A Big Surprise in the Big Apple!

This weekend was SO much fun. For the past 6 months or so, my brother in law, Jason, had been planning a surprise trip to NYC for his wife, Melissa. It was her 30th birthday, and he wanted to do something special(those of you that are familiar know how those Verdigets' boys are when it comes to surprises). Felix and I were lucky enough to get asked to tag along, and it was all I could do the past 6 months to not let it slip. Thursday night, Jason brings home two gift boxes to Melissa each containing a dress for the upcoming weekend. In one of the boxes he has included boarding passes for their flight that is the NEXT MORNING. She was so surprised, and little did she know, that the surprise wasn't over. The next morning, Felix and I arrived at JFK about 45 minutes before Jason and Mel and made it to baggage claim just in time. We decided to hide behind the door and as soon as we saw them come out, we ran up beside Melissa and screamed "We're in New York, we're in New York!". She was so happy, but scared at the same time. I thought she would fall out from the commotion !!

So, the first day Felix and I played tour guide and showed the two of them all around midtown. We started off with lunch at the Hello Deli. Even got to do some chatting with Rupert for those of you who are familiar. We had our "nice" dinner on Friday night and celebrated Mel's 30th birthday at the 21 Club. It was truly a wonderful meal and a night to remember.

Dinner at 21 Club

On Saturday morning, we started the day off with a bang at Tavern on the Green for brunch. We all got our share of eggs in honor of Paw Paw (who can't survive without his AAYYGGS -as he calls them) and then decided to burn off the calories in the park. Now, let me go into some detail here. The stroll through the park was beautiful, but warm. Being the pregnant woman I am, I constantly felt like I was about 10 degrees warmer than everyone else. So we pass one of those little stands in the park selling refreshments. I was so tickled to see the large bottles of water and can't wait to down one. So, Melissa tells me she is thirsty too. So, we head over to the stand to buy our "waters", and what does Melissa walk away with?? A Sunkist. Enough said. So, after our luxurious walk through the park, we head to 5th avenue to get in some shopping. I decided to extend my shopping experience while the rest of my group went to see the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the trade center site.

Central Park

A favorite of mine ;)

Saturday evening, the guys were all pumped up to head to Little Italy. Being raised in an Italian family, they have always heard stories about Italy from their grandparents. They have also always had nothing but the best when it comes to Italian food. We dined at Angelo's on Mulberry Street and both brothers will admit it was some of the best Italian food they have ever had. It went quite nice with my cranberry spritzer if I do say so myself :) Afterwards, we headed over to Ferrara's for some old fashioned cannolis. I made the statement that I thought they were better than Brocato's in New Orleans and I got told really quick to hush with such blasphemy.

Little Italy

Sunday came too soon, and it was time to go home. We ended the trip on a wonderful note at a fine little place called Sarabeth's for breakfast. I highly recommend it if you are ever staying near Central Park. After breakfast we all jumped in the limo and headed back to the airport. It was such a fun trip, and we look forward to many more birthday celebrations to come. Felix and I are enjoying all the fun things we have gotten to do so far this year, and we are treasuring ALL of them because we know our life will change (totally for the better) come January! We can't wait to tell Baby V that he/she has already been to Chicago, NYC, and on two beach trips. Stay tuned, because there are more travel plans in the works!

One down, two to go!!!

TRIMESTERS that is!!!!!!!!!! Okay, okay...sorry I have been holding back to the blogging world :) I am 13 weeks pregnant as of today. Felix and I went to the doctor on yesterday and everything looked and measured wonderful. Alot of you may have already gotten "word" by now, and we all know "word" travels fast! So now you know why Tara has been "without wine" in the past few blog posts! HA! Felix and I are so thrilled to be having this baby. We ask that everyone pray for us daily for a perfectly healthy baby boy OR girl. Our due date is scheduled for January 15th, and our next appointment is in 4 weeks. Stay tuned for many updates, pictures, and new experiences for our little family!

Love,
Tara and Felix

My cute little face!

Resting on my back!

Happy 4th from the Beach!

We had the pleasure of spending this entire week down at the beach with wonderful friends. Last Saturday, we drove down to 30-A and stayed in a little community called Cypress Dunes located in Santa Rosa Beach. The McGrath's and the Driskell's were kind enough to join us. It is so nice to have "travel friends". You know the difference. There are good friends that you love and can see every now and then, and then there are good friends you can "travel" with. Both of these couples fall under the "travel friends" category :) I planned out the entire week including meals (imagine that) and Dean didn't fuss a single time. I was so proud of him :) Here are a couple of things we did while down at the beach...


On Sunday night, we drove over to Sandestin to have a few baked oysters at Acme Oyster House. Thomas (who is a lifelong friend of Dean and Shawn) joined us along with his little girl, Avery. Thanks to Uncle Lucien, we had the best baked oysters ever AND we didn't have to wait for a table. Thanks Uncle Lou! After dinner we headed back to the house, so Avery and Felix could bake us some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. How much sugar did y'all put in those things?!?!?


On Monday night, we went over to Cantina Laredo to get some good ole' Mexican food. For those of you who have not been here, it is really good. It is a nice change of pace from seafood when you are down at the beach for a week. Kelly got into the 'riters (as us country folk say) and had herself a grand old time. We had just enough food and fun to get ourselves prepared for a night long Uno tournament. That El Gato seemed to come out again in full force, and we had to put him to bed early :)


We headed over to Bud and Alley's on Tuesday night for some rooftop drinks at sunset and then another fine meal. Our waitress was nice enough to take this group shot of all of us in front of the dunes :) The plan for after dinner to was to get some ice cream in Seaside, but the line was way TOO long...Blue Bell in the freezer worked just fine :)


As the week got closer to an end, the sadder we all got. We decided on Thursday night that we needed to take a family group shot before dinner ( we wanted to make sure Shawn still had his tooth-long story). Dean was not the most thrilled person in the world while taking these photos. I think he faked it pretty good though, don't you? We'll see if his opinion of a family photo shoot changes once "baby Megan" comes along :)



I have to admit that the trip ended with a bang. And I don't mean bang, as in fireworks. On the 4th, Dean's family was nice enough to invite us over for their annual 4th of July celebration in Destin. We went over to Sister and Henry's condo on the beach for a beautiful day out by the ocean and a massive 4th of July BBQ spread! I couldn't have felt more at home. They were such a nice Southern family and provided such wonderful hospitality. The Boston butt, hash brown casserole, and baked beans were all to die for! Nothing like a good ole Southern meal at the beach! Dean's birthday cake sure ended the meal off right. Who would've thought you could fit 40 candles on a cake? Somehow they managed.

We had such a great time on our trip. Thanks to these wonderful friends for joining us. We appreciate the memories and look forward to many more to come!