Sunday, September 20, 2009

Jessie's Baby Shower

Today I was able to attend a baby shower for Jessie Harley. She grew up on the same street as Adam and their families have been friends for years. As you can see she is very pregnant and is due on October 17th (I think). She is having a baby boy and they are naming him Harrison. The shower was hosted by Hope and Cyndi and some other family friends. It took place at Cyndi's best friend's house, Denise Davison, who also lived on their street. Below is a picture of the game that was played where she had to guess the baby items that she was given while blind-folded.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

New York City: Day 4 (09-14-09)

The next morning we headed out the airport to make our way home. We had a great time reflecting on everything that we accomplished in such a short period of time. I am already looking forward to the next girls trip.

New York City: Day 3 (09-13-09)

We slept in and then headed out to get some lunch at a restaurant called The Redeye Grill.
Cyndi and I both ordered the huge chinese chicken salad.

We looked like a bunch of grapes..
After lunch we headed to see a musical called ‘Jersey Boys.' It takes you behind the music of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. It is a rags-to-riches tale of four blue-collar kids working their way from the streets of Newark to the heights of stardom. It was amazing to look to the right and left and see everyone’s feet tapping along to music. I had no idea prior to the show how many songs that I would know. It featured such hits as “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “Oh, What a Night,” and countless others.

Following the show, we walked around to the MOMA Design Store which features unique pieces for purchase.

After a full day, Cyndi, Hope, and Kelly wanted to go back to the room and rest. Taylor and I were running on all cylinders and decided to be major tourists. NYC was hosting the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall. We stood among the crowds and watched the red carpet. We actually had a great few and saw many stars including (of course I made a list): Kristin Cavallari, Kanye West, Jimmy Fallon, Sway, Jack Black, Ron Jeremy, Katy Perry, Lo Bosworth, Whitney Port, Ashley Green, Alicia Keys, Perez Hilton, and Tracy Morgan.
Below is a view from across the street (not where we were standing)
We stayed out a bit longer than expected and had to rush home. We figured the fastest way for us to get back to the hotel would be to take a petty cab home. But before we could do that we made him take a lap around the block so that we could ride on the blocked off street in front of the VMAs. We were surrounded by limosines and Taylor took the time to wave to onlookers and letting them know that we had finally arrived. I mean, some of the celebs showed up in vehicles such as a firetruck so why not a petty cab, right?
Below is the best petty cab driver in NYC. His name is Brian and he about killed us but it was definately an experience that Taylor and I will not soon forget.
Taylor and I literally ran into the hotel. With absolutely no time to spare, we changed and headed out to dinner at A.J. Maxwells. Taylor told the concierge that she wanted a "good steak" and it was their recommendation. It is located at historic Rockefeller Center in the heart of mid-town Manhattan. Every bite that we had was fantastic and it was definately one of the best dinners I have had in a long time.
Kelly and I at dinner

We toasted to a great trip and walked back after dinner with our bellies full.

New York City: Day 2 (09-12-09)

This morning we woke up and went downstairs for the breakfast buffet. It was wonderful. We then headed to the Subway station to go downtown. It was Cyndi’s first time on the NY Subway and she was quite nervous. Her face in the below picture says it all.
We got off the subway in China Town and walked the streets around Little Italy and SoHo. We spent most of the time walking through the streets surrounding Little Italy as they were hosting a festival called The Feast of San Gennaro. The Feast of San Gennaro is one of New York’s most famous and well-loved street festivals. Held every September in Little Italy, it offers great food, entertainment, and plenty of prime people-watching. It features four parades, more than 300 food and souvenir vendors, plenty of live musical entertainment, and even a cannoli-eating contest.


There was a lot going on in NYC this weekend (as I suppose there always is). They were hosting an event called ‘Broadway on Broadway’ in Times Square which highlights the upcoming season as well as some of Broadway’s most beloved shows. We did not stay to watch their performances and only glanced at the screen we walked from our hotel. It would be a fun thing to do sometime as you would be able to see such a variety of Broadway numbers.
Following our outing, we headed home, got ready, and walked over to Ruby Foo's for dinner. It is a pan-asian restaurant that was delicious. Afterwards we walked to the Hershey store to get some goodies to take into the play.
We walked over to the Gershwin Theatre to see Wicked. I read the book a few years ago and my sister took me to the play when it came to Atlanta awhile back. I feel in love with the story and, of course, the soundtrack! I was so excited to share the experience with everyone when I found out that we were going. I would recommend this play to anyone. Below is a picture of the stage before the opening number.
We were all very excited.

We walked back through Times Square after the play. Luckily, it had stopped raining.

New York City: Day 1 (09-11-09)

The Parrish girls decided it was time for us to take a trip to New York City. The boys go on a lot of fishing trips so we decided it was our turn- not to go fishing but to spend time together. And what better way to spend time together than to go to Broadway plays and eat exquisite food? We left in the morning and arrived at our hotel in the afternoon. We stayed at the Doubletree in the middle of Times Square. It was a terrific location and a great homebase. As soon as we settled in, we got dressed to go to a quant little Italian restaurant.
At the restaurant named Tramonti.
It was raining and quite chilly when we arrived but somehow Taylor managed to look cute.
We left dinner and went to see 'In the Heights.' According to their website "In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in Manhattan's Washington Heights – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind." It was an urban musical that none of us really new much about but turned out to be fantastic.
Below is a picture of the stage before they started.
You can see some exerpts of the musical if you copy and paste the link below in your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PjplSoUwwA

After the musical we headed back to the hotel to be rested for the next full day.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Cookout on "The Hawk"

We recently moved in January. Boy were we lucky to have picked a house on the happenin' street. The neighborhood as a whole has functions on the holidays but our street and the court connected as a get together every few months. Everyone in the neighborhood seems to have a golf cart. We are the only ones on the street without one. I think that they use them to drive to the pool or to the dock. Anyways, they did a parade for the 4th of July where everyone decorated their golf carts with streamers and balloons and did a parade around the neighborhood and apparently they have a costume parade/contest for Halloween.

But our street does functions on their own. One of the neighbors has a huge bbq grill and fixes a huge pig each time. Another neighbor welded a fire pit that they put in the middle of the street. The first time we went to a function, we were continually asked if we had any children as everyone was curious who moved into the neighborhood. After one lady asked and I told her no, she replied with "you know...I think I know another childless couple in the neighborhood a few streets down but that is all. But they have only been married for a year. How long have you been married?" What can you do but laugh?

At each function, you bring a sidedish, a chair, and your own beverages. Here is a look at all of the chairs people brought.
There are a bazillion (that is right BA-ZILLION) children on our street and the majority of them are girls. Adam and I keep telling ourselves at least we will have lots of babysitters one day.
One of the parents said that when they counted there were over 30 just for our street (Hawks Ridge Lane) and the cul-de-sac (Hawks Ridge Court)! There are 4 that are in the 9th grade, a few in middle school, and the rest are in elementary school or younger.

Here is the long line of food that everyone brought.
Everytime we do something in the neighborhood Adam always reminisces about his years growing up on "Archers Court." He grew up with a great bunch of kids that have all remained close friends. He always says "Steph, this is just like Archer's Court but with more kids!"

Benson's Lake Day

On Labor Day, Benjamin, Jessica, and Benson came over to go on a boatride on Lake Murray. We had a relaxing ride over to the Chapin Lakehouse where we sat in rocking chairs eating toffee and boiled peanuts (does it get any better than that?). Then we stopped to see the sunset.
Me with my favorite little boy (I can say that honestly as I currently only have a neice and all of my friends have girls)
Jessica looked away to avoid watching the below take place while we were moving (luckily, we were near the marina and were just poking along)...
Benson was a great First Mate.Here is my hunky captain...
Say "ahhhhhh"
Who could resist this face?
I am not sure who had more fun.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Birthday Cakes

Taylor and Hope both have a birthday in September so we usually celebrate them together. This year Cyndi asked me to do their birthday cakes. I wanted each cake to reflect their personality. Hope's was a shoe cake that I made out of fondant with a hat and pearls. It was very Hope...


Taylor is a middle school art teacher so of course her cake had to reflect that.
I loved the wood grain in the pallet.


They were both very surprised and appreciative which made it completely worth it!