Arthur Avenue!

Our trip to Arthur Avenue was a resounding success. Lunch at Rigolleto was amazing as always, and although we got there at 2 -- what in most restaurants is an off period -- it was jammed: a bridal shower, a CYO team celebrating a win, cozy tables for two, and large tables filled with multi-generational families.
The latter would be us. This restaurant has been our go-to place for years, the place we go to celebrate all manner of special occassions. And there we were Sunday -- just celebrating life -- with our son, his wife, their darling little baby, Kiley (she's the one in the picture!) and our youngest daughter and her husband.
My food choices could have been worse . Although I decided to skip an appetizer, I ate freely of the complementary hard cheese, bread and bruscetto topping. My lunch -- gnocchi bolognese -- was incredible. But I ate each bite slowly, and in fact, was the last person to finish dinner. And yes, I ate every last bite.
The mandatory stroll down Arthur Avenue came with a stop at a local pastry shop for one small cannoli. I could have eaten a large, not to mention the biscotti that was calling my name, but one little pastry was it.

Our day had started at a track meet in New York City and a stop at the Guggenheim. And of course, our walk through the Arthur Avenue neighborhood, so we were on our feet a lot. On the way home, we drove through my old neighborhood in the Bronx, and when I saw the apartment building I called home for 22 years, a few tears leaked out.

It was a perfect day. And when I got on the scale the next day, I was the exact weight I was the morning before. I would call that a trememdous success!