A few more ...

I had forgotten that Angie already texted me several of her pictures, so here are a few more to add to the previous post.  Thanks, Ang!

Inside the Empire State Building

Susan Boyle performing on the Today Show

Today Show

Dinner at Lombardi's

Trip to the Big Apple

Here are a few pics from our trip to NYC.  We had a wonderful time!  The city is so fun during the holidays, and it was great to experience it with some of Darren's family and my brother (who was able to visit from D.C.)!  I'm realizing there are several gaps in the pictures I took and only a few people and places are represented.  There may be another post coming, therefore, once we've had the chance to share pictures ... but for now, this will give you an idea of some of the fun we had!

We arrived in NY early in the morning, and our first order of business was meeting up with Chris, who had arrived in the city the night before.  That first day we spent visiting Times Square, the NY Public Library, and the Empire State Building.  We ventured into Brooklyn that night to have pizza at Grimaldi's.  Yum!

Outside of the NY Public Library with Chris

Of all the beautiful places in NYC, the library is one of my favorites.

Skyline from Brooklyn 

Cute nieces

A stud in the subway ;)

Chris had to leave the next day, so we spent the morning walking through Central Park and exploring the UWS.  It was fun to show the group my old stomping grounds (Chris was on his mission in Brazil while I was living in NY and never had the chance to visit).

49 W. 84th St.--where I lived for most of my time in the city.

We also had the chance to see Wicked!  What a treat!

The next day, Darren and I spent part of the day on our own to celebrate our anniversary.  We ate at one of my favorite delis on the UWS, Lennys.

 We visited the temple, ...

felt right at home when we saw a piece Jackson in the city, ...

and (a real highlight for me) had dessert at Edgar's Cafe where my roommate Tai and I used to write every Friday.  Darren was such a good sport and read while I opened up my laptop and, for tradition's sake, tried punching out a few paragraphs.

We met up with the rest of the group that night for dinner and the Rockettes!  What a show!

Our last morning in NYC we were up early and made it on the Today Show.  So fun!  There was a time I dreamed of being the next Katie Couric, so "being on TV" with Matt, Al, and the gang was kind of a dream come true. ;)

My parents caught our few seconds of fame on T.V.

It was hard to leave since there was so much we still had to do, but that just makes us excited to return again someday.  Until next time, New York!

A Conversation

Me:  I can't believe we will have been married for three years at the end of next month.

Darren:  I know!  What should we do to celebrate?

Me:  Hmmm ... I know the third anniversary is not considered a big one, but I think we should do something exciting. ((Thinking))  What if we took a trip somewhere?  Somewhere really fun?  ((More thinking, and then hesitatingly...))  We have talked about wanting to visit New York together ... ((Searching Darren's face for subtle signs of distress))

Darren:  You know what, I think we should go for it.

Me:  Really?!

Darren:  Yes.  The weekend after Thanksgiving would be perfect timing with my schedule.  Let's do it!

Okay, so I can't remember the conversation verbatim, but the point is that we have made reservations  to visit NYC at the end of November/beginning of December!  It turns out that Angie, Scott, Annalyse, Natalie, and Doug (Darren's cousin) also had plans to visit NYC before Christmas.  We decided to combine efforts and make travel plans together.  I can't wait to explore New York again with people that I love.  I have already started making lists of my favorite places to visit/things to see/food to eat.  I am seriously counting down the days!!

Images from Pinterest

Roommate Reunion

 I just returned home from a wonderful weekend with three of my favorite people ...

Katie, Shelley, Me, and Briana

... make that FIVE of my favorite people!

Katie, Shelley, Briana and I met our freshman year at BYU in 2001.  Since that year, we have been roommates and close friends.  Since we are all turning 30 this summer, we decided it was high time we get together again.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to stay in touch with these amazing women.  We met up in New Canaan, CT and spent the weekend enjoying being under the same roof again since college.  We were joined by Shelley's son Stephen and Briana's daughter Emmaline.  Those kids could not be any cuter!

I would have been happy spending the whole weekend catching up at Shelley's home in CT, but we were able to escape to the city for a very fun girls' evening out.  It had been 4 years since I left NYU, and it was great to be back.

We met up with Rebecca from freshman year, as well, to have pizza at Nizza in the Theater District.

Crumbs cupcakes was a must on my list of dessert places to hit while in the city!

We ended our evening in the city by going to see Newsies on Broadway!  The singing and dancing were incredible.  I'm so impressed by the talents of others and grateful for the opportunities we have to see them shared.

March 10 was Katie's half-birthday and, though we did it a couple of days late, the rest of us wanted to celebrate Katie by making a little blanket and sharing just a few of the reasons we love her.

Before leaving for the airport on Tuesday, we stopped at Stew Leonard's, an amazing farm fresh food store complete with a mascot and animated characters.  It was a blast!

All in all, the weekend went by much too quickly.  I left CT anxious for our next reunion and thinking of all the other friends and family I am blessed to have in my life.  I am excited for the years ahead and the opportunity I'll have to follow the lives of these friends.  Thank you, Brie, Shelley, and Katie, for the perfect weekend.  Here's to many more!