2015: The Year the Mobleys cut the clutter

This is going to be a good year - I just know it!  Especially with the progress we've been making on the house hunt! In the past, I've tried to have a theme for each of my goals to start the New Year. For the Mobleys, 2013 was all about being spontaneous and doing whatever we wanted.  2014 was the year of ZEN and finding peace and relaxation in a crazy New York advertising life.  2015 is the year the Mobleys focus on cutting the clutter...getting and staying ridiculously organized in our lives.  I don't just mean having a clean closet - I'm talking about cutting the clutter... from everywhere!

1.  Cut the clutter from our home - With the house hunt in full swing, and with the last of our days in our New York apartment upon us, I'm committed to getting organized before any move.  I don't want to move anything to our new home that's not necessary & I want to start our lives in a house with a fresh, organized start!  I'll de-clutter within reason though - I don't want to make any irrational decisions.  But a new house brings a blank slate - and I'd rather fill it with love and memories than clutter!

2.  Cut the clutter from our budgets - Being a homeowner requires that you take a closer look at your budget.  Would you rather have that cup of coffee, or put that money towards that new couch that is ridiculously expensive, but you can't imagine your life without it?  Are those shoes more important to you than the closing costs you're going to encounter pretty soon?  This year, I'm vowing to take this seriously.  We're going to go through our finances with a fine toothed comb and be smart about cutting costs where possible.  Looks like I'll have to sacrifice some of my shopping habits in favor of my dream home!

3.  Cut the clutter from our diets - Yep!  We're trimming the fat, literally.  If we end up moving out of the city that means no more access to the endless world of takeout.  No more late night pizza runs.  No more ordering a chicken parm because you can't figure out what else to eat.  We are going to have more planned meals, more home cooking, smaller portions, and more time chatting about each other's day at the dinner table. This goal should help the aforementioned cost cutting too!

When you can't be with some of your friends at midnight...
you FACE TIME them from the restaurant!

4.  Cut the clutter from my inbox - My goal in my inbox for 2015 is to never have a "scroll bar" at the end of every day.  For those of you who know what I'm talking about...it means that you have so many emails in your inbox, that you have to scroll through them.  If you have your inbox clean and clear, there is no scroll bar....because you don't have to sort through too many emails.  It's glorious.  I follow the RFDD model - reply, forward, delegate or delete.  This should keep things manageable & keep my inbox from giving me heartburn every time I sit down to my desk.

5.  Cut the clutter from our minds - This one is a lot less literal, and maybe more difficult.  One of the things that I'm most proud of from last year was the progress I made in my ability to handle stress.  Acupuncture played a role in this, lavender oil played a role in this, yoga might have played a role in this, and maybe turning 30 played a large role.  I still have my panic moments, I still will break down in tears when I just can't do everything, but I'm so much better at compartmentalizing and prioritizing than I was in prior years.  I think this will be key to continue to improve upon for 2015.  Being able to separate my different priorities will be essential for a healthy work/life balance that I want to achieve this year.  My family & my friends are the most important things in my life - and anything that interferes with those precious things is...well, clutter!

Mike and I rang in the New Year in our favorite New York manner - dressed to the nines, with reservations to a festive New York establishment, and among friends.  This has become a NYE staple for us.  We love getting dressed up and starting off the New Year in some snazzy clothes - surrounded by our friends who are such a special part of our lives (we even Face Timed with our favorite new Austinites at our midnight!).  We love when the restaurants bring out the pots and pans, complementary champagne, and noisemakers.  We love leaving the hosting and cleaning for someone else to worry about.  And we love being able to go home and snuggle in our own beds together to start the year.

This year's celebration had an air of peace & satisfaction.  Satisfaction at how gratifying this year has been for us, and peace that we'll be able to take on whatever challenges and excitement 2015 has for for the Mobleys.  We wish you a happy & healthy New Year to your and yours and hope you all were able to start 2015 off with a bang!

Saying goodbye to 2014...

I know it's redundant and it's cliche, but I CAN'T BELIEVE we are saying goodbye to 2014.  I just can't believe it.  This year brought us so many incredible memories between the two of us & with our families.  Every year, it's definitely bitter sweet to see a wonderful year come to an end - and I'm always skeptical about the next year being able to live up to the one prior.  As always, there were definitely some low days of 2014, but the high days were REALLY high.  I'm going to be a little nostalgic as I reflect on everything that we've experienced over 2014 - so thank you for coming along for the ride!

What better way to recap 2014, than...you guessed it!  A COUNTDOWN!  You've read all the blog entries, so I wont bore you all with too much rehashing of memories, but here is a look back at the crazy year The Mobleys had in 2014 (starting from 8, because 9 & 10 are just too high!):

8! years of girls trips - Wow!  Not only have we known each other for over 12 years now, we've been taking these trip since we graduated from college!  8 years!  St. Thomas was a gorgeous way to celebrate over a decade of friendship with some of my favorite ladies.  These girls trips are a mandatory of every one of my years, and this one was perfect.  Thank you so much to my sweet girlies for your commitment to keeping up this trip and our long-distance friendship every year.  You guys, and these girls weekends, mean the world to me.

Party of 7! in Key West - What a way to ring in your 30th birthday!   Key West was everything I could have wanted for my big 3-0. Being surrounded by great parents and great friends made me completely content and at peace with leaving my 20's behind me...because this great party of 7 was going to be around for the next decade!  Now if only we can figure out a way to have milestone birthday vacations every year, because this one was pretty epic!

6! Visits to places I've never been - Some of them near, some of them far, some of them little, some of them big, but all of them NEW!  Part of what makes life exciting is exploring the world - even if it's just in your backyard.  We've lived in New York for almost 5 years, and I had never made it out to Nantucket until this summer!  And if my cousin didn't get married in Providence, RI, I'm not sure I would have ever gone out there to spend a weekend.  This year every new city I saw this year was charming in different ways - but that might not be the case every time you see a new place...and that's ok!  But discovering new little destinations, good and bad, is really what life is about.  I'm so grateful to my husband for being the best international travel partner, and to our friends and family for also bringing us reasons to see the gems that our great country has to offer! 

5!  Years of Cape Christmas - FIVE YEARS with amazing friends and festive hosts.  Every year we start to plan this escape in like February...MONTHS before it's even close.  But it one of the weekends we look forward to most in the year, and we're looking forward to a 6th year in 2014!

4! Different countries visited - When I vowed to make 2014 a year of zen, I didn't say that would mean that we'd stay home and be hermits all year.  We were "zen" alright - but we were "zen" in different countries!  Instead of taking our typical itinerary-filled vacations chock full of reservations, sight-seeing & appointments, we took our travels abroad to RELAX!  We went to Turks & Caicos with no agenda.  We went to Greece with a stack of books and an endless supply of sunscreen.  And we went to England & Scotland to spend time with family in our cozy little Highland cottage.  This year, we proved that even with a jam packed agenda, and multiple exotic trips - you can still find a way to just wind down....even if you have to force yourself!

3! Meet & greets with our favorite bands - Mike & I love a summer concert series!  But not every year is this packed with the best shows. This year brought not only the LAST EVER tour with Motley Crue, but it also was our first time to see KISS together!  And let's not forget that we got to meet the legendary Def Leppard!  Def Leppard was one of the first concerts Mike & I went to together (Alkaline Trio was the REAL first!), so it was a life highlight to get to meet some of our favorite musicians ever.  In our early days of dating in LA, some of our friends so lovingly called Mike & I "Team Metal" - and we absolutely lived up to that this year.  I mean....did you SEE our Christmas card???

2! DuPont weddings - I've spoken about these two events quite a bit, but my brother & my cousin's weddings were the biggest news of the year.  Not only the actual special days themselves, but all that went into the exciting times for both of the gorgeous couples.  Weddings bring great parties, but they also bring showers, engagement parties, bachelorette parties, and in some cases, a SECOND reception!  So our year was pretty eventful and exciting between all of the fun surrounding the two DuPont weddings.  We're thrilled to have new family members join the DuPont side & can't wait to make more memories with the newlyweds!

1! Hunt to find the perfect home - I mentioned in my previous post that Mike & I have been moving full steam ahead with our house hunt.  We're so excited to end 2014 on this note, and hope to be able to share more exciting news with you early on next year.

2014, we're so sorry to see you go and we appreciate all the amazing memories that we've made over the past 365 days.  We're grateful for all the health, happiness, and ZEN you brought the Mobleys.  As we go into 2015, we look forward to more of the things that completed our year above.  More of the travel, more special moments with friends, more reason's to have big gatherings with our family - immediate AND extended, and more adventures with the love of my life.  So before we toast to 2015, cheers to YOU 2014, take a bow, you were fantastic.  What a year!

Christmas with a little Southern Charm!

We were beyond thrilled this year because this was a monumental occasion for Mike and I this Christmas.  This was the first time, in 7 years of celebrating the season together - the first Christmas where both the Mobley & DuPont families were in the same place....celebrating together. This was the first year that Mike and I didn't have to buy TWO flights and wake up early on Christmas morning to travel.  This was the first year we were able to have Christmas Eve with both sets of our parents.

We're so lucky that Mike's parents were generous enough to fly to Texas the few days leading up to Christmas so that we could all be together.  It's such a blessing that we were able to have that this year - and we're even more grateful that when our parents are all together - it just feels right.  It works, and it's absolutely wonderful.  Even though they had to leave on Christmas morning, we felt so so thankful to have the Mobleys in Texas for as long as we did.

Over the break, we had a few traditions that were blended from both families - and we had a few new adventures that will surely become part of our future holiday seasons in Texas.  True to my format, I'm choosing to share with you a few of the highlights below!

1.  The most merry carriage ride you've ever seen - Because we are in Texas, we may not have been dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh, but we had quite a festive outing with everyone.  My mom organized a carriage ride to take the 8 of us through Highland Park to take in all the spectacular Christmas lights!  So we packed up all of our cozy blankets, we filled up 6 flasks with belly-warming whisky, and we donned our gay apparel for a chilly ride in Dallas.  The carriage played some carols while the snow white horses trotted through the streets.  We were all mesmerized by the beauty and advancements in exterior illumination as we snuggled up together.  I've never done the carriage ride before, but it was spectacular & a very festive family activity to keep us all in the spirit.






2.  Lobster Dinner for 8 - It's become a DuPont tradition to cook lobsters for dinner on Christmas Eve and we couldn't wait to share the tradition with Mike's parents.  My dad flies the lobsters in straight from Maine, and they come out at the DFW baggage claim the day we cook them!  I'm not sure if it was the company, or the lobsters themselves, but this year - our crustaceaus meal was the best ever.  And we blended a Mobley tradition into our meal when Mike's parents brought out the party crackers so we could all wear our matching paper crowns!

3.  Family gift exchange - The Christmas tree at my parent's house had more presents under it than any other Christmas we've ever had.  My parents had all of their presents carefully wrapped, Mike & I had most of our gifts shipped to wrap in Texas, Mike's parents brought all of their gifts and stockings to Texas, and when it came time to open everything on Christmas eve, Garrett & Jenny brought a carload of goodies.  It was beautiful.  When we exchanged most of the gifts on Christmas Eve night (before both the Mobleys & Garrett & Jenny had to leave Texas), there was wrapping paper covering what seemed like every inch of the floor, there were ribbons found behind the couch cushions and the dogs were running around with foil bows in their mouths. We all paraded around the family room modeling our new treats and hugging each other for the thought and love that went into each and every gift we exchanged.  I haven't had a Christmas that felt this crazy since my brother and I were just little kids!

4.  Post Christmas Mav's Game - Because it was the day after Christmas, and the seats were open, we were so lucky to be given tickets to the Maverick's game against the Lakers at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas!  Not only was the game a treat, but the seats were fantastic!  We got to sit in a box, which means unlimited access to food AND drinks...for the whole game!  Not to mention, we had the greatest view in the arena!  The days immediately following Christmas can be a little sad because it's all over - but we kept the energy up with a little b-ball.

Mike & I spent a little bit more time in Texas after we lost a few family members on Christmas morning. We got a some extra time for extra snuggles on the couch with the pups, a few extra movies on Netflix, a couple more post-Christmas drinks, and 3 more days of much needed rest & relaxation. We were definitely missing two very special people who could have made our family fusion complete - and that was Mike's sister Jennifer & her husband Bill.  They were missed terribly in Texas, and would have been the perfect addition to our extremely festive Mobley/DuPont Southern Christmas.

We hope that you all had a blessed and enjoyable holiday with your families.  This was such a special year that went by way to quickly, but the season definitely peaked with us all together in Dallas.  I'm not sure where we'll all be next year, or who's turn it will be to host - but this year was one for the books!  Merry Christmas to you all with lots of love from the Mobleys!

Christmas is a time for family....

Every year since we've lived in New York, we've made it a tradition to join my Connecticut family for a nice holiday brunch in Connecticut with our family.  Sometimes there are close to 20 of us at the table, sometimes we show up with just 10 or so - but it's just a part of our holiday season that's become a mandatory.

We haven't been able to spend a Christmas with our Connecticut family since we've moved here - so this IS our Christmas in Connecticut.  And this year was extra special because as we snacked on Bloody Marys and plates over flowing with our brunch food selections, it was snowing!  The view we had from our family brunch was that of delicately falling snowflakes kissing the bare birch trees and perfectly manicured golf course outside the window. What a special sight to see while sitting among your favorite people.

Because we left for Texas the next morning, Mike and I turned back to head to New York right after brunch, but the day trip was the perfect seal to top off our time on the East Coast for Christmas.  We were unable to dedicate too much time to complete some of the other holiday traditions Mike & I typically allocate time for in the city.  We weren't able to get out to the Rockefeller tree this year, and we opted to see Sting in the Last Ship instead of a holiday spectacular with the Rockettes.  And this year we had the pleasure of attending the fantastic 50th birthday of a great friend instead of our dedicated Christmas date night.   But we never sacrifice our family time in Connecticut, even if it's just for the day, because it just completes the season.

We're headed out to Dallas to spend Christmas with our families out there & we can't wait to share the details of our 2nd Texas Christmas.

A Christmas Toast to Friendship

We opted not to have our big Christmas blowout party this year.  With Thanksgiving falling to late in November, and with the house hunt consuming our weekends - we couldn't pull it together this year.  And that was totally fine with us.  But we couldn't kick off the season without SOME KIND of celebration with our friends.

During Christmas, we are all inundated with business outings and pressures that come along with closing the year out - so the season tends to just pass us by unless you take a time out - preferably with your favorite friends.  So instead of the big partay chez Mobley, we had just 7 of our close friends over to have the opposite of a party - we just had a little mini cocktail celebration to kick off the season.  It was a time to raise a glass to another fantastic year of friendship.  A pause to hug and sing a Christmas carol with some of the people who have been the heart and soul of our New York family unit.

As they have so many years before, the boys ventured onto the patio for cigar time, we gathered around the kitchen table to catch up on the latest news in everyone's lives, Mike made his famously lethal eggnog, and we finally closed our apartment doors during the wee hours of the morning the next day.

Thank you to those who were able to stop by on such short notice.  Regardless of the smaller scale of attendees this year, it was still the most festive night of our entire New York Christmas season.  Once we have a house next year, I assure you friends, the Mobleys will return to our large scale Christmas bash!  I'm already starting the planning for 2015!

Texas Thanksgiving!

Since my parents bought their new home in Texas, their relaxing retreat has become the new norm at Thanksgiving for Mike & I the past few years...and we love it!  We headed down South for Thanksgiving the Wednesday before and the three days we were in Texas felt like they flew by much too quickly.  The weekend was full of some of the typical traditions that surround the family during the holidays.  These include dad's turkey on the Weber (the best way to cook a turkey in my opinion!), the boys enjoying some post dinner festive pipes, a little turkey day football (the Bears were playing this year....and proceeded to embarrass the entire family with their suckiness), some family games, and snuggles on the couch...with all of us...including all three dogs!

Thanksgiving was later in the month this year - which was a little bit of a bummer, because it's one of my favorite days of the year.  But even though it came and went so quickly, I still love my dedicated post to take time to reflect on the things I'm most grateful for this year.

All my siblings  - I grew up with one brother, and my family has officially grown by a few siblings - including my newest sister Jenny who just became a DuPont this year.  I'm so blessed to have both sets of brothers & sisters who are some of the greatest friends we could have.  We got to see Garrett & Jenny in Texas of course, but we miss Jennifer & Bill in San Francisco terribly - especially during the holidays!  We're so very grateful for you all, and everything you all bring to enriching our lives. I only wish we all lived closer!  Who wants in on a DuPont/Mobley compound!? :P

Health & Happiness - Another year has come around where we are so thankful for the health and happiness of each and every one of our family members.  We celebrated some major milestone birthdays this year.  My father celebrated a golden birthday turning 57 (and he was BORN in '57), Mike's father celebrated his 80th birthday, I celebrated my 30th, and my grandmother turned 80 this year as well.  As we add these candles to our birthday cakes, and as we watch another fantastic year come to a close, I couldn't be more grateful that we all have our health - one of life's greatest blessings.  

The world's most supportive parents - I just adore all four of them.  We have two sets of parents - with 32 and 44 years of marriage together.  They are not only fantastic examples for a loving marriage, but they are our greatest support system, they are our best friends, and they are so proud of us - for everything we do.  We've had a crazy year with pressures from work, our world travels, and our new house hunt - and we can't wait until we have a home that can host them so that we can see them more! They are always there for us when we need advice, guidance, or just a buddy to have a pint or a pipe with us (well the pipe more for Mike!). The four of them are all different in their own way, and I think that when we eventually have a little one, we have four of the greatest role models on the planet.  

My Husband - I just adore him too...I REALLY, really do.  He is the world's most patient man.  He's understanding and doesn't say a peep when I'm jetting off what seems like every other week for work commitments, he makes every accommodation for me when I'm working late, he drops off my dry cleaning (that's an expensive chore!), and he is the best fur daddy to Winston.  He puts everything he has into planning our dream vacations every single year - and because of him, we've been able to go on a "trip of a lifetime" every year.  I'm so grateful every single day for him, the greatest gift I've ever received.

We returned to New York to continue the holiday season, and this time, it was a little bit easier to leave our loved ones behind in Texas, but only because we knew we'd see everyone three weeks later for Christmas!  I can't believe it's over already!  The Mobleys hope you all enjoyed a blessed and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday!

Here we go a huntin'

Alright folks - this is a big one.  After what will be five years in New York City - the Mobleys are ready for a little more space...not like an extra bedroom & moving up to the Upper West Side space though - like YARD space, like a GUEST ROOM space....like HOUSE SPACE!  Yes, we're starting our hunt for our first house!  We're venturing away from the concrete jungle next year to the gorgeous county of Westchester to find our perfect home.

Before starting our house hunt, we had to discuss a few things in order to establish some priorities.  Would our house be a great deal on a fixer upper, or was it more important to be in move-in condition?  Did we want a festive hobbit-y Tudor home - so characteristic of Westchester, or the comfort and cozy retreat of a colonial?  Is it more important to renovate a kitchen or bathroom?  And if a house is perfect, but doesn't have an impressive backyard, do we count it out?  But what about a basement - do we care about having a finished basement?  These were all choices that we had to make before even selecting the homes we wanted to tour with our broker.

After what seemed like endless searches online, we have decided on Bronxville, New York as the future home of the Mobley family.  There were a few things that factored into this decision.  First was the proximity to the city.  Bronxville is a mere 28 - 32 minutes on the train to the city! That's closer than some commutes of my friends IN THE CITY!  Since we both work in Manhattan, and probably always will, at least in the foreseeable future, we didn't want to move somewhere that would mean we spent 2+ hours/day on a train.  That's just not fun.  The second thing we wanted from our future home was a village feel - a place that feels like a real town, not just a collection of neighborhoods.  Bronxville has the most adorable town that you ever did see.  There are still cobblestone streets in some of the older roads, the church is a stone masterpiece, and the streets are lined with vintage gas lamps (whether or not they still USE the gas lamps vs. electricity is still to be seen, but they are vintage, nonetheless).  And finally, it has to be said - we did think about schools.  We don't want to move to a town with a bunch of derelicts!  We wanted the option of great school for the eventual little WeeMobs that we'll have running around one day.  The first time we drove through Bronxville, and I saw the school...it was comparable to Hogwarts...well if Hogwarts was staged somewhere in New England...instead of REAL England.

So needless to say, this is an extremely exciting and potentially stressful or emotional time for us, Trulia has been an absolute lifesaver, and we are in love with the broker we found at Houlihan Lawrence.  And we know that at the end of this, we'll have a home! We can paint walls without having to worry about losing a security deposit!  We can build a real fire instead of having an electric space heater.  We can park our car in the garage instead of down the street for $350/month.  Wish us luck as we take on this journey and we can't wait to keep you all updated on the progress!