Girls Weekend in The Big Apple!!

What a fun weekend with some great friends!  We flew up on Thursday morning and met Amy at the airport.  We then headed to our brownstone in Brooklyn (Crown Heights) to drop off our luggage and begin tackling the subway!  The subway became our best friend and mode of transportation for the trip.   It proved to be quite the entertainment and great place for people watching!

Mandy (our trip planner) had gotten us tickets to the Jimmy Fallon Show.  The show taped at 4:30 and we made it!  I had never watched his show, but it was great and proved to be a wonderful experience!

Here we are in line with our purple bracelets

 Then we were asked if we wanted to be back up dancers for the band that night.  We had no idea who the band was, but was up for some fun.  The band was Pavement...some 80's band that screamed the songs.  We wanted to be sort of hid over on the side, but no, we were front and center...and I don't dance!  Our family and friends however got a good laugh out of watching us and so did we!  Memories for a lifetime!

After the Jimmy Fallon show we checked out Times Square!

Then we headed to Little Italy for dinner

Dessert at Farrara's...yummy!

Friday we did a lot of sight seeing!

Never thought I'd want to see the Public Library in New York, but Mandy said we had to go.  It was so neat!  An extremely old Bible and beautiful architecture!

 When we got outside the library Inside Edition was asking for interviews about the CEO of the library and his salary.  Amy and I steered away from the cameras, but Mandy, Andrea, and Kim participated.

Then we made our way back to Grand Central Terminal

And once we were back in Times Square we saw the boy from the show Modern Family...

 and the show Extra was interviewing the lead singer of the Motley Crue, Vince Neil.  Notice Andrea in the background!

Next up...lunch at Carnegie Deli...a pastrami reuben!  It was huge, but delicious!

Central Park...some peacefulness in a busy city

Andrea and I had to visit the Apple Store!  This glass is where you enter and then you walk down a spiral staircase into the store.  It was craziness in there!

St. Paul's Cathedral

 St. Patrick's Cathedral on the inside...once again, beautiful architecture!

Our entertainment for Friday night...Mamma Mia!  We were meeting up with Mandy and Kim's friend, Julie.  She was in line for Mamma Mia and we were in line for Wicked.  She was able to get to the box first and scored us some fun box seats so we headed over.  We had no idea how great the show would be.  The greatest part had to be the usher that we saw as the show ended.  For the closing number he stood in the back of the theater and danced to the songs and he knew every single move!  We were laughing so hard we were crying.  Then as the curtain closed, he ran down the aisle waving! Hilarious!

 Kim sat with Julie and her friend across from us!

 To finish the night we had a late night dinner of pizza at Artichoke.  It was just a walk up and order pizza place, but it was delicious.  I have never had a piece of pizza that tasted that good!

Saturday we started off the day with a run across the Brooklyn Bridge.  I may have walked most of it because I was not in shape at all, but it was a highlight of the trip for me!  So fun!

 Hanging out in the subway waiting for the train!

After heading back to get cleaned up we went to the apartment of the friend of Mandy and Kim's friend, Julie.  She lived in the East Village, six floors up some very steep stairs!  No elevator!  I would die, but maybe I'd be in shape!  This is us on her roof top terrace.  Beautiful!  The girl between Andrea and Kim is Julie.

Next up was lunch and a cupcake dessert at Chelsea Market

Then to Ground Zero...this cross was so neat!

 Across the street from the site of the World Trade Center is St. Paul's Chapel.  This little chapel had no damage when the towers fell.  It was also a place for the workers to rest.  Now it is set up as a type of museum.

A bell sent over by Britain after the attacks

 Names of those who died in the attacks are written on this flag

 Notes sent in to encourage the workers

 Badges from all the different rescuers companies

 Cots were set up for the workers to sleep

 I thought this fire truck was neat that we saw after leaving the chapel

Battery Park and a look at lady liberty!

Dinner at the restaurant Butter

Mandy and Amy were so excited about this! A favorite chef from Food Network, Alex Guarnaschelli, owns the restaurant.  As we were waiting for our table, Mandy was looking through the little windows into the kitchen and spotted her.  Mandy got so excited!  Our waitress was so sweet and actually got her to come out to the table.  She talked to all of us for a while and Mandy and Amy were giddy with excitement!  The food was amazing too!

 Can you tell how big their smiles are?!?!

Sunday...time to head back home, but not without a little run (for some, not me) at Central Park

 This is outside our brownstone.  It seriously reminded me of The Cosby Show.  So cute and fun to experience!

I'm so thankful to Jason for letting me go on this amazing weekend!  Mandy was an awesome planner and Kim turning 30 gave us a reason to go!  It was so great to get away for a little while and spend some time with friends in the Big Apple!  Memories to last a lifetime!

Sniff, Sniff...

My baby's not a baby anymore!! Ok, I knew she wasn't, but she's officially a big girl now in a big girl bed! We made the switch tonight. Jason won after I tried to convince him that she could stay in her crib a little longer. Once Jason got it switched she started crying that she wanted to sleep with mommy and daddy. We told her she couldn't and when it was time to go to bed she did GREAT!!! Hopefully this won't change, but she didn't move around and went right to sleep. So proud of my big girl!

Pretending!!

Out for the night!

Fair Time!!

It's that time again...the Gwinnett County Fair is in town. We didn't make it last year due to all the rain so this year we decided to go the first night. It wasn't crowded which was nice. Raleigh loved the carrousel and swings (these are the swings for kids and I tried to fit in the "bigger" one so she would ride, well, I got in, but it was tight! Jason got a nice laugh out of it!). We also rode the ferris wheel. Raleigh enjoyed it to begin with, then she said, "I'm done with it" and wanted off. We only rode a little longer, but she held her ears because it was too loud. :) The best part was the 4-H petting farm! Lots of cute animals and a free milk at the end! Of course the fair wouldn't be complete without a funnel cake and fresh squeezed lemonade!

Future Photographer???

Obviously I have an obsession with taking pictures all the time. Well, Raleigh has my old, old, camera (one we had before she was born and probably our first digital camera) that we charge up and let her use. She's gotten really good at taking pictures. Maybe she'll have a future as a photographer.

Illuscination!

We went to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus...Illuscination! It involved some magic, but of course it had all the animals! We went early for the All-Access PreShow which was fun (and scary). Raleigh enjoyed it even though she got a little antsy during the first half. Fun night!! Oh, and you were not allowed to take pictures during the circus (even though I took a few the second half once everyone else was), so I enjoyed it without looking through a lens!

Balancing a feather...not too interested

This would be the scary part! Suzy, the elephant, was HUGE!!! Not only was she huge, but she was right in front of us. I wanted to take more pictures, but in the back of my mind I was fearful that the flash would set her off and then she'd rush into the crowd killing and injuring many (I'd seen too many TV shows about elephants running away in the circus)! Luckily she was a great elephant and did her job without killing us!

Not sure what happened to Raleigh's eyes in this picture!

Go Georgia Bulldogs!!!

For Mother's Day Jason surprised me with Georgia season tickets (this was when he had been working 12+hour days and I didn't think he would have a gift...little did I know he could shop while working)! Today was the first game (and one of six dates that we'll get to have this fall). We had a great time and especially since it was a win! Georgia 55 - Louisiana-Lafayette 7

Go Dawgs!!

Georgia State vs. Shorter

It's college football time!!! I love college football (and football of any kind). Usually it's Georgia that I pull for, but to kick off the season we cheered on Shorter at the Georgia Dome. When I was in college I NEVER thought I would be at a Shorter football game...then it was basketball or baseball (and soccer was new). Well, not long after I graduated, Shorter got its first football team. When I heard that they were going to play Georgia State for their first game ever in the Dome I knew I wanted to go. We went with Rando, Amanda, and the kids along with all of Amanda's family. It was a fun time with half the group cheering for Shorter and half cheering for Georgia State! Despite Shorter losing we had a great time...Go Hawks!!

Nutritious dinner at The Varsity!

Here come the Hawks!!

TOUCHDOWN!!!

Not the end we wanted

Shorter Alum and our kids

...and Jason