It's Feb 1st which means it time to start

Adam's family is in some competition to see who can lose the most weight and what not. I am just being a support during this process. I'll see how long I last. I just want to keep my husband motivated.

okay I guess its time to BRING IT. Adam just turned on the video.

Lazy breakfast that will make you feel special

Saturdays are our lazy days. This Saturday was filled with finishing another season of 24, cleaning the church, and feeding the missionaries.

We had this rise-and-shine favorite for dinner:

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

Picture taken without the yummy blueberry syrup drizzled on top

I made it Friday night, before we went to the Watervue BBQ with the Schaffers. They served yummy steak, baked potatoes, salad, yummy rolls, and cookies. These apartment complexes are way nice. They cook for us once a month. Its always a delicious free meal.

Okay so back to the "make you feel special" meal. This french toast casserole is super easy, and really delicous. Y'all should definitely try it. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients


12 slices ITALIAN BREAD, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

10 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup



1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1.Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.

2.In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

3.Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

4.Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.

5.In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast



Adapted from Allrecipes.com - I made some changes suggested in the comments.

Recipes

                                                                 Sloppy Joe Turnovers

I took pictures when I made it last, but that was when my camera was stolen. It looks similar to the picture above. I am making it this week because it is scrumptious.

• 1/3 diced green pepper

• 1/3 diced white onion

• 2 celery stalks, trimmed

• 1 lb chopped beef

• 1 15 oz can Manwich

• 1 tbsp flour

• 1 can pre-made biscuit dough

• Munster cheese, to taste (or your favorite kind)


1. Finely chop pepper, onion, and celery.
2. Add a dollop of oil to a large skillet. Add meat and stir in vegetables, cook until meat is brown.
3. Place cooked meat and vegetables into a new pan. Add Manwich and simmer for 3-5 min.
4. Dust wax paper with flour, and roll out dough thin and round. Add 2 spoonfuls of meat mixture to middle of dough. Fold dough over and press sides of pocket with fork.
5. Place turnovers on a baking pan, and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
6. Garnish with cheese, and top with leftover Manwhich.

                                                     
                                                          Creamy Chicken Enchilladas

 

I am in the process of making this for dinner for tonight. I already have a good chicken enchilada recipe, but its always good to try new recipes. This is my visiting teachers recipe. Christine is a good cook, so I know these will be good.


1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 1/4 cups green salsa

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 tsp cumin

8-10 (12in.) tortillas

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese, divided


1. In a medium bowl combine sour cream and salsa. Stir to combine. Spread a small amount of mixture in the bottom of a 8x12in. baking dish. Measure out 1 cup of the remaining sauce and set aside.
2. Add chicken, onion, cumin, and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese to sauce in bowl. Mix well.
3. Spoon heaping 1/4 cup of chicken mixture into each tortilla. Roll up and place seam sides down in baking dish. Spread reserved 1 cup of sauce onto the top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle with reamaining 1 cup of cheese.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.
Serves 4-6




Something else that is on the list to make this week because I have all the ingredients, and my new friend just tried it recently. Have I mentioned that a new family moved into our ward, and our apartment complex here at Watervue!?!? Well, I am totally excited to have neighbors that are our age!! We had them over for dinner Saturday night, and think they are totally fun.


                                                  Burrito Pie adapted from allrecipes.com

1 pound ground beef


1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 (2.25 oz) can black olives, sliced

1 (10.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1/2 cup taco sauce (I used Taco Bell brand)

1 (16 oz) can refried beans

6 (8 in) flour tortillas

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or colby jack


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat, if desired. Mix in the olives, tomatoes, taco sauce, and refried beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 2-3 quart round casserole dish. Cover with 2 tortillas followed by 1/3 of meat mixture, then 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese.
4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.

Serves 4-6

                                                         
                                                        Cilantro Ranch Dressing
 
On Saturday I served Cafe Rio Pork Salad/Burritos this time with the the dressing!!! Erica thanks for the recipe! The Schaffer's ended up making it, while I finished up the rice. They threw everything into our vitamix and it turned out so good! Now we can have the complete Cafe Rio experience anytime in our own kitchen.

1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup of Mayonnaise
1/3 Cup Milk
1 Small bunch of Cilantro
1/2 Sweet Onion
2 Small garlic cloves, chopped
1 tomatillo, quartered
1/2 t. salt
1 Ranch Dip powder mix packet

Blend all together in blender. Erica recommended to half this recipe because it makes a lot of sauce.


Last night I was invited over to my Zumba Instructors house!! How cool is that?!!? She invited 10 of her favorite classmates over and had us each bring a healthyish snack to enjoy after our workout. She gave us a biggest looser style workout. We did a lot of running, and I am not a runner. It was good for me. Anyways, I had a lot of fun meeting the girls there, and learned the secret to getting the gender you want when you have kids. ha. I had no idea you could control that, but it has worked for her everytime. After our workout we enjoyed so much good food. I brought fruit and fruit dip.

Fruit Dip:


1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
3 tablespoons orange juice

or

1 8oz tub strawberry cream cheese
1 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon jucie

Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Sore in refrigerator before serving. Makes 2 cups.

I really liked April's (my zumba teachers) Red Pepper Hummus:


2 (15-ounce) cans chick peas (garbanzos), one drained, one with liquid

2 teaspoons tahini sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

Roasted Red Pepper (I canned, 1 fresh)

Cayenne Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Put the fresh bell pepper in the oven on broil and char It up a little bit

Put everything else in the blender (VitaMix on high speed is what I use) except the salt and blend for 1 minute

Add the Fresh Red Pepper and Salt and blend another 30 seconds

You can add 1 garlic clove and 1 teaspoon cumin if you like the flavor. Also you can replace tahini with ¼ cup of raw sesame seeds


                                                  Not like any cookie you have seen before
                                                                         SPREADS

Recipe from Pioneer Woman

I made this a while back during the time when my camera was stolen. I thought I would add this to my collection of recipes on here, because we enjoyed them.

Ingredients


■1 cup Brown Sugar

■1 cup Margarine

■1 whole Egg

■2 cups Flour

■½ teaspoons Salt

■1 teaspoon Vanilla

■6 ounces, weight ( To 8 Ounces) Chocolate Chips

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Mix together brown sugar and margarine. Add egg and mix together. Add flour, salt, and vanilla, and mix together well.

Spread dough onto cookie sheet to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/2-inch.



Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until slightly brown. At this point, pull out of the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to oven for 1 minute. Remove and spread melted chips over the top. Cut into squares.

Last but not least, the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Recipe. You can use Rolo's too if you are more of a carmel person.

1 package Betty Crocker Ultimate Fudge Brownie Mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
30 mini Reeses cups unwrapped
1 box Reynolds aluminum cups, or mini cups

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place foil liners on baking sheet - 30 if mini - 18 if regular size
3. Combine brownie mix, contents from fudge packet in mix, eggs, water and oil
4. Stir with spoon until well blended (about 50 strokes)
5. Fill each liner about half way with batter
6. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and remove from oven
7. Push Reeses in center of each "brownie cupcake" until even with surface of the batter
8. Bake 7 minutes longer for mini, and about 14 minutes longer for regular.
9. Cool 5-10 minutes in pan and then you can move them to cooling rack to cool completely.

Today

Our Sunday School class enjoyed these.....

I made the mistake of just making one batch this morning, because we did not have any leftovers. My hubby decided to make another batch when we got home from church so we could enjoy them :) I learned how to make these better by using brownie mix with fudge sauce.
I love these Reeses Brownie Cupcakes. This is the third time I have made them. If I thought about them more often, I would make them a lot. I guess its good that I forget. I already eat too much junk as it is.

Today has just been full of sugar. We had doughnuts for breakfast, and are about to go over to the Starr's for some Lemon bars (my favorite) and more cupcakes. I think I better bring some of these over there.


How we do Sunday School:

We bring treats every other week for our Sunday School class. We want to be the "cool" teachers if you know what I am saying. This is what I brought two weeks ago. I wonder what I will be making next. It depends on what the teenagers decide. We play a game every other week, so that the winning team (or winner) can pick the treat for the following week.

Today we played Deal or No Deal, and a couple weeks ago we played a dangerous game. I filled up balloons and taped them to a large thick sturdy box, and had questions under them. A person from each team had to pop one of the balloon and answer the question to have a chance to get points. If they popped a balloon after three tries, and anwered the question correctly, they were able to throw the dart at the dart board to claim their points. This is definitely a fun calling. Adam is pretty much the teacher. I make up the games and bake the treats. We look over the lesson together, and I try to find interesting facts to add to the lesson.

Easy as 1, 2, 3!

I made broiled grapefruit last night. It was really good! My husband doesn't like grapefruit, but I know he would like it this way. Thanks Redhead recipes! I'll have to get my husband to try it when he is home.

Not as Easy as 1, 2, 3!!!

I tried out the BIGGEST LOSER Bootcamp here at Watervue last night. Boy was it intense!! It was A LOT harder than I thought it would be, and I am in pretty good shape. I had never done most of the things required of us. There were times where I wanted to give up, and thought I couldn't possibly do one more set. My legs were shaking, and almost gave out a few times, but I did everything! I am so proud of myself. I completed the workout. I don't know if I will be going back though. lol I told my husband what we did, and he will never try it now. Most people who come on a Monday end up quitting, according to the trainer. Thursdays are suppose to be easier, so maybe I will just go those days. I already go to the gym enough during the week as it is. I am really sore today. The girl that invited me said she would never go back. haha. She is in shape too! She works out with her husband every morning. It really was a hardcore workout. We got our butts kicked! The trainer guessed my weight before I got on the scale. They have you weigh in every week. I was surprised, but I guess he does this for a living. I haven't gained too much weight since High School. I was 100-105 lbs in High School. I weighed in at 108 last night. I fluctuate between 104-110. It just depends on what I eat, and how much I work out. I haven't weighed myself since CA, so I had no idea how much I weighed. I like that I have gained muscle! Id much rather weight more and be in good shape, then weigh less and just look skinny. On our trip to Hawaii I weighed 104 lbs, and last summer (before I started going to the gym regularly) I was around that too. I look at those pictures now and think wow I was pretty skinny, but definitely not toned. A few pounds makes a difference on someone who is 5'2". I have no room to hide fat, so I am trying to maintain right now.  I will look rediculous as a pregnant lady. lol. I haven't been doing weights since CA, because I don't want to get ripped. I have the body structure for that. Thanks dad. lol.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

I bought some cranberries a while back because they were on sale. I put them in the freezer, and pulled them out today to make this yummy cranberry cream cheese dip. It was a perfect snack during our football watching. My visiting teacher sure has good recipes! I ate most of it before Adam got around to trying it. I couldn't help myself. Its really easy to make, so I thought I would share Christine's recipe.

I haven't been cooking anything new lately. This week, during the days Adam was home, we had things such as Roast, Chicken Alfredo, Cafe Rio Pork, Chicken Tortellini, etc. I need to get some new recipes to try. Hopefully I will have some new recipes to post soon!

We danced our way into the New Year

New Year's Eve we meet up with the Saunders at the Hurst Stake Center to get our grove on baby!
I felt 17 again! They were having a youth dance, and Rachel and Aaron were chaperoning. We showed up at the last hour, and made it intime to do the electric slide. Oh ya! haha. Rachel had never done it before, so we had to do it!

It was funny to watch all the nervous boys ask the girls to dance. It brought back so many memories. Nothing has changed since I was a youth. All the girls group together with their circle of friends, and the boys with theirs. When a slow song comes on you can feel the nervousness in the room. haha.

I can't believe how old I am now! Dang!! I'll have kids at those dances before I know it.

Me and Rachel. She looks so cute prego!

My husband is so handsome!

Setting a great example for the youth;)

I got to slow dance with my man, and got a romantic teenagery New Years kiss. What could be better than that? We were young and in love that night. I guess you would still consider us young, so we are that way every night we are together, but felt extra young that night. We stopped at Jack in the Box (my favoite fast food place in High School) and got wasted on their oreo shake, sour dough jack, funnel cake, and curly fries.

New Years Day was filled with football, and yummy snack food. Love Pepperidge farm stuff!

I don't try to make New Years resolutions I know I can't/won't keep.  For example, if I think too much about eating healthier, it just makes me extra hungry. I set goals throughout the year when I feel the need. There are a ton of things I could work on, but ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY.... I like to focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise, it can be overwhelming. Last year, I focused on exercising more. It is now a routine in my life, so its time for something else. If you made a list this year, and have already failed at doing some of the things on that list, don't get discouraged. We are human. Just keep trying to do your very best!!! Maybe you should focus on one thing at a time, like me!

I love this quote:

‎"Celebrate Failure! If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing badly!We can always learn to do it better. Failure often means we are taking the necessary risks to grow, stretch, and serve. It just matters that we try! We don't always have to win and do well at everything."


Wendy Olrich - Time Out For Women
 

P.S. I finally finished posting all the New York pictures on the last post. Sorry it took so long!

The belle vie a N.Y.

Our N.Y. trip was really fun, but definitely not relaxing!! Next vacay we want to go somewhere tropical.

Arrival: We got into N.Y. around 10 pm. We took a taxi, b/c that is the fastest way into the city, and they take you right to the door of your hotel. Definitely didn't want to have to lug our luggage around at that time of night. It cost a tiny bit more then taking the train, but it was worth it. The subway would have taken forever! We took it on the way back to the airport b/c we were in no rush.

Anywho, after we dropped off our luggage we wanted to explore. We headed over to time square. Our first stop was at Macey's to see their window displays.

We noticed right away that there are Christmas lights everywhere. Kinda fun. We also noticed how freezing it is in N.Y. We made our first trip to Starbucks ten minutes into our stroll, and we had to stop at Starbucks several other times during the trip to help keep warm. Thank goodness there is a Starbucks on like every corner. Love the Carmel Apple Spice!

Pictures of Time Square

We visited the Toys R Us store. Any child's heaven.

Ferris Wheel

 Huge T Rex

We visited each level

Large gummy bear! Yes, please :)

That's a lot of Nerds!

And a whole lot more Time Square pictures. I was in awe standing there looking at all the screens. Its pretty cool in person.

Our First Day Adventures:

Started off with getting unlimited 7-day subway cards, which cost $27 each. Definitely the way to get around New York. Here is a pic of Adam during our first subway ride. 

We headed over to Norma's for brunch. Out of all the places we ate at, we had to wait the longest to be seated here. It was absolutely, spectacularly the best food we ate in New York City, so it was definitely worth the wait. 

Took some pictures by some awesome things made out of gingerbread.

Norma's is inside a fancy hotel: The Parker Meridien

We ordered some white chocolate hot chocolate, while we waited at the hotel's bar/lounge.

It was pretty tasty

Then we were finally seated at this small table, after about an hour and a half wait.

The orange juice was very good. It tasted like they had just juiced some oranges right then and there. Each glass was $9. Those little smoothie shots were $1, and were also good. Their menu is filled with interesting twists on your everyday breakfast items.

Behold, the best waffle of your life!!! Seriously :)

With fruit on top (carmelized bananas and fresh blueberries) and tropical fruit on the inside, what more could you ask for?....then the best part, the brulee topping! Not to mention, the raspberry hollondaise sauce. I think this cost about $24. It was the only food that really impressed me in New York, so if you visit N.Y. definitely eat at Norma's.

Adam got Norma's version of Eggs Benedict, which featured asparagus and Canadian bacon amongst a sea of hollandaise sauce, serve on small pancakes. It is accompanied by baby potatoes (I snagged a purple one). This cost around $27. He enjoyed it very much.

One has to treat themselves to an expensive meal every now and again. The most expensive thing on the menu is $1000 frittata, and some little girl ordered it behind us.

After we stuffed our faces, we headed over to Central Park.

You can expect to see carriages all over the place. Back in the day, only the wealthy were seen riding in carriages around Central Park. Not today. I've taken a few carriage rides in my day, and they aren't that exciting. I feel sorry for the horses.

I never realized how many buildings surround the Park. I got the below picture off Wikipedia to give you a better idea.

Don't bother trying to ice skate at Central Park, or the Rockefellar center. It's always crowded. Your best bet is to go to Bryant Park midday. It wasn't top priority for Adam and I, so we never got around to doing it. Adam doesn't really enjoy ice skating anyways.

You have to wait in a huge line. Only a small part of the line made it in this picture.

This very carousel was featured on an episode of Castle, so being a fan and all I had to snap a shot of it.

Angel of the Waters, in Bethesda Fountain (sculpted 1873)

We saw this guy multiple times singing his Christmas songs. He was a very good singer, and this was a perfect location for him to do it. The other time we ran into him was on 5th ave. He was singing infront of one of the churches.

They had cute little bridges everywhere.

It got real windy, when it was my turn to take a picture by the MET.

We went inside but didn't last long because we were starving. We headed over to one of the Ray's Pizzeria's, b/c we didn't want to wait in line for a sit down restaurant. All that walking made us extra hungry. We must of burned off all the calories we ate at Norma's.

FYI this pizza was not very good. It was better than most take-out pizza places, but dissapointing none the less. The guy I sat next to on the plane told us we had to go here, b/c its like on every corner, and a true Newyorker hit spot. Well definitely could have done without.

After we ate and I bought a cheap purse, we headed back to Time Square to the TKTS booth. Where we got some half off tickets to Marry Poppins! It was a very good show. Adam thought the lady who played Marry Poppins had the best voice compared to the other shows we saw.

Our seats were actually quite nice. There is no point in buying tickets in advance, if you want to save money. There are always tickets available. It doesn't matter what it says online. When you go to TKTS they offer you the best seats available that are left, for 40-60% off. Now not all the shows make it on the TKTS list. Lion King, for example, will never make it on the list. The list changes everynight, yet some of the shows remain on the list everynight. For those who didn't buy tickets in advance, but really want to see a show thats not on the list, just go to the ticket window at the theater of the show you want to see in the mid afternoon. You will get amazing seats, but it will be pricey.

We almost bought Lion King tickets before we flew out to N.Y. I am glad we didn't, b/c the only seats listed online were really crappy. We didn't want to sit in the very back corner. After we discovered that we could get really good seats for Lion King same day, we really thought about doing it. However, we decided it would be more fun to see multiple shows, instead of just Lion King and the Radio City Musical (the only tickets we bought in advance). We could have got cheaper seats for the Radio City Musical if we would have bought them at TKTS, but they probably wouldn't have been as good of seats, with its popularity.

After the show, we went to Junior's to get our cheesecake fix. I don't know how Juniors wins first prize in every contest rating. It's good, but not great. I would much rather have a piece of Judy's cheesecake. Her cheesecake is still the best I have ever tasted. She made all the different varieties of cheesecake at my wedding, and now she is known as the cheescake lady! Everyone goes to her for cheesecake. It's better than cheescake factory, and I love that place.

It was super late after we were done with our cheesecake, so we headed to our hotel to get some sleep.

Second Day Adventures:

We took the subway downtown to the best sandwich place in town.

I loved everything about this place. Its a true deli, or delicatessen.

 You walk in and get in one of the lines. They slice the meat right then and there, and let you taste it before they put in on their fresh baked rye bread. Definitely high quality stuff! Look at all that meat! Pound for pound, The best patrami and corned beef sandwich on earth. My mouth is watering right now, b/c I could go for one of those sandwiches right now.

FYI when Meg Ryan displayed her "faking-it" skills in "When Harry Met Sally" it was at Katz. I watched that movie before we came out here.

We got there at a good time, we didn't have to wait in an outside line. The lines inside go pretty fast. We saw this line as we exited.

After a fabulous lunch for brunch, we headed down to China Town and Littly Italy.

gotta love the sign in the background.

I like how they have playgrounds in the middle of a bunch of buildings. It reminds me of the shows: Cold Case and Without a Trace.

Little markets all over the place

They also have stuff like fish heads and what not, but I didn't want to take a picture of that. Kinda grossed me out a bit.

I heard the food in China Town is really good, but we had other stuff in mind. The one good thing about China Town is that they are open super late. If you are ever craving food in the middle of the night, come here. It's like 3 in the afternoon for them. Everything is open till like 3am, I believe.

To get the real experinece of China Town you should eat here and buy a knock off purse. Two things we didn't do that day. I did however get a purse later.

Little Italy

There were cute little restaurants all over

I don't know what you would do in Little Italy besides eat.

After we walked through little Italy, we headed over to Donught Plant. YUM!

Adam got the plain chocolate

I got the creme brulee.

After we finished gobbling those down, we headed to Soho.

Didn't do any shopping, but I had to take a picture infront of Steve Madden. Love their shoes. They are not only stylish, but comfy! Soho is definitely a place to go shopping with the girls. Like most guys, my hubby doesn't like to shop.

Washington Square Park has this cool looking Arch

without the blue sky

With the blue sky

They had a dog park which made us miss Charlie a lot! We sat down on one of the benches and just watched some of the dogs that reminded us of him.

Our view from the bench

I tried to take a picture of me kissing my husband, but it didn't turn out so well.

crackin up

 We were tired of walking around at this point, so we were grateful for this bench.

After we rested, we headed over to SweetiePie's for dinner. Only to find out it was CLOSED! I didn't realize that some restaurants close on Sundays in New York. This was one of the few.

I was really looking forward to dinning insided that bird cage. Oh well, I heard the food isn't that great, so a picture infront will do.

We ventured over to Magnolia Bakery next to get some yummy cupcakes and banana pudding.

One vanilla and one chocolate. It's a good thing I don't live in N.Y. because I wouldn't be able to resist these cupcakes ever, and would eat way too many every week. My waist would be huge!

The banana pudding was pretty good too. I would rather have a cupcake though. We went back to our room to relax and get off our feet for a while, and ended up looking up movie times.

Adam got us a suite, b/c we heard the rooms are small. Yes, they are tiny. I can't imagine staying in a regular room. I should have taken a picture of the bathroom. It was like a closet. At least we didn't hear our neighbors, the extra room blocked out the sound.

We figured out some movies that we could see, and took the subway over to Shake Shack

Thank goodness we only had to wait ten minutes in line. I think we are just plain lucky or something. A big line started to form behind us. Overall, I rate it a B-. The fries were gross. I think Del Taco's fries taste better and I don't even like them. The burgers were just okay for me. There wasn't much flavor, just a hint of garlic which I felt didn't compliment the burger at all. The bugers were quite small, a little greasy, and didn't fill me up.We were really dissapointed and wouldn't recommend this place, even though a lot of people seem to like it. I can't believe people will wait over and hour sometimes for that. It is a fun environment; I'll give it that. Definitely better than fastfood, besides the fries. I got their lemonade and thought that was pretty good, but I probably wouldn't order it again.  

We headed over to the Cinemark to watch these movies:

It had just come out, so the theater was packed. We had to sit up in the second row, but we enjoyed the movie.

Then we got a little something to snack on during our next movie

We were able to pick out any seat we wanted for the next movie. Idk if that was due to the movie, the late hour, or both.

This one was pretty disturbing. I can't say I would recommend it. We wanted to see it b/c we like Natalie Portman; she has always been a good little actress.

By the time the movies were over it was early into the next day. We hurried home to get a little sleep.

Day 3 Adventures:

We started our day off right by going to Sarabeth's for brunch.

I got the french toast, and I really enjoyed it. It's kinda hard to go wrong with french toast though.

Adam got a yummy omelet. We would definitly recommend what we ordered to someone. Not sure how the rest of the food is, but brunch is a good way to go. They sure have tastey french toast and omelets. The staff is super friendly, and it is a nice cosy environment. I give them an A rating.

After we finished our meals, we decided to head down 5th ave. Our first stop was here:

The line wasn't very long for The Big Piano, so of course we decided to do it.

We had fun sliding down all the keys.

Adam, being a Star Wars fan, took a picture next to Chewbacca. I matched with the lego Santa. I wonder how long it took them to put those together.

Some sights down 5th Ave:

Pretty lighted snowflake hanging in the middle of the street.

Churches

Trump Tower

Fendi

Definitely the prettiest lights

St. Patricks Cathedral

Beautiful stained glass windows

A beautiful wood carved Nativity

Saks window displays:

Construction:

We visited the hotel my favorite neighbor worked at when she lived in N.Y.

Pretty Christmas trees

Their waterfall sculpture

We were going to stop by the Waldor Astoria hotel, b/c they always go all out on Christmas decor, but we ran out of time. Plus, a lot of celebrities stay there.

Next stop was to the Empire State building

It was a really magnificent view of New York being up on the 86th floor Observatory,  but I was surprised how small it was up there. There was barely any room to walk around.

Adam had been taking pictures, because it was super windy up there. It got hard to see with my hair blowing in my face, so I went back inside. I didn't realize the camera was on the wrong setting when he handed it to me inside, and told me he wanted me to take a picture of him. It was turned on with the lens out, so thats why I didn't didn't bother to look. I told him to get positioned, and that I would run back outside and snap a shot of him. I did just that. I got this one blury shot, b/c the wind was so strong that I couldn't keep my hands still, and then the camera died. Sorry hunny!

The rest of our night documented by Adam's Droid X

We hurried and took the subway downtown to make it to our show ontime.

I really enjoyed watching videos of Stomp when I was younger. In middle school, my band teacher always had the substitute put on a Stomp video when he was absent.

It was pretty cool seeing them live! Adam was so tired that he fell asleep a lot during the show. haha. He told me that he enjoyed what he saw, and wished he could have stayed awake. It got really loud at times, and the stage is pretty small. Even though we both enjoyed the show, we agree that the musicals are the best!

We were absolutely, incredibly starving after the show. We went and hit up one of the best pizza places in New York! Arguably the best!

Lombardi's definitely made me smile. Just see above photos. Wow, so that bruchetta was gone in litteraly 20 seconds. We inhaled it. Loved it! The waitress came by to ask us how it was, and was surprised to see an empty plate. Same exact thing happened with our pizza. We finished our food before the people sitting behind us, and they already had there food before we came in. The waitress told us she had never in her life seen two people eat so fast. I was wondering why some of the people working there were staring at us. haha. The coal oven pizza is so good here that we inhaled the whole thing. We just couldn't stop eating! They should have a warning sign that says: Will-inhale large amounts of food here. It is too good to resist! It must be that fresh oozing mozarella cheese.

Lombardi's is the real deal in terms of an authentic brick oven pizza with fresh ingredients done right.

We were going to go to Grimaldi's but Adam's cousin, who use to live in New York, told us he like Lombardi's a little better. He said they are almost identical. He also said that Lombardi's is easier to get to, and you don't have to wait in line as long. So that was a no brainer for us! SO for the same great taste and the same fare go to Lombardi's if you are staying in Manhattan. Reviews say it has a better "Atmoshpere" as well. Oh ya, and we didn't have to wait at all!!!!!!!!!!! Probably cuz we got there an hour before it closed.

That ended our night. We took the subway home and crashed!


Day 4 Adventures:

We woke up way too early this day, to make it ontime for our Statue of Liberty tour. I don't know what I was thinking scheduling the first boat ride out that morning.

We bought breakfast on the boat.

View of the statue from the boat

Arrival

FYI you have to go through 2 security screenings. Its really lame. Once, before you get on the boat, and again before they let you inside.

Inside

Actual sizing ot the torch

The face

The Foot

View from up top

Stairs up to the Crown

On our way down

Ellis Island (As seen on the movie Hitch)

We didn't care to make this stop. The Statue of Libety Tour took long enough. We had other things we wanted to do. Like check out Wallstreet.

Making our way down the Brooklyn Bridge

We were pretty hungry after are long walk, so we headed back to get some food.

We stopped in China Town first to go to the bathroom at good old McDonalds. I refuse to eat at McDonalds, but we were grateful they had so many in New York so we could use their restrooms every now and again.

On our way there I decided to give into those people who whisper "Purses," or "Coach, Prada," etc. I wanted to get the full China Town experience. I ignored them during our first visit, but changed my mind on this day.  Its by invitation only. There are no signs or anything. People just scout out potential buyers. If they think you might buy, they will invite you. It was a shady experience. I followed the woman for a long time down Canal Street. She walked 3 feet infront of me, and was constantly looking back and scouting the area (maybe for police or private investigators IDK). She led me to some secret location to buy one of the better quality fakes. She handed me off to to this guy, who handed me a ghetto lamenated catelog of fake purses and said, "which one?"

I originally would have picked a Louis Vitton purse, but after being in New York a few days I was sick of seeing them. Everyone and their mom owns one. I pointed to this Coach purse:

Everyone around me was paying $75 dollars for a purse. I didn't care that much, so I bartered with the guy. He asked me what I wanted to pay and I said $40. He almost laughed and said I wouldn't be able to get a coach bag anywhere for that price. I said fine and pretended I was no longer interested. He then said $65, and acted like he was doing me a favor, and couldn't drop the price any lower. Long story short, I walked away with this purse for $40 bucks (a really good replica of this purse, I should say). Not too shabby.

I had to wait a long time before they brought the purse to me. I almost left b/c I didn't care to wait any longer. It took like 10-15 min, and I really had to go to the bathroom. These people communicate through text messages. The lady who handed me over, could tell I was thinking about leaving. She received a text and told me to continue to wait b/c they were on their way back.

They showed up with a suitcase hand bag, and pulled out a trash bag and gave it to me. I looked inside and saw my purse, so I handed the guy the money. While I was looking inside the guy told me not to pull it out, incase the cops come. Totally shady!!! Its illegal to sell knock off handbags, but I don't think it matters if you own one.


We were happy to finally make it to Crif Dogs to get some grub. Notice the trash bag in my hand.

I am so glad we came here!

If you come here, make sure you get the tots!! They are SO scrumptious! The outside is golden and crispy, and the inside is nice and potato-ey. I think the foil helps keep the outside crispy! Yummy :)

Gotta throw in some candid shots every once and a while. Notice what I am wearing. I took off three other layers before I sat down. Its so cold in N.Y. during December that you don't care what you wear. You just want to stay warm.

As you can see, Criff Dogs takes hot dogs to a whole new level!

I had the chihuahua crif dog and I most definitely enjoyed it. It's a bacon wrapped hot dog covered with avocados and sour cream. This hot dog had everything. The crispy bacon and the soft avocados were a perfect combination of flavor in my mouth.The cashier suggested I added salsa, it was absolutely amazing!

The bacon wrapped around it will change your mind about even eating a plain hot dog again. I don't even like hot dogs that much. I might eat one a year on average. If they had a Crif Dogs in Texas, that average would go up quite a bit.
 Adam had the ultimate Spicy Redneck (bacon-wrapped with chili, coleslaw and jalapenos).

It's an small space with a hidden bathroom that you have to slide a wooden panel out next to the coveted phone booth entrance to PDT. Definitely have to stop here if you take a trip to N.Y. We also didn't have to wait in line here either :)

We headed back to Time Square and visited the M&M store. We were trying to kill some time before the lottery for Wicked started.

They have M&M's in every color, or you can buy them in a mixed variety of colors (like seen above).

There isn't too much to see in this store, so we

hit up Starbucks and relaxed there until it was time to head over to the Gershwin Theater.

We did the very same thing the night before. Got some Starbucks and waited in the Lottery line. They called 13 names, and ours wasn't one of them. We decided to give it another chance this night.

                                                          Oh boy am I glad we did!!!

Adam won us tickets!!!! His name was the 12th name called. We were about to walk away, and heard "Adam Towner." I was thinking did that really just happen?!?! Adam shouted something in excitment, and then I knew it really had just happened. I had already seen it before, but not on broadway. Adam hadn't seen it yet, so I was so happy he won us tickets. It's one of my favorite musicals. It's one I could see over and over again.

To do the lottery you have to show up 2 1/2 hours before the show. They give you a piece of paper and you right down your name, and the amount of tickets you want. You can only request 1 or 2. Then they announce the winners of the raffle 2 hours before the show starts. They select 13 names, unless some people only request one ticket. If that happens, they select other people who only need 1 ticket. They do this until all the remaining seats are filled.

Oh so I forgot to mention that after we won, we went back to the hotel so I could change into something more presentable. I would have felt like a bum wearing what I did that morning (see Crif Dog photos).

Notice Adam's button.

Its says I Won The Wicked Lottery! :)

We were in the Second Row. Adam didn't have anyone sitting infront of him. We were to the left. The first seats after the isle. We were able to see everything so perfectly. Adam looked up the price of our seats, and we found out that they went for $230. SCORE!!!

Adam really enjoyed the show. He loved the story line. It was so awesome to be upclose. We could see all of their mics, and facial expressions. It was a whole different experience. I of course loved it!!

The only thing that we were bummed about was the fact that the two leads in the play were done by the backups. We didn't get the best of the best, but they did a good job.

Their Menu was kinda fun

I liked the decor and menu, but not the food!

After the show we went to Serendipity. Worst decision of the whole trip!!!!

We had to wait FOREVER, and the food was HORRIBLE!!! I am telling you the worst food I have EVER eaten. It was not seasoned at all. It tated like nothing. I could only eat a few bites. Plus, they brought it out and it was cold. They guy could tell we were dissapointed, and he felt bad b/c he forgot to bring our food to us. He handed us the check, and we were like, "we haven't got our food yet!" He took off one of the Frozen Hot Chocolates off of our tab because of it.

The Frozen Hot Chocolate is SOOOO overated. All it is is hot chocolate mix, milk and ice. It was good, but nothing to brag about. Adam said he use to make that when he was 11 years old (minus the chocolate shavings on top).

If you go here, just hit up the desserts. They looked good. The table next to us ordered Sundae's and they were huge. Don't order any food here. I promise you wont eat it.

It tasted worse than it looks, and it looks pretty dang nasty!!!

Wasn't the best way to end our night, but that's how we ended it. Went to bed as soon as we got to our hotel because it was super late.

Day 5 Adventures:

We started off our day by taking the subway to Central Park, so we could eat at one of the best Burgers places in New York.

We were really dissapointed with Shake Shack, so we wanted to make sure New York actually has good burgers. We were so glad to find out that it DOES. They are right here at STAND 4!!!

We didn't care that this place was pricey, we just wanted to have a GOOD burger!

I love that they make your burger after you order it. They don't just cook a bunch of patties at once, and give you one of them. They ask you how you would like it, and cook it to perfection. I ordered mine medium and it was perfect. When you recieve it its nice and hot, and the bun isn't soggy at all. It's not greasy, and the toppings are top notch. Everything was so fresh, and delicious!!! They use high quality meat!  It was unbelievably good! Adam and I were very satisfied! Oh, and the house sauce that comes with the burgers is REALLY good. I poured it on my burger, and every bite was so flavorful. It all went together. I give this place an A+.

They give you fried pickles with your burger. I am not sure how they are because I didn't eat one.

They have really good sweet potatoe fries!!!!! If you come here you must order them!!! Each fry is thick and crispy, but potato-ey in the middle! Yummy! They are perfectly cooked, hand cut, and not oily. Oh, and they use the right amount of salt.

Their fry container reminded me of the BYU creamery. Miss that place!

The toasted marshmallow shake is really all its cracked up to be!

It was absolutely everything I was hoping for. I want one right now!! It was one of the best shakes I have ever had. OUTSTANDING!

Adam got the chocolate peanut butter shake, and loved it.

We decided we needed to walk some of that delicous meal off, so we walked around all these cute little booths that were set up infron of Central Park.

Goofy Smile, but I liked how they had this cute little tree just sitting in the middle of everything.

Headed over to the Garmet District and found lots of stores with all kinds of fabric and buttons.

There wasn't too much excitement around here, so we went to a souvenir shop. We bought some stuff and then then headed over to Bryant Park.

Bryant Park had Booths too. I ended up buying some cute Christmas Ornaments.

We didn't spend too much time here because we had to get over to the Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular.

On the way there we got some sweet, hot nuts. Apparently Nuts 4 Nuts is a New York Original. They smell so good! This is what gets everyone to stop. They have these stands on like every corner.

More pictures we took on the way to the theater:

We were excited to go to a Christmas show the last night of our New York trip.

It was really pretty on the inside

We had a great view from our seats. We were on the front row of the balcony.

Orchestra

Santa

It was a great family show. It felt a little more like Christmas, after watching it.

We walked over to the Rockefeller Center. It really would be a fun place to ice skate, if the line wasn't a mile long.

Pretty Tree

Blurry proof we were there.

We strolled down 5th Ave. one last time

Then we decided to look for a place to eat. We started walking down random streets, and saw more window displays and lights, but couldn't find a restaurant we were in the mood for.

I made it on the Forever 21 cam! That's good advertisement right there.

There I am in my red Jacket

After having no luck finding a restaurant, we decided to give Junior's cheesecake another try. We thought the cheesecake might taste better in the restaurant.

The waiter brought us beets and pickles to enjoy while we waited for our food. RANDOM! I am use to bread, rolls, and chips, but not this.

My salad

My salmon bagel. I was in the mood to eat a little healthy, but they put on the thickest layer of cream cheese I have ever seen. It was like a half inch thick, no joke.

Adam ordered a Roast beef sandwhich, and got a pile of meat.

We were full, so we took an original cheesecake to go. It didn't change our opinion. It was good, don't get me wrong, just not amazing.

Last day in New York:

For brunch we went to Frank Sinatra's favorite New York Restaurant: Patsy's Italian Restaurant

This place has a comfortable atmoshpere, and the sauce tastes homemade. Its nice and fresh.

I got the Bucatini All Amatriciana, and wasn't that impressed. It had hickory smoked bacon, prosciutto, onions, and fresh basil. I thought it would be more flavorful.

Adam got the Manicotti, and it was delicious!!! I ate what he couldn't finish.

Then we shared the best cannoli in New York.

I didn't put any makeup on this day, b/c we were traveling home. I didn't see the point!

We headed back to Time Square and decided to goof off at the Hershey's store.

We got all our wiggles out, and then headed back to the hotel to get our luggage.

Goodbye New Yorker!


We then got on our last subway ride to the airport. Oh man, was that a LONG ride!! From there we took the airtrain, and got to our terminal way too early. I walked through security with my shoes ON! I couldn't help but feel safe...NOT. ha Who knows what else gets past these guys. Our plane was delayed an hour, but we got out before the storm hit. Again, we must be lucky or something! I am glad we missed this:

Being in New York at Christmas time was definitely memorable! It was pricey, but worth it!  It was so nice to see my husband for 7 days straight. It's been way too long since the last time that happened (before my husband got his job).

If you got this far, you are awesome. This was like the longest post in this world. Probably not, but it was rediculously long. I should have broken it up.

Dear New York,
 thanks for a fabulous vacay :)

We are so happy to be home, but miss the food and fun you had to offer. Maybe we will visit again.

The Towners