A Texas Toast to Garrett & Jenny

Being engaged is an extremely exciting and special time in any couple lives. Mike and I were engaged for just short of 15 months, which felt like an eternity when we were planning for our Big Day.  In hindsight it goes by so fast, and there is never enough time to enjoy being just the two of you.  It's been over a year since Garrett & Jenny got engaged and with just a few weeks left before they both say " I Do" we wanted to take a little time to toast the happy couple and have a special engagement to celebrate them.

Mike & I flew to Dallas to have an intimate little cocktail party at my parent's home in Irving.  Not only were we happy to toast Jenny & Garrett, but this was the first time my parents had really hosted a little shindig at the new house since moving in last March.  So there were quite a few things to celebrate.  My mom did a fantastic job of coordinating a caterer and setting a menu so by the time Mike & I got to Dallas, we just had to help out with the decorations and picking up the "refreshments" (which is our expertise, obviously!).

My handsome dude

The company, the food, the drinks and the couple were perfect.  Mike and I were happy to be able to meet some of Jenny & Garrett's friends in the Dallas area and to also see some old faces that I have seen grow up with my brother all the way back to middle school! Similarly, my parents have a fantastic group of friends in the neighborhood that we always love to spend time with while we are in town.

It's hard to be away from your sibling when he is planning for the most exciting day in his life.  Weddings can be stressful, there can be some drama, your bank account is constantly being depleted, it always seems like the planning never ends and there are always more details to consider.  But there is NOTHING like the joy of upcoming nuptials to bring family and friends together to celebrate.  Mike & are are so looking forward to the big day, and it'll be here before we even know it!  Congratulations to Garrett & Jenny, and here is to a few more weeks of being able to call each other "fiance(e)"!

Just a few more weeks until we are a family of SIX!

Kicking back in Key West

All I wanted for my birthday was for my husband to not have to deal with the stress and finances associated with a birthday bash, and for whomever was able to join us to enjoy themselves immensely.  So the morning I turned 30, the first thing we did (after I opened my Harry Potter robes as a birthday present) was hop on a plane and fast as possible to get to away from the worst winter ever and get some much needed vitamin D.  From our linen-clad travel garb, to the hot pink flamingo party straws we used for our roadies in the Miami airport, we were festive from the second we stepped out of our New York apartment to make the plane journey down to Key West.
Since we had gathered quite the party crew, we decided that a house rental was the best way to go.  My husband scoured the internet and through VRBO we found an adorable little bungalow appropriately called - Southard Comfort.  It was a charming 3 bedroom home to sleep us all comfortably with a private pool and all the amenities to make our stay relaxing and convenient for everybody.  And because my husband is fantastic, he had a key lime pie (because that's what you have on your birthday in Key West) and a gorgeous birthday floral arrangement ready to greet me at the house upon our arrival.

Similar to past posts, I've chosen to select a few highlights from 4 days in Key West to best illustrate the amazingness of our trip and the first moments of my 30s.

1.  Our surprise guest on the first night - Even though we had told him several times that this trip was in the works, and even though we had brainstormed destinations with him since October, our good friend Mike Keohane somehow forgot to mark his calendar for Key West on March 5th.  And when he woke up on March 5th and the Mobleys and Bucks were en route to Key West to sunshine and festivity, he was Macaulay Culkin on Home Alone.   After an anxiety fueled text exchange, he booked a flight that very day and met us back at our Key West house in time for some after dinner drinks and a midnight swim in the backyard.  It was ballsy...and probably the most festive thing you could ever do - and one of my favorite parts of my birthday.

2.  Scoot Scoots!  For anyone who has been to Key West, one of the best ways to get around the island is mopeds.  And since it's no fun to go tandem, we each rented our own scooters while mom & dad secured the family golf cart vehicle.  I like to think of us as a more tropical version of a bike gang as we cruised through the streets of Key West...but that's just me!  And even though my scooter topped out at only 30 MPH, and even though I was in a fancy maxi dress and wedges, it was still thrilling to take a speed drive along the ocean with the boys on our last night.

3.  Wave Runners-  Because the 7 of us had a hard time sitting still and doing nothing, we had to brainstorm what our team activity would be during our last day.  And because it's the best way to tour the island and because it's the closest you can get to Cuba, we decided to rent wave runners! Our tour guides were fantastic and the let us cruise at our top speeds and zip around the island for 2 hours.  We were all windblown and exhilarated by the end of the tour and it was absolutely money well spent.




4.  Shuffleboard Tournament- We decided to have a low key dinner one night at Raw Bar and stuff our faces with every form of seafood we could find on the menu.  Stone crab, oysters, conch fritters, you name it...we ate it.  But what we discovered at Raw Bar was a secret room that had a shuffle board.  Now, I know what you're thinking...."Steph, you turned 30, not 84" or "how could you possibly spend an entire night playing shuffleboard?"  Well, let me tell all you naysayers, it was super competitive, it lasted well into the night, it involved a lot of cocktails, and it was AWESOME.  I'm now investigating how I can arrange to install a professional shuffle board table into my parent's house in Dallas.


5.  What's Up? Since we couldn't take the shuffle board home with us in Key West, we had to entertain ourselves through games at the house.  After a failed attempt at a super advanced version of Trivial Pursuit (we declared the winner after 40 minutes after which NONE of us even got a QUESTION correct), we decided to download "What's Up?"...our new favorite game that we played well into the evening.  It's silly, it made us all laugh uncontrollably, and provided for HOURS of entertainment.

6.  The Sunsets! Before we even took off for Key West, Mike sent the group a daily schedule of times for when the sun sets to ensure that the crew was prepared.  Every night, there is a celebration of sunset at Mallory Square, or what I think of as the "Venice Beach" of Key West.  Aside from one missed opportunity on our third night, we enjoyed the sunset every evening.  Whether we took it in over cocktails on the water, or caught just the last few seconds during a walk to dinner, we made sure to always catch the last few rays of sunshine.  But our last night was particular special.  We made an effort to find a table right on the edge of the water and enjoy the last few moments of the sun while sipping mojitos on our last full day in our little
paradise.

By the time we left to head back to New York, I was so full of love and appreciation for everyone who joined us on this getaway.  Our family and friends are my most prized possessions so it's only fitting that I welcomed the big 3-0 with "a few of my favorite things".  While there are close to 50 or 60 other people I would have loved to be there as well, this was a pretty stellar way to start the next decade of my life.

My 30s are already consumed with tropical memories, and I think that's pretty freakin great.  I can't wait to go back to our festive bungalow, and I'll cherish this little "Adult Spring Break" forever, and it's very clear to me now why Key West is one of my husband's favorite places in the world .  I'm starting to think I need to make this an annual thing!  Now when can we go back???

30 Years of.....well...ME!

Since the countdown to the end of my 20s began, I've had mixed feelings about turning 30.  After I turned 24, my birthday has quickly changed from an excuse to party, to an extremely emotional time for me.  And as cliche as it sounds, I've come to understand why women don't always embrace their birthdays as the years progress and there are more candles on the cake.

As the days inched closer to 30, I started thinking of 30 as more of a deadline.  Like a line in the sand for when I'd have to accomplish certain things.  As in "if you are going to do (insert ANYTHING here), do it by the time you are 30, because there is a huge difference in your 30s".  So I got a little paranoid, and maybe a little TOO ambitious as the big 3-0 crept closer.

But as I thought more about it....I realized that 30 is just a number and I have everything I could ever need RIGHT NOW.  I've accomplished everything in my 20s that I could have hoped for.  If I had told my teenage self that I would do everything I had done in the 10 years between 20 and 30, the lazy teenage version of myself would have been too exhausted to even try. 

I graduated college in a swift 4 years, even after losing an entire semester after transferring from UT to USC.  I left my cozy life in Orange County behind to take some risks in Los Angeles.  I climbed the corporate advertising ladder to grow from an ambitious little assistant media planner to a group director. I made completely new friendships while nurturing older friendships that I'd maintained all across the country. I made another bold move from sunny LA to the hustle and bustle of New York City (with out any winter wardrobe mind you). I traveled to countless new states and countries that I had never been to.  I've defeated not only P90X, but also Insanity...MULTIPLE TIMES.  I became a mommy to the most perfect fur baby you could ever know in the world.  But most importantly, I met, fell in love, and married the man of my dreams - hands down the highlight of my 20s.  So after reflecting on that a bit, there really isn't anything else I could ever want from my 20s.  If the next 10 years bring my even half of the excitement and surprises, then I'm THRILLED to be 30!  

Photo credit: Spice Vinci

Aside from the self reflection, it was an absolute pleasure to turn 30 because of every single person in my life.   My work friends started the birthday festivities with a TRUE surprise party.  It's virtually impossible to surprise me....I'm still shocked they pulled it off.  My amazing family kept the well wishes (and gifts) coming all through the week.  I received a barrage of cards, voicemails, and gifts in the mail from my girl friends.  And my husband (outside of the Griffindor robes I also received...a COMPLETELY appropriate gift for a 30-year-old) gave me the gift of shoes....lovely, shiny, black new...SHOES!  They.are.everything!  And just like we had for my birthdays in the past, the Mobleys booked yet another European vacation!  This time...it's GREECE!

If that wasn't enough, we jetted off to Key West the morning of my birthday with my parents and some of our favorite friends for an escape from the winter blues and to start off my 30s with some fun, sun and rum!  That's a blog for next time, but before we move on to that, thank you again to each and every one of you for an eventful final days of my 20s and a stellar kick off to my 30s.  I love you all & can't wait to see what the next 10 years has in store for me & I'm glad I have you all along for the ride!

A Winter Reflection

I'm not one to complain about winter, but this has been a particularly insane winter.  Since December of last year, it seems like we have had weekly nor'easters, record snowfall and countless snow days for the kids in the burbs.  I've worn only Wellies for shoes more than I'd like to admit (hey, at least I don't look like an idiot trying to delicately do the splits over puddles of slush), my head is in a constant state of hat hair because I refuse to have cold ears, and my skin is pretty much crying every day (but not in the literal sense, because it's dryer and chalkier than I've ever experienced).

Winston's snow shoes

Sure it's festive, and I have taken advantage of a "snow day" for the first time since moving to New York, and if you haven't been to Molly's Shebeen during a blizzard, your life isn't complete.  But I'll be the first to admit that it's getting old.  Something about the consistent promise of cold has the ability to take the wind out of your sails a little bit.  The monotony of spending 5-10 minutes layering up before you walk out the door isn't fun after almost 4 months...and I haven't even gotten in to the major pain in the ass it is to put shoes on my dog!  But just when you think you couldn't possibly pull on another pair of gloves, or the thought of putting on another freakin pair of tights makes you want to scream, we are reminded that winter in New York is a really beautiful thing.


I have yet to share my obligatory blizzard recap with you all this year, mainly because there have been just too many snowstorms to count.  So I wanted to take this time to share some snaps from the season because even if I can barely stand the thought of a sub 30 degree day anymore, winter in Manhattan really it is a wonderful thing (that is until all the snow turns into black ice or becomes a muddy pile of slush on the side of the road!).

We are almost in the clear and with just a few weeks left of winter 2013 - 2014, I can almost taste the flowers blooming in Madison Square Park...my nose is itching just thinking about it! Soon the record breaking winter of 2013 - 2014 will be a distant memory, and we'll all reflect on "that crazy winter" over a whiskey with friends. When the seasons change this year, I can guarantee that New York city will rejoice and it will be pandemonium the first day that we can all brave bare legs or enjoy some rose at a restaurant with some outdoor seating.  But for now, it's not time to put my puffy coat away just yet, and we have a few more weeks of cozy sweater weather.  We hope you all are surviving winter and keeping your spirits up!  We're almost there everyone!