Live with Kelly and Michael

Since moving here last April, we have never attempted to go to any show tapings. My husband usually works weekdays and he doesn't know until last minute if he will have a day off so we put it on the back burner. Well for once, he knew a day off was coming so we took the time to go to Live with Kelly and Michael which also happened to be right as the snow started coming of course.

The show was an absolute blast and I would highly recommend you checking it out if you are coming out this way (I have no other shows to compare it to yet though). Everyone from Kelly and Michael to Gelman and the guest (yes singular) seemed super friendly and personable. The crowd had so much energy it was amazing. A little fun tidbit, the dancer that day was from our hometown of Indianapolis, IN. The guests that day were Kristen Stewart and Grant Gustin. If you can tell from the pictures below, Kristen wasn't actually there which was a bit of a bummer, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the show! And Grant was there to promote The Flash which started in October of 2014. Personally I haven't seen the show, but I have seen him in Glee episodes and the boy sure can sing and dance! 

Overall it was such a fun experience and I am so glad we did it! Can you see us in the top right corner of the screen? Our 15 seconds of fame lol! This was right as we were finding out that we all won a years worth of McCafe coffee.....wooohoooo! Don't be surprised if I get creative with some coffee drinks or if you are offered coffee a million times when you are over at our house! 

NYE with Skrillex and Diplo at Madison Square Garden

Happy New Year! Ok, it has been 2015 for a couple weeks now, but I stated last week that I would be posting about the holidays for what will seem like forever. And yes, I do still have more to come, but for now, welcome to our New Year's Eve celebration!

To start things off, Kev and I stayed true to our married New Year's tradition of having our favorite champagne, Veuve Clicquot, in our Kate Spade wedding glasses. I really don't remember how it started, but we've done it every year for the whopping whole two years we've been married so far, so why not keep it going! Plus, it's always fun to pull out the "fancy cocktail glasses" and sip champagne! Since we had plans, we cheated a little and had it before midnight with a kids countdown we found on Netflix. Silly I know, but we like to have fun and that's just what we did! For all you parents out there, the Netflix countdown was actually pretty genius. You could play it whenever to fool your kids into thinking they stayed up until midnight. It may not work if they can read time, but it could be worth a try next year if applicable to you! 

One of the biggest things we got asked about was if we were going to go to Times Square for NYE. While it looks wonderful on TV and is something everyone wants to do once in their life, it just wasn't for us. After going to Rockefeller Center earlier that week and dealing with those crowds, it just didn't seem like we would have any fun or really get to see anything. Instead, we opted to go to a concert at our winter home away from home, Madison Square Garden. I actually still have at least one more event from MSG to post regarding the holiday season, maybe you'll see it next week!    

The concert we attended was the Jack Ü tour, featuring Skrillex and Diplo who formed this super duo group in 2013. They also had special guests Yellow Claw (not pictured), Rudimental (in the collage with beers at Penn Station), and A$AP Ferg (the three part collage) join them for the NYE show. Now while I actually hadn't heard of the guest acts before, they each really put on a great show! Their songs were great, they had amazing stage presence, and their energy was out of control! If you are an EDM fan and haven't heard of them, you should defiantly check them out!

You may recall from this summer that we attended the Governor's Ball music festival which also had Skrillex, my fave DJ, as a main act. I know he's been around for a little over ten years, but I first fell in love with him when his song First of the Year (Equinox) was released off of his album More 

Monsters and Sprites in 2011. His shows and setlist never disappoint. He mixes old with new and does so flawlessly. Seeing him twice in one years time was absolutely incredible! I can't wait to see what he has in store in the future,  

The countdown starts! We weren't sure if there would be a traditional countdown that's why we did the Netflix one before we left. It was an amazing site to see everyone enjoying the moment together! May this year bring you all that you want and desire! Now I present you the duo Jack Ü.

We enjoyed Christmas from Indiana to New Jersey and New York

Happy 2015 everybody! I can happily say that I typed the year correctly on my first attempt......wooohoo the year is already off to a great start! I have so much to tell you about that I feel like I will be talking about our whirlwind holidays for months! Oh well, it was amazing! We started our journey back to Indiana with Stella and Bella on December 23 after Kev got off work. Probably not the smartest idea since we had an 11 hour drive ahead of us (it took us over 14, none of which I drove), but we were so excited to get back home that we did it anyway. I was so excited to see family, most of which I hadn't seen for about seven months, so it was a big deal for me to make as many rounds as I could! You never really know how much you miss your family until you can't just hop in your car and see them in 30 minutes.      

While we unfortunately didn't get around to seeing absolutely everyone, each place we went was uniquely different yet created lasting memories that you take for granted when you're younger. My ultimate joy from the trip back home was seeing my grandparents who were so surprised to see us. I saw my grandma's face light up as she laughed like I never had before. And the stories, ones I had never heard, were amazing. Truly something for me to hold on to until I get to see them again. I learned so many things about all my grandparents that I never knew before. It's amazing the lives they have lived! After packing in multiple meals, drinks, games (Cards Against Humanity was my favorite inappropriate family game), and all the family time we could, it was time to leave though this time we had family it tow!      

It was our first Christmas being on the East Coast, so we tried to do as many touristy things as we could. The only problem? Everyone else was doing the same thing! There were thousands of people everywhere and you couldn't move so we did what we could. One of the things we can all cross off our lists was seeing the tree and ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center. It was absolutely beautiful and enormous, though as I said before, extremely crowded. We definitely picked the wrong time to go, but you live and you learn and none of us had seen it before so it was great overall. The Empire State building was also in the festive mood lit up with its red and green lights. It is such a great place to be at Christmas time. I can see why so many people travel here to see it all! We will just have to be smarter about the times we do things next year!  

It is really great to be back and I hope you all get everything you want out of 2015! While my 2014 wasn't bad at all, I just feel that this year is going to be amazing! Look for more about what we did over the holidays in the weeks to come (hint: Madison Square Garden has become our go to place). Let's see what great memories we can make this year!

New York Rangers game @ Madison Square Garden

Kev has been a New York Rangers fan before we ever stepped foot on the East Coast. Since we lived in the Midwest at the time, and hockey isn't that huge where we were, we never attended a game. Now that we are ridiculously close to The Garden, we made it a top priority to attend a game........my first NHL game at that! The verdict? I'm obsessed! I loved watching the Rangers and want to go to every game! I swear it's my new favorite sport! It was also nice not to be rooting for the opposing team for once :)! The energy of the game and the crowd started immediately during warm ups and never faded even though the Rangers didn't pull out the victory against the Oilers (the score was 1-3).  

I have to admit, as bratty as it sounds, I was a little worried about our seats when we first arrived. We kept going up escalator after escalator until we reached the very top. I was a little bummed because I immediately thought we were sitting in nosebleed seats (see I told you a little bratty). Little did I know, we were actually sitting in one of the top 10 sports bucket list seats according to CNBC. They were so amazing that I never want to sit in another seat again! We didn't have anyone in front of us obstructing our view, just glass all around. You could see the entire game! Now I'm not afraid of heights, but it did take a little mental adjustment looking down and seeing nothing but people below you. Another cool aspect, you can download an app and order food and drinks from your seats. There really is an app for that! 

I was extremely glad I captured the goal picture above and the video below (since it was the only one this time). Remember I told you about the energy of the fans? Well they sing/chant this and dance around when they score. It was so much fun to see and experience! I can't wait to go back! Be warned if you come to visit, I may suggest we go to a Rangers game! 

Birchbox SoHo

Last weekend it was absolutely gorgeous out so we decided to go to the city. Since I hadn't been to the actual Birchbox store yet, it was my main focus! You would've thought it was my first time going shopping in a make-up store with how excited I was. It was a little embarrassing to say the least! We got there a few minutes before they opened so I tried to play it cool when they opened the doors like "yeah I'm totally not waiting to come in or anything". I know, I'm a super dork. We had the store to ourselves for a little bit while looking around which was so nice. The staff was super friendly and the store looked impeccable! I was in awe! We looked at absolutely everything there was. I loved the store, but I don't think my husband was too impressed. The men's section was pretty small and men can't build a box for themselves unless they want to build a women's box (which I don't recommend, you'll see why in a minute).  

My husband and I both have Birchbox subscriptions and love them, so I had to build a box for myself while we were there. For the most part I loved everything I picked, however, there are a couple complaints I have. I didn't understand why it was more expensive to build you own box when you get the same amount of products. I also didn't care for the fact that you had to pick something from each section (body & nails, skincare, fragrance, hair, and makeup). I could've done without the fragrance and body & nails selections and gotten a couple other things I wanted, but oh well, it was still fun to do. They were also doing a gift with purchase so I got to pick the Green Apple Peel by Juice Beauty as my selection which was nice! Overall I did love it and look forward to going back, especially with the holidays coming up! If you have a chance to go you definitely should! 

My Picks:

Green Apple Peel Sensitive by Juice Beauty (gift with purchase)

Body & Nails, OPI Sheer Tints-I'm Never Amberrassed 

Skincare, clariSEA Rapid Detox Charcoal Exfoliant 

Fragrance, English Laundry-Signature for Her

Hair, Macadamia Professional Healing Oil Treatment

Makeup, LAQA & Co. Fat Lip Pencil-Ring of Fire

US Open

Kevin and I have a shared love for the wonderful sport of tennis. We both have played for years in school and with our families. So it was with much excitement that we had the privilege of going to day 14 of the US Open. On this particular day of the tournament we watched the Men's doubles final and the Women's singles final take place in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The stadium, which is the largest tennis venue in the world, houses the US Open, which is the only grand slam tournament in the US. We didn't have the best seats, but I honestly don't think there was a bad seat in the house. It is built in a more straight up fashion than out like many other sporting venues. It was almost like we were looking straight down on the action. It was such an amazing experience and I'm fortunate that we got to attend! 

The first match ended in a victory for the US! It was the Men's doubles final match which took place between the Bryan brothers and Granollers/Lopez from Spain. The Bryan brothers took the win in 2 sets, 6-3 and 6-4. Though the Bryan brothers gave up a few games, they were pretty much flawless. It was Granollers and Lopez who had an interesting approach. As pictured above, they both stayed back pretty much the entire time which is a little unusual for doubles. Though their unique technique didn't work for them this time, Granollers and Lopez were very polite and gracious as they gave their speeches and said their congratulations to the Bryan brothers.   

With champagne in hand, yes champs at a sporting event, we prepared ourselves to watch the Women's singles final. Now I have a slight confession to make, I was really hoping Caroline Wozniacki would take the win on this one. I know I shouldn't have gone against the US win, but Serena Williams is just a power house and always wins, so I wanted the underdog to pull out a victory.  Despite my wishes, Serena did get the victory in 2 sets, 6-3 and 6-3. They both played extremely well, but Serena just had more points won on her serve (a whopping average of 107 MPH) and had more aces. She had Caroline running all over the court and Serena made it look easy. She definitely deserved the win. Like I said earlier, it was truly an amazing event to attend. If you like tennis and ever get the opportunity to go you should. You won't regret it! Until next year US Open!