Birthday Celebration

What a weekend! I got to celebrate my birthday (a week early) with some great friends. Definitely one of the best celebrations I have had and one for the record books- lots of crazy moments and definitely a ton of memories to come from the evening.
We had dinner at Nobu Dallas following the cocktail kick off at my apartment, they seated us in the courtyard under candlelight and I was so happy that the rain held off :)  Dad sent cheese for everyone as little favors and we all had personalized conversation starter chopsticks. Yuka, my favorite person at Nobu, made a special menu for the evening and I am really bummed I do not have a copy or a photo of it. #sadday The group for dinner was great and it was a lot of fun mixing my groups of friends together.

Here is a snapshot of most of the group, raccoon eyes and all! 

Singing karaoke was the next highlight of the night... if only I could ever decide on a song to sing. I semi sang but I know I am not off the hook with my friends. We all tried out the new Kung Fu Saloon and it was fun to sing in a private karaoke room and then head out to the bar to play arcade games and dance to the great music. 

The party lasted until the wee hours of the next morning... some late night swimming, more champagne, music and good company. It was by far one of the best nights with the best people. Wish I could celebrate like that every weekend! So thankful for each and every one of you. 

Here are some other great shots from the night... as I said, wish I took more!

xoxo

Moving Day

Today is Moving Day!
We are moving... unexpectedly but I am excited for a new adventure (on another floor and down the hall a bit) and space! Mr. B is on a little few day hiatus after returning from the ranch and will come home to a new home tomorrow night. For now he is at the Disney World for Dogs and I am sure he is loving every second of it. I will post more pictures when I am all settled... but here is to a few days of my own hiatus from work and the world while I set up shop somewhere new. Don't worry, I will be taking a break for FNO as well tomorrow night and cannot wait to celebrate a good friend/older sister's upcoming birthday this week as well. It is a busy time and I get to have my parents in town for a few days as well :) #happygirl

Enjoy your week blog world! xo

Lately

Lately I have been.... well can you say..... overwhelmed?

Things are starting to slowly settle down again and I will get back to some more creative blogging. Here are some snapshots from last weekend when I was home in New York. Had a great Saturday in the city and then on Long Island visiting my grandparents. Here are some shots of our beautiful afternoon with my wonderful Grandma at our yacht club in Oyster Bay. It was THE BEST relaxing weather I could have ever asked for. Missing the breeze from the sound already.

One of my FAVORITE places on EARTH! Check out the tent over the tennis court they were setting up for a wedding... yes please.

 It was SUPER windy but so fun walking down onto the water... in this last picture Mom and I thought we were going to blow away.

Mr. B and Chainsaw were a hoot... they made the treck with us to Long Island... Mr. B is quite the traveler these days.

 When it came to heading back to Dallas I was... 

1. Sick

2. There was a security breach at Newark Airport so well that just stunk!

3. There was then a ground stop at Newark Airport for a ridiculous storm and crazy lightening.

4. I was excited to have been moved up to first class, watch a movie and sleep most of the way back to Dallas. Definitely enjoyed the United napkins they served with our beverages... GO TEAM USA! 

5. Downside of all the travel/being sick... didn't get home until after 1AM and as a result did not get the alloted time I needed to rest before Monday started so sick day it was. Guess it is good I am almost never THAT sick to go to work. 

I leave you with a really cool shot from my seat on the plane as we were making our descent into DFW... check out what a great night Sunday was from the sky! 

xo

Puppy Love

Today it is ALLLLLLLL about pets!

July Photo of the Day takers will be posting about their cute little animals and Instagram will be blowing up. Most people probably think I post about Mr. Bendel a little TOO much but hey, he pretty much is my child and I love doing the puppy mom thing. I have had B for just over 2 years now and he just celebrated his 4th birthday this past April. A lot has happened in 2 years but let's face it a lot has happened this year too. He won Pet of the Month is 153 votes, is a big 4 year old, we celebrated our 2 year anniversary, he has flown on 6 planes, taught a few new puppies how to play and managed to move his bed across my apartment and clean up his toys on his own. If he could talk in between his naps he would probably tell you it is all just in a day's work. Mr. B is adorable as ever and can even push me into running that 5th mile these days.

xo

Addictions

July Photo of the Day: Your Addiction(s)
Instead of one... here are the 5 off the top of my head (in no particular order).

xo

10 Things

While cleaning out my GMail account, I came across an old blog from when I was testing out different platforms about 2 years ago. In my half-awake state this morning, even after 2 trips to Starbucks, I am laughing at some of the things I thought would make or break me in life, the photos, and some of my viewpoints. Man, things have changed a ton over the past few years. One of my favorite things I noticed was my page labeled "10" and it listed some 10 details about me and my life... these have not seemed to change much. So here they are:

10 Things About Me

1. I am from New York. [For arguments sake, yes I lived in NJ, but for anyone not from the Northeast/tri-state area- once a New Yorker, ALWAYS a New Yorker... and I did spend more than half the year in New York every year- that's another story]

2. LOVE Yankees baseball (ice hockey [NJ DEVILS] is not far behind). - this is still probably the only loyalty I have to the Garden State- Thank you Martin Brodeur. 

3. I’m a Virgo… to some people this is important. Yes, I am a Virgo to the T.

4. I graduated from SMU in Dallas, Texas. Why Texas? Because of my summers here in the Hill Country at Camp Mystic for Girls. AND many can say I was born in the wrong state...

5. I LOVE to ski and that’s about the only time I can handle snow and the cold. (yes my blood has thinned and to all my ski friends--they think this is REALLY funny). Nothing has changed here, except for maybe that I don't get to ski as often as I'd like- damn real world priorities. 

6. I enjoy a good workout and currently obsessed with Pure Barre and running at night with my dog Mr. Bendel. Still love PB but it is a little far to drive to squeeze in a workout at 6am before work... still love the runs/walks with Mr. B but now I change up my workout with TRX, Kickboxing and boot camps.

7. Other things I enjoy are spending time on the ranch, sailing, a good book [yes, I'll admit I enjoyed 50 shades... probably not in the same way as mosts], movie [a certain guy I know would say I don't watch enough of them], and pen, snail mail, pictures, quotes, traveling, my amazing friends, to-do lists, music, the color green, and shopping. There could be many additions to this list but that is a blog post in itself. 

8. I’m celiac. (and no it’s not that terrible). Still not that bad.

9. My favorite season is fall for the September issues of fashion magazines, my birthday, postseason baseball, and the leaves changing. This still about sums it up... with the addition of a few of my favorite Dallas charity events of the year!

10. Some people find me intimidating but I swear I’m not, I care a ton about the people close to me, enjoy a challenge, and will not settle. Oh and my eyes change colors… Yep, still ALL true.

So there you have it. Some of my additions are in italics but for the most part, still the same- I've just grown up more, trying to embrace the opportunities to be young with the older responsibilities. 

Have a fabulous weekend and watch the Belmont Stakes, wish I were home to see the race in person! Who are you cheering for?

XO

And the FGG Mascot is...

this ADORABLE guy. 

(Windham Mountain Christmas 2010)

Okay, I may be partial but isn't he cute?! 

Meet Mr. Bendel (aka Mr. B, Bendel, Bendelicious- thanks MDB, munchkin, etc.) He is the most ridiculous mixed terrier I know. 

I adopted Mr. B a little over 2 years ago and as cheesy as it sounds we have helped each other through many ups and downs since then. He loves spending time on patios, going to doggy daycare (as he knows it- "puppy school"), hanging out with all of his friends, traveling, begging for snacks and snuggling. He recently celebrated his 4th birthday with some of his puppy friends at The Stoneleigh Hotel here in Dallas.

Look for more on this little one in the near future.

xo