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!

Maine Lobster

How amazing is my husband? Pretty amazing (for those of you that don't know).

Nick and I constantly have a battles about "what to do for dinner?" The texts start around noon....

Me: "Thoughts on dinner?"
Nick: "Nope. You?"
Me: "We can go out, order, or cook."
Nick: "Any of those work for me. Do you want to cook?"
Me: "I don't care. Why don't you pick. I'm busy with work.
Nick: "I'm busy too. We will figure it out later."

Well later comes pretty quickly. We end up sitting at home trying to decide what to do. Most of the time it ends with us ordering off Seamless Web.

Tonight was different. Very different.

Nick had a restaurant already picked out and was ready to go. He was really excited. He didn't want to give me any hints but he wanted me to guess. The only thing he told me: it included my 5 favorite food items. So I started listing off anything I could think of.... Mexican? No. Italian? No. Sushi? No. Korean BBQ. No (which I was so grateful for - I was not looking forward to another round of that). Philly cheese steak? No.

I finally decided to give up and just be surprised! And I sure was surprised!

We stopped at a place called Luke's Lobsters. One of the best lobster rolls in the city. I was a little confused as to how this place had my 5 favorite food items. Nick enlightened me:

1) Bread (yes, I could eat bread all day!)
2) Butter ( I love to coat my bread in butter)
3) Salt (I can't get enough - my poor heart)
4) Mayonnaise (yummy)
5) Lobster (Seriously? Who doesn't love lobster)

Delicious. Amazing. Mouth Watering. Nick did good!

It was great. The perfect flavors and just the right size. It was one of the best places we have found so far. And they had some awesome sodas from Maine. I don't remember the name but I definitely want some more!

It's safe to say that Nick felt good about his choice. He kept gloating about it all the way home. He knows I get a little nervous when he decides to surprise me. But, this choice was his best so far. The. Best.

I took a few pictures of the restaurant. Enjoy!


The Menu.


He did good.


Soooo Good!

Korean BBQ

Nick and I had our first Korean BBQ the other night....

Nick had gotten a message from some of his NYU friends that some people were meeting up at this place called Madangsui - some of the best Korean BBQ in the city!

We were definitley in... but I was pretty nervous. I am not the most adventurous eater. I have gotten better since moving here but I still like what I like.

The restaurant was pretty cool. Similar to Hibachi grills where the food is cooked in front of you. They have this make-shift grill in the center of the table where it's cooked. The pipes underneath the table that was, I'm guessing, for the gas looked really home-made. I was just crossing my fingers it didn't blow up!

The food was interesting.... the meat was really good. I'm not sure all the other sides and spices are my taste. I think I will stick with the BBQ I know!

It was a really fun night and we were glad we expereined a new food group. Can't say we will be back anytime soon.... but you never know!


Picture of the table


So fun!

First Ever Ski Trip

Yes, I am 26 years old and have never been skiing! Like I've said in prior posts... I grew up on the water. The sand, beach, water skiing, jet skis are much more familiar to me than snow, wind, ski lifts and mountains.

But, it was time. We are close to so many ski resorts - how could we not?

Now, Nick has been skiing before. Granted, it was fifteen years ago... But I have heard it's like riding a bike. You don't forget. I, however, am a newbie! The weekend before we went to Paragon Sports (for those in the South - think Dick's). We met a really nice salesman, Brian, who helped us get all the basic gear we needed. As a side note - who knew ski gear could be so expensive. I.did.not! I had sticker shock - which normally does not happen to me.

The ski trip was through NYU and a lot of Nick's classmates were going as well. We were headed to Killington, VT. Which apparently is one of the nicer areas for skiing up North. We left Friday around 5ish. Yep.... 5 o'clock on a Friday in the middle of Manhattan. Not so smart. It took us about 45 minutes to get out of Manhattan. And that was probably going no more than 10 blocks. AWFUL! Once we made it out we were greeted with New Jersey traffic. We finally made it to the resort and I passed out! It was going to be a early wake up call.

Nick and I had set up lessons for Saturday morning. Basically my introduction into skiing and his refresher course. Everyone said you need to take a lesson...it will help. It did.

First, ski boots hurt! And they make you walk funny. But mostly.... they hurt! Nick did tell me that if we didn't have cheap, rented boots it would be better. I definitley had to get use to walking in those. The lesson went really well - I am quite proud of myself. I fell once. The instructor even asked me if I was sure I hadn't been skiing before. That made me smile! He then proceeded to ask me if I had skated before. Which I had for quite a few years when I was younger. Apparently that was what helped me learn it so quickly.

I met up with Nick in the afternoon and we went to some easy green trails. I did pretty good. I pretty much "wedged" the whole time. Nick eventually thought I was ready to take a lift up to a green mountain. I think I was more worried about the stupid ski lift than anything else. How many stories have you heard about people getting stuck or people falling at the end. I did not want to be one of those people! It ended up being pretty good.

The green mountain, as I liked to call it, looked a lot bigger and a lot steeper from the top. I admit, I was nervous. But, Nick stayed behind me the whole time. I fell a few times but not bad. There was quite a lot of people on the mountain and I just kept thinking....

Yes, I see you 4 year old who looks like they have been skiing for 20 years! Show-off! Please don't knock me over! Oh, and hi snowboarders - yes, I know you like to cut and turn quickly but please quit spraying me with snow!

By the next day I was pretty comfortable with the motions of it all. I was also more comfortable with building up some speed. Through one of Nick's NYU classmates we found this green "trail." It was like a 20 minute trail down the mountain. We actually had to take the lifts that take you up the the black and double black mountains. That was interesting - really high up and the wind against our face was brutal!

While going up the ski lifts you see all the "experienced" skiers going down the blacks. I just kept thinking....

Wow, that mountain is really steep. If they fell and kept going - would it be like the movies where they turn into this giant snowball and roll all the way down the mountain? Luckily, that didn't happen.

The green trial was a lot of fun. It had a good mix of twists and turns and small and high slopes. I couldn't get down this one part though. It wad the steepest part of the trail and I just couldn't quite figure it out. I fell on that part. A lot. But, I always made it down.

Overall, it was a great experience and I learned something new and fun. I still might be partial to warm weather and it's sports but it's definitely something that Nick and I will be back at.

Nick was amazing. He picked it right back up. And he was a great partner. He always stayed behind me to make sure I was okay.... even though I know he could have been going a lot faster and having more fun. And he was a great coach when I needed it!

Yay for our first ski trip! Enjoy the pictures!


The front of the ski resort


Right before heading out to the slopes! (I got a lot of compliments on that beanie)


Nick with the gear...so cute.


At the top of the mountain


We stopped right in the middle of the mountain to take this picture. I was praying we wouldn't get knocked over by someone!


At the top of a black diamond mountain!


Hi, honey!


So fun!


That was after I finished my first trip down the mountain! I made it!