1 Year!!

This past weekend, Matt and I celebrated our 1 year Wedding Anniversary!  We had fabulous and very memorable time. :)  Since two weeks ago when Matt started planning our celebration (I put him in charge!) we didn't know that we were going to be buying an apartment, plans had to make a slight change to be a little less extravagant.  Matt had already bought us tickets to go see Blue Man Group, which I was very excited about, I've been wanting to see it for years!, so that was a no brainer, but instead of going out for a super fancy schmancy (expensive) dinner, we found a little Indian Restaurant in the East Village near the theater and it was FABULOUS!!  It even had live Indian music, very authentic!

On the way to our Romantic evening out.

Our musicians for the night.

Me and my banana fritter app....yummmmm!! (I didn't know then that my night was going to be full of nanners...see below!)

After dinner, we made our way over to the show and it was so great!  At the very beginning, when everyone is heading inside and getting seated, they have this little scrolling marquee on stage that says things like "no photography" and "you better pee now because there is no intermission."  Then once the lights start to go down, it starts asking everyone to read aloud things like "let's welcome so and so, the gold medalist in curling in the 2010 Olympics" (I highly doubt he was really there) and "let's say hello to so and so, the discoverer of the human genome" (I know for a fact that he wasn't there!) and then it said "and let's give a hello to Matthew Hendricks!  Matthew is just an average, ordinary guy, but let's say hi to him anyway."  So then everyone in the audience said hi to Matt and or course I made a point of being extremely conspicuous and pointing him out to all.  He was slightly embarrassed, but was a really good sport.  After the crowd died down, I looked over at him, thinking he had planned the whole thing as a funny anniversary moment, but he looked just as shocked and surprised as me, so I knew it was just a fluke!  So, then the show started and it was hilarious and very entertaining and about halfway through the Blue Men starting roaming through the audience, climbing over seats like they were looking for something/one.  All of a sudden, I found myself surrounded by three Blue Men and next thing I knew I was being escorted onto the stage and was a part of their "Twinkie Skit."  The twinkie skit consisted of me sitting on stage at a table with the three of them, and opening their twinkies for them and all of us sharing and stealing twinkies and a Blue Man trying to feed me twinkie bites and me trying not to have to eat a twinkie because I haven't had one in about 10 years and I've never really liked them, but still wanting to be a good sport, so I did end up eating about half of one, and in the midst of all this, I am cracking up and shaking just a little (who knew I'd be nervous up on a stage!!) and the Blue Men keep staring at me because they don't talk and all of a sudden this vomit looking goo (upon closer inspection I realized it was just smashed bananas) came spurting out of one of the guys shirts and just when I got over that, the same goo started spurting out of the cape that they had put on me!  

Here's a pic they took of me as the banana goo was spurting out of my cape...I was just a little shocked!

It was so hilarious and I thought to myself, as I was being walked back down to my seat trying not to slip and carrying my "doggy bag" of banana goo, I am never, ever going to forget this night!  And that's what anniversaries are supposed to be about, right?  Not reservations at a crazy, exclusive restaurant or a surprise weekend getaway to somewhere remote and exotic (although, if Matt wanted to surprise me with that one year, I certainly wouldn't argue), but a hilarious, fun moment that you will remember sharing forever with the one you love most! So, having said that, this was the perfect 1st anniversary for us!  We did try to stick with the paper theme of the 1 year traditional gift giving list....Matt got me the tickets and a lovely card (and flowers :)) and I gave him a picture from our 1st dance with the lyrics of the song printed on it.  I thought it was pretty crafty and he loved it!

So, to many, many, many, many (etc) more anniversaries to come!  Love you babe!!! So happy to be spending my life with someone I can crack up with!!!  (Really!!!)

xoxox

Matt and I in front of the theater

Me with my doggy bag and a Blue Man kiss!

My fabulous anniversary outfit! (and Maggie Lu, she wanted to be part of the festivities too!)

Maggie the Model

One more thing to add....

As you all know, our little Maggie Lu did quite a bit of modeling this summer...between fit modeling for size small doggie sweaters to live action photoshoots, she was a busy, busy girl!  Here is a page of The Limited Lookbook that she is currently in!  If you happen to be in a Limited store, ask if you can take a little looksie and there she will be...looking cute as ever on page 9, Nicole's Favorites- Skirt!

BTW- She was looking at me in this pic, so technically I'm famous by proxy! ;-)

Cousin Connor and a Can Factory

Hello Everyone!

So this week has been a little bit of a busy one!!  My cousin Connor came to visit from Sequim, Washington (that's right near Forks, for all you vampire fans out there ;)) and it was his first time in NYC so I had to be an extra good tour guide.  Connor and I haven't spent much time together in the last 17 years of his life because his family moved up to WA right after he was born, but we had an absolute blast roaming around the city together!  Because he is 17 and slightly indecisive and sometimes quite silent and also claims to not be a "touristy person," we spent a lot of time conversing like this:

Me: Hey Conman, so what do you think you want to do today?

Connor: Uhhhh, I don't know

Me: OK, well, what can I make you for breakfast and I think I'll pack us lunches too, what do you feel like?

Connor: Uhhh, I don't know...doesn't matter

Me:  OK, well is there anything you want to see or do in the Big Apple so you can go back home and brag to all your friends that you got to miss 5 days of school to come to NYC and see and do all this cool stuff?

Connor: Uhh, yeah, sure

That's pretty much the gist of it....don't get me wrong, he is a super intelligent and funny and witty and interesting little cuzzie and I love him dearly, he just wasn't too big on talking and planning out our day, which to a type A, control freak, planner person like me was just a little crazy!  But, we had a fabulous time taking in the sites in a non-touristy kind of way.  I took him down to Wall Street to check out the outside of the stock exchange (no more tours since the market crash) and man-handle the nether-regions of the Bull.  We also took the Staten Island ferry to SI and back so we could get a good view and photo op of Lady Liberty (for those who don't know, it's a great and FREE way to see the Statue!).  We spent some time parkouring in Central Park, took a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and even went to the Museum of Natural History and the NY Public Library (which I had never been to before!!). Oh, and we also went to one of my favorite treat spots in the whole city....Magnolia Bakery! Every time someone visits NYC, we always take them to Magnolia....it's a great excuse to go and eat tasty cupcakes, it would just be downright rude to deny my guests the pleasure!

 

Here is me trying to get a pic of the two of us on the SI Ferry with my phone....only slightly successful

 

Here's Conman and Lady Liberty herself....I swear she looked much bigger in person!
  

Lovey and Boo (Connor and me....my family is full of nicknames, this is what we called each other all weekend, I don't think he called me 'Holly' once) on the Brooklyn Bridge

 Conman ready to dig into those cupcakes!

Me in front of one of the lions at the New York Public Library

 Maggie Lu and Conman had quite a bit of bonding time....she's actually really sad now that he is gone...come back to NYC Lovey!

 Me and Matt hanging at Liberty State Park in NJ waiting for Connor to get off his Ellis Island/Liberty Island tour with his new GFs ;-)

There's Connor and his entourage of 16 year old girls....I had to take it from super far away so that I wasn't the embarrassing older cuzzie....isn't the sky amazing...and look at that view!!

 

Here is a very crude video of Connor and I and our Parkour endeavours.  He's pretty amazing and I'm...well, not. ;-)  Sorry the video is so choppy and piecemeal, but I think it adds to the excitement of it! Please note my signature "dismount," that's about my only claim to fame in this video.

So, another thing that Connor got to experience in NYC (well actually in New Jersey) was Matt and I BUYING A CONDO!!!!!  Yup, I said it....we are officially homeowners AND we're moving to JERSEY!!!  This is our BIG news, if you didn't already guess that or maybe you already knew because I kind of have a big mouth and was telling a bunch of people before I really was supposed to tell people, but that's OK, because now I can officially tell people and we are so excited and overwhelmed and stunned and thrilled and stressed (only because of all the paperwork and the process in general)!!!  The building is called Canco Lofts and it is a gut renovation of an old can factory...The American Can Company (hence my post title).  We looked at it back in June and were seriously considering it, but things didn't work out and so we decided to put our house hunt on hold for a bit.  Then, last Friday (yes, only a week ago) we got an email from them telling us that the two-bedroom duplex prices had dropped significantly and so we made an appt that day and Conman, Matt and I drove to Jersey to take a look and next thing I knew we were signing paperwork and writing checks and getting CANCO t-shirts and taking pics of our new place! Whew...so, it's been a whirlwind to say the least!  It took me a minute to realize that I would be moving out of Manhattan and therefore leaving NYC (technically) but I am a true NYer at heart (and by blood....thanks Grandma and Papa!), plus, I'll still be in the city every day and I'll just be across the Hudson River!!  Anyway, here are some pics for you to peruse and enjoy!  And start making your plans now, because we are definitely going to have a waitlist to stay in that fabulous guest room.....all are welcome anytime, so come visit us!!!

 Our new Kitchen

 Master Bedroom

 Walk-in closet!!! Yes!!!

 Guest Room

 Living Room

Stairway

 Real stairs....no chintzy spiral staircase in this duplex!

 Our 14' windows!

 Downstairs bathroom

Master Bathroom

So, that's all for now (I know that was a mouthful!).  Our anniversary is in two days, so I should have another fun update after the weekend!  And, we have a show coming up on October 2nd, so if you want to come and support me and Vissi, that would be magnificent!!

Til next time my lovelies....

xoxo

BIG news...

Hello my faithful followers!

I don't have time to blog a fantastically impressive blog worthy of our big news....but let me just tell you the Hendricks fam has some BIG news, and it's not an addition to the family...technically. :)

So, sorry to say I'm going to leave you hanging for the day, but I promise this week I will fill you all in. Until then, you can enjoy these pics of our little munchkin lounging around.  Isn't she so cute?!

xoxo

Holly and Jen + Fashion's Night Out

Last Friday, Jen and I partook in a much anticipated NYC event called Fashion's Night Out.  It is a night when a lot of shops and boutiques all over NYC are open late and have special things going on inside the stores.  A lot of them have celebrity appearances or fun activities and sales going on and almost all of them have FREE drinks!  Well, since I am on a self proclaimed spending moratorium and Jen is equally as thrifty these days, that is exactly what we were on the hunt for!  We started on the West side of 59th and Lex at Banana Republic and got our free glass of wine and mini cupcake as we browsed the store looking for deals. After Jen picked up a super cute tank that was on sale, we proceeded to make our way down the east side of Lexington Avenue stopping only in stores that had some sort of Free drink!

Cheers from Barami!  Tacky store and not so great wine...but hey, it was FREE!

We were quite pleased with Kenneth Cole's sparkling wine choice and were about to rank that #1 of the night until we stopped in at Sephora and found this!

The mini bottles of Moet champagne were perfect!!!  They even had these little spouts that you could put on the top so it felt like you were drinking out of a champagne glass.  We probably spent about an hour in Sephora roaming around, smelling perfumes and applying lip gloss and anti-wrinkle cream.  At one point we made our way upstairs to hang out with the awesome DJ and have a little "Thriller" dance off with one of the employees.  It was super fun!

Jen getting some lip gloss advice

It's never too early to start applying that anti-wrinkle eye cream!

DJ Jimmy Jam....my kind of DJ playing lot's of MJ and Prince!

Thriller dance off among the face creams

So, even though we may not have taken full advantage of the fashion part of Fashion's Night Out, I would still deem our night pretty successful!  Any night you can spend out in NYC without spending anything but your metrocard swipe (and a tank top and lip gloss in Jen's case) is a good night for me!  Can't wait for next year's FNO!  Maybe next time I'll actually buy something. :)

After a night full of fashion and free drinks!

A Change of Season

Since Summer will soon be coming to a close and my favorite NYC season is almost upon us, I realized I needed to say goodbye to my sunny, bird background and get ready for FALL!  We have had quite the summer in this city and I am so excited to walk outside and not sweat bullets and be able to wear jeans and a cute light jacket and not pay $200 for an electric bill and just be all around Autumny!  I know I'm not very original in my love for fall in NYC, but who cares....I am so excited for the next few months.

So....bye bye birdies and hello autumn themed toile!

Labor Day Weekend!

For Labor Day weekend this year, Matt and I decided that we were going to drive out to Michigan to visit his parents.  We don't mind the drive out there, we are actually really good road-trip buddies and, to the dismay of both our moms, we drive thru the night at least one way so we don't eat up a whole day with the 690 miles it takes to get there.  Sooo, Thursday night, Matt picked me up from rehearsal at 10 pm with Maggie, duffel bags, all of Jer's stuff that we had at our apt and 2 weeks worth of laundry in tow, and we set out.  The drive was pretty uneventful, except for the massive traffic we hit just outside the city and the weird spooky diner we stopped at to get a burger at around midnight.  I drove until about 4:30 in the morning singing along to guilty pleasures such as The Eagles "Hotel California" and "The Spring Awakening" soundtrack while Matt and Maggie snoozed in their respective seats.  Once Matt and I switched spots, I got to take a little rest for a whole hour and a half before he woke me up to keep him company.  Maggie was also in need of some attention, so she decided she would hang out on my lap for the rest of the trip instead of snuggling in her bed in the backseat, which she had done for the first half of the trip.

This is what my lap looked like for 5 hours of the trip :)

Matt was serious about keeping his "precious cargo" (aka me and the Magster) safe!

We finally got to Battle Creek, Michigan (home of Post and Kellogg!) around 9:45 Friday morning.  We were greeted by Matt's mom and the FOUR dogs that currently reside at the Hendricks abode.  Maggie was less than thrilled to be sniffed by Frankie, Wally, Tobey and Peanut, but she got over it pretty quickly and settled in with her furry pals.  

We spent most of the weekend just hanging out, watching movies, napping and eating....all the usual stuff that we love to do while we are visiting in MI. On Saturday, we did venture out to hang out with Matt's Grandma (Dottie) and took her to lunch at Applebees!  (Well, I guess technically she took us to lunch since she insisted on paying) OK, so I know I live in NYC with a million amazing restaurants at my grasp every day, but I have to say, if there is one chain restaurant that I love to go to, it is definitely Applebees.  Give me an Oriental Chicken wrap (with grilled chicken) and some Tomato Basil soup, and I am one happy camper!!  

Me and Matt with Grandma D!

Penny, Grandma Dottie and Matt

After we got back from lunch, Matt, Maggie and I took a little snooze on our favorite chair in his parents' living room.  Aren't we so cute....the sleeping Hendricks'. :)

Later that evening, we took a nice little pre-dinner stroll along the river in downtown Battle Creek, but not before Matt decided he wanted to get a haircut.  Now, where, do you ask, does one get a haircut in Battle Creek, Michigan....well, the mall, of course!!  So, Matt and I drove on over to Master Cuts in the Battle Creek Mall and waited in line with all of the other patrons.  Apparently, Saturday is a very busy haircutting day at the mall and we had to wait about 20 minutes before he could see a styling expert.

I snuck a quick photo....I wish you could see the outside of the shop where the fountain and the food court are!

The "after" pic...lookin' good babe!

Sunday was our last day in Battle Creek for the weekend because we had plans to go meet up with Matt's cousin Aaron and his wife Diana (our wedding photographer) in Royal Oak where they live, which is about 2 hours from Matt's parents.  Before we left, we decided it would be fun to have one last family activity, so we made our way on over to Turkeyville, a working Turkey farm in Marshall, Michigan about 20 minutes from Matt's parents.  Sunday was their flea market day and the grounds surrounding the Turkeyville building were filled with booth after booth of people selling anything from antique milkglass to broken '80's action figures....it was awesome!!!

Thought this was pretty cool

This too!

After perusing the flea market for a while, we headed inside to have a tasty, turkey lunch....oh the choices!  They had everything from full on Thanksgiving turkey dinners to turkey tacos to turkey salad sandwiches.  It was quite delicious, although, I did get a little sad when we walked outside after lunch and stumbled upon some roaming turkeys that would end up being next week's lunch or possibly this year's Thanksgiving dinner. :-/  

One of our new Turkey friends

Here's me riding the "Turkey Tractor"

After we left the turkey farm, we went back to Matt's parents to load the car and say our goodbyes, and then made the 2 hour drive over to Royal Oak.  While we were there, we hung out with all of Aaron and Diana's awesome friends and went to this huge music and food festival that was going on for the weekend called Arts, Beats and Eats. It was so much fun roaming the streets and checking out all of the different music acts at the various stages setup around the city.  It ended up being a very late night and despite the fact that we didn't get to bed until after 2 am, we all still managed to wake up around 9 monday morning to go to breakfast together.  Aaron and Diana took us to a super cute, little diner right by their house and after breakfast we loaded up the car once again to make the long journey home.  We got a little bit of a later start than we had originally planned, but didn't mind because we were making pretty good time until we realized that our stupid navigation was taking us north to drive back to NYC thru Canada....ummm, I don't think so Garmina!!!!  You would think that a navigation would let you know if you were going to be driving internationally before setting you out on your trip, but oh no, not ours....I think this will be the last long drive we will be taking with her.  RIP Garmina, you have led us astray for the last time.  We finally got going in the right direction and despite losing over an hour because of the above technical issues, we made it home with no traffic and collapsed into bed at midnight!  

Maggie Lu ready for the drive home

All in all, we had an absolutely fantastic weekend!!  I even convinced a whole group of Michiganders to sign up and run the NYC half marathon in March 2011 with me....we'll see how that pans out!!  

We didn't realize until the end of our trip, but Matt and I packed the exact same shoes for the weekend (Rainbows and Sperrys)  Awww....so cute and maybe slightly cheesy but I love it!!

'Til next time....

xoxo