Hooray, NYC & L & G!

There is--between week 1 and week 2 of that all-consuming Piano Camp--a Saturday and half of a Sunday with which to play.  Hence, I hopped on a train and wended my way to a (somewhat abbreviated) Hash-Out-Life with Lisa & Geoff.  

Typical of HOL's, we Cafe Henri'd with our cafe au lait 

and brunch-above-all-other-brunches.

Hooray.

Then, since it was the type of day where walking into the outdoors required bursting spontaneously into wetness from every possible pore, we opted to stay in.  

We picked up another HOL favorite--iced coffee, hooray!--and then whiled away the hours with some catching up on our far-too-full-and-interesting-for-a-long-distance-friendship lives while basking in the pleasantry known as an air conditioned apartment.  

The hours whiled quickly,

and before we knew it, it was evening and time for a not-particularly-oppressive-yet-definitively-humid stroll along the Highline,

a city park built on an old freight rail line,

elevated above the city streets and crossing under the warehouses & factories that received it's goods back in the day.

We took in the sights,

until hunger pangs drove us to

The Shake Shack,

which I had requested for my birthday dinner.

Hooray.

Then, because we were melting, we went home.

The following day found us at another (strangely) routine HOL task:
apartment shopping.

Yes, somehow--and I really don't know how--L & G get the urge to apartment shop when I'm in town.  Hence, we scoped out a few local places

to get a feel for what may or may not be in L & G's future.

[Who knows what's on the horizon--other than that great view!--but at least

they know they've gotten my approval.  Hooray.]

Sadly, before we knew it, it was time for Piano Camp to take over my life again, and there was a train with my name on it pulling out of Penn Station.  

Regardless of its brevity:

HOL, Hooray!