Friends in the City Part Deux

I'm a bit late with post, I must admit. With the snow(s) melting away, I thought I'd play catch up from a couple weekends back. Though winter 2011 has been one for the books, it hasn't kept our friends away and I'm happy about that!

Two weekends ago, our friends Liz & Aaron flew up for a visit from VA. Liz & Aaron grew up with James and have been friends for a very very long time. We were both in each other's weddings and when they lived in the city, Liz and I had weekly date nights, which usually involved wine and sappy movies while the boys played darts. Needless to say, we miss them oh so much!

Like many of our weekends, we ate a lot. We took them to our favorite Friday night pizza place, ate lunch at Torissi's (it's a must when you come visit us), toured the new Open House gallery - a 5,000 sqft. indoor park in Soho, got our nails did (the girls not the guys) and celebrated The Husband's birthday. And like all friends' visits, it went by too quickly....here are some pictures from their visit!








Special thanks to Liz for donating some of the photos!

Snow Day

As I mentioned earlier, we were lucky enough (well maybe not so much) to receive 19+ inches of snow last night. Mayor Bloomberg cancelled schools today - only the 8th time since the 1960's - so I decided that it would only be fair for me to take a snow day as well. And, you know, I had to take out Miss Bailey to enjoy the winter wonderland too.

We spent over an hour walking through the Upper West Side of Central Park and it was beautiful. Who knew there were so many cross country skiers out there? They weren't too happy when we "walked on the cross country ski path," though last time I checked it was the bridle path...never-the-less, here are some photos from our fun snow day in the city:

Tuesday night's snow from our window....












My boot...

19 inches of Snow!

Don't eat the yellow snow. Fortunately, most of the yellow snow was covered by 19 inches of fresh white snow last night in NYC. As Miss Bailey and I sat and watched American Idol last night, thunder and lightening crash down all around us. It was quite the storm. The Husband is away in TX this week and has missed our wintry weather. We are hoping he gets back tomorrow!

Manhattan public schools were cancelled today (a big deal up here) so Bailey and I will head to Central Park later this afternoon for some fun. I'm thinking this will be a great opportunity to take out the camera (and video camera). For now, here are some blackberry pictures from our neighborhood this morning:

Snowy Friday

Because I'm from the south and let's be honest, they don't know how to deal with any amount of snow, I'm used to everything getting cancelled. No matter how long I live here (going on five years now), I will never get used to the fact that we still have to go to work when it snows...any amount.

We didn't get that much snow last night but we did get enough for me to look out the window and wonder, "do I have to go to work today?" Yes. I do. I opened my sock drawer, picked-out the warmest and thickest ones, pulled on my (newly cleaned from last week's snow) Uggs, zipped up the big puffy coat and off I went, with a sigh, to work. I slipped a few times, almost falling once but never-the-less made it to the office in no time. Darn it.

Apparently New York City has only cancelled school a hand full of times since the 1960's. Really? I guess there's no hope for me then. But, oh what I would give for a snow day or two, or heck a week! I can think of plenty of things to do around the aparment, movies to watch, naps to take in that time.

Since I haven't taken any photos of the snow up here yet (we're getting more next Tuesday and Wednesday so don't fret), I googled "commuting in snow in nyc" and this is what came up - I think they speak for themselves:

A Happy Birthday from The Balloon Fairy

Today is The Husband's birthday, his last in his 20's (oops, he won't like that I said that!).

Growing up, we had a very special birthday tradition in our home - the balloon fairy. Didn't the balloon fairy come to visit you on your birthday? If she didn't maybe she will soon after reading this post. Who the heck is the balloon fairy, you may ask? Well, she's a cute little fairy who brings balloons to adorn your bedroom door on your special day. I mean, who doesn't like balloons?!

This morning, the balloon fairy made a special trip all the way to NYC:


The Husband asked, "Where did those balloons come from?" Why, the balloon fairy silly. Where else? (though I, er, the balloon fairy, told me that blowing up and tying balloons is a lot harder than remembered). Our fingers could only handle a few, as you can tell!

Happy Birthday to my man, my better half, my love and my best friend!

Update: A special nod to Aunt Pamela as she is the special fairy behind the balloon fairy.

Daryl Hall

This month's issue of New York Magazine featured a story on the growing popularity of Hall & Oates, specifically Mr. Hall. Call me crazy, but when did they ever go away? It's no secret that I love this band and have written about them many a times on Southern in the City. Fun fact: did you know that "She's Gone" was written by Oates at a bar on Bleeker street after his date didn't show? But, I digress...

I've been to four of their concerts at Beacon Theatre, despite the growing price of tickets (hey, maybe they are more popular?). The Husband has humored me, though he loves them too, by being my date to what is mostly an over 50 crowd. In fact, at the last concert we attended a few weeks ago, I was told to 'sit down' during "Rich girl" because the old pops behind me couldn't see. I ignored him and kept dancing and before I knew it, I had two rows of concert goers up and dancing around me. I don't go to concerts to sit thank you very much - especially Hall & Oates concerts.
If you haven't read New York Magazine article yet, I highly recommend it.

Images from New York Magazine.

Friends in the City

I love having friends visit. Especially since so many of my close friends live all over the country, it's great when they decide to make a trip to NYC. Having visitors also makes you get out more and take advantage of living in a cool place. Sometimes us New Yorkers forget that.

My good friends from college, Allie and Bradley were our apartment guests this past weekend. These two make me laugh. You know, the deep down laugh that only your closest friends can make you do. They are hilarious. Our friends always joke about how we wished they had their own reality show on Bravo. Maybe one day?

The four of us ventured around the city, visiting China Town (searching for purses for 2 hours, while trying to stay away from scary and sketchy vendors), ate a Torrisi's Italian Specialties, shopped in SoHo and watched the Jets game at Cascabel. Check back later for a guest post from Bradley with pictures from the weekend.

Of course I only took photos during the last hour of their visit but here are some of my favorites:
Photo opps in the roof mirror

A walk in Central Park

Hanging out by the Reservoir



The Husband's favorite bridge

Christmas Vacation Part Two

Good morning, y'all! Many of my friends in the south are experiencing beaucoups and beaucoups of snow today. I'm jealous of your snow day, but the weather man in NYC is saying we'll have the same in a couple of days.

Lots of fun post coming up, but in the meantime, I wanted to share more photos from our Christmas Vacation Part Two.

We spent a wonderful few days in Davidson, NC with The Worshams and had our first white Christmas (by the way, if you are ever looking for a great gift for little boys, whoopee cushions are the way to go). We also finished our Southland trip in Lynchburg, VA where we got to hang out with our cute little nephews some more.