First Mother's Day

This was my first Mother's Day ever and at my request, we spent most of the weekend in the park. 



On Saturday, we went to the park after a trip to the Farmer's Market...

...and had a picnic in the park on Sunday.  What a beautiful weekend.

Sweet Date

While my mother-in-law was here earlier this week, she was more than willing to do some babysitting, which gave John and I the chance to have a sweet little date at Sweet Melissa in the neighborhoood.  We indulged a little (a lot, actually) on decadent sundaes.  I had the Apple Bread Pudding Sundae with rum raisin caramel sauce and John had the Peanut Butter Decadence Sundae.  It was a sweet little date!

Meeting Garrison Keillor!

I thought it was pretty cool to be in the audience for a live broadcast of Prairie Home Companion Saturday night, but tonight totally trumped that! John and I actually got to meet Garrison Keillor at his book signing tonight. It was so exciting! Earlier today on my walk with Georgie I noticed as we were passing McNally Jackson books that Garrison Keillor was doing a book signing this evening. John and I walked back to the book store after dinner and saw Mr. Keillor browsing books as we walked in. John walked right up to him and asked if he would take a picture with me (I'm so glad that John is not shy like me!)

Date Night - Prairie Home Companion

Tonight John and I had one of our best date nights ever. We went to a live broadcast of "Prairie Home Companion" which is something I have been wanting to do since I was about 8 years old! Next to our wedding day, it was one of the most exciting experiences of my life!

I snuck this picture (photography wasn't allowed) at the end of the show. You can see Garrison Keillor in the red tie in the center. On the far left you can see Yo-Yo Ma, one of the musical guests. He as amazing! We also heard music from The Assad Brothers, Connie Evingson, and Inga Swearingen.



John in front of The Town Hall in Times Square where the show is broadcast...

...and John in front of the marquee.













Afterwards we went out for cherry pie a la mode and coffee at a nearby diner and then walked to Herald Square to see the window displays at Macy's.














Here I am in front of one of the windows...a wild display of letters to Santa spinning in a spiraling funnel.




Today was also a day of celebrations. My little brother CJ turned 25...Happy Birthday CJ! Also, my dear friend Missy had her baby shower. I wish I could have been with both of you today to help you celebrate!

Our First Christmas Tree!

Last night John and I decorated our first tree together as a married couple. We listened to holiday music and drank hot chocolate while we hung the ornaments. It was so much fun!

Thanksgiving in South Carolina

John and I spent Thanksgiving in South Carolina on my extended family's farm.







One of the highlights of our trip was feeding the cows. Their tongues are much larger in real life than they appear in the pictures!



Richard lauging at a cow that was sniffing out more bread to gobble.







This was the largest Thanksgiving dinner I have ever attended. Believe it or not, I'm related to nearly all these people! I took this picture just before our hay ride to the cow pastures.
Josh tried riding the cows, even if for a split second! I snapped this picture just as the cow bumped him off.








Lizzie and I were really excited to discover a beautiful flowering shrub (we thought it might be peonies, but we're not sure) behind our great grandmother's house.

Me posing near one of the ponds on the farm...

...and John in the same spot.
John with Uncle Jimmy, my grandmother's younger brother...

...and mom with Aunt Dot, my grandmother's younger sister.

Apple Picking and Art

John and I were invited to spend the day apple picking at the home of two art collectors in upstate New York today. We had the most amazing time!


















We picked apples...














































...and made apple cider! It was delicious!




















Afterwards, we walked the grounds to see the couple's outdoor sculpture collection and soak up the wonderful country air.

This is actually a sculpture in the collection!

At the end of the day we were able to tour the couple's "art barn" on their estate which housed my favorite piece in the entire collection...the jelly doughnut painting!

Dinner Date with John

John took me to Raoul's for dinner tonight, a French restaurant across the street from our apartment. In all the seven years that I have been coming to New York, I've probably walked by this restaurant a million times, but never tried it until tonight. It was delicious! I had the steak au poive with pomme frites and it was fantastic.

This restaurant was also used for a scene in the "Sex in the City" movie. It was used for the Valentine's Day night where Miranda and Carrie meet for dinner and then have a fight. John was actually an extra in this scene (a single guy sitting at the bar alone), but they cut the shots he was in. But he was in the room for that entire scene!

I wish I could take credit for these pictures, but I found them on Google. I like the picture above because it's the scene I see everyday when I walk out of the aparment.


I also found this picture from Raoul's website which is the exact view of the restaurant we had from our booth.

Date Night with John

John and I had a fun date on Broadway tonight. We went to see The Lion King which was amazing!

This is a picture I took from the cab looking down 45th Street as we approached the theater.















This is the view from the 3rd floor lobby of the theater...Times Square!
After the show, I tried to take a picture of us in front of the marquee, but it didn't quite work.












Luckily someone passing offered to take the picture for us!