Who Says You Can't go Home?

The dogs in their new home!

It's funny how the stories of the different stages in the family cycle can be told through the various sizes of the home.  The DINK (dual-income-no-kids) lifestyle is conducive to apartment living, as Mike and I are experiencing right now.  It's not until you start to think of growing your family that space and more rooms become invaluable.  After everyone grows up and heads out to college, there is the empty-nester phase when the kids move out, and you can't wait to downsize.  But then, the family will start growing AGAIN - and the minimalistic lifestyle isn't ideal when the kids are getting married & there are grandchildren in the future.

It was a daunting task

For the past 4 years, my parents have been living in the most adorable town home in Las Colinas just feet away from the Four Seasons & the luxurious golf course where the Byron Nelson is celebrated every year.  Their prime location has allowed them to enjoy a life of golf, margaritas, pool time & running errands in their "street legal" golf cart.  With my brother's recent engagement & the thought of babies running around sometime in the next few years - it was time for a bigger home as Casa del DuPont is going to become the hub for a few more family additions during the holidays.  In typical DuPont fashion - this has happened a few times with my parents & also with my uncles - mom & dad moved just 10 houses down the street!

Clothes before my organization skills!

Since my husband was going out of town for a man-cation in Miami, I couldn't wait to get out to Dallas to help out with the move, see the new house, hug my parents, congratulate the newly engaged couple, and more importantly - help out with the organization!  My pop's celebrated his birthday on 2/14, so I planned this trip to Dallas as a surprise birthday gift to him. My mother pretty much greeted me at the airport with a label maker to get started on the unpacking and organizing.  When we pulled up to the new driveway, my mouth dropped.  First because I was in shock that they would move mere feet away from their town home, but the new home is just beautiful.  It was literally featured in real estate magazines within the DFW area.  As I took the tour of the house - guided by none other than my mom, I found myself visualizing what it would look like with all of the furniture & all of the people.

A little post moving refreshments

It didn't take long for my mom to put me to work.  In no time, I was hiking up and down the stairs balancing bundles of clothing in my arms.  The nice thing about moving only 10 houses away....you can zip back and forth all day long.  The bad thing about moving 10 houses away....you feel silly hiring movers when you can just zip back and forth all day long.  But I couldn't wait to get my hands on organizing my parent's closet.  This closet is a closet that New Yorkers would call a "studio apartment".  It has what feels like miles and miles of storage space. My organizational brain was in overdrive as I color coded the closet with matching hangers and stuffed a box full of donation clothes.  It was overwhelming in the best way possible to find the perfect place for each item of clothing & not have to worry about any crowding from seasonal overloads (my tiny closet looks like winter threw up in there with the sweaters & boots flopping all over the place). 

Sunset view from the balcony

Outside of the closets, I have developed a few favorite things about this new home.  First, the view from the upstairs suite & game room balcony is of the 17th hole on the Four Season's Golf Course. It also provided an entertaining view of the thunderstorm & lightening on my second night in Dallas!  My second favorite thing is the custom built wine cooler.  This house has more storage just for wine than we have in our entire apartment for all of our food, period.  That means, that after a crazy day of moving and unpacking, there was a delicious pinot grigio chilled to perfection for us to enjoy with dinner.  I'm also a huge fan of the library/home office.  My husband and I don't always agree on home decorating (he's more of a action figure/rock poster type of guy....I prefer a more "sophisticated" look), but one thing we always agree on is how badly both of us want a cozy, dark library with floor to ceiling bookshelves & rich leather chairs -- and that's exactly what my parents have created in this room.  It's even stocked with a minibar full of my dad's favorite scotch! 

Home Sweet Home

But my very favorite thing about my parent's new house is all of the memories that we'll get to make in this new home.  Since my parents left Orange County a little while ago, every space they have lived in has been a bit of a "transition" for my parents.  Even though it's new, and my parents haven't even spent an entire month in the new house, it feel like "home".  And this time, we're in it for the long haul with this house.  I'm looking forward to all of the family game nights, to the sunsets in the backyard, to all of the holidays, to golf tournaments, to Christmas sing-a-longs, to dad's eggs Benedict & mom's pasta sauce, to the pool tournaments in the game room, to watching Bears games, and to growing our extended family even more. Congratulations to my amazing parents on their lovely new investment & we can't wait to come back in May to see you. 

The Luck of the Irish!

Some would argue that New York City is among some of the top cities in the world to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  This would explain why people flocked to Manhattan in droves over the weekend wearing every green item in their wardrobes.

We are lucky enough to live a stone's throw away from what is arguably one of New York's most festive Irish Pubs - Molly's.  For those HIMYM fans, Molly's is the equivalent of MacLaren's pub to Mike and me.  No we don't live in the apartments above it, but I've had more Guinness' at Molly's than I have had drinks at all other bars in Manhattan combined.  With it's crackling fireplace, Irish staff, juicy burgers, and the most delicious Guinness I've ever had outside of Ireland, Molly's has become a staple to us for anything from festive holiday outings to a romantic dinner for two. 

Last year, when St. Patrick's Day was on a Saturday, our festivities started quite early, and went throughout the entire day.  This year, we opted for a good ol' fashioned Irish lunch with our New York cousins and of course, a few Guinness' and Jameson at the best Irish pub in the city.  

I'm not going to lie, I could do without the out-of-town crowd that comes into the city for the parade and litters the sidewalk with the remnants of their St. Patrick's day costumes and scares the pants off my bulldog when they accost him to take his picture.  So this year, having St. Patty's day fall on a Sunday, ensured that we bypassed the massive amateur crowds who came in town to celebrate on one day earlier. We hope everyone made the most of their day of green & Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Mobleys!

The Final Year of my 20s

My birthday this year was a little different than the past.  I used to LOVE my birthday.  I spent weeks counting down until my special day, I sent lists for my presents weeks in advance, and every year (regardless of the significance in the number), I felt that a party for myself was not only warranted but necessary.  But this year I experienced none of the anticipation - likely as a function of becoming older and entering the final year of my 20s!  I also had a very close colleague at work lose his parent in a tragic accident the day prior to my birthday which broke my heart into a million pieces, so I wasn't much in the mood for celebration come March 5th.

But my friends and family had a different agenda, and for that I am extremely grateful.  The first thing I saw when I walked into the office on my birthday was the happiest bouquet of orange roses you ever did see, and the birthday surprises kept coming.  I had a delivery of 100 Baked by Melissa cupcakes, the clever gift of a gallon of Frank's Red Hot & 99 ounces of canned jalapenos, and the most thoughtful hand made card I've ever seen signed by my favorites in the office.  It was a somber day at Mindshare, but they were all so sweet and thoughtful to make me feel special.

Of course my husband showered me with wonderful gifts when I got home from work & took me to a fabulously New York-y dinner at Old Homestead where we had juicy steaks & an amazing bottle of red wine that Mike ordered solely based on the fact that it was called "Richard the Lionheart".  And of course, I couldn't turn down a creme brulee dessert...But my favorite gifts of the entire birthday were the two flights we booked to Paris and Italy in June!  Another Mobley European vacation is less than 100 days away. :)

Rather than cocktails and birthday shots, this particular birthday helped me to put a lot into perspective.  I took the majority of the day to reflect upon the way I have been prioritizing things in my life & how I have been spending the majority of my precious time so far in 2013.  Rather than taking the time to bask in the glory of the only day of the year when you can truly be selfish, I found myself appreciating how amazing the people are in my life. I'm beyond grateful for every person in my family, for each one of my friends, and for the loyal colleagues I have at work.  I thank you all for making me feel special.  My 20s have been the most amazing 9 years of my life and I have no doubt that 29 will be full of surprises.

Team Awesome Does Manhattan

New York is easily one of the nation's "most visited" cities - and that means that we get very frequent visitors as you can tell from some of my past posts.  But Winter is not the most popular time of year to visit NYC - and it gets lonely!  Mike and I haven't had any visitors since Christmastime, so you can imagine our excitement when we were forwarded the flight confirmation from our favorite California cousins (or as we often to refer to them...Team Awespme) confirming that they were coming to the Big Apple over President's weekend to celebrate Mrs. Julie Blades' birthday!

The first order of business during their 4 day stay in the city was a delicious birthday celebration for Julie at one of our favorite Italian restaurants in the city.  Two other couples joined us for a festive dinner to make the birthday girl feel like the special little woman she is.  We knew it would be a hit with the Blades' when we ordered 6 piadinas filled with burrata and prosciutto for the table.  Gradisca truly is one of our favorite little spots and whenever we can share our discoveries with the people we love, it makes us SO happy.

James & Julie did not have an agenda for the rest of their visit in New York which means that we spent the rest of their trip playing with them around the city and spending time as though they were just a few neighbors who were around for the weekend.  Mike and I have almost lived in the city for 3 years, and we hadn't had a true, non-work related visit from both James & Julie together, so it was such a treat to take them to some of our favorite restaurants for brunch and our favorite bars for cocktails.  Since Valentine's Day had just passed, we had to fit Rolf's in so that they could see the crazy display of pink & red balloons that covered the entire ceiling. I wish that they had better weather during their stay in Manhattan, but the frigid cold made for more whiskey to warm our bellies and more nights spent in some of New York's coziest pubs.

After three days of absorbing the best of what Manhattan has to offer, the four of us were a little exhausted and spent the final day of their visit recharging our batteries at the apartment.  As you know, I love the tradition of cooking a good ol' fashioned Sunday Dinner --and it's even more enjoyable when you can spend Sunday Dinner with family!  Julie and I combined forces to make a cheesy & delightful turkey lasagna and a crunchy fresh spinach salad for our men.   We were quite beat from an eventful 3 days of making the most of their time in the city, but a family dinner before they left was the perfect way to spend their last night together.

When we lived in LA, Mike and I spent almost every weekend with James & Julie.  Every Saturday morning, we had brunch together, we hiked together, we vacationed together, we spent holidays together, we got both engaged the same weekend, and the Blades' even live in our old apartment!  They were our closest friends out in LA - and what's even better is they are our FAMILY!  Mike and I miss them tons, but we feel so thankful to have Team Awesome as our buddies & as our cousins.  Having them here just reminded us of how little we get to see one of our favorite couples.  James & Julie - we can't wait until we get to see you guys again, and thank you for making the trip out to our city to spend some much needed time with us.  We love you tons!