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!!!

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!

Thankful...

Hodgepodge Tuesday

Our neighborhood had its Trick or Treat on Tuesday of Halloween week. This years theme: Dinosaurs picked by Lane.

Holden was a green Triceratops. He lasted about five minutes.

Foster and Lane, love their faces

Lane was a "Rwed T Rwex"

Sleeping Beauty Fair and Superwoman Kyle

Pie and Jude the little peanut

Fair and her Fairy Godmothers:

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather

Do we resemble them well?!

Other happenings:

We got to keep this sweetheart, Ella Kate Bobo, for an hour while her parents were in a wedding last Saturday. 

Lane was a little infatuated to say the least :) He stole a few kisses, sorry Steven!

My friend, Molly had her second precious baby girl, Brooks Ann Rossell. 

Oh my goodness!! Makes me ready for another, almost ;)

Everything went great--and momma, daddy, and Big Sister Rayne are all adjusting well

Saturday we went to the tractor show in Orrville. It was a beautiful morning, and shocking how many people were there. I mean, I like tractors, but this was BIG especially for such small community. Lane was in hog heaven. 

with big cousin Sam

Holden likes "trac tracs" too

this cracks me up, very telling of this bunch

In other news, the stomach bug hit the children this week...no fun. 

or maybe it was the Paleo banana bread?! Just kidding, this was actually pretty good, give it a try.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Also, I heard on the news that today is one of the most popular days to get married, so your anniversary would be 11/12/13. Sounds smart to me, easy to remember!