THE BEACH!

Last week my friend Ashley invited Boston and I to head down to Galveston for the day! Boston LOVES the beach so I didn't hesitate to join them! Boston and Kyler have so much fun together and had a blast running and playing in the water and sand!

Like the white bum on Boston?!?

Aside from the RAIN that came after us being there only a few minutes, the day was PERFECT! Luckily the rain didn't stick around too long and the skies were perfect the rest of the time! I feel like we live so close to the beach and haven't taken advantage of it this summer so I'm glad we got to go! We had some exhausted, quiet boys on the way home which means the day was a success!

BIRTHDAY+ANNIVERSARY

Last weekend (August 21st) was Kent's 29th BIRTHDAY! I asked Kent the day before what he wanted to do and his response was "relax." This year has been a really busy, crazy, hectic, go, go, go year for him so his request to relax was understood. He informed me Friday that surprisingly he was going to take the day off (THAT blew me away) BUT work is work and sometimes takes its priority, unfortunately. He ended up going in for a few hours that morning...total bummer. Since I was COMPLETELY NOT expecting him to be home Saturday, I left Boston and him home to finish some last minute shopping for his bday (yes, I procrastinate). He basically had a fairly, laid back day and it was nice having him around. He didn't even want to go out to dinner that night and requested an at home steak dinner instead! DONE! He opened his presents to which Boston informed him what everything was PRIOR to him opening it (we are learning we can't wrap gifts with Boston around). We then had a few friends over for "cake" that night. When I asked him what kind of cake he'd like he decided on his mom's 3 Layer Dessert! It was pretty tasty I must say! Hopefully he had a relaxing day although I did let it carry over on Sunday and let him sleep in as late as possible before church and let him lounge and relax all day Sunday too. He needs it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!! We love you!!!

We also celebrated our 6TH anniversary yesterday. Like Kent's birthday, it was pretty low key. Work consumes him these days and being the fabulous understanding wife that I am, I take what I get (but NEXT year there's no excuse...kidding...). It really was a great day though. I was woken up by his phone call serenading me with his random, quirky, made up anniversary song. That night we decided on The Melting Pot for dinner. We wanted to try something new but a nice, quiet, long dinner is what we went for. I was sooo happy to be alone with him and my one request was NO PHONE for the night! He was so sweet all night and even pulled out some paper at dinner for us to write down all that we've done/accomplished in our 6 years of marriage and then we wrote the things we WANT to accomplish in the future. I thought it was a sweet/fun gesture and it made for some funny, good conversation! My favorite thing of the night HAS to be the card he wrote. If you know Kent, you know he's cheap and always thinks cards are dumb and would rather just give the person the $2.50 from the price of the card instead. So anytime I get a card from him, its always something to remember (plus you can't complain about the sweet things he writes inside). We finished the night attempting to see a movie at the drive-in but we were both extremely uncomfortable in the car and TIRED so we bailed early.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! CAN'T WAIT FOR MANY MORE TO COME!

A LITTLE BIT MORE!

Does it feel like we've been all over NYC already? Well we had BUT no worries we hadn't seen it all (and I'm sure there's STILL more). We tried a little essa bagel where the people were extremely rude who took our order and did NOT care to toast your bagel! Customer service in NYC=ZERO! But apparently that's normal....

Ciara had this GREAT idea to walk the Brooklyn Bridge (yes, all 1.1 miles THERE and BACK) with two pregnant chicks to get the BEST pizza she's ever eaten!

And the journey begins!

A view of the city

Where were MY sunglasses? Oh yeah, LOST somewhere...I'm such an idiot!

Soooo what happens when we get there??? YEP! CLOSED!

Back across the bridge we went where we hit up THE MET. We had to have a reenactment of the girls from Gossip Girl (and I must admit we needed a break for a few minutes)!

My opinion of The Met...BLAH! You eat a funky lunch then you walk and walk and walk to hardly find ANYTHING you want to see and THEN you walk some more, get lost and confused, walk some more and then leave TOTALLY unsatisfied! I must say the highlight of the whole adventure was Ciara breaking out in crazy laughter at me for some odd reason (I guess it was my random mumblings of boredom) and couldn't stop! When we FINALLY find the elevator to hit the roof top (the only cool part of our museum adventure) she was laughing uncontrollably in a jam packed elevator where lets just say she made the guard (or the elevator pushing button man) and 2 other men in the elevator start to crack up also! Hey laughter IS contagious! Let's just say that was Ciara's SECOND no no in the museum....and she says I'M the one who doesn't know museum etiquette....

Like I said, we made it to the roof top to see THIS cool exhibit. It looks like a bunch of bamboo to you but its like ramps and stairs like to way up high. Pretty crazy!

Next top FAO Swartz. I really wanted to find something cool for Boston but a) he doesn't appreciate stuffed animals (which I felt like was 75% of the store) and b) everything else I couldn't fathom paying the price only to know I could get it at Target/Toys R Us for cheaper knowing Boston wouldn't get the whole FAO Swartz thing. So instead, we danced on the giant piano (don't you love my facial expression & how extra large I look in that dress?)....

Next we took a stroll/walking break in Central Park!

Central Park is SO beautiful! It's clean, green and VERY quiet and calm which is insane to me still since NYC is seriously SO busy and loud!

After our brief break where I reminded myself how much I WASN'T a fan of those street hot dogs once again and Ciara took a brief nap we headed to see the temple! I was SO curious to see what it was like to have a temple in the city. This was probably my favorite part! The area of town is really quiet, not so touristy and like expected when you walk in, you can't hear a thing from the outside! Inside is the temple, the distribution center and church. It still is bizarre how that all works but it does and it was amazing to me! The Lord will have His House where He wants it to be!

We ended the night at some chocolate factory type restaurant. The plan was Gramarcy Tavarn but apparently Jamie and I aren't that daring to try some of those crazy foods so we settled for "normal." Their food DID NOT disappoint and looking back, I really did eat ALOT that night!

The whole experience was AMAZING! I'm so excited to take Kent back although he knows nothing about anything in NYC. Anytime I'd say, "I'm in Central Park" or "We're at The Met" he had NO idea what I was talking about. But he's dying to go so I'm not against going again! Plus I REALLY need to hit up The View so I can shout out to Joy and put her in her place! The city is such a different experience. I'm definitely not cut out to be a city girl (I'm a true southern chick who belongs there too) BUT I really do love it! Thank you Ciara for a GREAT time!!

SHOP TIL YOU DROP (literally)

China Town HERE WE COME! Did I mention this was our 2nd time in China Town (1st time was to get donuts at a GREAT donut shop that now I've forgotten the name but they were the BIGGEST donuts I've ever eaten)?? For some reason, I'm dumb and didn't realize China Town MEANT CHINA TOWN! It was like walking into a whole new country (aka China)! Totally worth it and found some good buys in the purse department! Some of them get a little angry when you get them to lower their price but WHATEVER they should SO be happy I even BOUGHT from them! Our great buys were followed by a DELICIOUS lunch at a SoHo cafe WHERE I DIED for their sandwich! I crave that place many days now...

After a brief break at Ciara's apartment we headed back OUT to explore more of the city! Jamie wanted to find MOOD FABRICS (aka the famous fabric store from Project Runway) so after a little searching we found it! Also not pictured from the day previous we found ZARIN FABRICS (aka JILL Zarin from REAL HOUSEWIVES NYC...surprisingly that was in Chinatown...like I said so close to these famous peeps but SO FAR)!

We also spotted filming preparaton for "The Good Wife"...I don't watch, but Jamie's mom is a fan!

Many times along our long walks between sites I needed to stop for food (mainly to avoid the same incident that happened in the Hamptons). PLUS everyone RAVES about these hot dogs on the street. My review...YUCK! Not a fan although I was in such a desperate need for food, I actually had one TWICE and both times...SAME reaction...YUCK!

This is the closest we got to Lady Liberty although we did see the REAL Statue of Liberty at a distance!

We took a little stroll in Bryant Park (beautiful).

Bryant Park still....we relaxed for a little bit...all that walking was SERIOUSLY killing by this point! This is where FASHION week is held every year!

Ciara and Jamie were trying to act like lions outside the NYC Library (again, another beautiful building).

As you can see these guys were NOT from Chinatown but DEFINITELY laid out bags of knock off purses RIGHT OUTSIDE SAKS 5TH AVENUE! They were DEFINITELY trying to sell for much higher prices to which I REJECTED! Told them I'd rather go back to Chinatown (I ain't no dumbie)!

Empire State building...one day I'll go to the top but this trip, it was not a must DO just a must SEE.

Rockefeller Center---right behind us is the ice skating rink you see at Christmas time and right in front of us is where the BIG Christmas tree stands. To the back left is where the Today show is filmed and to the back right is where Leno is filmed (basically NBC studios)...again so CLOSE to those stars.....

Then we hit up 5th and Park to shop some more (oh I wish)....LOVE this area (who wouldn't). Behind us is THE Trump Tower (so I'd like to think...Ciara said there's 5 in the city total so who knows which is which). This pose is the "You're FIRED" pose:

A little Louis Vuitton....LOVED seeing all these stores!

Past the Yankees Clubhouse....THOSE DANG YANKEES!! Who likes them anyway?? GOOO RANGERS!!!!

This was in front of BLOOMINGDALES....I should have gone in just so I could get "The Little Brown Bag"....next time!

We also finished off the night at Dylan's Candy Store...the GIANT candy store with EVERY candy ever made! YUM!!!! By the end of the night we were getting a LITTLE crazy/delirious and started posing for THESE pictures in the middle of 5th Avenue...I bet those high end, rich snobs REALLY loved us classy girls from the south!

A LITTLE WICKED WITH TIMES SQUARE

We hurried home from the beach in PERFECT timing to get fixed up for a night on the TOWN! We took our first subway ride to Times Square although I think we got off at the wrong spot and had to walk a little farther than anticipated....this is when we started doubting Ciara with how far we were REALLY going to end up walking!

First stop of the night, WICKED on BROADWAY!!!!! I was VERY impressed with the show and it definitely makes me look differently at the Wizard of Oz!

Sadly, this is the closest I came to Kelly (AND Regis)! This is a bank they advertise for and BANK AT...if I lived in NYC, I'd TOTALLY be banking there (what can I say, I'm an easy sale)!

After the show we hit up TIMES SQUARE!!! I LOVED it all! I have to say, Times Square+5th Avenue/Park Avenue is how I pictured ALL of NYC to be...NOT SO! It definitely is "the city that never sleeps" and I LOVE that! That whole night in my head I was singing a little Alicia Keys+JayZ:

"Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Let's here it for New York, New York, New York!!!"

SO TRUE!

After exploring Times Square we hit up a little Juniors (LOVE that such GOOD restaurants are open at 10 or 11 pm at night--that's my kind of place)...I was NOT disappointed! We were then exhausted from all that walking that we took a cab home. This became our main source of transportation as the weekend went on. Ciara had NO idea what it'd be like dragging 2 pregnant ladies around NYC! I mean SERIOUSLY no WONDER no one is FAT there! All those people do it WALK!!!!!

NYC MISSES ME!!!

It's about time I post about my FUN, FUN, FUN girl's weekend in NYC!!!!!! It was SOOO nice to getaway, fly BY MYSELF with NO child (and actually get to READ while on a flight) and relax with no worries! Kent took off work to (PURE MIRACLE for him to take time out of his hectic year to do that...that's one reason I LOVE that man) take care of Boston while I VACATIONED! So anyway....onto NYC!!!!!

I got to NYC Thursday afternoon after I took my VERY FIRST ALL BY MYSELF BIG GIRL CAB to Ciara's apartment (I was soo happy I didn't get driven to some random alley where who KNOWS the endless possibilities of what could happen...yes my mind went there the WHOLE cab drive) and spent the evening with Ciara walking around Chelsea Market where we got dinner and then we walked (you'll hear that word ALOT as I post about this trip) more around NYC and saw the Flat Iron building, the Hudson River and a few other fun NYC hot spots (including the SHAKE SHACK where I got a FANTASTIC milkshake). Jamie got in that night and we crashed in order to get up early for our day in SOUTH HAMPTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ciara said this was a must see/do when we came to visit so it was FIRST on our list!

Ciara rented us a Mercedes (you can't go out to the Hamptons any other way) and we headed out for the day!

Our beautiful tour guide for the weekend

I look like a TOTAL tourist

Our nice little Hamptons boy caring out our stuff...although I think we only rented ONE chair...

Ciara's cute little friend came out with us to the beach!

I can't say we got in the water ONCE but we didn't have to! The weather wasn't TOO hot AT ALL. It was breezy and beautiful! Not to mention the water was FAAAREEEZING but that's coming from a girl who was raised swimming in the Gulf!

Now that I'm looking at these pictures, I think (actually I KNOW) I lost my sunglasses somewhere in NYC....oh well!

Pregnant Bellies! Jamie is due the end of November and me in early January. South Hamptons is also where I had my second experience of this whole passing out issue that I'm having with this baby surfaced again. Luckily I didn't hit the ground but just started blacking out....THANK GOODNESS for dip-n-dots to help bring me back to (hopefully I didn't embarrass Jamie & Ciara too bad...WHOOPS!).

After our fun, relaxing day at the beach, we ended up taking an EXTRA long time to find this ice cream shoppe that Ciara was DETERMINED to find! That's okay, we saw some BEAUTIFUL houses along the way (I was seriously WOWed) and it TOTALLY makes me want a house in the Hamptons some day!!!

Unfortunately none of the Houseswives, Kelly Ripa, or any other famous stars were spotted out there....although I still feel like they were SO CLOSE I could sense it!

Up NEXT: TIME SQUARE+WICKED!