Lauren and Lisa take over Manhattan (joined by Geoff, Frankie, some stilt-walking musicians, and a ridiculously good pizza)

On Sunday afternoon I left my parents and crossed the GWB into NYC to spend some time with my old-time cronies, L & G.

We started our togetherness watching the World Cup at a snazzy joint downtown with some of L & G's friends.

Then, we meandered home for some mandatory balcony time, working in some "Lauren & Frankie work on their relationship" time while we were at it.  (We are very efficient.)

Now, typical L/L/G time involves Saturday morning brunch at Cafe Henri, but since it was a Monday morning Geoff had to go to work (Work? What's that?!). Lisa (who had taken the day off) and I decided that we still needed brunch,

and we still needed our cafe au lait--so we went to Cafe Henri anyway, in honor of him.

When we were sufficiently cafe-d up, we made our way to the water front.  The day promised to be hot and sunny, so we thought some on-the-water breeze would be a welcome way to spend it.

Hence, we rented a yacht to take us all the way around the island of Manhattan for a 3 hour cruise--

with about 300 other people that is.  It was a beautiful day, and we took the opportunity to sit, relax, chat, ponder the complexities of life, and enjoy the blue sky from under a canopy while the wind whipped through our hair.

When we arrived back at the docks we hopped off the boat, onto the crosstown bus, and into the subway to get ourselves to the South Street Seaport for some shop-browsing

and our traditional iced-coffee refresher.  We needed the shot of caffeine, because our next mode of transportation was--(drum roll please)--

a long, hot, and sweaty walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

It was well worth the trek, because a) the view was stunning and b) it dumped us right into the lap of one of our favorite kind o' places--

A used book store.

We browsed for a good long while.

Then we found a seat and waited for Geoff to arrive in the neighborhood.

When we found each other, Lisa and I took Frankie to the Brooklyn Bridge Park while Geoff went to Grimaldi's to get us the-best-pizza-ever.

Frankie and I waited patiently.

Fortunately, there were some stilt-walking musicians nearby to amuse us.

When Geoff arrived with that crazy good pizza, we spent the rest of the evening de-constructing and analyzing all of our lives.

(We love doing that.)

It was a gorgeous night, with a gentle breeze rustling around us.  We didn't want to leave, but leave we did, to finish off our time together at home on the balcony with wine & life-changing gelato.

We talked & giggled the night away until sleep could be put off no longer.  The next morning we parted ways and went back to our real lives--but not before agreeing that our lives are indeed charmed.

 We know it, and we are grateful.