Family Time

We opened Christmas presents with my family via Skype this year. Mom wanted to open presents before we got together in Georgia. It was really nice... it felt like we were really together. They gave us some GREAT gifts! Nick and I both received really nice springtime rain coats. And I got some new flat shoes (I have learned it is a must in the city - even if you are short). It was a great way to start the Christmas festivities.

Nick and I flew to Georgia for Christmas this year. We hadn't been back in about 3 years and we thought it would be nice to see the extended families (my side).

We visited first with my dad's side of the family in Macon. Quite large and always something going on. It's never quiet... but when you have 6 younger cousins running around it makes sense. We all got together the first night and Fish and Pig. I know, I know... the name really doesn't create an appetizing sound but it actually was pretty good. Remember we are the deep south - lots of interesting things around here.

The "boy" cousins!


Love him!

The rest of the days we spent just hanging around and getting together for meals. It was nice to just do nothing - Nick and I, well mainly Nick, haven't been able to do that in a while. Nick and I even had a Sports Olympics with all of my cousins. It consisted of track, football, soccer, pool, and basketball. Yeah, not sure why I agreed to that. My team didn't win. But what I did win was a left knee that has been killing me ever since! I guess my young days are over!

Mom!


The craziness of opening presents!

After visiting with dad's side of the family we left for Atlanta to visit with mom's side. Great fun again! Just lots of time with family and eating. It seems we were always eating. We took a trip to the Coca Cola museum. Pretty interesting. At the end of the museum you could taste all sorts of sodas from around the world. I think it is safe to say that North America still wins out. Some of the other countries sodas were down right nasty!

Nana and my cousin Stefan

We were scheduled to fly out Monday the 27th but that all changed due to the massive snow storm that hit NYC. Our flight was canceled and we could not get a flight out until Thursday night - 3 days later!! Craziness! Definitely something we were not expecting to happen. We tried and tried to get an earlier flight but there was nada! I do consider us one of the lucky ones - we were able to stay with my Nana and were not one of the hundreds of people sleeping on cots at the airport.

So we had some extra time in Atlanta. Nick and I spent a day shopping. Nick didn't complain once - I think it was because there really was nothing else for us to do! But I'll take it! We also visited the Atlanta Aquarimane which is the world's largest aquamarine. I had been there once before but it was new to Nick. We had a lot of fun - lots of interesting fish to see and sharks! Nick loved the sharks! It made us want a aquamarine when we have a house!

Giant Spider Crab!!


Shark!

We also filled up on some yummy Mexican food. We ate at both Pappasito's and OTB! Oh, how I missed those two restaurants. It was like meeting your best friend again after a long period away from each other. We enjoyed every minute of it! We now will be okay for a while.

We finally made it back to the city late Thursday night. It is great to be home! We both are just glad to have the weekend to relax and get ready for the start of 2011!

Christmas in the City

Yesterday Nick and I spent time roaming the city for the holidays!

Our first stop was Hill Country BBQ. We were long overdo for some BBQ! But how good is BBQ in the city compared to home? Well turns out Hill Country BBQ was pretty darn good. We immediately walked in and felt like we had been transported home. It was great! The guy that explained the restaurant to us was actually from Rockwall. We were making friends already! We also were introduced to a new drink - Black Cherry Soda by Boylan. AMAZING! Best soda ever! Nick and I are seriously thinking about ordering a case to keep at home... YUM!




Yummy!

After eating we headed over to Bryant Park because we wanted to go ice skating. I hadn't been ice skating in years! Well, turns out the hundreds of other people had the same idea... the wait was a hour long. Way too cold to stand in line. We decided we would come back at a less prime time of the day. Around the ice skating rink they have little shops set up so we browsed through them. We bought this cute hand-painted glass Christmas tree with ornaments. It's lovely!


Christmas Tree at Bryant Park


It was really COLD when we took this picture!

Next we headed to Rockefeller Center with even more people! We didn't stay long... just long enough to get some pictures in! Way too many people - that area is to be avoided if at all possible! But, it was still fun!


We ended our fun day with a stop at a friends holiday housewarming party! The apartment was so cute and they went all out with the food and holiday decorations. We had a great time! It was a lot of Nick's NYU friends and they were all talking about how they were ready and in need of the break! All of them definitley worked hard this semester!

We ate dinner at a place called Madison and Vine. It is the small and cozy restaurant in Midtown. It was so good! Nick and Mac-n-cheese with bacon mixed in. Oh my...delicious! And I had this amazing meatloaf with mashed potatoes. Yummy! Finish it off with a warm brownie with hot fudge and ice cream... perfect way to end a wonderful day! Just perfect.

Acts of Kindness

I met Nick downtown after work on Monday night to meet up at this sporting store. NYU Stern Adventures was offering discount tickets on a weekend skiing trip to Killington, VT. We were definitley signing up.

I have NEVER been skiing before. It might be hard to believe but I was one of those people who grew up on water. You could always find me at the pool, lake, beach. Anything with fun in the sun and I was there. Not so much for cold weather and snow. But, I have always been interested in giving it a try. And now that we are in the northeast and much closer to skiing resorts.... it's time!

So we booked our trip for a weekend in February. Very excited! We decided to grab dinner at this Mexican place on the way home. We really should just give up on Mexican food here. New York just doesn't know how to do it. But that doesn't stop Nick and I from trying. But I guess that's really the point....trying to new places and finding the ones that make your list!

On the way back to the subway there was this homeless man on the side of the street asking for help. I'm not sure what it is about this time of the year but I feel like I have seen more people asking for help than before. It's really hard to walk past them. My heart breaks.

We didn't have any money to offer. So I continue to walk by but Nick slows down and hands our to go bag of food to the man. You really can just see how his face lights up and also just how hungry he is. Because as we leave he tears into the bag and starts eating.

Nick is very compassionate and generous. And I felt very proud of him in that moment. So I just had to give some props to him on our blog!

Love you babe!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year was the first year that Nick and I would not be with our families for Thanksgiving. Hard, really hard. I have always loved the holidays. There is just something so special about being with your family and continuing the traditions that you have grown up with.

I mean, Thanksgiving at my house use to consist of waking up and watching the Macy's Day Parade while eating breakfast. Mom would be cooking away in the kitchen - the house would smell absolutely delicious. And she would always make sure I had my apple pie - my favorite. By far. After our yummy Thanksgiving meal it would be time for some Dallas Cowboys. Granted, they aren't that good this year but it's tradition, like I said.

I think the second hardest about not being home for Thanksgiving is really the days after. Ever since I was in fourth grade mom and I would be out with the crowds on Black Friday. Most of the time we started our morning off at Macy's and then ventured into the rest of the mall as the stores opened. We always ate breakfast at the same spot overlooking the ice rink in the Galleria (i.e. mall). It really is something that I thoroughly enjoy. I missed it deeply this year.

Mom even sent me a text. She decided to continue on without me but she didn't like it. About 9am my time I get a text that says:

"Christmas shopping without you sucks!" I had to laugh because mom hardly ever cusses (at least not around her kids). And "sucks" isn't even that bad of a word. But I do agree - Christmas shopping without her will suck!

Also, I do LOVE decorating the house with Christmas decorations. I really can't remember a time when I didn't get excited about it. I would help dad get the 20 Christmas boxes down from the attic. And when I say 20 boxes - I mean it. We have tons of decorations. Dad and I would hang lights on the house, wreaths on the doors, display the yard art, and many other things. I love all of that - it really makes you get in the holiday spirit.

So I missed it. A lot. It just wasn't quite the same this year.

However, Nick and I did have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We thought about going to the parade but decided to sleep in and watch it on TV. We had a relaxing day for the most part. Well deserved.

We were invited by my friend and co-worker, Jenienne, to her apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. She was hosting this year. We felt so appreciated that she offered to have us over and be apart of the celebration.

We had a amazing time. We were so glad we went. Her apartment was AMAZING. Really - amazing. It was on the 33rd floor overlooking the Hudson River. It has spectacular views. Everything about the evening was great - the set-up, food, the people. Mac-n-cheese with bacon... TO DIE FOR! I think I might have to make that a new tradition for us! Her family was so welcoming and generous. We really felt apart of the evening and also felt we had gained a extended family. Definitely not a holiday to forget!


Lovely!


Hudson River and New Jersey!


The gracious host!

Today, I spent some time decorating our apartment for Christmas as well as some Christmas shopping! In our old apartment we had a 8ft. Christmas tree that was just gorgeous! Obviously, we couldn't bring that here so I bought a little 3ft. pre-lit tree. It's tiny. But it works. It now has a few Christmas presents underneath it to make it look even better!


Our Christmas tree lit up (kind of blurry though)


Presents!

Christmas shopping in the city is....well, it's just not my favorite thing. I have to be honest. I know most people love it but I'm just not one of them. I don't like to be cold and since you walk store to store - you are pretty much cold the ENTIRE time! Also, there are tons of people. TONS! Trying to walk down 5th Avenue was nearly impossible. I'm pretty patient and don't have the hurried, on-the-go New York way but I have to say I almost bit the head of a few people today. It was just too many people. I got off that street as soon as I could!

The holidays in the city is definitley a magical place to be. No question. Just try and avoid all the crowds. Which Nick and I will NOT be doing when we try to see the Christmas tree lit up on Tuesday at Rockefeller Center. We will attempt - not sure the timing will work with our work/school schedule but we would LOVE to be there (with the millions of other people)!

Yay for the start of the holidays!

Yeah, I Pretty Much Lied...

So in my last post, at the end of September, I started off by saying I would get better at posting on the blog. Meaning.... I would post more than once a month. Yep, I lied - that didn't quite happen seeing it's now the second week in November! No excuses - I didn't make the time to sit down and do it. But I will get better - it has become one of my missions.

Missions. I now have quite a few of those. Like... go the gym, eat better, and now write in the blog. I am making strides in the first two! It's not easy though - unhealthy food is all around us! The city has the online site called Seamless Web... basically we can order anything we want from about 200 restaurants that deliver to us. Amazingly awesome when we first moved here...now, still awesome but definitely unhealthy! Nick and I are gaining more self control everyday!

October was a really nice month. Nick's mom and sister came to visit - fun times! We did a lot of fun tourist things like walk the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Statue of Liberty (from afar), walk around the Food Network Festival! Always great to have family in town!!


Us at the High Line Park before going to the Food Network Festival.


At the start of the event - it basically had a collection of different restaurants that offered a tasting of their menu and stores that offered different tastings of wines! Really fun!!


On the Brooklyn Bridge!

There was also Halloween! Definitely a time when the crazies come out in the city! We went to Club Touch. Yeah, the name says it all. Right in the middle of Times Square. You can imagine the people we saw and all the CRAZY costumes! I was a girl fighter jet pilot and Nick was Dirk Nowtizki from the Dallas Mavericks. He was originally suppose to be Sherlock Holmes but he HATED his costume. And I do have to agree it was awful! Just plain ugly! So with a Mavs jersey and a $5 blond wig - Dirk Nowtizki! Unfortunately, no pictures of this crazy night. Another mission - get better with taking photos!

The first weekend in November NYU held a charity ball at the Central Park Boathouse. Very exciting and I do love getting dressed up. And this was formal attire! Love! We had a really great time. There was tons of people, food, dancing, and open bar. What's not to like. Nick even got out on the dance floor with me. That's one thing that has changed - Nick has started to dance. Who knew he could?! He danced at the club on Halloween and here he was dancing again at the charity ball. Just. Amazing.

Charity Ball! Love getting dressed up!!

This weekend we did a little shopping for a long, warm winter coat for Nick. A must here. It's starting to get cold and apparently the week of Thanksgiving there is a chance for sleet/snow. Though, that's about 10 days away - usually the weather people aren't right!

This weekend experienced Shake Shack. Apparently they have some of the best burgers and shakes. Kind of a staple in the city. The place was in this really nice park. We walked into the park and the line was ridiculously LONG. I mean, crazy long. A good 30 minutes. We decided to wait and see what all the commotion was about. As we are waiting in this crazy long line two men come up behind us and stand in line.

Strangers: "Have you had this before."
Us: "No first time - I hope it's worth it."
Strangers: "Us too."
Then they turn to this guy sitting on a bench who is currently eating his burger and fries.
Strangers: "Hey, is it worth the wait? Is it the best burger?"
Bench Guy: "It's alright, I don't know what all the hype is about."

With that the two guys behind us wished us luck and went somewhere else. That's just what you want to hear when you are waiting in a 30 minute line - it's alright. Great. But we waited and I have to say it was a pretty darn good burger. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed eating in the park!

LONG LINE! But worth it!

So I think I am pretty much caught up to date. I WILL get better at posting. The holidays have begun in the city and Nick and I plan on exploring all the activities!

Fun In September

So, I know I am suppose to post more often than every month but life has been a little crazy. September has definitley been a up and down month for me. Poor Nick - he's had to deal with a very emotional wife. Not. Fun. For. Him. But, considering the fact he's the reason that I am currently in emotional turmoil...I think he can handle it. Love you babe!

The change has been difficult for me to get use to. I didn't realize how much I would miss everything from home. From the most important things like family and friends to the small stuff like Mexican food. Though I'm not sure I really consider that "small" because I do LOVE some Tex-Mex!

It's a slow process but every week gets better. Nick has been amazing through everything. Very understanding. He should get a award for his patience. I would have already thrown myself out! Lauren, my dear friend that I have known for 20 years was very comforting in her words. She moved from Dallas to NYC right out of college. By herself I might add. I told her she had to have been absolutely CRAZY! And just family continuing to remind me that it will get better. And if not - it's only 2 years. Anyone can do anything for 2 years.

So those are the reasons I have not written anything in a month. I didn't think anyone would want to hear my emotional ranting!

I did have some great days in September so here is a look into what Nick and I have experienced so far...


Nick and I experienced one of the many NYC street fairs. And would you know we found some Mexican food! It's was actually pretty tasty!


I enjoyed some funnel cake for desert! Reminded me of the Texas State Fair!


We ran into a China Town parade while out exploring the borough.


My first experience with Sushi and Sake. Nick and I met up with his NYU friends for a night out. I didn't partake in the Sake but Nick sure did...I think he ended up drinking 10! Yeah, who new my husband was such a drinker. I think it was peer pressure! And, I actually liked the Sushi - though I only ate the ones with cooked shrimp and chicken. No raw!


So cute - also our first experience with using chopsticks. Interesting.


There ended up being group from Columbia Business School in the restaurant. So what happened? Yep, a game of who could drink the Sake the fastest. Hilarious!


At a flea market in Hell's Kitchen - this guy was at the beginning.


We found these glasses on a table - very retro in my opinion. I told Nick he should get them but he didn't agree. Oh well!


We found the official Alumni Tech Bar in NYC. It's located in UES not too far from us. Really cool to be there with Tech fans. We were playing UT that night - didn't win the game but had a GREAT time.


The even had a Texas Tech Burger on the menu. AWESOME!

Now to my favorite part of September.... MOM CAME TO VISIT! We did a lot of shopping. A lot. But isn't that what you are suppose to do? I think so! It was really great to have her spend time here. I missed home and her visit was just what I needed. We had a great 4 days! Just amazing. It was definitley hard to see her go but she will be back in a few months. And next time she will bring dad and Evan!


Nick and Mom!


Me and Mom at Dylan's Candy. YUM!


In Times Square on our way to see La Cage!


Amazing show! We LOVED it. So entertaining!!

Well, that's about it for September. I definitley plan to get better at posting in October!

New York, New York

Well this post is a little late...but it's been quite the busy 3 weeks! Moving sucks all by itself but moving to a completely new state thousands of miles away makes it even harder!

We arrived in the city on the 10th and had to wait a few days to get into the apartment. We had to be "approved" by the apartment board. Seriously, who wouldn't want Nick and I as tenants. Luckily they agreed and we moved in! Well, I should say we moved in four bags of luggage and a air mattress. Our lovely moving company gave us a 5-15 day window for our belongings to be delivered. Yeah, huge window....just HUGE! And to top it off we didn't have internet or cable for about a week. It really makes you wonder how in the world we managed without those things. We completely felt disconnected from the world!

Nick and I hung in there and eventually (well like the 14th day of the moving window - of course!) all our belongings arrived. It was such a good feeling to see everything - it felt like opening small pieces of home. Funny thing is it was practically like Christmas. You see when Nick and I got married we were under the impression we would be buying a house in approximately 6 months. So I decided we wouldn't open our all our wonderful and very nice wedding presents until we got into our house...

Three years later and Nick deciding to attend graduate school had us opening all our wedding gifts for our new New York apartment. We had lots and lots of kitchen items. And you have to remember this is a New York kitchen - small! I apparently overestimated on the amount of kitchen items we would need. I brought a turkey roaster! Really? Pretty sure I won't be cooking any turkeys! Oh well...I surprisingly made it all fit and it doesn't look cramped or cluttered. Yay me!

We now have a bed (oh, how my back missed sleeping on a bed after two weeks on a air mattress), cable/internet, a kitchen we can now use, a closet full of clothes, the paintings are on the walls and all the small decorations that make a home a home are out.

I've included some pictures of the apartment so everyone can get an idea of what it looks like.


The bathroom - it has a window (which apparently is a novelty)


The hallway as you walk into the apartment


The very nice, but small kitchen


The living area (with quite the impressive view)


The bedroom (one room still working on a little bit)


Other side of the bedroom

I will be keeping a more up-to-date blog of what Nick and I are learning and experiencing with this new city we now call home. Already have a lot of stories! But I will save that for a later post!