Packing...More Packing...Moving!!

We started the heavy-duty packing today. I am already to be done packing and moved it. We close Friday at 830am and then...the moving starts. We have a moving truck for 5/1/10 so we will move little things in during the next week but wait for all the big stuff.

Right now we are living in disarray, unorganized, messy, boxed up apartment. As you can tell:

Soon to be all organized here:

We cant wait to settle in the house. We went by yesterday and talked with the owners, who actually graduated in the same class as andrew from HP. Small weird! They are so sweet and would have loved to be friends with the wife but they are moving to Australia for 2 years. They were sweet to show us the quirks of the house. We also met a hardwood floor guy and a granite person out there as there is a possibility we might do one of those before we move in later after closing. We also discovered a beautiful hot pink rose bush in the front yard (the one to the left of the driveway) which is now fully in bloom and so pretty. Guess Ill be learning some yard stuff along the way. We are excited for the upcoming closing date and a fun celebration dinner at Bob's on Friday!

The Big Apple

We had an absolute fabulous time in NYC. We did everything: walk, eat fancy meals, eat NY style pizza, drink some cocktails, walk more, went on a search for the best red velvet cupcake, eat more, shopped, went to the MoMA, eat some more, and finally...walked and ate some more! It was wonderful and we were exhausted. We got to see some of Andrew's friends, one who happened to be in NYC from Germany just visiting the east coast with his friend and another one that lives in NYC. We also got to see my good friend Brittany. It was so great to catch up with her since her move to the Big Apple about a year ago.

Here is the picture story of The Search for the Best Red Velvet Cupcake:

Question:

Does anything compare to Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake??

First cupcake place I came across:

Little tiny cupcakes, baked by who other than....Melissa. It was a given, I had to try them!

They were very good little cupcakes, loved them!

Second on the list....

The one and only, famous, Magnolia Bakery

Good but didn't live up to my expectations of the most talked about Magnolia Bakery.

Third....

Crumbs Bakery

The biggest red velvet cupcake I have ever seen! Andrew believes Crumbs wins for the best in NYC (that we have tasted to date).

It definitely won the best one I tasted in NYC but...Sprinkles definitely out-tastes all of them, agreed upon by both tasters, Missy and Andrew!

Glad to know that I have the best red velvet cupcake at my finger tips (D.A.N.G.E.R.O.U.S)

What did we do in between eating cupcakes....haha, lots!!!

When we first arrived on Friday, we checked into our hotel, not to mention we got a nice little upgrade in our room to a suite, so great and a fabulous surprise (always say you are on an anniversary trip)! We then walked down to SoHo area and just wandered and wandered. We stopped for a little happy hour drink....

at this little "Manhattan Bar." Cute and quaint, and small. Fun for our first little stop. We had reservations at a spectacular italian restaurant an hour later so we didn't want to ruin our appetite so we just had a drink and moved on to dinner. Il Mulino. WOW! A very italian experience. Andrew had some fabulous steak and I had, well...a whole fish served to me on a silver platter. Literally. Then then filled it but, wow! I guess I didn't quite understand their Italian/English language and I ordered a whole fish! It was definitely a fun experience and quite the fancy dinner.

Later that night we met up with Andrew's friend Clayton for some drinks and watched the Vols win over Ohio State, I was a proud southern in the north, one of the only!

Saturday and Sunday during the day we explored:

I only thought of one person when I saw this Starry Night, Van Gogh....Rachel Shaub! It was amazing to see some of the original works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Jackson Pollock. We definitely did not spend enough time at the MoMA (Modern Museum of Art) to appreciate everything. We did it at the end of the day when we were so so very tired.

This is what we looked like before the MoMa:

Dont judge us, you would look like us too!

Exhausted!

We also went to Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Financial District and Ground Zero, 5th Ave and all those fun fancy stores! The fun stores also included a visit to Dylans Candy Bar, the flagship. YUM. Wow! Candy overload. I got Tyler and Ellie some fun candy so hopefully they will enjoy! We had a blast!

We happen to be passing St. Patricks Cathedral when they were starting their Palm Sunday Service.

The empire state building

Saturday night we went to Blue Fin where Brittany works and she waited on us which was great! We loved seeing her and catching up!

We received great service: free champagne and an anniversary dessert! We had a blast! Loved the Big Apple!

We are back and I think still recovering from a fun fun vacation!

Next up: Looking forward to 4/23 which looks like it will include a house, 4/15 which might include Sadie's graduation, 5/30 which might include a fun cruise with the Morgan clan, 6/10 which might include a fun Chicago trip with my favorite girls.....wow spring is full!!! We are excited for all that the spring holds, busy busy!