My Dreamy NY Trip From Ages Ago

Ahh, remember when I used to live in NY?

I'd go to museums on my lunch break like it was no big deal?

And I saw my little Monkey sister everyday (because we were roommates)?

And we'd pretend to be annoyed at all the tourists at Christmas time but would still go to Rockefeller Center?

 And there were dinners with these ladies?  

And we'd go to see my Little Monkey sister perform at clubs all over downtown? (This was her nod to Sally Bowles, isn't she adorable?)

 And my bestie from college was always there?  (Well for 6 of my 8 years.)

For my last birthday (when I turned Old), Monkey flew we to New York to celebrate properly.

Which meant that Bergdorf Goodman was the first stop.  

One of my gifts was an appointment to the Braid Bar at the John Barrett salon which meant no washing my hair for a week!  My dream!

Then maybe I did a little shopping . . . 

Like at Forever 21 (which might be age-inappropriate)

And the sale department at Anthropologie.

 Valentine's Day Dress . . . Check.

Joe Fresh . . .Well, I wanted this one but when I sent this photo to Magic Man  . . . 

He sent this photo back to me:

So I decided I could not buy the crazy, silver, sequined blazer.  

Instead, I chose a demure black version:

 Ha! That'll show him.  

Or me when I try to sport this in Texas and get thrown out of everywhere.

Then there was my old NY stand-by, Necessary Clothing (THEY have a retail site and Joe Fresh doesn't?!)

This is my version of the oversized Dude Sweater.

And this killed me!

A blatant knock-off of a Dries van Noten pattern!?  

Like we would't notice.  

I didn't buy this one, by the way, out of respect for lovely Dries.  

Can we discuss the state of young people's clothing?  

These were being sold and not as a joke or for a costume and there were being worn too.  I don't get it. 

 Except for the high-waisted, elastic waist versions. But those make me feel guilty for even thinking of wearing them.  Too comfortable.

Back to my birthday celebration, my lovely friends and sister treated me to a luxe manicure.  

Can you spy my Marc Jacobs socks bought that day at Century 21?  My new new favorites.

And there was so much walking.  And so many wild animals.

And the best part, our traditional dinner at L'Asso.

 How is it possible this place is still a secret and we always get a banquet table for 8 like it's no big deal?  Heaven!

And I'm kind of in love with Kirk's camera.  You know Kirk, he's my friend who got a shout out from Uhh Yeah Dude from stage.    

It was a tres short trip but one that I'm still dreaming about.

Especially since College Bestie is leaving NY soon and Monkey just had HER birthday.  

Ahhh, Apartment Life. Tres Dreamy...Sort Of

 When we first moved in the apartment looked like this for a while.  

But now it looks like this:

Just kidding.  It usually looks like this:

I have a bad habit of subscribing to a newspaper and not reading them right away, then letting them pile up and eventually binge reading all of them.  Hubbo once walked in and saw the giant pile on the floor and said 'Worst $20 I've ever spent.'   

I bought this table and rug when I was single the rug I wasn't crazy about but it was cheap and I needed one STAT.  Now I'm glad we have it because it's the dining room rug and if it gets drawn on with purple marker or stained with juice I'm like, 'eh, no big deal.'  Now the purple marker on the table made me a little sad but I got over it.  At least we are getting good craft-use out of it.

 We DO have two nice patios that we try to use anytime the weather is nice.  

It's like a little Mississippi (we had bonfires weekly there) - only illegal.

So what does the apartment look like when THIS guy has a birthday? 

Well, like this:

 We had: 2 twin brothers + 1 perfect mom-in-law + 1 sister-in-law and 1 husband + 3 kids stay with us 2 in a 2 bed/2 bath apt for 7 days. 

I think most people would say that might be a bit much but I happen to have amazing in-laws who WANT to spent as much time together as possible.   

Magic Man's Birthday was a week-long celebration.   

I love this because he really IS saying 'let me open my own gift.'

Hubbo and his girls.

And where was Lil'Dude?

  

Protecting his precious toys.

My Dreamy Mother-in-law

I am a sucker for generational photos (as you can see from Magic Man's bday present this year):  

When I saw this photo of my Mom-in-Law I could not believe how much it looked like Annie.

I tried to capture her with a similar expression but she does Not like to hold still so the closest I got was a shot of Annie with chocolate lips but you can see the resemblance, right?

How about now?

Even Lil' Dude has his beautiful Grandma's . . . everything.   

Back to my Perfect Mother-in-Law. . .

From the moment I met her I knew she was someone I wanted to emulate and let me tell you why:

She always finds time to have fun. Example: She'll hide out in the woods near their MS. home and when you're walking back home at night she'll pop out and scare the heck out of you.

She is a refined lady, who is also a sharp shooter (her dad taught her how to shoot birds when she was 7).

She nailed the stone cold fox look in the 80s.

She is the epitome of class and will not say anything negative about ANYONE.

She effortlessly keeps a super clean house and can whip up a delicious meal at a moment's notice.

She has boundless energy and always has time to play with her grandkiddies:

(P.S. I love it when C.C. does cartwheels.)

She welcomes anyone into her house at anytime and makes them feel  at home. 

She learned to drive when she was 8.  No lie.

She is a grandma and looks like this:

Plus, she's responsible for this guy.