parental weekend

first, some pictures, because i havent figured out how to work the formatting bc my pictures always come first, even when i want them inter-twined.  i took these earlier today at the japanese gardens (to be discussed below....)

turtles!!

gators!!

rock garden!!

bamboo!!

hooray! weekend with dads! i myself just got home from the night & afternoon with my dad, up in del rey beach. after yet another stress-induced day at work, i got to leave an hour early and trucked it up to del rey where i went to terry's parent's house. people's parents are so cute. i mean like grandparents that come and stay in florida for the winter. they are the sweetest people to begin with, full of that queens-jewish sass, and it was so nice to be able to see them & spend time with them. got there around 6.30, after about an hour and a half driving/in traffic, and then we all went out to dinner at a fancyish seafood establishment. it was low key, and delicious, and then we went home, sat around the dining room table and had cake & ice cream. i mean, i love that stuff. when else do i sit myself down with cake & ice cream? so rare. (popcorn on the other hand...). i stuffed my stuffed little self onto the couch, and slept over. this morning terry's parents had this delicious new-yorker breakfast spread- different breads, tuna, whitefish, smoked salmon, and chopped liver spreads; chive creamcheese; lox, onion, tomato; and pastries. i could move in with them, i tell you! 

after a glorious breakfast (my normal saturday morning meal would consist of shredded wheat and coffee), my dad & i went to the murakami japanese gardens nearby. it was a largeish park really, like a botanical garden but obviously, very well curated and with various little gardens within it - one of raked stones, another with various ponds, etc. it was cool out, but warmer than it has been, and the sun was shining, it was variably sunny, and so incredibly peaceful. i felt so  lucky to be outside and hanging with my dad. nerd alert for sure.  we spent an hour and change there, walking around, and then headed back to terry's parents. dave & dorothy then made us some lunch while dad & terry packed up to fly back to new york. the smell in that house was out of control- like baking, sweet, but mouth-watering too... the suspect?  blintzes!! after those delicious bites we packed up our respective cars and said goodbye. what a lovely day!

i just got home a short while ago and thought, well, my foot has been hurting - ive truly been limping the past few days -- why dont i go get some exercise in a non-intrusive way? so i put on my bathing suit, got my towel, all psyched to get outside, upstairs on the roof and go for a swim. when i got up there (first time since i moved here! took them until this week to finally finish renovating the pool area), the view was incredible. since we are one of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood, you could see both the miami skyline to the west, the ocean to the east, and all the connecting waterways in between. just gorgeous.... the sun was shining, the place was empty, and i couldnt have been happier. this was, of course, until i put my foot in the pool and realized that it was not heated and there was no way i was swimming in a 50 degree pool when it was a cool 69 outside (ok ok, i know, thats not COLD to the rest of you, but i am fully enjoying my floridian weather sensitiveness, and honestly, you dont want to be wet in the cold with the wind blowing on you when you're not prepared for it). no dice. slightly saddened, i came back down here but realized it all works out fine in the end- im supposed to meet some of my coworkers for drinks & dinner tonight in about an hour or so, and i might as well shower since i havent done so since friday morning. (grandparents dont care if your hair is messy). (or at least they dont say so).

im terribly glad that the week has finally ended. i needed this weekend like you couldnt imagine. i dont know why my boss is so INSANE sometimes. and then when he edited something i wrote and sat down with me to go over it, he was so nice and calm. it then makes me feel bad for getting so anxious and hyped up about it, you know? i guess it will train me to always prepare for the worst, always have high expectations, and always be terribly, terribly anal and paranoid. im sure all these things will do well for me in the future. but i tell you, sometimes you just wish it were easier. 

thanks to terry, i can spend the next hour reading several old issues of us weekly, people, and ok magazine. tabloids, how i love thee.

xo