Weekend Wrap-Up: The Surprise NYC Weekend Edition!

Holy Moly guys, this weekend was FULL of surprises for me.  On Thursday night after I got home from seeing Baby Mitchell, Chris had a suitcase partially packed and this note in it: "Pack your bag for the weekend.  40-50 degrees. 1 semi-nice clothes for 1 evening.  2 days worth of regular clothes.  Anything else you need."  He told me he was going to pick me up from work the next day at 2:00, to which my response was, "But I have a 2:30 meeting!"  He had already thought about that, and worked with the people at work to cover my meeting.  So sneaky!

So yesterday afternoon we headed to the airport!  There were a few panicked moments thinking our plane was going to be delayed for at least 2.5 hours (see Chris frantically texting below while I just sat with a glass of wine!) but it ended up only being an hour delayed. They had to check on a dent and do some de-icing.

We landed at Laguardia about 8pm NYC time.  It was rainy and we got a first glimpse of the traffic.  We made it to our hotel (the New Yorker) and around 9:45pm wandered down the street to a tiny and AMAZING Indian restaurant (Pataiala). It was the best Indian food I have ever had.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!



We woke up early Saturday morning and headed out around 8am.  As you can see, it was very cloudy and misty, and continued to be so most of the day.  We went to a little diner in our hotel for breakfast (The Tick Tock Cafe) and then wandered a bit around the city looking for a specific coffee shop Chris wanted to go to.

Turns out we were wandering around because we had a little time to kill before JOHN AND JENNY showed up at the coffee shop!!! We had gotten there about 10 minutes earlier and were just sitting at the window watching the people go by outside.  All of a sudden THEY were the people outside the window!  I had no idea!


Then we all headed out for a day of sightseeing.  We started by heading towards the Hudson and went up inside The Vessel.  We got all the way to the top!  There wasn't much to see up there because of all the fog, but it was really cool to look down from the inside.

Then we walked the Highline, an elevated walkway that used to be a railroad.  It was really cool to see all the architecture and crazy looking buildings.



The Highline took us to Chelsea Market, a fun indoor market filled with unique shops and other vendors.

For lunch we found a little local pizza shop (Pizza Italia) and it was SO delicious.

After lunch we continued wandering and passed by a Puppy Store.  The puppies were all so cute and it was totally depressing to see them in cages. But it seemed like the puppies were taken out a lot and played with so I really hope that is the case.  

John and Jenny went to a show in the afternoon so Chris and I got some time to do the truly touristy stuff- first we walked to Rockefeller Center and saw the tree and Radio City Music Hall.

And then looked at the windows at Saks 5th Avenue.  A lot of them were Frozen II themed, so I took pictures to show the girls.

Then we walked to Times Square and then Bryant Park.  It was SO busy, as you can imagine.  The traffic was nuts and there were police officers at every. corner helping with traffic control.

By about 2:30pm we were so exhausted so we went back to the hotel to rest for a couple hours.  Jen had told us that this weekend was Santa-Con in NYC, and we started to see a whole lot of Santas and other crazily dressed people out and about.  After resting, we met back up with John and Jen and took the Subway to an amazing restaurant downtown (Extra Virgin).  I had butternut squash ravioli and Chris had the New York strip steak.  We also ordered sides, like this TRUFFLE MAC & CHEESE TART.



We said goodbye to John and Jen on the Subway and I had no idea what was next.  We got off the Subway at Times Square and walked a few blocks until I saw the Waitress theater and we seemed to be heading toward it.  I started squeezing Chris' had really hard and freaking out.  I LOVE the show Waitress.  I went in Minneapolis a couple of years ago and I listen to the music often (did I mention the music was composed by my fave musician Sara Bareilles, who I just saw in concert in October and she did a whole Waitress section in her concert?!?!).  So I was just over the moon excited.  We were given little pies "by the producers" too! I put that in quotes, because there was still one more surprise.



After the show, as everyone was exiting the theater through the doors that were near our seats, Chris wouldn't let us exit.  Instead we went to stand in the back of the theater and just watched everyone else leave.  I had no idea what to expect.  Once it cleared out, a woman came up to us, asked if we were Chris and Kati, and then proceeded to bring us backstage to give us a tour (my Uncle John has major connections in the theater world and made a call...again I was gobsmacked)! It was so cool to see the behind the scenes stuff and listen to her tell stories about the show.




We went out the stage door (disappointing many who were waiting for members of the cast) and walked back through Times Square.  Once we got back to our hotel shortly before midnight, I checked my Fitbit and we had walked 11 miles (25K+ steps) throughout the day.



This morning we woke up early because we had to get to the airport by 9am.  Before getting a Lyft to the airport we found an authentic bagel shop near our hotel (Liberty Bagels). I got a Santa bagel with the most amazing homemade vegetable cream cheese.  Chris enjoyed a very large bacon, egg and cheese bagel sandwich.

Our flight home was easy breezy and we were able to see the city as we flew home.



While we were busy walking all over NYC, G-ma and Pa had the girls.  Maya and G-ma didn't feel that great all weekend, so they got in lots of snuggles.



Today Boom took Callie to The Christmas Carol at the Guthrie for the second year in a row.  It is becoming a tradition!




We went to pick her up from Boom's house after picking Maya up from G-ma and Pa's house.  Maya still has a super awful cold and is pretty miserable.  Chris and I are happily exhausted, and this pictures just about sums up the Sunday evening feelings. HA!



I can't believe all that just happened and we took such an amazing trip in a short amount of time and he pulled off such a big surprise!  I'm so grateful to family back here for being there for the girls and taking such good care of them so we could fully enjoy our NYC experience.  I feel SO spoiled and grateful.

Have a great week!

A Picture Update

Happy Friday everybody!!! 

I don’t have too many pictures from this week...but here we go:

G-ma and Pa got new floors so the girls got to play around a big empty room! 

I got to go see Baby Mitchell last night! He is doing great and working on getting better at eating.

And then we have our silly elves.

I’ll leave you with a funny comparison of my elf “creativity” versus what certain much more creative people on the internet post of their elves:

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Luna Ray!!

Luna is 3 today! And we have now had her for 2 years!

She is the cutest LUNATIC we know!!

Timehop Tuesday: The Happy Birthday Auntie Mari Edition!

Happy birthday Auntie Mari!!! Apparently 12 years ago we journeyed down to Decorah to watch her play b-ball.

This most recent picture from A couple months ago is one of my faves. We hope you have an amazing day!! 

And then one more... Christmas trees!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday! It has been quite the weekend for us. Yesterday morning the girls, Boom and I took a “Cute Reindeer” clay class. It was so fun!

As you can see from the photo of the project in the lower left above...WE NAILED IT! 

Then later in the afternoon we went to a Lorie Line Christmas Concert!



During the second half of the show they asked all the kids to go and follow an elf for something special. Turns out, there is a tradition at these Christmas concerts of having the kids in the audience get up onstage, wear costumes and participate in the “12 Days of Christmas” with Lorie Line and the band.  It. Was. Amazing. 

Maya was a Turtle Dove and Callie was a French Hen (the top left picture has arrows pointing to them if you can't tell due to the amazing costumes). Chris and I couldn’t stop giggling from the audience. Click here for some video of the 12 Days of Christmas in action!

Yes, that was Callie saying “oui oui!”

Later we had some more Christmas fun at home, playing with Christmas decorations and listening to Christmas music.



This morning we went to church and then to get our Christmas tree. 

I also finally did our seasonal pots outside.



And then...Maya, who had just had some sniffles and a runny nose, was all of a sudden hit with a 101.5 fever.  So Callie went to hang out with G-ma and Pa and we snuggled on the couch watching “Home Alone.”

Chris and I were supposed to go visit Dan, Hanna and Baby Mitchell, but had to cancel due to the household sickness and germs that we don’t want to spread. I was very bummed, but we want to keep the germs away so he can stay healthy and strong! 

After G-Ma and Pa brought Cal back, Maya rallied a bit and we decorated the tree. 

Cookoo and Looney had some fun this weekend too!

Speaking of our elves...we have CooKoo and Looney CAUGHT ON VIDEO  “flying” out of our house on Friday night. Callie gave us strict instructions to set up the iPad video camera before we went to bed so we could catch them going to the North Pole (or not...she is highly suspicious and I am having a hard time giving up the magic). Hence, Chris and I spent way too much time and so many takes to get this 45 seconds of video (the action starts at about the 20 second mark)...Thank goodness for dental floss (tied to the door) and a semi-patient husband. We had to delete our outtakes so they would not be discovered on the iPad, and that was a good thing because it was the first thing Callie checked on Saturday morning.  She had questions (i.e. how come it is only 45 seconds long?  Why does it stop when they are gone?), but was VERY excited to show it to both of us, and then again to Boom an G-ma later this weekend, so I don't think we are suspects.

I know that she is almost 10 and that I should probably just give it up and fess up.  But this time of year is SO magical and it still seems like she really WANTS to believe in all the magic, so we are just doing what we can to keep the wonder and joy alive.

Have a great week!

A Picture Update

Happy Friday!

We had a pretty regular week. There was a book fair at the girls’ school and I gave them each money. Maya decided to buy a fuzzy kitty notebook and gummy bear marker instead of an actual book. Callie is an excellent photo-bomber but at least purchased something she can actually read (and an invisible ink spy pen).

Maya loves Luna and Pa came to hang out with her class and the end of the day yesterday. Her teacher sent me the picture of them playing Four Corners!


Last night I made Crispy Brussel Sprouts and Risotto (via Blue Apron, not of my own planning) and I thought that maybe if I had Maya help me she may actually eat it. Well... she tried it but then spit it out and cried. I, however, loved it.

This morning we had family breakfast at school and Pa joined us. Then I got to ride downtown with Chris because I had a staff retreat at a building a few blocks away from his. But it didn’t start til 10 so I got to sit by myself at a fancy downtown coffee shop for a bit and just relax. It was lovely.

Tonight the girls decided to pass notes back and forth in a creative fashion. They are always thinking and inventing!

Last but not least, our ELVES ARE BACK! They arrived last Sunday and have been up to no good ever since.

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

First up, me and Maya and the front teeth gap:

And Callie’s cute face: