Happy Holidays

Oh the Difference One Year Makes...

How I Envision Thanksgiving Day

... Complete with Starbucks ;)

Football Semifinals

Someone recognized me on TV besides Greg.

Happy First Birthday, Lili

I know, I know, she's a dog... But she's a cutie, so why not?

Pumpkin Carving (pics in post below)

I've never carved a pumpkin before in my life, since Mom and Dad wouldn't let us play with sharp objects. Greg and I each picked out a pumpkin this year and went to work. Gotta say I'm pretty proud of how they turned out! Mine is of Lili, since her birthday is on Tuesday, and Greg did his of my high school's football helmet, since they made it to states.

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkins at Night

Fall and Spiders

More of our fall decor and outdoor spooky spiderweb bushes. Greg had a lot of fun with the spider webs. Now I need to buy a spider, attach it to fishing line, and have it hanging from the porch above our lanai. Spooky!

Halloween Fun

The dogs enjoyed a day outside helping Greg and I decorate for Halloween. They would chew the pumpkins (both real and paper) if we let them!

Slide!

Last weekend, we took Lili and Katsu to the park. Lili had never been on the playground equipment, but Katsu was an old pro and showed her the ropes. Sure, there were signs that said no animals allowed... but they're not animals, they're well behaved pets. That's different, right?

NY Food and Fun

This corner stand on 53rd and 6th St. had amazing Halal food. There are sooo many stands just like this one, but for some reason this one is known as being the best. Hour-long lines would form at dinner time. Luckily, we only had to wait 15 min.

We went to Wicked on Broadway. The show and theatre were amazing. Definitely recommend it to anyone!

Stopped by Times Square after the show. Loved the lights, but not the crowds.

How romantic. A second honeymoon.

Went to Yankee Stadium the next day for a Yankees vs. Mets game.

Pretty amazing views from all seats in this new stadium.

Braved the subway for the first time to get here - very nauseating and claustrophobic in my opinion.

Go Yankees!

Derek Jeter batting.

It was sooo hot! This lemonade tasted amazing.

(Unfortunately, I also saw how many calories it had. NY has some weird thing of putting calorie counts on everything! Starbucks, restraunts, hot dog stands, even lemonade at Yankee Stadium.)

Rain delay in the 8th? Greg was NOT happy.

The Subway Series

We told the attendee it was our honeymoon and we had flown all the way from Hawaii just to watch a Yankees game live so that we could go down by the field to get this pic. It wasn't a complete lie....

After the game, we got off the subway near the Apollo Theatre to try to catch our tour bus. Unfortunately, this resulted in us wandering around Harlem lost for about 45 minutes. Oops!

Our first views of Central Park. Amazing!

Very picturesque!

Ended the afternoon with a stop at Serendipity 3.

They're known for their Frozen Hot Chocolate. So delicious, we brought some mix home with us!

NYC's Toys, Museums, and Views

While in NYC, I got to fulfill a lifelong dream - going to FAO Schwarz.

The first day we tried to go there, we got there right at closing. Luckily, I got to take a pic with the guard outside, as he kindly told people the store was closed. Haha

The front entrance

View of the front entrance from the second floor. The pink dogs shown were HUGE... just took the pic from far away. They remind me of my childhood stuffed dog Samuel.

This is the main reason I wanted to go to FAO Schwarz - to see the piano from the movie Big (with Tom Hanks). I got something even better... I got to stand on it and play it!

My view... the keys lit up and played the correct note! And no, I didn't play chopsticks. Too shamed!

Spent the day in Central Park, but I wasn't feeling well. We went back in the evening, to run around the Jackie Kennedy Onassi Reservoir. Really beautiful. There were so many runners, too!

Views of NY from the north side of the reservoir.

Sweaty pic!

Greg wanted to capture true New Yorkers, and how they wait 5 feet off the sidewalk for the light to change. We thought by the end of our trip that we were getting good at it. Once, we were a few feet out, and looked to smile at each other in pride. Just then, an true New Yorker walked and stood two feet in front of us. Sigh...

The Museum of Natural History (from the movie Night at the Museum). This is a real T-Rex.

Many museums use casts of bones, but these were the actual thing. Pretty crazy!

Wooly.

Mom, this one's for you. I know you love turtles, especially the big ones on North Shore. Imagine if they were still this size now!

A pretty view of the side entrance.

I heard this is a must-do in NY. Greg enjoyed a burger and shake from the Shake Shack. I sampled from each... so tasty! (The shakes are made from custard. Super thick!)

We borrowed someone's front stoop.

I love these houses!