Birthday in NYC!

Friday was my 31st Birthday and I was lucky enough to be able to see Josh Ritter, one of my favorite musicians, perform with the NY Pops for free in Central Park. Kim, Alex, Mike, Kelly and I all met at Penn Station, got some salads and sandwiches for dinner and then headed up to the park. We waited in a very long line, but actually ended up with good seats. The concert was the first one in the SummerStage concert series.

Here is me, Kim, Mike, Alex and Kelly at the concert. We had to sit on garbage bags that Kim brought because the ground was soaking wet. It was a turf playfield and it apparently didn't drain very well from the week of rain that we had. I was so happy that the weather held out and we had a beautiful night for an outdoor concert!

Josh Ritter is one of the smiliest, sweetest, most gracious performers I have ever seen perform live, and I think this photo just kind of sums that up:

The music was great and he played many of my favorite songs. I had seen him perform a similar set with the Boston Pops, but was so happy to be able to celebrate my birthday with friends and great music. During the encore Josh called out his friend Glen Hansard who is also a great singer/songwriter and starred in the movie Once. And as a side note - Sylvie and I saw Once in the theatre on my 29th birthday! Here's a photo of Glen and Josh, the sun had gone down and everyone was standing up for the encore, so the conditions were much tougher.

After the concert we ended up stopping for dessert at a little cafe called Follow Me Caffe. It was wonderful! We ordered a brownie a la mode with vanilla gelato and crepes with raspberries and Nutella. It was the perfect way to top off an awesome night.

Kelly headed home from there, but everyone else went back to Mike's apartment to spend the night. It was practically a slumber party! This was the first time we had seen Mike's new apartment and it's awesome! I'm sure this isn't the last time I'll be crashing there. Thanks, Mike, for letting us stay!

In the morning we headed out for a nice little bagel breakfast at Connecticut Muffin and then we split up and Kim and Alex headed to the Museum of Natural History and Mike and I headed to the Guggenheim Museum.

We saw a wonderful show of Frank Lloyd Wright models and drawings. It was so cool to see these images displayed in a building that he designed. His attention to detail, creative thinking and commitment to his vision was so obvious throughout the show. I was fascinated by his unbuilt designs, especially those for Point Park in Pittsburgh and a complex in Baghdad. It was both fascinating and almost frustrating to think how things would have changed if some of his unbuilt buildings had see construction.

Overall, it was a wondeful way to spend my birthday! Music, friends, food and art! Some of my favorite things all rolled in one 24-hour time period!