Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I May Be 28...

But I still get carded!
On my birthday, we went to lunch with my mom to Chili's. Since it was my birthday, I decided to spoil myself and get a Presidente margarita. It was delicious!
The Huzz and me. May I remind you that he turned 29 a few months ago?
My beautiful mama.
Thank you for a great birthday lunch, guys!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

A Night in NYC...

Our last night in NYC, we spent with Nathan and Katrina. We went for Korean food, which is always a good choice because Nathan knows what to order and we don't get spit in our food, since he speaks Korean. Just kidding...but, seriously. And, each time we go, Katrina knows more and more Korean and demonstrates it by saying something to the waitress. I have no idea what she says, but it sounds good to me! Good job, Kat!

After stuffing ourselves silly, we went to see the 2008 Tony Award-winning Broadway show, "In the Heights." It was SO good!

And, we saw, again, an effect of the economy: two big sections further down in the mezzanine section were EMPTY, so at intermission, they let us all move down.
I highly recommend it. See it. Do it. Well, do it, once you can afford to take a trip to NYC.
When we got home, we attempted several times to take a group photo.
We didn't do too bad, huh?
We love you, Nathan and Katrina! Thank you for the blast of a time in NYC. You are the best.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Lights and Trees...

Please bear with me... We have been so busy in Colorado, I haven't had enough time to blog, so posts that are 2-3 weeks old will be showing up over the next few days.

One of the days we were in NYC, Stephen and I had the day to ourselves. We went down to Wall Street to have lunch with a friend of ours who is a trader. When we said good-bye to him, it was snowing HUGE flakes and we took a stroll by the American flag lights and the Wall Street Tree.
The tree was pretty big, but not as big as....


This one...the Rockefeller Center tree. I liked this one better than last year's, for a couple of reasons.
#1 - I thought the shape of the tree was nicer.
#2 - I could actually get a picture of it. Actually, I took several pictures of it.
This was one area where we could really see the effect of the economy. There were still a lot of people at the Center, but not nearly as much as last year. Last year, you literally could not move. And, I only got one picture of the tree and it wasn't a good one.
No, I was not crying because I was overcome by the tree's beauty. My eyes were all watery because the wind was cold and blowing. Sure, Beth...
Stephen is posing in front of the wall of snowflakes that blinks to music. Last year, I didn't realize the snowflakes were programmed to music because there were so many people, you couldn't even hear the music. Those angels to the right were really pretty.
This picture just demonstrates how tall the Rockefeller building is.
Looking through the angels toward the big tree.
I love Christmas time in New York City!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Cupcakes in NYC

**UPDATE** Nathan and Katrina let me know the name of the bakery is Sugar Sweet Sunshine. Next time you're in NYC, you must go!

One of the nights we were in NYC, we were able to meet up with our friends, Matt, Lauren, T'Errance, and of course, Nathan and Katrina and then later with another friend of ours, Chris. With the first group, we met at one of our favorite sushi restaurants, Cube 63. The 63 is because that's its address and the Cube, my guess, is because it's about the size of a cube. HOWEVER, you can bring your own wine....

So, we did!

Dinner was delicious and quite affordable, for NYC standards. After dinner, we walked over to our friend, Chris' apartment. He wasn't able to join us for dinner because he had to study for a big final he had the next day. But, he is pretty much the nicest person, ever, and had gone and picked up cupcakes from a bakery and had them waiting for us when we arrived.

Here is the group. There's Lauren, T'Errance, Matt (the awkward guy in the background), Katrina, me, and Stephen. Chris took this picture, so we missed him in the moment.
This is me, pretending I am James Bond, and using my cupcake as a weapon.

Sometimes, I think I'm funny when I'm not. Stephen did not have too much to drink. He just likes to close his eyes when his picture is taken.

This is me, emphasizing that the cupcakes were yummy for my tummy! And they were. I don't remember the name of the bakery...Nathan, Katrina - help me out? But, the pistacio cupcake was my fave.


A New First...

Well, today was an....interesting.....day.

Huzz and I are staying at his parents' house now and woke up in time to go to late church this morning. We also woke up to light snow flurries, and a dusting that occurred overnight and stuck to the roads. The roads were great this morning...

After church, we came home and grabbed a bite to eat. Then, I headed out in my father-in-law's car to go visit my treasured friend, Angie. We had big plans to escape to a nearby Starbucks and sip away on their Peppermint Mochas and I wanted to try the Salted Caramel Apple Cider. We did not make it there!

Angie hopped in the car with me and I very carefully made my way down the hill that they live on and stopped at the four-way stop. No one was at the intersection, so I proceeded to cross and all of a sudden heard Angie yelling. I turned to look and saw green coming at us, so I floored the gas, but we didn't get out of the way in time.

A green pick-up came from the street on our right side and slid through his stop sign and hit the back right passenger door and sent us spinning on the road. Do you know that sound, when your car is hit? BANG!

The side airbags deployed and one of them hit Angie on her arm. She is alright, but will probably be sore and I'm guessing she'll have a bruise.

The driver of the truck was nice about it all and admitted fault several times. I am just so relieved both Angie and I are okay.

Angie commented a few times about how nice I was to the other driver. I'm not one to get angry when I'm scared. I was just in shock, I think. My hands were shaking through the whole episode, though. Talk about adrenaline rush!

So, I am the in-law, who has earned the out-law status by wrecking my father-in-law's car!

Oh, boy.

My gracious father-in-law is also just glad we are both okay. I am also very glad the accident wasn't my fault! Although, it was the first accident I've been in when I've been driving.

After the police and paramedics came and I wrote my statement, Stephen and his dad had showed up and Stephen took Angie and I back up the street to her house. We drank peppermint tea instead and just enjoyed each other's company.

Angie, even though today didn't go quite as planned, I am SO happy we were still able to sit and talk. This will surely be a day we'll never forget, huh?