Rachel Graduates! (Part 2)

Yesterday ended with family dinner out at McLoon's Pier House in Long Branch, NJ. Good food, amazing scenery, the best of company:

Rachel Graduates! (Part 1)

Congratulations, Rachel Epp, for graduating with the Kean University Class of 2013, School of Public Administration!

Grad gifties from a special someone...

<3

Nice work, if you can get it!

Some of my mom's family is in town for my sister's college graduation, so my life is filled with celebrations!

Yesterday we took a family trip into New York City.

I avoid Times Square when possible, so even I was shocked when we took a long walk through it. The people! The lights! The bustle!

My mom's family is very musical and artistic, so we thought a Broadway show would be a great way to spend the overcast afternoon. So, we checked out the TKTS booth in Times Square and had amazing luck!

Five half-price seats for Nice Work If You Can Get It, which is apparently a hot show right now!

I didn't know a whole lot about the show, but when I learned that it was Gershwin music with Matthew Broderick as the leading man, I was sold.

First stop: lunch at Roxy, where I'd once eaten before seeing Chicago on Broadway. After a round of cheese sandwiches and beer (or coffee! or milk) all around, we were fortified for the show.

The musical was so fun! I laughed the whole time. Comedy, high jinks, and star-crossed lovers collided in the Prohibition era, and man, did that story make organized crime look like fun.

And obviously, Broderick was charming and funny and such a great dancer.

Bow bow.

I can neither confirm nor deny that my mom shouted "SAVE FERRIS!" into the theatre before the curtain went up. I'll leave that up to your imagination...

The only downside to the whole experience is that the show let us out just as rush hour was beginning, and we had to get from Broadway to Penn Station to the NJ Transit line.

NYC can be a rough city--the sheer volume of people can crush you if you deviate from the flow of foot traffic.

Throughout the day we'd been overwhelmed by kindness; on the train ride in, an orange went rolling on the floor, and was returned to us by another passenger. After lunch we noticed a credit card had tried to escape, but was then returned by a restaurant owner.

So, New Yorkers: not rude or mean. But they hurry, and you'd better hurry alongside them. OR ELSE.

But we survived and made it safely back to Jersey. Phew!

Me gustan empanadas.

Yesterday was my Saturday and Sunday for the week rolled into one. So I got the ladies together for dinner out... it was kind of like Sex & The City, but no cupcakes or obscenely expensive shoes.

I'd found a Peruvian restaurant on Yelp that I'd never been to, so we all explored it together.

It was delicious! It was a surprise for me to see so many Chinese dishes on the menu. (It was not a surprise that I devoured a slice of Tres Leches cake with coffee after the meal.)

Also, live and learn: I cannot stand Inca Kola. Now I know!

SELFIE TIME:

Awkward too-close selfie where Kat still looks so cute I could puke!

Siblings for Life!

WHEW.

I lost my blogging momentum when my work situation changed a bit--I currently log around 55 hours a week between two jobs.

I feel blessed that I do work I truly care about and interact with thoughtful, passionate people on a daily basis.

But sometimes a lady needs to sleep and eat and read fiction!

I've spent my rare days off largely sleeping. In the sun. And waking up to drink beer. Annnnnnnd falling back asleep in the sun. Sometimes a book gets read on a day like this.

Again, none of this is a complaint. But I hadn't been going on too many adventures, or had the time to write something for Ye Olde Blogger.

But today was my ONE day off from both jobs this week, and even though it rained on and off, I was happy to hit the road and visit Red Bank, NJ.

The official reason for the excursion was for my sister to check out the Red Bank location of Alex and Ani, which I'd never heard about before. It was a super-mod jewelry shop--bangles are BACK, apparently. It was cool to learn about their business practices--all pieces are made in Rhode Island, from recycled materials.

Just being in the store was an experience:

I saved my splurge for the comic store. I finally own a copy of my favorite graphic novel ever. I also got a new Batman comic to try out. Hooray!

What else do you expect from Kevin Smith's comic shop?

Red Bank is a lovely city to wander around. I do love me some thrift stores:

Backward Glances

Also, discovered a cake pop store. NOMMMMMMMM.

Macarons at Lil Cutie Pops

It was a great adventure with one bro and sis. Look at all the excitement!

Photo by Rachel Eppinger

Beautiful collage by Rachel Eppinger