Stellar for Haiti Benefit Masquerade Ball and Birthday Party

This was three events all rolled into one!  Rosella's friend Deyvis planned his birthday party to also be a benefit for Haiti and the theme was masquerade.  I couldn't miss it!  I took Joy along with me and we had a good time.  It was at the fabulous roof-top of a fancy apartment building in Chelsea.  It was a great location for a party...nice indoor space with kitchen and a great outdoor space as well.  We had fun mingling all night with new friends and old.

City View from the roof

Joy and I

Reggie

With Rosella

Rosella's crew

Random guy who borrowed my mask

Rhett Miller @ City Winery

A few friends and I went down to City Winery to see Rhett Miller play. City Winery is one of my new favorite spots in the city. It is such a nice, big space with a great wine list and food and a fun calendar of events! Although I've seen Rhett play with the Old 97's numerous times, this was my first time to see him play solo. I forgot that I actually have some of his solo songs so I was pleasantly surprised that I knew some of them. I like music best when I know it. My friends here have some fun connections to Rhett Miller and his family so they are always willing to go out and support him when he's in town. Erin went to high school in Highland Park with Rhett's sister. Rhett used to get them into the clubs he was playing at in Deep Ellum when they weren't yet old enough to get in. The other connection is that my friend Kim's best friend married Rhett's brother. So, that night, Kim told me that Rhett's brother was at Baylor when I was...a couple of years older and a KOT. I was shocked to find this out. Rhett does not seem Baylor or KOT to me.  At all.  So, to find out his brother was threw me for a loop!  So, the next morning, I called my sister figuring that she probably knew this guy. I couldn't believe that she knows Rhett's brother quite well! She knew him at Baylor, but now they go to church together in Dallas. I asked her if she realized who his brother was (I've been talking to her about the Old 97's for years). Her response was "some musician guy". I was like, um, hello...how could you not have figured this out before now??  She was just as surprised to find out he's the lead singer for the Old 97's.  Funny. All that to say, it was a good night and I might just like Rhett a little more now that I know he comes from some of my people.

JOY to the World!

Joy's birthday was February 12th, but since she was out in Vancouver working the Olympics for about 5 weeks, she had to postpone her celebration.  We went out on March 12th instead and Joy put a really fun night together.  First stop was dinner at The Pink Pony.  This was such a cute, cute restaurant down on the LES.  It was so quaint and just adorable!  The food was frenchy...sandwiches, salads, and other entrees.  I had a great sandwich and it was not too expensive to boot!  This was a great little find and I'd love to head back there for brunch some day.

After dinner, we headed towards The Slipper Room for their Friday night burlesque show.  Now, I've never seen burlesque and although it wasn't too, too racy, I don't really need to go again.

It was a very fun night celebrating Joy with her friends!

Overwhelmed

I was overwhelmed this Easter weekend by the love of my Savior. What a great feeling. To know He chose to die for me (and you!) so that we could have eternal life? And not only that, He left us with everything we need so that we can live our lives here in complete freedom from the sin that so easily entangles. It amazes me that He wanted to do this for me. He didn't have to, but He chose to endure it anyway. What love!

My entire weekend was nearly perfect. Easter Sunday really could not have been more perfect. It was the kind of day I wanted to place in a box, tie with a bow, and place on my shelf to pull out again another day.

Good Friday is always such a great day. We get out of work at 1:00...that extra half-day makes the weekend feel like an eternity! It was gorgeous outside, and I had a lot of errands to run. I spent time on the Upper West Side visiting many grocery stores and markets and other shops. It was the perfect afternoon to be out and about. Then, I went home to cook and clean and get ready for a little party Saturday morning. Having that extra half-day to prepare for it was so wonderful! Friday evening, I went to my church's Good Friday service. It was great, as always, and I saw so many friends there. I love my church family and love that I have somewhere I really belong.

Afterwards, Hillery and I went to a fun restaurant near the church that she had told me about...Dogmatic! It was so fun! It's a sausage place...really good sausages. They come in all different meats and are seasoned really well and they bake them right in the middle of a baguette. Then, you get to choose a sauce for the sausage, a side, and a homemade soda...yes homemade! I chose the turkey sausage with truffle Gruyere sauce, asparagus for my side, and a Grape soda. It was soooo good. I can't wait to hit this place up again!

On Saturday, I held a brunch/jewelry party. I wish I had remembered to pull out my camera! A girl I went to high school with recently started her own jewelry line, so I decided I could host a party for her and introduce her to a whole new group of NYC clients. It wasn't the greatest weekend to hold a party since many people were out of town or had family in town, but we decided to go for it anyway. It turned out fine and Shana did sell some of her jewelry. I made some finger foods for brunch that turned out really good. I made a fruit salad, sausage balls, mini quiches and butter horns. I hadn't made butter horns in years and had forgotten how amazing these are! If you need a new pastry recipe, you should definitely try these out! The ingredients may seem a bit strange, but they turn out oh, so good!

Butter Horns

Rolls:
2 sticks of margarine (I used butter)
12 oz cottage cheese
2 cups flour Dash of Salt

Cream butter & cottage cheese. Add flour & salt. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Divide dough into 3 parts. Roll each into a circle on floured surface. Cut into 12 wedges. Roll 12 wedges into crescent roll shapes. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 T milk
1 t vanilla extract
Mix until smooth - spread over horns.

On Saturday evening I babysat. I love babysitting these kids. They are SO sweet. I did see the 3-year-old throw a temper tantrum for the first time and all I could do was laugh. He is normally so mild mannered that I couldn't believe he was freaking out on me. It's more shocking that I had never seen him behave like this than the fact that he had a fit. He's 3, it's understandable. I love their parents, too. They just seem to have it so together and they seem to have a great relationship with their kids and each other. I like watching them and being a part of it occasionally. It's also nice going over there and having a little time with the kids and then some major quiet time after they go to bed. Sitting and reading a book on their comfy sofa on a Saturday night is delightful.

Sunday = Resurrection Day! You know you've had a good day in NYC when you come home and your feet are aching terribly. I met my community group for church and I invited my friend Angela to come with us. Angela is Lucy's co-worker who I met in January and went to the Olympics with us. Whenever I'm around her, we're always with church people...Lucy or Jen and Kim. Naturally, church comes up and sometimes she seems intrigued by the idea of our church and that all these young people are actually going to church in NYC together. So, I gathered that maybe on Easter she'd be open to coming (our pastor always encourages us to bring friends, but especially on the Holidays because many people who are not normally open to going to church will go on a Holiday). Angela was really excited about it and she seemed to really like it. I don't know that she'll come again before next Easter, but we'll see. It was a great service with a very basic sermon on the Gospel and baptism and great songs.

Oddly, my church is picking up more and more Missourians. There have always been plenty of Baylor and Texas people and that won't change. Suddenly, we have people from my hometown there, too though. It's weird because I never thought of my hometown as very Christian. Yesterday in church, a guy I went to high school with was sitting on the row behind me and also behind me was a girl who grew up in Jeff City (30 minutes away) and went to school in Columbia (Mizzou!). I knew both of them, but they didn't know each other so I introduced them and we all stood there in awe that we come from the same places. There is also a girl who has been coming to my community group for a few months who is from Columbia...she is so great and I'm so glad she's become a part of our group!

After church, we walked all the way down the Upper East Side and on 5th Avenue along the park to mid-town. It was such a pleasant walk. The trees on the UES are blooming and so pretty. The weather was just perfect. When we got to mid-town, we hit the Easter Hat Parade. Not as exciting as the first time around, but still quite fun to see all the crazy hats. I especially like the old timey pretty hats....I wish I had an occasion to wear one of those to!  I took pictures of the fun hats, but forgot to take one of my friends...so sad!

I think that next year I need to have a hat making party the day before Easter so we can join in the fun on 5th Ave.

For Brunch, we went to Bar Americain. This is one of Bobby Flay's restaurants. It wasn't our first pick, but we waited so long to make reservations, that we didn't have many options. We had a lot of fun - we were there for 2.5 hours and the last people from the brunch crowd to leave! So, it definitely was not a bad experience. We weren't super impressed with the food though. The bread basket they bring to every table was amazing. It came with all kinds of sweet and savory breads and they were all so good. It was definitely the best part of our meal. Our entrees were just okay...nothing spectacular. Hillery, Kim and I split a chocolate dessert that was very good. It was also huge. I felt like we all ate so much of it and there was still some left. We had a great time. Afterwards, we hopped in a couple of stores nearby and then all headed our separate ways.

It was so nice out that I decided to go for a long walk through the park and then around the UWS. The park is looking so springy! A perfect Easter day walk.

I can't believe I had never seen this Garden in the park before. It's so close to my apartment! It is right by the Delacorte theatre, which is where they hold Shakespeare in the Park during the summer.

There are places in the middle of the park where you can not see any buildings or hear the cars and hustle and bustle of the city. It's a nice feeling to almost get away from the city in those places. But, I also appreciate the spots where you can see the buildings. It's good to remember that all this beauty exists right in the middle of the greatest city in the world!

Three shades of purple flowers! 

(this one's for you, Brooke :) )

I finally saw one of my big celebrity neighbors!!!! I've heard for a long time that Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick live on 89th Street (I am on 88th) and that they are staples around the UWS. Supposedly they really claim the UWS as theirs and they are out and about a lot and people see them all the time. Except me. I finally saw Kyra while I was on my walk. She was walking with a friend on Columbus Ave and they passed right by me. I had just left home, so I did a 180 and followed them. Horrible, I know. But, I wanted to see exactly where she lived (my mom will appreciate me knowing when she comes to visit in May). I only knew they were on 89th, but didn't know if that meant they owned one of the Brownstones or that they were in one of the fancy high rises that faces the park. They are in the high rise. It is SO close to my apartment and I pass it all the time whenever I go to run or walk in the park. I will have to be a little more aware of who is coming in and out of that building from now on.

After my walk, I came home to dye Easter Eggs. I haven't done this in years and really wanted to this year. It was fun, but I found out that this is a craft I am not so great at. The spackled ones and the ones I painted flowers on are my favorites. I wish I could have been better with the Wax Crayon, but that just wasn't working for me at all.

So, that was my Easter 2010. Very wonderful.

Olympic Trip - Vancouver 2010

Even though it has taken me SIX WEEKS to write about my trip to the Olympics, please, please, please do not let that lead you to believe it wasn't worth blogging about.  It was an amazing trip!  So great, that I've decided I just may need to go to every Olympics from here on out.  London 2012...here I come!!!  The atmosphere and energy there was so exciting and fun.  We met people from all over the world.  We watched Olympic events, met athletes, and attended a medal ceremony.  We stayed sooo busy the whole time and had so many things we wanted to do that we hardly even slept while we were there.  Luck seemed to be on our side most of the trip, so we got to see and do more than we ever imagined...and even for much cheaper than what we budgeted!  It was so much fun.  I started to write out stories of the trip, but it really just seemed too much to go into all the details.  So, if you want to hear the nitty-gritty (like, perhaps, how we ended up going to a party in a VIP car with a gold medal athlete and Queen Latifah), then just ask!  Otherwise, I'm just posting pics and brief details here!

We had fun posing in cut-outs around Vancouver!

Jen

Me

Kim

Pretty train station in Vancouver

Greeting from one of the Olympic mascots

A Vancouver building decorated with Canadian spirit

We tried our hardest to get tickets to the Opening

Ceremony...they were just toooo expensive.  So,

we watched in a bar/restaurant nearby with

hundreds of other people and still had fun!

When we realized Wayne Gretzy was headed our way

with the Olympic torch, we left the restaurant with

everyone else and ran through the streets of Vancouver

to see the official Olympic flame.

We also saw the fireworks....you may recognize the

tent-like things in this picture.  They were often the

backdrop for Bob Costas' NBC Olympic Coverage.

Many of the countries and sponsors have "houses"

where they host their athletes, guests, clients, etc

for parties or meals...We set a goal to go to at least

5 of these.  This was outside the Germany tent in

Vancouver.  The line was tooo long to get in, but

we did chat with and take our picture with some

German men just outside the German house...

they were hilarious!

The official Olympic clock....

almost 5 hours into the Games!

The Public Library in Vancouver.  My time in Vancouver

was short, as we headed to Whistler where we stayed

the rest of the trip, but I think I could LOVE Vancouver.

I want to do a Vancouver/Whistler trip some summer

for a week...maybe 2011...anyone in???

Our first morning in Whistler, Jen & I ate a great

breakfast at a French restaurant, did some shopping

and were on a mission to find event tickets for cheap!

These tents were the ticket booths.  While we waited

in line, we got to hear the All-American Rejects

rehearsing for the medal ceremony that night and we

could kind of see them through breaks in the fences.

It was a free concert to us!  Notice the flags at half-mast

for the Georgian luge athlete who died.

The atmosphere in Whistler Village was just as

energetic as that of Vancouver.  There were

people everywhere.  This was a crazy band

running through the crowds!

There were huge tv screens set-up throughout

Whistler Village, including this one just at the

base of the slopes and by one of the main lifts.

The Olympic mascots were out

and about in Whister, too!

We took our pics with the mascots in the

official Olympic store in Whistler.

Jen & I (after having some serious luck at buying tickets)

with Kim and Angela (after their day of snow boarding).

My only ski lift ride was to get up to the luge track

The Whistler mountains are beautiful!!!

Jen & I arriving at the sliding track for Day 1 of Luge.

We loved this event so much, we went back for Day 2.

It was SO much fun to watch in person!

The views from the mountain above

the luge track were so pretty!

Two men getting the track ready for competition

Despite a rainy Day1 we had a blast...and spent some

time enjoying one of the Warming Tents and the

awesome heater/dryer fan that warmed us

up and dried us out!

 Day 2 of luge was Valentine's Day.  Jen & I brought

Valentine's for everyone.  We enjoyed some

Sweethearts in the Warming Tent.

It was neat to see all the fans from so many different

countries.  The Swiss & the British were there!

Of course the Americans were there!

This was the main USA cheering squad...

all the moms and dads of the lugers

We met USA luger, Christ Mazdzer's, sisters, girlfriend,

and best friends in the warming tent.

There were even some GAPERS* there!

This pic was taken especially for my friend,

Melanie, with whom I learned the term

and have since enjoyed many GAPER

spottings from ski lifts all over CO and WY.

*GAPER, skiier wearing '80's style ski clothers

Us girls sitting on the track.  We had full reign of the

entire course and had a blast watching from different

viewpoints.  With 39 lugers sliding twice each day,

we watched it 156 times!  It was neat to see it

from different spots along the track.  This was one

of our favorites because you could get so close to

the track, you could touch it.

We stood in this place for quite a while as well.

One of the major curves on the track.

He's going so fast, it's hard to see,

but there is a luger by the 'V'

This picture cracks us all up. Angela was trying to catch

one of the lugers going by, but missed him.  She

still caught me screaming at him though!

We loved trying to time our picture taking so that we

could actually get the lugers in our pictures.  They went

by so fast, it was difficult to do.  We often missed them

altogether or just got part of their body in the picture.

We got cowbells to cheer the guys on in Olympic style!

With our bells on Day 1...super rainy day!

With our bells on Day 2...the sun came out!

Kim grabbed Jen's USA scarf to cheer on

Tony Benshoof, our favorite luger.

 (Kim met him at the Salt Lake Olympics)

Of course, we all also had to get the red Vancouver

2010 mittens...so popular at the games this year!

I love how this pic shows the luger both on the screen

and just below it in real life on the track!

In spot, we could watch the timer to see how

good of a start each luger got off to.

We spent some time at the top of the track
watching the athletes take off
Visor Down!

Here he is winding up!

And paddling down the first little hill.

The 50/50 curve, named by Steve Holcomb (USA
Bobsled pilot Gold medalist & new friend of ours)
because only 50% of sleds get by here without
crashing.  Sadly, this is where the Georgian luger
lost his life just a few days prior to this picture.

Christ Mazdzer feeling good coming off
the finish line!

Chris, excited to see his bare-stomached friends & family

while being interviewed by NBC's, Lewis Johnson.

We met Lewis later that night at the Jamaica House...

he's from Dallas!

Loch Felix, the Gold medalist, of Germany giving a little

fist pump while slowing down after his final run!

Loch Felix exiting the track.

Bronze medalist, Armin Zoeggeler
of Italy exiting the track

David Moeller, Silver Medalist, of Germany

waving to his fans after his final run

Tony Benshoof of USA leaving after giving it

his all...he is the best American luger, but

finished 8th in this competition.

This is Shiva, a luger from India.  He had a HUGE
following and we quickly became fans as well!

For the longest time, we thought Shiva was Indian

Italian because of all these flags.  We finally were

informed that he's just Indian, but has a Gelato

company that sponsors him.  The Italian flag

that is on his banners was very misleading!

One evening while we were out, we went to the Jamaica

House and we ran into one of Shiva's coaches.  We were

so excited to meet him!

Silver medalist David Moeller leaving the track

Tony Benshoof!

These people seemed to perform some sort of testing

or measurements on the luge sleds after each run.

A luger from Austria

Kim & Jen

Anglea and I

I sped walked all over the mountain side to find the

man who was handing out these little pink balls.  It was

exhausting, but worth it!  They got us free access into

one of the Olympic Award Ceremonies! These were

hard-to-get tickets and we were dying to go!!!

I ran into the Australian Bobsled

team at the sliding track

The Aussies

They did the flower ceremony immediately following

Day 2 of luge.  The medals would wait for a

medal ceremony.  We were excited to at least

see the guys get their flowers and stand on a podium!

Gold me Felix Loch

Silver medalist, David Moeller

Kim told me that Bronze Medalist, Armin Zoeggeler,

is known for never smiling, so we started yelling

out his name trying to get his attention.  He was

ignoring us, so I finally just yelled "Come ON, dude!"

And he turned around and actually SMILED for us :)

Kim couldn't believe it.

After all that sliding track action, we just had to

take our picture in this Bobsled at the

Whistler Fairmont Hotel.

Getting to attend an Olympic Medal Ceremony

was so exciting!  They had a staged area set-up

in Whistler Village just for these nightly occasions.

All four of us so excited to be there

- thanks to my pink balls!

We saw the medals given for the Nordic Combined Men's

Individual 10km, which was awesome because

the silver medalist was an American!

So glad to see our flag as part of the ceremony!

Johnny Spillane

Johnny with Jason Lamy Chappuis (gold) of

France and Alessandro Pittin (bronze) of Italy

We also saw the medal ceremony for the Men's 10 km

sprint biathlon.  Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway won

silver, Vincent Jay of France gold and

Jakov Fak of Croatia bronze

At our medal ceremony in Whistler, they televised

the ceremony going on simultaneously in Vancouver.

We saw Apollo Ono receive silver on the big screen!

Costumes were a big thing at the Olympics -

who knew??

Of course there were fireworks!

After the medal ceremony was a concert.

Estelle!  I didn't really know who she was

but did know her song American Boy when

she got to it.  It was a fun concert!

At the Medal Ceremony, we also got to see

Whistler's version of the Olympic Flame.

Jen & I spent 1 day at Cross Country (men's and

women's) while Kim & Angela went snowboarding.

The views out at the Cross Country track were

absolutely beautiful. It was a gorgeous day!!

This event was very family-friendly and a lot of

people were just picnicking in the hills while watching

the skiiers go by.  It was a fun atmosphere! In this pic,

one of the reporters had challenged all the kids to a

race to see who could slide down the hill fastest.

We spent most of our time in a spot where we could

see the skiiers in the middle of their race and could

also see the start and finish lines...it was great!

Watching the men take off from the starting line.

They took off about 30 seconds apart from one another.

Since they stagger the start times, it was always exciting

to see one skiier bypass another.

I wonder if the skiiers are at all aware of

the beauty surrounding them as they race.

There were also people from all over the world out

to watch Cross Country.  The Germans!

What is that blue/white flag for??  Anyone?

The Russians were out in FULL force!

The Swedish were there (and won Gold for women's)

And the Estonian's were there, too

(and won Silver for women's)

There were lots and lots of Czech's there too.

(They took home Bronze in the men's)

Crazy American mohawks

We saw the flower ceremony for the Women's

We had dinner one night at the Swiss House!

Olympic statue out of Lindt chocolate at the Swiss House

We seriously got the best table in the house!

Later, some new Swiss friends joined us

While we waited for our food, we enjoyed

some wine, some Swiss accordion music

and, of course, Olympic coverage on the TV

We were SO excited to get fondue at the Swiss House.

Unfortunately, it was not the best we've ever had.

Our new Swiss friends told also us it was nothing

like the cheese fondue in Switzerland.  Bummer.

After dinner, we checked out the Jamaica House

and discovered that Angela and one of the

Swiss boys are very good dancers!

Meanwhile, Kim and I found more boys in costumes.

This time it was German boys.

The Canadians at the Jamaica House broke

out into their National Anthem to end the evening.

The USA House was private.  Luckily, we have friends
in high places.  Our NYC friend, Mallika, works for the
US Olympic Committee and was working at the USA
House for the entire Olympics.  She got us on the list
to have dinner there one evening.  The USA house
was in an actual residential house that the USOC rented
for the Olympics.  The owners of the house also once
rented it out to MTV for Real World/Road Rules
Competition.  The house was amazing!!

 The USA house kitchen and staff.  The chef is
on the right. She prepared us some
really yummy food for dinner.

Mallika & Steven Holcomb @ the USA House

He is the USA Bobsled pilot and he and his

teammates were frequent guests at the USA

house.  Mallika got to know them quite well.

And they went on to win the GOLD!

We ate dinner and then Mallika joined

us for some fun when she had some down-time

Mallika introduced us to Steven while at dinner.  He

was very nice and laid-back.  He ended up leaving

with us and spent the rest of the evening with us.

My first self-portrait with an Olympic Gold medalist

All weekend long, we'd heard of Queen Latifah

sightings around Whistler Village.  We had our

own this night.  I NEVER take pictures of

celebrities at close range. I don't know what got

into to me, but the Queen did not like this AT ALL.

As evidenced by the picture I ended up with. Little

did I know at this point, that Steven KNOWS

Queen Latifah.  About 15 minutes later, I found

myself in one of the VIP Olympic vehicles with

Queen Latifah.  Awkward.  I don't think she

recognized me as the rude paparazzi girl, though.

Hanging out at the Lululemon House. Lululemon (the
yoga apparel company) is one of Steven's sponsors.
They also sponsor many Canadians, so there were
a lot of athletes hanging out there.  I met some really
great Canadian skiier (supposedly) but I have
forgotten his name, of course.

Jen and I went Dog Sledding.  Fun!

They put us in these crazy coats.  Kind

of disgusting, but at least we were super warm.

Self-portrait with our guide

At times, the dogs went really, really

fast, which was slightly scary, but

mostly just lots of fun!

It was so pretty and very, very quiet

And the dogs took us to an area

where we went snow-shoeing!

Jen trying to do some climbing in her snow shoes

I asked our guide if I could check out the igloo where

they store the snow shoes and other equipment. It

was so cool in there!  They had just celebrated a

birthday there, so it was filled with balloons.

And we ended up at this huge waterfall

Beautiful!

Jen even took a stab at steering us on the way back.

I did not feel comfortable putting her life in my

hands, but was not afraid at all to put mine in hers

The crazy vehicle that took us from Whistler Village

up to the Dog Sledding place and back.

We got up early our final morning in Whistler so

we could get a picture with the Olympic rings

before heading out.  We'd been waiting to get

this shot with all 4 of us all weekend! Unfortunately,

after our wild night with Queen Latifah, we could

not drag Angela out of bed to go with us.