Feels like Christmas - New York, NY

I officially have the Christmas spirit!  It's kind of hard not to when wandering around the streets of NYC this time of year.  Today I strolled past the windows at Saks.  They were pretty but not very holiday-ish.  So, needing a little more excitement, I headed over to Rockefeller Center to see the famous Christmas tree.  Yep, seeing this tree sealed the deal.  Usually I hate being surrounded by so many tourists but for some reason today they all just faded into the background.  It was wonderful!

Next up was a walk through Central Park with a steamy pumpkin spice steamer from Starbucks.  It was pretty cold outside but that didn't stop me from enjoying the beautiful scenery around me.  I watched the ice skaters for a bit and couldn't help but fall in love with the city again.  The skyline behind the rink was breath taking (even if I could see someone putting out fake snow around the rink).  New York is trying very hard to keep me in this city!!!  

PS - it looks like they have a rabies problem in Central Park

The Daily Show & Friends - NY, NY

Wasting time on Facebook has finally paid off for me.  As soon as I arrived at Jenna's apartment I decided to check in with Facebook to see what had happened in the few hours I had been traveling back to the city. (That's what you do when you have too much time on your hands.)  On my home page, I noticed a link to sign up for "day of" tickets to the Daily Show.  So....I clicked on it.... and BOOM, I had tickets for the taping that afternoon.  It couldn't have been more perfect timing.  I'm staying with the famous Jenna Kim Jones (who works at the Daily Show) and she lives three blocks away from the studio.  It was a really great show.  Jon Stewart was hilarious as usual and Judah Friedlander, from 30 Rock, was the guest.  He was on the show promoting his new book.  After the show, Jenna gave me a back stage tour of the entire studio and I met some of the producers/staff/crew.  Jon Stewart even walked by us a couple times.  So crazy!!  Television is such a fascinating world and I'm glad I was able to have a sneak peak.

Here are a couple pics of Miss Jenna Kim Jones making television happen.

 

Peace out Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA

Today was our final day of fun with the whole gang.  We got up bright and early and went to church.  After church we took a driving tour of Carnegie Mellon's campus.   Of course, since I'm a blogger now, I made Adam get out of the car so we could take a picture of him in front of the Tepper School of Business.  He was a good sport since it was freezing outside!  Then we came back to their place and recreated Thanksgiving dinner for Scott.  It was almost as delicious as the real meal.  We even made fresh mashed potatoes, rolls, and green bean casserole.  Yum!!!

Shortly after lunch, Erin, Scott, and Lucy packed up their rental car and headed back to NYC.  We had a great time with them and we can't wait until the next time we can hang out.  The rest of our afternoon was spent watching the Steeler's game (can you believe this was Adam's idea), cleaning, and taking naps.  Later that evening we drove out to the Hartwood Celebration of Lights.  It's basically a 3.2 mile drive through a park completely decorated with holiday lights.  The lights were really fun to look at.  It was a nice way to get us in the Christmas spirit.  Unfortunately, my camera battery died so I wasn't able to document the outing.

PS - I've included a picture of me in one of my classiest Pittsburgh outfits - PJs with white ankle socks and high heeled shoes.  What has Pittsburgh done to me?  Yesterday, I was wearing almost every color imaginable:  grey boots, dark blue jeans, orange turtle neck, pink gloves, purple sweatshirt, dark green coat, and a turquoise bag.  Yep, I wore that to the movies.  I apologize for not capturing that outfit for you!

Frozen to the bone - Pittsburgh, PA

Saturday was another freezing day in Pittsburgh.  We started the day off right by going to Pamela's for brunch (see Pittsburgh post in Sept).  Our food was delicious.  The crepe-like pancakes just can't be beat!  Then we drove over to the Mount Washington for an amazing view of the city.  Later that afternoon, Adam, Erin, Scott, and I went and saw Harry Potter 7 on IMAX.  The movie was awesome and definitely creepy.  I loved it.  Liesel was a saint (and maybe a scaredy cat) so she volunteered to stay home with Lucy.  They met up with us after the movie and we all had dinner at Red Robin.  It has been at least six years since I have eaten at this restaurant and guess what.....I still love the Bonsai burger.  Some things never change!

Losing is the Pitts - Pittsburgh, PA

Today we went to a Pitt vs West Virginia football game at Heinz Stadium (where the Steelers play).  It was FREEZING cold outside (30s with a good amount of wind) and only survived three quarters before we couldn't take it anymore.  Unfortunately, Pitt lost to rivals West Virginia (10-35).  The crowd was as classy as ever.  Whenever WV scored, the WV fans would chant "eat shit Pitt".  Sorry for the foul language, but we thought it was hilarious.  On a better note, the stadium is in an awesome location.  You can watch the game and have a stunning view of the city all at the same time.  I'd love to come back for a much warmer, fall game sometime.

Scott, Erin's husband, flew in from NYC and met us at the game.  He had to work on Thanksgiving but was able to fly out for the weekend.  We split up in two cars to head back to Adam and Liesel's apartment. We ended up taking two different routes.  One car made it home in about a half hour and the other car made it home in two hours.  Guess which car I was in?  Yes,  I was in the two hour car with Adam.  It was awful!!!  The funny thing was that Adam told Liesel to take the GPS system in Scott's car just in case they got lost on the way back.  Maybe we should have kept the GPS in our car!

We spent the evening watching Modern Family (yes, we are addicted) and eating Vincent's Pizza (yes, you might remember this from the first trip to Pittsburgh).  Another great day in the Burgh!

Turkey Day - Pittsburgh, PA

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful day here in Pittsburgh.  The weather was quite frightful outside today so we spent the whole day inside.  In preparation for an entire day of eating, we completed a Jillian Michaels "Boost Metabolism" workout as soon as we woke up.  The rest of the morning was spent getting the meal ready.  Taking the brined turkey out of the bucket and putting it into the oven was pretty disgusting.  Poor Lucy was in the kitchen when I was doing this and she started screaming and crying.  I won't be surprised if she has a turkey phobia when she is older.  And for the record, I don't understand the brined turkey hype.  It was a lot of work and none of us thought the turkey tasted any better. 

The dinner was amazing (see menu below).  It was definitely a team effort and it turned out so delicious!  After dinner we watched Ratatouille and Elf.  In the evening, the missionaries came over and shared a nice Thanksgiving message with us.  Then, to top the night off, we ate turkey sandwiches and had a Modern Family marathon.  It was the perfect day!

Thanksgiving Menu:

Appetizers:

Cheese, crackers, apples, grapes, nuts

Stuffed mushrooms

Artichoke dip

Main course and sides:

Brined turkey

Green bean casserole

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

West Virginia sweet potato pie

Stuffing

Rolls with butter and strawberry jam

Cranberry ice (yes, ice)

Dessert:

Lemon meringue

Pumpkin

Lemon truffle

What’s up? Turkey Butt. – Pittsburgh, PA

Yes, that’s right.  There just might be a turkey in a bucket brining in the fridge right now (with it’s butt facing the top).  We’ve never brined a turkey before so it has been quite the experience.  Hopefully it will be the best turkey we have ever eaten!

We spent the morning shopping for our Thanksgiving meal.  We went to the classiest place of all – Super Walmart.  I mean, where else can you get really cheap groceries (yes, food for five people for five days only cost $132) and you get to see some of the most amazing people there. 

After our exhausting morning, we came home and took naps.  Feeling like we needed to get up and move a little, Erin, Liesel, and I did a session of Turbo Jam in the living room.  Never have I ever felt so uncoordinated in my life.  Seriously, I had no idea what was going on.  I’m going to give it another try….but I think I should just stick with the treadmill.

Tonight we went to Eat’n Park for dinner.  It’s a cute little chain diner that’s a step up from Denny’s.  The food was actually pretty good and once again the customer service was awesome.  Liesel and I made a late night run to the Giant Eagle to pick up a couple of things we forgot to buy earlier.  Don’t worry I went in my pajamas.  I only wear my finest for the people of Pittsburgh.  We spent the evening baking pies and watching TV.  The simple life is the best!