Today we’re celebrating our one week anniversary! Andrew and I tied the knot on October 7th in the heart of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, a place near and dear to our nature-loving hearts. When we first got engaged, I told Andrew that I wanted a small ceremony, just immediate family and a few friends, maybe at city hall. He was the one who pushed for a larger wedding and sold me on the idea of our wedding as an opportunity to bring our communities together. And I’m glad I listened because our wedding was beyond anything I could have imagined.
Andrew and I have been together for 7 years, and I figured that after our wedding, life would just continue as it was. We’re in the middle of an adventure/travel year, for goodness sake. We have tickets to book and places to visit; we’d get married and then get back on the road. But we both agree that it feels different now, having recognized and celebrated our love and commitment to each other in front of our people, all of whom travelled a great distance to be with us on this occasion. I hate being the center of attention, but when I walked down the aisle, I didn’t feel self-conscious. I felt so loved, so supported, and so held by our communities. We love you all so much❤️
But our wedding was so last week; we’re in New York City! Originally, Andrew and I weren’t even sure we wanted to include New York on our travel year. It’s close enough to Boston that we can visit easily, but mostly New York can be utterly exhausting between the constant hustle and bustle, the crowds, and this manic need to constantly be doing all the things. But we were able to line up two pet-sitting gigs (one in Harlem and one in Brooklyn), so we figured we’d give the city a shot, and I’m so grateful that we did.
This visit to New York feels different. We’re neither here for work nor playing tourist. We don’t feel the need to rush around town and pack our days with the coolest coffee bars or trendiest new restaurants. Instead, we’re deliberately staying close to home. In Central Harlem, Andrew got hooked to the lattes made with rum-infused espresso beans at 787 Coffee, and we had a lovely post-dinner drink at Musette wine bar. This morning, we walked to get some great bagels from A&C Super. We have a whole weekend in New York City, and we’re choosing to enjoy a quiet, rainy day in with the cutest golden doodle. There’s a small part of me thinking about what we’re missing by staying in (I know of two food festivals happening today around the city – why aren’t we there??), but at the end of the day, I think deliberate travel requires deliberate rest. We had a great night last night taking the doggo to a local brewery and meeting up with our friend, Cathryn, and with plans to go out with my cousin Kyra this evening, we are content with a more chill day.
This isn’t to say we’re not taking advantage of all that New York has to offer. Of course, being us, we had to see a show. Our friends, Jacqueline and Brandon, got us tickets to see Here Lies Love on Wednesday as a wedding gift. Here Lies Love is making waves in the theatre world with an all-Filipino cast and an immersive dance floor that casts audience members as part of the show. If you go see this show, definitely opt for the dance floor tickets. It was wild dancing and moving alongside cast members in a theatre refashioned into a discotheque. It’s also a bit of am emotional rollercoaster, but I got to shake Jose Llana’s hand so…tradeoffs.
Another highlight: Brandon plays percussion for the show and gave us a backstage tour! We got to meet one of the sound engineers (appropriately named Mike), walk around the set, and learn how the magic happens. So, huge thanks to Brandon for answering all my fangirl questions and giving us this dream-fulfilling experience 🙂
We’re in Brooklyn for another day before taking the train down to Wilmington, Delaware for a brief visit with Alex and Ty, and then we’re off to Washington DC!
A few more rapid fire memories from this week:
Meet our Fury Friends:
Elliott – the sweetest little pup who loves his toys and snuggling up to you while he sleeps
Frankie – the cutest golden doodle who got so excited when she met Andrew that she peed (this is quickly becoming a pattern – Andrew is the pet whisperer)
Small Bike Adventures:
Biking along the Hudson River Greenway, a two-lane bike path that gets you across Manhattan with like 0 traffic lights.
Biking across the Manhattan Bridge en route from Harlem to Williamsburg
Work Hard, Play Hard
Andrew presented his research to the cybersecurity club at NYU! I was actually able to follow along for most of it which, I think, means I basically have a PhD in computer science.