Friday, September 04, 2009

NYC 2009: Celebrating Francois' 40th!

A year ago right now I had the awesome privilege of going to NYC with my mom and little sister to celebrate two significant birthdays: my 40th, Molly's 21st. This year, I have the awesome privilege of accompanying one dear love in my life, Francois Kiemde, for his 40th birthday. It's a joy. It's a wonder. It's a gift to make the journey this season alongside my fiance, and to simultaneously experience the city through his eyes, and alongside his best friends. What follows are photos from our three night, four day adventure. Big love and gratitude go out to Mr. Kiemde and his beautiful network that embraced me, and helped us celebrate love and birth on so many levels.

Enjoy!
Melissa
Yes!


Hey Baby!


Sleepy but excited at the Baggage Claim.
(Can you tell we rose at 5am for this flight?)


The Algonquin!


The Historic Hotel in Mid-town Manhattan, known for Dorothy Parker and her crew of literary, artistic, political peeps...AND THE ROUND TABLE!


NYC Hallway complete with clever cartoon wallpaper from the New Yorker.


Sweet!


What would a trip be to New York without a stop at a Street Vendor?



En route to Times Square: Health Care Protesters!

Please...


Message with Humor!


Self-portrait in the subway...On our way to Freddie and Carmela's in Queens...


Where we are warmly received.
(From Left to Right: Francois, Eduard, Fred, Carmela all raising a glass.
There's so much to toast this weekend!)


More ensemble shots, including baby boy Cedric.


This meal will be my favorite all weekend. Love to Carmela's multicultural cooking skills, this menu honoring her Italian heritage.


And then there's my guy, who just loves his chicken!
lol.

Times Square, baby!

Time to get Tickets from TKTS



Happy Man back in his NYC home


Who knew this would be the first Broadway Musical Francois would ever see?
An LA love story set to 1980's Rock and Love ballads? The Humor of it all!


Walking down Broadway through the Street Fair


Psychic Reading on Francois' 40th Year:
Yes, I'm your soul mate, and you will be wildly successful in your next bakery business!
LOVE!!!


Jazz in Central Park

St. Raphael spotting..


Checking out the French Bread...


Delish!

Onto a BBQ back in Queens with Little Cedric and family...


Fred's on prep...


Beautiful father and son.


And two beautiful parents!


Lots of photos taken today..


Carmela and Frederique


Another gorgeous father and son;
Ed and his guy are goofs!


It's a theme. Happy Dads with their boys....

Celebratory Birthday Cake and Champagne!


I love this guy!



A toast to Carmela's birthday!
Leos and Virgos in the house!


What a crew! Stay tuned to more from these men in my life!


The city at night...


Love.

6 comments:

Shelle said...

Beautiful pictures GIRLFRIEND - of the Friends and Family! BE HAPPY and ENJOY IT ALL.
Luv you GIRL
Shelle

ABN said...

BEAUTIFUL!! Thanks for sharing! So happy for you. Still can't wait to meet this man! His smile is one of the most beautiful I've seen.

Sr. Jill said...

How fun!

Aunt Peg said...

Melis,

I saw some of these on FB, but this was a much better way with captions. Looks like a great way to celebrate a birthday. A fun bunch of happy people! You'll have to tell us about the food. I always think of food when I think of NYC.

Francois has a great smile!

Love, Peg

Unknown said...

Curious: is Francois back in NY now? The Madison (WI) food scene was awfully bummed out when his bakery went under back in 2006. I was thinking about it as I drove past the old storefront, and thought I'd look up whatever became of him.

Queen Mab said...

Hey Kyle,
Thanks for your comment! I can only imagine the bummed out customers of Mr. Kiemde's when "Francois' Bakery" closed! But stay tuned! He has relocated to the Twin Cities, MN, and we look forward to his creative baking endeavors resuming under sole proprietorship when the time is right. (We are scouting sites as we speak. Hey!) At the same time, Francois' focus is on his work as a husband and father...We are baking and co-creating all sorts of good things! Right now: Baby Kiemde! :-)

Again: Stay Tuned and thank you for your inquiry about this dear man and his professional talents.

Peace,
Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde