A Whole Lotta Mangiaracina's

As mentioned in Wednesday's post, we headed up to New York last Friday night for a weekend of family fun and a very special wedding.  We left after rush hour ended in DC and sped up to casa de Kolb.  James slept the entire way in the car which was both good and bad.  When we arrived, he perked up like it was morning. Luckily, by the time we got settled, he cozied up to us and slept like a baby.  We woke up late on Saturday (unheard of under normal circumstances!) and headed to the Eggery (mentioned here, here and here) with the entire family for some good eats.  James entertained Ed, Uncle Joe and Grandma while I was able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast chatting it up with John and Adriana.  It was bliss!

Post breakfast we decided to visit the new strip mall that was built after we left New York.  It is an AWESOME mall known as The Gallery at Westbury Plaza (fancy!) and a great addition to the neighborhood.  I'm talking Nordstrom Rack, Off Saks, Bloomingdales Outlet, Banana and Gap Outlets, Trade Joe, Container Store and all kinds of cute eateries including Red Mango and a Shake Shack.  Hello?  Where was this mall when we lived there!!  But I digress...

James had a ball running around the stores, playing with Grandma and Uncle Joe and just entertaining everyone in his path.

After we soaked up all the retail therapy we could handle, we made our way back to the house.  James took a decent nap and woke up ready to play with the animals over at Grandma M.'s house.  On our last trip, we discovered that James has a love of all animals - not just Lucy.  His most favorite at Grandma's house is Princess the cat ~ and she seems to love him too, surprisingly.  The cute factor is at an all time high when James sees the cat.  He points and squeals and it is just adorable.  Everyone got a kick out of it - even Princess. 

We decided to take advantage of a small break in the heat and headed outside to play with some bubbles.  Grandma M. has a gorgeous backyard that she takes extra special care of.  She recently installed a beautiful patio making an already great space even better.  James had a ball chasing the bubbles and chasing Marty.

James had a great time as did we all.  Ed and I headed to the Graziano/Diez wedding later that night and left James in the capable hands of Adriana, John, Joe, Lee Ann and Grandma.  They did a great job but I think James ran them all ragged!  I think the exact quote from Uncle Joe the next day was "I don't know how you guys do this everyday."  Well said Uncle Joe.  Well said. :)

Holy Frame Wall Batman

I had to put Batman in the title in order to get Ed fully on board with the little house project I'm ready to share with you guys. What, you ask, is Ed not 100% in love with in our humble abode? That would be the Wall of Frames that I put together in the basement...inspired by my new favorite blog Young House Love. He is slowly warming up to it ~ especially since it is filled with special photos and trinkets of our life.


The wall is in the basement across from my office on the way to the rest room so I pass by it no less than 10 times a day (TMI...sorry) and it makes me smile every time. One of my favorite items is the shadow box with Joey's and Lucy's the first collar.


I also love how the plot of our property looks on the wall rather than in a folder buried in my desk. It's been a dream of ours to own our own place so why not showcase it on the wall!


This view shows a really cool picture of the boys (Joey and Little E) watching tv, the menu cover of our old local breakfast hot spot, Thomas' Ham and Eggery, and the Guggenheim Museum ticket stub from our first date.


I'd like to say the wall will continue to grow, but I promised Ed that I would not add any more frames. BUT luckily these photos and trinkets are interchangeable so as we develop new memories, we can put them up on the wall. And who knows...maybe Ed will change his mind about the wall one of these days...:)

NYC or Bust Part 2

That's right...you read it correctly. I made my SECOND trip to NY this week. This time there was no train involved (which means no cheese plate. Sad.). Instead, Ed and I made the trip in our trusty Ford and munched on chips and apples instead. :) Why didn't I just stay up in the city and have Ed meet me up there, you ask? Well, I'm a good wife and wanted to keep my hubby company during the long drive on Friday night. And I needed to up my "good wife points" bounty for future cash in. :)

We were heading up to attend the first birthday of one of the cutest little boys I know ~ Mr. Dominick Green.


It was a quick trip ~ up and back in a mere 30 hours, but it was a good time. We managed to fit in a trip to "the Eggery", our favorite breakfast spot and the Cupcake Gourmet to pick up some of their delicious treats for our First Anniversary which is a mere 5 days away. (Amy did the cupcakes for our wedding and since our cake topper did not survive the 2 freezer breakdowns at Casa de Quartuccio, we decided to buy some fresh ones to celebrate with).

The big event was at White Post Farms and was the cutest Barnyard Birthday I've ever attended. We got to see all kinds of animals including bunnies, goats, horses, zebras, camels and even monkeys!! I'm not sure who had the better time...the kids or Ed and I! :)



After the festivities ended, we spent some time with Mama Mangiaracina and Brother Joe at Antonette's for dinner (location of our Rehearsal Dinner!!).

In an effort to be more technically savvy, we decided to not only document our trip with our camera phone, but instead dusted off the old Flip Mino HD and took some "live" footage of our journey. Now, because I have the problem of wanting to paint the whole picture and not leave anything out, the movie is about 10 mins long. I apologize for that. But if you have some time, I invite you to take a peek at our first embedded YouTube video on Being Mangiaracina ~ enjoy!!

We're Back in Action Baby!

So it's been a while. A long while...sorry about that, but we are back in action. Life has been nuts trying to get settled in the new house. I am happy to report that we are about 98% unpacked and are close to having everything in place. There is still a pile of stuff that needs to be hung on the walls and my cookbooks are sitting in a neat little pile on the floor waiting for their new shelf to be purchased, but all in all we are in good shape.

We actually dug ourselves out of our house hermit hole and joined the world last weekend to help my good friends Tulay and Dave celebrate their wedding day. We hit the road late Friday night after dropping Lucy off at Grandma's and Grandpa's and made it to NYC in the wee hours of the morning (what's with late night traffic in Delaware - not cool!!). The first item on our NY agenda - breakfast at the "Eggery" aka Thomas' Ham and Eggery. This historic diner is our FAVORITE breakfast spot and we have become regulars - even now as we live in another state!! Tommy (co-owner and official "seater) greeted us at the door and Sharon (our favorite counter waitress) gave us big hugs. It was great to see them AND get some grub with Mom and Adriana!



As the food coma set in we popped over to see Ed's Dad (who looks great BTW) and then headed out east for a late lunch with friends Dave, Michele, Rob and best of all DOMINICK!! This adorable little monkey greeted us with giggles and smiles and was so huggable I didn't want to put him down!! We had such a great time catching up with everyone and pigged out on wings, broccoli poppers and yummy french onion soup. How we fit more food in our Eggery stuffed stomachs is still a mystery.

It was finally time for the main event - Tulay and Dave's wedding. It was a beautiful evening with perfect weather and an even more perfect sunset. The groom looked dashing and the bride was GORGEOUS!! The ceremony was conducted by good friend Lorca and I have to say, it was amazing. Literally brought tears to my eyes. Dave and Tulay are a wonderful couple and their unique touches on the wedding made it very special. The Douglaston Manor was the perfect venue, the sunflower centerpieces were gorgeous and the DJ was pumping amazing Turkish music that got the crowd on their feet. This was the first wedding that Ed and I have been to since our own so it was very special. Congratulations Tulay and Dave ~ enjoy your honeymoon in Jamaica!!!

This was the first wedding Ed and I attended as a married couple and I have to say it was pretty cool. I loved dancing with my husband while celebrating my friend's marriage. It was a special day for all. :)