I am still pinching myself – definitely a John 10:10 kind of night. Never have I stayed out on the town this late, even before kids! And it wasn’t even fueled by alcohol since we don’t drink. [-5 cool points or +5 cool points, depending on whom you ask]

The night went like this:

7:00 PM – Put the boys to bed and drove down, leaving the family to pray that Newbie doesn’t wake up enjoy a relaxing night at the Cool Home.

8:00PM – We met our cool friend Naoko at Cafe Rakka, a local favorite Middle Eastern place, and scarfed down a falafel-hummus-grape leaf dinner combo. We also struck up a conversation with a cool young guy having dinner on his own. He works in advertising and grew up in Tribeca with Robert DeNiro as a neighbor. He was nice enough to take our picture, too.

9:30PM – We had some time before the show, so we picked a light (for us) dessert: a Brownie Sundae with two scoops of mint chip ice cream, chocolate sauce, and coconut whipped cream at Lula’s Sweet Apothecary.

10:00PM – We lined up outside of Mercury Lounge for the show, which was a birthday party for Travis Meyer (whom we actually don’t know). Cool Dad got the invite because he follows the two bands who played, The Last Royals and Zach Williams and The Bellow. Both bands are basically made up from our church community, so it was like a big family took over the club for a night of pure joy and passion for music.

The Last Royals did a fun cover of The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” with guests Jason and Kanene Pipkin (keys and vocals) and Zach Williams (vocals).

Zach Williams and The Bellow opened with “You Can Be All Kinds of Emotional.”

1:30AM – After the show, a DJ started spinning, and The Cool ‘Rents started (clumsily) dancing.

3:00AM – On the way back to the car, post-dancing munchies hit, so we stopped for the obvious light (for us) snack: Philly cheese steak at Philly’s Cheese Steak.

4:30AM – We finally got home, just in time for Cool Newbie to wake up for the day.

I feel like I’m still catching up on sleep, but this record late night out was totally worth it! [+15 cool points]

Oh, and thanks, Travis – we hope to meet you someday!

There are many reasons, most of which are our own, that only we can tell. However, Andrew Clancy and his cameras have done an excellent job of expressing the rest.

We debated leaving them with friends, but decided not to. We didn’t want Cool Baby to miss out on an only-in-New-York kind of cultural experience, and Cool Mum was confident that she could keep Newbie happy. With that problem settled, we only had to deal with a cold, rainy forecast.

We settled into the VIP line into the park amidst a light rain around 4:00pm. There was a good chance that the concert would be canceled if the weather didn’t improve, so the organizers waited an hour before letting people in. I was already thankful for our VIPness. I’d passed the general admission entrances on both sides of the park, and they were each at least 10 blocks (half-a-mile) long.

Once inside, we saw how blessed we were to have these tickets. The concert was on the Great Lawn, which clever readers will deduce is a big grassy area. General admission attenders set up beach towels on patches of wet grass. We had chairs in the area in front of the stage. Our seats weren’t that close, but we were thankful that they were seats.

A big perk: free food! Barilla gave us large bamboo bento boxes with pasta salad, prosciutto, chunks of hard cheese, salad, balsamic sauce, and a pack of cookies. Plus, they handed out drinks, rotini, prosciutto-mozzarella-tomato panini, and chocolate wafer cookies. Barilla has effectively secured my pasta-buying loyalty in perpetuity.

The food made the time before the show fly by. The New York Philharmonic took the stage, the lights came on, and the show started. So did the rain.

For me, the first hour was a test of patience, set to the one of the finest musical experiences in the world. As Bocelli and his golden-voiced friends sang, I grunted while wrestling with the umbrella to keep the boys dry as the rain came and went. Being sensitive to the listening pleasure of people around us, I winced every time Newbie belted out a ‘DADA!’  Even worse were the women behind us who would not stop talking about how so-and-so would love to be there and the exciting uses of the bamboo bento box.

A 20-minute intermission was announced, and the audience groaned. Like many people, we weren’t sure if we could put up with another hour of this. Some of the rows around us emptied. We decided to stick it out, and we’re glad that we did.

CB crawled into the stroller and fell asleep under the protection of the rain cover. I moved to another row away from our chatty neighbors. And most importantly, the skies cleared, and a nearly full moon shone through the clouds over Manhattan.

The 2nd hour of music was loaded with treats: songs in English, guest spots by Celine Dion and Tony Bennett, and Andrea’s trademark hit, “Time to Say Goodbye.” It made the prior five hours of waiting and wet weather worth it.

And on the long walk back to the car, there was only one way CM and I could cap off such a rendezvous with high culture:

Here are some clips from the concert, which will air on PBS in December.

I wanted to get a sense of what he sees when pushed through the masses at Times Square, so I set up the camcorder and got to pushing. Fortunately for us, it wasn’t that crowded, but being ‘not that crowded’ in Times Square still means a bit of a crowd.

To save you all the five minutes of strolling, I sped it up to 5x speed.

Lesson learned: Unless your kids like being waist-level with thousands of gawkers from around the world, they probably won’t have too much fun being strolled through Times Square.

i forgot my camera but a nice person texted me some photos!

Yesterday I took the Cool Kids to Casa Barilla, which is basically Pasta Heaven set up in Central Park for a few days. We arrived a little after the published start time of 10am. The doors weren’t open yet, so we stood in a very short line while we waited. The kids were free and I paid $5 dollars to get in. Money well spent–here’s what I got!

•  Surprise (to me)! For being one of the first 75 in line, I was handed two tickets for Thursday’s sold-out Andrea Bocelli concert in Central Park! And these are not just any general-admission-sit-on-the-grass tickets. They’re VIP tickets that include dinner and actual seats in front of the grass-sitters! YAY!
• My $5 went to the NYC Food Bank to provide 25 meals to New Yorkers in need!
• The kids and I devoured pasta dishes and Italian bottled water for lunch (with no lines), then came back later for dinner after playing in the park. YUM. I took a pasta splurge day for sure. It was the perfect occasion for Cool Newbie’s very first pasta.
• We got a peek at lots of cooking classes and competitions while we ate and wandered. Maybe CB has a future as a chef?
• CB and CN were thoroughly entertained for a long time at the uncrowded Piccolini Playground. They paraded around in their brand new kid-sized aprons while making pasta necklaces and rolling out fresh pasta dough to crank through the pasta maker. Delightful!

On top of this, all of the festival employees working the event went out of their way to be kind and helpful! Thank you, Barilla, for a great day and concert to come! (And I say that without any connection with the company.)

The festival continues through Friday, and if you get out there this morning or tomorrow morning (opening time is 9:30am), you just might score some VIP Bocelli tickets!

I hit a pothole

After getting home from a day around the city, I was disappointed, but largely unsurprised, to see that the silver-toned plastic wheel cover on our front left wheel was gone. Instead, the ugly, filthy rim of the tire gaped at me.

Cool Mum wondered if someone stole it. The hubcap wasn’t anything fancy; it came with the car. It didn’t spin or have LEDs to print out messages for fellow drivers (oh how I wish it did). The only special feature it had was that it quickly and efficiently collected brake dust. I knew the real culprit behind the missing cap: the unforgiving roads of New York City.

I think there’s something about the combination of

• winter snows and the salt used to melt them
• countless cars and trucks
• a Department of Transportation that’s likely stretched to the limit (and couldn’t care less anyway), though you can file a claim if you believe your car was damaged by a pothole.

After having our car here for 8 months now, I’ve learned that crater-like potholes are just one of the hazards of NYC driving. If you own a car here, you just have to assume that it’s gonna take some damage, whether someone bumps your fender or you lose a mirror. And that’s just if you’re parked on the street!

When you’re driving, it only gets worse:

• People will drive in any open space they can – be it a bus lane, bike lane, or fairly low median. And said people will cut you off if a double-parked car is blocking their improvised lane. Speaking of…
• Double Parking is Evil. An offender wants to run in for a quick pack of cigarettes or episode of Two and Half Men, but there isn’t a spot available. Who cares? Just make one and block a whole lane of traffic.
• I have a feeling that at least half of all cab drivers must be aspiring astronauts. Otherwise, what drives them to break the sound barrier if given a clear 200 feet of road?
• And the traffic is obscene – literally, as you might spot someone peeing in a side alley.

Our poor little car was clean and pristine when she moved up here. Now she has a broken mirror (fixed with duct tape), a busted license plate holder (fixed with pipe cleaner), and a missing wheel cover. But she faithfully gets us to points A, B, and C. Hopefully, for your sake (and ours), this will be the last of posts about how our car is falling apart.

photo: Chris Winters

My alter-ego recently tweeted this while browsing apartment rental listings around New York:

Listed as one of four amenities in apartment listing: Light. #hoorayithaswindows #oramassiveholeinroof

For real. I think that the other amenities listed were

• Hardwood floors – which we like.
  
• Subway – which shouldn’t count as an amenity unless I can step out the front door directly onto a train.
• A fourth one which I can’t recall. Toilet? Oxygen?
  

I’m vowing to myself that this will not be a “We chose to live in New York City and have it so tough boo hoo” post. The living situation here is just comical in the obscene prices that you pay for simple conveniences, and I like to talk about comical.

For a couple of years, we lived in 1-bedroom setups on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, usually with no dishwasher and definitely with no laundry in the apartment or the entire building. As one would expect, everything is a tradeoff when it comes to rent. One apartment had great natural light, but was on the fifth floor, no elevator. Another place was a (relatively) cheap ground floor unit, but it was miniscule.

We’ve always wondered what we could get in other cities for what we’ve paid around here, so I did a little research. Of course, this is subjective depending on what part of town you look in, etc., but it’s fun to see how different cities compare in general.

GAINESVILLE, FL

Our old hometown – a vibrant community centered around the University of Florida.

What we’d get for our money:

• 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1678 square feet, newer home in a community with swimming pool, tennis courts

We would feel like we were returning as royalty moving into such a place.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA

I would totally start writing letters again just to put ’90210′ in the return address.

• 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 800 square feet, covered parking spot, window A/C unit, lots of natural light

As expected, it’s not cheap, but you get more space, a guaranteed parking spot, and a newer-looking place. Plus, the weather’s nice. However, you lose the walkability of NYC, which saves much-needed coin.

AUSTIN, TX

The “hot city to move to” thanks to a thriving arts and music scene and an abundance of tech startup companies. Sounds like a cool place to live.

• 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1000 square feet, hardwood floors, beautiful colonial style, walkable area

It’s still a little pricey, but it seems like a good mix of comfort and space in an interesting area.

BILLINGS, MONTANA

My friend is from Montana. I had an RA in college who was named Montana. That’s about all I know about the place, though it looks like a beautiful state.

• 5 bedrooms, 2 bath, maybe more square feet than they could count because it’s not listed, 2-car garage, fireplace, fenced yard

Big state, big mountains, big houses.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN

A medium-sized city that’s big enough to warrant a good airport and professional sports teams, but still has an emerging cultural scene (from what my friends there tell me).

• 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, 1000 square feet, fireplace, jacuzzi in master bath

Jacuzzi in the master bath sounds really nice; if our washer broke down, we could go back to our Wonderwashin’ days and use it to clean clothes!

ANCHORAGE, AK

If we get a sudden hankering for a lot more snow than we’ve ever experienced in our lives, then Anchorage might be the place for us.

• 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1225 square feet, nice views of green areas, fireplace, vaulted ceilings, snow removal is included in rent

The green views would be gorgeous (for 4 months out of the year).

BOSTON, MA

I favor the Boston pro sports teams, with the Celtics (NBA) being my lifelong favorite team. Regular access to Celtics games would make me a very happy (and likely poorer) man.

• 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, hardwood floors, lots of sunlight, dishwasher, laundry

We would thrive in a setup like this in a big city.

* * *

I really wanted to find a small town in the middle of nowhere that had this amazing deal like ‘rent the whole town for a month for your NYC rent’, but I couldn’t nail anything down. I guess it makes sense that Ethel, MS (pop: 461) wouldn’t have many rentals listed online.

The interesting thing is that while we feel like we’re paying a lot, I didn’t find as many expansive 4- and 5-bedroom deals as I thought I would. These are still 2- and 3-bedroom places, albeit MUCH nicer than what we’re getting.

Do you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth for your rent/mortgage?

photos: Billings – Ron Reiring, Austin – Wikidiculous, Beverly Hills – Morn the Gorn, Anchorage – Frank K., Indianapolis – Daniel Schwen, Boston – Dolphin Jedi, Gainesville – Douglas Green

Emily Blunt was honored at that gala for her accomplishments after growing up with a debilitating stutter. Her then-kinda-under-wraps beau John Krasinski attended, and we sideswiped him for a pic as he headed to the sushi table.

From the second gala:

Emily was now an active member of the Board of Directors of AIS, and her relationship with John was not so secret. Actually, they were engaged and got married the following month. Another thing that was not so secret was Cool Newbie incubating in Cool Mum’s tummy. He was born 5 days later, thus cementing CM’s status as Rockstar Trouper of the Universe.

And from last night:

CM decided that getting a babysitter and lousing up the kids’ sleep schedules (with Newbie starting to teethe) wasn’t a good idea, so I attended alone and took my annual photo with Emily. But first I showed her a devastatingly cute pic of the boys on my phone.

About Matt Damon: Emily invited her co-star from The Adjustment Bureau to the event, and he came with his wife Luciana. I was talking with Emily by their table and noticed that the Damons didn’t have anyone with them at the moment. I had the perfect chance to cut in, introduce myself, and snap a photo, but I passed.

I didn’t want to disturb their moment of peace. But moreso I didn’t want to break off from Emily because I enjoyed reconnecting with her. I appreciate how she pours herself into this organization that I ardently support and believe in. She remembers CM and me, and I wanted to invest in that ‘friendship’ (as much as people who talk briefly once a year can have a friendship) even for just a couple of minutes.

The night was fantastic as always, starting off with a rooftop reception, followed by dinner and speeches from the night’s honorees and clients of AIS. I had a great time catching up with people from around the organization. They’re dedicated to an exceedingly worthy cause that, no matter where we end up, will always be a part of me!

Afterward we headed home on FDR Drive, which spans the east side of Manhattan. The sailing was smooth until we hit a traffic jam, which wasn’t entirely unexpected even on a Saturday afternoon. However, this was unlike any traffic jam we’d ever encountered.

After a few minutes, it was clear that we weren’t moving for a while, seeing as the drivers ahead of me were out walking around. Cool Mum pointed a column of smoke on the horizon which corroborated the reports of Car Fire! among the chatting drivers.

One Twitterer pointed out that “the fdr uptown is a parking lot!” I would’ve found that cuter if we weren’t stuck in the middle of it. To record this momentous event in NYC transportation (which probably occurs a couple of times a day), I pulled out the camera and started snapping.

This guy didn't mind standing on the guardrail that separated us from the speeding cars on FDR South.

The Cool Studio was on this street! Once again, we were trapped on E 78th Street.

Cool Baby was determined to drive us out of there.

Cool Newbie didn't mind the traffic jam (and the freedom from his car seat).

In the last photo, Newbie was was actually looking at a dude in the car next to us. Dude was having fun playing peek-a-boo with Newbie.

Looking back, I WISH that I had taken a picture of them playing together against the backdrop of a hundred stopped cars. I was hesitant to snap the picture, afraid that Dude would get upset. I need to get over that. We’re in NYC, and if you’re in public, you’re fair game.

After about 30 minutes, I and my fellow stranded drivers were moving again, back to cutting each other off and being cut off.