. Louis, Atlanta and San Diego. When I saw that this year's conference was being held in Philadelphia (where my sister lives) I sent in proposals for both the research presession and the professional conference. That was a year ago and I waited until the fall to find out that both proposals had been accepted which gave me a great excuse to finally visit my sister and her family. I've been taking in the sites and sounds of downtown Philadelphia as well as my niece's and nephews' schools and favourite places in Haverford, the town where they live. I've been juggling conference schedules and presentations and family fun!

Just so you get a sense of how huge this conference is, the conference program guide is the size of a Sears Christmas Wishbook, the banners are lining the streets of downtown Philadelphia, a newspaper is published each morning for conference attendees and math educators have taken over the enormous convention centre and Marriott hotel downtown!

       

It was fun to run into some Canadian math friends today and to see some familiar faces in the audience during my presentation. It's always great to experience to visit a new city, see the iconic sites and get a feel for a new place. I'm so glad I got a chance to experience a little bit of my sister's world and I have math to thank for it!

wordless wednesday: downtown philadelphia

weekend wrap-up

The weekend started early for the boys and I. Adam had a pro-d day on Friday and Colin always gets off at 1 and I wasn't working. The sunshine was beckoning so we packed up and headed over to Garry Point to enjoy a fish 'n chips picnic (and a hot dog for Colin). Pajo's is no longer carrying the boys' beloved peach drink...yikes! They had to have soda ;)

On Saturday I finished up my research posters and I ran around doing errands to get ready for my trip to NCTM next week. The boys helped Neil around the house and did some longboarding and had three laptops going playing Minecraft. I enjoyed my own little tulip festival in our yard as I don't think we'll be visiting Skagit this year!

The boys went for a long bike ride on Sunday, my parents came by for a visit and we waited anxiously for the Canucks game to start. I picked up some cookies from Broadmoor Bakery for the occasion.

Oh the shock.

The disappointment.

The really?! This CAN'T be!

The President's Trophy winners are out of the playoffs in the first round. Wow.

Not a great way to end the weekend.

simple things: tulips in bloom

On Saturday, the boys helped Neil cut the grass while I was out doing errands. When I came home, I went out into the backyard to have a look around and noticed that the warm sun from the past few days has helped to open up the tulips that had been keeping so tightly closed up. I love most flowers but tulips are up there in my top three and I love having them in the garden.

Tulips are just such a happy flower...how can they not make you smile?

 

This is a The Simple Things photo for 2012.

Check out other "simple things" photographs on Rebecca's blog.

 

a morning in Blaine

This morning I zipped down to Blaine to pick up a few packages. It was a lovely spring day and I walked along the harbour, I took a few photos of some of the public art that you can find all over the town.

As I started to drive back to the border, the smell of ocean air pulled me off the road and I went for a walk in Blaine Marine Park.  The tide was out and there were lots of sea birds flying and feasting and little ones playing at the beach. 

It was a lovely, short reprieve from a very busy week. Being outside and breathing in the fresh ocean air can totally revitalize you! I need to take these little timeouts for myself when things are getting a little crazy...and I think there's going to be a lot of crazy in the next couple of months!

weekend wrap-up

I hardly saw the boys this weekend...I was downtown all day Saturday for the conference and the boys picked me up at the train and we joined my sister and family for dinner before going to watch my nephew play basketball at the Oval.

That's him on his way to scoring a basket!

On Sunday morning I slipped out for an emergency breakfast meeting with some friends while Neil was at the Sun Run and the boys were sleeping! It was a lovely breakfast on the river at the Flying Beaver with lots of very important discussion!

The rest of the day was spent working and taking a nap (fighting a cold) before I headed out to dinner downtown with my PhD cohort from UBC. It was a great little reunion with people that I used to spend many many hours with. I care for all of them and it was so great to get caught up.

I think the boys longboarded, rode their bikes, did homework, etc but I really don't know for sure. I feel like I was a bit of an absentee mother this weekend!

a day downtown

On Friday morning, I hopped aboard a train on the Canada Line to go downtown for the AERA conference. Thousands and thousands of educational researchers have descended upon Vancouver for this enormous international conference. I am so glad that so many visitors were able to see Vancouver in all its beautiful spring glory - it was an absolutely gorgeous spring day. I couldn't help but stop every once in awhile and use my phone to take a few photos.

What a beautiful place!