So after a day of being famous, Brian and I decided to eat out for a night on the town.

Because we're super classy like that.

We went to BJ's Brewhouse for dinner where we both enjoyed a delicious enough pizza (mine hand tossed and covered in Basil and Brian's deep dish and way too spicy for my taste). We finished the meal with one of those stupidly good pizookie things. It's like a not quite completely cooked, still perfectly gooey in the middle cookie in a pizza pan topped with ice cream. It's pretty much heaven.

Then we took our 1-hit-wonder-famous-selves to see The Heat with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. I laughed so hard that there was a point when Brian leaned over to me and told me that I was laughing really loud. There is a lot of profanity. But there is also a lot of slapstick comedy that was hilarious. Needless to say, the whole time we were in the theater, I was 100% entertained.

So that's how famous people roll.

And in case you missed it, we were on ABC's The Chew yesterday, which makes us famous for about 1 second.

It was a ton of fun, and my husband looked super hot. (Because he is super hot.) And he made a super hot steak. See what I did there?

So as promised, here is his delicious, and award winning, Spicy Grilled Ribeye and Rosemary Potatoes.

ingredients2 Rib Eye (bone in; 1 1/4-inch thick)
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne
2 Garlic cloves
Salt
Pepper

instructionsFor the Steaks: Preheat outdoor grill. In a rimmed baking dish, whisk together olive oil, cayenne, garlic, salt and pepper.  Place steaks in marinade and flip to coat. Allow to sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.  Before grilling scrape off any large bits of garlic.

instructionsCook 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare.  Right before removing steaks from grill top with a pad of salted butter. 

ingredients5 Red Skinned Potatoes (1-inch cubes)
4 tablespoons Butter
Salt 
Pepper 
2 teaspoons Rosemary (chopped)

instructionsFor the Red Skinned Potatoes: Place potatoes in foil packet with a few pads of butter and season with salt and pepper. Seal and place on the grill.  Grill for 15 to 20 minutes. Halfway through cooking open packet and add the rosemary. Seal and continue to cook.  Once done, remove and serve along side steak.


So there you have it! Delicious steak and potatoes. What could be better?! 

You can find a printable version of the recipe by clicking here. 

You can see the full episode of the show we were on at thechew.com. 

Enjoy! 

I was on TV! and This is my Grilled Orange Chicken

Well that was super fun.

I'm not going to be critical, other than to say, it is not fair to have to be on national TV (probably the only time in my life) 6 months after having a baby. Not fair at all.

I kept looking at the screen thinking, "that's not what I look like." I'm living in a state of denial. But I won't be all negative. I was happy with it overall.

They edited out my cringe moment and decided to show a picture of my sweet family instead of me raising my arms in the air in post baby victory. Thank the Lord for that.

And I'm still not a fan of my hair color. I wish it would have been dark, but oh well.

It was such a fun day that I will only look back on it in fondness.

In the meantime, I'm going to lose 15 pounds and then call them back and ask them if they'd like to have me back so they can see what I normally look like. Ha! Probably not.

But I did just finish dragging the treadmill from the sunroom (full windows and no air conditioning) into the master bedroom (where a TV and air conditioner live together in harmony). That might help. I can't even walk across the sunroom without breaking into an instant sweat let alone run on the treadmill in there.

Plus the wifi signal in there is horrible which means that I can't watch Downton Abbey on my ipad while I'm running in the sunroom. (Not that I have recently run in there, but figuratively speaking, if I had tried to, my ipad would not have streamed my important TV shows.)

I know you don't care, but I just typed it, so there's no use in erasing it.

But I did think that since we were on TV today cooking, that maybe I should start posting of the delicious food we eat around here! Brian is really the cook in the house most days, and he's dang good at it too.

I used to post recipes a lot, and haven't in a long time. What better to start with than the delicious (even though it lost) Grilled Orange Chicken I made on the show?!

Here we go:

ingredients for the marinade1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Orange (zest and juice)
2 Garlic cloves (smashed)
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Salt and freshly cracked Black Pepper to taste
4 Chicken Breasts (boneless; skinless)

instructions

For the Chicken: Whisk together the marinade ingredients (listed above) in a rimmed baking dish. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Allow chicken to marinate for up to 30 mins at room temperature.

instructionsMeanwhile, preheat the grill to medium-high. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on the grill. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes on the first side then flip and continue to cook for 3 to 4 more minutes. Chicken should register 160 degrees on a instant read thermometer when cooked. Remove from grill and serve with Orange and Romaine Salad

ingredients for the salad2 Oranges (segmented; reserve 1/2 orange to juice)
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon fresh Oregano leaves 
2 tablespoons Honey 
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper 
Salt and Pepper to taste 
1 Head of Romaine (chopped)
1/2 Red Onion (slivered)

instructionsFor the Salad: In a large bowl, whisk together the orange juice, Dijon, oregano, honey and olive oil. Season with cayenne, salt and pepper. Toss together the remaining ingredients with the dressing.

Helpful Tips:1. Depending on how much heat you like, use as much or as little cayenne pepper in the marinade and the salad dressing.
2. Don’t marinate chicken for more than 30 minutes or the citrus from the orange juice will start to break it down.
3. Try using pineapple in the salad instead of orange.

And that's it folks! That's how you make my Grilled Orange Chicken Salad! Enjoy! 

You can find a printer friendly version of this recipe by clicking here. You can also check out the episode online by going to thechew.com. 

Happy eating! 

I'm Going to be on TV!

That's right folks! Tomorrow is the big day, and I cannot wait! 

Brian and I filmed an episode of ABC's The Chew while we were in New York back in May, and tomorrow is the air date! 

I'm so excited. I know that I am going to be super critical of the way I look since I'm still hanging on to unwanted baby weight....grace....gotta give myself some grace and just enjoy it. 

I will warn you. There is a moment that I'm sure I will cringe at when I see it on TV. On the 1st of my 2 segments (yep, we're like the whole show!), Daphne mentioned that I just had a baby 7 months ago and said something to the effect of how great I looked, and I did this horrible, arms in the air, I am a champion move that I instantly regretted. 

So don't judge me when you see that. 

And also I would like to mention that I do not approve of my hair color on the show. I wanted to get just some blonde highlights before we left for New York, and I went to a new hair girl (bad idea) and the color does not look good or natural or highlighted. 

So just so you know...I don't approve of that hair. 

Other than those things....I can't wait. It should be fun. 

And I'm wearing Grace Adele jewelry! 

As a side note, I tried to wear the necklace that matches the ring I have on, but it kept hitting my mic. So only the ring. 

It should be fun! 

Tune in tomorrow on ABC. Check your local listings but it comes on here at noon CST. 

Yeah for being on TV! 

Birds of the Air

We have watched them coming back and forth, bringing food for their 5 babies. The nest is right outside our dining room window snuggled into the branches of our knockout roses. They are perfectly protected from any predators there.

Cardinals. They are beautiful, and it only took a few days for the tiny babies that looked so frail and fragile to start to venture out of the nest.

I was shocked to find them hopping around the roses this morning. Little balls of fur happy to be out of the nest. 

But there was 1 not strong enough to venture out yet. He didn't have nearly as many feathers as the other 4. The runt remained behind in the nest while the other ventured out. 

Brian warned us all that they might not all survive. Five babies makes for a lot of tiny beaks to feed. 

But we were hopeful. Maybe he would just need a little more time. But within a couple hours, the other 4 were gone. I watched the daddy flit off with the last one. 

And one tiny baby bird was left in the nest. 

I understood that the momma and daddy had to go with the other 4. They were going whether or not the last was coming or not. 

So we watched him throughout the day. Hoping he would come around or that the mom or dad would come back to feed him. 

Around 3:00, Brian decided to give him some water in a dropper. He got so excited and started flitting his little wings and chirping.

That was all it took. We aptly named him Mo (as in mohawk) since his feathers are coming in in sort of a mohawk pattern at the moment, and Brian started digging in the garden for worms. 

As a side note, there is something sexy about your man taking care of a baby bird. 

He mushed up a few worms, added some water, and put that concoction in the dropper to give to Mo. And Mo was thrilled. 

When I returned home from my errands this afternoon, he informed me that he had completed 3 successful feedings. Mo was gaining back his strength. 

And amazingly, that's all it took. 

Within a couple hours, we watched the daddy cardinal come back and feed that baby. 

And then momma came back and fed that baby. 

And they continued to come back and feed him. 

I don't think they wanted to leave him. They had to to take care of the other 4. We were able to get Mo through the afternoon until mom and dad could come back and tend to him. 

And they did. 

And as I prepared for my online bible study tonight, I was reminded of the verse about how the Lord provides for the birds. I couldn't remember where it was, and I was running late, so I just forgot about the story and the scripture all together. 

As we got into our discussion, we came to a question that talked about how we often feel and who the Bible says we are in Christ and the gap that often exists between the two.  

As we were sharing, one of the girls said that she often feels worthless and insignificant. I started to remind her that the Lord's word says that we are not worthless and insignificant but valuable and special. I looked down to reference the scripture that was in our study guide reminding us that we are valuable, and there was the verse, Matthew 6:26. I had no clue what that verse was, but I felt that we should look it up. 

So I turned to Matthew and started to read the words that Christ spoke:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 

And I knew that the Lord was working to show this girl exactly how valuable she was. This was the verse that had come to my mind as we set down to meet. I didn't know where it was, but I didn't need to. He clearly wanted her to hear those words, and hear the story of how we stepped in for a moment to care for a bird. A bird that He cares for and provides for even when its mom and dad can't.

And He loves us so much more than that. We are so valuable to the Lord. He loves us so much. And while we may at times see ourselves as worthless, He reminds us everyday as the birds fly above us, that He loves us more than them. He finds so much value in us that He will always provide for us just as He provides for the birds of the air.

Thank you Father for your simple and beautiful reminders that we are so incredibly valuable to you. We love you and trust you and submit our lives to you. In Christ's name....Amen.

Being chiseled and changed tonight

Tonight is one of those nights that I don't know what to write or how to write it or what I want to say exactly.

But my commitment to write everyday for a year forces me to stare at that stupid blinking cursor until I can come up with something halfway decent to write.

 And here we are....still thinking.

I guess I can write about what the Lord is stirring in my soul at the moment. In the midst of the craziness of life, I constantly feel the Lord luring me to the next thing.....the next task He has for our family.

I am, finally, for the 1st time since baby #3 made his grand entrance, starting to feel somewhat normal about daily life. Apparently, I'm slow to recuperate. It's been 8 months people.

But that means that I'm in God's word again, and whenever that happens, I find clarity over so many things that I have looked at as issues in my life. Everything starts to become clearer. And I can begin to see how He is preparing a new and exciting way for us.

I'm pretty sure that I have shared with you that I would like to have 4 kiddos. I just think the world is made for evens so we're gonna go with that.

But I do not want to be pregnant again.

Of course, if that were to happen, I would gladly and happily and graciously carry another child. But I feel like we have been called into foster care, and that our story there is not over yet.

Now foster care is obviously foster care and not adoption. But foster care often turns into adoption. Sometimes.

Let's not get too far on that rabbit trail, lest I'll start crying. We don't need that tonight.

But I know that our time spent with our foster babies and everything that has happened since they've left our care was not just for that instance.

I feel like our foster care experience has left a holy ache in my soul. There are so many things about it that are not alright with me.

But being a foster parent is most definitely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. And honestly I don't know the end of our story with the babies we had. I hope that part of our foster care story is not over, but it could be.

I was incredibly encouraged this weekend by a phrase my pastor used in one of the most powerful and moving teachings I've heard in a long time. It will continue to be live online thru Friday, June 28th. See if you can check it out here.

Anyways, Pastor Craig said that when we are promoted by the Spirit to do something, we will feel certain uncertainty.

Amen. Because I have never felt more certain and uncertain in the same breath about anything in my life than foster care.

Certain uncertainty.

He also talked about making history by putting Christ at the center of all we do. The question becomes, "Am I courageous enough to live like its not about me but all about Him?"

We can only make history through Him, centered around Him, when it's all about Him.

So I took that information and started thinking about our foster care journey. And I realized in an instant what I did wrong.

It was all about me. You can go back and read it. I was hurting. I was confused. I was tired. I didn't understand. I didn't love enough. I loved too much. It was all about me.

Yes, we absolutely did it because I felt like He called us to. No doubt about that. I did it for Him, but once we were in the midst of it, it became all about me.

Yes, I cried out to Him; Yes, I sought His word; Yes, I wanted it to be for His glory.....but I honestly don't know if it was.

I know He used the experience to humble me and to help me trust Him more. But I don't know that I lived like it was all about Him. I think I lived like it was all about me.

And there He goes again.

What started as a blinking cursor turned into a chiseling moment.

Thank you Father for bringing me clarity. Thank you for humbling me. Thank you for continuing to move me. I want to live like it's all about you. I want to be used by you to bring Glory to your kingdom. Continue to chisel away my hard places. Continue to take away everything that doesn't look like who I really am. I love you and am continuing to trust in your perfect plan.

Summer at the Dalke house

So many things are happening around here.

First of all, I want to thank you for all your Disney tips. So many of you chimed in over facebook. As we plan our trip, I'll compile all your tips and make one big Disney Planning post.

I was already nervous about going to Disney World in the heat of July, and you all confirmed by nervousness about going in July. We've concluded that it's just too hot. So, we've already called Southwest and changed our flights, and now we're going at the beginning of December. Hooray!

I feel so much better about going then, and now I have more time to plan which makes me super happy.

But now, I'm in search of a fun summer family trip for the end of July. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

On another note, I'm in the middle of re-organizing my laundry room. It has never functioned for me since we moved in, and I'm in overhaul mode. I'm already happier thanks to a clothes rack. Oh, the simple things.

In addition to trip planning and re-organizing, my assistant is having a baby (hopefully any day!) and I told her she couldn't work anymore. She also just moved into a brand new house 3 days ago. Talk about having a lot on your plate.

But that means that I'm doing all the work she used to do in addition to all the stuff I usually do. So I wrote out some cards today and made samples and all sorts of fun stuff.

I forgot how much work all that stuff is! But it's fun stuff too.

Plus it's summer (in case you needed to be reminded). My kiddos are in swim lessons and loving it. We are doing fun family stuff. Tomorrow we're going to see Monsters University. I can't wait.

We've been enjoying the outdoors this summer. Lots of time on the trampoline, riding bikes, and playing in the sprinklers. 

I really do love summer. 

I love the busy. I love the mess. I love not getting anything done because we're playing or reading or going to the movies. There's really nothing better. Happy summer to you! 

New York City Day 3 Recap

So eventually I will have shared my entire New York City trip with you.....one day at a time.

And thank you for all your Disney tips and tricks. I'm compiling them all to make one giant Disney planning post.

But today, I'm catching up on NYC before I forget everything we did.

Our 3rd full day in the Big Apple was Thursday, May 16th. Scentsy had arranged for us to go on an activity of our choice. Most of the options were tours or general sightseeing activities. We choose an East Side Tasting Tour.

Brian woke up 1st and headed out to the streets of NYC in search of dry ice. Since I was still nursing while we were gone, I was pumping every few hours and storing the milk in the tiny freezer in our mini fridge.

We were running out of space, and planned on shipping back what I had produced up to that point. So Brian went in search of dry ice.

We went all over town looking and finally found an ice company that sold dry ice. From there, he headed to the post office to find out what it would cost to have the milk overnighted. Turns out it was going to cost over $100.

So he headed back to our hotel and we used to dry ice to turn our mini fridge into a giant freezer. It worked out great.

By that time, we had already missed our tasting tour departure, which was secretly fine by both of us.

We decided that it was another good day for exploring the city, so off we went.

We decided to head to Soho 1st. We stopped in at a little hole in the wall pizza place called East Side Brick Oven Pizza on the way to the subway.

Once we got off the subway in Soho, we headed straight to Washington Square Park. I loved it there. It was crammed full of college kids and nannies walking babies.

Oh and they were filming a promo for The Apprentice. Actually there were a bunch of people rehearsing and waiting around for Donald Trump to show up. Apparently they had waited all day the day before too, and he never showed up.

We sat around and waited for while thinking that Trump might so up soon, but no such luck. But this was our view, so it was nice.















There was also a group college kids chalking the concrete throughout the square with the message of Christ's love for us.

When we left Washington Square Park, we took off walking without really knowing where we were going. 

It feels like we walked forever that day. And I loved every bit of Soho and all the shopping.

We eventually ended up in Little Italy for a late afternoon snack at Luna Restorante. 

Pizza again. And it was delicious. 

And we had to try the tiramisu (they brought it to our table for FREE!)

Shortly after our late afternoon snack and a quick walk through Chinatown (which I hated!), we headed back to the Waldorf to shower and get ready for our 1st show on Broadway....Wicked! 

We went to dinner with a group of our friends on the way to the show at Pasta Lovers Trattori. Another delicious and Italian meal. 

After dinner, we quickly ran over to the Gershwin Theater where we had 2nd row seats for arguably the best show on Broadway. 

Brian loved the show; I loved the show; and all ended well on day 3 of our trip.

Your Disney Secrets

Sort of by accident, we are taking our kids to Disney this summer. But SHHHH! Don't tell them! They don't know yet, and we want to keep it that way.

But as we start to plan out the details, I'm getting super excited....maybe over excited. I love, love, love Disney World.

And we were able to go 2 summers ago for FREE thanks to Scentsy (oh, how I love my Scentsy family!) Addy was 4 and Luke was 2, and I always said that I would never pay to take them at those ages, but it was the most fun we have had as a family, and I'm so glad we went.

Addy was into princesses and Luke LOVE Mickey Mouse. It really was magical.

When we went I did not plan or book anything until we got there. And I know, that's crazy because people book out things 90 days in advance. That sort of stresses me out.

But I am starting to plan. I want to have a little more planned out and booked before we go this time. I found the cutest handmade princess necklaces that I'm going to surprise Addison with before we go. I love them so much that I think I may need one too. You can see them and other cute handmade stuff at www.cremedelagems.com/

So I'm wondering what you're Disney secrets are. What are the must dos? Where are your favorite places to eat?

I'd love to hear your Disney tips....thanks for sharing.

Amazon Knows Me Too Well

Somewhere in the near and recent past, I became obsessed with online shopping.

In all reality, I'm addicted to shopping on Amazon. I mean, they know what I want to buy before I even know what I want to buy!

Is this only me? Am I the only one with a problem?

I mean I buy everything on Amazon. I just bought shampoo and conditioner, and it shipped for free and will be here Tuesday. Not too bad.  

Amazon is also where I discovered that there is a small group study titled God is in the Laundry Room. Seriously.

And where I learned that there are quite a lot of people looking to take your mind off the laundry that needs to be done by having you apply a cute vinyl saying on your laundry room wall.

(I was searching for Laundry Room Storage when I discovered all this).

Oh and my newest favorite discovery about Amazon?.....as an Amazon Prime member ($75 a year), not only do you get free shipping on all Prime items (which is a lot of them!) but you also get to watch live streaming video and checkout Kindle books for free!

I have discovered Downton Abbey and I'm watching it for free people.

How will I ever catch up? I said I was only going to watch when I was running on the treadmill, but I busted another vein in my leg today, so no running for a while for me : (. Guess I'll just have to watch Downton Abbey in bed.

Here's the other thing about Amazon.

I can buy books in less than 1 second and immediately start reading them. Plus, Amazon knows I love washi tape and watches.

It knows what kind of camera I have and which lenses I wish I had. It knows that I have a baby and a book obsession.

And now it knows that I am re-doing my laundry room.

I just bought a storage bench and 20 succulents on Amazon.

I told you I have a problem.

Amazon even knows about my pen obsession.

When will the madness stop?

That's all really. I was just curious if I was the only one with a strange obsession for online shopping. What are your favorite places to shop online?

Lessons from Gideon week 1

I am currently working through Priscilla Shirer's new bible study titled Gideon Your Weakness. God's Strength. 

And I am loving it! I am doing it with a group of girls online via facebook and vokle, and it's been a lot of fun so far.

I have been so moved by the things I'm learning that I thought I would share.

So here are my Lessons from Gideon {Week 1}. They are all just short statements that I jotted down. They don't go together as a whole, but each individual statement is one I want to remember.

When God calls us into a risky place where we don't have the skills, ability or resources to do it on our own, it's because He's setting us up to see His hand and His work. He knows that if you see His work, you'll have a passion for Him that cannot be put out.

God's plan is always bigger than what we can see of it. 

With God's grace, you can always start fresh and build a new legacy for Christ.

We are an important part of God's redemption plan because we are a part of His Church. 

God has deliberately positioned each of us to be His representative, beckoning our ailing culture to Him one person at a time. 

The Lord still desires to extend mercy and redeem His people.

We have been commissioned to rise up in our own way to serve His purposes in our generation. He has a unique calling for each of us.

God will empower us to complete His work, multiplying our simple efforts to achieve maximum results.

We cannot function with any sort of effectiveness apart from the Spirit of the Lord.

Victory requires constant effort to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 

{2 Cor. 10:5}

We can lead in spite of ourselves with help from the Holy Spirit.

I have the ability to intentionally and strategically change the future of my family and what they believe to be true about God.

A Beautiful Mess

I used to think my house had to look perfect. Even when I had my first baby, I still spent my entire Saturdays cleaning and scrubbing and vacuuming relentlessly.

Tonight I sit in the middle of a dirty kitchen (that I don't plan to clean tonight), with laundry overflowing from my dysfunctional laundry room, and I'm pretty sure there is a plate on the coffee table full of chocolate dipped marshmallows and other paraphernalia.

Let's just say that my need for everything to be in it's place all the time has definitely diminished after 3 kids and 2 foster babies. Add in hosting bible study (12+ women and their children) every week, team get togethers, superstar director lunches, board of director committee meetings, and such, and you can say that something had to give for all that to happen.

Brian and I both took spiritual gifts tests when Brian was on staff at church, and we both have hospitality as one of our spiritual gifts. I have learned so much in the past few years about what hospitality really means.

I know for sure that it does not mean your home has to be clean all the time. It does not mean that you have to have everything decorated to perfection and no clean or dirty laundry strewn about. It does not mean that you have to shove things in closets before people come over.

Hospitality means that you're willing to open your doors, willing to share life with others....the good, the bad, and the sometimes dirty. Hospitality means being open and authentic about what life sometimes looks like when little people are a part of it.

My house is not always clean when I go to bed. There are days that the toys don't get picked up and the laundry doesn't get done.

I'm not advocating uncleanliness or messy living. I'm just saying give yourself a break once in a while.

If you're too stressed out to host because you think your house is too messy or not big enough or not decorated right, you miss out on the opportunity to do life with other people.

I still like pretty things, and I love the way my house looks when my living room is clean and the laundry is caught up. And you probably know that I'm all about systems and a plan, and all that is good and well, and I always think we can get better at the things we do, including being a mom, a homemaker, a hostess, etc. But it's not 1950 and no one is coming over to play bridge to see how you set the table.

So I guess I'm just saying that the Lord has really showed me that if I want to do life with people via bible study and women's groups and such, I have to be okay with what life looks like even when it's a little messy.

It's a process for me, but I will say that today we hosted 7 adults and 5 kids in addition to our own, and when they got here, our king sized feather bed topper was lying in the living room with giant pee stains on it (because it got peed on yesterday and I'm debating whether I should try to febreze it out or call it done for good), there was a pile of clean laundry sitting on a table in our kitchen (right next to the food we were serving) with a pair of Addy's pink polka dot panties topping the pile, and boxes of unprocessed Scentsy and Grace Adele orders in my entry way.

And you know what? It was all okay. They all still love us because, such is life.

When you have littles, life is not clean and tidy and beautiful all the time, and that's perfectly okay.

Loving my beautiful mess more and more everyday and doing things because I love to do them, not because I'm trying to impress others.

New York City Day 2 Recap

Back in May, Brian and I went on an all expenses paid trip to the Big Apple! And we had a glorious time.

Here is what we got ourselves wrapped up in on Wednesday of our trip.

We started the day by heading to Central Park.

We stopped in to NikeTown to pick up a backpack. The store was 4 stories high! It was awesome.

And then we made our way over to the famous toy store right outside Central Park, FAO Schwarz. I seriously could have stayed in there for hours. I just kept thinking about how much my kids would have LOVED it! 

And it is beautiful....

It is very strange that aside from a couple other parks on the island, it is the only place with trees and grass. It's so strange to me. I guess being an Oklahoma girl (where the grass and trees are abundant) it was a little bit of culture shock for me.

You know how I love the trees.

We ran into this on a park bench and my heart melted. I had to snap a shot.

We slowly made our way thru Central Park to the MET.

I loved the MET. I could hang out in New York just to spend days on end wandering through museums looking at art. Inside we saw things like this....

And this....

And the rest of these that I liked.....

Yep....that's Monet.

And Van Gogh

This one might have been my favorite....titled Marseilles by Paul Signac

Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay at the museum as long as we had hoped....we hardly saw any of it. It's huge! And don't ask why we had to leave early....it's a sore spot. I ended up crying.

But since you asked, they had absolutely no place where I could pump. No place. The bathroom had 3 stalls (and no electricity) and they had no private places at all. It was quite a fiasco, and by the time we left I was in tears.

We ended up grabbing a cab and heading back to the hotel to take care of our milk situation.

And then we headed out to grab a late lunch. We ended up at a delicious little place called, Angelo's Pizza where I ordered some delicious Vodka Cream Pasta. It was amazing.

Pretty soon after our very late lunch, we boarded a bus to head to the docks with our Scentsy family where boarded a boat on the Hudson River for a wonderful dinner cruise. 

Not only was our cruise on the Hudson wonderful, but there was a lovely surprise when we circled back around to the Statue of Liberty....Fireworks! The guys on the boat said that there are only fireworks a couple times of year around the Statue of Liberty like this. It was amazing.

And that was day 2 in NYC. Loved it.