12.13.2013

New York, New York


James and I decided what better to give each other for Christmas than a Christmas trip to NYC. We have been planning this for awhile with our friends the Calames. Getting there was a little crazy--they cancelled our flight in Atl, rerouted us to Pittsburgh, then cancelled the Pittsburgh to New York flight due to poor visibility. Oh well, we made the best of it (think Embassy Suite complimentary cocktails) and when we did finally arrive in NYC a day late, we hit the ground running!
ready to explore--this is at 7:30 am after our 6:00 am flight from Pittsburgh

this depicts one of my favorite parts of the trip--listening to Lee talk to the cab drivers...they were not so sure about his southern friendliness, he asked questions such as: Do you like Ford or Chevy? Have you ever hit a pedestrian? Where are you from, let me guess India? Always entertaining! 

9/11 Memorial

on Friday, we split from the guys and we went shopping! This was my favorite decor, Cartier...

we had our makeup done at Saks

it was alot of fun to get off our feet for a second and get pampered...love Kea's red lips!!

the guys were troopers and came to Saks to approve (or disapprove) of our purchases and have a cocktail

Friday afternoon we had tickets for Top of the Rock, even though the weather was rainy, we had a beautiful view

I highly recommend to see 360 views of the city




after dinner we hit Rockefeller center to see the tree



It was as glorious as you see in the movies

James and I had drinks at our hotel's Rooftop bar, great view of the Empire State Building


Saturday was freezing, but we weren't wasting time...we had brunch at Balthazar, strolled around SoHo, and then headed to Central Park

next up was Matilda the Musical

It was one of my favorite musicals of all time. It was so clever and funny. The kids singing were incredible. If you ever get the chance, GO!!

here we are waiting on the Henson's with our tickets...check out James's new scarf from Top Man, so stylish :)

We capped off Saturday night with a delicious dinner at Grammercy Tavern. We visited here last time, but did not do the tasting menu. We were blessed to get last minute reservations and enjoyed a long leisurely dinner. (after watching the Auburn game, we were ready to  celebrate!!) 

It was awesome, my favorite were the desserts of course!

the company was just as good as the food

We stayed at the Refinery Hotel in Midtown. It was a pleasant surprise. James had found it online. It just opened this year, and everything was new and fresh. It is in a renovated factory building in the garment district. Very cool, restoration hardware vibe. Tall ceilings, black and white tile, and great service. Good price point too...

our last morning we headed to Bryant Park Holiday Market 

warm crepe for breakfast, yes please

Ha! These guys were great sports and made the trip so much fun!!!


12.03.2013

Haircuts, Trips, and Food

Random assortment of topics, huh? I feel like when I blog these days, I need to pack in as much as possible when I have the time. Know what I mean? Does it make for a fluid read, probably not. Please forgive me and keep going. First off haircuts....Holden had his first one a few weeks ago (he is 15 months). Did he really need it? This momma didn't think so, but I might have had several people tell me they thought he had an ear infection because he kept touching his ears. The culprit was his sideburns.

He did great

loved the sucker

Lane did as well, but he is an old pro...
Ford was in town too, so he also had the pleasure of a trim
The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed to Charleston for a little R&R and to EAT.  We did alot of eating as you can see in the below pictures! Not alot of pictures of anything else really. 
Shrimp BLT from Cru Cafe

Kale salad from Butcher and Bee, really good-with peanuts, sesame, and soy...I want to try to "recreate" this at home, if I figure it out I will let you know

we did run on the bridge one morning and it was glorious, tough but beautiful

Crispy Pork Ear lettuce wraps from Husk

some sort of delicious baked oyster from Husk

drinks at the Gin Joint

we did take a walking tour that was interesting and nice to walk off all of our eating

my favorite dish of the whole trip, Ricotta Gnocchi from FIG

glad I got to spend some time with this guy, he also was a sport and let me drag him up and down King Street shopping...

Sadly the only pictures I have from Thanksgiving are of Stone Crabs...
our "traditional" Thanksgiving lunch

and of Lane trying his first one, he approved!
We went to the Iron Bowl last weekend, by far the best game I have ever been to...

tailgating with Abbie
SO EXCITED

I have not seen anything like this-- minus the Florida game when I was a student, but that was not good as my date might have gotten arrested for storming the field

blurry, but denotes the final score of which James called that morning...
(do any of you like to guess the score before? I guessed 21-10 Auburn, but it would not have been nearly as exciting)
War Eagle!