Impromptu NYC!

So recently I'm talking to the bestie and we mention how much fun it would be to do a couples trip to NYC. She and I had been talking about going together every since seeing Rent together in High School. Fast forward 4 hours later and we have flights booked and Airbnb places favorited. For our trip we would be taking the very next week.

Wait, what?

You heard that right. In a matter of an afternoon, we noticed that JetBlue was having a hella good sale to NYC for the next weekend and decided, why the heck not?? My planner side freaked out for a second but then pulled it together for some last minute researching/travel binder making. <---(Nerd status right there).

It was a (cold!!) whirlwind of a weekend but we had so much fun cramming in all the sights and even met up with an old friend of ours from High School! Tab had never been, so we hit up a lot of must see tourists spots while still making time for some fun new places to eat and explore.

Our AirBnb place! It was so quaint and perfect!

And my sexy husband. Sometimes I still can't believe he's mine. :)

We saw this guy in Washington Square and I immediately thought of Home Alone.... 

Pleaseee tell me I'm not the only one.

Central Park is my favorite part of NYC. There's just something about the magic of all those trees and lakes and bridges in the middle of such a busy city. 

It was cold, but so beautiful with all the changing colors!! 

This was the first time I had seen the WTC memorial because the last time we were there it was still under construction. The reflection pools were so beautiful and serene and I thought they perfectly memorialized the lives that were lost.

We met up with an old friend, Meghan who took us to a delicious Thai place and showed us around some local bars. At one of them I even ran into Project Runway Season 13 winner, Sean Kelly! Jon is totally the one who spotted him!

Museum of Natural History!

Which had the cutest christmas dino!

And after Tab and Brian caught their flight out (they had to leave a few hours earlier than us) I drug Jon to the courthouse to see one of my all time favorite shows being filmed! Law & Order SVU fans unite!

   

I am so glad we got to visit this city with these two awesome people. I love traveling so much and to share that experience with people like Tab and Brian who we love and are such a big part of our lives back home just made for a really awesome time!

 

Ah, NYC. You just never ever get old.

Little Cat

We have a new beautiful member of the family! She just doesn't have a name yet...

I'm convinced she's just going to be called little cat for the rest of her life because it's been almost 2 weeks now and Jon and I can't agree. I like Luna, he likes Juno. What do you guys think??

She and River are pretty much best friends. Or maybe more like Frienemies. They spend all day playing and fighting and all night snuggling. Adorable, right??

  

She was found in a storm drain so I don't know what her roots are exactly, but I love her Lilac Point siamese color! I mean, who wouldn't..

She is tough and spunky and so sweet and is fitting right in with our group of misfits. Now just to agree on a name...

Birthday (Halloween) Shenanagins

One good thing about having your birthday on Halloween is getting to dress up to celebrate!! 

Every year we DIY our costumes from thrift store finds and craft store raids (Have I mentioned how uber creative my hubs is?! Seriously, it blows my mind.) We usually try to choose a group costume theme, and since my hubby is a huge comic book nerd.. he suggested a Batman villain themed costume party! I thought it sounded so perfect! We each made our own costumes and then helped put together most of the others.

Of course a Villain party wouldn't be complete without the mugshots to prove it happened!

Deathstroke

Joker (obviously!)

Penguin

Two Face / Harvey Dent

Catwoman

Poison Ivy

 

Talia al Ghul

Bane and Talia

I realized later that since I was the one taking most of the pictures, I have no mugshot of me! This one of me with my little brother and far off future sister-in-law is about the only one you can even tell that I'm Harley Quinn! 

More groupies with bad lighting..

We had a BLAST and it is always just so great to have some of my favorite people together in one place! It made the blow of officially being in that "late 20's" bracket not feel so bad. :)

Here's to 26 and all of the awesome things I know it will hold!

Elsa Halloween Dress!

So for the past two weeks or so I have spent every spare minute covered in glitter with this view.

Why? Because one of the sweetest and most special little girls in my life asked me to make her an Elsa costume with a lonnnng train for Halloween. And when a 5 year old asks you in her sweetest voice if you can make her look like a Princess.. er.. Queen.. You do it.

One of my very best friends and Dakota's mom, Jeneen, had actually been looking for a nice Elsa dress for a while now. Because to no ones surprise, Kota loves Frozen just as much as every other little girl on the planet, she HAD to be Queen Elsa for Halloween. Unfortunately, Kota is a little taller than most girls her age so most costumes Jeneen found seemed to not fit her quite right and the ones that did were just NOT affordable.

So I did what any good Aunt would do and I consulted my good friend Pinterest to make Kota's wish a reality! I found a few dresses that looked how we wanted, went and bought the fabric and then started to wing it came up with a plan to sew this baby together.

I have some self taught / youtube taught sewing experience, have altered already made clothes and have been known to sew a pillow or two. But sewing for a kid is surprisingly more difficult since they don't have the same curves I'm used to sewing for. It was a lot of  trial and error and fittings, but in the end we ended up with something not terrible that she absolutely LOVED. And really, thats all that mattered to me.

When I showed it to her she gave me the biggest grin and insisted that she had to put it on right then and wear it home. That's when I knew that no matter how bad my sewing skills were, no matter how many frustrating hours I spent, and no matter how badly I never wanted to see an Elsa costume again... it was totally, definitely worth it.

This is her 1 minute braid, 11 pm Queen Elsa pose.

Here's my beautiful little lady on Halloween!

I think its safe to say it will be a while before I can go near a sewing machine or Frozen again. Also, mad respect for all you seamstresses out there!