Happies and Crappies

May 24, 2013 by TotallyBrenda 8 Comments

Happies

The issue the car was having was fixed. It was more complicated than expected BUT it works properly now. Yay!

DH and I went on a date and saw The Hangover 3. It was pretty funny. Allen makes the movie-but doesn’t he in all of them?

DH ordered me a photo book with some of the NYC pics. Isn’t he sweet? Can he get an AWWWWW.

Packing is going okay. We still need lots of work but progress is progress. We’ve also found a lot of cool mementos from the past.

Crappies

BC of the ac issue and water leaking into the car-the entire car smells like butt!

Part of my laptop hinge cracked. It’s entirely my fault since it fell out of my hands. Overall this little netbook has been a trooper. Between Ricky and I, we have dropped it so many times. I’m surprised it still works.

I cut my toe while I was shaving. Not even a clue how that was possible. Clumsy is the only explanation I guess. lol. My HEBuddy band-aid saved the day I guess. It’s not horrible though.

The Vintage Modern Wife: Happies and Crappies Link Up

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: crappies, happies, happies and crappies, happiesandcrappies, linkup

New York: Day 4

May 23, 2013 by TotallyBrenda Leave a Comment

That morning we were supposed to go to Jersey. Except we missed the tour bus. I guess no fist pump for us. (Which I’m not sure why I cared if I’ve never watched that show.)

So instead, we went to Central Park. I bet you are thinking WHAT, CENTRAL PARK AGAIN? But we wanted to explore more of Central Park. We saw squirrels and birds that were not a bit scared of humans. That was so cool! We climbed one of the rocks, rode a carousel, took a picture with the John Lennon Memorial, and took pictures with the “Friend’s Waterfall.” I don’t think it’s true BUT that doesn’t take away any of its beauty. There was so many cool things going on like a bridal AND movie shoot. It was awesome.

brooklyn bridge bound day 3 Once we were done with Central Park-we headed to meet up with our friend (2). We ate at The Soho Room (7). It was pretty good and they had a half price deal between a certain time. On the way to China Town(3.) we stopped at Dash (6) walked through Little Italy (4) We also saw the fire escape system you see on all of those NY shows (4). I hadn’t seen any in Manhattan. My friend needed to go to the bathroom and there was no Starbucks to be found. We tried Dunkin Donuts (5) but NADA-no bathroom. Then we turned on this bathroom locator app. It suggested McDonalds. We stopped at a super famous McDonalds that has a Pagoda in front of it. Excitement couldn’t even describe the feeling on the way there. Then we opened the door. OMG, it smelled BAD! So bad, I almost puked and even my husband was grossed out. Men aren’t supposed to be grossed out. At least not the man child I call The Hubby. Only go there if absolutely necessary. I shall consider my public service announcement. Then a super nice cop lady told us to head to the eagle building (1) to find the street that would lead us to the Brooklyn Bridge.

When we got there we saw a bike lane and a walking lane. There was also benches at the beginning and a few times before getting to the middle. It was different than we imagined but incredible nonetheless. The pedestrian part of the bridge is above the cars and once you get closer to the middle it is wood. My Toms were not the best choice to walk the bridge because you could feel the unevenness, but the shoes were okay. Be prepared for bikers to yell BIKE LANE BIKE LANE at the top of their lungs. We think it’s their hobby. After many pictures-a few breaks-and lots of memories we completed the mile walk across this historic Bridge. Oh ya and my phone finally went caput. Although I hadn’t noticed, I just thought it was bad signal. We got lost but it was not bad because we got to see a few colleges, the community basketball courts, etc.

Later that night the hubby and I took the subway to the Empire State Building. Someone was talking about detoxing and I REALLY wanted to go become friends with them but my feet were hurting-instead I just bit my tounge and waited for Subway C to come our way. The hubby bought some VIP tickets. We were sticker shocked because for some reason we thought the tickets were $2.00. I guess we had a crazy dream or something because no one ever quoted us that price. I think we paid like $150 or so. It is much less if you buy regular tickets. A really nice man (who works there) approached us and sold us the tickets. We weren’t versed in the whats and hows of the Empire State Building. We thought we were going to go on top of The Rock so this was not evaluated previously. With the VIP package you skip the line and go on virtual ride that tours all of the burrows. We rarely spend that much on stuff we do. But this was a one time deal so the hubby said-what the heck. If there is a next time, we’ll get the regular deal. No need to skip the line. Quick tip: It isn’t smart going up there without a sweater. (You’re probably thinking DUH!) You need layers layers layers. We left pretty soon because we were extremely cold.

The subway station was four blocks away (at least the one we knew about that would take us to Times Square) from the Empire State Building. We ALMOST got a taxi. But I put on my big girl panties and walked all the four blocks. No need to spend unnecessary money when I have two very capable feet.

What is the most you’ve spent on a tourist attraction and did you have sticker shock?

Filed Under: Family & Friends, Totally Brenda Tagged With: birthday trip, brooklyn bridge, central park, empire state building, new york, new york city, nyc

New York: Day 3

May 22, 2013 by TotallyBrenda Leave a Comment

The third day at NYC was a little gloomy. We were going to start heading to the Brooklyn Bridge but then it started raining. Instead we went to H&M.

1. Emotional much? Lets be honest here. I was still having a hard time after the death of my two uncles. I had to miss one of their farewells and the other one had been a few days prior to leaving to NYC. So I woke up pissy and started balling in the middle of NYC. Then my friend bought me an apple. I’m kinda weird and had been wanting to take a pic of an apple close by-I was going to walk away further back and then Take a pic with Times Square behind me and it would be titled-Brenda at the Big Apple. All of this equaled tears galore. wah-wah-wah.

2./4. Juice and oatmal breakfast. YUM!

3. NYC Library. I still had my juice so they didn’t let me in. Honestly I don’t know what I was thinking. They don’t let people here in TX with drinks so I don’t know why I thought it would be different in the NYC Library.

Getting ready for Jimmy Fallon was not working out for my friend and me. I accidentally broke my earrings and forgot what happened to her. But we finally managed to get ready and headed to the NBC Studios. We ate at the gift shop (they have a cafeteria) and the food was pretty good. The NBC Studios is also like a mall. Super weird. Only because that is not what I imagined. My favorite part was sitting in replicas of the chairs used by the judges on The Voice. If you go to the show be prepared for these people to take their job seriously. We got to the “meet up place” five minutes prior to the time in said on the ticket. They yelled at us and told us to WALK WALK WALK. Then we tried to look at a poster and they said WALK WALK WALK.

We came back five minutes later and went up an escalator. The tickets are separated by two groups numbers and letters. I believe we were Y’s. When we went in they told us where to go. We were on the second row on the far left, right next to the head security guard. It was SUPER awkward to sit near him. The hubby didn’t notice but after Rebel Wilson was done with her segment, the security guard was blocking her arms open and everything staring at my friend and I. Excuse me for laughing at her hilariousness. Home boy thought we were going to jump over the railing or something. Um-I don’t think so. I didn’t break the rules for Enrique-so obvi I don’t break the rules. Had we sat in the middle or just a few seats away from this guy, it would have been perfect. Oh ya and my insane phone decided to turn back on right before they started recording the show. It was not the first time that had happened (prior to this it was at the movies several weeks before) but we thought that if they noticed they might tackle me or something. (J.K. I don’t think they would tackle me but maybe kick me out) I breathed a sigh of relief when I was able to take off the battery.

After the show we decided to eat the cupcakes we had bought at Crumbs a few days before. Um…I guess hubby and me need eating lessons. I promise we don’t usually make THIS much of a mess. Although many times we can be messy. I guess you can say the cupcakes were yummy even a few days old.

Can you believe this was our view! How lucky were we? Thanks to the hubby we were able to stay IN Times Square for the same price we would have paid for a hotel outside of the area. We were on the 24th floor. The first night we accidentally left the window open and didn’t realize why we were freezing. DUH! But we realized something that was weird for us. You can hear everything that happens at the street level all the way to the 24th floor. You get used to it though.

Have you ever been a Cranky Ms. (or Mr>) Cranky Pants during a vacation?

Filed Under: Family & Friends, Totally Brenda Tagged With: birthday trip, jimmy fallon, new york, new york city, nyc view

Miracles in Moore, OK

May 21, 2013 by TotallyBrenda Leave a Comment

All of my life I have embedded in my head how to prepare for a hurricane. That’s what you do when you live next to the ocean. It’s scary reality but all of our family had the comfort that we could travel to another city to seek shelter. But it’s another ball game when it comes to a tornado. You get mere minutes to find a safe place. After this, all that can be done is a little prayer. You want to know something? Many many times God hears our prayers because our mission on earth has not be completed.

Tomorrow I will continue with the NYC series. There was a post scheduled for today but I couldn’t fathom posting about a vacation when our country is recovering from this natural disaster.

Stay Safe

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: miracles, moore, ok

New York: Day 2

May 20, 2013 by TotallyBrenda Leave a Comment

Day two of my birthday trip started early-ish. We had a day tour scheduled at 9am. We ate breakfast at a deli near the tour stop. Then the trip started by the bus driving us to a port to ride a water taxi, dropped us off and bam-let the walking begin (not what we were expecting.) I may be exaggerating because I didn’t track it-but it felt like we walked about 30 miles. At the end of the tour-my feel felt like they were going to fall off and dissipate into thin air. Don’t get me wrong-we appreciated seeing so much of NYC but didn’t expect the tour would be mainly walking. Houston, this chunky monkey had a problem. As in, my shoes (TOMS) sucked for walking SO MUCH!!!

1. Skyline during the day. Isn’t it just as breathtaking in the day just as it is at night?

2./3. 911 Memorial: It was surreal to be standing where so many Americans and heroes had fallen. That tree was an original tree that had been there before the tragic incident.

4. The hubs was SUPER excited to find a street called Morris. Silly man!

5. I think this is self explanatory but here we are with the Statue of Liberty.

6. When we finally got back to the bus at nearly the end of the tour, he was driving insane. We felt like we were riding the original wood rattler in Six Flags, Fiesta Texas. No worries, we didn’t die. Obvi, huh? Oh ya and he was super cool.

7. Wall Street.

8. Tour boat: I LOVED the tour guide. He was so funny. If you only get to do one tour (which I would only recommend one-so you can fully be engulfed in the NYC experience) I recommend the Zephyr. He was amazing, funny and very personable!

day 2 - walking tour nyc 2

1. Here is a better picture of the 911 Memorial.

2. My friend and I enjoying the view.

3. Fallen Fire Fighters Mural.

4. Tower 1-it is the tallest building in the western hemisphere It was an honor to see it before it was completed.

5. The statute of Liberty is so pretty.

6. Here is a pic of the actual water Taxi.

7. M.I.B. was filmed here. But I can’t remember what the building is actually called.

8. Colgate clock in Jersey.

We got tired of the tour so we aborted the tour at Central Park. My friend needed to go to the bathroom and the line was insane-so we hung out at Central Park for a little bit and then left to find a restroom (Starbucks is the unofficial public restroom for New Yorkers).

1./5./6. Central Park was awesome. That little boy was one of the best violinist I have heard.

2. Amazing Iron Work on the way to Starbucks.

3. /4. DH had a coupon for a free cupcake from Crumbs. I wasn’t able to go to Magnolia Bakery but didn’t feel deprived. It was fantastic, although I didn’t realize it until a few days later. We didn’t eat it right away.

7. Yours truly had a da-da-da moment. I confused the crosswalk (actually in London) from the Beatles record. My husband took a few pics an and I kept walking like a maniac to get a good pic. HA! But this was where he got shot. Boo. The memorial across the street at Central Park should have been a giveaway. Oh well. Lol.

8. The lovely lady seemed like she was going to smack us in the face for taking a pic in the Subway. #SorryNotSorry for being excited. This was our first time in the Subway and the DH and I were stoked. When we came back, we got ready in a jiffy to head over to watch Chicago the Musical. Thank goodness we were only one block away and could cross a parking lot to get there. Our poor feet may have fallen off otherwise. The Theater is super tiny. So tiny that my husband had to duck in some places not to crash into the ceiling He’s over 6′. I’m not gonna lie-we were falling asleep on the first part of the show. However that is greatly contributed to all the walking. The second part was so much more fun. We really got into it along with a second wind of energy. One of the actresses was Paige from TLC’s Trading Spaces. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

Yay for crossing off something off of the bucket list!

1./3. We met a cool police man and horse named Brooklyn.

2. /6. There are these red stairs in Times Square. You can climb to the top and could come out on the screen. We weren’t centered enough to come out. However, watching other people on the screen was hilarious. Ten people crammed into a taxi or half a head (because they weren’t centered) dancing in Times Square. How could you not laugh?

4. Our after Broadway Meal was at the Shake Shack. My veggie burger was UGH-MAZING. If you can only go to one place for a quick meal-this would be the place. But be forewarned, finding somewhere to sit is SUPER hard. I had to literally stand next to a table without making them feel awkward to take it when they were done eating . Someone tried to steal it but-uh-uh-home girl (a.k.a. me) was WAY too hungry to wait.

5./7. The hubby and me at Times Square.

8. This was a portrait drawn by a great artist on Times Square. Except he did it the night we got there. Whoops. Messed up on the collage but I didn’t want to make a new one. #sorrynotsorry We can’t wait to display it when we move at the end of the month.

Whoa! I’m exhausted from telling you about it. You can bet I was exhausted that day which also let to bitch mode at some points. Overall it was a great day.