HAIR!!!

John and I got to see the 40th anniversary presentation of HAIR in Central Park. It was an amazing performance and for those of you who know me, you know that I love this musical! I took this image from an online review, so I can't claim it as my own. Photography wasn't allowed, or else, I would have lots more pictures to share. John and I stopped at Le Gamin on Houston for an iced coffee before the performance.
We were invited to a picnic dinner in Central Park before the performance by our friend Richard who is on the Board for the dance company that choreographed the musical. John looks so handsome in his green shirt after eating his picnic dinner. Cool sidenote...I got to meet David Salle at the picnic! He was one of my favorite artists in graduate school...until I met John, of course. : )

Little Dog in the Big City

How perfect is it that the dog run in Washington Square Park where we take Georgie is called "George's Dog Run." Georgie and I come here together almost everyday...it's one of my favorite places in the city.

Georgie's hanging out in the dog run. Usually there are at least 15 dogs in here at a time, but Georgie nearly had the entire space to herself on this day.

Georgie and one of her dog park friends, Saffronellie. She is a therapy dog and a total angel.

We had to get a raincoat for Georgie so that she could stay somewhat dry in wet weather. I think she looks totally cute, but Georgie's not used to wearing doggy clothes, so the raincoat is going to take some getting used to.

New York Pics

These clouds reminded me of that scene in "Ghostbusters" when all the ghouls are unleashed on the city. I always loved the vastness of the Texas sky, but there is something beautiful about the little slivers of sky visible between the buildings in New York.

I was walking down the street with Georgie one day and saw these three men (Indian, maybe?) all wearing similar outfits and all walking with their hands folded behind their back. It was so cool! Just as I took the picture though, the first guy unfolded his hands, so I was a second too late, but you can still get the idea.

I've had several celebrity sightings in New York, but this was the first one since I moved here. It's a terrible picture because I took it with my cell phone and was across the street, but it is Kate Hudson. She and her entourage were hanging out in SoHo...there were poporazie (sp?) everywhere!

The Big Journey to New York

John and I left for New York from Baytown on July 6th. Even though Lizzie, Mom, and I are all smiling here, there were many tears shed. This was not an easy goodbye, but I was excited for the adventure that lied ahead.

Here we are with our rented van loaded down...my stuff literally took up every inch of space. Georgie looks so cute strapped in her seat belt!
Our first stop was Oklahoma City to visit John's brother, sister-in-law, and neice. Here is John with his adorable little neice, Amira (one of the seven flower girls in the wedding!)
John's brother Andy, Amira, and John.

Our next stop was Enid, Oklahoma to visit John's parents. John is feeding the Koi in the backyard pond while Georgie salivates over the fishy-smelling fish food.

Joe watches John feed the Koi while Georgie nearly falls in trying to get to the fish food! She is such a piggy!

We drove through St. Louis along the way and saw the famous arch.

We listened to a lot of music along the way! I love this picture of John singing opera with the sunset in the background. We were listening to a Paul Potts cd (a British Idol contestant who sings beautiful opera music) given to us by John's parents.
This picture was taken somewhere in rural Illinois. Even though there wasn't much to see, this part of the country was so beautiful! We loved the golden corn fields, red farm houses, and expansive sky.

We got really excited when we saw a carnival in Ohio. If we didn't have Georgie with us in the car, we totally would have stopped for a few rides and funnel cake.

Georgie takes a break to stretch her legs in West Virginia. With her seat belt harness on, she looks as if she just parachuted down!

We stopped in Washington D.C. for a couple of days before making our way to the Big Apple.

We met up with our good friend Richard while in D.C. and had a delicious Mexican lunch.

John and I snuggle up over our delicious feast.

And finally we made it to New York! This was such an exciting moment to drive into our new city!!

Hello New York City!!

Happy Birthday Kristina! (belated!)

Kristina's birthday was June 28, so these pictures are getting posted a little later than I intended. But they are finally here as promised! When we were neighbors, Kristina would always refer to me as "Martha Stewart" because I was always baking. In the picture you can see one of my creations that I made to celebrate her birthday, white chocolate raspberry cupcakes. We took this picture in my kitchen just before we left for her party.

Cassie, Kristina, and a friend of Kristina whose name I do not know (sorry!)

Hope, Kristina, and Ed

More of Kristina's friends at her party. Joseph and Prince - Peace Out!

4th of July, Saying Goodbye to Some Friends

John and I spent the 4th of July in Baytown at the Bicentennial Park carnival. We started out at the church for the ice cream social, but showed up just a few minutes late after the church had been locked up. We did arrive just in time to see some church friends and take a few pictures.

Lizzie and Josh posing and looking super cute together.

Lizzie and Cassie

Cassie, Lizzie, Mom (with our glow-in-the-dark crosses) and church friend, Barbara Burg

Here we are at the carnival at the snake-petting booth...I did not partake in this activity - just took pictures! John was sooo excited to get to pet the snakes!

This was taken the day before at Outback Steakhouse. We had dinner with Josh's parents and their friends.

And here are the studly men waiting for our table at Outback.

Saying Goodbye to Some Dear Friends...
This is my dear friend Kristina and me in front of her apartment door (which was right across the hall from my apartment door in Houston). Notice the cool decorations that I made as a surprise for her 34th birthday on June 28. John took this picture of us hugging goodbye just moments before I moved out of the apartment.


A few days earlier I had dinner with my dear friends Tracy (a.k.a. Gelbaugh) and Patti, our principal at Shadowbriar. I swear these two could be related, but they're not!

I also had to say goodbye to my dear friend, Jena, but I already posted those pictures from her birthday party. Here is an absolutely adorable picture of her daughter, Emma, showing off her Kung Fu Panda kick at the movie theater. Jena sent this picture to me while we were in the car on the way to New York. I love this picture and I will really miss Jena and Emma!!

New York, New York!!

Hi Everyone! John and I finally made it to New York last Saturday evening (July 12) after a fun cross-country trip that took us through 12 states...Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. We stopped in Oklahoma for a few days to visit John's family, then made stops in Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Washington D.C. before finally arriving in the Big Apple. It was so surreal (and emotional!) to see the Statue of Liberty in the distance as we approached the city. I am so happy to finally be here with John. The last few days have been blissful and totally wonderful as we embark on a really exciting time in our lives.

I have a long list of things to do as I get settled in to my new home, one of which is to get the internet wired up in the apartment so that I can keep up with the blog. I'm at an internet cafe right now on a public computer, so I can't post pictures right now. But don't worry...I promise I will be blogging my heart out as soon as I can do it from home!

Hope everyone is well!