Finally, down time in NYC

Now that the wedding and stuff are all over, I can resume my normal life. Friday night, Mike and I watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I thought the movie was great, quirky and creative, but more than anything I loved the music. Another item to add to my Amazon wish list. On Saturday, Mike and I rode our bikes down the Hudson River Park Greenway. We can hop right on to it from our apt (okay, really you have to ride your bike down the block and on the overpass, then your on the greenway.) and ride all the way down to Battery Park. The ride down was great and is about 24.5 miles round trip. There were also free kayak rentals along the way, something we will have to do next time. The weather was great and riding our bikes amongst all the people out was exciting (annoying sometimes; I mean really, do you HAVE to walk 4 abreast?). For me, the smells, sounds, and views of NYC always comfort me and make me feel so happy to be a part of all of this; to have this as my home. I think Steve Reich captures it very well in City Life. Check it out! Also, it's always tons of fun seeing the the apt. building I grew up in. Hi Mom and Dad!
When we got to Battery Park, we saw there was a Culture Festival which is all part of the River to River events. Of course there was an Indian food stand and this made our PB & J, apple and granola packed lunches look sad. Nonetheless, we ate our lunches by the river, saw an incredibly ripped guy (Seriously, this man could take down a tiger without a problem. Mike could see his muscles without his glasses.) doing acrobatics, and walked around. Mike broke down and got a plate of vegetarian samosas. We rode our bikes back and got ready to go to KaShan and Cisco's house for a BBQ. It was a great time and excellent food.
This morning I got to do something I haven't done in so long and it made me incredibly happy. Mike and I got breakfast, sat down to eat at home and read the Sunday Times. It was wonderful. We then went to the farmers' market at Columbia's main campus. We are trying to buy most of our vegetables and meats there since it supports local farmers and free range happy animals. Plus the prices are better.
Tonight if the weather stays nice, we will make dinner and walk up to the Cloisters and have a picnic dinner. Then I will read scientific papers and cap off an excellent weekend.