Start Spreading the News.... Im Leavin' Today...

I just got home from a trip to NEW YORK CITY with my sister BROOKE and my Friends the Whitacres. I can't even tell you how much fun we all had! Tyler and Wendy Whitacre are both photographers and travel all over the world to take amazing pictures of people. Kind of last minute they asked me if I would come along with them to help watch their kiddos while they were taking pictures and of course I immediately said HECK YES!
I couldn't sleep so I woke Brooke up after just a few hours of sleep and we out to see the city. We made our way to Times Square and enjoyed walking around all the chaos.

The M&M factory is always a fun place to stop in at.
After hanging out in Times Square we took a taxi over to a neighborhood known as Chelsea Market to enjoy some yummy breakfast. Then we were off to the Temple. It is in the middle of town but you would walk right by it like it is any other building. We were lucky to attend a session and see how beautiful it was on the inside.

We waited in line for about 2 hours to get DAY OF tickets to the MAMA MIA BROADWAY SHOW! It was well worth the long wait, Brooke and I both LOVED IT! After the show ended we wanted to go to Juniors Cheesecake because I saw it featured on Food Network. It was delicious but I have to say NOT the best cheesecake I have ever had.
Our LONG day didn't end after dessert, no we took the subway over to GRAND CENTRAL STATION. It was MIDNIGHT by the time we got there so it was pretty empty which was PERFECT. Brooke and I got to see how beautiful it was without being RUN over by masses of people.
We spent hours in the Natural History Museum and didn't even see everything it had to offer. This place was so HUGE and very fun. I know it is for kids but I think I had more fun there than Isaac or Issy.
We had lunch at the Lincoln Memorial and then played for a little while by the fountain. This plaza is also where the ballet and opera house is.

I thought it would be fun to take a canoe ride in that little lake, maybe next time!

On Sunday Tyler and Wendy had photo shoots pretty much all day so the kids and I played for hours in CENTRAL PARK. It was a beautiful day, and the park was PACKED!
Our last day we decided to do some serious SHOPPING! So we went to SOHO in the morning and SHOPPED TIL' WE DROPPED! Brooke and I both found some cute things and couldn't have had MORE FUN.
After all day SHOPPING, we were starving and were craving AUTHENTIC ITALIAN STYLE PIZZA for lunch. We found the 1st original Italian pizzeria called LUMBARDI'S. ooohhh...it tasted just like I was back in ROME.
I saw this RICE PUDDING place featured on the FOOD NETWORK CHANNEL and I had to try it. Brooke and I shared a very RICH & DELICIOUS BOWL. mmm... it was sooooo good.
Brooke and I took a FREE FERRY BOAT RIDE over to STATEN ISLAND. The only mistake we made was we thought the boat just took us around Staten Island and then back to Manhattan where we started. So we got off the ferry and started looking for the right subway to take us to our next destination. When I couldn't find it I asked an official and he looked at me like I was an IDIOT and said "YOU ARE IN STATEN ISLAND! If you want to get there you will have to take the boat back to Manhattan" DUH!!! It was kind of funny though.
You shouldn't go all the way to Manhattan without taking a visit to the STATUE OF LIBERTY!
AND THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE
The SHAKE SHACK is FAMOUS in NYC because it is NOTHING SHY OF AMAZING! You can sit in line for hours at lunch or dinner time or heck at 10pm LIKE WE DID. It was the 1st place we ate for lunch and we wanted to END the vacation with it for dinner. DELICIOUS doesn't do that place enough JUSTICE. Ever since we got back WENDY & I are both going through WITHDRAWALS. mmm...

Mothers Day Weekend

To the BEST mom in the world. Happy Mothers Day! I love you so much.

Also happy Birthday on Mothers day GRANDMA GRACE. You have always been someone I look up to and admire. Thank you for always showing me more love than I deserve. I hope you had a great birthday. Eli the soon to be newest addition to the W's also celebrated his 23rd birthday. And little 1 year old AVERY SUE had a birthday! I miss you so much and can't believe you are already a year old. She is to die for darling.

She really is the best she surprised me with a Mothers Day package. What the Heck?

Inside were my most FAVORITE sugar cookies of all time from the one and only Provo bakery. I could eat a dozen and not even know it. There were suckers and caramels in there too. And do you see that cute little flower pot poking out? That is a pin cushion as well as a tape measure. I love it. Thanks so much!

Becky and I just got home from a day at the beach and found packages on the door. Yippie the only perk about living away from my Mom.

You couldn't have asked for a nicer day at the beach. We met John there for a picnic and then watched him surf the waves while enjoying the sun shine.

Thanks for coming to spend Mothers day with me Becky. You and John are so much fun to have around and we are spoiled that you drive all the way to see us.

Yeeha!

Our young women group planned a really fun overnight campout at the Wyatt Ranch. We ate individual tin foil dinners and had yummy dessert around the campfire. It was a fun way to get all the girls excited about camp at the end of the school year. On Saturday morning all the girls got to ride horses.

Friends visiting

Our strongest friend Tony drove down from Northern CA to visit for a short weekend. It was a beautiful morning so we decided to go out for breakfast. Although we didn't get to spend very much time with him it was fun while it lasted.

Two of my closest long time friends, Kate and Stephanie, drove down from Provo to try and warm up. They got in very late on Thursday night, so we got to spend the weekend together. Kate's dad rented out a condo at the Lawerence Welk resort pretty close to my house and we took advantage of almost everything the resort had to offer in the short amount of time.

Before we went to the resort I had to take the girls around Old Town Temecula. We ate lunch at Rosa's and walked through some of the cool antique stores. It was just like the good old days in high school when us three were inseparable. We had a blast!