New York by Air

So, while we were in New York City a few weeks ago, Friday morning Brad took me on a helicopter tour over the city. For those of you who don't like to fly, I do not recommend this. Yes, the views were amazing, but seriously. It was quite scary! I believe the second picture accurately depicts my excitement to do this. But because I went through the terror, you get to see cool pictures of NYC!

the death machine

one of us is not so excited about this

take off

New Jersey
Ellis Island Lady Liberty

Governors Island

yes, it's a crazy angle that may make you sick to your stomach, but I wanted you to really experience it!

bridges

lower Manhattan/Battery Park

Ground Zero

Penn Station

Midtown and the Empire State Building

Central Park

the old and new Yankee stadiums - old one at the top, new one at the bottom

(this picture has gotten over 600 views on Flickr since I made it public last Thursday - there are a LOT of Yankee fans out there!)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Which is probably good, since Christmas is a whooping ten days away (good GRIEF, where does time go? What happened to 2008?).


We have been busy little elves preparing for the holiday. Last Tuesday, we got our tree. Picked it up from the Catholic elementary school run by our church, so it was worth paying a little more for a good cause. It was an easy pick and I love the little, quirky tree we have. Here it is, stuffed in the car, ready to go home:


Only after we got it home and up in the stand, we noticed how funny the top looked:





But with the lights and ornaments, you almost can't tell:



Yesterday, we had our not-quite-annual Cookies and Hot Chocolate holiday party. Basically a good time in the afternoon to relax with friends and nosh on yummy treats. I spent about four hours Saturday morning making chocolate treats for the occassion and Harris Teeter provided the cookies. I think the spread looked pretty good this year:


It included this adorable snowman cupcakes my talented coworker and friend Kristi made (snowman is made out of fondant):

We made a pot of hot water in the kitchen and then people could mix their own hot chocolate and put whatever fixins' they wanted on top (mainly posting this picture because our kitchen is NEVER this clean - props to Brad!)

On Saturday, Brad hit up the local nursery and got us a pretty pointsetta, which is keeping our Ohio State welcome mat company out in the hall (the Santa hat is for effect for the picture, it's usually on Brad's head)

Close up of our front door with our wreath and yellow support the troops bow. I plan on making a bigger yellow bow once the wreath comes down to hang until David gets back from South Korea.

Brad has always wanted candles in the window, so this year I broke down and "let" him get some battery operated candles. This is the view of our family room from the courtyard below:

Heaven?

Introducing: the Latte Lounge!

Isn't it beautiful? It's our new coffee maker at work. It makes 60 different drink combinations and the whole office is positively abuzz about it! Get this:

> three different strengths of coffee (mild, regular and strong) come in four different types (Colombian Medium, French Roast Dark, Dark Decaf and House Blend).

> three different flavor shots: French Vanilla, Hazelnut Vanilla and Irish Cream.

> bunches of specialty coffees, including cappuccino, caffe latte (which I had with vanilla hazelnut this morning), mochacchino (I think my afternoon snack today!), steamed milk with the choice of flavors, cocoa with water, cocoa with frothed milk, and cafe mocha.

This thing is SUPER! A little coffee treat in my Chicago mug (pictured below) and it's just the best start to the day. Seriously, Starbucks and Breugger's, watch out. No more morning coffee stops!

The AMAZING Library Hotel!

I told you it was amazing, didn't I? The Library Hotel is a 60 room boutique hotel on the corner of 41st and Madison, just one block from the New York City Public Library. All the rooms are numbered by the Dewey Decimal System (doesn't that throw you back to elementary school?!), with each of the 10 floors having a different "theme," based on one of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System - Social Sciences, Languages, Math and Science, Technology, The Arts, Literature, History, General Knowledge, Philosophy and Religion. We stayed in room 800.004, Dramatic Literature. The hotel was so comfortable and just the perfect place to curl up with coffee and a book (something I, unfortunately, didn't get the chance to do!). The staff and the other guests (most of who were British or Australian!) were all so friendly and it was just a fantastic place to stay!

the lobby... look at all the books!!!

beautiful wreath in the front lobby

14th floor garden terrace and writers room

second floor reading room where we enjoyed breakfast, an afternoon wine and cheese reception and 24 hour snacks and coffee

the AWESOME coffee machine making my decaf cappuccino (probably the fourth that day!)

our floor - the 8th floor - Literature

our room

love the built in bookshelf tucked in the corner!

30 Things We Love About Washington

As I sit here, waiting for the second of three conference calls of the day to begin, I was flipping through this magazine that somehow ended up on my desk with other mail (it's some freebie magazine for tourists to read... I know this because there are maps in the back!) and found this article, proclaiming the 30 things they love about Washington. I thought I'd share a few and offer my own commentary.

1. Spotting grim "suits" with earpieces, a sure sign that a VIP (political or diplomatic) is passing nearby. - This one surprises me... and especially for it to be #1. Everyone in DC has security detail and I think most Washingtonians would tell you that it's more of an annoyance than anything. Same goes with motorcades, especially the presidential one that stretches no less than two blocks and completely closes off streets... cool the first time, super annoying when you're trying to drive somewhere!

2. Veterans honoring their comrades at the World War II Memorial on the Mall. - I completely agree. This, and the Vietnam Memorial, are the two best memorials to visit because you see real people honoring their friends and loved ones.

3. Chinatown's Friendship Arch, once ethnic landmark, now symbol of Penn Quarter nightlife. - I disagree. I think it's a darn shame we don't have ethnic pockets in this city. What used to be Chinatown is now home to a basketball/hockey area, wine bars and chain retail (and my thoroughly modern office building). Depressing.

4. Checking White House dinner guest lists to see how politics and show biz collide. - I have to say that one of the best things about Brad working in the Administration was him getting guest lists, dinner menu's, etc. It won't be Christmas this year without knowing what the Bush's are having for dinner!

6. Intriguing objects at the International Spy Museum like a KGB "bug" in a shoe. - Also disagree. The Spy Museum (located across the street from my office) is one of the only museums in D.C. that charges admission. It constantly surprises me that there are lines out the door for this place, yet there is so much to take in at the Smithsonian FOR FREE! Go there people, your tax money is paying for it! I will never, ever go to a paying museum in D.C.

7. Parking riverside to watch planes fly in and out of Reagan National Airport. - I agree. This is such a fun experience and a great way to spend an afternoon.

10. Cheering on the Nats in the new stadium... just because we've waited so long for baseball to come home. - I was able to enjoy several Nats games at the new stadium last year and have to say that it's a fantastic facility. Too bad the team stinks and most people at the games cheer for the other team!

13. Exotic and fragrant flowers to lift the spirit inside the US Botanic Garden. - LOVE the Botanic Garden... you may remember I took an orchid photography class there a while back. It's a great, warm, relaxing place!

14. Zooming the city's sidewalks and pedestrian malls atop a Segway. - Gotta disagree again. SO. ANNOYING. They run over innocent pedestrians trying to walk to the Metro after a long day...

24. Grotesques (like Darth Vader) and gargoyles peering from parapets at the Washington National Cathedral. - I agree, this is a fantastic church with so many great details!

25. The Franciscan Monastery, with replicas of Holy Land sites inside the chapel and in a grotto. - This is on my places to photograph because I've never been there. However, I have heard that they have fantastic tulips that sprout up in the spring!

Oh, and good news - my call got cancelled! A free extra hour of my day :)

PS I promise NYC pictures SOON!

NYC at Christmas time!

My husband... he's the best, isn't he? Last Thursday evening, we boarded an Amtrak train at Union Station and took a 3 1/2 hour ride up to Penn Station in NYC. For those of you who have never traveled this way, I am telling you, this is THE way to travel! It's relaxing, there are no security/seat beat/flight attendant/grouchy passenger hassles. You can relax in a first class type seat, get a snack from the cafe car or even bring your own food and water on board (and full sized shampoo!). It was such a nice relaxing trip.

While we were on the train, Brad told me where we were staying: the fabulous Library Hotel! This is a small, boutique hotel, located right down the street from the New York Public Library, right in midtown at 41st and Madison. The hotel was absolutely fantastic; perhaps the best part being free coffee/lattes/cappuccino's, bottled water and snacks 24/7. Their decaf cappuccino's became my (twice) daily favorite snack :) All their rooms are numbered by the Dewey Decimal System - we stayed in 800.004, the Dramatic Literature room. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I LOVE books, so this was just the absolutely perfect place to stay.

We took New York by storm and did everything! A helicopter tour Friday morning (if you have never been on a helicopter before, I highly don't recommend it, it's quite scary!); a trip to B&H - the world's most fabulous photography/video/audio store (I managed to spend less than $100 and left without the beautiful Nikon D300... although that was difficult!); a visit to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and head up to the top of 30 Rock; fantastic dinner's at Butter in NOHO and Trattoria Del Arte in Midtown; a visit to the Original Ray's Pizza for authentic NYC pie; a walk hand-in-hand through Central Park; a stroll through the Met; several fantastic shows, including the New York City Ballet's Nutcracker, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (with the Rockettes!!) and the Broadway show Gypsy, staring the fantastic Patti LuPone; a visit to Ground Zero to pay our respects and a visit to Wall Street and the NYSE to shake our fists; several Subway rides and a midnight stroll through Times Square with a giant hot pretzel and fat snowflakes falling from the sky.

Of course, I took a lot of pictures (but shockingly less than 400!), so I promise to post some on here when I get them organized... If you've never been to New York City at Christmas, you have to go. Yes, it's cold. Yes, it's (very) crowded. But the decorations are beautiful and the spirit of the season is infectious!

Cathedral of St. Paul

While in Minnesota we visited the Cathedral of St. Paul. It was AMAZING! Of course, I had to take 80 million pictures... here are a few:

Thanksgiving

Brad and I had a great time in Minneapolis visiting my grandparents, Dad, brother, aunt, uncle and cousins and great-grandmother for Thanksgiving. We had a table full, but the food was fantastic, we enjoyed shopping on Friday and hanging out on Saturday. And then Brad got sick... but I guess that's life :)

I've been tagged..

twice! By my cousin-in-law (I guess? She's married to my cousin? :) ) Mindy and my Aunt Diane!

This was a picture tag, with very specific rules:
Go to your Pictures file
Go to the 5th folder
Open the 5th picture and post it
Tag 5 people when you're done.

Unfortunately, most of my pictures are at home on my external hard drive, so we're working with a limited number here...

Fortunately, I like this picture! It's the Chicago skyline, taken during our trip there to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary this past October. It was a beautiful morning when we headed up to the North Ave. Beach and took pictures of the Hancock Center and the rest of the beautiful buildings!

I now tag Erin C., Katy, MK, Jamie and Kim!