Date Night

John and I got to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary recently, and I just had to share the pictures of our fun little date night out!  We celebrated "big time" in NYC, but did a low-key evening back in NC on the actual day of our anniversary -- March 29.  It was perfect :)

Outfit!

First movie... (so good!!)

....then dinner!  

mmmmm, mojito :)

Mozzarella, Prosciutto and Fig Pizza

my sweets -- love him so much.

1000 Gifts

Inspired by the wonderful book "1000 Gifts" by Ann Voskamp, the lovely Sarah has started a new link where you compile a list of 1000 things to be grateful for.

I am taking part, and I hope you will too!

I really believe that being thankful and appreciative is one of life's greatest challenges and joys.  It truly makes such a difference when you realize how much beauty is all around you.  Whether it's flowers blooming outside your window, a sweet email from a friend, or the way your husband squeezes your hand after a hard day.  There are so many things to be thankful for.  Way more than 1000 I'm sure :)

So here it goes.  This will end up being the longest post ever by the end of the year.

1000 Gifts.

 1. Waking up every morning next to my best friend.

2. Getting snail mail from my great aunt Libby

3. When my dad teaches me all about flying and airplanes

4. Laughing so hard that tears stream down my face. 

To be continued....

(#1)

XOXO

Easter Weekend

Good morning! It's 5am as I'm typing this -- and I'm exhausted! We had a wonderful Easter weekend, and I hope you all did too! Saturday, John and decided to have a "date day" and spent the beautiful afternoon wandering around downtown and grabbing a bit to eat (outside!) at one of our favorites, Toast.

It was the first Easter Sunday in a long time that we did not spend with family, so it was a little sad! But John and I went to a lovely service at our church here in NC, and then a big brunch and fellowship with good friends afterwards.

We even did mini-Easter baskets for eachother :) And by "we" and "for eachother", I mean I put together both of them, but we opened them together :)

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, but it is a mix of emotions for me -- I am overcome with gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus, and also deeply saddened and humbled by the way He was treated and then crucified. Ultimately, it is these three days (from His death to His resurrection) that remind me most of God's great love for His children, and His promise of eternal life through Him.

"It is finished, It is done

To the world salvation comes

Hallelujah, we're alive!

Hell was silenced when you cried:

It is finished."

-Matt Papa

I hope you all had a joyous Easter, and were surrounded by friends and family.
Happy Monday!

XOXO

Taking a Bite out of the Big Apple - Part 2

 After two wonderful days spent in NYC, it was time for two more!  We wanted to pack as much in as we could, and let me just tell you....we did!  

(Read about the first part of our Big Apple adventure HERE).

The 3rd morning, we set out for a delicious brunch at Cafe Cluny.

The french toast was sooo good - it was a little pricey for the amount of food you got, but the place was adorable :)

We wandered around the Upper West Side, and enjoyed the beautiful morning.  

Then we took the Metro downtown to ride the Ferry across to Staten Island.  

It was the perfect day - and we loved being so close to the Statue of Liberty!  

(They were doing construction so we couldn't actually go to the Statue.)

View of NYC

After riding the ferry back to Manhattan, we walked around Wall Street and then made our way up to the 9/11 memorial.  It was so powerful and moving.  I felt so overcome with sadness and grief for the victims and their families.  I can't believe it has been 10 years.

The site of the twin towers.

Next up, we grabbed a quick lunch at Gray's Papaya, and enjoyed the afternoon wandering around NYU....

Then back up to 5th Avenue to see FAO Schwarz :)

The Lady Liberty made of LEGO's!

Me and Jack :)

John and Indy :)

Seriously can't believe these were made with just Lego's.

After a busy afternoon, we decided to check out a comedy club, and chose the Comedy Cellar.

We ate dinner there during the show, and had SUCH a great time!

And Aziz Ansari (from Parks and Rec) even made a surprise appearance -- he was hilarious!!

The next day, we spent a lazy morning around Central Park, and walked along the river from the Upper West Side to the Upper East Side.

We worked up quite an appetite after all that walking, and John really wanted to try out Lombardi's Pizza before we left.  I kind of wanted to stay and have lunch in the Upper East Side, but John threw a temper tantrum in the middle of the street, no I'm just kidding, but he did win that battle...and I'm SOOOO glad that he did :)

It was AMAZING.  We both think it's some of the best pizza we've ever had.  Ever.

Can't wait to go back :)

Because the pizza wasn't unhealthy enough, we decided we needed a mid-day dessert, and we ended up at Magnolia Bakery, which was so adorable!

Banana Pudding is one of John's favorite desserts, and we had heard great things, so we split the "small" carton....

oh.em.gee.  I really should have taken an "after" picture of the carton, because it literally did not have a speck of puddin' left in it.  It was soooo good.  Definitely our best "eating" day yet.

Oh but wait, there's more :)

Just a lil candy to wash down all the pizza toppings and vanilla wafers.

(Dylan's was CRAZY - there were people everywhere, but it was fun and who doesn't love a store full of candy?!)

 After we unbuttoned our pants, we made our way back to the hotel to freshen up and put on our looser fitting clothes.  Then we headed off to Times Square to get tickets to another Broadway show!

We grabbed a tasty Japanese dinner at Sake Bar Hagi....

And then saw the WONDERFUL "Memphis"!  We absolutely loved it :)

Side note: Right now, the original "Roger" from "Rent" is the lead actor, and he is amazing.  Would highly recommend this show.  

My handsome date :)

And that about wraps up our trip to NYC -- it was such an incredible one!  John fell in love with the city, and I fell in love with it all over again :)

We may have gained about 10 lbs each, but it was worth it -- one that will go down in the books for sure.

XOXO