March 31st - Uncle Roy's

On our way to the beach, Charlotte and I stopped off in Enterprise, AL to visit with Uncle Roy (Nana's brother).

He was nice enough to take us out in his boat!

March 26 - Feed the birds...

With our friend Joanna W - thanks to her for getting all these fabulous pictures! :)

March - Happy Birthday To Me!

The night before my birthday Daniel posted the following on FaceBook, "Alright dudes, it's Katrina's birthday tomorrow and I need gift suggestions.  Help me out FB."

I enjoyed reading the 49 responses (clothes from Anthropology, a massage, a mani-pedi, a day of watching Charlotte so I could do whatever I wanted).  All of these suggestions were fabulous (you guys know me well!).  My favorite response was from a friend who said this after giving a few of her own ideas, "Sadly, it's a little late for anything truly thoughtful (ouch, I know)."  Nice dig. :)

Anyways, I never have high expectations for my birthday and with each year it gets less and less of an event.  This year Daniel and I went to I Love Sushi for lunch.  There he decided to present me with my gift.  Inside a Disney princess gift bag I found the following - 1. a green apple 2. some Philadelphia cream cheese 3. a People magazine.  I didn't quite know what to think but figured Daniel was either really struggling this year to find a gift, or that he might be up to something.  He gave me a moment to consider what was before me and then he conceded the items in the bag were clues for what my real gift was.  

I thought, maybe these are a reference to places we might live one day - the Big Apple, Philly, but the magazine was really throwing me off.  Especially this particular one's cover stories had headlines like, "My deep dark secret..." or "So-and-so's revenge" - I really couldn't find any connection with the magazine.  Finally, after being unsuccessful in guessing, Daniel told me the following:

"Start SPREADING (that was the cream cheese) the NEWS (he had wanted to find a newspaper, but Target only had magazines) we are going to the BIG APPLE! (the green apple)"

I could NOT believe it.  Seriously?? NYC?  I LOVE that city!  

He was going to New York later that month on a business trip and so his plane ticket and the hotel were already going to be taken care of.  He splurged and got me a ticket to join him and lined up his parents to watch Charlotte while we were away!  I could not believe he had arranged all this for me!  I was thrilled!  

BEST. PRESENT. EVER.  

Here are some of the highlights (in no particular order):

1. Probably the best thing was being on trip alone with my husband.  I LOVE our little munchkin, but having some uninterrupted time together was extremely rejuvenating.  This is the 2nd time in almost 3 years that I have been able to break away from the responsibilities of parenting for a few days.  Such a treat!  Thank you to Lola and Papa for taking care of our Button Babe to make this possible!

2. Walking around the southern tip of Manhattan (Battery Park) with Daniel and watching the sunset behind the Statue of Liberty.

3. Eating a salted caramel cupcake from Crumbs.  Uh-MAY-Zing.  * They can even ship your order to you, just in case you want to try some of these without coming all the way to NYC.

4.  Reconnecting with my childhood friend Maurya C. - (we went to kindergarten together in Connecticut).  We enjoyed a long walk and lunch together in the financial district and then she walked me over to see her apartment and up to see the views from her office building.  

5. Walking and shopping in SoHo.  Found some fabulous shoes at a store called ShoeGasm.  What a name, right?

6. Enjoying a Broadway production (with our TKTS discounted tickets) - Other Desert Cities.  I have seen numerous musicals on Broadway, but this time we wanted to see a play - it was wonderful.

   

7. Visiting with our friend from Atlanta, Olivia, who now lives in a suburb of NY.  Way to brave the subway with a stroller and a 1 year old!  You go girl!  Thanks for making the trek!

8.  Meeting up with Daniel's friend and enjoying a most interesting and stimulating conversation.

9. Eating at Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill.  This is what we ordered... WOW.  

BLUE CORN PANCAKE

with Barbecued Duck + Habanero Chile-Star Anise Sauce 15.

NEW MEXICAN SPICE RUBBED PORK TENDERLOIN 

with Bourbon-Ancho Chile Sauce + Sweet Potato Tamale with Crushed Pecan Butter 30.

MANGO + SPICE CRUSTED TUNA STEAK

with Green Peppercorn-Green Chile Sauce + Toasted Pine Nut Cous Cous 35.

10. Taking the Staten Island Ferry and seeing the view of the city from the water and the Statue of Liberty.

 

11. The hotel was probably the coolest we have ever stayed in - The Andaz Wall Street.  I loved the modern, minimalist decor.  An added perk was that the fridge came stocked with "fancy drinks" and all the non-alcoholic ones were complimentary.  Plus there was an assortment of snacks - healthy nut bars, veggie chips, organic chocolate - again, all complimentary, and all of it would be restocked the next day.   Besides, it was awesome to know that we weren't paying for any of it.  Thank you to the company Daniel was doing business with - they are the reason any of this was possible in the first place.

 THANK YOU, DANIEL, FOR SUCH A MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY PRESENT.  I still can't believe it all actually happened.  I love you so much.  I love traveling places with you and creating these memories together.  There is a lot of world to see - here is to traveling with the one you love! 

Bird House

Last summer when Jacob was visiting for a week , he and Charlotte built and painted this bird house together. 

 In the middle of March, we finally hung it up just outside Charlotte's bedroom window hoping some little birdies would want to make it their home.  

March 17th - Happy St. Patty's Day!

To celebrate, I took Charlotte to the St. Patrick's Day Parade that goes through downtown Huntsville.  

"I'm a jaguar!"

We met up with our friends the Burnsides.  

These girls are like sisters to Charlotte.  Every week she spends an afternoon with their family in exchange for piano lessons and while I teach some of my other students.  They all get along so well.  We love your family!

Gabby, Charlotte, Ellie, and Olivia

After the parade we went back to the Burnsides for more food and fun.

Charlotte enjoyed finger painting. 

I enjoyed getting my arm painted. :)

Family History

When Nana came to visit she brought her photo albums and so I scanned some of her fabulous family photos onto my computer.  Here are a few of my favorites. :)

Margaret and Wyatt Byrd's wedding day.

Alison Crosby as a child. 

Wyatt Byrd (I am often surprised by how similar to each other Daniel and his Grandfather look).

Meg (Crosby) Turner, Hershel Crosby, and Daniel Crosby.  Gotta love that red blazer!

Ballerina Bear

If you are wondering what that is all over her hands and face - it is lipstick.  :)

This happened back in March.  I was doing some organizing in our garage one day and decided it would be ok to let Charlotte play in my car while I worked.  The car wasn't on (keys were in the house), the windows were down, I thought "it will be like a giant play-pin or jungle gym - perfect!" 

She loved it!  She pretended to drive the car and buckled her babies into the car seat.  She crawled all over that car and I got some work done.  It was a great set-up.  

However, I didn't toddler proof well enough and so she found a little cosmetic bag with my lipstick in it.  When I found her there was some lipstick on my cloth seats, and she had lipstick all over her hands and a bunch on her nose.  True, I got some work done, but now I had MORE work to do!  

How can you be upset for long with a face like this??

I asked her what she had been trying to do with my lipstick and she explained to me that she had been trying to paint her nose like I had done around Halloween to make her look like Ballerina Bear (who has a pink heart shaped nose).    

These were just a few of the funny faces she made as I tried to get the good one at the beginning of the post.  Funny girl!

So you would probably think this experience would have taught me something about letting a toddler play in a car, right?

Wrong.

It took one more time for me to learn.

Another day, more playing in the car, this time I was left with a jammed CD player.

Lesson learned. :)