1st, 2nd & 3rd Visitors of 2015!

Guess who was the first visitor of 2015?....

Well, I am sure that was everyone's first guess. My mom just can't stay away from her kiddos and Westchester New York for that long! This time around she stayed for a whole ten days. Although Joe and I had work and school we had so much fun during her visit. Of course we had to hit all you can eat sushi while she was here and try out some new places that have opened up in our town. My mom missed the snow in New York this year and missed Spring by a couple days. Our town is still bouncing back from winter and slowly becoming green. Mom can't wait to visit again when all the trees are starting to turn in Fall. 

During my moms visit we had two other visitors join the fun...

My Auntie C and U.T. stopped by on their way to Boston to watch The Boston Marathon. (<-- So awesome!) Joe and I were able to take one day off and show them around our little town. We actually wondered into some stores that Joe and I have not stepped foot in the three years we have lived here. 

It is always nice when family and friends to come visit because most have no idea where we live or what our town looks like. It's always sad when they leave but we are grateful that people take the time out of their busy lives and spend the money to come see us.

We were looking forward to these visits for months and we look forward to the next one whether it be here or in California.

10th Visitor of 2014 & a Weekend Trip to Niagara Falls

This trip started out like any other, little did we know this trip was going to get a little stressful and a little wacky. Arriving at the gate on Friday night at our designated boarding time I knew something was fishy when a completely different flight was boarding. With our flight status still stating “on time” we just waited. Moments later with no announcement the board changed from “on time” to “one hour delay.” Moments after that is when we hear this announcement: “We apologize but flight #**** to Buffalo has been canceled, please see the help desk for rebooking options.” Without thinking I ran towards the help desk knowing if I was not somewhere near the front of the line we had no chance. The manager on duty announced that we have all been rebooked on the 6:45am flight Saturday morning. Delta would cover a hotel for the night and transportation to and from the hotel. Joe, my mother, and I decided to take the hotel and even though we would only get one night in Canada to make the best of it. We arrived at our hotel in Queens around 11:30pm, cracked a beer to unwind from the craziness and then and went straight to bed knowing we had to be up bright and early the next morning for our flight.

Fast forward to the next morning, we are all sitting patiently at the airport waiting to board our 6:45am flight when we hear this announcement: “We apologize but the flight crew was told a takeoff time of 7:40am so we currently have no crew for a 6:45am departure.” Once on board our now 7:40am flight we are asked to check our boarding passes to make sure we are all going to buffalo, a little strange but ok. Twenty minutes later we are all asked to take out our boarding passes to be shown to the flight attendants. After another fifteen minutes some customers are demanding answers and so yet again we receive another announcement: “Our current count is off and we need everyone to double check they are on the correct flight or we will be unable to takeoff.” An additional fifteen minutes later a women gets up from her seat and tells the attendant she thinks she is supposed to be on the next flight.They remove her from the flight and start to finally prepare for takeoff.

Thirteen hours after we should have been arriving at our hotel we finally made it. We quickly dropped our bags in our rooms and went exploring.

That night after a short nap we were back at it enjoying a nice dinner and some fun in downtown Niagara Falls.

All in all it was a great trip and we would love to go back sometime when we have more time to really tour more of Canada.

Weekend Wrap-Up - 8th & 9th Visitors of 2014!

Our lives have been busier than ever these past couple of months but we were able to take a break this past weekend and host two of our best friends. The trip was intended to be a surprise but me being my nosy self caught wind of something fishy and starting asking questions. Over the weekend we were able to spend time in Manhattan and also escape up to Westchester to unwind a little. We did everything from karaoke, brunch, sightseeing, and just plain celebrating.

I do wish we had more free time to visit and catch up but it was an awesome treat to see them and show them around. As always we hope they come back very soon!

5th Visitor of 2014 was... (My Dog Ate My Camera?)

My Mommy!

My mother booked a spur of the moment trip the last weekend in May. During her visit we enjoyed some mother-daughter bonding while walking five miles around NYC. We attempted to go to a book convention (BookConn) but it was horrible and we left no later than fifteen after we arrived. We enjoyed all you can eat sushi, a new Mexican restaurant in town, visiting our favorite book store, and a lot more during her seven day trip. As you can tell there are no pictures to share of her visit. I really don't have an excuse for this other than the fact that we were always on the go.

She is of course planning her next trip out and we have some BIG plans in the works. Don't worry I won't forget the camera next time... :)

3rd & 4th Visitors of 2014 were...

...Daddy & Julie!

Let's take a moment and step back a couple of months to April. I know this post is extremely late but as they say: Better Late Than Never! Dad and Julie's visit had been in the works for many months and I was able to take the whole week off to show them around New York. But first, Annapolis....

For Easter Sunday we all took a trip down to Annapolis to visit Julie's niece Jessica at the Navel Academy. During our visit we toured the campus, enjoyed many drinks together, and just enjoyed our Easter Weekend.

When we returned to New York Dad and Julie had a huge to-do list:

Broadway Show

New York Pizza

Cooperstown

Yankee Game

 

...And so much more!

We very much enjoyed their visit but I think I am still exhausted! I know Julie is already making a to-do list for the next trip! 

Living in New York and working in Mahattan I tend to get wrapped up in the daily grind. Joe and I have lived here for over two years and I can't say that we have seen very much. It's nice when I get to show visitors around and experience a little more of New York myself. 

 

Miss and love you guys!!!

2nd Visitor of 2014 Was...

...My Mommy!

Months before my mother was scheduled to arrive she told me over and over she wanted to see snow while visiting from the West Coast. The result was one of the craziest winters many people have seen in a long time.

What my mommy wants, my mommy gets!

We did many things during her week long visit: all you can eat sushi, margarita night, shopping in NYC, baking, board games, and puzzle conquering. Throughout the week mom got to experience some insane weather. We had snow, rain, frozen rain, and ice, ice, ice. The temperature during her visit varied from mid twenties to almost sixty degree. All in all she got her share of New York weather. During one of the few snow and rain free days we were able to have a girls day wondering around NYC.

As always the week went to fast and we can't wait to have her visit AGAIN soon!

New Years & 1st Visitor of 2014

I know I am a bit behind schedule but...

Happy 2014!

This year we had the pleasure of Joe’s brother visiting us over New Years. We spent New Year’s with some great friends and had nice quiet night in.  Joe’ brother was planning on staying for a little less than a week but the weather had other plans. The day before he was scheduled to fly out his flight got canceled with no reschedule date. He attempted to contact the airline with no luck. The airline finally contacted him 24 hours later and rescheduled him to fly out in three days. It really worked out in our favor because we got three more days to visit and just hang out. I also got my 1^st ever snow day! The boys did explore the city together but because we had just gotten home I choose to opt out and let them have some male bonding time while I unpacked and got the house together.

 I hope everyone had an amazing Holiday season and got to ring in the New Year with the ones they love.

8th Visitor of 2013

We are on our 8th visitor already? Some I didn't blog about so lets recap:

Visitors of 2013:

1. Jerrod - January
2.  Brian & Mallory - Febuary
3. Mommy Schaffer - Febuary
4. Mommy Schaffer - April
5. Jenny & Fam - July 
6. David - July
7. Mommy Schaffer - September

 and our 8th visitor was... 

8. Sis-in-Law Nicole!

 Nicole took the very long trip across the country to spend the short 4-day Thanksgiving weekend with us! She was beyond thrilled to get the chance to see us and see where we lived/worked. We were just as excited to show her around and spend Thanksgiving together.

For Thanksgiving dinner we went to our Diner and had a great meal. (No dishes to clean for us!)

 Joe and I were excited to have time to catch up and not have to worry about cooking a cleaning on the day of Thanksgiving. It has been a while sense the three of us have been able to spend time together uninterrupted and it was much needed. We spoke about everything from her school to Joe's school. I still feel like she's 15 but she has sure grown into an adult. I still can't believe she will be turning 20 in 2014!! One thing that Joe looks forward to every Thanksgiving here on the east coast is the amazing meal that our local Diner makes. They offer everything that you would find on your own Thanksgiving table. I am not sure Nicole knew what to expect when we told her our dinner plans. All three of us ended up ordering the exact same

meal: roasted turkey, cranberry stuffing, and garlic mashed potatoes. When the food came we were all surprised about how good it really was. Great minds do think alike because we all agreed that the stuffing was the best part of our meal. I can officially report that we all ate too much and fell deep into food comas after the meal. It wasn't over there we still had my homemade pumpkin pie at home. Dessert was also included in our meal at the Diner but none of us were able to eat anymore. I asked to have all the desserts packed to go. pecan pie for Joe, pumpkin cheese cake for Nicole, and pumpkin pie for me. (To compare to my homemade pumpkin pie of course.) When we got home and I took my pie out of the fridge, I wasn't too confident but put a slice on a plate next to the slice from the Diner. I am not the biggest fan of pumpkin pie so when I sliced into my own

pie I thought the consistency was a little off. To my surprise after tasting both pies all three of us agreed that my homemade version was much better. Another recipe under my belt and added to the recipe book! I am still not someone that is going to crave pumpkin pie but I did enjoy a slice. The remainder of the pie went to work with Joe on the following Monday and was finished off within one day, I guess you could call that a success. 

The day after Thanksgiving (yes, Black Friday) the three of us took the train into the city to explore and shop. To say the city was a madhouse would be an extreme understatement. We enjoyed it the best we could and just tried to stay off the beaten path. With it being Nicole's first time at Grand Central Station we focused on the usual touristy spots like the main concourse. Then we took her to The Listening Gallery on the lower level of GCT. We were able to get her in one corner and Joe in the other so they could talk to each other across the room. We attempted to so to the Transit Museum but it was just too packed to be able to see anything. We then ventured into Bryant Part where all the Holiday booths were set up for the season. We were able to walk near Times Square but because it was daytime there really wasn't much to see.While we were walking down Broadway it started to snow

unexpectedly. We thought it was so cool that although nothing was sticking Nicole was able to see it snow even if it was just for ten munutes. After a quick lunch we headed to my favorite place, Dylan's Candy Bar! We spent a quite a bit of time here just wondering around the store while Nicole had some chocolatey treats. After this the temperature had dropped pretty low and we were lacking energy so we headed home. Nicole didn't want to stop there, once we got home we went Black Friday shopping around town without one complaint from Joe.

On Saturday, Nicole's last full day in NY we loaded up once again and caught the train. This time we were headed to Joe's school, Fordham University to watch their football team play in the FCS National Championship Playoffs. Once we arrived on campus we do what normal people do, go to the bookstore to shop for Fordham stuff! We picked up a few things and then headed to the stadium. At the beginning of the game the weather was cold but nothing to complain about. As time wore on it began to get colder and colder. No matter how long you sat in one place the bleachers were still ice cold. During halftime we made the decision that because Fordham was so far ahead that we were going to head home. That night we made a homemade meal and enjoyed our last night with our 8th visitor of 2013. We had so much fun during those four days we wished she could have stayed longer. I was an amazing trip and we made lasting memories. We talked about Nicole visiting again soon and we are already looking forward to it! Did I mention Nicole now wants to go to college in NY? You didn't hear it form me!. ;)

Spoiler Alert!

I know my updates have been a little drab lately but Joe and I really don’t have much going on. We are both working full time and going to school. On the weekends we usually spend time resting and just being home. So to stir things up I am going to share a couple of exciting updates:

This year we will be celebrating Christmas on the west coast once again!

For Thanksgiving we will be joined by Joe’s sister… I am SO excited to show her around NYC.

As of Fall 2013 I will be receiving my baby degree, yes, I FINALLY stopped listening to my counselors and figured it out on my own… I’m receiving my A.S. in Administration of Justice! Afterwards, I will be taking a semester off and applying to the local University and changing my major once again… I might be attempting to get into a 5 Year Master’s program for Accounting but I have not decided if it would be better to go for the standard 4 year Bachelor’s first…. decisions, decisions!

...I'm also graduating on the Deans List!! :)

That’s all I can think of at the moment but stay tuned for more updates :)

I hope that grabbed your attention!

4th Visitor of 2013

Okay, so my mom was both the 3rd and 4th visitor of 2013 but she just can't get enough of The Big Apple! Here is a recap of what we did while Mom was here:

I've recently started taking orders for my New York famous cookies and with a somewhat large order Mom was able to give me a hand while learning some of my secrets. ;) 

Speaking of Baking... Mom and I took a cupcake decorating class and I must say these are not bad for our first attempt.

We followed tradition and had dinner at our favorite Mexican spot in Mount Kisco.

While Mom was here we had the delightful task of visiting the DMV and officially removing my California plates on my truck... Bye bye CA!

After a very VERY busy week Mom Joe and I set off to spend the day in the city and then send Mom off to the airport... This was our attempt to get a picture at the Mount Kisco train station.

One of Mom's requests was to go to Dylan's Candy Bar.

My Dad's heaven!

These are the dresses made on Project Runway made entirely out of candy from the store.

Moms first visit to Central Park!

We had a great time! Can't wait for her to visit AGAIN!

3rd Visitor of 2013

Two days after Valentines Day and three days after Mallory and Brian left we had another visitor fly into town. (What is with these crazy west coasters that want to visit the New York in the dead of Winter?) 

My Mom came back for her 3rd round of the big city! This trip was not like the others because we had to spend most of the time indoors and not running around town like usual. We visited our favorite used bookstore in the city and then had a nice lunch. 

While my mom was here I had to take a trip to my companies location in Queens and my mom decided to come with. (Please note I have NEVER driven anywhere in New York except right around where we live) It was an experience but we made it! The photo above was from the parking lot in Queens... amazing!

 

 While my mom was here she just had to try out my new Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer.

We didn't do much this trip but she will be back soon and can't wait for the weather to warm up!

2nd Visitors of 2013

Joe and I were excited to hear that two of our very good friends were going to visit us this February. Although February is not the most ideal month to visit the east coast we were excited to show them around. Unfortunately, their visit was cut short a day because of Blizzard Nemo but we made the most of their remaining time.

While Mallory and Brian were here Grand Central Station was celebrating it's 100th anniversary!

We got to see the 9-11 memorial

and experience Times Square at night

We were so excited to have them visit and cannot wait to see them again soon!

1st Visitor of 2013

Joe and I were very excited to learn that our friend Jerrod was going to fly back to New York with us to celebrate the new year!

We spent New Years with my co-worker Jimena, salsa dancing the night away with her family.

The next weekend the four of us spent time in NYC exploring and showing Jerrod around town.

The next day we took Jerrod shopping on Broadway and that evening we had to take Jerrod to see Times Square at night.

The final photo of the night was taken by Jerrod in Grand Central station and for some reason I just love this photo.

While Jerrod visited the boys were cooking up a storm. I was one spoiled girl!

Homemade chicken wings.

Swordfish, scallops, crab cake, and asparagus.

Jerrod's visit was very fun and we were extremely sad to seem him go but I am sure he will be visiting again soon!