My Thursday (the report)

We got up and hung out, watched some NewYork1, and talked about breakfast. By the time I finally got El Chico dressed to go out to get bagels with butter at our across-the-street deli, El Pequeño was rubbing his eyes and whining. So I put him down for a nap, and El Chico and I had cinnamon toast and watched Bob the Builder together instead.

90 minutes later it was time to leave for the birthday party of one of El Chico's classmates. So I loaded the boys into the Phil & Ted's (Click "Products" then "buggies." How would I manage to push 68 pounds of boy without this stroller?!) and set out. We had to stop on the way to buy the birthday boy a present (I knew what we were going to get, so it was a planned stop, not a "Crap, we need a present!" stop, which I have been the victim of before), and then we continued. The walk was over a mile, and the weather was hot (high 80s) and sticky and way too sunny, so by the time we got there I was already smelling like the monkey house. Boy, was the beer in the cooler tempting (the Dos Equis, not the Corona, which is not for human consumption IMO). But I had miles in the hot sun to go before I slept, so I sat primly sipping my Coke along with the nannies while the other parents did beer bongs drank adult beverages.

The party was in the courtyard of the friend's building. Boring building from the outside, but isn't this courtyard beautiful?

Of course it didn't look so cute after the kids had flooded it with all the water from the kiddie pool. But the kids had a ton of fun. Even El P:

And then after pizza and ice cream cake and too much splashing and craziness, I dried them off and loaded them up again. We had to go to Spanish class at a not-so-close location. As soon as he got back into the stroller, El Chico started inspecting the goody bag:

I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but one of the things in the bag was a box of Thomas the Tank Engine-branded Pocky. I think this means that the collapse of the western consumer culture is imminent, because the commercial world is circling in around itself.

Before we walked to Spanish class, though, I had to get lunch. The photo of the delicious banh mi in this post from Amber had been haunting me for days, so I'd checked out this website listing the best places to get banh mi in Manhattan. Conveniently, one of them was a mere 5 blocks from the party. So of course I was willing to go half a mile out of my way under time contraints on a hot, stinky day while pushing 90 pounds (kids plus stroller weight plus full water bottles and sopping wet bathing suits, etc.) to get a Vietnamese pork sandwich.

Let me say this about the pork banh mi from Banh Mi So on Broome Street: I would do it again in a heartbeat. If I were an ancient Egyptian royal I would ask for this sandwich to be placed in my sarcophagus to accompany me into the afterlife. The horrible irony of this situation is that I lived a few blocks away from this place for over a year, but knew nothing of its genuis. Can you imagine? I mourn for all the lost delicious $3 meals I could have had back then.

I got my sandwich, but didn't have time to eat it then--we were almost late for Spanish. I took a route back home that I've never taken before and was once again gobsmacked by how different all the NYC neighborhoods are. I've lived her for 10 years in 4 different neighborhoods, and have worked in 3, so I tend to think I know a little something about the city by now, but seriously? No. I do not. This city is a living organism--stinky and a little scary but constantly changing and more robust than is managable for any one person.

On that walk I discovered:

* a cool public garden that's lush and amazing
* a Polish pastry shop right next to a Vietnamese pastry shop
* a cart of shaved ice (the kind where the guy shaves the big block of ice with a metal trowel and then pours the flavor juice on the top). Usually I only see ice cream trucks or the Delicoso Coco Helado guys.
* a street featuring more lounging dogs than I've seen since I left Mexico
* that I really do not like walking in the hot hot sun. I am a hothouse flower.

I was so tired I forgot to take any photos of my outdoor walks.

We got to Spanish class (taught by our babysitter, who came here from South America when she was a teenager) only a couple of minues late, but El Chico had fallen asleep in the stroller. I'd walked 2.5 miles from the birthday party (including the half-mile detour for banh mi), so there was plenty of time for him to take a nap, but he'd been awake until we got into the elevator of the building the class was in! Duh. The other kids in class came and gathered around him and poked his face until he woke up, though, at which point he showed them the Thomas Pocky and went in to class con alegria.

El Pequeño and I went to grab an iced decaf for me and then went to the park to eat my banh mi. When we got there I discovered some friends with their kids. El P is emamored of these kids, so he played happily with them while I ate my delicious, delicious sandwich:

I can still taste it. Mmmm.

We hung out and watched them play in the sprinklers

for an hour and a half until it was time to pick up El Chico from español. We stayed and he played for awhile while I chatted with the other moms and teacher, then finally we headed for home (half a mile). I have no memory of what we ate for supper or what else happened. All I know is that my toenail polish got chipped and my feet got really dirty from walking 4+ miles that day:

(And that's only the top sides of my feet! The bottoms were disgusting. I may have to reconsider sandals in the city.)

I went in to nurse El Pequeño to sleep at about 7:45, and woke up, fully clothed, the next morning at 6:30.

The End.

Comments

[Mayberry]

Wow. I miss the city. I thought about posting my Friday (since Thursday was a work day), but the only place we went was to the park across the street (2x).

Hey, can you recommend a good kid-friendly restaurant downtown (like City Hall area)? Going to be there next week with small boy in tow, need a place to meet a friend. TIA!

[motherbumper]

Wow - that was a lot of walking! You must have arms and legs of steel. I won't mess with you (not that I was planning on it). Loved the sandwich break (I'm going to look for one up here in TO - sounds soooo good). Love your blog and I'll be asking Moxie soon b/c Bumper is throwing me for a loop.

[elecriclady]

Love the sandal-striped dirty feet. Ah, summer in the city.

and now I will have to make the trek to the LES to get that banh mi. Drooling at my desk here...

[Kristin]

(longtime lurking reader!)

I love the pictures, I don't think you do that too often. I am putting that banh mi place on my to-eat list. Thanks for the tip.

[wix]

Mmmm, decent bahn mi. One of the things I always missed about Houston, because you can't get any decent sandwiches in Austin. No, seriously, we tried.

I have actually had a good deal of luck making bahn mi at home. It's not quite as nice as getting it from the shop, since, you know, it tastes better when you don't have to make it 7 times out of 10, but they were still good and I know that if we were to move to another city without a gigantic Vietnamese population, we'd be set for sandwiches.

There are sooooo many bahn mi places here that the mind boggles. And you get to see capitalism in action, because the competition is fierce, so the sandwiches had better be kickass or your shop is sunk.

[Moxie]

Wix, what would I have to do to get you to post instructions to make banh mi?

[wix]

Oh, and I totally, totally covet that Phil&Teds. We spied one in action at the zoo at some point last week, and it looked fantastic. We've got the Jeep (ick, branded) Urban Terrain stroller, which plenty of folks have remarked upon favorably, and it looks like it's roughly the same frame as the Phil&Teds onesie.

My best mamafriend in Houston and I have been on the lookout for a twosie tripod stroller, both assuming that we'll eventually lose our minds and try to get pregnant again within the next couple of years. We got our Jeep stroller after CX went nuts over theirs (their son is only 6 weeks older than CX), so when we're out and about together we look like we called each other about our strollers the night before. It's amusing.

[AmericanFamily]

Mmm. Banh Mi! I am glad to be a vessel spreading the Banh Mi love. I would love a recipe too. I would think finding the right kind of bread would be the hardest part.

[Brooklyn Girl]

I'm impressed that you venture out in anything but sneakers. If I'm going anything further than a couple of blocks, it's New Balance or nothing.

[Cracklin_Rose]

You need to submit a police report on whoever beat your feet up so badly. ;)

R

[liz]

SOunds like a great, exhausting, honestly-come-by-dirty day.

[Lisa C.]

Thanks for answering my mental question with a picture. As I was looking at the Phil and Ted stroller, I wondered to myself, "Which kid gets the top seat?" Then I reasoned that the older child would never allow himself to be in the lower seat. Then you had the pic of El C in the front seat and I felt vindicated.

[Bihari]

Do this more often! I love reading the details of other people's days--the about-face to Bob the Builder and cinnamon toast instead of bagels, the hot trekking, the unanticipated-but-wonderful moments with that perfect treat (oh, how I wish I wasn't vegetarian sometimes).

I confess, though, I am daunted by how much you got done in a day! Also: seriously, how did you swing the El P afternoon nap? Or doesn't he take one? Our lives are divided into AN (before the nap: 8-12:30) and PN (after the nap: 3-7). I'm always looking for ways to help us flex when we have to.

[Jezer]

Now that was a real treat! Thanks for the glimpse into your world.

[Susie]

I love that little community garden.

It sounds like a fun day, even with the sweating and the dirt. Thanks for the pictures.

[Sherry]

You make me miss living in the city. I lived in Boston, but still...

What a great little peek into the world of Moxie!

[Rebekah]

Love that Phil and Ted's stroller. I've heard so many good things about it. Does it bother El P to be looking at the back of a stroller when he's in it? That's the only part that seems iffy to me, for an older child.

I can so totally relate to the dirty feet pic. It's the main reason why I take my shoes off as soon as I step in the door ... if all that dirt is on my feet, can you imagine what's on our shoes? There are multiple feet washings a day in our home during sandal wearing weather. Still, I looove my sandals/open toed shoes and won't give them up in the summer for anything!

[LOD]

Sexy, sexy feet.

[H.A. Page]

Are you in the NYC area? I'm new there. Not to be off the subject on your great post...
And feet and ick...I find NYC sidewalks to be horrifically horridly nasty.
Cheers.

[boxing octopus]

i love this post!

[boxing octopus]

(and then boxing octopus realizes she's just indulged in the kind of internet sycophantism she hates.)

(but that's ok because everyone loves moxie...)

[Yolanda]

I need to go take a nap after reading your report. Banh mi sounds so delicious

[honey]

you made me miss NYC... that hasn't happened in a long time!

Is it ok to ask why El C goes to Spanish class? Do you not feel your Spanish is good enough to teach him or is it the social/group experience you want him to have? (I know plenty of Japanese kids living here who go to Japanese "school" on Saturdays) I ask because so far, I'm *it* for my toddler and his exposure to Spanish. It does get kinda lonely for me.

And you passed a "piragua" (sorry the umlaut is missing) cart? I never saw one of those in NYC. Do they have those in Mexico? Ok, enough with the questions. Really enjoy reading your blog. And I covet that P&T E3V2, even though I only have one kid to ride in it. I think that's the coolest stroller I've ever seen.