I'll take you to the candy shop...

As noted in my earlier post, John's birthday was last week. John is a hard one to pick out presents for, so I thought I would take him somewhere that I knew he would appreciate - a candy store! And not just any candy store. We walked over to 3rd Ave in NYC and went to Dylan's Candy Bar. For any of you celebrity followers, you may have heard this name before in US Weekly or In Touch. I believe (if my celebrity knowledge is accurate) that Ralph Lauren's daughter, Dylan, owns this store.

Well, I didn't tell John where we were going - but as soon as it came into view he knew where we were headed:












This place was pretty amazing - it's a must stop of you have kids as I think they would be on sensory overload!


















After cruising through the two floors of sweets, we headed up the stairs to check out their cafe. This place screams candy everywhere you look... they have candy embedded into the steps and walls:















And as if the store wasn't amazing enough, the cafe was a sweets shop on steroids. So, I thought I would order myself a Sundae... and this is what arrived at my table. Happy Birthday to me:)

Happy Birthday to the One I Love!

Happy 31st Birthday to my most amazing husband! I was looking for a photo to include with this post and I found this gem from our wedding:) I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who has made life such an adventure. I love you!

Bag her up!

So John and I have been thinking for weeks that we need to get Bella used to traveling in a bag. I know it sounds totally Jessica Simpson of me to carry my dog in a bag, but it really does have a purpose! Our former neighbors were kind enough to give us their little pet travel bag before we left Rochester, and we were hesitant to test it out. However, we know an inevitable airplane flight will be coming up with the holidays and Bella will be forced to fly in that thing.

I'm not sure if she was more nervous about going in the bag or if John and I were way more anxious about it. We figured the best test would be to put her in the bag and take her on the train over to the city.

Well, I had every intention of taking a picture of Bella on the train ride from Jersey City to NYC. But the 5 minute ride was rather stressful and I only managed to take one quick image before the stupid flash on my camera set her off and made her somehow realize that she should be FREAKING OUT that she's stuck in a bag, on a train. John and I had the brilliant idea to leave the top of the bag open so we could pet her and "keep her calm". Note to self - BAD IDEA. This was her in mellow times before the incident:














Anyway, she proved to be quite powerful for a 7.5 lb shih tzu, but we were able to get her to stay put in her bag until we exited the path station at World Trade Center. Once there we let her out for a walk near the Hudson. I think all of the stress of the train, combined with a lenthgy walk really pooped her out. So much so that John wanted to go shoe shopping (insert chuckle here)so I just threw Bella back in her bag and took her into the store shopping with us. Here's us in happier times:















After shopping we headed back to the Path Station and back to Jersey City without incident. Now, this is only a 5 minute train ride but it was a start! Oh I've got plans for her now... If she keeps being such a good girl I might just need to totally push the limits and get her a Louis Vuitton carrier, just sayin'!

Walking on sunshine...

So you may ask, what did we do all weekend?! Well, first off it was gorgeous out. Really hot, but not terribly muggy for once. We decided on Saturday that we would go over to Manhattan for the afternoon. They were supposed to be doing this Summer in the Streets thing where they turn dumpsters into swimming pools (sounds weird, I know) and I thought it would be fun to check it out. Of course, by the time John and I got up and running we didn't make it over until about 1:00 so it was already shutting down. FAIL.

So, instead we just started walking around the city and soaking up the sun. We made our way from World Trade Center and ended up in Little Italy for lunch. We had a great meal, however, the service was less than desirable. It was kind of hilarious actually because all of the staff was yelling at each other in Italian. I only made out a couple of swear words here and there. Oh and did I mention it was really hot on Saturday? And then after downing my water in the first two minutes of sitting down for lunch I didn't get a refill until after I was done eating? After asking four times?

Anyway, the lunch was good and the atmosphere down in Little Italy was pretty cool. The street there was shut down so you could just walk down the roads. I don't know if I would eat at that restaurant again, but we'll for sure be back to Little Italy!

Guest Post.... Courtesy of Bella

Hey guys! This is Bella! I just wanted to take a minute to show you the great present my mommy brought back for me from her trip to Dubuque. Livi and Hannah drew me and my daddy some pictures to bring back to us in New Jersey. I was so excited I wanted to take a picture with them so they could see how much I love them. Thanks Livi and Hannah - hope to see you both soon!
Love, Bella

Home Sweet Home

Well, I made the first of many trips back to Dubuque over the weekend and had such a great time! It would have been even better if John and Bella could have come with, but unfortunately it didn't work out this time. I spent the weekend with my family and spent a lot of time with my sweet little niece, Ivy! I think we really connected because before I left on Monday she showed up at my parent's house in an outfit she totally picked herself:


















Now if I could just find a onesie shirt that says "My Niece is my BFF", then we'd be set!!