30th Birthday Extravaganza

Last summer, just before Austin was born, Patrick asked me what I wanted for my 30th birthday. Without actually thinking it through, I answered "a girls' weekend". That set off a chain of thoughts in his head that resulted in an extravaganza far beyond what I had ever anticipated. He did hours of research, trying to make the event both cost-effective and a lot of fun at the same time for as many friends as possible. At no point did he grumble that I didn't ask for a getaway with him; instead he planned a trip he would have wanted to go on and was so happy when I thoroughly enjoyed it with my friends.

**Thanks to all the friends who were invited but unable to make it for a variety of reasons for their kind replies and birthday love from afar. You were all missed!!**

We started the weekend on Friday night with a big party with all the girlfriends who traveled in from out-of-town and my local girlfriends. Carolyn was able to arrive earlier on Friday so she helped Patrick with the tacky decorations. He had too much fun at Party City.

He thought it was hysterical to put a yard sign in the mound of unmelted snow. Just what the neighbors needed to see.

This is what I really thought it said.

This is not a flattering photo of the friends who attended - but it shows the fun Patrick had in planning. He had catered Mexican food and made homemade girly drinks and added more tacky "30" decorations.

This was his idea of fun - I put on the regalia for him and Amelia, but it all kept falling off.

Who knew 30 candles put off so much heat?

Trying to keep the poor kid away from the heat.

The gals heading into the city on Saturday morning.

This was Amelia's reaction while we were preparing to leave. Don't worry, she was comforted before we were gone.

Patrick had gotten my opinion on much of the itinerary, but in the end, it was entirely his hard work and ideas that created it. He thought of just about everything - car service to take us all into and out of the city, had me prepped with valet tips, directions, phone numbers and reservation information. He literally handed us a detailed itinerary and we just did what it told us to do. Perfection!

Our first stop was to drop off our bags at our fancy accommodations - the historic Waldorf Astoria. 

(This is what you get when he's researching prices 7 months in advance and finds a deal!)

We did a lot of wandering around, looking at all the "museum-like" displays and the art deco features.

View from our suite - good job Patrick!

Then we headed to the highlight of the weekend - a dessert tour!

First stop - Kee's Chocolates

We all chose a truffle - Blood Orange Dark Chocolate for me

Then the Cupcake Cafe

They are known for their fancy flowers

Walnut Cupcake with Maple frosting - yum!

The Little Pie Company

Sour Cream Walnut Apple Pie
the BEST apple pie I have tasted in my entire life. Our entire crew agreed that it was the best thing we ate on the tour and we might have shared, without hesitation, the one extra piece that was cut

rolled baklava at Poseidon's Bakery

cookies at Schmackary's

I went with "Green Tea Almond" which was not on this list and was super yummy. But we tasted each other's cookies and I think the Key Lime and Maple Bacon were equally delicious. I see some internet-hunting for recipes in my future.

Enjoying our 'milk shots' with our cookies.

We ended the tour with lemon bars at the Donna Bell Bake Shop - it was opened by Polly Perrette, the gal who plays "Abby" on NCIS in honor of her mother (who was from Alabama and they use her recipes!)

After this delicious tour, we scurried to the TKTS booth in Times Square to purchase the evening's show tickets. After FREEZING in the line for about a half-hour, we got tickets, and went to a lovely Italian dinner before seeing Motown. It was excellent and full of songs we enjoyed singing along to!

I used Patrick's fancy Hilton status and my 30th Birthday button to get us some free drink vouchers from the Waldorf Astoria. None of us are night owls, but we did stop at the hotel's Bull & Bear bar for our free cocktail before going to bed. Who knew that the bar was rated as one of the "top three" in the world by the New York Times?

On Sunday morning, Patrick had arranged for us to have brunch at this super fancy restaurant in the Palace Hotel. The hotel and restaurant were absolutely gorgeous - their decorator obviously had a thing for gold. :)

Apparently the chef is known for his creme brulee stuffed french toast - so 4 out of 5 of us went for it.

And then the staff brought out cake! after breakfast! so sharing was required

Our final fun was an Art & Architecture tour of the Rockefeller Center with a trip up to "the top of the rock"

With our earphones so our tour guide doesn't have to shout. But he did anyways.

Who knew all this art was about television and radio? I had no idea.

On our way to the top

Looking South

Central Park to the North

Times Square - the ball is teeny from this perspective

I was blessed with two gifts for my birthday - this excellent trip and Patrick's taking care of our kids alone. God was gracious and they were well behaved with no disasters; even Austin slept for a long stretch each night (which is still not the norm despite sleep training).

The whole weekend went by so fast and was full of great conversation, lots of laughter and too much food. And I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I do believe that Patrick already has a few clients if he wants to open up his own travel agency anytime soon. Thanks to those friends who were able to come - I hope it was as great a memory for you as it is for me!

Finding Feet & Airports

Getting back into a routine takes time after being gone from home for so long. And it's adjusting to new developments in our home - like attempting to sleep train Austin (note the word attempting).

Someone has found their feet!

Why use one finger when four will do?

Cuddling with friends

This is how we dress when it's single digits outside before the wind chill.

Letting someone sit up to the table with us now - big boy!

My new view at mealtime

These two crack each other up. And they crack me up.

Just having a conversation with my elephant.

Amelia continues her obsession with her Highlights magazine. She asks to do every activity/craft/recipe each month. We had hoarded a few prior to our holiday flights, so now I have a reserve of things to do when we need a change of pace.  Here she is coloring paper tubes to make into airplanes. The Highlights magazine showed children making their own airports (control tower, parking garages, runways, etc) out of blocks and paper. So of course we followed suit.

She built this control tower just like the magazine with verbal prompting.

Airplanes flying high in the sky!

Did you know each airplane needed to have its own princess on board?

Then we got into silly control-tower-building-knock-over playtime. It's always a good way to end.

December's issue also had a recipe for gingerbread that she insisted (with much persistence) we make. So we baked it right before bedtime and I frosted it afterwards. Here she is the next morning, excited to have a slice for breakfast.

We've also been working on taking-turns and following rules by playing a few toddler games she received.

2014 Calendar

We opted to continue our tradition of creating a calendar for our families of the kids as their primary gifts.  Amelia's favorite book for the last six months or so is called "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?" and it has 15 or so activities that a little girl is asking her mommy if princesses do and the mom responds of when or how princesses do them. We thought it would be fun to recreate the illustrations with Amelia as the main character for each month.  There is a puppy sidekick in the book that we intended on getting Austin to be (before his birth) but once the colic set in, we were happy to just put in little side photos of him smiling on each month (most taken in the last few weeks).

So here is our 2014 calendar, not in any particular order

Amelia in "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?"

Do Princesses like to walk in the rain? 

They dance through puddles without refrain!

Do Princesses play in the sand and dirt?

 If they're wearing jeans and messy old shirt.

Do princesses ride tricycles? 

Yes, even two-wheel bicycles.

Do Princesses climb trees?

 Is there a better way to catch the breeze?

Do Princesses drink sparkling punch? 

They prefer lemonade with lunch.

Do Princesses have to do any chores? 

They clean their drawers and sweep their floors.

Do Princesses snore when they fall asleep? 

After they've counted 500 sheep.

Do Princesses have a favorite vegetable? 

They find them all delectable.

Do Princesses cry and make a fuss? 

They have bad hair days just like us.

Do Princesses wear hiking boots? 

When they wish to take the scenic routes.

Do Princesses eat the crust of their bread? 

They save them for the ducks instead.

**So we tried multiple times and various parks to find ducks and feed them. But we could never find ducks. Come to find out, the county rangers discourage feeding so the ducks don't become dependent and hang around parks. So this was our alternative to a duck-feeding photo.** 

Mommy, do princesses seem at all like me? 

Look inside yourself and see...A princess is a place in your heart.

We hope our families enjoy this year's calendar!


Thanks to Jen & Briana for letting us borrow their tricycle and freezing themselves and their kids at the beach on a winter day!