Another year older

This past weekend I celebrated another birthday, and I'm clearly not getting any smarter. According to this picture, I turned 92. Oops . . .



My friend Mica has a birthday the day after mine, so we decided to throw a joint birthday extravaganza with an ugly Christmas sweater theme. Mica and Shilah closed on their new house the week of Thanksgiving and were very generous in opening it up for the celebration.



I had to take at least one photo before wearing an ugly sweater the entire night. Since it was my birthday, I figured I could get away with trying to be a little less ugly.

(I finally got a chance to wear my very special shoes!)

A shot of the bar in M & S's house. The rest of the "bar" was set up in the kitchen and out by the pool.



Jenne!




Taking turns under the mistletoe . . .

Getting the party started:

The birthday serenade:

with some of my favorite gals!

Elizabeth was one of my favorites -

Jenne took a quick cat nap (or maybe she was testing the love sack to see if it might be a good place to sleep eventually) before the dance party really picked up . . .

After the dancing started, I didn't take any more pictures - until this one . . .

Luckily, Mica thought ahead and covered the dining table in plywood - he's obviously thrown a few parties before. I have no idea what time I headed to bed, but I know that my latest birthday celebration was one I'll never forget!

Finally!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I finally got to take in a game at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington. I had heard people talk about how amazing! huge! awesome! unbelieveable! the stadium was for months, but didn't get a chance to check it out for myself until Baylor played Tech in their last football game of the season.

We had awesome seats (thanks Dad!) and the atmosphere throughout the entire game was a totally new experience for me and football. Our bears almost pulled out a win, but it was an exciting game overall!

Luckily I got to do some tailgating with some of my favorite sisters.

AND Todd & Brad!

and, of course, the best part of any day my sweet nephew is around is spending time with him. He totally loves football too.

the big apple . . . day 4

Though we didn't have an entire Sunday in NYC (our flights were at 5:30 pm), I definitely feel like I made the most of the day!

While Tabatha and Josh headed to ground zero and the NYSE, I ventured toward 5th avenue to check out the Waldorf-Astoria (I had learned the history of the hotel the night before during the Titanic exhibit):

I also HAD to check out the hotel from one of my favorite TV shows!

I did some shopping, then headed north about 20+ blocks to take one last stroll through Central Park

Central Park on a Sunday afternoon is FULL of people, which made for some great entertainment. After my leisurely walk, I got to meet up with my high school friend Andria for lunch at an adorable Central Park restuarant. Andria has lived in NYC on and off since college, and I always love spending time with her. I feel like she leads a very exciting life, so I get to live vicariously for a few hours each time we're together!

The best decision I made all day was to stop in the 5th avenue H&M to check out the Jimmy Choo line of clothes, shoes and accessories that debuted the day before. I had decided it was not worth it to deal with the packed stores on opening day, but there didn't seem to be much of a commotion on Sunday. My decision paid off, and I walked away with a fabulous pair of shoes! (and a scarf)

After meeting up wtih J and T, we hopped in a cab and headed to the airport. It was touch and go for awhile as to whether or not we would get there in time, but we eventually made it with time to spare. We said goodbye to each other and NYC and headed back to the real world, which is always the worst part of any trip. Luckily, I get to see my friends again in a few short weeks, but I had forgotten how much I love visiting New York. Hopefully it won't be another 5 years before I visit again!

the big apple . . . day 3

I took this picture of Tabatha on Saturday morning in NYC because I thought she looked very "New York" with her scarf, designer bag, and coffee. I love it!

We headed out Saturday morning to the meatpacking district for a fabulous brunch at one of my favorite places, Pastis. It was amazing - Tabatha had the eggs benedict, while I was very adventurous and ordered eggs a la basquaise. I don't speak French, so I have no idea what that means, but it was very good! Plus, on the way there, we saw Tate Donovan jog by - I loved him as Rachel's boyfriend Joshua on Friends and as Jimmy Cooper on the O.C. He's the only "celebrity" we saw during our trip but I'll take it!

After brunch, we took some time to walk through the meatpacking district, the village and soho and stopped at one of my favorite sites in new york - the building from "Friends"

Even though it was raining and gross outside, we didn't let it slow us down! We stopped into lots of stores like marc jacobs, christian louboutin, h&m, and topshop. I refrained from making any purchases which was TOUGH!

After walking what felt like most of manhattan in the drizzle and fog, we headed back towards midtown to take a tour of SATC sites. I took this same tour several years ago - back when it was about 20 people on a bus and lasted a couple of hours. Now, it's at least 3 packed charter buses, lasts almost 4 hours, and is FULL of sites from the series and the movie. Some of our favorites:

cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. No one appreciates my love for cupcakes like Tabatha!

Drinks at Aidan and Steve's bar:

After looking at these pictures, I realize it is true what they say about horizontal stripes.

and the restaurant where Carrie and Big had their rehearsal dinner:

the rehearsal dinner table:

the site of Carrie's "last single girl kiss"

After the amazing SATC tour, we met up with Josh for some New York pizza and rested our legs for a little bit. Once dinner was over, I headed down the street to the Titanic Artifacts Exhibit, which was open late. I think I spent about 2 hours walking through the exhibit, reading about all the artifacts, building and cost of the ship, voyage, and a little bit more about some of the passengers. There were even portions of the ship that had been recreated, PLUS there was a giant iceberg to give you an idea of just how cold the water was that night. The last part of the tour was a list of each passenger, which class they were in, and whether they lived or died the night the Titanic sank. It was such an informative exhibt in addition to being very emotional.

I met up with T and J afterward at an Irish Pub for a drink and we did one last thing Saturday before the end of the night:

It was totally worth it!

the big apple . . . day 2

Friday in NYC was fantastic! We slept in and made our way over to Rockefeller Plaza to catch the end of the Today show, check out the ice skating rink, and check the progress of the giant tree set-up. Along the way, we snapped a picture at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants.

We walked from 30 Rock over to Serendipity for an awesome lunch. The best part about it (other than the frozen hot chocolate, of course) was sitting next to the bright pink Christmas tree. I've got to get one of those for my house next year!

I bought the frozen hot chocolate mix so I can make some at home. Do you think this is as good if you don't use whole milk? I doubt it. . .

Because we couldn't get enough at Serendipity, we stopped into Dylan's Candy Bar for some more treats -

We took a walk through Central Park 1). because it's beautiful and 2.) to work off some of the sugar. The fall leaves were amazing!

Next we stopped into the Plaza for a drink - after we posed for a picture at the fountain.

We also hopped into FAO Schwartz so Josh could play on the BIG piano and I could snatch up a gift for my nephew. I apologize to the rest of the family that none of you got gifts from this trip!

From there, we headed down to Canal street/Chinatown to check out the scene. I have to say, I'm so thankful Josh was there with us! Here we are waiting on the street to make some maybe illegal purchases . . .

After we headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner, we stopped in Times Square for another photo op. The weather was not so kind to our hair this trip!

Friday night, we had a date with Bobby Flay at Mesa Grill. Not really with Bobby, but with his amazing food (and drinks!)

After we ate as much as we could, we stopped at Lillie's for a few drinks before heading back home.

Full, happy and tired! We packed so much into Friday, but it was the perfect day!

the big apple . . . day 1

After a couple of short delays, I finally landed in NYC on Thursday afternoon and was welcomed by some (not so) wonderful weather.

I really didn't care much about the weather, I was just so excited to finally see my friends! I met up with the Greenes in baggage claim (we were very fortunate our planes landed about 5 minutes apart) and we were off to explore the city!

Tabatha and Josh had never been to NYC, and I had not visited since 2004, so we were all VERY excited to be there. Once we checked into the hotel, Josh had a meeting, so T and I set off to do some exploring. . .

We stayed in tourist central - aka, Times Square, so we had to check out all the excitement in the area. This was actually the first time in my life I had someone tell me "no" when I asked if they would take a picture for me. Luckily, the next person I asked said yes!

We walked around, found a cafe and stopped in for a snack and glass of wine, and then headed back to the hotel to meet up with Josh. On the way there, we bought a bottle of wine, then realized we didn't have a cork screw. Luckily, the Sheraton had plenty of corkscrews and sent one up:

That was, of course, before we realized that our not-so-cheap bottle of wine was actually a screw top! Gotta love NYC prices. . .

We drank our overpriced wine out of plastic cups in the lobby while waiting for Josh

We successfully navigated the NYC subway system and met up with one of my favorite gals, Lacy, and her husband Brian for dinner at Mad for Chicken- some of the best chicken I've ever had. I overheard someone say they fry the chicken twice, so that may have had something to do with it.

We also went a little Mad for Beer and got one of these cool contraptions for the table. Josh was excited.

After dinner, we headed around the corner to a bar called Stout for more together time. We had to say goodbye to Brian and Lacy shortly after so they could catch the train back to Long Beach. Little did Lacy know she would be headed to Puerto Rico the next day to celebrate her birthday!

braved the subway again (well after midnight) to get back to our hotel.

apparently, we were some of the only ones to ride it that late. . .

We stopped at CVS to get Josh something to take care of his heartburn. Apparently that chicken didn't agree with him as well as it did with me. Along the way, we stopped for some photo op's.

And Tabatha complained about all the trash on the streets.

weekend getaway!

In just a few short hours, I'll be jumping on a plane to meet one of my favorite travel partners . . .

in one of my favorite cities:

the BIG apple!