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!!

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