A New York Minute!

Good day and Happy Thanksgiving!
Second of all, any complaints or worries for our MIA action can be directed to yours truly, Comcast. We are grateful to be up and running once again!:)
Now then, I have been meaning to record my recent NY City adventures and once again apologize for going back in time with my memories.


But alas! They can not be forgotten! So, Emily Wadds and I had originally planned to go see NY whilst the husbands were away at scout camp and as you may know were foiled big time when our flight was canceled. So, this was round two in the ol' plans and I'm grateful to say they were baby bottom smooth.

Here we are on the plane, sleepy eyes and all. We were both so giddy and giggley that I'm sure we were annoying to all around who were forced to hear.
While standing in the middle of Time Square and being crazy photo-snapping tourists, we decided early on that we didn't care what "they" thought of us. It was all about having fun and getting good shots:)

Our first day proved to be successful in the shopping category. Man did we walk and walk and walk. I felt like a pioneer! Everyone walks everywhere and if you aren't sure where you are going, you must just keep on going and pretend like you do. Otherwise, you could get trampled on and attacked from over-sized shoppings bags, pocket books, a pack of dogs or girls in spandex (aka "leggings") and boots. And if you destiny is to be able to avoid all the previously named outcomes, you will be given a flyer filled with trash that no one wants to read. Your choice. We chose to walk! By the end of day our feet were not only sopping wet (from bonafide NY rain) but quite sore.
Here is the Macy's Santa Mail box. I felt like I was in The North Pole and should already have my Christmas list ready to deliver to the ol' jolly man himself. Do you ever send a letter to Santa Claus? Oh the magic in make believe!




Here was our "to do" list:

1. Eat a NY hot dog!
2. See Time Square!
3. See Statue of Liberty!
4. Wave to the Brooklyn Bridge!
5. Enjoy a night on Broadway!
6. Shop, shop, shop!
7. and eat NY cheesecake!
   The cheesecake is not shown here, but this was a cute bakery filled with mountains of sugary substances perfect for the traveling gals. And here I am after our first day of walking and shopping, oh and eating, outside of Adrienne's upper west side Manhattan apartment. Thinking we were locked out from the extra deadbolt, which we did not have a key for, and ready to accept defeat...I tried it one last time and it magically opened. To this day I couldn't really tell you how I did it, but alas! We were in! Hooray!

Day 2- Getting hasty and taking the first ferry we came across, we were on our way to Stanton Island. Which by the way, is not where the Statue of Liberty is. Oops! Oh well. We saw it from a distance and waved to the strong armed lady! All was not lost when we came to this hot dog stand and fulfilled another wish.











Does anyone recognize this iconic restaurant? Shout out to Kramer, Jerry, Elaine and George.

Yes! Believe it or not this is the Brooklyn Bridge in all her majesty.











Using what little training we have had on modeling, here is our attempts at posing as the mannequins, prior to being kicked out of the store for taking pictures!


Day 3- Let us take a moment to remember our new found friend,

Chris. We met him on our first day (that's another story) and discovered that he works for TKTS, where one can get discounted broadway tickets. He told us to come by and tell the guards that "Chris sent you" and they would push us to the front of the very long line with no problem. Well, the only problem was that the guard had no idea who Chris was. So, feeling very naive and wondering what to do... when out of the blue I spot our yellow clad hero! Oh yes! Chris it was! He did as promised too and let us through all the ropes and signs to get us to the front of the line. We were all for the hook-ups this trip. Thanks Chris!


And here we are ready to go out on the town! This picture is a good reminder to do as my mother told me and "Brooke, stand up straight". Thanks Mother!

Welp! I am off to make some grub and eat some turkey. Then J and I are headed to a romantic cabin built for two for the weekend. I will try and finish later.
Happy eating and remembering our many blessings!

How Do You Make a Cake Out of That?

SAY CHEESE!!!

So how do you follow up a home baked apple pie? How about an attempt at some homemade cheesecake? We say why not?....

We started by lining one of those special pans with the graham cracker crust - a key ingredient.

Then we added the creamy goodness that makes it all worth while.

We baked it up and made our place smell like a bakery...it's almost as good as a fancy candle from Bath & Body Works. :)

And utilized the special pan to expose the full sides for one tempting (and rich) treat!

Isn't the first piece always the messiest?

Then we thought about entering a few triathlons to burn off the calories.
:)

Pie Maker, Pie Maker, Make Me a Pie!

In continuation of our tradition of Fall celebration, we did indeed bake our famous apple pie! Here is a step-by-step (I miss that show) of the process (with pics....)

First we peel and sugar up the fresh apples (we use granny smith apples) to make this sweet goodness !

Then we fill it up!

and top it off!

and bake it 'till it's golden deliciouso!
YUM!

Candy awarded to yelling children in masks and other paraphernalia!

While sitting @ Church today I had a 10year old girl ask why we have Halloween.
I told her it was an opportunity to dress up and get free candy. While I would love to enlighten us all as to why we dress up kids in strange, scary costumes and lead them door to door yelling out a threatening phrase to people of all ages and getting rewarded with candy, I don't feel like doing the homework. :)
So, with that said......here are a few pictures depicting how we spent our Halloween.

This is J with his co-workers. Since people always ask him if he is a Dental Student, he decided to be one for a day, so he can finally answer in the affirmative.

This is Bee and her favorite little Minnie Mouse Claire. Aren't those blue eyes gorgeous?!




Ok, take a good look at this picture and see if you can guess what/who Coulter is dressed as.
Give up? He is the one and only Anakin Skywalker...Lego. Oh yes! Major props go out to Charisse and her creative master-mind in creating this one of a kind custom- made costume. You are my inspiration!