New York Trip, Part 2

After we left the 9/11 Memorial, it was such a gorgeous day that we decided to "walk" our way back to midtown.  In theory, it was a great idea but in reality, not-so-much.  While Big Poppa was in jeans and tennis shoes, I was trying to not look the role of mommy and dressed in a cute sweater, leggings and boots.  Not thinking that we were going to walk our tushes off that day, I didn't choose my socks very carefully and ended up wearing a pair that rubbed my baby toes in the wrong spot.  (And yes, I whined the entire day)

Not a single cloud in the sky!

After a quick lunch at Cosi, we resumed our walking and shopping and just enjoying the city with no plans!  We stopped in an Irish pub to warm up, have a late afternoon pint and just chit chat.  It's great when you go into an Irish pub and the bartender is...Irish!  We got a big kick out of that!  By the time we left, the sun was starting to set and it was only 4:30! It's crazy, but it seems like this year it's getting darker so much earlier than normal so we decided to start narrowing down our dinner choices.  We both agreed that we wanted some good, straight up Chinese food and found Chin Chin, a gem of a restaurant not far from our hotel.  Let me tell you, Big Poppa is a bit of a food snob and a self-proclaimed foodie, and this meal was his favorite of the entire trip.  I was shocked when he said that, but didn't disagree! We were lucky that it was around six when we went in and we were able to get in without reservations.  By the time we left, it was insane busy!

Chin Chin, a must eat if you like Chinese food!!

Sunday morning we slept in a little later than we wanted and had to make a decision to either go catch part of the ING New York City Marathon or skip breakfast and eat an early lunch at Mario Batali's Eataly.  Big Poppa and I are big fans of Mario Batali restaurants with The Spotted Pig being one of our favorites!! Last year, Eataly had just opened the weekend before we were in NYC so when we were there it was literally shoulder-to-shoulder people and the wait to eat in all of the areas was over 2 hours.  We chose to make our way over to Eataly and we were lucky enough to get there just as they were opening up the restaurants to serve and were seated immediately. What a difference a year makes!  We ate at the pasta/pizza restaurant and shared a fresh mozzarella and salami platter and a 3-in-1 pizza that had margherita, calzone and verona pizza toppings.  Delish.

I wasn't thrilled to have my pic taken, can you tell?!

While we were at Eataly, I called my mom on one of my nine thousand check in calls of the weekend and when I asked her how Miss K was she said that she could tell Miss K was missing us.  From the moment she woke up that morning, mom said she was asking where we were.  That about broke my heart.  Especially since as far as Miss K is concerned, "Maga" is the best thing since sliced bread!!
After lunch we hit up our usual NYC stores and made a HAUL at Filine's Basement, Nordstrom Rack, Fishs Eddy (and about a gazillion others) and then finally, drum roll.....The Frye flagship store in SoHo. Holy boots, batman!  That store is the coolest place, and the fact that it is the ONLY brick and mortar Frye store made it that much cooler! I had been debating back and forth between the Melissa and Paige boots; but knew I wanted to try on the extended calf in the Melissa since I have such athletic humongo calves before making a decision.  They both fit great, but after chatting with the sales person and trying both pair on numerous times, I decided on the Paige tall riding boot in black.

I big, pink, puffy heart them and was trying to think of a way to squeeze get a second pair of boots while we were there.  Big Poppa kept asking why I didn't get new brown boots instead, but I have a pair of Miz Mooz Kent Riding boot in cognac from Nordstroms that I've had for a few years and I'm hoping to get through until next fall with them.  They've been worn hard, but are a great boot for the price.  Another reason why I didn't get the Melissa.  They're almost identical.
We got back from our shopping adventures with enough time to shower get ready for dinner at Tao. I was excited to go eat there, but even more excited to wear the new dress I got to wear to dinner!  (it doesn't take much!!)

New York and Company!

The food was really good, but the atmosphere made the meal!  It was a lot of fun.  Afterwards, Big Poppa wanted to go to a wine bar in Rockefeller Center, but when we got there, they were closed!?  So we settled on sharing a Sprinkles cupcake and called it a night! (Crumbs was better)
We had a great trip, I really do think it's essential to be able to go away as a couple and not be mommy and daddy for a few days but I know we were both excited to see this pumpkin when we got home!

New York Anniversary Trip, Part 1

I'm a bit behind on posts, but last week Big Poppa and I celebrated our 9th anniversary! In what's becoming a yearly tradition, we went back to New York to celebrate our last year of being married in single digits :)
My mom came into town Thursday night, and we left on the first flight out Friday morning! While it hurt a bit to wake up that early and get to the airport, it gave us the full day to spend in NYC which was nice.  After we arrived at LaGuardia, we went ahead to our hotel and dropped our bags so we could go and play before our room was ready.  This year we stayed at the Marriott East Side on 49th Street. It was a super nice hotel and the location was perfect!

I was a lot little sad that we didn't get to stay at The Ritz-Carlton, but when we booked our trip, we weren't sure if we would have enough points to stay the full weekend and by the time we realized we would, they were booked. Oh well, the upside is that we still have mucho points left over so that means more mini-cations for mommy and daddy!!!
We ended up not seeing a show, as we weren't able to score tickets to The Book of Mormon because they are completely sold out through February.  Like completely meaning no luck through our AMEX card concierge, TKTS booth, nada.  But boy did we make up for it with some shopping and eating!!  (Let's just say I was up 2 lbs at my WW weigh in that next week! BUT, I am back down 3.5 lbs since then so it's ok!!)  Friday night we had reservations at Macelleria, an Italian steakhouse in the Meatpacking District.

Big Poppa and I shared some fresh mozzarella and a cannelli bean and tuscan sausage appetizer, and a Porterhouse steak and brussel sprouts for dinner.  The food was good, but I think the atmosphere was my favorite!  We opted not to have dessert at the restaurant, but instead headed to Crumbs for a cupcake...yum!

  

Saturday morning we woke up and headed down to the Financial District.  We had tickets to the 9/11 Memorial but Big Poppa wanted to go see the hoopla that is Occupy Wall Street before our trip to the memorial.  I get their point, and the message they are "trying" to convey but all it looked like was a bunch of smelly, filthy tents and people that hadn't showered in a LONG time.  If I didn't know any better, I would have thought there was maybe a Woodstock revival going on, not a protest over Corporate America!  Case in point below. Agree??

Y'all-  the 9/11 Memorial.  Was absolutely. breath. taking.  So serene and peaceful in a place that just ten years ago was, in my eyes, location to the most horrific act of violence and hate ever.  It broke my heart to see a couple doing a rub on one of the names on the fountain.  I don't think I've ever felt so much sadness and pride in one place before.  If you are ever in NYC, this is a MUST do.  Big Poppa and I were in NYC in the summer of '04 when they were still digging and removing rubble that seemed like it would take forever to clear.  Even last year when we were there, I remember thinking there was no way that it was going to be finished in time for the 10th anniversary.  But it's finished and it's beautiful.  There's also a small museum/gift shop that has donated items and stories from survivors and loved ones.  Tears galore, folks.

And the tree that was damaged in the blasts but dug up, replanted, and nursed by the city worker? Alive and another testament to the strength of our great country.

Not only was the memorial breath-taking, my company on this trip wasn't too hard on the eyes, either!!

Happy Anniversary, in numbers!

I can't believe that Big Poppa and I just celebrated our 9th anniversary!  What a wild and wonderful nine years it has been.  In doing something similar to what AP did at I Love You More Than Carrots, I though it would be neat to celebrate our anniversary in numbers!


9- Wonderful years since saying "I Do" on November 9, 2002.  Never in my wildest dreams on that day would I have ever thought that I could have loved you any more than I did at that very moment.  Boy, was I wrong!


8- Fabulous vacations we have been on since then: Cayman Islands, Florida Keys, Puerto Rico, Niagara Falls, Napa Valley, Puerto Vallarta, Chicago, and NYC.


7- Total moves we have made together! What's crazy is three of those were all within the same apartment complex!!


6- Awesome trips to the OBX! I love that we have made this one of our family traditions and look forward to it every year!


5- Fun, crazy and football-filled years spent together at Texas Tech before we got married.  This is also the same number of degrees we have between the two of us!


4- States that we have been residents of in the past nine years: Texas, Florida, North Carolina and now Georgia.  At least you know better to keep me in the South! (I would FREEZE if we lived anywhere else!!)


3- The number of Emergency Room trips we've had with you attempting to cut your fingers/hand off! 


2- Beautiful homes that we have been lucky to call ours.  Homes where we have made irreplaceable memories and homes that we have filled with love, laughter and the occasional tears.


1- Absolutely perfect and beautiful combination of the two of us and our love.  The two of you are the loves of my life and the reason I breathe.




Big Poppa,


Thank you for choosing me to love and spend the rest of your life with.  I have been so blessed these past nine years of being your wife and I look forward to many more. I am so proud of the man you are and couldn't ask for a more perfect partner to walk hand in hand through this crazy life with.  I love you with all my being and thank God for you everyday.


                                              Love,
                                                   H

“If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.”

                                                                      - Winnie the Pooh 

New Look!

After a year or so of toying around in the web/blog world and pretending like I knew what I was doing, I finally bit the bullet and contacted the fabulous Marina at Penny Lane Designs to help me give The Transplanted Texan a new look.   I have seen her work through various blogs I read and really like how clean and classic her layouts are!  While eventually I would love to have her do a fully customized look for The Transplanted Texan, I started with one of her pre-made layouts and then customized it to what I wanted.  I must say, I love it!!  I initially told her that I wanted pink as one of the colors, but that I had no clue on the other.  Marina sent a few ideas of her own, and of course the first one she sent was my favorite!  
We had a few conversations about fonts and what not, and in the end she gave me everything I asked for...and more!  I am so excited about my new look and I look forward to continuing to share the craziness of our family!  

The Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch....again!!

If you've been reading since day one, you'll remember last year's post about our trip to the pumpkin patch! Miss K was so cute and we got some really great pictures of her.  She was more in awe of everything but obviously didn't really understand where we were as she was only ten months old.  This year, we started talking about the pumpkin patch literally on the way home from the apple orchard last month! Miss K is all about some "punkins" and we have to point out EVERY "punkin" in the neighborhood when driving in and out of the 'hood.  We finally had a chance to go this past Saturday (yes, cutting it close, I know!) as we have officially entered the crazy time of year here at Casa de D.  Basically, beginning two weekends ago and through the first weekend in January, we are only home or without company for two weekends!  One being this last weekend and the next being in December.
So Sunday morning we loaded up bright and early and headed up to Burt's Pumpkin Farm in North Georgia for some pumpkin fun.  The way up there, Miss K was asking if we were getting a biggg punkin and some baby punkins.  When we pulled in, she actually got mad that she had to wait for me to put her jacket on since it has gone from chilly to down right cold in a few weeks!  Once we made it in, she was off!

With much protest, Big Poppa and I were able to wrangle her for a few photos with each one of us, but as you can tell by the looks on her face she wasn't really wanting to hold still and smile!!

Notice she's smiling, but not looking at mommy? 

Literally trying to scooch off my lap as we're taking the picture! (PS-Totally forgot to take off my jacket and sunglasses for this pic!  I look like a goofball :))

We ran around looking at all the different punkins and then she saw the big green tractor and was ready to go on a hayride!

After the hayride, we gave the pictures another go, and then got serious about picking our punkins!

Mommy and K sharing some secrets!

Helping daddy choose some punkins.

Not so sure of riding in the wheelbarrow!

We had so much fun this year and Miss K has already asked when we can go back!  I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful Fall weather and had a fabulous Halloween!