Our New 4 Runner

We got a new car this weekend! Vince & I had started the research and process of looking into getting a new SUV a month or so back. We knew we needed to trade in the Pathfinder b/c it was getting ready to roll 100,000 miles and was starting to have some probems. Vince went to the Toyota dealership that we bought his Camry at and he ended up finding this Limited Edition V8 Toyota 4 Runner. He worked out a great deal and called me to have me come up and look at it. I was in luv! It had everyting I wanted and more! Vince is happy to have me in a bigger car with many added saftey features.

We are heading to the Shore on Wednesday for some beach time! Some friends of ours have rented a Shore house for 2 weeks so we taking them up on their offer and head down! I told Vince he needed a day off to play at the water before summer was over! We are so excited for Carrie to come out and visit on the 21st.

Molly & Erin Visit Philly

July has been a busy month! Starting with a visit from Matty then a 4 day trip to Pittsburgh and wrapped it up with 2 great friends coming for a visit. Molly flew in last Monday and we headed straight to the shore! We went to Ocean City, NJ for a fun day of sand, sun and water! It was a beautiful day and we had a blast. Tuesday we went to explore Lancaster and then headed out for a fun night of bowling and beverages!

Wednesday I took Molly to Old City so she could see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We had a great lunch and walked around exploring! We then headed to the airport to pick up Erin! We went to a yummy dinner and the girls and I spend a nice evening on the patio catching up.
Thursday morning Molly had to leave and then Erin and I had a nice day.

Friday we got up early and headed to NYC. This was Erin's first trip to the Big Apple. We had a busy day and Brian volunteered to be our official tour guide for the day. We were all over the city...World Trade Center, St Pauls, Harbor, Battery Park, Took a Harbor Tour, Times Square, SoHo, China Town and Little Italy. We got home Friday night and Vince had prepared a great dinner on the grill for us! Saturday we went to the Phillies game with the KU Alumni group-we had a great time! Sunday we took Erin to Old City for brunch and then went to the Liberty Bell, Love Park, Reading Terminal and Rittenhouse Square (where are old apartment was). Monday i took Erin to have her first ever Cheesesteak! I think she was really surprised at how yummy it was!

We are so thankful for Molly & Erin coming for a visit and we hope they come back soon!

Pittsburgh!

Vince finally got me to go to Pittsburgh, PA with him! I finally gave in and agreed to go for the weekend. Vince and Kate a girl he works with from Ohio National had a client event on Sunday. So I went to Pittsburgh not very thrilled about the trip and boy was I wrong about Pittsburgh! We had a blast! We had a date night on Thursday and went to the famous Primanti Bros sandwich shop and had a crazy sandwich. There is only one way they make them...bread, meat, cheese, french fries, coleslaw and tomatoes. The sandwich is HUGE and was really yummy! After dinner we headed to an Irish Pub called Finnigans and had a few drinks. It was a great night out with Vince! Friday Vince had some client meetings on Friday so I relaxed and got a pedicure and then we had a client Happy Hour to attend at SoHo Bar with Kate and her husband Marty. Our plan was to go to the Pirates game but a huge storm rolled in and we ended up having a great steak dinner and then heading to South Side and meeting up with our friend Baine. We had not seen Baine in about 2 years so it was great to see him!

Thanks Baine for showing us a GREAT time in your city!

Saturday we headed to the Strip District for lunch and did a little shopping! Saturday night we went up on MT Washington and had a drink at a bar looking down at the city of Pittsburgh. The view was amazing. Some rain moved in and then a rainbow showed and then a double rainbow! We then headed to a nice dinner at a restaurant named the Tin Angel. The restaurant had huge windows that over looked the river and the city. We timed this perfectly and we were finishing dinner right when the Pirates game ended and they were putting on a fireworks show! We had a front row view of them and it was really cool!

Sunday we went to Vince and Kate's client event and then headed back to Philly. We are now excited to start our week of visitors with Molly and then Erin!

Matts Trip to Philly

July is the month of visitors...and it starts with Matty! Matt got in Wednesday night and I took him straight to WaWa to grab a sandwich! Which he loved! Gosh who would have thought one of the best turkey sandwichs I have ever had would come from the gas station! Well I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since we love Oklahoma Joes BBQ in KC and they are in a gas statioin!

Thursday we decided to head up to NYC! Luckily our friend Brian took the afternoon off and played with us in the city. We had a great lunch and then headed to Central Park-it was a great day with temps only in the 70's and lots of sunshine. We walked around the park for an hour or so and then hit 5th Ave. We went to FAO and played on the giant piano from the movie BIG! We then went to an Irish Pub to quench our thirst and then we headed back to Philly.

Friday we headed to Center City for lunch at a yummy Italian restaurant and then we went to the museum and ran up the famous Rocky stairs! I had never done it before so I was glad we got to do it!

Then we ventured a few blocks and went to the North Eastern State Penitentiary to show Matt our very own Alcatraz. He seemed to enjoy it and Vince & I didn't mind going on the tour again.

We hurried home to change and pack up the car for Matt & I's first Phillies game. Vince has been a few times and always talks about how great it is! We loaded up and headed to the stadium for a little tailgating but then we learned that you can't tailgate. Vince & Matt were not happy campers. We learned that you could sit in the car and have a beer but you can't sit or stand in the parking lot. So the boys made me sit in the car with them as we "tailgated". Once we made it in to Citizens National Park it was amazing. It is a huge stadium with tons of vendors, restaurant, bars and shops. The Phillies beat the Pirates so it was a great night!

Saturday we decided that it was the perfect day to go to the shore. Boy were we wrong...the 1 hr 20 min drive took us 3 1/2 hours because of all the traffic. I guess everyone had the same idea about going to the shore. But we finally made it to Ocean City, NJ and parked and headed to the beach! We landed a perfect spot right by the water and set up shop! We tried out our new beach chairs, played in the water, looked for shells and walked along the beach. After a few hours it was time to pack it up and head back to Philly so we would get Matt to the airport.

Thanks for coming to visit Matty! Hope you had as much fun as we did and that you hurry back soon!
Up next to visit is Molly then Erin then Carrie then my parents and then Marci! We are so happy to have visitors! Also FYI we had to use a credit we had with US Air so we will booked some tickets and will be back in KC October 8-12...perfect timing for Carrie's birthday and KU Homecoming.

4th of July

Well the 4th of July sure did sneak up on us this year...I still can't believe it is summer since we have had such mild temps. Vince & I were planning on staying home and enjoy our 3 day weekend by finishing up some projects we needed to get done around the house. But then our friend Emily and her boyfriend George invited us to go into the city to hang out and have a few drinks. So we took the train into the city about 2 pm and had a late lunch and then headed to Old City and found a great bar with outdoor seating! We sat and chatted and people watched until we realized it was getting late and we all needed to get home! The rest of the weekend was spent finishing up some landscaping and fixing some baseboards that needed repair. All in all it wasn't a bad 4th of July in Philly but we sure did miss being in KC with everyone.

Exploring Baltimore

Vince & I have made it a goal to try to explore as much as we can on the East Coast while we have easy access to it. So this past weekend we decided to head south of the Mason-Dixon line and check out Baltimore. A little added bonus was that our friends Trish & Jim were in Baltimore for Trish's sisters wedding. We spent Saturday exploring downtown Baltimore and the Inner Harbor. We had lunch at a local pub and sat outside with the local just relaxing. This is when we really realized we were in the South...people were actually friendly and a lot of men were smoking cigars! After we ate we walked around and sat by the water and had a snack before returning to our hotel to get ready for dinner.

Vince had found a restaurant on the water that seemed promising and it was! We started with some yummy crab dip and followed it up with 8 jumbo crabs. I didn't realize how hard we would work for our dinner and how dirty we would get! But it was a blast and the best crab we have had!

We got back to the hotel and met up with Trish & Jim at the hotel bar. It was great seeing them and catching up. We also got to spend some quality time with baby Madelyn Sunday morning! After a quick lunch with Trish, Jim & Madelyn we headed back to Philly for a nice relaxing Sunday evening. I was really surprised how much I actually liked Baltimore and I still can't believe it is only 1 1/2 hrs away!

June has not been what we have expected-cool temps and rain almost daily. So we are looking forward to July and hopefully some summer weather! We are also excited for all the visitors that will be visiting us Matty will be here next week followed by Molly and then Erin! We are so excited to get to show our family & friends what Philly is all about! We hope for more visitors in the following months!

The Big 3-0 in NYC

Well Vince completely out did himself for my birthday. He took me to New York City for the weekend! We stayed at The Regency by Loews at 61st and Park Ave-it was a very nice hotel! Unfortunately Friday was super wet-it rained all day and all night. But that didn't stop us from still having fun and exploring!








We went to lunch at Serendipity which was a cool atmosphere but the food lead something to be desired.






Then we walked around and ended up in Bloomingdales and V told me to pick out a present...what a great hubby! We came across a build your own charm necklace and I was in luv! I got 3 charms...a V for Vince, a Paw Print for Miles and a Star to represent our future goals/wishes.






Then we headed for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Scalinatella-it was a very nice dinner. We wrapped up the evening at the hotel lounge for a night cap.














Saturday was a busy day full of sight seeing!

We started out at a diner for breakfast and then took the subway to Battery Park. We wanted to
go to the Statue of Liberty but as we were in line for tickets they sold out. So we walked around the Financial District and saw the Bull and the NY Stock Exchange.














We then grabbed a quick lunch and took a ferry boat tour on the harbor. We got to see the whole city, Lady Liberty and Ellis Island.


































When we got done we went to St Paul's Chapel which is one of the churches that the firefighters slept at after September 11th. It was a very touching experience.

We then went and cleaned ourselves up and went to Union Square to meet Brian & Daniel for dinner at an Asian restaurant called Saigon Grill. It was a nice birthday dinner. Vince ordered the Sea Bass and below is a pic of what came to the table!
















At dinner Vince had another present for me...a beautiful diamond necklace. He did an amazing job picking it out!














We then went out to grab a few birthday drinks at an Irish Pub called Slones and then headed to Hells Kitchen and went to a bar called Mercury and then went and walked around Times Square. They have closed off Broadway in the heart of Times Square and placed lawn chairs out for people to sit and take in the views.























Sunday morning we hit another diner for breakfast and then headed back to Philly. Miles' kennel was full for the weekend so he had to go to PetsMart and stay at their hotel. I was a bit worried since he is so weird about being away from home but he had a blast! He went to day camp and loved playing with the other dogs! All in all the weekend was way more than I could have expected I am so lucky to have my hubby!