#11 - CHECK!

Number 11 on my list of 101 things to do in 1,001 days was to go to New York City again. Thanks to my amazing husband, I got to do this as a celebration of our first year of marriage. Justin and I got married on July 25, 2009, so this past weekend marked our 1st anniversary as a married couple! As I mentioned in this post, the original plan was to take a roadtrip to knock out some more state highpoints, but Justin knows how absolutely in love I am with New York City and planned to surprise me by taking me for the weekend instead of our original plan. Naturally, the "surprise" part didn't so much pan out, but I love him for trying :)

We left Birmingham around 6:30 Friday morning and got into La Guardia at 10:30ish. We got a cab as soon as we got there and headed to our hotel at the Hilton in Times Square. By the way, I've been to New York three times now and I'm not a big cab rider, I'm a huge subway person (much cheaper), however I've had to take a few cabs here and there because there are some places the subways just don't go and the airports in NY (other than Long Island Airport) are two of those places. I've never had that "NY cab experience" of them driving crazy fast and feeling like you're going to puke until this trip though. I truly thought I might throw up between La Guardia and 42nd.

As soon as we got to our hotel we were expecting to not be able to check in yet because check in wasn't until 3, but we actually were able to get checked in right then and even got upgraded to a room on the top floor since Justin is a Diamond member with Hilton (there are perks to having a husband who travels all the time!) After checking in, the first thing we did was go to the Museum of Natural History. We actually only spent an hour there. I'd been twice already and Justin had never been, but he's not a big museum person so we looked at the things we were interested in and moved on.



This is the view from our hotel room. LOVED IT!

After leaving the museum, we headed to the Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of the Rock. At this point, the clouds started moving in and we didn't get the best view as you can see from the picture below, but it was still awesome. Justin has only been to the top of the ESB and it was at night so I really wanted him to see Central Park from that high up during the day, which we sort of accomplished. It just wasn't as wonderful because the visibility was kind of low.



View of the Empire State Building from Top of the Rock

After leaving the Top of the Rock, we headed back to the hotel to change clothes and get ready for the Yankees game. The Yankees played Kansas City Friday night and by the time we were leaving the hotel to catch the subway to the Bronx, the sky had cleared significantly, so we were pretty excited. We hopped on the subway and headed to the newly improved Yankee Stadium!



Being a tourist while heading to the hotel to change for the game :)





So glad that New York puts calories on absolutely everything at every restaurant. It really makes my lack of following my diet and exercise routine that much more enjoyable (enter massive amounts of sarcasm).



Jeter in all of his hotness up to bat!



A-Rod!! We found out when we got there that A-Rod was at 599 homeruns so everyone was on pins and needles waiting for him to get his number 600!

Unfortunately for us, it started STORMING around the 5th inning. All the fans huddled together inside to keep from getting wet. After about 45 minutes, Justin and I assumed they would end up calling the game because the rain pretty much destroyed the field not to mention it was creeping close to 10pm, so we just headed back to the hotel. After getting to the hotel, we found out that they had started the game back and that the Yankees won, but A-Rod never got his 600 :(



Boo on the rain!

The next morning, we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel, then headed to Hoboken, New Jersey to go to Carlo's Bakery (The Cake Boss on TLC). We intended to go inside just to eat one cupcake or some kind of pastry, even though it was relatively early in the morning. We hopped on the PATH train and when we got to Hoboken we were completely shocked. The line to Carlo's Bakery was two blocks long!! By the way the street that this shop is on is technically called Washington Street, but all the street signs say "Carlo's Bakery Way". Funny.





There was no way we were spending time waiting in that so we just took a couple of pictures and then headed towards the river to see the view of the city from NJ. When we got to the river we were completely and totally impressed. We LOVED Hoboken. It had that small town feel, people had cars and drove everywhere, but you still had excellent views of the city PLUS easy access to get there! Pretty sure if I had ever discovered Hoboken back when I was looking at apartments in NYC that I would have lived there. From the looks of them from the outside, they TOTALLY dominate the ones I looked at in Queens and Brooklyn with my mom back in 2008.

Hoboken has a trail that runs on the coast of the river all the way up and down the city. The best part about this path was that it was COMPLETELY COVERED by trees and was in the shade. There were tons of bikers, rollerbladers, and runners on the trail. It made me really want to go change clothes and go for a run. Needless to say, we may be staying at the W Hotel in Hoboken next time we come to the city.



View of the Financial District from Hoboken

When we finally left Hoboken, we tried to make it to Pier 83 by 11:30 for the 2 hour harbor cruise, but they were sold out, so we went ahead and got tickets for the 3:30 cruise. At that point we headed back to the hotel to cool off. It was 97 degrees that day which is a record high for NYC on that particular day. There was a heat wave that weekend and it was all over the news. It was hot, don't get me wrong, but it's like they were making a huge deal out of 97 degrees. I wanted to be like "freaking come to Alabama! It's been that hot for two months now!", but it's never that hot up there so to them it is a big deal.

After cooling off, we headed back out to the Financial District. We hit up my usual favorites there: Trinity Church, NYSE, the Bull, WTC site, etc...



Trinity Church





Stock Exchange



The Bull



They're already starting to build "Freedom Tower" which they later had to rename "One World Trade" because they were afraid that international companies wouldn't rent space with the original name. I say BS to that, but whatever. Also, did you know that they've found human bones as recently as three months ago???

By the time all that was over, it was time to head back to Pier 83 to board the cruise, where we got these fab pictures:









We intended to go to the Statue of Liberty, especially now that you can go up in her crown (haven't been able to do that because of 9/11) but tickets sell WAY in advance and they were sold for that day. So this was the only view of Miss Liberty that we got.



Oh how I do so love the Brooklyn Bridge. I made a promise right around the time we were going under her that at some point, I will come back and run across her. Hopefully that will be soon!

I first went on this cruise in December 2008 when I brought my mom to NYC as her Christmas present (and also to make her feel more comfortable with me moving there) and we both absolutely loved this cruise. It had great views and the commentary gave great information about the city. That's why I wanted Justin to take it. He really liked it so that made me happy. I was just unhappy about how many people were on it. In the winter, this cruise is barely half full but in the summer it's packed out!

When the cruise was over, we ate dinner then headed to Central Park to walk around a bit. Both times I've been to the park I've stayed on the southern side and Justin had only been to Wollman Rink, so we decided to go up by 81st (right smack in the middle) to enter the park.







I've been trying to find this fountain forever! I've seen it in numerous movies but had no idea where it was and we just so happen to run across it during our walk!

When we left the Park, it was time to head to the Empire State Building. We stood in line for OVER an hour (every time I've been to ESB I've always gone straight up - this is just another reason that I don't like NYC in the summertime, there are WAY more tourists than any other season) but we eventually made it to the top. We intended to watch the sunset from the top, but it took too long and the sun had already set before we even got there so we enjoyed a night view.







Justin was actually planning on proposing to me up there. It was one of his options for proposing, but he ended going with New Orleans. He wanted to have me come home from work on Friday to a letter from him asking me to meet him at the top of the ESB (plane ticket included of course) and I would have flown to NYC and gone up there and he would have already been there. Very "Sleepless in Seattle"...I know, but romantic nonetheless.

When we left the ESB, we headed back to the hotel and naturally stopped by to get some ice cream at Cold Stone first ;) The next morning we woke up, packed, had breakfast at the hotel, and cabbed it back to La Guardia.



My unhappy face...I never want to leave New York!

Also, on a funny side note, when we got to La Guardia, we saw a cab that was pulled over and the rider had his door open and he was throwing up. We though that was funny. Anyway, we came home and got to dig into this bad boy....



This is what it looked like originally...



The actual cake part was still pretty good. It was strawberry flavored. However, the icing was horrible. Overall, we had an awesome anniversary weekend together and can't believe it's been a whole year. I love my husband more and more everyday for all the wonderful things he does for me and he really doesn't realize how awesome of a husband he is! I'm so blessed!

Cornhole/Circus Birthday Collage

My friend Allison has been doing some collages on her blog the past several months and I have been meaning to start putting my pictures into collages instead of putting them on the blog individually (it takes longer and longer for my blog to load on a computer the more pictures I put on it). So being able to put several pictures into a collage and upload the collage as one photo kind of helps out with that! Here's my first collage:



Justin and I went to Tuscaloosa on Saturday for Anderson and Lydia's joint Circus themed birthday party. They had a HUGE blowup slide and I was the only adult that I noticed that was sliding down it. I took Anderson down one time and then he said "Let's do that three more times". I don't know how to say no to him, so three more times actually turned into five or six more times. I didn't think Lydia would want to go down the slide because she's so little, but boy she dominated that slide! She kept wanting me to go with her but even went on her own several times. Such a little daredevil!!

After leaving the party, Justin and I headed to meet Trevor and Rob in Helena for a Cornhole tournament. For those of you that don't know what Cornhole is, basically, you throw a bean bag into a hole in a piece of wood. I have no idea what the attraction is. Anyway, it apparently was a huge deal. There were seeds and everything! Sam and Chase and Allison also met us up there (BR in tow of course). We had so much fun even though it was INSANELY hot outside. Justin and Rob ended up being the only ones at the end and even won $40! Tiffany came for a little while when she took a break from studying (which I am SOOOO ready for her to be done with). For the most part, Allison, BR and I hung out watching the boys play in the crazy heat. We all get best wives of the year award ;)

Did anyone else notice that this weekend was Christmas in July on 96.5??? BECAUSE I DID!!! I told Justin I had to listen to the Christmas music all weekend since we'd be in Africa for Christmas this year. Christmas in July is dear to my heart since it was on our wedding weekend last year. I'll never forget having my makeup done while singing along to Mariah Carey's song "All I Want For Christmas Is You". Our one year anniversary is this coming Sunday. Justin and I are so excited to be getting away for the special event. We're heading to New York City Friday morning and have a fun-filled and romantic weekend planned. SO EXCITED!!!!

#41 and #65 - CHECK!

I was able to knock two things off my list of 101 things to do in 1,001 days this weekend. Number 41 was to have Anderson spend the night with us. Anderson and Lydia came to Birmingham on Friday and spent the night with my mom while Justin and I went to the Lobdell's to cook out for dinner. I got up and did a three mile run and then headed to IHOP to pick up Anderson (it's kind of a tradition for my mom to take the kids to IHOP for breakfast when they visit). As soon as I walked in the door and saw them, something pretty awesome happened. My beautiful niece Lydia, who has never once spoken my name, FINALLY said my name! The second I walked up to them she said "my Marcie". She said that exact phrase probably 10 times before I left with Anderson. It was so sweet and adorable :)

I got Anderson and brought him to my house to wait on Justin to get home from the gym. As soon as he got home, all three of us headed to the Birmingham Zoo. Here are some pics from our day at the zoo:









After leaving the zoo, we came home to clean up a bit before heading over to The Rave at Patton Creek to see Despicable Me in 3D. Anderson LOVED it! He kept laughing over and over and I got to the point where I was laughing at him instead of the movie! Here's a pretty awesome snapshot I got of the boys:



After the movie, we headed home and I gave Anderson his bath. On the way home, he mentioned something about wanting his goggles. His parents didn't send any goggles with him, so Justin improvised and gave him his goggles that he swims with, which was about when I took this picture:



Gizmo was absolutely loving Anderson being there. She chased him around the house and as Anderson says, they "played tag and had races around the house". It was so adorable to see. On Sunday, Justin and I took Anderson to Petco by the Target on Highway 150 to get a new fish (number 65 on the list). Anderson named the fish Oscar. A while ago, Justin and I got a new yellow fish from there as well, which we named Everest (yes, a lot of our fish have names of mountains).



The fish at the very top is McKinley (tallest mountain in Alaska), to the bottom right is the new yellow one, Everest (tallest mountain in the world), to the bottom left is Nemo (real original, I know) and in the middle is little Oscar (Anderson's fish). The one that isn't in this picture is Elbert (tallest mountain in Colorado) and the two turbo snails which we have dubbed Slug 1 and Slug 2 (they're pretty hard to tell apart because they look exactly alike).

Like I said, Gizmo adores Anderson. She kept following him around and was always lying next to him.



Justin and I both had so much fun with Anderson this weekend. The kids are having a joint birthday party this coming weekend in Tuscaloosa so I'm really excited for that. I heart those kids :)

#28 - CHECK!

No fun pictures in this one, but it is a big one folks! I have FINALLY finished P90X. Completing the 3 month program was number 28 on my list of 101 things to do in 1,001 days. I finished it this past Sunday. It actually took me a little longer than 3 months to do it though. Justin and I kept going out of town for long weekends so instead of skipping the workouts that were scheduled on that day, I just picked back up with where I left off whenever I got back. This allowed me to do every workout that was scheduled, it just took me a little longer to do it.

I have had numerous people ask me in person, email, or on facebook how I like P90X. I absolutely LOVE IT!!! I will say it is not for someone who has zero athletic ability though. You have to be relatively in shape to be able to do these workouts. And they are VERY intense. I burned roughly 600 calories a day doing these workouts. Another question I get a lot is "did you lose a lot of weight? Will I lose weight if I do it?". My answer to this question is....it depends. I initially lost weight because I was losing the fat, but I was also gaining muscle in parts of my body that I don't normally workout, so I also gained a little. Overall, I lost about 5 pounds, but I can see a HUGE difference when I look at myself. The more athletic you already are pre-P90X, the less weight you'll lose because you probably have less fat on you than the average person.

I didn't take pictures like it tells you to, but I didn't need to. I see the biggest difference in my arms, abs, and legs. That sounds like the whole body, so I guess it's safe to say it changed everywhere! I totally plan on doing this program again, just not right now and maybe not every single day like you're supposed to according to the schedules. I can see myself using this program to get back in shape after Justin and I have our first kid. A lot of the people that were asking me if they should use P90X were actually women that are pregnant and want to use it to get back in shape. Of course I suggest it since that's my plan :)

Naturally, Justin and I aren't good at sitting around doing nothing, so we're both training for something right now. We're running the half-marathon at St. George Island on October 23, 2010, but because Justin became infatuated with triathalons after completing his first one (click here to see that post), he has signed up to do one in Arkansas in August before the half-marathon. I have a running schedule that I've already started and will be mixing in some P90X workouts in there, just so I don't lose what took me so long to get. After the half-marathon, we'll be focusing on training for Africa, which means LOTS AND LOTS of hours on the stairclimber :)

Seven Wonders of the Natural World

You've heard of the Seven Wonders of the World right? Well, you may or may not know this, but the wonders of the world have changed recently. The original seven wonders were named in a poem written in 140 BC by Antipator of Sidon. Can you name any of them? Chances are, most of you know only one of the seven. There's a reason for that though. Here they are:

• Pyramid of Giza in Cairo, Egypt
• Hanging of Babylon in Iraq
• Statue of Zeus in Olympia, Greece
• Temple of Artemis in Turkey
• Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in Turkey
• Colossus of Rhodes in Rhodes, Greece
• Lighthouse of Alexandria in Alexandria Egypt

The reason most of us only know of one of these is because it is the only one of the seven that still exists (The Pyramid of Giza). The rest have all been destroyed by either fire, earthquakes, or some other causes. What I learned tonight is that the seven wonders were replaced by a vote. That sounded kind of weird to me, that we could vote out these original wonders, however, if they don't exist and people can't marvel at them, why not replace them? So they have been replaced with the following:

• Pyramid of Giza (this one stayed naturally)
• Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico
• Colosseum in Rome, Italy
• Great Wall of China in China
• Machu Picchu in Cuzco, Peru
• Petra in Jordan (my in-laws have been here and their pictures are BREATHTAKING!)
• Taj Mahal in Agra, India

So what is the purpose of this post?? Well, while researching these wonders, I came across the website of the New7Wonders Foundation. This foundation is putting together an online poll to get people across the globe to vote for the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Guess what is one of the finalists??? KILIMANJARO!!



In case you can't tell by the countdown on my blog, Justin and I are climbing Kilimanjaro in December 2010. It is so awesome that it is one of 28 finalists to be considered for the Seven Natural Wonders. The voting for it is still ongoing so PLEEEEEAAASSSSEEE go vote for Kilmanjaro. Right now, it's in the bottom 14, so she needs your votes! Click here to pull up the voting website and then click on the green button that says "Vote now for the new 7 wonders of nature". You can also vote for 6 others. You have to register and confirm your email address for your vote to count but they don't send crap emails or anything. VOTE NOW! I would love to be able to say I've been to one of the Natural Wonders of the World :)

4th of July

I was lucky enough to have a nice and long 4th of July weekend. I was off work on Friday and on Monday, and shockingly, we DIDN'T go out of town. It's been nice to be at home and just relax for a little while. My house is decked out with decorations. Last year at me and Justin's wedding shower thrown by the people I work with, my mom came and instead of getting us something off of our registry, she got us a TON of 4th of July decorations! I've just now been able to take them out of the box to decorate :) Here's just a couple of the items she gave us:







On Saturday, Justin and I went to visit Wade and his family at their lakehouse. We had so much fun! We went tubing, did several rounds on the wave runner, took out the boat and just enjoyed the awesome weather!











Due to all the tubing we did, Justin and I were incredibly sore when we woke up this morning. So we've just been laying around the house today. Next weekend Anderson and Lydia are coming to visit. Lydia will stay at my mom's but little man is going to be staying with Auntie M and Uncle Justin. I can't wait. I love spending a weekend with those kids :) I hope everyone has had an excellent holiday weekend!!