I promised you some NY and here it is

I'm posting a few choice pictures from my NY trip. It was sunny and cool - great weather for walking around the city. I was speaking at an anti-counterfeiting conference, but still managed to get out for a little sightseeing and a Broadway show. If you get the chance to see "Wicked," I highly recommend it! It was a FANTASTIC showwith terrific singing, incredible sets and beautiful costumes. NY is a fantastic city - it truly never sleeps. There were so many interesting people to watch and I found New Yorkers to be very friendly. Especially when I asked this one guy where 5th Street was. He was like, "You mean 5th Ave.?" I think in that moment it helped to be a cute girl who could just smile and say, "Yes, of course! I'm not from here." Oops! I did not get a hot dog from a street cart, sadly, but I did get a soft pretzel. I also noticed that they sell black & white cookies in Starbucks there (Starbucks branded, too.) I must make a mental note to tell Starbucks that we Texans would enjoy us some black & white cookies. I'll be sure to use that exact phraseology so I can sound very educated and convincing. ;) I also recommend The Peking Duck House in Chinatown. Their pork and beans with noodles (homemade noodles, may I add) was delish! The Pig n' Whistle has some good fish & chips and Guinness on tap to wash it down. If you go to The Lobster Pot, I recommend the cioppino. It's served over linguine and comes with shrimp, scallops, cod and a big lobster claw. To die for! I swear I did other things besides shop and eat, but they really aren't that interesting to people not in the trademark legal field, so I won't bore you. While in New York, I had many opportunities to quote the movie "elf," since that's where it was filmed. Like we passed a store that said "Peep Show" and I said, "If you see a store that says 'Peep Show,' that doesn't mean they're letting you look at presents before Christmas." Unfortunately, none of my companions got it. C'mon peeps - let's brush up on our important movie lines! Here are a sampling of the pictures I took. Enjoy!

NY is great!

I'm back from The Big Apple and had a fabulous time. I will definitely post pictures soon. Thought I would share a fun fact for everyone...did you know that there is no sales tax charged on any clothing purchases under $110? How great is that? So, even though it's still in the 90s here, I HAD to take advantage of the J. Crew cashmere sweaters on sale. :) This is the one I bought:


I promise it's a prettier brown in person. Sort of heathered with darker and lighter threads.

I do not heart bugs

Story #1: While trying to take a nap today, Quincy and I kept hearing this buzzing, wing-fluttering noise by my bedroom window. I have had some moths and flies get caught between my honeycomb shade and the window before, so no big deal. Except today. I take a peek and what do I see? A big ol' wasp stuck in my bedroom window - inside my room. Awesome. I quickly get myself and my dog out of the room and call my parents to ask how you kill a wasp. My mom thinks this is hilarious and tells me to swat it with a flyswatter. Uh, no! Wasps can sting and my aim is not great - I do not need a pissed off wasp chasing after me. So my dad tells me to get some bug spray but make sure it is not the outside wasp spray. It will say suitable for indoor use on the can. Clearly my parents doubt my ability to read or make a rational judgment of appropriate bug spray at this point. I make a Super Targ run and, upon my return, head upstairs armed with my flyswatter and Raid. I totally sucker punched the wasp with a shot of Raid and then soaked it once it was stunned. Then I beat the crap out of it with the flyswatter. All in a day's work, I guess. At least I can sleep soundly tonight.

Story #2: I got two mosquito bites whilst (great British word, eh?) sitting outside at the Vietnamese restaurant at lunch today. My question is - when the heck is Fall getting here so all the mosquitoes (is it "s" or "es" on the end of that one?) will die off?

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin-eater

Oh, it's a glorious time of year. That's right - pumpkin everything is out in stores and restaurants. Starbucks is now serving the delicious pumpkin spice latte (soy, no whip), Einstein Bros. is busting out the pumpkin bagels, IHOP is serving pumpkin pancakes and (fanfare, please!) Target has debuted their autumn mix. Yes folks, candy corn and mallow pumpkin goodness for all to enjoy. I'm betting that Mimi's Cafe has some sort of pumpkin muffin as their seasonal treat. Must make sure to check that out this weekend! Dee-lish!

For the chefs out there, try these Pumpkin Praline Custards from Cooking Light. They're so good, my dog jumped up on my coffee table and scarfed one last year - he NEVER does that!

Oh, and one more thing...

This is going to be my next purchase:

or


They're SO cool! :oD I especially like the Tiffany Blue nano.

Fun times with the 'rents

Mom and Dad came to Austin for Labor Day weekend and we had a blast! They tried Ethiopian food for the first time and they actually liked it. There was even talk of them going to the Ethiopian restaurant in Phoenix. We did a little shopping in Wimberley and hit the Steak N Shake at Slaughter and I-35 on the way down there. For those of you non-Midwesterners, Steak N Shake is pretty great - steak burgers, skinny fries and YUMMY milkshakes (of course, I can't have any, so I got a homemade vanilla Coke instead). :9 I bought some very essential Christmas decorations. Don't worry - I'm sure they will make their debut in a future post. We also had County Line, Guero's (no Luke Wilson sightings, unfortunately), kolaches and pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. It was a food-filled trip! Mom was having such a good time that she decided to stay until Thursday. I took a half day off on that Thursday and we hit the Round Rock outlets for some shopping. I found a cute sweater on sale at Ann Taylor. Mom found a cute winter white quilted coat and long sleeve tee at Eddie Bauer - perfect for her trip to Yellowstone later this month! Of course, I am including a couple of pictures with this post so y'all can see my fam.