Saturday is a Special Day

I just have to let everyone know that this Saturday (as in today) has been one of the best days I have had in NYC.
We slept in (ok, not really, sleeping in for me is 7:03...I'm cursed with waking up early) and had yummy raspberry waffles...I may or may not have had TWICE of what my husband had. In my defense, I usually wake up and have to eat...but, I waited until someone else rolled out of bed to make them, which meant that it was about 9:30 which meant that I should have had breakfast and my mid morning snack by then.
We got ready for the day, walked across the Queensboro Bridge (not nearly as glamorous as Brooklyn Bridge) and went to Central Park. Here are some of the highlights
1. Roller skating rink. I'm telling you there was a 70+ year old man gyrating to the beat of morrocas (sp) while on skates. Jed thought he was on ectasy. I thought he was more in shape than I am...and really into rollerskating. The funny thing about this story is that on the way to the city I was saying how great it would be if I had old school roller skates.
2. A LEGIT croquet game. Happens that there is a croquet court in Central Park. Olmstead really knew what he was doing to satisfy the many walks of life this city produces. (PS. Olmstead was the architect for Central Park)
3. People GALORE! This truly makes me so happy to know that everyone else was enjoying this fall-tastic weather. It was beautiful. We even saw a man without a shirt on that had somehow got sunburned in 69 degree weather?
4. Levain Bakery. Three words: Bobby Flay Throwdown. Jed and I love Throwdowns and he threwdown with this bakery. They rocked his world. We have been meaning to go for over a year to the bakery and we are SO glad we did because the 400 calorie cookie was amazing. Dark Chocolate and PB chips=yum.
5. Spending a full day with my man and falling in love with him even more. (Yes, I'm cheesy and I love my husb...who has a problem with that???)

Friends

Jed and I have been frequented by guests over the past couple of months. We actually have become quite popular since moving to NYC. We love seeing friends and family and this week is no different. Our friends Kisty and Kristen have joined us from SLC and Denver. I lived with Kristen for almost 3 years and have been friends with Kisty about the same. I have had some really great memories with these girls...again, this week is no different. We are having a really fun time. I have done more exploring this week than I have in a LONG time.
We have walked the Brooklyn Bridge, toured the Financial District, Times Square, saw 'Legally Blonde' the musical, Central Park, midtown, downtown and a few other places in between.
We have seen Tina Fey, the midget in Elf (the angry elf), Russell Crowe, 30 Rock filmings, and a music video. Whew. The celeb sightings have been fun!!!
I love these girls and am so happy to see them and hang out with them. They are so funny and always have a good time.

Wicked weekend with my sis

My sister Brittney was "surprised" on her birthday with a trip to NYC and two tickets to the Broadway show WICKED (which, was a pleasant surprise for me!!!)

The show was quite amazing. The set is amazing. The characters...amazing and the performance, well, amazing.

We also had to sneak in some shopping, pizza, and exploring. The humidity held us back a bit. I wish we could have captured some pictures of my hair. It was CRAZY! Wavy, fluffy, scraggly (made up word) and I have the world's straightest hair...or so I thought.

Brittney really deserved a fun trip for herself. She is always doing so many nice things for everyone else, being a great mom and sister, and being pulled in millions of directions. She is a good example of being selfless and she is a great example of being a great mom.

Thanks again sis!

This little piggy...

The Astoria Ward has an annual cake auction to raise money for the Young Women's Girls Camp. Because I am the 1st counselor in the YW, and because I like to let my creative juices flow while baking...I decided to participate and make a cake.
I knew I didn't want it to be just ANY cake, so I thought about an animal cake...they always seem fun and taste so much better than your run of the mill bundt, so I did a little research, thought long and hard, and came up with a cake in the shape of this...





The little pig cost me about 18 dollars to make and the highest bidder was 9.00...go figure. But, we had a lot of fun and ate WAY too much cake!

Best weekend, surprise, birthday, husband!!!

This past Friday was mine and Hill's 27th birthday. Jed has been saying "can't wait to give you your present", "what do you think I'm giving you" and other such taunts. Friday morning I woke up to a new card holder, and two round trip tickets to Salt Lake City, Utah.

On the other side of the nation, my twin sister had a nice dinner date with her husband, Kelly, then a very extended trip to Target (waiting for her surprise to land...of course, flying out of JFK, we were 1.5 hours delayed) Because of the delay, Kelly had to tell Hillary about our arrival. She still cried when she saw me in the airport.

Jed and Kelly took the surprise farther and had a big birthday "breakfast" party (it's our favorite meal of the day) and had friends from high school, college, and family come and join in for a celebration.




I was also able to get my nieces/nephew and family fix while in Utah. We had a fun lunch on Saturday, visited my sweet grandma Hopie, toured my sisters dream house, oh, and had Cafe Rio salad (I know what you are thinking...a lot of food in a short amount of time...but, we managed!)

It was such a fun (short lived) weekend and I am so grateful that my husb and Kelly were thoughtful enough to surprise me and Hill so we could celebrate our birthday together.

Only thing left to do is Jed's acceptance speech for husband of the year award.

Wanna see more birthday fun??? Check them out here.

Warning...PICTURES may appear scarier than they were

This is what happens when you are in Lancaster Pennsylvania and there are no stores, restaurants, cafes, movie theaters, or public ANYTHING open on Sunday and you are waiting for a cab (for 45 minutes)...

The Introduction

I’m getting old. How do I know? Because I follow politics...and I like it. I’ve been following the Presidential campaigns in varying degrees since the primary season started heating up last year. And yes, sometimes it makes me feel old, boring and even a little too serious for an almost 29-year-old kid. Still, I’ve come to terms with my recent place in the ever-rotating circle of life. So what if I’m getting old, following politics, both current and historical, makes me feel like an American, and makes me proud of the democracy to which I belong.

For those of you who don’t share my affinity for policy debates and mindless slander, I feel your pain. I’m guessing that you don’t like politics not because you don’t care about America, but because you’re tired of the fact that there’s too much mindless slander and not enough policy debate, or because you feel overwhelmed by all the “smarty pants” who’s political conversations are way over your head. Believe me, I’ve been there, I know how you feel.

And yet, politics, especially national politics, is too important to ignore. Tired of donating your arm and your leg every time you stop at the gas pump? Been watching the price of bread go up for months and wondering when it’s gonna stop? Your favorite day of the year April 15th? Well, to a certain degree, that’s politics. Don’t like it? Now’s the time to do something about it.

So, I’ve decided to write a series of short and, hopefully, easy-to-understand articles describing what’s going on with the current Presidential campaign. Pretentious? I hope not. In fact, quite the contrary. Despite what my mother might say, deep down I’m just an average American trying to have a happy and healthy life and provide for my wife and (someday) kids. That sounds like most of us. But I’m thinking that since I happen to be abnormal enough to enjoy wading through all the political mumbo jumbo I’ll wade through it for you and present it in a way that normal Americans can stand reading.

I know what you’re thinking, “Great, I was merely hoping to catch up on H+J’s life in NYC, now I gotta listen to this crap?!” I hear ya. The answer is no. This is just the introduction. The remainder of the “series” can be found at The Citizen Post. Check it out if you’re interested.

PS. No old jokes, please. I’m vulnerable enough as it is.