Christmas in the City (#7)

I get to cross my first official item off my 30 before 30 list! We fulfilled a life long dream and got to experience New York City at Christmas. We both like going to New York, but I probably like it more. I love everything about the city. All the people, all the shopping, all the restaurants, and the fast pace.

We left town right before a blizzard and arrived in New York where it was a glorious 50 degrees. The weather was in the high 40s to low 50s the entire time we were there, which was amazing. A lot of people asked if we were upset that it didn't snow while we were there, but I can see snow at home and it hinders my shopping experience.

We stayed at the Hotel Plaza Athenee, which is on the Upper East Side (or Blair Waldorf adjacent). It is my favorite hotel that we have stayed at so far. By city standards the rooms were HUGE plus it was pretty fancy and I love fancy.


The hotel - picture from orbitz.com


Our room

As soon as we got to our hotel, Daniel got called by work. He had installed some new computer equipment at a feedlot and the touchscreen went down and of course he was the only one who knew how to fix it. So I spent my first three hours in the city drinking in the hotel room. I'm not going to complain too much because if it wasn't for his job I would be working full time and we wouldn't be able to travel. I'm also not going to complain because I got a new Burberry purse compliments of his guilt.

I plan pretty much everything around food and there are so many amazing places to eat that it is super overwhelming. The first night we ate at Bistro Chat Noir, which was like two blocks from hotel. It was cozy and the food was great. We had truffle mac'n'cheese (which was almost as good at the Cowboys) to start and Daniel ordered the Black Cat Burger and I got Pappardelle BLT. Supposedly Christina Aguilera ate there the week after us. I'm sad I missed her because I feel like she could use a good pep talk.


Food at Bistro Chat Noir

The next day we went and explored Rockefeller Center and shopped. We went to Top of the Rock, which was pretty cool but also very cold and windy.


The Rockefeller Center tree


The postage stamp-sized skating rink


Radio City


Central Park from the Top of the Rock


The Empire State Building from the Top of the Rock

That night we ate dinner at Il Mulino and we are still talking about how good it was. I read that it was hard to get reservations but we got in and it was amazing. Everyone is Italian and as soon as you sit down they bring you food. I liked the appetizers more than the meal. They gave you fresh parmigiano reggiano, bruschetta, fried zucchini, bread, and salami. We also were sitting next to a group of Jersey boys, which made the experience more authentic.


Getting ready to experience Il Mulino

We finally got to eat at the Clinton St. Baking Company. I got their cookbook for Christmas two years ago and everything looked amazing. There was an hour wait, but we took that as a good sign. Everything was delicious and I would definitely go back. Their jam was almost as good as Mama's in San Francisco and that jam changed my life.


The front entrance


The Farmer's Plate, how fitting


City lights at night


This picture does not even capture how crowded Times Square was

On a side note, if you are ever planning a trip to New York for New Years and are thinking about inviting us, don't. I'm going to save you time and say there are a 101 things I would rather do. I can't handle that many people in such a small area.


I love me some Mary


The theatre


Waiting for the show to start


It's starting!

I give Mary Poppins a 6 out of 10. I am a traditionalist and I really loved the movie growing up and the musical is not the movie. There are new songs and different characters, and all I wanted was some Mary and Burt. The other thing that made me sad was that people do not dress up for anything anymore. It was crazy to see kids in sweatpants. Dear America, I love a yoga pant as much as the next person but it will not kill you to dress up and make certain events a little more special.

So that was our trip in a nutshell. I'm glad I put it on my 30 before 30 list and I already want to go back this summer.

Happy Frawlidays!

We went to New York City (post to come) and then Houston for Christmas. We actually drove to Houston, which was miserable and it will be many many moons before that happens again. Jack is not a good traveller, so we got a prescription from our vet for sedatives. It was a little too strong, so this is what I got to look at for 12 hours:



I honestly thought that I was going to have perform dog CPR. Then, to make things even more fun, he fell in my parents pool as soon as we got to Houston. Not the best start to our trip.

I love giving gifts and getting gifts, so Christmas makes me very happy. I especially like when you find the perfect gift for someone. This year I gave my sister a Harry Potter snuggie that looks like the Gryffindor robes. Amazing. It was the best gift and I kind of want one for myself.



I got lots of great gifts, but my favorite has to be the new camera Daniel got for me. He obviously paid attention to my 30 before 30 list. I am so excited to learn how to use it and am hopefully going to go to Lubbock and take some lessons from a professional. Hopefully by the time we have kids I'll be able to take some high-quality photos so we don't end up spending a fortune on professional pictures.

My other favorite gift was the custom pair of Toms that my sister got for me. I love Texas Tech and cannot wait to wear these to a football game. They turned out super cute!

Hopefully next year I have my camera figured out so I can take lots and lots of fun holiday pictures.

The (second) best day of my life

As promised, here is an entire post dedicated to the historic meeting that occurred when we went to the Cowboys game. I got to meet (drum roll) Miles Austin! After spending the whole game letting everyone know how much I love him, we actually met. It was kismet. So here is how it happened:

I overheard some of the other people in the box talking about going down to the field after the game. Naturally I had to get my hands on some of these passes. I knew that it was a long shot that players would be down there after losing, but I had a feeling. My dad talked to one of the people in the box that worked for Bombardier and she said that after the first group went, they would give me their pass and then I could go down to the field.

I patiently waited until it was my turn and then went down to the field level with a couple of other guys. We were with a group of about five other people and I just followed them. We went through some double doors and stopped at the end of a hallway in front of another elevator. Let me just say, that growing up I loved the Houston Astros and I mean loved. From time to time my friends and I would wait for players to come before the game. Those experiences have given me an innate sense of when I am in the exact right spot, but maybe shouldn't be there.

My first clue that I was in the right spot was when I say a guy with a suitcase heading towards the elevators. How many people bring suitcases to football games? Answer: However many players are on the Cowboys roster. I have no idea who it was, but I knew he was a player. Then I saw Rob Ryan, or Jeff Bridges. This is when I started to get excited. I did see Tony Romo in the maintenance elevator, but I don't care about him, so it was whatever.

I started to talk to the other people who were down there with me and I realized that they were a family. We talked about my love for Miles because I like to share things like that with strangers. A security guard came by and told us if we weren't waiting for someone, we had to leave. This is when that family became my heroes. The father said that they were Orlando Scandrick's family and I just nodded like I was with them and it worked. The security guard left us alone and I knew I was going to make things happen.

My parents started calling me around this time telling me they wanted to leave. I begged for them to give me 10 more minutes. Then it happened. The elevator doors opened and there he was. I think my jaw dropped. I really don't remember exactly what happened, but I think I started yelling asking if I could take a picture with him. Smooth. He laughed because he was obviously won over by my charm. He said of course I could take a picture with him and I threw my camera at a girl that was waiting down there with us. He smelled like rainbows and unicorns and was so nice. There were sparks, just saying.

I still can't believe that after ALL my talking about Miles, that I actually got to meet him. Daniel and my parents didn't believe me. Thank the Lord for photo evidence. I love Miles and now I can talk about him like we're friends because we kind of are.