Delayed Blogging - Work in Progress!

Hello blog readers. I have been remiss in blogging about my travels, as I may or may not be constantly reminded by the most avid reader of this blog.

Not to fear though, the travel logs are works in progress. I will post them with appropriate dates for our own archiving purposes, but if you're interested in reading about my summer in Australia, the post in all its glory can be found here: Summer in the Sunshine State

Its tough to keep up with the adventures of P, L and new addition A, but we non Orlando residents do what we can!

RBDIII

Party at The Plaza

Whoa. LDL just called us out. I really have no defense EXCEPT that I have made myself 100% available to help her growing family whenever she needs. Since she is SO MUCH BETTER than me (and the rest of her siblings at this parenting thing), I typically need a tall adult beverage and a nap most evenings after Adventures with Aunt T.

Lately I've been traveling quite a bit to New York City. I think it averages to about once a month over the last year, but since S keeps all these details on his spreadsheet, I'm not going to guess exact numbers. You know, just in case the visits to each other's respective cities is a bit lopsided. Lucky for me, he doesn't care that he travels to Orlando way more than I do New York. Whew.

On our way to put on jeans

This particular trip to NYC was longer than usual (because who wouldn't want to spend 5 days in arctic like conditions?) which led to more adventures! S likes to plan things out when I visit and this trip was no different. Thursday evening we were booked to attend a fundraiser dinner for The Bowery Mission. Because it was a formal affair, S and I rented some formal wear and S witnessed his first ever FTD wardrobe crisis meltdown. He's a champ, but I really needed LDL in that moment. Who else would understand that yes, the dress looks great but I just don't feel good in it and now I will be uncomfortable all night and oh yeah I am meeting a bunch of people that I don't know in formal wear and it is snowing outside so I will be freezing and are we supposed to donate any money???? Thank goodness S knew better than to laugh at my ridiculousness. He just complimented my style, told me I looked wonderful, and we made our way to The Plaza. The food was excellent, company even better, and enough dancing to tide S over for a few months. We had such a great time but my most favorite line of the night (besides making a joke about the box of chocolates sold at auction for $1,200) was this one from S to me: Hey, T. You want to head back, throw on some jeans, and grab a beer at the pub down the street? We both felt a bit out of our element but it sure was fun pretending to be fancy! Plus, S is pretty awesome making sure that I feel comfortable and well taken care of. He's good like that.

Next up, Valentines Day! I'm a lucky gal because it was a pretty amazing day. I got to spend the morning getting a tour of the NYC Googleplex from an old buddy from the neighborhood. Then (after putting in a few hours of work myself) I met up with a friend and mentor who was visiting NYC with her family for lunch at Nobu. S was a big hit, as people were excited to meet him. He apparently felt comfortable enough with them to spill his big plans for the evening -- a plan he had been keeping from me for 8 weeks -- while I ventured to the ladies room. I tried so many times to get him to tell me, so that I could adequately prepare, but secretly I was enjoying how excited he was to surprise me. I feel like I should mention that I was presented with the following e-card prior to arriving in NYC:

Ha. Ha. Ha. No Groupon could have put together this itinerary. We left lunch (it was a late lunch) and tried to take a quick nap before dinner (it was an early dinner). Just as I was dozing off, I was awoken with a frantic "T! We have to go!". My only instructions were to not wear jeans; that's cool, cause I've started to enjoy looking nicer for date night. We sat at the Chef's bar at a wonderful place called Perla, in the West Village. The food was really spectacular and it was entertaining to sit and watch the food being plated directly in front of us. S broke with tradition and order a non-pink, flourish-less cocktail for the evening. Also, we shared. That's right ladies and gentlemen! I shared a plate. It was like lady and the tramp when they share the spaghetti (except he's a dapper fellow, not a tramp and we didn't have pasta). The night was full of surprises. 

And then. . . the mother of all Valentines Day surprises. . . the cab takes us to Broadway. . . and we walk to see: !!!! I'm pretty sure my face lit up with excitement (at least, I hope I did). One of my first visits to NYC, I mentioned to S that I had heard it was a good show and would be interested to see it. There was no mention of the show after that until now! S is awesome that way, remembering things I mention and then executing on a plan. It was awesome and hilarious and just such a joy to watch. I highly recommend it. It's so much fun to be in a crowd full of people being entertained by the same thing, laughing and gasping in unison. And because it was Valentines Day, the cast waiting around at the end of the show to hand everyone Valentines Day cookies. That might be the last time S and I ever get handed a cookie from a Drag Queen (but I guess you never know). It was one of the best presents I have ever received. A well thought out, experience gift picked out just for me. 

Just when you think the weekend couldn't get any better, we also managed to squeeze in a trip to see our mutual friends in their new house in Connecticut. The race to catch the train was pretty humorous and I had to remind S that this was Grand Central and I had no idea where I was going. So, he held my hand as we raced from Subway line to the main terminal and still, even with just 3 minutes to catch the train we did a little divide and conquer and managed to snag both tickets and a newspaper before the doors shut. Whew. We walked through a beautiful neighborhood covered in snow to get to the house, literally laughing all the way. Later, I got to sit and catch up with a buddy while S climbed the roof to knock off ice. Always be adventuring, right? Sadly, no pictures from that sweet little reunion. 

We wrapped up the weekend with a small little CGA reunion as Danita came up from Philly to join Rache Hadle and me for some boozy brunch at Calle Ocho. Never ending (while you are eating) sangria's can never be a bad thing (just make sure you read the house rules). We do have a picture from that one. I'm not sure what prompted the facial expressions -- what happens at brunch stays at brunch??

So yeah, I'm on the road, living in two different cities sometimes. It's been worth it so far, this always be adventuring thing. 

Not much happening here...a 3 part series. Part 3. Alternatively Titled: She's Here!

I bet you guys could hardly handle the cliffhanger I left you on last time...What could possibly happen next after so much excitement over Thanksgiving and Christmas!?? Duh, it was playlet set-up day!!  Whoop whoop!  The WHOLE family came over to our house to help construct the playset...that is the 2 grandmothers, 1 granddad, 3 uncles, 2 aunts, & 1 boyfriend and I promise you that all of those hands were needed for construction (side note, that corrected to contraction...foreshadowing!!! :) ) and child wrangling.  We laid out all of the pieces...my job was to write down the serial numbers in chalk on the concrete which required lots of bending up and down.  I quit after about 7 minutes.  The Aunts entertained the kids in the cardboard boxes playing zoo, & boating and after one airport run and a hectic lunch I quietly retreated to my room for rest time around 1:30pm.

Oops.  I knock on the window to Brendan to tell him to get in quick and throw some clothes in a bag because we are off to the hospital!  Baby girl isn't due until January 2nd but she has decided she wants in on the action and she's coming early!  Her sister made her debut 9 days late...so this was a surprise.  We said goodbye to Grandma & Aunt Tess and put Uncle RBDIII in charge of getting them to the airport (also, credit where credit is due...he constructed nearly the whole playlet by himself...long after everyone lost interest..and did most of it with a 4 year old on his back or insisting on helping).  We were off! I'm really not one for TMI so let me just say that if any of you readers are expecting your 3rd baby...I recommended getting to the hospital as soon as you suspect something might be happening.  It was a little crazy town and a tiny bit scary but sweet Adele Elizabeth was born at 4:42pm weighing a whopping 8 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long.  She was the smallest of all of our babies but the nurses continued to comment on her large size :).  I love the big babies!

Meanwhile, back at the zoo, the grandparents & aunts & uncles & boyfriend & now girlfriend have all been put in charge of manning the 4 & 2 year old...no small adventure!  B and I were so so grateful to have family in town to help welcome little Addy and also to entertain P & L who didn't skip a beat when we brought their new sister home.  L showers her with hugs and kisses and wants to hold Addy constantly.  P is a little more hands off, but asks questions about A frequently and can be found holding her hand or feet when he thinks I am not watching.

So here we are, a family of 5!  Addy is about 2 1/2 months old now and doing great!  We're adjusting with a lot of help from yay yay and our new play set!  Pictures below...

Adele Elizabeth "Addy"

8lbs 4 oz 20 in

Sisters!

Our first visit to our pediatrician...and I think our first mother/daughter photo.  Oops...3rd kid.

As we like to say "The Gangs All Here!"

 I know, this looks like of cheesy posed...but it actually happened :) Mom and Dad so thankful for adorable Addy!

Angel baby.

One of only a handful of times P has taken interest :)

One of Addy's namesakes...the Great Grano!

And finally, one shot of all of the babes...Valentines Day 2014.

Thanks for tuning in!  I guess my siblings have a little too much going on in their busy lives to do any blogging.  Don't worry sibs! I've got so much free time I'll take up the slack!  wink wink.