Fun Week!

I had a very busy, but fun week and weekend. I have been kind of burnt out on work lately and it was nice to have excuses to leave on time every night last week! It was a week deserving of more pictures, but worth a good post:

Monday Night: Beyonce concert! It was awesome!! I cannot get over how lucky I am to get free tickets to all these incredible concerts that I would never think of going to otherwise. Beyonce was exceptional. She put on a fantastic show. She sang a little of everything - songs off her new album, songs from Destiny's Child days, a song from Dream Girls, etc.... She has an incredible voice but is so fun and funny. Even her band and dancers looked like they were having a blast the entire show (2 full hours). I took my friend Sarah and was glad that she was SO excited to go. I've known Sarah from church for 2.5 years, but we have been hanging out more & more and I really like getting to know her better! My co-worker, Tamara, (one of my staff...I love my 2 staff!) was there and it was our first time to be in the suite together, so that was fun.

Tuesday Night: Tuesday was just regular CG time. We've gotten in a bad habit of just having a social night and no sermon discussion or prayer time. I'm missing that - I really, really need that time of encouragement from fellow believers. We're planning to take the month of July off, so I'm hoping we can get serious again after that. All the CG's at church have all become prayer discussion groups, but I think my group thrives more from doing some sort of book study, so I need to bring up the idea of doing something like that again.

Wednesday Night: Hoboken for the Old 97's Concert. My friend, Jessica, has taken me to many Old 97's shows all over central Texas and the Hill Country. I figured out that the first one she took me too was the summer of 1999...10 years ago - wow!!! I was excited to see them on the East Coast! I just wish Jessica could have been there as it was my first show without her. When I found out they were coming, I immediately asked my friend, Lucy, to go because I'd learned that she and Jessica have similar music tastes. Lucy was totally on board. She works in the financial district and there is a ferry that leaves from behind her office and goes to Hoboken, a town right across the river in New Jersey. I met her down there - it was beautiful along the river and the ferry ride was fun! I had been to Hoboken for a BBQ a couple of years ago, but this was my first time to go to downtown Hoboken. I loved it! It has a small town feel, but there are people out and about everywhere - like NYC. Many of the restaurants are BYOB, so we went to a wine store and got a bottle of wine and took it to a Cuban restaurant where we had dinner outside. It was awesome!! I'd love to go back to Hoboken to experience it during the day some Saturday - it looked like they have some cute shops. The Old 97's show was very different than any I've seen. First off, it was in an extremely tiny venue, which I was pretty excited about when we got there. You couldn't not be close to the stage. But, as I looked around, I was surprised to see so many older people in the audience. Seriously, many, many 70-year-old men were there. Lucy says that's how all shows are in New Jersey - weird. There were some young people there, of course, but the ratio was not what I would've expected. We went to their 4th of 4 shows in Hoboken last week. I got worried when Rhett (the lead singer) announced that there had better be a lot of really huge fans in the audience because they had used up all their good songs in the previous 3 shows and were doing no repeats. There was a cute, nice girl standing next to me for a while (5 foot transplant from Texas...I let her stand in front of me, Jessica!), so we chatted and she exclaimed that this was her very favorite band and she, too was worried about what was about to take place. Then The Old 97's proceeded to play a bunch of songs I had never heard of and that they hadn't played in years. There was one song that they had to restart 3-times because they couldn't get it right and they admitted it was because they had played it so few times many years ago. They apologized at least 3 times throughout the show for playing stuff most of us had never heard. They seemed to think it was hilarious, which actually made me irate. I think they played 2 songs I recognized. There are several songs that I feel like they play at every show and they didn't play the majority of those. It was disappointing - I should have asked for my money back since they basically admitted it was a crock. (Sorry for the long rant)! Hoboken was lovely, though!

-- Thursday night: I had no plans. It was around 5:00 that I heard that Michael Jackson had been sent to the hospital and I alerted some of my co-workers. One guy stayed on top of all the news websites, so we heard about the death right when TMZ first posted it (he was subsequently teased pretty badly for getting his news from TMZ). I was SHOCKED. I don't know why it shocked me so much, but it did. All I wanted to do was get home and to the TV. I know there are much sadder, more important things going on in the world, but Michael Jackson is so huge! And it was just so unexpected. For some reason, I get really interested in these kinds of news stories. I had been expecting to catch a special on Farrah Fawcett that night...I was kind of sad for her that her death got trumped that day. Anyway, I am not a huge music person (which may seem contradictory to the fact that I went to 2 concerts last week), but it's just not a hobby or something that I've ever wanted to invest much time or money in. But, as I thought about him, I realized that I have a lot of Michael Jackson memories:

-- Cheerleading camp in 2nd grade with the Kewpie cheerleaders where we learned a dance to "Beat It".
-- Standing in the Sub Shop (or maybe what restaurant was in that weird bldg first) waiting for our order, while being mesmerized by watching the "Thriller" video.
-- Practicing the Moonwalk in our basement.
-- Singing "We are the World" with choir in junior high
-- Watching the "Black or White" video over, and over, and over. I was never big into music videos, so this is probably the only one that I ever watched repeatedly.
-- Buying the Jackson 5 CD and listening to it over and over in my car. The Jackson 5 music is probably my favorite out of all his stuff. I love the MoTown stuff!

Someone I know mentioned that his death is for our generation what Elvis' death was for our parents'. One of my co-workers is already convinced he's not really dead. Are we going to spend the rest of our lives hearing about MJ sightings?!?! Too funny.

-- Friday: People at work never go out to lunch together, but a group decided to get the gang together and go on Friday. It was basically all the Managers, Directors, and VP's in accounting & finance. They are a fun group! It was nice to have a long lunch and Mary, one of the VP's, picked up the tab! That night, I went to a going-away party for a guy who has been pretty involved in Baylor alum stuff. I don't know him too well, but wanted to go and catch up with some other people I hadn't seen in a while. We had dinner at Hill Country, which is a restaurant I've been wanting to check out since it opened 2 years ago. It is owned by a guy who moved up from The Hill Country (area in Texas near Austin) and they are known by us Texans for having some Texas goodies shipped up, like Blue Bell Ice cream!! I actually wasn't that impressed, but the mac & cheese was really good. I passed on Ice Cream since they only had vanilla and chocolate and my favorite Blue Bell, ever since I was really little, has always been Cookies 'n Cream.

-- Saturday night I had two birthday parties. I organized a little dinner for my friend Danise's birthday. She wanted to go to Serendipity, so I made reservations and it turned out great. There were 6 of us there from church and it was a group I don't hang around to much, so it was nice to spend time with them. The food was yummy as always. I tried the Mint Frozen Hot Chocolate for the first time and I must admit that it does rival the Peanut Butter version. It was delish!

Kira, Katy, Danise, Susan, Joy, Treeny
Joy, Treeny, Kira...Kira is hilarious, don't know if you
can see her expression in this photo. She is a great
person to have around - always has you rolling!
Danise (B-day girl) and I

Kira (she's one of the girls I know who was an extra

in Duplicity) & Katy (she and I were both Pi Phis

at Baylor...just a few years apart)

Danise & I and our yummy

Mint Frozen Hot ChocolateKira & Katy got the regular one
The whole gang downstairs with the

Tiffany lamps in the background

My second birthday party on Saturday night was for Jackie. Joy was going too and we invited Danise to come along. It was over at the Boat Basin on the West Side. The Boat Basin is a fabulous casual restaurant right on the Hudson River. It was the perfect night to be there! I only stayed about an hour and then walked home for the night.

-- Sunday: In the morning I babysat the kiddos at church. I was with the babies and there was a 6-week old there for her first time. I held her for the entire hour and a half. She was absolutely precious!! I attended the morning service then ran home for a sandwich and made it to Broadway for a 3:00 play. August: Osage County was having their very last performance and because I loved it so much the first time I saw it, I wanted to see it one more time. Also, Phylicia Rashad was added to the cast since I saw it and I had wanted to see her in it. It was still so good the 2nd time. All the actors are brilliant. I still love the set that looks like a huge dollhouse. I just think this is a great play, even though it is 3 hours long! It was neat to be at the closing performance of a show, too. They were just really pumped up. They also got the longest standing ovation I've ever seen and instead of us taking pictures of them (which isn't allowed anyway), they were taking pictures of us - it was really cute!

I am, honestly, exhausted after such a busy week, but am looking forward to a 3.5 day weekend and what appears to be a much less busy week.

B&B's Visit - The Real Post

I had so much fun with Beth & Brian in town! I think they had a good time as well, so I was glad I was able to show them a good time on what I'm guessing will be their last trip to the big city for a while. We basically ate really well, shopped, and saw a show. Here's the run-down:

-- Dinner at Babbo, a Mario Batali restaurant in Greenwich Village. We'd all, separately, eaten at his restaurant Lupa before and I've also been to Otto...I love both. B&B wanted to go to another of his restaurants, so we picked Babbo. It was more gourmet/upscale than Lupa, with some strange items on the menu. Beth and I both got pasta that was yummy and then we spilt the Rabbit, which I just thought was okay. I think we all prefer Lupa and would love to go back there.

-- Dessert at Kyotofu. They wanted to go somewhere for dessert after Babbo, so I explained to them that Kyotofu has a really cool atmosphere with yummy desserts, but they're all made with tofu in them. Beth was appalled, Brian was dying to go. Brian won out and I kept trying to convince Beth that she would never know tofu was involved. She made me promise that if she didn't like it we could go to Magnolia for a cupcake afterwards. She LOVED it. We all did.

-- Brunch @ Cookshop. I've been wanting to go here ever since I heard that Rachel Ray doesn't eat out much except for brunch and this is her fav. It was a really cute place and the food was good, too. Definitely would go back, but it's in Chelsea and pretty far west, which means a long walk from the subway.

-- Cupcakes from Billy's. We passed by Billy's and picked up cupcakes for B&B for an afternoon snack. I LOVE Billy's cupcakes, but decided to try something new - the oatmeal raspberry square was delish!

-- Shopping in SoHo. Beth really wanted to go to the new TopShop (first one to hit the US) and the Calypso outlet, so we went down to SoHo to conquer these. She was so excited that TopShop had a maternity section and found a cute dress and sweater.

These aren't exactly like th picture I had sent

Beth the week before, but we did find some

similar shoes at TopShop.

-- We hit up 2 Bloomingdale's and both found some shoes. I am so in love with the Tori Burch flip flops, but refuse to pay $115 for them. I also spent a while analyzing the Le Pliage bags...still don't get the hype.

-- We didn't really want to spend time in Chinatown, but went just long enough to find my mom a new fake Rolex watch that she wanted - it literally took 45 seconds and we tag-teamed to talk the man down from about $45 to $20. It was awesome.

-- Dinner @ La Esquina. This is the super cool restaurant that is below a taco shack. You wouldn't know it was there w/o someone telling you and B&B were impressed that I'm in the know. The atmosphere is great and the food is fantastic. We even got dessert this time - a chocolate molten cake that was one of the best things I've ever had anywhere.

-- "9 to 5" on Broadway. So, so good! This is a really fun show. It's very upbeat, easy to follow, and cute. It stars 2 Hollywood actresses - Allison Janney and Megan Hilty. Also, we had 2 personal connections to it as Justin Bohon from CoMo is in the ensemble and our friend, Chandra's friend, Stephanie J. Block, is the 3rd leading actress. When Chandra stayed with me 2 years ago, she took me to see Stephanie in "The Pirate Queen". She is amazing! Excellent voice, definitely stole the show. It was a really fun night.

Stephanie J. Block

-- Pastries from Levain was our breakfast on Sunday morning. We love this bakery on the UWS and walked there from my apartment. On the way back, we found a coffee shop to sit in and enjoy our pastries and get a beverage and just sit and read for a while. It was a relaxing morning.

-- UWS shopping. We went through the Columbus Ave flea market and then hit up a couple of cute boutiques and a couple of children's clothing stores. I found a purse I loved, but it's quite a bit more than I'd normally pay for a purse...still have it on my mind, though.

-- Lunch @ Serendipity. Beth really wanted to go back here for lunch even though she's been a few times. I don't mind going there repeatedly because I really do think they have excellent food. I get a different sandwich almost everytime I go and have always loved it. We also split a PB Frozen Hot Chocolate - yum!

-- House projects! Brian is really good at fixing things and helped me secure some shelves I've been having trouble with. We had to make a couple trips to the hardware store, but he was able to find everything he needed and did a great job getting things fixed for me! Yeah! It was a great weekend!!!

B&B @ my subway stop

More tales of my Rent

When I signed my original lease for my apartment, I was also asked for my Social Security info on a form stating that the landlord would report my interest income for tax purposes. Basically, I'd be earning interest on my deposit. I had NEVER heard of such a thing and I've lived in about 9 rental properties since I was 19 years old. Well, today I got a check in the mail for my first year's worth of interest. It only amounted to $22.19, but I'll take it! Have you ever received an interest payment on a rental security deposit? Do my real estate attorney friends want to weigh-in? Do I need to go back and sue my previous landlords for my interest payments?

B&B

Beth & Brian came to visit me over the weekend. When I was home for Memorial Day weekend, I asked Brian to let her come up one more time because I'm afraid she'll NEVER come up after #3 is born. Beth came in on Thursday and Brian just happened to have work in Philly last week, so he took the cheap bus over on Friday. Last week, Beth emailed me to see if I thought it was okay that she was planning to wear sundresses and flip flops the whole time. Here was my response:

"Beth-- sundresses is fine, I think. Although, it hasn't really been summer here much, so you might bring a light sweater or something to pull on over your dress if it is chilly. Also, I've seen people wearing shoes like these twice in the past 2 days so if you want to be "in" in NYC, you might pick up a pair of these:"

I saw another pair the next day. Are those not the weirdest shoes? Beth & I were on a mission to find a pair to try on and take pictures with. Those pictures and more updates from the weekend coming soon....

Book Club, Belmont, Bar Search

I owe my blog some updates!! Work, again, has been crazy and I feel like I've been forgetting to breathe, let alone blog! We finished a HUGE project last weekend (yes, I worked another full weekend) and it feels so good to have it done. Over the past few weeks, I have had the chance to do a few fun things, too.

Book Club @ Adrienne's Pizza Bar
For book club last month, we read "In the Woods", which was a murder/mystery type book that I really enjoyed. We met to discuss the book at Adrienne's Pizza Bar on Stone Street in the Financial District. I had never heard of Stone Street, let alone been there. What a cool area!!! Stone Street is a cobblestone street blocked off to traffic and lined with bars and restaurants. In the summer, they fill the street with tables and chairs. It's such a great atmosphere. The food at Adrienne's was great, too. This is definitely an area I need to enjoy some more this summer.

The Belmont
I finally made it out to Belmont Park to see some horse racing and the Belmont Stakes, the third race of the Triple Crown. I went with some girls from book club: Rosella, Christina, Lynn, and Blanca, along with Lynn's husband, Trent, and Rosella's sister, Becky. We had SO much fun. We paid for nicer seats so we weren't with the rif-raf and it wasn't nearly as crowded and much cleaner than the area downstairs. Definitely worth the extra money. We had a lot of fun betting on the races and I actually came home with an extra $160! I've never won at anything like that before and I was SO excited!! The only other person who won was Christina and she won over $400. Amazing!

Lynn, myself and Christina on the Long
Island Rail Road out to Belmont Park

Rosella, Becky, and Blanca

I thought it was so gorgeous out there!

Blanca & Rosella sported hats for the races!

Most of the races were on the dirt track

We saw one race on the grass track

We took a walk to explore the park and found
the roses that would later be placed on the Belmont
Stakes winning horse. This is me sporting the roses.

The backside of the building was covered
in ivy and there were pretty gardens

We had fun looking at all the different hats!

Somehow Christina recognized this man....the
owner of Mine that Bird, the horse who won the
Derby this year and came in 3rd in The Belmont Stakes.

After watching and betting on several races, it was time for The Stakes!! My winning ticket and champagne toast!The big payout!

Winners!!!

Bar Search
My friend, Sarah, is the president of the OU alumni club in NYC (isn't that impressive??). They have outgrown their bar for football watch parties so she is on the hunt for a new location. I went with her one night to check out a bar near where I work and it was so much fun. We met with the owner and he got us free beer while he talked to us and showed us their space and then we sat at the bar for a while and he told the bartender to get us whatever we wanted. So, we got free dinner and more beer. Amazing and so fun!!

7s4cadpruv

Conversation with Ryder

I had a funny conversation with Ryder over Mem Day weekend that I forgot to include in my post. To fully appreciate the sweetness of this story, I'll give you some background info. Many of you have heard me say that Ryder is an extremely sweet kid. He was a very, very good baby and the mild manneredness has just continued. Not only is he well behaved, he is extremely loving and thoughtful and unselfish - in a way that I think is quite unusual for a 3-year-old. He's going to be a heck of a man some day! One way in which his sweetness is often displayed is in his caring for his little bro. He just loves Beau and they are seriously best friends. Ryder is always making sure that Beau is not left out of anything. This has been going on for ages. I've been talking to Ryder on the phone for a long time...since he could only babble. As soon as he knew a few words (and Beau was just a bitty baby), I would call and say hi and somewhere in the conversation he was bound to blurt out, "Beau's here!", as if to say, "yo, Su-Su, any good aunt would say hi to BOTH her nephews"! Or, when I called before I made my trip in May I would tell him all the fun things we were going to do and he would say "and Beau?", just to make sure Beau was going to get to come with us. Ryder just loves to include his little brother. (I should add here that I LOVE Beau, too, and talk to him quite a bit on the phone now as well and, of course, he's always included in the fun activities!).

Okay, so that brings us to the day I took the boys to Bounce-U. Ryder has been to birthday parties at a similar place in Dallas called Pumped It Up. On the way out there, I had both boys in the back seat and Ryder kept talking about Pump it Up, which resulted in us having the same conversation about 3 times. It went something like this:

Ryder: We're going to Pump it Up!
Susan: Actually, it's a place LIKE Pump it Up, but it's not the same. This one is called Bounce-U! (I wanted to clarify to him because I was afraid that if we got there and it wasn't what he expected he would be disappointed).
Ryder: Bounce-you??
Susan: Yep, Bounce-U!
Ryder: Bounce-Me??
Susan: hmm, hmmm (not knowing how to explain the concept of the name to a 3-year-old)
Ryder: But....what about Beau?

This is probably the only 3-year-old in the world who would've chosen not to go himself if his little brother wasn't going to get to bounce, too! I could probably learn a thing or two from him.

Tea for Two

Last weekend was so fun! On Saturday, I met my friend Danise for High Tea at Lady Mendl's in the Irving Inn. I read about this place recently and am so glad we checked it out. It was wonderful!! I emailed Danise because I knew she is a huge fan of going to tea. She loved it, too. We both decided that it was probably the best tea experience either of us have ever had. The food was great and it was plenty...unlike other teas where the food is mediocre and you don't leave feeling satisfied.

First off, Lady Mendl's is located in an adorable Inn in a brownstone in the Union Square area. The outside was even cute with flowers lining the staircase and flower-boxes in the windows.

Inside was just as adorable. Everything was decorated so cute and cozy...the perfect spot for tea. They had 3 rooms they use for tea, but 2 of the rooms were being used for showers that afternoon. This would be an incredible place for a wedding shower!!
We sat down in the back room to begin our tea experience. It was 5-courses, rather than the typical 3-courses. We started out with a small salad and mini asparagus quiche that was so full of flavor for it's tiny size. Next came the traditional tea sandwiches, which was probably my least favorite part. They were not the best sandwiches...I can make a better cucumber sandwich than they did! The third course was our scones w/ creme and raspberry jam....always my favorite part of tea and these did not disappointment. Next came dessert which was a french-vanilla/raspberry cake type thing. The fifth course was a little plate of cookies. Of course, we each had our own pot of tea and they kept our cups filled throughout the entire 1.5hour experience. I choose a Chinese black tea with floral flavors - very good.

After tea, we went over to Union Square to walk through the awesome Farmer's Market and go in some shops in the area. It was such a fun day!

On Sunday, I babysat the kiddos during the parent's CG. It was really nice outside, so we spent the entire morning outdoors on the playground - fun times! I then went to the morning service and then on to brunch with 4 of the girls in my CG. We went to Blockheads, which is a pretty decent Mexican restaurant. They were having brunch and it was really good and great conversation. One of the girls, Erin, is always good for some laughs...she keeps me going the whole time I'm with her. The weather was so gorgeous, so I spent some time reading and people-watching on The Great Lawn in CP. I love my backyard :)

It's a....

BOY! So, for those who haven't heard yet, my sister is pregnant with her 3rd baby. We recently found out that, yes, it is another boy. I expected that there would be some disappointment if this baby was not a girl, especially from my sister. But, there has been nothing but excitement! I think this is probably due to the fact that Ryder & Beau are just so sweet and cute. I mean, how could you not want another one of these:

Memorial Day Vacay

I spent a long weekend at home for Memorial Day and it was great!! My main goals were to spend time with Ryder & Beau and spend time outside at the pool. I was really, really bad about pulling out my camera this trip, so this will be a pretty boring post - sorry. Here's what I did while in Dallas:

- I spent Friday through Sunday nights at my sister's house. My parents were in Columbia, MO for the wedding of one of our old neighbors...a girl I started babysitting when she was a baby and I was 10-years-old. I moved over to my parent's house on Monday after they returned back to Dallas.

- Lots of pool time. The pool at my sister's house is great - I want one in my backyard (oh yeah, a backyard would be nice too). I spent time at the pool every day except Wednesday because I kind of over did it on Tuesday. The boys were out there with me much of the time - they can spend hours upon hours in the pool. They are such the little swimmers these days! It's a little scary with Beau because he seems to think he can swim, but he doesn't move at all and if you turn your back, you might find him face down in the pool just hanging out. That one has no fear. Ryder, however, doesn't stray too far from the edge, but he could - he can totally swim across the pool with a little coaxing and trickery. On Tuesday, my mom and I both went over there and she also had a blast playing with Ryder in the pool - Beau was napping. That's the day I stayed out too long and ended up burnt...it was only slightly painful and has faded into a tan now, just what I wanted!

- My sister lives close to some good shops, so I walked over there on Saturday afternoon after I'd gotten enough sun and Beth was out getting her hair cut. When I lived in Dallas, I also lived very close (probably closer) to these same shops, but I NEVER walked there - maybe once I did. Now that I walk everywhere I go, it seems funny that I used to drive to stores that were probably two tenths of a mile away from home.

- I babysat the boys on Saturday night so that Beth & Brian could go out. I took them to Chick-fil-a (or Chick-Oh-Lay, as they call it) for dinner and to play on the indoor equipment.

- I was bad and skipped church on Sunday, but enjoyed the quiet house while everyone else went. I woke up slowly, ate a good breakfast, and did my own quiet time and some other reading.

- I met friends for dinner on Sunday night. I decided to make things easy this time and invite all my Dallas friends to meet for dinner at once, rather than plan any one-on-one time or smaller group outings. I just didn't want to try to juggle too many things this trip and have more time to just relax and hang out with family. Nine of my friends ended up coming to dinner, so it was a great turn-out! I was joined by Kelli, Jennifer, Deanna, Worley, Brooke, Michelle, Andi, Tamara, and Elizabeth. I got reservations at Rise No. 1 and was SO excited because I've called them the last 2 times I've been home and hadn't been able to get a table. It's a souffle restaurant that my sister has been raving about. It was really cute inside-very French and the food was really good. I started with a Tomato soup that had mini goat cheese souffles floating in it. Then I had a tomato/pesto souffle for my entree that was really good. For dessert, Kelli & I split the chocolate souffle - it wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be - not very sweet, but it was okay. I was so glad to see everyone and missed the few who couldn't make it.

- On Monday morning, I took the boys out to Bounce U to play. This is the store that my friends, Jennifer & Todd, opened back in January. It's one of those places filled with bounce houses and other bouncey games. The boys had a great time as evidenced by Ryder's exclamation as we walked to the car, "I am SO tired and I am SO hungry"! We picked up chick-fil-a on the way home, of course! Bounce U was the only place I took pictures all weekend long!

I didn't have socks so I couldn't play, but Todd was a sport and helped Beau through the more difficult obstacle course. Beau was a little frightened of the slide, so Todd helped him down!

Ryder can do the slide all by himself!
Ryder also knew exactly what to do in the boxing ring.
He looked SO funny in the huge gloves.Beau quickly followed suit

And the match began!
Ryder playing t-ball

- Monday night, my parents drove straight to Beth's from Missouri and my uncle and his girlfriend came over as well. We had a BBQ w/ burgers, potato salad, apple pie, etc.... It was fun and good to see my uncle since he is moving to Colorado soon and seeing each other will become harder.

- After the BBQ, I went over to Michelle's house and got to watch The Bachelorette w/ the girls I used to watch with before moving! We still chat about it each week, but actually getting to watch with them was a real treat for me! I had planned to ban this season because I didn't like the outcome last season, but when I found out I could watch a show with Michelle, Andi, Worley, and Brooke, I decided I had to at least watch the first 2 weeks. Of course, now I'm probably hooked and won't be able to stop!

- Shopping! Something about shopping in Dallas is more fun. I think it's because I have people to go with me and have a car to lug my goods home in. I'd rather fly with my new stuff in a suitcase then drag it up and down the subway stairs! My sister and her whole family and I got up on Saturday morning and rushed to be at Old Navy at 9am for their annual flip flop sale ($1 each). Once we got there, we decided we didn't want them and left empty handed. On Sunday, my sister and I hit up The Gap so I could try on a bajillion pairs of jeans - I wanted to find 2 new pairs, but only found 1. My mom and I conquered a bunch of stores on Tuesday and Wednesday. I got some good stuff at Nordstrom rack - new dress, new towels, cute pair of flats, and earrings!

- On Tuesday night, mom made dinner for my dad and I. She whipped up a delicious chicken dish in about 30 minutes - I wrote the recipe down and hope to use it for myself! After dinner, mom and I rushed to the $1 theatre to see Taken. We got lucky because it was fifty-cent night - what a bargain! And we snuck in our own bag of microwave popcorn. Super cheap movie night! We loved the movie, which was totally our type - full of suspense.

- Last lunch. Before my flight on Wednesday, mom and I met Beth and the boys at Two Sisters for lunch. I was familiar with Two Sisters as a catering company, but didn't know they had opened up a little lunch spot. They had tons of different salads and sandwiches and good little desserts. It's a tiny little place and they were very busy that day, so it was a little chaotic, especially with the boys, but we had a good time and enjoyed the food!

My mission for the trip was accomplished. I came back to NYC with a tan and mosquito bites - this city girl couldn't ask for anything more!

Case in Point

This is a follow-up to my blog, here. As I stood in line to buy my train ticket to the airport last Friday, I noticed that there were 8 people in front of me. Six were women and 4 of the 6 had the Le Pliage bag by Longchamp. Four different colors & four different sizes, but the same bag. I'm telling you, they are everywhere!

I've been wanting a small tote that I can use to carry a book, bottle of water, extra pair of shoes, my sack lunch, etc.... I've been using my purse for all these things and I think that my purses wear out faster and my purses are always painfully heavy! The Le Pliage bag seems perfect for this, but I just can't bear to buy one. Instead, my mom and I went to the Wisteria warehouse while I was home and I picked up one of their small totes for $3! It's perfect and I love it! I've had one of their larger bags since Christmas and it is great for when you need a larger carry-on or it makes a perfect overnight bag. Perfect and cheap alternative to the Le Pliage.