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!