My Boyfriend's Back

Sigh. My favorite Old Spice manly man is back for more. I want one.

Full 'Deathly Hallows' Trailer!

Okay, so, of course I devoured all of the Harry Potters books and I've seen the movies and very much want to go to the theme park, but I admit that since the book series ended and I have had some frustrations with changes in the last couple of movies and there are so many other things like the Twilight craziness that seem to be taking over the Harry Potter thunder, that I haven't been dying for the new movies. I mean, of course I wanted to see them and have the series concluded, but it was kind of a meh feeling. Until, dun dun duh!... I just watched this full trailer for the new Deathly Hallows movie coming out November 19th and was biting my lip and holding my breath the entire time! Gah! I forgot how great they are and now I want to go back and read them all again! It's like coming home to old friends, like my Amelia's, and those are the best kinds of stories ;)

Sanuk = Love (Well, Actually 'Fun,' But I Love Them)

So I have recently become obsessed with Sanuk footwear. The name is the word for fun in Thai. They have been out for several years and I have heard of them, but they are getting more popular and are starting to be available in more places. I believe the only place that actually carries them around here is REI, but there are only a few options to choose from. What actually led to to investigating them, funnily (and possibly embarrassingly?) enough, is that I was browsing Twitter a few weeks ago and Nina Dobrev, star of the TV show The Vampire Diaries posted a link to the Sanuk website, so I got curious and checked it out. I thought that they were so cute (plus I really only have flip flops and needed a good pair of summer shoes) so I ordered the 'Kitty Hawk' Sidewalk Surfers:

Little did I realize that they are not only visually appealing, but they are ridiculously comfortable as well. The Sidewalk Surfer is a deconstructed shoe upper on a sandal footbed, allowing the foot to bend and flex naturally. With the new construction, the Sidewalk Surfer has been labeled "Not-A-Shoe," creating a new category in footwear. Seriously, soooooo comfortable and breathable and adorable. The perfect summer shoe. 

I loved my pair so much right away, that I jumped on-line and splurged and ordered another pair. I wanted a pair that was a very different pattern from my Kitty Hawk's, so I went with the 'Del Mar' Sidewalk Surfers:

It was kind of a tough call, because I am not normally one for animal print apparel, but I love these 'I'm Game' Surfers as well:

I also love these 'Spring Flings' as well, but I wish they came in some colors besides just black. I could go for a nice, bold red:

Gah! I want them all!


I did, however, also order some Tubeflops. How fun are these!?! They are basically thin leggings built in to your flip flops! Perfect for boating mornings when you've got your swim stuff on but its still chilly out. LOVE:

The Tubeflops are pretty much for the ladies, obviously, but Sanuk has sandals and Sidewalk Surfers for Men, Women and Children too. It's fun in Thai. They are Green. Get a pair. Do it. I'm serious.

"If You're Not in New York, You're Camping Out" -Thomas E. Dewey

Back to the Big Apple! Wasn't I just here? Yes, but I love it! The last several times I have gone it was in Autumn and Winter, so it was kind of nice to be there in the summertime. Also, I typically plan my trips around a specific Broadway show that I am dying to see, and this time the trip was for more personal reasons. Not that we didn't fit a couple of shows in, (please, this is me we're talking about) but the reason for the trip was to attend the reception of my friends Brian & Isa. They actually got married back in the end of December, but had a belated reception. It was in Central Park and was super casual and it was so good to see them so happy!

My friend Adam and I (who are both friends with Brian from our BYU years) took a Thursday night red-eye flight and arrived in NY bright and early (and humidified) on very little sleep, but that hardly mattered. We stayed with our lovely friend Alli (another mutual friend from BYU- she is a nurse and her husband is at Med school at Cornell) and they graciously let us make a wreck of their living room all weekend.

Adam had been to NY before as well, but he had a little bucket list of things he wanted to do and we did a pretty dang good job of covering it considering we only had three days and Brian's reception was the main point of our trip and travel time getting all over takes up a lot. Things on the list we covered were:

1- The Metropolitan Museum (I go every time I'm in NY, but I love it)
2- The Guggenheim Museum (I had never been!)
3- The NY Public Library (I had also never gone here- really glad we did)
4- St. Patrick's Cathedral
5- Cruising out to the Statue of Liberty (Instead of taking the two hour ferry we took a speed boat- I would highly recommend it ;)
6- Top of the Rock (I had never done this either- its a look out at the top of Rockefeller Center. If you have never been to NY then you have to go up the Empire State Building, because, well, its the Empire State Building, but now that the Towers are gone, it doesn't have the best view anymore. Top of the Rock has a great view of the ESB and also of Central Park)
7- Serendipity! I can't go to NY and not go there either, apparently. I'm okay with it
8- Times Square and Broadway shows! We went to two shows, Memphis and Fela! They were both really great, and both won awards at the Tony's this past week. Memphis won the coveted Best Musical
9- Strolling/eating in Greenwich Village
10- Baseball game- the Yankees were sadly out of town, but we went to a Mets game at the new Citi Field
11- Most importantly, got to spend time with Brian and Isa and Alli and got to finally meet Alli's husband Dustin, who is great- it is so awfully thoughtful of my friends to keep marrying people that I like  ;)

Not too shabby for three quick days! Here are some pics!