Christmas post

I'm a pilot

Come on, kid. Let's blow this thing and go home! 

I'm a Jedi

May the force be with you. Always. 

Pre-Thanksgiving weekend

KB came for a visit this past weekend. We kept super busy.

We went to the top of the new World Trade Center. It was pretty cool but doesn't beat the Empire State Building in terms of being a classic New York site. 

Views from the top: 

Then we went to lunch at a hotel nearby where we had a good view of the building and the World Trade Center memorial. 

Then we went to my favorite bakery where i usually get cronuts, but I wanted to try something new. A frozen smore! This is ice cream surrounded by chocolate and marshmallow. The marshmallow is then toasted. It was delish. 

We went home to rest for a while before our reservation at Nobu Next Door. We had some yummy Japanese food-- shrimp, cod and sea bass, then Kevin ate sushi and I didn't. 

The next day we went to Central Park, and went out for Puerto Rican food in Spanish Harlem. 

and that night we went to "Celebrity Nerd-off" with JJ Abrahms being interviewed by Stephen Colbert.  

They showed the new Star Wars movie trailer and talked about all of JJ's movies and TV shows.  It was fun but I'm not sure it was worth going all the way to the NJ PAC for it. Sunday was as usual-- we watched Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back (because Kevin has never seen them) and Walking Dead that night. 

And now he's back home in the snow of Idaho and it's going to be 60 degrees here tomorrow. :)

Babysitting

Jill and Chris decided to get out of dodge last weekend, so I got to watch this crazy kid. The quote of the weekend came when she asked to put on this sweatshirt, which is a NY Giants swearshirt, but she said "I want to wear my Jersey sweatshirt because I'm a jersey girl."  When I told Chris, he said he still wanted her to learn to pump gas. 

Taking walks was fun because, in addition to her usual activity of looking for dogs, she also looked for leaves. There were lots of them. 

Best sick day ever

I am feeling super burned out lately, so I decided to take a sick day. One of the reasons I chose today is that Dominique Ansel Kitchen announced this special dessert that is only available for a week, starting today. 

THE ULTIMATE S'more 

But first I needed to have lunch, which was this ham and cheese sandwich. You maybe can't tell, but there is cheese on the outside of the bread. It's incredible. 

Eating apples

Fall TV

Fall TV has started.  I don't know if this is good news or bad news, but there's not much that I'm excited about this year.  In fact, when I read through the TV preview, I couldn't think of one new show that I wanted to watch, and I wasn't even very interested in any of the old shows, either.  The only show I'm super excited about is the Mindy Project, but that isn't even on network TV anymore, and I guess I'm looking forward to The Walking Dead, although I thought last season's ending wasn't great. 

But I decided I'd give a few new shows a shot.  So, here we go...

Quantico -- It's a show about some FBI recruits and their training and one of them is really a terrorist and we have the season to find out who it is.  Although it's getting a lot of buzz, my expectations were pretty low.  But the first episode was okay, so we'll see.

The Muppets --  A favorite old show with a new take.  So far, so good, although I don't love it. 

Supergirl -- I have almost zero interest in superhero movies or shows anymore, but this one is getting some decent buzz.  I have a feeling it is going to sit in my DVR queue and then be deleted but you never know. 

The Grinder -- a comedy about an actor who plays a lawyer on TV and then decides to go to his hometown and become a real lawyer, with his lawyer brother.  And it takes place in Idaho, of all places!  And it has Rob Lowe, so....

My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend -- Even though I don't like the title or the idea that all ex-girlfriends are crazy, I have heard some good things about this show.  Mostly from my new favorite podcast, Pop Culture Happy Hour

Returning shows

Last Man on Earth -- I don't know if anyone watches this show, but I think it's hilarious.  This was a mid-season replacement from last year. I caught most of season one On Demand because I think they were dumping several episodes at a time and I didn't even know what day it was on.  Season two just started on Sunday, which has become known as the day to put the most popular shows, so someone must like it. 

The Walking Dead -- last season started out SO GOOD but I don't think it held up til the end.  I wasn't super excited about the group landing in Alexandria.  Mostly it was probably a set up for what comes next.  And over the summer, they did a spin-off called Fear the Walking Dead, which I quite liked. 

Nashville -- last season had some good plotlines and some good music. 

And of course, The Mindy Project which is now on Hulu, which happens to be the one thing I don't subscribe to.  There have been three episodes released already, and I haven't watched them.  I probably will, though. 

My favorite 22 minutes of each day, The Daily Show, has a new host.  I watched the first episode Tuesday and I think it might just hold up.  Fingers crossed!!

Yellowstone

Entering Yellowstone, there was a bit of traffic. I don't know why, but this surprised me. I think I pictured it being just wide open spaces, not a highway with traffic. 

Kevin said that once we got up further, we'd probably see an animal and all these idiots slowing down to look at it. Then we'd see a park ranger outside trying to move traffic along. He was right on both accounts. 

One lonely buffalo walking along the side of the road. 

Mostly we drove through but stopped a couple times and got out of the car.  Sometimes the parking lots were full, so we didn't bother.  For the Lower Falls, we hiked down and back up again.  

Driving through a little "town" we saw all these elk hanging out on the lawn. 

We stopped and saw Old Faithful. This was somewhat cool, but on the other hand, also made me think "this is what people flock here for?"  

Look at all those people. Early comers got to sit on the rows of benches. Everyone else stood. 

There's a little section that is kind of hidden behind this mound, so no benches are set up there and no people. So I could take a picture with just Old Faithful. 

This is the inside of the Old Faithful Inn. We wanted to stay here but since my flight was cancelled out of Denver, I lost a day. 

All the way up in the rafters, they used to have a live orchestra and then people could dance downstairs. 

A herd of buffalo 

We saw buffalo, elk, deer and antelope. But no bears, which is what kevin was hoping to see. Not so much me. 

What's the number?

New nephew

He slept through our first meeting, on the way home from the airport. 

Little boy, big boppy pillow 

I'm ready for my close-up

My favorite picture. Don't worry, Jill. I picked him up right after I took this picture. 

Birthday Cupcakes

I went to Sprinkles to pick up my birthday cupcakes. First I went inside and got four cupcakes. But as I was leaving, I saw the cupcake ATM and thought I should try it out.

I made my choice and paid using that little black thing to swipe my card. Then the door opened and out came a cupcake!

As it was opening, I thought I better take a video of this, but by the time I got out my phone, it was finished opening. So then I was trying to make sure I had at least a still picture of it. But then the door started closing and my cupcake was still inside!  So I grabbed it out of the ATM, but the door was already closing like a garage door coming down, and it almost caught my box. So then the door was stuck for a minute and I'm thinking "I can't believe I broke the stupid cupcake ATM on my very first visit!!" 

 

But I didn't. It took a second and then closed and I was on my way. 

One more

I love these two girls!

 

 

Popsicles on a hot day 

Family reunion

Morning ritual

At the lake 

Fishes 

Mimi and grandad fishing 

An outfit for the ages 

You can always find me sitting in the shade. 

Out on the boat