Earthquake in NYC

I have to admit I never thought I would be in the city when a earthquake struck. Maybe the west coast but certainly not here.

Guess you can never be too sure of anything... because the city experienced an earthquake yesterday. Or more accurately tremors. The main epicenter was in Virgina.

Most of the quake was felt downtime and up to midtown. I work in the Upper East Side and didn't feel a thing. I didn't realize what happened until later when a patient called in and said she wouldn't be able to make the appointment due to the earthquake. I literally had to go online to CNN to make sure she was telling the truth!

Sure enough she was. You can imagine the social media sites ignited. I heard a lot of people say their initial reaction was the city was under attack. Which I guess is expected if you lived through 9/11. You just don't expect an earthquake... it's not the first thing that comes to mind.

I have heard and read stories about buildings shaking, being in the elevator alone and feeling it shake (which if that would have happened to me I probably would have blacked out), being on the streets with hundreds of people wondering what the hell just happened.

Definitely makes for an unexpected and interesting Tuesday. There's always something going on in the city!

10 Year Anniversary Weekend

What a great weekend! So many good things happened....

The weekend started on Thursday night. I met up with Jen, Amber, and Ariane at the Hurricane Club for Jenn's Birthday! I had suggested the Hurricane Club because it's a great get together spot and has some delicious food! We had crab & avocado corn cakes, Peking duck sandwiches, ahi tuna spring rolls with toasted sesame seeds, and coconut shrimp for apetiziers. For the main course we shared a island jungle salad and dover sole fish. Perfect.



We had some amazing food! I don't think there is anything on the menu that wouldn't be good. It was a great evening with the girls celebrating Jenn's birthday!



After work on Friday I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. Nick and I had decided to have a quiet night in. I had planned to make salad, rolls, and spaghetti. I was finishing laundry when he came home and handed me some papers. What did those papers say?

Oh, just that he received his full time offer from UBS after graduate school! I was so excited! We weren't expecting the offer to come so soon. He had originally thought it would come a week or two after he finished. I am not complaining though...the earlier the better! I was just so proud of him. All of his hard work paid off. The craziness of first year grad school, late nights, endless recruiting, long hours during the internship. It all paid off in that moment. That's what every MBA student is working towards... an offer. The path that we set off on when we decided to move to NYC is definitely paying off. Who knows what comes next. Obviously, a home cooked meal was not quite the celebration we needed. So we headed out to Maya... our go to Mexican restaurant. We had delicious margaritas and chicken enchiladas and chipotle shrimp .

Saturday was a BIG day. August 13th, 2011.... this date marked Nick and I being together for 10 years. A decade. It's crazy to think that we have been together so long... it doesn't feel like 10 years.



He brought home these beautiful flowers for me. Aren't they gorgeous?! Nick had his bike fitting in the morning and I had some errands to do. We decided we would have lunch at Ocean Grill on UWS. It was a beautiful day so we walked through Central Park. Ocean Grill was fabulous! We sat on the sidewalk and watched all the people go by. The Museum of Natural History was right across the street... so great view! I had a crunchy and spicy shrimp sandwhich that reminded me a lot of a shrimp Po-boy. I.loved.it! Nick had the soft shell crab wrap that was delicious too!

We stopped by Shake Shack on the way back to Central Park. We got some ice cream we could share while relaxing in the park. We ended up at this hill where a lot of people were relaxing listening to this guy sing and play his guitar. It was the perfect spot to lay our blanket and just relax. The guy singing was actually really good. He had a huge crowd listening to him. Apparently he is there every Saturday. I would recommend checking him out. If it's a nice day... bring a blanket, snacks, and just sit back and listen.



As we were walking back to the apartment we came across this rollerblading area. There was some pretty loud music and cheers. As we got closer it was this big roller blade dance party. People of all ages were out there. There was this particular older lady who was cracking us up. Nick thought she had taken some serious drugs. She was in her own world... I snapped a picture of her. Doesn't she look high!



We came back home and had to get ready for Dendy and Devin's engagement party. I use to work for Dendy at my prior job. She's a dermatologist and from South Carolina... we bonded over being from the South. She's getting married in October and her friend threw her a party that night. The apartment was on the UWS and it was just so cute. There were tons of people there. The apartment was on the top floor so there was access to the rooftop area with some great views. We were able to chat with some wonderful people and drink some amazing cocktails!


Jenienne and I at the party!

We had to leave around 8:15 because we had dinner reservations at One If By Land Two If By Sea. This is apparently the most romantic restaurant in the city. I was a little nervous when I booked the reservation because the menu is somewhat adventurous. But, it's a top rated restaurant...

The food was simply amazing. One of the best meals we have had since coming to the city. It's now in the top 3. The restaurant is in West Village and housed in this old carriage house. They have beautiful candle chandeliers. I felt like I had been transported back to 1775. It was just beautiful inside. We had a some drinks at the bar while we waited for our table. We sat in the upstairs portion of the restaurant. I liked being up there... you had a great view of the restaurant.

Nick and I decided on the 4 course tasting menu. Phenomenal. I started with the tomato gazpacho (which when you think gazpacho you think soup... it was more like a salad), then had the pan seared scallops, followed by the wild striped bass, and for desert the strawberry basil ice cream sandwiches. To.Die.For. All of it was amazing... the food was so fresh and everything just went perfectly together. Nick had the Maine scallop sashimi to start, then the Seared Hudson Valley foie gras, followed by the beef wellington, and desert was the milk and cookies. We tasted each others but we both preferred everything we ordered.

He wouldn't let me take any pictures because the restaurant was so fancy. He was like, "We need to look like we belong here." Haha! It was a wonderful evening. We reflected on what 10 years meant. It just amazing that we have been together longer than some people have been married. I couldn't imagine spending my life without Nick. The past 10 years has been filled with happiness, excitement, surprises, stress, hardships, and everything else. I couldn't imagine going through all of that without him. It makes me excited for what the next 10 years has to bring!

Sunday was simply a day of relaxation. It was pretty gross outside so we lounged on the couch and watched movies. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

I love you babe! Happy 10 Years!

Weekend Fun

I sure do love weekends. There is just something so fabulous about a Friday night... knowing you don't have to go to work the next day or the next!

I met Nick at his office after work for some dinner... it has become our Friday night tradition. I don't get to see him too much during the week due to the internship so Friday night is date night.

Nick had purchased a Groupon deal for a cocktails and sushi for 2! We headed over to the UWS to a place called Fusha West. Now, we aren't big sushi people. I really have only eaten shrimp tempura (which most people don't consider sushi). So, this dinner was definitely going to be an adventure!

Our cocktails were pretty amazing. I had a yummy pomegranate margarita and Nick order some unusual drink. We had a pretty big laugh when the drinks arrived. Nick's drink was this girly pink liquid. Not manly at all! He said it tasted just like pink lemonade. It was just as good as my marg!


Look at that girly pink drink! Haha!

We ordered some calamari to start (not part of the deal but we wanted an appetizer) and then came our sushi for 2! It was a crazy amount of sushi! It was sushi and sashimi... Nick pretty much warned me that I probably wouldn't be eating the sashimi. Raw fish on rice.... might have to work up to that. The sushi was pretty standard. The plate had a California roll, lobster roll, and a tuna roll. The sashimi included tuna, white fish, salmon, and eel (really? eel?).


Look at that plate! I mean for beginner sushi eaters that's a pretty impressive plate!

I will admit that the California roll and lobster roll were my favorite. I know... not adventurous but I guess I am just not crazy into sushi. I did try a salmon sashimi and it was alright. Not the best thing I have ever eaten but I didn't spit it out so that's progress! I guess Nick and I just like the traditional sushi - I don't foresee any eel anytime soon!

Afterwards we stopped for some gelato before heading back home.

Nick took a train to Connecticut Saturday morning to purchase a new bike. To say that he loves his new bike is an understatement. I have a feeling I will never see him now. It will be constant riding now!


His new love... I have been replaced!

While Nick was getting his new bike, I met up with Julie and Kyle and some other friends for beach volleyball on the pier. It was a beautiful day and not too hot. We had a nice breeze off the Hudson. I was super excited about beach volleyball... I hadn't played since high school (i.e. 10 years!) but I figured I could still remember a few things. We had a great time! I forgot how much of a full body workout it is and I can't believe how slow the sand makes you! It was a great morning and hopefully there will be many more beach volleyball days in the future!


Emily, Julie, and me


Kyle and Greg

Nick and I pretty much relaxed on Saturday night. I had a pretty bad migraine in the afternoon so we took it easy.

Sunday morning I met up with Amber for brunch at Tipsy Parson. Good ole' Southern food. Eggs, grits, sausage, and toast. Yes, please! It was great meeting up with Amber and having some girl time! The food was fantastic... I absolutely love breakfast food. It's my favorite meal of the day!

After brunch I ran a few errands while Nick was at work putting final touches on his project. I bought my dads birthday presents and went for a manicure and pedicure - I was in desperate need after beach volleyball.

Nick came home and we grabbed some dinner at Luke's Lobster and had a relaxing night watching TV. I love the weekends!

Work, Work, Work

I figured it was time to write about my new job. The end of this week will be one month and counting!

I.love.it.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it. It is so much better than where I was. Refreshing... that is the best way I can describe it.

I work for Dr. Lisa Airan who is great! She is a wonderful physician and her patients are fantastic. She really has a strong following... it says something when your patients are constantly returning for more procedures and are extremely happy. The small practice environment is amazing! It allows me time to really talk with the patients and get to know them. Working with one physician allows me to develop a relationship with them... There is a comfortable rhythm that develops between the doctor and nurse because of that. That is hard to obtain when you are working for six doctors.

There are two other girls I work with in the office. They are fabulous and we have a great time. Lots of laughing! We have bonded over Twilight. Greatness!

The set-up reminds me a lot of working with Adean back in Dallas. I had the perfect job with her. I don't think anyone will ever quite compare to her... she's just one of a kind. I miss her terribly! But, working here comes pretty close.

I really feel good where I am right now. I struggled at times where I use to work for a variety of reasons I won't go into (I'm sure you don't want to hear it and I don't know who is reading this, hah). But this feels right... a place where I can hopefully grow into.

So, new job = success!