Winter Wonderland: Miami & NYC (Dec-Jan)

Wow, can't believe over a month ago, we were in Sunny South Florida for Christmas and New Year's. It was so refreshing getting to spend time with our families!  Believe it or not, we took over THIRTEEN HUNDRED... that's 1-3-0-0 pictures!  I have a few here, and posted about 100 on to FaceBook.  We were able to spend the first week in Broward with my mom, and then the second week in Miami with B&D!!  We cherished every minute of our time while we were there and took advantage  of hanging out with our families and friends as much as possible!

This first picture is of me, Eli and my two cousins Stephan and Andrew.  We're a silly bunch!  We had dinner at a Cuban restaurant to get that Miami cuisine that we so often crave up here in NY.  Don't get me wrong, there are tons of restaurants up here with delicious food, but there is just something about a Cuban meal! Yum, yum, yum!

Our first weekend in Florida, The Winters from our old home church Granada Presbyterian hosted a Pot Luck Christmas Dinner.  We took the whole crew (Mom, Eli and Grandpa) down so that we could surprise B&D and get some bonus Crystal, Mark and Addi time!

Christmas day was extra special and filled with family time.  We opened presents at my mom's then headed down to Miami where Donna hosted a French Toast Brunch!  After opening presents, Mark gave us the best gift ever.  Nerf guns!  Donna got the biggest gun of all!  Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Phillips' for Dinner.  

Throughout our trip we got to spend time with some of our best friends.  Marty and Jen treated us to a great breakfast and we got to play with Katie and Hannah!

Later Matt and Jess hosted us for dinner and we got to love on sweet baby Madison!

We also got to meet up with Mr. Billy Browning himself at Cracker Barrel, along with Robby's bestie Todd, and my favorite Travis Boy, Matt.

Dinner with Sharonsita, Seymour, my mom and sis! Can't believe it had been two years since we had seen them!!

Cookie Night at Donna's!  Had to try at least one of each, but Chocolate Chip has to be my all time favorite.  Robby's favorite is... well, all of them really. LOL!

We brought in the New Year at Crystal & Mark's.  Happy 2013 everyone!

Honestly, most of our memorable moments on this trip also centered around food.  One such time was when Mark treated  us to a phenomenal Chicago Style pizza.  So full of flavor!

Although it was extremely difficult to head back to NY after such an incredible trip, we were happy to spend dinner at Blockheads being served by Luz for the last time!  Joaquin the bartender also joined in on the picture.

Shortly after heading down to Florida, Megan, Chris and Sophia made their long-awaited trip North and we got to spend a Saturday enjoying Mid-Town with them.  We went to Sarabeth's for Brunch, then spent the afternoon in the Central Park Zoo! 

Now that we are settling back, we have really been attempting to make the most of NY by venturing to see and do things that we haven't done before.  It seems as though every time we check something off the NY Bucket List, we add about 5 more things to it, but we are getting there!

Thankful this November

November started just after Hurricane Sandy made its way through New York and the Northeast.  As I mentioned before we were very fortunate and sustained almost no damage in our area.  We had a scare during the windiest part of the storm when a window flew open and we thought it had broken, but thankfully it just needed to be locked and it stayed put the rest of the storm.  It's hard to believe that it's been over a month since the storm and yet there are still areas where the damage is so complete that people have had to leave there homes.  Many of you have gone through hurricanes before, but to then be followed by a cold winter makes it even tougher!  Please continue to pray for the recovery efforts! 

The first weekend in November we had another fun and successful dinner at the Ronald McDonald House, we served a Mexican Fiesta themed dinner.

Robby jammed out on the drums in the Activity Room while one of the older kids that is staying in the house played the bass.

Right after the RMH dinner, we went celebrated two of our friend's birthdays at a mustache themed party.  Check out the cupcakes!

On Sunday, we took some non-perishables to a local restaurant that was arranging deliveries to the Rockaways.  Check out all the boxes!  They had sections for canned goods, toiletries, clothes, baby supplies, blankets and more! It was so moving to see all of these people giving to those who are in such great need. 

We had our first snow storm the next week.  I worked from home, and Bess helped!

Robby had to go in to the office, but thankfully it was only a 5 minute walk.

In a bitter sweet turn of events, I got to go to Florida to be with family to remember my Godfather, Orlando, who passed away from a heart attack.  He was always the life of the party, so he will be missed immensely.  I am so grateful that I was able to be with family during that time and that B & D, Mark, Crystal and Toots came by as well!

Back in New York, the City began preparing for the upcoming Holidays! One of the subway trains was even decorated inside and out for the MACY's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Robby, hanging out with Papa Smurf!

We decorated our apartment for Christmas as well!  No tree this year though, since we will not really be spending much time in New York in December.

During the days we had off from work, I got around to (finally) making the cushions for our chairs.

We had to cut the cushion to match the size of the seat.

Here are some of the supplies we used.

Check out this action shot of Rob!

I had already sewn the fabric together several weeks ago, so they were all set to staple into place.

Danger: Drea with a staple gun!

Ta DA! We are so happy with how they turned out!

In addition to cushion making, we also ventured into Pie Making!!

Yummy pie crust, courtesy of Fresh Direct!

All in all, we made FOUR pies (two traditional pumpkin pies, and two pumpkin cheesecake pies.  We also made Cornbread Casserole, Green Bean Casserole and Baked Mac and Cheese.  (So. Good.)  That weekend we also got to spend time having lunch at Serendipity with the Milian's who were visiting from Florida!  Needless to say, we are eating extremely healthy foods in preparation for the Christmas festivities!

November 27th, Robby began his 6 month seasonal position with the NFL.  What a huge answer to prayer!  Thank you everyone for joining us in praying for Robby to get this opportunity.  We still can't believe it! We are hoping that this can lead to a full-time opportunity if it's God's will.

Rob was excited to expand his wardrobe beyond his school related coaching gear, check out his Tie-tying skills! Whattup!  This pretty much sums up our month of November, and we continue to be so thankful for all that God has been doing in our lives.  This year so far we have spent two different seasons wondering what job Robby would have next, and both times, God has provided in His perfect timing!  It has been hard for us to trust God in the times of waiting, but it has been really faith-building as well.

This last "Do-it-Yourself" project is from the first weekend in December, but I wanted to share it now anyway, because I know the December update will be jam-packed with lot's of good stuff. I made Euro Sham covers for the pillows on our bed.  Above you can see the Mauve colored fabric, those were our old covers.  So I went about cutting and measuring the fabric. 

Then I ironed the seams... I have found that ironing the fabric is actually one of the easiest ways to quickly make a sewing job look a little bit more professional.  So it takes a little extra time, but it's worth it!

Then after pinning the fabric together and sewing everything up, voila!

Here's the completed view of the bed with the new Euro Shams!  Another success!

Love to you all, Drea and Rob

Tourists and Apples and Hurricanes, Oh My!!

October ushers in the wonderful fall weather and gorgeous coloring leaves.  This October also ushered in great visits from Agu and Eli, a weekend of "Apple Picking" and Super Storm Sandy.


This is picture is of the birthday girl, Agu in Central Park.  We walked through the Park from 86th and Lexington to 53rd and 5th Avenue.  We were treated to a great lunch at the MoMa to celebrate the birthday girl!





Birthday Dinner at Yuca Bar on the Lower East Side.


The next night Drea cheered Robby and the Monroe Mustangs on in the chilly fall air.  Sadly they lost, but it was a gorgeous evening.



Eli came to visit the very next weekend, and we had a great time.  She had never visited NYC in the fall.  On her first night here, we snapped this great pic when she fell asleep!!




We got together at the MoMa again for a great lunch and Eli got to see her favorite painting, "Starry Night".



After church on Sunday, we went to Shake Shack and then strolled through Central Park with the Beltrez gang.




The next weekend, Rob had a Bi-Week, so we went "Apple Picking" with Anthony, Judy and The Ethan.  Due to Super Storm Sandy, all of the apples had been removed from the trees and were in huge bins for us to select from, so we weren't able to actually pick them off the trees ourselves.  Seeing all the  trees changing colors, and the mountains rolling across the view was so gorgeous.


We bought a delicious Blackberry Pie and Apple Cider Donuts!!


Two days later, Super Storm Sandy made her way to the Northeast.  This is from the top floor of our apartment building a few hours before the storm hit land.  The clouds are so thick, you can't even see the City.  Normally, you can see the New York City Skyline very clearly from up there.




We stocked up on some Spaghettio's, Wine, Cereal, Oreos and Popcorn.  We made a couple of bags just in case we lost power.  Thankfully we actually never lost power and although the wind was scary at some points, our area suffered very minimal damage.  Just a few miles away from us in places like Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey, there are communities that will be facing many months of recovery as well as a cold, cold winter.  Please pray for these communities to get back on their feet soon!