Déjà vu

I spent the day back in my old office in Huntsville...pretty much exactly the same as I left it.

A Sibling Getaway

My brother and sister both came to visit for a loooong weekend last week. We had a blast! Here are a few highlights:

Yummy sushi dinner on Dad, all the way from Tennessee (Thanks, Dad!)


Wandering around downtown




Our first ever NBA game - Nuggets vs. Pacers



2 days of skiing/snowboarding on fresh powder in beautiful weather




Ice butt


A cute puppy face


Curling!


A fun joke on Mom :)


Can't wait for the 2nd annual Sibling Getaway!

Short escape to Silverthorne

Although I had never been, I recently became obsessed with going snowshoeing. It seemed like a great alternative to skiing which I haven't fallen in love with quite yet. Sorry. You still get to be outside in the beautiful snowy mountains and get a great workout at the same time. So, when the opportunity arose to go to Silverthorne for a couple of days and go snowshoeing, I jumped on it!

We went up on Saturday, and I was blown away by the views from the cabin.











We spent Saturday relaxing and reading in front of the fire. I got a little obsessed with a giant book of crossword puzzles but managed a long enough break to take a much needed nap. Scarlett, of course, loved the fire.



Sunday morning, we got up early and got ready for some snowshoeing (!). We suited the pup up in her jacket and boots and got our snowshoes on.







The cabin backs up to a national park, so once we were ready, we just headed out the backdoor. Pretty convenient, huh?

I have to say, one of the best parts of snowshoeing - and by best, I mean funniest - is that if you fall down and try push yourself up, you're actually pushing down on 3-4 feet of snow, so you just sink. Watching someone fall and try to get up is hilarious! And, by the way, I laughed more than Danny did. Just saying.

The views the whole time were beautiful. We were surrounded by amazing mountains and untouched snow.













Although we never found the road or path we were supposed to find, we had so much fun. Scarlett had a blast too (She slept for about 16 hours once we got home). I'm really looking forward to snowshoeing again. Hope it's soon!

under the boardwalk, down by the sea

well, strike the "under." we were on top of the boardwalk.

while we were in southern california for jen's wedding, we spent a day wandering around huntington beach. my mom & her friend, brenda (seen below), actually grew up there, so there was lots of reminiscing. the weather was gorgeous; it was a little cool that day, but it was clear (as in smog free), and the sun was shining.

new york, new york

it's a wonderful town! the bronx is up and the battery's down! the people ride in a hole in the ground! sorry, musical lover coming out in me (on the town, in case you're wondering)...

our long weekend in new york was fabulous (of course)! we got in wednesday night & met husband's boss for drinks at the hotel bar (how nyc). after getting over the shock of it being my first time in the city, boss insisted that we go out and wonder the city. we walked up and down 5th avenue...went into the apple store which is open 24 hours...and then stumbled up on this:



a movie set! see the incredibly bright light? it was the set of the sorcerer's apprentice staring nick cage. now, we had never heard of this movie, but it was still pretty cool to stumble upon the filming a movie in new york city that had a large portions of 5th shut down. we jokingly made references to the scene in disney's fantasia called the sorcerer's apprentice (you know with mickey and the brooms), but it turns out that's exactly what the movie is...a live-action version...weird, i know.

thursday, we all had to work for most of the day (boring). we finished up in the afternoon and somehow ended up in east village at a random comedy club where we made up 4 the 6 audience members required to start the show. we saw 5 comedians as part of the show, and i'd say 2.5 were actually funny. despite danny being called a serial killer who was planning on killing me later & his boss being named as "the guy who drives the van," we had a great time. here's art & danny taking their turn at the mic.



that night, we had dinner at sorella which i highly, highly recommend. the chef is emma hearst, and after eating at her restaurant, i am in love with her. it's completely nondescript from the outside; a wooden grate covers the window, so you can't see inside.



once you're inside, it's lovely. the roof is all glass; i'd love to see it in the daytime. we ate the table in the corner, and played musical plates with every dish so that everyone got to try everything. you can hear more about the food from the chef herself.



jeri arrived after dinner (yay!) and met us at mcsorley's which is nyc's oldest continuously running saloon. abe lincoln drank there, and when you order beer, you have 2 options - light or dark.

after that, danny and i wandered around rockefeller plaza & peaked inside the today show studio which i was super excited about (yes, i know i am a big dork)!







friday, danny, dave, jeri, and i all spent the day together. after lunch (i had half of a very large pastrami sandwich), we took the subway to the museum of natural history which is HUGE. we saw dioramas that look real (moose are really big, btw),



dinosaurs,



and meteorites.



we left the museum and walked right into central park where we relaxed and people watched for a while before dinner.



one of my demands of the trip was to have good sushi for dinner one night as we lack exceptional sushi where we live, and nyc did not fail me. we ate at blue ribbon sushi, and it was amazing!







even though we all agreed that we couldn't eat another bite of anything, it was decided that we definitely needed desert. frantic text messages calling for a late night desertery were sent out & juniors was sent back (thank you, mel). below you can see danny's piece of devil's food cheesecake which is actually cake and cheesecake all rolled into one. amazing! go there. go there now.



saturday, danny and i met his sister, mel, and her husband, arthur, for lunch & then headed for the met. it was fabulous! i was way too engrossed in the art to spend time taking pictures, but below is the greek & roman sculpture garden which leaves you with the feeling that you could almost be convinced that you traveled back in time and were walking through the atrium of a roman house.



after the met, we met up with mel & arthur again for an italian dinner followed by an off-broadway show which i won't mention by name or describe...

on our last day (tear), we had a yummy lunch at a ben's kosher deli and finished out the trip by heading up to the top of the rock for views of the city. i will never get over how huge this city is or how wonderful it is that there is a massive park in the middle of said massive city.







thanks, new york! we'll be back again!