Stabbed with a Stiletto Heel

Can you see the pain in my face? I can't believe Joe caught this on film!

More Fun Photos

Birthday Fun

My amazing husband surprised me for my birthday and flew in two of my dearest friends--both of them the maids of honor in our wedding--and my mother. Mom, Larisa, Cherice, and Cherice's boyfriend, Rob, all arrived late Friday night, knocking on my door as I was getting ready to turn in for the night. There was a lot of excitement as they arrived at different times between 9:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m., and Gavin alternated between laughing because he wanted to get up and see the people and screaming and crying when he heard my surprised exclamations upon answering the door. All in all, it was great fun and I was truly shocked! Little did I think I would celebrate my birthday with a houseparty of six adults and one baby.

On Saturday evening, we had a little pre-birthday party at our place where Joe brought out his mega magnum of Krug that he has been saving for years. It was so yummy and it's a good thing we had a bunch of houseguests and parents to enjoy a toast with us since it would have spoiled sitting in the fridge after the fact. And Larisa displayed her culinary talents as a chef and put together a beautiful array of antipasta. It was so nice I didn't want to eat it, but I have included photos.

After our little pre-party, we walked over to a local restaurant called Campagnola and enjoyed a birthday dinner with a group of friends. Yummy food, good conversation, candlelight, fun music...it was the perfect birthday celebration. We even had a bit of excitement at the end when we decided to pop the entire box of birthday "poppers." A bunch of us girls spent about ten minutes popping every last one. Nicky even popped one on her hand. Ouch! Of course, that was nothing compared to my friend Cherice accidentally stepping on my foot with her Manolo Blanik stiletto. Even though it was painful, the pictures are so funny (yes, Joe caught this on film!) that I have included them. Ahhh...girls being girls!

I had so much fun over the weekend, and enjoyed the surprises. My husband rocks!!

Changing Decades

Wow, it's been a long time since I've changed decades. And in just 28 minutes I am leaving my 30's...a place I have comfortably resided for the past ten years. My 30's have truly been the best time of my life--so far. In my 30's I lived in Atlanta, traveled the world with my job, met life-long friends, figured out if I wanted to get married, got married, moved to Chicago, worked on building a marriage, made more life-long friends, figured out if I wanted to have a baby, had a baby, and built a family. Pretty eventful.

How things have changed from my 30th birthday when I broke up with my then-boyfriend after a disappointing birthday dinner where he complained about the cost of the meal the entire time! My 40th birthday was celebrated this past weekend with an intimate dinner party thrown by my husband and close friends. I'm glad to be at this place now and I can't wait to see what the next decade brings. Thanks to all of you for being a part of it.

NYC

Joe and I traveled to New York City last weekend, where he accompanied me as I worked on the last Harvest event of the year at Madison Square Garden. We decided to leave Gavs at home with his grandparents since we were only away for two nights, and Joe really wanted to be able to check out the event at The Garden (every man's sporting dream, I guess!). Surprisingly, after leaving Gavs for four nights while in Philly a few weeks ago, this trip wasn't as hard for me. If you remember, I boo-hooed my way through the last one. Of course, I missed the little guy, but it was REALLY nice to sit in a restaurant with my husband and not hear little grunting noises whilst in the middle of my entree. Although I did miss the coos and giggles.

We arrived in New York on Saturday afternoon and checked into the Sheraton Towers in Time Square before lunching at a local cafe called Maison. It was relaxing to chill out with some nice pate and salad before hustling across town to mega department store Century 21. I've wanted to visit Century 21 since before 9-11 (when it was closed for a while since it is literally across the street from Ground Zero) and I finally had my chance on this trip. Honestly...it wasn't all that. Why? New York. Saturday. Crowded. Hot. Same merch as Loehmann's and TJ Maxx, but with a $10 mark-up. You get my drift. I am a pretty good bargain shopper it turns out. We did find some pretty groovy L.A.M.B. sneakers for Gavin, as well as shoes for Joe and a belt for me, but that was about it. No worries, though. We had a great time checking out the merchandise.

Taking the recommendation of my friend Nicole, we dined at a new restaurant called Elattaria that evening. For those of you who follow foodie news, Elattaria is co-owned by two chefs from Craftbar. The space is incredible--warm wood, beamed ceiling, "French apartment" decor. The only odd part was the close proximity of the kitchen to the dining room. I would have preferred they be separated due to the small size of the restaurant. Regardless, the food was tasty (I had tagliatelle with pork shoulder and Joe had the bivette: read, skirt steak). Check it out the next time you're in New York; it's in Greenwich Village.

Sunday was our morning for sleeping in, except I did not really sleep since I kept waking up thinking I had to nurse Gavin. Arrrghhhh! How frustrating. But at least Joe got a good night's rest while I did some work. After a nice lunch and a walk down 5th Avenue, we headed for Madison Square Garden to get ready for the event that evening, which was the main purpose of our trip.

During a Harvest event, it's always amazing to see the stadium doors open and people flood inside, all of them there to hear a Gospel presentation and some good music. This is the fruit of more than a year's worth of work for more than 100 churches, and is a highlight each time. At the end of the evening, more than 1,300 in attendance made a commitment to Christ. Pretty cool.

As I continued my work late into the night back at the hotel, Joe decided to go in search of food for us since we felt it was morally wrong to pay $20 for a room service hamburger. Afterall, if you can't find food options in Manhattan at 11 p.m. (a.k.a. "the city that never sleeps), there's nothing more I can do for you. Joe decided to visit the food cart we had spotted the night before, just down the block from our hotel, since the line was wrapped around the block. It had to be good, right? It turns out that the cart on 53rd and 6th, called "The Original Halal", was serving up delicious morsels of lamb and chicken served on a bed of saffron rice, replete with hot sauce, dill yogurt, and lettuce. We decided on the spot that it was the best food we ate in New York, and for only $6 (be sure to click on the link for some interesting Yelp reviews of the cart).

Alright, I know I'm overdoing it on the food talk, but I don't get out a lot right now so bear with me. I could tell you about Mercer Kitchen (pretty mundane) and our visit to the MacLaren showroom (Joe wanted to check out the Spitfire stroller. Don't ask.), but I want to be sure to save some stories for later. Later.

He Sucks His Toes!

I don't intend to turn this into a baby blog, but I am pretty baby-focused these days. Hence, the photo of my baby sucking his toes. I think it's both adorable and flexible. Why can't adults do this? It is a pretty cool party trick, but hmmmm...maybe not at the kind of parties I usually go to.

Away from Home

I went to Philly recently to work at a Harvest event. My trip marked the first time I left my little guy overnight and I was pretty nervous about how he would do...and how I would do. It turns out we both did fine. Apart from me forgetting some of my breast pump parts and having to go 17 hours between pumps (can we say OUCH!), I was so busy working that I didn't have time to call home every two hours like I originally thought I would. And Gavs had a great time with his daddy and grandparents, spending much of his weekend in a swing, laughing his head off.

I didn't do much of local interest in Philadelphia, which isn't really like me. But I was so tired from working late each night that I had little interest in doing anything except having breakfast with friends a couple of mornings and going to staff devotions. I can't tell you how refreshing it was to attend morning devotions three days in a row. It was great to listen to the messages and participate in worship (even by the Katinas one morning)--something that is not easily done with an infant. This was actually the most rejuvinating part of being away from home.

I did, however, find time to go to the Reading Terminal Market, which is a fantastic food market that sells just about any cuisine you can imagine. A bunch of us went to the Amish pancake place and ate delicious blueberry pancakes. Several of the booths were run by Amish families, which was interesting.

Happily, I was reunited with my sweet husband and baby after four days away, and Gavs actually reached his arms out and hugged my neck and gave me a sloppy open-mouthed kiss on the cheek. Oh, I just love those boys!