Maggie Lu's famous....AGAIN! :)

Hi Everyone!!

Just a quick post to brag about my little munchkin being famous again.  Tonight Matt and I were perusing The Limited website and came across this little number...

We are soooo proud!! :)   

On another topic, totally unrelated...I found mouse poo in my kitchen tonight! GRRRRR!!  If there is one thing I cannot wait to not have to deal with when we move is MICE!  Hopefully they can't chew thru concrete or make their way up to the 6th floor.  

Night, night my faithful followers!!  Show weekend and Mom & Dad visit update coming soon! 

xoxo

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!