Dinner & A Movie

Last week, a friend shared this great deal at Indie Food & Wine and coordinated a night out! So Wednesday after work a group of 6 of us went to see First Position and have yummy sandwiches and wine - all for 25 bucks!! It was a fun night and such a great deal!

It's a perfect, inexpensive date night! Now I just need to find a babysitter... ;)

Here's the trailer for the movie, which was really good! 

Family Vacation!

Last week we took a lovely vacation to Charleston, South Carolina with Nick's parents and sister. We had a great trip and proudly survived flying with TWO lap babies! I'm working on uploading our pictures from the camera and about 12 draft posts from our trip and beyond... 

But here are a few snapshots from my iPhone!

 

We decided to have an "airport picnic" before the flight! 

(Read: there wasn't a seat to be found, so we plopped ourselves on the floor on a blanket and called it a picnic!) We survived the trip and even got a pic in front of our teeny tiny plane!

 

We stayed in Foley Beach, SC which is a great beach community about 20 minutes outside of Charleston. It was so nice and relaxing to hang out on the beach. That's Nick & Jack playing closer to the ocean.

 

We took an awesome carriage ride in Charleston! Really informative, but also fun and pretty. 

Both boys fell asleep!

 

The accidental matching family... opps! ;)

While I love matching outfits for my boys, this was a total accident - especially me & Nick! 

 

One night we went to a wonderful dinner and left the boys with my in-laws. 

It was so great to have a night out to ourselves!

DUMBO

We had a fabulous day today with friends in DUMBO, Brooklyn! 

More to come... But this is one of my new favorite pics. Such a great time! :)

Children's Museum of the Arts!

Saturday we met friends at the Children's Museum of Art. It was awesome! It's a wonderful space for kids of a variety of ages. We hung out in the toddler room, which had one table after another of fabulous art projects. The kind that you would never want to do in your own home, but that your kids love! I took about a million pictures, but here are some highlights...

 

Flubber!!

 This was a table full of magnetic blocks. Jack loved them and built a castle!

You can see the little one in the background taking a nap in his wrap.

 There was a room filled with these exercise balls. Jack had so much fun that at one point he stopped and just screamed with joy. It was hysterical to watch! The best part is that the kids are seperated by age. There are 20 minute time blocks for each age group so we didn't have to worry about Jack being too small.

 This was the cool new exhibit by Misaki Kawai. 

Jack loved combing the fabulous pink hair on this giant creature.

 About an hour into our visit, they had a little music group. All of the kids got drums to play along with the leader. Jack & Maddy shared their drums. It was adorable!

 Here's a shot of Wells who woke up to check out the scenery :)

 Jack painted for the first time with these watercolors. It was adorable - especially because Nick & Wells were watching through the glass.

We had an awesome time!

We love Central Park!

Last week I posted about a fun day in the Park. It really was a great day! Well, I finally uploaded some pics from my camera and wanted to share. 

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The kind of day that makes you really love NYC.

 

It was the baby's first time on the swings. 

He's still a bit teeny for it, but it was so fun to have the boys swinging next to each other.

We even played long enough that Jack left without a meltdown!

SUCCESS!!

Boston Aquarium!

A few weeks ago, we visited the New England Aquarium in Boston and had such a wonderful time! Jack was fascinated by all of the fish and I could not stop taking pictures. I was so excited by all of the fish, I felt like a kid again. I highly recommend a visit. So far, this was our favorite aquarium!

When you enter, the penguins are right in front of you. There is a huge open display that houses three different types of penguins. Then in the center of the building there is a giant shark tank that is about 5 stories high with a walkway that wraps around the whole thing. So as you walk up around the spiral, you can look down and see the penguins. Right in front of you is the giant shark tank with rays, sharks, eels, turtles and tons of fish! Then on each level there are exhibits around the outside, too.

 

These are some of the smaller tanks.

 

 

Jack loved it all! He was mesmerized by the fish, it was awesome!

 

You can see that Nanny Sue had a good time, too! :)

  

This is the awesome shark tank. At the very top, you can actually see in from above the water, which is so neat. We happened to get up there just in time for feeding. Two guys actually dove into the tank to feed the fish. It was really cool to watch. Each type of fish was fed something different. Some ate fish, while others ate veggies. It was really such an awesome thing to see!

 And then there was a turtle. My dear friend, the turtle. I couldn't get enough of this guy.
Seriously, there was about 40 pictures on my camera just of him (her?).
It was really awesome to see him swimming through the tank.

All in all, we all had a really wonderful time! 

It truly was a day to be grateful for :)

A Fun Day in the Park!

Today I am grateful for this.

 A wonderful day in the Park with my family.

Dance it Out

A few years ago Gray's Anatomy had a storyline between Meredith and Christina where they would dance it out. Mainly, whenever they were stressed, they would turn up the music and just dance until they laughed and felt better. I think it came out when I was in grad school, because I remember relating to the idea and having a few fun dance parties. I also had a fabulous friend in San Diego who loved to dance it out - typically that happened on a Saturday night at the W hotel. Good times. Well Monday, I got to go to a fancy work event. Mind you, I had to work for a good portion of the night. But after those responsibilities were done, it was so fun to have a glass of champagne and dance it out. I don't go out dancing very often. I know, you're totally shocked by that, right?! But when I do, I always have so much fun. And I always feel better - aside from my feet, which are aching. This party was no exception. It was a ton of fun!

I'm grateful for the opportunity to go to these fancy events - even when I'm working them!  

I'm grateful that I got out for the night and had some fun. 

I am also totally grateful to my sister for finding me a fab dress! ;)

Things you never thought you would do... Until you're a Mom.

Today, as I was sitting on the bathroom floor pushing my boys "peepee" down to avoid being shot... I realized that parenthood is choc full of moments when you wonder to yourself... "who am I?!" I never in my life thought I'd do this... but there I was!

At the same time, I could have burst with pride for my boy who is asking to sit on the potty!! Being a Mom is weird. But it's also so fun. I never fully understood how your children could become such a huge focus. I balked at people who let their children become the center of their worlds. I think I get it now. Though they are not the sole center, my children are the core of who I am. And that doesn't mean that I have lost myself. It means that I have changed... evolved.

I love the moments when I laugh at something because I can't believe that I am doing it. Like sitting on the bathroom floor, helping my toddler aim. I love it.


Mom, I wanted to call you to tell you all about it so bad... My baby is getting so big! What happened?! I am so proud of him. I just wanted to tell you...and now I did. I love you.

FaceTime.

Tonight we "chatted" with my Dad via FaceTime on the iPhone. By we, I mean Jack. He's not so interested in sharing these days... but that's another topic for another day.

Jack hijacked my phone and decided he wanted to call Papa. To be clear, he doesn't actually know how to place calls, yet! I did have to password protect my phone though, because he learned how to open it! It's amazing how savvy he is with technology already, just from watching us! 

Anyway, instead of just calling my Dad, we decided to FaceTime. It was perfect! I love getting to see my Dad's reaction to J's crazy, silly antics. And I love to see Jack's reaction to my Dad and his dogs. He simply had to see the "doggies" :) It was absolutely the highlight of my day.

Technology is really amazing and I am so grateful that we have access to it! 

Community.

I work at this really unique boarding school for talented performing arts kids. I love it! I never in my life thought that I'd like to work with high school kids. But this job is fun and the kids are great!

Tonight was a prime example of why it's so special. I brought my boys by to visit with the kids at work . It was so cute! The kids had a ball with J. Getting him to say their names and teaching him dance moves. It was awesome! It's such a unique environment and I am so thankful that my boys get to be a part of it.

Here's a snapshot of the boys with my friends from work! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of him learning to dance with the kids. Bummer.

Fashion.

Ok, let's be honest.  This is not a gratitude post. 

I could try to come up with some nonsense about being grateful that my Mom was a fashionista who helped me learn the religion of fabulous shoes...
But we can cut right to the good stuff, right? ;)

Let's just talk fashion for a moment. 

I am a self-proclaimed shopaholic. I love shoes and handbags. I love the feel of new clothes. I'm like a junky. But on a budget. So when I can't score, I swoon. 

This is what I'm currently swooning for. What do you think?

 Cafe Capris from J.Crew

 These shoes speak of themselves, don't they. 

Asymmetrical yellow top from Zara. 

I might actually splurge on this one. It's in the window of the store down the street. 

I walk by it daily and it stares at me... I might just need it.  

This necklace could make anything look feminine and fun. I want it!

There's nothing like a fab white leather handbag for the Spring/Summer. I love this one!

And though I am totally not ready to talk swim... this suit caught my eye! It could be a great choice for those of us with - ehm - less than stellar tummies?

Also, I totally just splurged on these... Mama had 2 babies back to back and still needed smaller jeans. In my book, that's worthy of a splurge! ;) 

Another day I'll tell you about my fashionista Mom, her fabulous shoe collection and why she thought it was all a waste in the end. 

But for now, we swoon. ;)