Ode to Chance

I feel as though we have been somewhat biased in our pet coverage over the past few days. Not to worry anyone, but Chance is still alive and well and a permanent fixture in the Hesseltine House. Just to be fair, please enjoy the chance montage that expresses our deep love for the first born :)

Addison

Here is a picture of Addison (It's actually from the Plano Animal Shelter website, but we haven't actually taken any real pictures yet, so this will have to do!) She has really warmed up and has the sweetest disposition. Her favorite place at the moment is Johnn's pillow, so obviously he's going to have to figure something else out :)

Adoption Day

Well, we had a new addition welcomed into the Hesseltine house today- We got a new cat! Her name is Addison and she's a ginger tabby. We got her from the Plano Animal Shelter. I could have taken home almost every cat and dog in there. She was a little skiddish at first- she hid under the couch for about 5 hours. Johnn had to lift up the couch 3 times as I crawled underneath to fish her out.

She's definitely warmed up though. She's proved to be quite spunky and has been on the edge of our bed most of the night as I watched a movie. As of right now, we only have video, but we'll get some pictures up tomorrow!

The first video is Addison hiding under the couch as we attempt to coax her out with food. It did not work.



This next one is after we lifted the couch and I crawled underneath it and got her out and we attempted to use food again to keep her above ground-



We'll post more pictures tomorrow!

A&M Game starts a busy week

This past weekend A&M put up a good fight (?) against Miami at home. Johnn and I were originally supposed to go together, but I had some looming paper deadlines and thought it best to stay home- and good friend Carson willingly took my place.

It was probably best that I didn't go, because it ended up being a boys night out (well weekend "night" out) - Hopefully we'll get those pictures posted soon.

The week has gone down somewhat after the game- Mid-term season is upon us and Johnn and I are both staying busy with papers, projects, lots of reading and presentations. If we can survive until mid-October, we should be okay :)

Please watch my and Ashley's Conan O'Brien debut (check it out on youtube if you're having problems watching the video from our blog)

It's just after midnight in New York City, Ashley is asleep and I am in the hotel lobby updating our blog for the last time before we return to Dallas.

We just completed our last full day here in New York and found ourselves wishing we could stay longer. I don't think either one of us are ready to return home and face the real world (i.e., paying rent, full-time jobs, and graduate school). Vacationing in New York is much more fun.

I am proud to say we haven't seen the inside of a car since we took a cab from the airport to our hotel. We took full advantage of our MetroCards and rode the subway every day rather than taking a cab or bus.

Our alarms are set for 7am. After getting out of bed, Ashley and I will have breakfast, finish packing, and take a cab to LaGuardia to catch our 10am flight.

I haven't had an opportunity to get in front of the laptop since Thursday. So, I will start this post with pictures from Friday.

The New York Stock Exchange



The Charging Bull in Bowling Green Park, near Wall Street



Lady Liberty





Ashley, from the pedastal upon which the Statue of Liberty sits, with a view of the southern tip of Manhattan in the distance



Phantom of the Opera at Broadway's Majestic Theatre





Times Square at night



On Saturday, Ashley and I started the day at ground zero before heading to Yankee Stadium for a 1pm game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees were in danger of being shutout before a bottom of the ninth home run from Bobby Abreu. They ultimately lost the game 7-1.









Do you recognize the two persons in the photo below? One of them is New York Yankee's starting pitcher Joba Chamberlain.

It should be noted that, intially, I was uncomfortable with asking Joba to stop what he was doing to take a picture with me. Finally, Ashley approached him and asked if he would be willing to take a photograph with her husband. He of course said yes.



A sneak preview of the new Yankee Stadium being built across the street from the existing Yankee Stadium



After the game, Ashley and I took a detour through Central Park





After returning to the hotel, we took a quick nap before having dinner at Connolly's on West 45th



Well, it's 1am and I'm off to bed. Goodbye from New York City.

Today is September 11th. We started the morning off going shopping at Bloomingdale's. I (Ashley) bought a few shirts there :) It was a good time.





From there, we headed to the Flatiron Building- took some pictures, walked through Madison Square Park and enjoyed lunch at Limerick's. This was a pub that was filled with every construction worker from the area, and although it was lunchtime, they decided on the beer instead- I guess that's just what you do in NYC on your lunch break :)





After lunch we headed to The Morgan Library and Museum. This, I think Johnn and I would agree, was one of the highlights of our trip. It's basically a library of written texts. They have three Guttenberg Bibles, handwritten musical texts from Chopin, Wagner and other greats. It includes the personal Library of J. P. Morgan and is connected to his brownstone as well. Overall, such a great excursion.



Perhaps the highlight of our trip was the visit to Late Night with Conan O'Brien. This was absolutely amazing. Neither one of us had ever been to a live taping before and the experience was incredible. The studio was a lot smaller than I pictured, and Conan came out before and after the show to warm up the crowd. The most interesting part was when the stand in for part of a "bit" between Conan and this actor took place right next to Johnn- He's literally on camera every time it pans to the actor stand in- the wouldn't allow photography in the studio, obviously, but it really was quite an experience.

(This is a picture of Rockefeller Center)




After Conan, we headed back to the hotel to do some research for dinner. We finally broke down after some unsuccessful research and asked the conceirge for some suggestions. We eneded up at Bobby Van's Steakhouse in Midtown (on 54th between Park and Lexington), which is rated as one of the top 10 steakhouses in the country. There are really no words to describe the food- It was definitely some of the best steak we've ever had. Amazing! I had the Filet Mignon and Johnn had the Steak a la Stone. Both were cooked Medium Rare and dripping with juices. Needless to say, we ate way too much and thoroughly enjoyed every bite- and of course, we had to get dessert, New York Cheesecake, also incredibly delicious- and now we are stuffed to the brim. Here is a picture of us at the end of dinner:



Today was a great day, sad that the trip is on the last leg rather than the first. It's been so enjoyable so far, but not over yet! Tomorrow we have the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Financial District and Broadway! Should be just as great a day!

Ashley and I began Wednesday morning with a trip to Greenwhich Village. While in the Village, we visited Washington Square Park and it's famous arch.



...as well as a building most famously known for it's "television tenants." If you are a fan of the television series Friends, this building will be familiar. Otherwise, this is probably just a picture of Ashley standing in front of some random Greenwhich Village building.



After visiting Greenwhich Village, we took the subway to Coney Island. Our first stop after reaching Coney Island was the original Nathan's at the corner of Surf and Stillwell. I had a chili dog and fries and Ashley had a hot dog and fries. Probably the quickest 1,000 calories of my life, but very well worth it.



...a picture of Ashley on the pier which extends from the beach on Coney Island.



After leaving Coney Island, Ashley and I stopped at Canal Street to do some shopping before heading back to the hotel. We had a few drinks at the hotel bar, did some late afternoon blogging, and made our way to Shea Stadium to see the Mets and Nationals. After blowing a 6 run lead, the Mets ultimately bested the Nationals by a score of 13-10 (box score). Shea Stadium was very cool but the new stadium (Citi Field) is going to be phenomenal. You can see the new stadium just over the center field wall.





Okay, my laptop battery is getting low. I'm going to call it a night. We have the Guggenheim, Museum of Modern Art, and Conan O'Brien tomorrow. Can't wait! Until then...

Tuesday, Sept. 09

We didn't have a chance to blog yesterday, so today, Wednesday, we're playing a little catch up. Yesterday was a little rainy in NYC, but it wasn't too bad, just a bit wet. We started our day going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We spent all morning there and still felt rushed. That is a place you could spend several days, but we made the best and tried to hit all the things we wanted to see:






After the MET, we went to Serendipity III for lunch. I think whimsical is the best word to describe this restaurant. Lunch was good, but we went there for the dessert:

This is the peanut butter frozen hot chocolate (Johnn was in heaven) It was very good. Serendipity 3

After Serendipity, we visited Grand Central Station, the New York Public Library and Bryant Park. Coincidentally, Fashion Week is going on at Bryant Park, which we noticed after several women who were all over 5'10" and under 110 lbs. started walking past us in droves. We did a little people watching and needless to say were entertained for quite a while.

For dinner, we went to NOBU 57, which is right around the Plaza Hotel area. We decided to branch away from sushi and try some different things: Johnn got the salmon tartar and I started with the lobster ceviche. Next, I had the creamy crab (basically crab meat with this amazing sauce!) and Johnn had the black cod with miso sauce, also amazing. We ended the night with some sushi just to have it, and it was also very good! This is a picture of us at the restaurant:

After dinner, we made it an early night and went to bed around 1130 or so.

Ashley and I began our Monday morning with a trip to Tal Bagels. I had the smoked peppered turkey on a whole wheat bagel. Very, very good!

After breakfast, we did some exploring and ended up on 5th Avenue. Ashley bought a new scarf from H&M while I snapped photos of St. Patrick's Cathedral and the statue of Atlas at Rockefeller Center.





We spent a few minutes at the Chrysler Building before heading to the United Nations.





Please notice Ashley's new scarf in the photo above. Before returning to the hotel to rest, regroup, and prepare for dinner, we visited the observation deck at the Empire State Building.





The view was amazing!



After returning to the room, Ashley took a nap and I did 30 minutes on the treadmill in the fitness center. Around 730 we started getting ready and made it to Asiate (at the Mandarin Oriental) for our 830 dinner reservation. From our window-side table, the view of Central Park as well as the Upper East Side was unbelievable. Dinner was excellent. Ashley had the salmon, I had the lobster and we shared a bottle of wine. After dinner we had drinks at MObar, a bar located inside the Mandarin. Ever wonder how a $24 glass of wine tastes? I'll save you the suspense. It was mediocre at best. Our $48 bottle of wine with dinner was much more impressive than the $24-by-the-glass house merlot from MObar. Nevertheless, we had a good time and our waiter was great. Our waiter, after learning Ashley and I were from out-of-town, brought us complimentary chocolate-covered strawberries. So, I suppose our visit to MObar wasn't a total loss. After leaving the Mandarin, we took a photo (below) at the Columbus Circle, took the subway back to the hotel and called it a night.

It's 2am. I'm going to bed.

-johnn

At Radio City Music Hall and NBC studios (Yesterday)

Ashley and I are in New York! We arrived to the DoubleTree Midtown around 2pm EST. I wanted to post a picture from our view from our room. We're at the corner of 51st and Lexington.

We're going to run out, look around the neighborhood, and get a late lunch.



This is my first ever time in a NYC subway:



Johnn and I went to Tom's Restaurant today (the Seinfeld restaurnt) and had some burgers- so good!



This is located right by Columbia University, which we also went to. It's such a beautiful campus! Here is a good shot:



And last but not least, we made a little stop in a place known as Times Square. I have never been in a single spot with SO many people just everywhere! Nicole- this picture is for you :) All the broadway signs were out in full force:



And then the Classic Times Square Shot too..



We are venturing out for dinner and drinks now. Here's where we're going to dinner tonight:

http://www.lebateauivrenyc.com

Tomorrow morning we have our massage appointment at the Bliss Spa at the W Hotel, so that'll be so nice! Until tomorrow...