Griffin and I took off for a long weekend trip to New York to visit one of Griffin’s high school/college friends and his girlfriend who are now living in Manhattan. They took us ALL over the city, and I mean all over, we walked over 25 miles the 3.5 days we were there. Since we saw so much it’s impossible to write about it all so I’m resorting to a list (I have a thing for lists, you know.) It was lots of fun to see the city decorated for the holidays including Rockefeller center and the tree. However, it was freezing cold while we were there, the high on Saturday was 20 F. Brrrr.
- Times Square
- Grand Central Station
- Dunkin’ Donuts – These things are allllll over the city and have very tasty hot chocolate that tastes phenomenal in subfreezing temperatures. Our first day in New York we stopped here for breakfast and before I even could order my food and coffee from the grouchy cashier a little old lady cut in front of me in line and a homeless dude demanded that I buy him breakfast. Welcome to New York.
- MOMA – Visited the Tim Burton exhibit, very cool.
- Rockefeller Center – Decorated for the holidays with Christmas tree and ice skating rink. No, we didn’t skate, there was a huge line. Also saw the Today show studio and Radio City Music Hall.
- St. Peters Cathedral – Absolutely beautiful inside.
- Rode in a cab but it was nothing like people say it is, very tame.
- Saw lots of different neighborhoods – Soho, Chelsea, Lower East Side, Chinatown, West Village, Greenwich Village
- Statue of Liberty – Only saw it from Battery Park. I’d like to see it closer someday but I’ve heard that actually visiting the statue itself is overrate. Ellis Island looks interesting though.
- Wall Street and the bull statue
- World Trade Center
- Little Italy – Had some tasty Italian food on a very, very cold night. Also, they do not fool around with Christmas decorations here, every storefront was thoroughly decorated.
- Ate some authentic New York pizza. Very tasty, the crust does seem different.
- THE Macy’s
- Union Square
- Bryant Park
- Magnolia Bakery – Famous bakery features in Sex and City.Enjoyed a mini pumpkin cheesecake with a gingerbread crust. Yum.
- High Line – Old elevated railroad tracks in the Meatpacking district that have been turned into a pedestrian walk way with great views of the city and the Hudson river.
- Battery Park – View of the Statue of Liberty. The park is full of people selling knock-off purses!
- Rode on the subway several times. It’s exactly like it is in movies!
- Central Park and Columbus Circle- Visited Central Park in the pouring rain because it was our last day in the city and we wanted to see it. It was very pretty in the rain. I’d love to see more of it sans-rain.
- FAO Schwartz and The Big Piano
We had wonderful hosts and owe them big time for such a wonderful trip. We certainly wouldn’t have been able to see half of what we saw without them!
















The Texas State Fair is FULL of fried foods. Anything you could imagine. We saw fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fried jellybeans, fried bacon, fried butter, fried peaches and cream, fried pecan pie, fried ice cream, fried Coke, fried Snickers bars, fried Oreos, fried cookie dough, fried banana split, and of course, fried Twinkies.I think most of the items are frozen before they are dipped in batter and fried to prevent them from totally disintegrating in the hot oil.





I’m getting to be a pro at putting in eye drops… I went back in for my follow-up with the eye doctor after three weeks and she said two more weeks of drops and no contacts. Ugh.