Cinco de Derby

Two of my very favorite days of the year are Cinco de Mayo and Derby Day and when they fall on the same day, it doesn't get much better!  Nothing compares to actually going to the Derby and standing on the track....

but this was still a ton of fun!

We started early and ran into these funny guys that were doing a pub crawl...

Ready to run for the roses!

Mint Juleps!

Cheers with a creeper in the back.  ;)

The more the merrier!

My cutie...

Then the margaritas started to flow...

Birthday girls (+1)...

Last year, my husband and I bet every single race and didn't win a single one. Even when we bet every horse in the last race, the winner was a favorite so we still lost!  All of the OTB's in NYC shut down, so this year my husband and I were degenerates and opened online betting accounts.  Not quite as fun as holding a real ticket in your hand, but it let us still enjoy the excitement.  He at least won a couple this year.

Spring Break 2012

After lots of whining about needing a vacation, one morning a few weeks ago I awoke to a plane ticket in my inbox.  My husband arranged for us to spend a week in Jupiter, Florida at one of his friend's family's beach house.  We had an entire week together to do nothing except relax in the sun.  We had beautiful weather, took in a Spring training baseball game, went deep sea fishing, and asked ourselves everyday what should we do – beach or pool?  Those are the tough life questions.

 The million dollar view.

Marlins vs. Rays

Josh Johnson in action.

Daily walk on the beach.

In 5 foot waves in the Atlantic.  Not very many other people around.

Flying Fish that jumped into the boat and brought us luck.

Reeling in the catch of the day.

King Fish.

Night out at the Square Grouper Tiki Bar.

Sunset the last night at The Yacht Club.

Even though we had a mild winter, I think a warm spring trip is required every year.  It’s just what I needed, except coming home to over a thousand emails at work.  It was fun while it lasted.  Too bad we didn’t hit the mega millions or else we could have done it every day for the rest of our lives.     

Guest Post from the Uniform Police

I've lacked inspiration this week so instead of me babbling about nothing, how about a guest post by the most terrific husband in the world a.k.a. the uniform police:

On OSU Uniforms

My wife loves Oklahoma State athletics.  Therefore, I love Oklahoma State athletics.  Even if the Pistol Pete mascot wears a giant painted head that makes him look like he's been drinking heavily and scaring children.  But recently, the Cowboy athletic department made a questionable decision to abandon their traditional football uniform ensemble and go with a modern new look.  And I am outraged.

Forever, the traditional football uniform color scheme has been this: wear colors at home, and white on the road.  However, in recent years Nike has completely corrupted collegiate sports with corporate sponsorships emphasized product placement by putting hideous swoosh-filled unis on an alarming amount of teams.  They don't look good.  A college football game is not an episode of Project Runway where points are given for changing your design from week to week.  Instead, a college linebacker should be proud to wear the same outfit in public several Saturdays in a row.  For some reason, the powers-that-be in Stillwater decided the Cowboys need a closet full of separates to mix and match depending on the occasion.

Gray?!?!  Really?  When did gray become an Oklahoma State color?  It's despicable.  Pointless, unless the team thinks that Pistol Pete's bloodshot eye on the pants will scare the ball out of an OU receiver's hands.  And where do you wear the black unis - at home or on the road?  There's no way to keep with tradition when you and two other teams in your conference have a gray-on-gray option AND NO SCHOOL HAS GRAY AS A TEAM COLOR.  So we will all kiss history goodbye this year as we watch the OklaNike State Cowboys with gray helmets, white jerseys, and gray pants play Missouri and we have to keep asking each other which team has the ball.

But it would be pretty cool to see what they wear in a national championship game.

Shoe of the Week

Anyone that knows me knows that I love shoes.  What's not to love about them?  They always fit.  They may not always be comfortable, but they always fit.  Your dress size may fluctuate when you eat three Rolo McFlurries (is it McFlurries or McFlurrys?), but my shoe size stays a constant 8.5 and I like that I can count on that.

I work in men's shoes, so I am surrounded by hundreds of shoes in huge piles every day.  But men's shoes lack some of the fun trends you can find in women's footwear.  I see a lot of black, dark brown, and tan leather shoes.  Constantly.  So my Shoe of the Week feature will be my chance to drool over the whimsical, outrageous, pretty, sporty, etc.  I can't promise they will all be affordable or wearable, but they will be interesting.

When people ask who my favorite designer is, I can't answer with just one.  I feel like that's asking parents to pick their favorite child. Not fair.  Unless one of your children is Casey Anthony.  I will feature some of my faves here.

[By the way, if you don't have it already, you should download Bergdorf Goodman's shoe of the day app!]

To keep with this week's shoe-themed post, New York City was recently named the most walkable city in the US according to Walk Score.  After living here, I agree.  It's a great city for walking - easy to navigate, sidewalks on every street wide enough for a few pedestrians,  and it's great for short or long distances.  I never drive in the city, and I never miss it.

I feel like I should also use this time as a Public Service Announcement for all pedestrians in big cities:

1.  Sidewalks are like traffic lanes.  Don't unexpectedly stop in the middle of one.  You will cause a traffic jam or get run over.

2.  Leave your beach, patio, and golf umbrellas at home, unless you want to arrive dry but without an eye.  There is no room for oversized umbrellas on the streets.

3.  When walking with friends, walk single file not shoulder to shoulder.  In case you didn't notice, people walk fast here.  Faster than you.  And they want to be able to get around you.

4.  On escalators, stand on the right, walk on the left.  Same reasoning as #3.

5.  If you smoke, please blow it away from my face.  And don't leave your cigarette hanging out where I will get singed when I walk by you because I don't want to breathe your second hand smoke.

With all of that walking, you definitely wear through shoes quickly.  These are comfy and keep up with the return of the 80's that I'm sure you've noticed this summer.  They are $140.00 and part of the NikeiD line, so you can style them any way you like in case you aren't diggin' the rad neon.

I think they're a little more wearable than these Asics which Ralph was recently seen wearing and retail for $120.00.  

Cincinnati

This has been the year of travel for me and my husband. Last weekend was no different - we drove to Cincy for my cousin's wedding reception.  We got in town Friday afternoon, and it was HOT!  We already had tickets to the Reds vs. Braves game that evening, so we thought we would stop by to check out the ballpark.  It was a nice stadium...

With big, refreshing beers...

We had a great time!  I hardly watched the game; I was too busy laughing with my cousins.  It's always so fun when we get together.  My baseball fanatic husband was stoked he got to see the Reds' pitcher Chapman and Braves' pitcher Kimbrel, so we both left hot and happy.

We decided to take the party to the hotel bar and literally drank them out of draft beer - starting with Stella Artiola.  (not a typo, just a funny quote from the night).

A native Cincy friend, gave us a few food recs for the weekend, so of course, we had to try them all.  We started that night with La Rosa's pizza.

We devoured four large pizzas, but I gotta admit I've become a pizza snob... it doesn't even make my top 5.  There wasn't anything bad, just not enough to knock out one of my faves.

Saturday we continued to check off the list of Cincy things to try.  Next up, Skyline Chili.

We had quite a sampling - loaded chili bowl, chili bean mix burrito deluxe, cheese coney, 4-way chili, and 5-way chili.  (Don't worry that wasn't all just for the two of us!).

        

And to finish off the caloric weekend, our fave - Graeter's ice cream.  

I would highly recommend this stop for ice cream.  Everyone there really enjoyed the treats, and there was a really cute old lady serving it up.  If you know me, you know I have a big soft spot for the elderly.

Now for the style segment of the trip.  We stumbled across this little gem... House of Adam Men's Wear.

My husband spotted this ruby from the street.

I wish you could see the attention to detail they put into it.  It was a three piece, eight-button NBA draft suit - lots of triangular flaps and flared pant legs.  My husband was going to wear it to the reception Saturday night, but we couldn't get a sales associate to help us - they pretended like they didn't see us holding their suit.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Cincinnati... the reception!

U-S-A!!!

Go USA!  I hope by the time I land back in New York City a lot more celebrating like this will have taken place.

Man, the last couple of games have been SO exciting.  I've been soaking up all of the highlights, since they only come around once every four years.  This team is definitely going down in the record books.  I just hope we come out on top at the end of 90 minutes or 120, however, this one plays out.  My husband is a deputized member of the uniform police and thinks that their uniforms look like nursing outfits.  They look like mandarin collars to me, and they are probably uncomfortable to play in, but they seem to be good luck.