My wife is an exceptionally committed mother. In the 3409 nights that have passed since Aspen’s birth, Jenn has spent but a handful of nights away from her girls.

• 6 nights to be with her mom as she fought off cancer
• 2 nights to give birth to Oakley
• 2 nights to give birth to Lindy

Seriously, Jenn is hardcore. (Mind you, I don’t believe go away from your kids for a night is a failing on the part of a mother or a father… I’ve been away for the last 8 nights, and I’m sitting in an airport now, but it does show a certain level of commitment on Jenn’s part.)

Finally, though, circumstances presented themselves in such a way that Jenn chose to join me for a long weekend in New York City! How cool is that? So, I thought I’d share with you, our loyal readers, some of my favorite memories from the trip…

As you might expect, a fair portion of our trip was driven by food. In fact, I would say that food was our tour guide, telling us where to go and when. I prepared Jenn for this upon her arrival by saying, “You simply cannot let your hunger guide your eating on this trip. You must keep eating.”

And so, in no particular our, here are a few of our favorite things…

1. Wicked was wicked. I’m quite open about the fact that I grew up on musical theater. Heck, I even acknowledge that I like Hanson, and so we made our way to three shows together (plus I saw Hair on my own.) While American Idiot and Billy Elliott had their moments, without a doubt, our favorite was Wicked. The music, the performances… they were great. But for me, the story stands out beyond all else. The way that the plot connects to The Wizard of Oz and then twists it to the edge of recognition… I absolutely adored it.
2. Jenn wore heels. That’s right, on Saturday, we were going to dinner and the show, and Jenn was wearing some pretty high wedges, and we were walking along 53rd Street at a pretty high pace. And then… Jenn. Was. Gone. I’m serious, she was next to me, and then all of a sudden, she wasn’t. You see, the sidewalks aren’t always level, and one of them took her out. 5’11” one moment, 1’6” the next. Fortunately, she was fine, no blood was drawn, I didn’t laugh, and we went about our merry business.
3. The Levain chocolate chip cookie. Trust me, we tried a bunch of cookies, and this round mound of cookie-dom stick in my memory. It’s so thick it’s almost cookie dough in the middle, even though the outside is nice and crispy.
4. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. I’ve gotten to experience this a number of times, but Jenn rarely has enough time away from the girls to appreciate just how cool they are. A day or so into the trip, Jenn and I started talking about Aspen, Oakley, and Lindy, and we’re in total agreement. We really like our kids.
5. The Union Square Greenmarket. We certainly love our farmers’ markets, and the Union Square version ranked up there. I was struck by the quantities of certain foods, the quality of the apples, and how difficult it would be for me to carry home everything we would buy there if we lived in New York.
6. The bagel with lox from Murray’s. This was a last minute addition to the food tour on Monday morning before we left, and we were so glad we made it. The capers, the onions, the salmon… they really added a lot. Well worth it.
7. Dinner with Miss Drury! That’s right, Oakley. We got to see Miss Dru… I mean, Megan, without you! (The adjustment to calling her by her first name continues to traumatize me.) Megan and “her special friend” George drove up from their new home in Philadelphia just to have dinner with us. Megan chose a favorite from her childhood and took us to China Grill, which was awesome. It was our only “sit-down” meal of the weekend, and I’m glad for that since it was so good. The company was OK, too. ;)
8. The City Bakery. This was our very favorite place to eat in the city of New York. In fact, we went back to the City Bakery on Monday because it was just that good. The Pretzel Croissant is so good it has its own website, but there are several other worthy things there as well. When eaten fresh, I would rate their chocolate chip cookie as the best in New York as well. On the way to the airport, we picked up some stuff for the road. I may or may not have polished off three cookies and a croissant on the flight to Denver.
9. The World Cup. Jenn was nice enough to let me watch the whole US-ENG World Cup game, even though we were in NYC! The fact that I was kicking the bed occasionally may have interrupted someone’s nap.

Some conclusions…

• If we ever lived in NYC or visited again, I would want to find a funky hotel in the Union Square area. We really like this part of town, partly because of The City Bakery, and partly cause it’s just a little slower than midtown… like us.
• Kopp’s is undoubtedly better than the Shake Shack.
• The Pickle Guys, being Jewish and all, are not open on Saturdays.
• The creme brule doughnut at The Doughnut Plant is good, but not awe inspiring.
• Jenn is a cheap date. Bakeries are much cheaper than other places you could eat in NYC.
• The cookies at Ma Peche blow. They were prebaked, wrapped in plastic. Clearly we did not get the same cookie as the people who voted it best cookie in NYC.
• We’re not gonna move to NYC.

So, our trip was great, and we owe many thanks to Grammie and Grandpa for watching the girls. I’m told everything was great… The girls even scored ice cream and paletas in the same day. I might be jealous.