Happy Birthday Maci!

Yep, that's right. Today is the best little dog in the entire world's birthday. Eight years ago my mom, who constantly refused to let me have a pet other than a fish, finally caved. One look at Maci and there was no turning back. She stole our hearts. Mace is quite a character. She's fiercly independent but loving and loyal. She loves people but dogs on the other hand, not so much. Size does not matter to this little one. She doesn't care if you're a chiuaua or a rottweiler, she'll be sure to let you know she doesn't want you around. She's scared of thunder and loves to take naps. She's the best dog a girl could ask for and I miss her SO much. Happy Birthday Mace!!

Best. Weekend. Ever.

This past weekend Adam came to visit. His plane landed Friday night, so after he checked into his hotel we went straight to dinner at Caliente. It was packed but it was as delicious as ever. Then we headed to Times Square to grab some of the world's BEST cheescake from Junior's. Adam was doubting that it was as good as I was telling him but after his first bite, he was in love. Apparently in Times Square there's a live video camera that people can view on their computers, so of course we had to stop by and wave to mom and dad.


Saturday morning we woke up early and headed out to Yankee Stadium. Adam is a HUGE Yankees fan and wanted to see the House that Babe built in person. Then we headed down towards Wall Street so I could show him where I worked. We walked around the Financial District for a while and sat by the Statue of Liberty and ate some froyo. We also went to the Seaport and walked around the mall. Then we headed up towards Chinatown where we snagged some cheap tshirts. We grabbed lunch in Little Italy at a place called Positano. After lunch we caught a taxi and headed up to Central Park! I've taken the carriage rides through Central Park before but I've never actually walked through it. We walked by Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial and then stopped to rest in Sheep's Meadow, which is a massive field of grass. We walked up to Bethesda Fountain and I went in and got a drink from the Boathouse Restaurant, which is in 27 Dresses. Central Park is one of my favorite places in the city. That night we went to Bobby Van's for dinner. It was DELICIOUS. Definitely the best birthday dinner everrrr! After dinner we walked up to Serendipity so Adam could experience it for himself. The wait was an hour and half but it went by fast. Adam got the Coward's portion of the Banana Split, which was still huge and I got a frrrrozen hot chocolate, again.
Sunday we decided to rent car and go to the Hamptons!! It's about an hour and a half from the city. The Mansions were blocked by massive shrubs but we caught a peek at some of them. We walked out to the beach and I loved the feeling of the sand between my toes. It was a nice change from the concrete in the city. We called dad to wish him a Happy Birthday AND Father's Day. I'm so sad I couldn't be there to celebrate with him. We decided to drive to the end of Long Island to the Montauk Point Lighthouse. I'm obsessed with Lighthouses but had never been to one. We climbed up to the top and the view was absolutely beautiful. I could have stayed up there forever. We drove back and grabbed lunch in East Hampton and walked around looking at the shops. Long story short, I have the BEST brother ever. I miss him already!

Yankees vs. Astros

All it took was one step inside that stadium to make me a diehard Yankees fan. No words can do it justice. It's simply something that every person has to experience for themselves.

"The essence of the Yankees is that they win. From in front or from behind, they win. And that's why the history of the New York Yankees is virtually the history of baseball."
-Dave Anderson, The New York Times



"Baseball was, is and always will be to me the greatest game in the world."
-Babe Ruth

“Serendipity, it's such a nice sounding word for what it means: a fortunate accident.”

Kate Beckinsale was right. It was a fortunate accident that she chose to wander into a little place called Serendipity. If it wasn't for her, I would never have been able to experience what I like to call Heaven in a Cup, but Serendipity just calls it Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. It tastes exactly like it says, like frozen hot chocolate. Two of our program staff went early and booked us reservations because Serendipity is notorious for their long wait. We arrived on the Upper East Side at 8:30 and were seated in just ten minutes. However we did have to wait awhile for our drinks to arrive, but once they did, the ten minutes I spent drinking it were some of the best ten minutes of my life.

Brooklyn

So today I ventured to another borough, Brooklyn. I figured I had to love it since it has my name in it. A group from the program took the subway downtown and then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was absolutely beautiful. I loved the view of the city from the bridge. We had pizza from Grimaldi's and luckily we called ahead and ordered because the line was two hours long! It was really good pizza. We also had ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory which was delicious. Then we just sat at a park overlooking the Hudson before heading back to Manhattan.