Girls Night Out

Last week Kristin and I had one of our crazy fun girls nights out. We got dressed up and hit up all the hotspots (like Dream, notoriously featured in an episode of Real Housewives of New York - hysterical, but that's not the point, Nobu, Buddah Bar, STK House, etc). It's all really innocent actually because we just get drunk and talk to each other and laugh the whole time and spend WAY too much $. But it's still fun to have girl time. I actually made it out until 12:30am on a Thursday night! So yes, I really am an old lady because that was really late for me. The good news is that I took Friday off, but of course that day I popped out of bed at 8am, whereas most days I drag myself out of bed.

1st Anniversary

I was really impressed with the "wine country" of Long Island. It's a lot smaller than Napa, but it's nice because it's not commercialized at all yet so it feels really quaint and intimate. It's all farmland and very beautiful. The weather didn't hurt either - it was the most perfect weekend weather I've seen in a loooong time. We did a tasting at an organic vineyard and a dog was there who looked just like Buddy. We wanted to kidnap her. Then we had a delicious dinner at a cute bed & breakfast at night. I had the best drink of my life! It was vodka with fresh squeezed grapefruit and blood orange. I could guzzle those all day long. Our hotel was right on the water so we got to listen to the waves when we slept. The next day we went back to Paul's dad's house and laid out in the sun on their dock. It felt like summertime! I really didn't want to go back to work this week but hey, someone's gotta pay the bills. Buddy is sitting next to me on the bench as I'm typing this. He's very cute.

Trip to Citifield

I am SO looking forward to this coming weekend. I'm taking Friday off and we're heading out to Long Island's wine region to celebrate our first anniversary! The weather all week has been so gloomy, but fortunately the weekends have been beautiful. Last weekend we went out and saw our new niece, Kira Rose, who was still in the hospital. It was a gorgeous sunny day so we took Buddy to the beach to run and swim. A crazy swan kept threatening him by hissing like a dragon and acting like it was gonna attack - it was pretty crazy. Sunday we went to the new Citifield to see the Mets play. It's a gorgeous stadium! I had dinner with my friend Kristen that night. It was probably our last time hanging out together since she's moving back to Texas this week. I've been taking it pretty hard since she is one of my few good friends here. I guess I need to get back on the wagon and start trying to make more friends again. It's totally like dating and a huge pain, but I guess the payoff is worth it if I meet someone special ;) I've also been missing Cali a lot lately. I miss BBQ's, walking on the beach, riding bikes, tennis, sunshine, running into people I know. Oh well, overall life is good.

Happy Easter!

I neglected to take pictures once again this weekend, but I have some from last weekend when we had a visitor - the one who originally asked to stay with us 8 days but only ended up staying 3 - phew! It's annoying that when people come to visit they just assume they can tag along with all your plans and hang out with you all the time, or to have bad guests, which we have definitely had in the past year. Of course for my best friends it's an entirely different story, but for all my other visitors it gets a little old. It was good to see an old friend though for a few days, and he was a great guest who I'd always welcome again. We went out to watch college basketball one night in Chelsea with some friends. Don't ask what Paul is doing in the picture because I have no idea --he's really random, but entertaining at least.

This weekend we got some delicious pizza with friends and saw I Love You Man. Very funny! Paul Rudd is so awkward and great. Then Saturday night we went to a bar to play some darts and pool. Oddly enough, I think I've nearly thrown my elbow out from all the dorky sports - bowling, air hockey and darts, so I had to quit after 2 games because it was so sore. Maybe also it was my excuse for losing but it really did hurt. I won at pool though! This place is my new favorite bar. They have all kinds of board games too and tabletop shuffleboard! I could hang out there every night and it's great for Paul because they have sports everywhere.

Today we went to Long Island for Easter brunch. We grabbed a drink first then ate a massive amount of Italian food. I think that's why I'm awake right now. Wow, it's 12:30am I just realized! Sadly I'm not even tired yet. I know tomorrow will suck though. Why is my internal clock always off?

The New Me

This will be a short post, but I wanted to show everyone my new hair color. I'm now a brunette! I've been wanting something different for awhile, and I tried to do it myself and it turned into a red-haired disaster. So I ran to the salon at 7:30 at night and begged them to take me. I ruined Paul and my date night, but the girl did a great job and I'm very happy with how it turned out. In the end I like blond better but this is a really fun change for now and I'm glad I did it. What do ya'll think?

First Weekend of Spring

So after snowing on the first official day of spring it was actually pretty nice this weekend, so we took advange and went hiking Saturday with Nick & Gin, our Australian friends. We went to Palisades Park which is right over the George Washington bridge. It's so close to the city but it feels so far away. It felt great to get out into nature. Buddy led the charge, good thing too because I started thinking he was too fat and old to keep up with us. Poor guy, I feel bad for doubting him now. I was so exhausted when I got back that I just stayed in and watched The Holiday that night. Today was a perfect day. We walked Buddy all the way to Park Slope and did a loop through the park, then I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and had an amazing facial at Bliss Spa with the certificates I got for my birthday. The nice weather really energizes me and I feel like I have to take advantage of it here. Later I cooked a delicious dinner with recipes from the Cakebread Cookbook. For those of you that live near Napa, you need to go to the Cakebread winery and do a tasting. It's so fun and their cookbook is the best!

A Visit From Mom

My mom flew out this week for a surprise last-minute visit from Wednesday to Friday. It was a really quick trip, but my parents are still trying to figure out if they’re going to buy a place in Battery Park so that’s why she came. They’re trying to negotiate with the developer, who is so far being really stubborn in spite of the declining economy – what a dummy. It was fun having her though. She, Paul and I went to an amazing Greek food restaurant for dinner Wednesday night. In fact it was so good that I went back the next night LOL! It was kind of a fluke because Kristin was going to have me and Ashley over for a girls night, but then her husband ended up staying home so we decided to just meet in the middle (Union Square) for drinks and dinner and I suggested the Greek place, etc etc. I called my mom and invited her to join us and we had a great time. I, like always, drank a little too much wine, but hey, I think that’s just how life is in the city. You either keep drinking or you go home. And pacing myself is just not really an option, I at least try though. I always have a great time with Kristin (my NY BFF) and Ashley, one of her best friends from growing up. We’re already plotting our next night out in a couple weeks. Our husbands always get nervous when we hang out because we always end up coming back drunk. I never sleep well when I drink wine though so I’m pretty tired today. At least I have a nice, mellow dinner with my two sisters-in-law tonight, who are both pregger’s so there won’t be too much partying going on. It’s supposed to be beautiful this weekend – in the 50’s! woot woot! – so I’m planning on going hiking. I’ll take lots of pics and post them soon.