The View from the 17th Hole

Two years ago, after we had been married for a whole 2 weeks, Mike and I took a trip out to Dallas for the 2011 Byron Nelson tournament.  Last year, over the Byron weekend, my parents took an amazing trip out to Punta Cana for a little getaway, so we haven't been to the Byron Nelson in two years!  Its a weekend that both of us look forward to all year, but I was especially excited because this was the first time Mike was going to see my parents wonderful new home!  And any time we get to spend time with our families, I'm like a giddy little child.  Plus, we got an extra bonus visitor, because Gram came out from Connecticut for the tournament too!

If there is anything I've learned over the past few times we've gone to the Byron, it's that you need an extremely LONG weekend.  This isn't a fly out on Friday, come home Sunday kind of trip, so we took the earliest flight possible so that we could get to Dallas before the day started on Friday.  In the past, my parents had prime location for the golf tournament, we could just walk a few blocks and arrive right at the 18th hole.  But THIS year, with the new house, we could actually see the fairway of the 17th hole from my parent's second floor veranda.  It made for a beautiful sunset but the pavilion did block our gorgeous view!  So it was necessary to walk across the street to see the actual tournament.

If you haven't been to the Byron Nelson Tournament ever, it's incredibly fun!  It has all of the fanciness of a normal golf tournament with a little Texas flair.  It's white sundresses and neon jean shorts.  It's big derby sun hats with margaritas and bud light.  It's polite clapping with whoops and cheering while watching the caddies race to the green.  The Byron Nelson is exclusive executive pavilions and beer served in ice cold tin buckets.  It's Cadillacs & street legal golf carts & it's designer labels and plastic fratty sunglasses.

We spent the majority of our time both days on the 17th hole & catching up on the leader board from the HP Pavilion.  The weather was hot & steamy, but a nice breeze made it much more manageable for us to be outdoors and enjoy the energy of the tournament and do some pretty incredible people watching. My parent's house became a home base for who ever wanted to go to the tournament.  The doors were open to all & the fridges and coolers were fully stocked with refreshments.  Both nights, my mom had an amazing spread planned with themed catered meals for everyone who was coming to and from the tournament.  I know my parents spent weeks getting the house ready after moving in only 2 month ago, and it was in perfect shape for entertaining!

Being in Dallas felt not only like being at "home", but it felt like a little escape, a resort, a real vacation.  My parents have a pretty incredible set up out there in Irving, and I wish we could get out there more frequently.  It's so refreshing to see my parents not only enjoying a less stressful resort lifestyle every day, but it's a perfect place for us to go visit.  I always wish that we could spend more time with the family, and when it was time for us to head back to New York, I found myself wishing I still had the weekend to look forward to.  We had such a blast & it's so fun that our family of 4 has grown into (almost) a family of 6.  The more people we add to the family, the more festive and noisy our gatherings have become! I'm already counting down the days and planning my attire for when we get to go back to Dallas for the 2014 Byron Nelson Tournament - and for all of our friends from Dallas to New York, Mom & Pops DuPont would love to have you come by for a brew and some BBQ!

A Spring in our Step

As you may recall, I had a little blog series about my favorite things of each season when I started writing in 2011. After the first year of these entries, I found that it could get a little repetitive, since I love all the same things of a new season every year!  So I've decided that those little seasonal dedications are not necessary for me to write each year.

But a few weeks ago, we did have a gorgeous stint of beautiful springtime weekends that served as a catalyst for morning runs along the East River, a closet re-organization, a few bottles of rose consumed, a few hours of shopping for outdoor patio furniture, and a $300 tab at BLT Fish Shack from over-consumption of crab legs & lobster tails.

New Season means
new lounge furniture!
Love our new swivel chairs!

Mike and I rarely have a weekend where we have nothing to do, and we had one of those weekends earlier this month.  I just wanted to share a few pictures from the gorgeous weekend we had in our city.  They recently renovated the rooftop of our apartment building & the top deck boasts an unbelievable 360 degree view of Manhattan.  On a clear day, you can see for MILES.  Mike & I went up there to check it out and people were already lounging in the bikinis!

We've had a long winter this year & I'd argue that the novelty of the "coziness" in having snow storms in the winter wore off a little bit when we were still have blizzards in the middle of March. Winter was getting a little old when I still had to wear scarves and gloves to work with my wool coat into early April.  I can honestly say, that Mike & I were getting a little bit of the winter-time blues...you can only be so festive when the weather is not in your favor.  But now that we're in the full swing of spring time, and all the flowers are in full bloom, we've got a little bit more pep in our step.  And with the end of May approaching, the 3 day weekends and summer Fridays are just around the corner.  Enjoy the last days of springtime everyone!

Mike's Milestone Birthday

Every 5 years or so, we all experience a milestone birthday, whether we like it or not.  It may be 25, it may be 30, or in this case,  Mike turned 35.  So that means that it was time for me to, of course, make this a bigger deal than Mike would like.  Naturally, I took on yet another personal task, for the second week in a row, to surprise my wonderful husband.

Mikes Birthday Beer Fridge

But lightening doesn't strike the same place twice.  After the anniversary surprise went off without a hitch, Mike immediately discovered some tricks I had up my sleeves for the big 3-5.  He guessed his birthday gift (which I'm actually really impressed with, because it came up out of no where, not even mad), and he was indecisive about what he wanted to do to celebrate with his friends.  So we had quite a few celebrations over the course of the week. 

In my opinion, I think Mike has one of the best birth dates you could ever have, he may not agree, but it really is a great week.  He was born on May 7th, which just so happened to be Mother's Day back in 1978 on the day he was delivered!  What a special little gift.  But outside of his birth being on a holiday, his birthday is always around Cinco de Mayo & the Kentucky Derby! Two fabulous reasons to throw a party, if I must say so myself.

So we did just that...two parties for one special guy.  Well, I can't take credit for the Cinco De Mayo party.  Slacker Radio & College Humor threw a festive celebration on Dos de Mayo for some people in the  media industry.  There were plenty of margaritas & plenty of tequila to go around.  Since it was on a Thursday night during the work week, they had quite a turnout.  It was the perfect combination of my favorite work friends, and some of our favorite non-work buddies all in one place.  So while it was a corporate function, it was also kind of a pre-birthday party for the big guy.

Then came the Derby party!  We essentially wore everything in our closet that was mint green, pink, or seersucker.  The house was decorated with red roses in little silver mint julep cups & we stocked the bar with plenty of bourbon & rose.  The sun was shining & we got brand new patio chairs delivered in time to have a few people over for a little Derby watching & a toast to Mike's 35th.  And since no party is complete without Star Wars cupcakes, I whipped a few of those together too. I even mastered the art of making mint juleps for the first time in my life!  It was such a nice time having everyone over & I know Mike appreciated seeing all of the festive, happy faces that helped him celebrate such a big birthday.

By Mike's actual birthday, it felt like we had been celebrating for a week (Mike, now I know how you feel when I milk my big day for at least a month or so)!  So as a final celebration, I made reservations for a nice quiet dinner for two at Craft, just right around the corner from our apartment.   We had a deliciously refreshing meal with local seafood, spring vegetables, and a dessert, of course!  And even though Mike got to open his Marshall beer fridge a few days early, Winston and I still had a few little surprises for him to open when we got home from dinner.

Mike, you may be a 35 year old man, but you're still a kid at heart, in the best way possible.  Even though you might not like the birthday attention, your birthday has become one of my favorite days of the year because I'm so thankful that you were brought into this world.  I can't imagine a world without you in it.  Happy birthday to my handsome husband.  I love you every day!

A Story of Cousins

My pops is that handsome dude!

This is a story about a very big DuPont family.  My dad, Mark DuPont, has 4 siblings, and that means I have a lot of cousins on my dad's side...10 to be exact.  So, my beautiful grandmother has 12 grandchildren, which makes family gatherings crazy, in the most amazing way possible, if we're all together.  But what's even more fun, is all of the extended cousins we have that make the family even bigger.  My cousin's and I often joke about how "we are related to half of Bristol, Connecticut", but it's actually not that much of an exaggeration.


My dad went to high school with what seems like all of his cousins.  They were in the same grades, the same classes, and they saw each other every day!  Not only did they grow up together as cousins, but they were close friends.  Some of them now live in Bristol, some of them don't, but if there is one thing you can count on to happen every year, you can be sure that the cousins will all rally together back in Connecticut, and find some reason to see each other....every year.  It could be a graduation, a wedding, a birthday, or just a holiday party, but if there is a reason to celebrate, you better believe - the DuPont cousins are there. 

Then the DuPont cousins all grew up, and they had babies, so there were even MORE cousins!   The family just kept growing and growing.  And more people in the family means, more reasons to party.  Each summer, it felt like there was one more cousin swimming in Uncle Roger's pool, or there was one more burger to cook at the barbeque, or one more story to be told, and one more memory to be made.  We have hours of home videos of dance ensembles, laughing fits, babies running around the yard, and careless smiles that could make us chuckle, or bring us to tears with laughter. Each cousin can contribute to the endless memories and the story telling from the DuPont family. 

I'm dedicating this blog to all of the DuPont cousins, but most importantly to my cousin, Michele.  She has been fighting cancer for a few years and throughout her 5 year battle, she has never once sacrificed being with her family or missing out on any DuPont cousin gatherings.  Regardless of everything she has been going through, she has been a beacon of determination, of hope and of unrequited strength. This hasn't been an easy journey for her & I wanted to share how much we love her & are here for her and the rest of her immediate family during this tumultuous time.  
 
They say that you can't choose your family, but if I had to, I would pick every single one of them.  We're all vastly different, but we each play such key role in crafting the family history.  To us, there are no 1st cousins or 2nd cousins, or 3rd cousins once-removed, or cousin-in-laws. We're all cousins...that's it. During the difficult days, and times of celebration, there truly is nothing better than the love of a family, and we've got an exceptional one.  A huge one, with tons of love.  Whether we are right down the street, or 1,500 miles away, nothing breaks the bond of these DuPont family cousins.  I may be a Mobley by marriage, but I'll always be a DuPont by birth.