Sleepy Hollow

For as many years as I can remember, Mike has been talking about visiting Sleepy Hollow in the weeks leading up to Halloween.  Yes, Sleepy Hollow is a real place, not just an imaginary town that was the setting for the story of the Headless Horseman.  And it's actually quite beautiful.  From Manhattan, Sleepy Hollow is a straight shot up the West Side and the Hudson River, and after 40 minutes admiring the East Coast foliage of late October, we were deep in the heart of one of America's spookiest towns.

With just a few days until Halloween, the festivities in Sleepy Hollow were at their peak.  Believe it or not, MOST of the events were sold out.  If you didn't purchase tickets 3-4 weeks in advance, you're kind of out of luck!  The calendar of events was endless, and included tours of Horseman's Hollow, a midnight lantern tour of the Sleepy Hollow Graveyard, the jack-o-lantern blaze, a haunted hayride through the cemetery, the Washington Irving story telling, and even a walking ghost tour that goes through Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown that tells the tales of mystical and unexplained incidents of the area's eerie and legendary past! 

Horseman's Hollow

We knew that we only had one day to soak up as much of Sleepy Hollow as possible, and I'll admit, we were among those who didn't purchase tickets well enough in advance.  But that didn't prevent us from getting the full experience.  Everything was within walking distance from the "downtown" of Sleepy Hollow.  So after dropping off the car for the day, we headed first to Horseman's Hollow.  While the tours were sold out for the day, we still got a great view of the terrifying little house where the legend was based.  At night, this turns into the mother of all haunted houses, but people were literally arriving by the bus-load to see the city's most famous attraction.  It's definitely something I'll want to come back to see.

The grave of Washington
Irving

Just a few yards down the road from Horseman's Hollow was, of course, the Sleepy Hollow cemetery....one of THE most haunted places in the world!  It was straight out of a Tim Burton film.  The fall foliage, and the dead leaves crunching beneath our feet and the sunless sky, made the graveyard a beautiful setting for any haunted Halloween afternoon.  It was almost as if you could feel the spirits of the Van Tassel family!  We decided to forego the 2 hour lantern tour at dark, but navigated through the grounds on our own.  The cemetery was massive and spanned over acres and acres for as far as you could see.  Started in the mid-1600s, there were headstone that were hardly legible from centuries of weathering.

Outside of the graves of the Van Tassel family and the headstone of Washington Irving, there were Revolutionary war heroes buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery!  The haunted past was only a small part of the American history that was such a huge part of this old New England town.

There was no shortage of Halloween-y things to do for the remainder of our day in Sleepy Hollow, and everywhere you turn are images of the Headless Horseman that makes the town famous.  Statues and sculptures are erected all over the town.  The Headless Horseman is on every street sign, t-shirt, fire engine and police car you see.  Even the fire trucks were not, red, but orange and black.  It is a town that truly embraces everything about Halloween and the legend that made the town such a tourist attraction and a must-see for anyone who wants to truly get in the spirit.

When the skies turned dark, and the moon came out, it was time for the main event!  People from around the country came to Sleepy Hollow for the haunted hayride. We met people from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas...all in town to make the most of the season.  We got in line for the hayride very early, but in no time, the line for the Hayride extended the entire block and then wrapped AROUND!  We enjoyed each other and a few cocktails while we waited for the hayrides to open up to everyone, but it was quite a wait!

Hayride time!

 Where else would be the perfect setting for a hayride through Sleepy Hollow, but the graveyard?!  We rode through the cemetery and crossed old creaky bridges and arrived at the top of a hill...the terrorizing ensued.  After 15 minutes of screaming, the tour ended with none other than the headless horseman himself...perched upon a feisty black stallion!  SO HAUNTED and SO FESTIVE!

Post hayride, we were back in the city in a quick 40 minutes with a few souvenirs and of course, a pumpkin!  With such crazy lives and a massive amount of travel, we often feel like holidays can "sneak up on us".  After taking a day trip to the town that IS Halloween, we have fully embraced the season.   I can't wait to return to Sleepy Hollow for more spooky adventures with our friends and family.  Being that festive will just never get old!  Have a happy and safe Halloween everyone!!! - Love the Mobleys

10 Years Already????

I've been spending the past 6 years completely transforming into full adult mode, with adult problems, and adult worries, and adult obligations.  When should we buy a house?  Am I contributing enough to my 401K?  When will we start a family?  Where do we want to raise our children? But just 10 years ago, it wasn't that complicated.  10 years ago, my biggest worries were finding a dress for prom, getting my homework done, and of course...Beating Grapevine!

Despite spending most of my childhood in the OC (that really was a good show...), I was privileged enough to graduate from THE Southlake Carroll High School - home of the 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, (and so on) 5A football State Champions.  My dad's job at American Airlines transferred us to Southlake my sophomore year in high school, which SHOULD have been traumatizing to any 15 year old, but it was an experience that changed my life for the good, and I couldn't be more proud to be a Dragon.

Although my parents don't live in Southlake anymore, they are about 25 minutes away, just close enough to get home for the reunion and have a little family time all in the same weekend.  Within 5 minutes of being in Dallas, I fell immediately into my high school antics.  My mom dropped me off at a friends house for lunch, I took pictures with my bestie on the stairs  for "homecoming", and I ate sugary cereal for breakfast (mom stocked the house with Count Chocula & Franken-Berry, how could I resist?).

Outside of the main party for the evening, there was a few other little events going on all weekend long.  

I couldn't make it out to the homecoming football game, but one of the highlights was an Emerald Belle reunion brunch!  Being on the dance team was one of my greatest accomplishments of high school, and I spent the majority of my high school career with these girls.  We went to camps together, we went to overnight competitions together, we practiced 3 hours a day together (starting at 5:30a), we studied together...so saying that we were close would be an extreme understatement.  We were our own little family, of all ladies.  I only wish that all of the girls could have been able to make it out, but it was fun catching up with all my beautiful Belles, and watching our "tapes" (yes, the dance team watched tapes on Monday morning also).

And what high school party wouldn't be complete with the obligatory awkward posed pictures?  Just like 10 years prior, Ashley and I met at her parents house to have a photo shoot that was reminiscent of how we were as seniors in high school....only this time I didn't do my best friend's hair and makeup...and we have way better clothes...and much cuter dates!  We posed with Ashley's REAL mums from her junior and senior years, and I remember thinking that, at the time, these were very impressive sized mums.  But then I saw pictures of the class of 2013's mums (see picture to the right)....and WOW...just WOW.  I don't even know how these people stand UP! And oh my...the expense of it all!  I guess it is as they always say though....everything is bigger in Texas!

Upon arrival at the evening reunion, I felt like I had ADD.  I was hopping all around the room from person to person hugging and squeezing people I hadn't seen in literally 10 years.  Despite the tornado warnings in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, there was a pretty good turnout and I was not disappointed by some of the people I was able to re-connect with.  The evening was 4 hours of asking the same questions that just didn't get old.  "Where are you living?". "What are you doing for work?". "Who's watching the baby(ies) (crazy that some of my HS friends are PARENTS!)?", and "Do you still keep in touch with X?".  There was quite a bit of "photo-sharing"...we were more eager to show pictures of our bulldog, but that's just what you do when you don't have babies yet! 

I was on the fence about whether or not I would fly out to Dallas for this quick weekend after the year we've had in travel expenses.   Regardless of the reunion weekend though, I couldn't wait for another opportunity to see my family, and of course my high school best friend.  It warms my heart that after over 10 years, we are still great friends who have kept in touch and were even in eachother's weddings.  I've said this before in an earlier post, but I feel like it's more rare to have friendships that transcend decades.  It must also be said that my husband was an absolute trooper (as was Mr. Chain!).  Reunion's are NOT easy things to do as a spouse, so thank you to our wonderful husbands for letting us gallivant around the room like 18 years-olds again. 

One thing that was very common in all the conversations I had with people was that they had either been to New York for business quite frequently, or that they visited NY occasionally.  If anything comes out of my 10-year reunion, I just hope that people will drop a line before coming to the Big Apple.  We're so lucky to live in one of our countries greatest cities, and the center for so much business travel.  Anytime you're in town, the Mobleys would be happy to see you!  

Go Dragons!

The Griswalds head to Jerryworld!

 If you didn't already know, my family takes a yearly trip together to go to a Bears game.  This year was special though, because the Bears had an away game at Jerryworld!  Instead of the trek out to Chicago, we spent a weekend in Dallas.  Neither Mike nor myself had been to the new Cowboy's stadium and had heard rave reviews about how beautiful it is.  Even though it was less than a week since we returned from Italy, we didn't think twice about packing up for another weekend out of the city, especially when it's all in the name of the Chicago Bears.
Not only was this Bears game different because it was in Dallas, but it was also a must-see game because it was Monday Night Football!  And I know this is a little weird, but it was also the first time that everyone sat together!  In the past, we have all been split up or tried to get tickets just a few rows apart, because it's not the easiest thing to get 5 or 6 tickets together!  But this time, it was all of us, all together, all in a row.

I mentioned it earlier this season when we went to the USC v. Syracuse football game, but my pops could own a business preparing for tailgates.  No detail was spared.  We had the sandwiches (he made sure to have enough for post-game munchies), we had the beverages, we had ample seating, we had Chicago Bears bar-ware, and we had the decorations.  They even brought our Chicago Bears garden gnome (he suffered a horrific tragedy that we don't like to talkabot....but the gnome sacrificed his head for a Bear's W, so at least his death was for the greater good of the team).   If you can't tell by the pictures, we were among the first people to the stadium to make sure that there was enough time to tailgate before heading into the house that Jerry built.


Now I'm not a Cowboy's fan, and I've been to some pretty impressive sports stadiums & ballparks (including the opening day at Metlife Stadium for a Bon Jovi concert, which was epic), but Cowboy's stadium is quite a sight.  It's the most impressive sporting venue I have visited in my 28 years of life.  I'm not even sure if I could ever identify a close second!  Everything I had heard about the stadium and the worlds largest high definition screen had exceeded my expectations.  There literally isn't a bad seat in the entire house.  Regardless of whether or not you are a Cowboys fan, it's a place that can make any sports fan awestruck.  In a state where football is like a religion, this stadium was like a shrine and reminiscent to what some people would say resembles what heaven must look like to a Cowboys fan.

DA Kids!

I wont go into the gory details about how Tony Romo through a record tying 5 interceptions, or how the Bears Defense scored 40 points in fantasy, or how the Monsters of the Midway annihilated the Cowboys in their own home, but I will say that it was a delight to see the Bears bring home a W at an away stadium.  I didn't watch the game on TV, but from what I could see, Bears fans had a great showing at this away game.  We sat next to a season ticket holder who confessed that this was the "largest crowd from an opposing team" that he had ever seen in all his time as a season ticket holder.  And it is heartwarming to hear a few "Da bears!" chants and high five some strangers with my foam bear claw (of course I packed it in my carry on!)!  And despite the embarrassing loss, the Cowboys fans were the nicest and most gracious hosts that you could ever ask for, and I've seen some very sore losers in my day, and in my travels to opposing stadiums...eh hem...UCLA...


There are very few things I love more than spending time with family, enjoying some great food, and of course Chicago Bears football, it's pretty much all I'd need in life to be happy.  I'm so glad that my family has established this yearly tradition, and I only wish we could go to ALL the Bears games instead of just one per year.  As meat-headed as this sounds, it's heart-warming that football brings us all together every year to celebrate a special weekend as a family.  No matter where our lives take us, or where we end up living each year, I know I can count on that one weekend in October (sometimes September) to give us another reason to all convene, rain or shine, win or lose (although it's mostly win!) :)  BEAR DOWN CHICAGO BEARS!

Ciao Bella!

When we were planning our route in Italy, it was extremely overwhelming.  There are countless places that we had wanted to visit, and we just couldn't fit everything into one trip.  We thought about the Amalfi Coast, we thought about doing Portofino, we thought about Lake Como, and we even thought about spending more time in Tuscany.  Our final decision was to spend 2 days in Venice, and I'm so thrilled that we did.

Gorgeous Daniele hotel

I heard mixed reviews about Venice.  People had told me "it smelled", or that "it was boring" or that "it's not a must see", and I couldn't be more happy that we went there to form our own opinions, because I disagreed with everything negative I had heard about Venice prior to our trip and it was an excellent way to end our 9 days in Italy.

Venice was unlike any place I have ever been to in the world.  It has an adorably unique character all to it's own that can't be replicated anywhere else.  As we cruised in our fancy little water taxi (this had been prearranged for us...thank you to my wonderful husband and travel agent), I couldn't help thinking of the Tourist or the Italian Job racing through the Venice canals.  Perhaps we went at the perfect time of year, but I'd argue that New York City smells 100x worse than Venice, and Venice was as clean as can be.  As you know, my husband and I enjoy adore nautical festivity, and for us, Venice was the perfect blend of the nautical/seaside magic and Italian extravagance and luxury.

My favorite thing about Venice was that for the first time of our entire trip, we didn't have an agenda.  We weren't spending days navigating maps & we didn't have appointments or passes for any museums or churches.  We thought about doing the tourist-y things in Venice like taking the gondola ride or cruising over to the Murano glass factory, but decided to forgo all of that and agreed that our time would be better spent "getting lost" in Venice.

As our trip was winding down, we spent the last 2 days in Italy enjoying each other as a couple in arguably one of the most romantic cities in the world.  We navigated through bridges and canals, we drank wine for lunch, happy hour & dinner, we ate whenever we felt like it, we slept in (a little bit), we had 2 (sometimes 3) hour lunches, we popped into shops that looked interesting, and we of course, took in the sights.

We stayed at the Danieli Hotel which had a prime location right off the Grand Canal and backed up to St. Mark's Square.  If you are going to Venice, I'll say that the Daniele is one of the most impressive lobbies I've ever seen.  If you don't want to stay there, it's at least worth it to stop in for a cocktail.  Both mornings, we enjoyed our complimentary breakfast on the top floor of the hotel while taking one of the best views of the Grand Canal in all of Venice.

View from breakfast

Mike and I both agreed that St. Mark's Basilica was our favorite of all the churches we'd seen in Italy...and that's saying a lot after spending 5 hours at the Vatican.  We were both mystified by the gilded Byzantine mosaics that made up the interior of the church.  And for just 5 euros, we were able to climb to the top to see the gorgeous view of Piazza San Marco and of course, the Grand Canal.

Happy boy with his gnocchi

Venice was the only place in Italy where we made dinner reservations before even leaving New York.  And after 6 days of pasta, we were excited to try some of the seafood that Venice is so famous for.  Our first night in Venice, we went to L'Osteria di Santa Marina.  They had a seasonal prix fix menu that includes 7 or 8 courses of some of the best seafood in the city.  But we wanted to try different things.  At the end of our trip, Mike and I pieced together our favorite parts of every meal we had in Italy, and Santa Marina was where we had the best starters.  Mike had a wild boar sausage with burrata & pesto, and I had scallop carpaccio.  Both starters were so delicious that we refused to share with each other.

Mike's favorite thing in Venice,
the Winged Lion

We saved our fanciest dinner for the last night in Venice.  At sunset, we took a boat across the canal to Hotel Cipriani.   Before our reservation at the Fortuny Restaurant at Cipriani, we sat outside in the lounge and had martinis as we watched the sun go down.  The staff at the Hotel Cipriani was so sweet and incredibly accommodating that it made our last meal in Venice extremely romantic and memorable.  When my wine glass was close to being empty, we were swarmed by staff who refused to let me lift a finger to refill my glass.  We enjoyed one more bottle of Brunello di Montalcino and refused to think about the fact that we were approaching the end of our Italian adventure.

One of my favorite parts of the entire trip came after our dinner at Cipriani.  When we read about 'must see' things in Venice, one very wise travel writer said that Piazza San Marco is magical if you can go there when it's less crowded.  We had already seen it during the day, but when our boat took us back from Cipriani, we were hesitant to go home and end our perfect evening.  So we ventured back to St. Marks and stumbled upon quite a surprise!  There were about 20 mini orchestras situated all over the piazza playing 5-7 minutes sets for anyone who wanted to listen.  When one orchestra finished, you'd walk across the piazza to the next one.  We listened to music from the Phantom of the Opera and other beautiful pieces and admired how much more spectacular the piazza is when it's lit up at night.

The magnificent Duomo in Milan

Aggressive pours of limonchello
before going back to the US

We headed to Milan the next morning for our final day in Italy.  To say that we were devastated to see our trip come to an end would be an understatement.  Our final evening in Italy was spent recapping our favorite moments, meals, and sights over wine, pasta and, of course limonchello.  Last year, when we took our honeymoon in Bora Bora, I thought that nothing could top that trip.  It was the happiest I'd ever been in my life, followed by a week in the most tropical destination on the planet.  But Italy was like a second honeymoon.  I wouldn't change a moment from the entire trip, and I'm glad that we left with suitcases full of little trinkets to remind us every day of the incredible journey we had.  I'm so lucky to have such a great travel buddy in my husband, and someone who is on the same pace as I am when we go places.  We have been battling a bit of post-vacation blues since we've returned, but we are excited to plan our next adventure and possibly go back to Italy with our family one day.  It truly was a trip of a lifetime.