The Garden State (written 3/28)

I wish I could say that this post is on the topic of my garden with its sprintime sprouts and the promise of homegrown produce.  Unfortunately, I had to make this post about the state of New Jersey because I have yet to plant a darn thing and even if I had, the fact that it's currently still winter in Albany (it's 37 degrees with a windchill  of 27) wouldn't bode well for those (imaginary) sprouts anyway.  So, go with me on a trip to the great state of New Jersey where there are little cousins, big cousins, margaritas, extremely strenuous exercise classes masked by a reference to ballet, more cousins and aunts and uncles, a trip to Manhattan in gale force winds, and of course some Trader Joe's and Ikea patronage.  Are y'all ready?  Buckle Up!

So, Ian and I drove down to Denville/Boonton, New Jersey for the first weekend in March and Ryan met us there from DC so that we could have a big fat Greek/Irish/Italian/Latina family reunion of sorts.  My oldest cousin (in the world) Peter and his beautiful wife Josie had made the trip from California to NJ with their sweet baby James to visit my aunt and uncle and cousin Jennifer and her husband Tony and their little slugger Luke.  Since gatherings like these don't happen very often, I had to be a part of it.  Besides, Ian barely had the chance to meet Peter at our wedding and I had never met James and he was already 18 months old! 

The drive was very easy and we got a big welcome into the house of my aunt and uncle, which has become Gagi and Pop's Playhouse.  It was wonderful to see everyone and have the time to sit and chat. Brother Ryan arrived late that night in his mini rental car after battling traffic in DC and then again in the lovely East Orange.  We all stayed at Cousin Jen's house.  Ian and I shared the twin bed in little Luke's room.  (He never sleeps in it because it has dragons under there.)  The next morning we were woken up by the littlest dragon (Abby) who flew onto the bed to escape from Luke's chase.  Of course Luke landed on top of us a second later.  We got up and soon blindly subjected ourselves to the best (and most difficult) workout I've ever had.  Cousin Jen owns an exercise studio called The Bar Method.  If you've never heard of it, it's one of the latest trends in exercise that combines isometrics and ballet/dance training in an interval-style workout.  It promises to "sculpt your seat" and I think that's code for "kick your ass."  Brother Ryan and Doctor Husband did it, too (with the exception of a couple of specific stretches).  If you have a Bar Method studio near you, I highly recommend trying it out.  Highly. 

We tooled around Denville that day and got in some good family time.  Cousin Tony made killer enchiladas and guacamole that night and we washed that down with margaritas and beer.  The next day after lunch and more family time we said goodbye to everyone and headed back to the Empire State with a quick Trader Joe's stop on our way out of town.  We had to restock our Joe Joe supply :)

I'll be back with Garden State: Part 2