Happy Labor Day!

First off, congratulations to Zoraida and Randee Elmore on the birth of their son, Zander at 8:00 this morning! I'm so excited for them and can't wait to meet (and spoil!) the little guy when I get back to Orlando. And, how cool is it that he was born on *Labor* Day!

Today I had the day off from rehearsal so I decided to sleep in and then head outside to do some exploring. Since moving into this apartment I haven't seen anything of Hoboken but the 3 blocks between my front door and the bus stop. I had my bowl of cereal, grabbed my bag and started walking.

The weather couldn't have been any more gorgeous! The sky was blue, the sun was shining, there was a breeze off the Hudson river....THIS is what Fall weather should be! We do get this kind of weather in Florida, but not usually until November or so!

I looked at a map before I headed out and decided I'd head toward Washington St. and walk to the Path train station, then cut over to the river and walk back along the water. Washington St is full of restaurants (Italian, Mexican, pubs, bakeries, cafes, delis....) and there are a lot of shops (boutiques, gift shops, spas and salons). Most of the retail stores were closed for the holiday, but there were some cute ones that I'll have to come back and visit!

I walked by Carlo's Bakery, which is featured on the TLC show "Cake Boss." There was a line out the door, down the sidewalk, and then it continued on the other side of the street. There was a security guard at the door (a bakery bouncer!) and the line was formed behind metal barriers. It wasn't crazy or anything, people were quietly and patiently waiting in line, I just thought it was fun that so many people were willing to wait so long to get into the bakery. I'm hoping it was busier than usual because everyone was off for Labor Day, so I'll go back when it isn't so busy and get some goodies! I should have taken a picture, but I found one online that pretty much summed up what it looked like - and this was the back of the line!

I kept walking along Washington until I got to the train station (about a 25 minute walk from my apartment, so I think I'll be sticking with the bus!) and then walked a few blocks over the the river. There was a lovely park that was filled with people who were enjoying their day off. Kites were flying, people were fishing, couples were walking their dogs, kids were running around. And you just couldn't beat the view of NYC! You can't see it in this picture, but when you look waaaaaay up the river, you can see the George Washington Bridge, which is pretty much where my apartment in Manhattan is.

I watched some older men fish for a while. One of them got his line stuck in a tree and it was hilarious to nonchalantly watch him try to figure out where it was stuck by yanking on the rod and then watching the leaves to see which branch was moving. By the time I moved on he was still trying to figure it out. He may still be there now, but hopefully he either got it untangled or just cut it free! One of the other men spent a minute or so pulling in a catch and when he lifted it out of the water he started to laugh because instead of a fish at the end of his line he discovered a crab! He let it off the line onto the ground and let it crawl around for a bit before he threw it back in. The kids loved watching it.

There were tons of benches along the water and I took a little bit to sit and enjoy the weather and the beautiful view. In the pictures, New York looks farther away than it actually is. But when you see it in person it's much closer. Which is appropriate, I guess, because even though Hoboken is so close to NYC, it is much, much different. It's so much smaller and more suburban, and quieter and cleaner, and much more my...pace? I guess? I like it so far!

Anyhoo, I kept walking and ended up finding....drum roll please.....a PANERA!!!!! YESS!!! I love me some Panera and there aren't any in the city. Yes, I know they have tons and tons of delicious soup, salad and sandwich places, but they just aren't Panera. So, of course I stopped in and treated myself to some lunch. It was a big deal to me, anyway!

So, now I'm back in the apartment. I walked into my room and was greeted by my new pal, Squirt (Cara's cat) She's taken to napping on my bed.

I love that she comes and visits me. Good thing, too, because when this is your bedroom "door," it's pretty hard to keep her out!

Ah, well! It's only for a month and it'll make a good story to tell years from now...right??!?

A few positive things to wrap up with:

*Panera. Duh.

*Beautiful, it's-almost-Fall weather. Cool enough to not get sweaty, warm enough to still go barefoot.

*Resting my voice for a day.

*Listening to the little waves in the Hudson hit the rocks.

*I haven't been on a subway train in 4 days.

*Having time to read again.

*Weddings and babies! In the last few weeks, Jessie Cope and Doug Miller got married, Julie Mozdy and Jordan Woods-Robinson got married, plus our big "Finding Nemo" family celebrated the birth of 3 babies (with a few more on the way!): Chloe Catherine Mann was born on August 18; Alexander Keith Daveline was born on August 30; and Howard Zander Elmore was born this morning, September 6!