Oh baby, baby!

One thing I love most about New York City is that it's a destination city. No one ever says, "Next time I'm in Toledo, I'll give you a call." But people come to New York to visit all of the time.

Case in point - I finally got to hold one of my good friends' new baby the other day because they - Ignazio and Susan - were in town visiting family. And that was not the only "first" of the day. I also met my friend Ignazio's parents, visited Queens for the first time, and bravely ate some seafood (unless you count tuna, I don't do seafood).

Starting with my favorite - the baby, of course - Maria Sophia is a total wiggle worm. Even at 24 days old, all four of her limbs are constantly moving whenever she's got those big, wide eyes open, and her tiny socks can never stay on those tiny feet. Adorable!

Queens, however, is a different story. The further you get into the burrough, the more graffiti you see on the sides of building. And I'm not just talking a bit of paint here and there. I could hardly see the original color of some buildings behind all the graffiti. But since I consider some graffiti an art form, some of it was really beautiful.

After switching trains once in Manhattan, I took another train about 20 minutes into Queens and got off well after it had traveled from underground to above the streets. Other than the trains roaring overhead, the neighborhood in Queens looked like any other small downtown area with an H & R Block, a Dunkin' Donuts, and a Subway sandwich shop, among other stores.

After a few minutes of hanging out in the Dunkin' Donuts, Ignazio and his brother, Paul, pulled up and drove me to their parents' house for a seafood lunch. And when I say seafood, I'm talking S-E-A-F-O-O-D. Ignazio's family prepared a seven-course seafood lunch, which included crab and lobster bisque, an octopus and celery dish, eel, and oysters. I bravely tried the bisque - which I found surprisingly good - and the octopus, which I'm sure was fine, but it was too weird and rubbery for me to eat again. I couldn't bring myself to actually try the eel. One weird food is enough for me for one day!

But overall, it was great to just hang out in good company and enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon with people I miss from Toledo. (Hint, hint! Other people I miss from Toledo are always welcome to this fab city!)