Celebrity Sighting... Sort Of

So I was walking home from work Wednesday night. Minding my own business and walking my normal route. I realized as I got closer to Lexington and 61st that something was up.

There were tons of police officers. They had the entire length (as far as I could see) of 61st street barricaded off. Normally I continue walking up Lexington to 63rd. Well it was a really nice day and I was interested in what was going on so I decided to walk along 61st.

I was tempted to ask the police officers what all the hype was about.... But I didn't want to be one of those "people." As I was walking I overheard someone say President Obama was in town and would be driving by soon.

Since it was such a nice day and I have never seen the presidents motorcade go by, I decided to stay.

There weren't too many people waiting. It was about 5:30 in the evening and most people were just getting off work. As I was waiting I thought back to when I actually did meet a President of the United States.

I was fortunate enough to meet President George W. Bush at my prior job. It was about a year after he left office. He was extremely warm and very personable. He took time to speak to everyone. I even had a little chat with him once he realized my first name. Jenna Wells / Jenna Bush. We discussed how my parents and him and his wife decided on that name.

The time finally came for President Obama. Lots and lots of police on bikes came first, followed by police cars, followed by police vans. Not to mention all the cops and cop cars that were lined up along 61st street.

Then came all the secret service. At that point I was thinking... if I looked up would I see snipers on the tops of these buildings?! No such luck!

Finally the car that was carrying Obama. Windows were up and they are really tinted so I couldn't see anything but I got a picture of the car.

All in all... pretty cool experience. Not sure I would wait around if I came across the same scenario again. Unless I got a chance to actually see him. But still pretty cool.


Before all the chaos


The start of a lot of bikes, cars, and vans!


President Obama's car... I liked the flags!

Thursday night I met up with some girls with the NYU Partner's Club. Last week Nick and I attended a french wine tasting event at NYU and I met Kyle and Ashley... a married couple from California (oh, how I am envious of California's weather). She's part of partner's club which is basically a club that caters to the married individuals/families of NYU.

She invited me a long to a girls night they were having. I was really excited about meeting some new people. We went to a place called Otto Enoteca Pizzeria. Great wine! Pretty good food...not the best pizza I've had in the city but not the worse either.

It was really great to meet everyone! Shout out to Julie, Jennifer, Amber, and Ariane. It was really great to just hang out and talk girl stuff. All of them were so sweet and I definitely think we have a lot in common.

Already looking forward to next Thursday night for another get-together!

Dinner and a Show

Nick and I needed a break from everything. He has been extremely busy with school. Non-stop. I don't have quite the schedule as he does but I could go for some fun. So fun is what we had.

The New York City Auto Show started on Friday. For anyone who knows Nick they know he is a car enthusiast. He has been into cars since the day I met him. So naturally with us having been together for almost 10 years (Wow, can I just take a second at that sentence. 10 years! Crazy). his knowledge and enthusiasm for cars has rubbed off onto me.

I can appreciate the style and horsepower that a car has to offer. I know my Ferrari's from my Porsche from my Lotus from my Lamborghini from my Mercedes from my BMW's and on and on and on (and most of the time I don't need to look at the symbol on the car).

So needless to say - I had a good time as well. So enough talking and enjoy the pictures!


Look at all those colors! Ugly car - but pretty cool design!




This was one of my favs! Doesn't it make you think Back to the Future? But, much nicer!


Aston Martin... SEXY! I definitely would take one of these. It was one of Nick's favorites.


Heaven for him! He is sitting in a Porsche Carrera GTS.




Vroom! Vroom!




Rolls Royce. Enough said.


The last part we saw was the antique car collections. We liked this one because it was in Top Gear. And if you don't know what Top Gear is I recommend you check it out on BBC. It's three hilarious British guys doing some crazy things to cars!

Later that night I surprised Nick with dinner reservations. We went to the Hurricane Club. It's my new favorite restaurant in NYC.

Dinner was amazing! We ate way too much and loved every minute of it. I took a few pictures at the beginning and then got distracted by the yummy food and forgot to take out my camera.

I even took a shot. Well, what they considered a shot. Take a look...


The shots came in a carved out lime. Sooooo good!


A look inside the restaurant.


Our appetizer. Mahi Mahi with 6 different sauces to try. The sauces were placed in hand made wood cigar cases made by the chefs. It. Was. Mouthwatering.

It was a great day. Great. Couldn't have asked for anything better!

Hello Canon Digital SLR

Nick and I bought a camera this week. It's oh so very pretty. It's a new adventure... all those buttons to figure out. I'm in love. And so is Nick.

Nick was somewhat resistant to the idea at first. We both have a tendency to jump in feet first with new hobbies and then a couple of months later the excitement fizzles out. But I maintanied the excitement of taking pictures and really wanting to learn. Nick also got excited about the idea as well. He thought it would be a good investment (that's my husband!) and fun to take really cool pictures on all the trips we have planned. So he finally broke down and we bought one!

I'm so very excited. Super excited!

Friday I met Nick for lunch and we had a picnic in Central Park and tested out our new camera. So much fun! I mean, we pretty much new the basics of the camera at this point. But you wouldn't know that if you saw us. We were getting pretty professional/artsy with the pictures. Nick even said at one point, "I feel like people are going to be judging us based on the photos we take."

I mean we tried anything... One picture we were trying to shoot through this brick opening looking out into a fountain. We both were practically laying on the ground trying to get this photo. But isn't that the point? To learn.

Enjoy some of the pictures we took. Central Park is really pretty - the flowers are starting to bloom and the trees are gorgeous!









Friday night we had a chance to play with the camera some more. We had tickets to our first Yankees game. Who were they playing? Texas Rangers! Coincidence? I think not.

We went with some friends and had a great time. Granted, it was freaking cold. Freakishly cold! It was not suppose to be like that at all. But, being the well prepared woman I am - I brought a blanket. Which I did catch some comments from Nick about. But, as Nick and I are sitting there under the blanket he says to me... "Good call on the blanket, babe."

Nick and I had a great time playing with the sports button on the camera. It takes continuous shots if you just hold down the button. We got some really neat pictures with that feature.

The Rangers WON! Awesome. It was a great night. But I sure did love coming home to a warm apartment!

Enjoy the pictures!!




The Group!

Birthday Weekend

I turned 27 on Thursday April 7th. For some reason the sound of "27" had a different ring. I'm not bothered by being 27... it just sounds different.

But, I really didn't focus on that too long because Thursday morning I had the best surprise birthday gift!

It started off as a normal work day. Nick and I were getting ready for work and eating breakfast. I see him holding his phone standing next to the buzzer on our wall (to ring people in). I'm like...

Me: What are you doing?

Nick: Oh, nothing. Just being stupid - don't want to explain it.

So I let it go. A minute later the door bell rings. He's all smiles... so then I start to think well maybe he sent flowers or a singing telegram. Not sure why that popped into my head. Nick would never do something like that (singing telegram). So I open the door and see no one....

A second later I see Evan's head... followed by my mom and dad. I was shocked. Shocked. I had no idea at all. It was AMAZING. And I was quite proud that Nick was able to keep it a secret for so long.

So my birthday day started off great!

The girls at work got me an apple pie! They know me to well. Apple pie all the way. They put candles in it and sang Happy Birthday. Best girls ever!

Yummy apple pie!

Nicole, Me, and Tamara (otherwise known as Ta-Ta to me)

And the weekend continued to be great.

We went to a lovely Italian restaurant that Nick picked out on Thursday night. And just kind of relaxed after that. Yummy!

At the Italian restaurant!

Friday consisted of the Grey line bus tour. It's basically a red double-decker bus that takes you all the way through downtown (or other areas of Manhattan). You can hop off and on at any of the stops. I think everyone loved it.

Evan at Battery Park! Isn't he the cutest?!

We stopped at the Empire State Building stop and took the elevator ride up. I was quite proud of myself. This is on my bucket list (Nick and I created bucket lists - I recommend doing that). For any of those who know me... they know I am not fond of elevators going up multiple stories. I gripped Nick's hand pretty hard in the elevator... but I did it. The view was really impressive. I think dad really enjoyed that.

Me and Nick at the top!

One cool part about the Empire State building is that while we were waiting to go up the head guy operating the elevators explained that we would be stopping for just a minute because Michael J. Fox was coming back down. Apparently he was at the top doing a interview. The building was going to be lit orange and white to help promote awareness about Parkinson's disease. I snapped a pretty good picture of him as he was getting off the elevator. Who doesn't love a celebrity sighting?

Michael J. Fox!!

Saturday was spent at the Museum of Natural History. I had been there once before but it's such a great museum. Evan was all about seeing Dum Dum from Night at the Museum. I thought the planetarium show was great. I find space fascinating. There was a exhibit on meteorites and minerals - dad loved that. Him being a geologist and all!

Saturday was such a nice day that I took them through Central Park. Just gorgeous day. Evan was captivated by the street performers. I think he could have watched them ALL day.

Some of the street performers at the park!

Saturday night we saw the Broadway show American Idiot. I didn't know quite what to expect but the show turned out to be great. Just amazing. It was actually the last weekend that Billy Joel Armstrong (lead singer of Green Day) was going to be in it. Green Day has never been a favorite band of mine. I know some of their songs. I was blown away by all of the songs I didn't know. And it turned out I loved them. Just really good music and songwriting. So, all that being said... definitely recommend the show.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. Their flight left around 3 so we just hung out. We ate breakfast at EJ's Kitchenette. One of our favorite places for breakfast. We actually ate there Saturday morning as well. It's a spot that Nick and I found when mom was in town in September. Love their regular and crunchy french toast!

So my birthday weekend was a huge success. I loved every minute of it. So thankful that the parents and Evan were able to come up. It just made everything that more special.

Now I am already counting down the days until we go home to Dallas in May and followed by our week in Belize! Can't wait!