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!!

Mushy Gushy

TGIF everyone! Our 1 year anniversary is approaching and it is causing us to get all mushy gushy with each other. It's hard to believe that almost an entire year has gone by ~ where did the time go?! At this time last year Ed and Lucy were living in Fairfax at Casa de Quartuccio while I was living in Westbury with the cats. We were putting the final touches on our big day AND packing up for our big move at the same time. CrAzy!!

But alas, here we are and what a year it has been. I decided to highlight our wedding day by showcasing some of the "things" that made up the big day. I literally have a box filled with things that I saved from the day we got engaged to the end of the wedding night. Seriously. The rose petals that were on the bed in the wedding night hotel room are currently in a little baggie in this box. :) Ed and I had fun going through it all and choosing what to showcase on our wall. So, I present to you our Wedding Day In A Box. :)



This little box does a pretty good job capturing the wonderful feeling of the day. Included is our DIY wedding invitation (made by yours truly), church bubbles, a few flowers from my beautiful bouquet, a photo of us just moments after we were married, a special "wish card", our guest favor (donation to the American Diabetes Association) and a pic of the reception venue.

This cute little box is living on the wall in our entrance hallway and I think it is a great memory to pass by each time we walk in the door.

Spring has Sprung

I have been inspired by my new favorite blog to be better at this blogging thing and increase the frequency of posts. So, here goes...

Spring in DC is officially here. I don't have an official thermometer reading for today's high, but I do know that it was gorgeous and that all I wanted to do was lay in the grass with Lucy. The flowers are blooming, the grass is growing and the trees are budding. Including our little gal in the front of the house.


This poor little tree has been through a lot in her short life. When we first moved in, one of her branches had cracked and was hanging by a thread so we had to bid it ado. Then mean old winter came along and dumped more snow than she could handle causing her to crack. Thanks to Merrifield Garden Center's "how to" video, we did some repairs.


We are hoping that this little band-aid is enough to keep her going. So far, so good...she is starting to bud!!


This is our first Spring in the new house so we have no idea what blooms these little buds will turn into. We are just happy to see that our patch job is working out.


Lucy enjoyed it too with her new, 15' leash. Happy Spring!!!! :)

NYC or Bust

As some of you know, I work for the Toy Industry Association which is a pretty cool place to work. Aside from being surrounded by the newest, most exciting toys out there, I am lucky enough to work with an amazing group of people. The TIA office is located in New York City. I am not. So I have the extreme advantage of being able to work remotely from my home office ….

…and travel to New York City for 3-4 days every month. So far, the system is great, but working from home can get pretty lonely ~ even with Lucy by my side. :) Just about the time I’m hitting my solitude limit, it’s time to head on up to the big city. I’m writing this as I head home after a great 3 days and wanted to share with you my journey. Typically, I leave in the early evening on Sunday and head back on Wednesday evening which is pretty much what happened on this April trip.

My trip begins with a ride to DC’s Union Station with my wonderful husband and my puppy dog. They bid me farewell at passenger drop-off and I head inside to grab my ticket and board my home away from home ~ Amtrak’s Acela Express. For the next 3 hours of my life I am treated to comfortable seats, free WiFi and a cheese and cracker plate that is worth every bit of its $6 cost. This time around, I armed myself with the latest issue of New York Magazine, my Kindle loaded with a new book and some much needed lunch from Potbelly (a Wreck with provolone and the works, thank you very much).

As we head out of the station we make out way over the river and through the woods to our first stop which is BWI Airport.

(I was lucky enough that the train stopped in close proximity of this station sign so I could share – that luck did not continue throughout the trip!) We continued onto Baltimore where unfortunately, we only get to see the things on the "other side of the tracks".

Thanks to our slightly over enthusiastic conductor I learned the names of the two massive bodies of water the train glides over after Baltimore: the Gunpowder River, a tidal inlet of the Chesapeake Bay (thank you Wikipedia!) and the Susquehanna River, apparently the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean (again, thank you Wikipedia!).

It’s not long before we roll into Wilmington, Delaware, land of ING Direct and many other banking institutions…

…followed by the city of brotherly love.

Before making into New York’s Penn Station, I saw pretty cool graffiti art…

…run down station buildings…

…even the Red Bull Arena, home to the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer. I had no idea. :)

At last it was time for some New York City! I arrived a few hours early than normal as I had plans to meet up with my good friend Jim. After hitting the subway and making my way to my flea-bag of a hotel (seriously…don’t stay at the Holiday Inn on 57th street), I had some time to kill, so I headed over to The Shops at Columbus Circle. In addition to the great window shopping, they had a really cool Salvadore Dali exhibit on display at for FREE. I was pretty psyched…nothing is free in NYC!

Jim and I had a blast at Arriba Arriba in Hells Kitchen. Sorry no pics…enjoyed our margaritas a bit too much! J I was off to work the next day where I got to reunite with my co-workers ~ always a pleasurable thing to do. After work, a few of us headed to The Breslin for some much needed cocktails and girl gab time.

The Breslin is located in The Ace Hotel, a very new…very hip…locale where people go to see and be seen. I’ve read many a write up on it so I was pretty excited to check it out. We managed to squeeze ourselves into a corner and had a splendid time. The night ended with a trip to Sushi Damo for dinner. :)

Day 2 in New York was one of the main reasons I was there – the Toy Fair Sacred Cow meeting. Now this is a highly confidential meeting where new and brilliant ideas are hatched for next year’s show. The only way to know what went on is to be at the Javits Center in February of 2012 for next year’s show!!! :)

I can speak about my Day 2 evening though because it was spent with good friend Dina.

A little background on Dina…she and I first met when we worked in the Membership Department of TIA. We worked together on various projects, but more importantly we forged a special friendship that now allows me to call her my NY Mom. When I’m in town, we try to make time to go to dinner somewhere in the city. Dina, although a native of Russia, is, to me, a native New Yorker because she knows all the ins and outs of the BEST foodie spots in the entire city. I know that I will have an amazing meal when I go out with Dina and last night did not disappoint. We headed downtown a bit to 12^th and University Place to an adorable little place called Mexicana Mama Centro and enjoyed Ginger Pear Margaritas, the best guacamole I’ve had in a super long time and a piece of fish smothered in pumpkin spices. Delicioso!! The meal ended with a fabulous baked apple caramel brown sugar dessert thingy that tasted like heaven.

My final day in the office was a busy one with meetings and conference calls and a do-good Team We event where we packed up tins of Easter Cookies to give to those that are less fortunate than us for the holiday. The other very eventful moment of the day was dining on my favorite local lunch truck meal ~ chicken and rice with lots of white sauce and a touch of hot sauce. Figures my happy moment of the day involved food. :)

So here I sit, on the train headed back to DC where my beloved and my baby will pick me up. My next trip to NY is a long way off so I’m glad I made the most of this one. I have to say, I absolutely love the life that Ed and I have set up for ourselves down in Centreville and wouldn’t give it up for anything. But I do still have a secret love for New York City and am a lucky girl that I can indulge in it as often as I do. I heart NY!

Spring Cleaning for Lucy

It was time for our little pooch to get some pampering and boy did she need it. :)

Before:



After:


Quite an improvement even if her little bow is not straight. :)

Spring is Near

The weather over this past weekend was amazing and we took full advantage of it by being outside as much as possible. We kick started Saturday morning with a 9 mile bike ride ... that's right 9 MILES! Are we nuts...a little. :) But it really wasn't that bad. Our bikes have been stored at casa de Quartuccio since we moved down here and we decided to ride them to Centreville from Fairfax rather than shove them in a car. Now, keep in mind...Ed and I recently won the award for least active people in the Northern VA area. We quit the gym...literally. So 9 miles in 59 minutes was a HUGE feat for us. We even did another ride on Sunday morning. Time to get into shape! :) We were so proud of ourselves that we decided to celebrate at Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Yum!

The weather on Sunday was just as nice so Ed decided to treat Lucy and take her to the dog park. Since I am a paranoid Mommy, I'm no longer allowed to go to the dog park (per my loving husband), so I decided to tackle the weeds that were taking over the flower bed in the front of the house. I never realized how strong weeds were! Their network of roots is crazy! It was tough work, but it inspired us to make the outside of our house pretty this Spring so we are now entering "Project: Landscape Design". A little background: I kill all living plants. If a plant or flower enters my house, it is like a death sentence. It's so bad that Ed's mom bought me a fake plant because she was sad to see all the unnecessary deaths. So that fact that we are going to attempt to create an enticing landscaped area in the front of the house is a little scary. But we are determined!! Found some great looking stuff at Home Depot, but decided to hold off and hit good old Merrifield Nursery in the coming weekends to get educated. We even started scouting the neighborhood for ideas.

Spring is near!!!!

Ta Da!

The time has come - we are officially grown ups!! No...we are not pregnant. But we are the happy recipients of new, big boy/girl bedroom furniture! Gone are the days of IKEA and Ed's furniture from when he was a kid. We are now the proud owners of some beautiful Bassett bedroom pieces and I have to say...I am in love. And our new West Elm bedding makes the room the kind of oasis that will be hard to leave each morning. :)

Before:
and After:


As you can see, Lucy has made herself VERY comfortable in her new room. Time to go relax! :)