Tennis

We got together this morning to play tennis at the courts around the corner from our houses. I was really awesome, seeing as how today was the first day since my 5th grade lessons to play tennis. Actually I have to give mad props to Meredith who gave me tons of pointers and was really patient with me. She was even my partner in doubles twice! I had a lot of fun and got a little (lot) sun in the process!

I also met the most beautiful dog I've ever met. She's super calm, has gorgeous eyes and is really really friendly. Tallulah the Catahulla!

We also went over to Meredith's house tonight to watch the MSU/LA Tech football game. Go State! (we lost, by the way) Bryan took Tallulah's seat and she starred at him like this for a few minutes before she got over it.

This is how she forgave him. She tried to pretend he wasn't in her seat by laying on him.

Spice Avenue

So we had heard that a new, local Indian restaurant, Spice Avenue, was really really good so we decided to give it a try on Friday night. It was delicious! We were skeptical when we got there because there were so few people in there, but the service was very good and the food was excellent!

Because none of us were terribly schooled in Indian cuisine, we felt that the Cholley/Bhatura DID need a description. We had NO CLUE what that was--- and needless to say, no one ordered it.

These are our Messy Friends. Hey, guys, rice doesn't belong on the table!After dinner, we came back to our apartment and teamed up to play Lexie's new The Office DVD/Board game. It was awful and we didn't finish it. We also all hate The Office now. (just kidding, but the game was seriously horrible.)

A Re-Discovered Treasure

I was cleaning and unpacking the other day and came across this. Lexie is here now and we got a good laugh out of it. This was taken back at the birthday party at which the poor 'Hand Cakes' experiment went awry.


So it was Martin's Birthday and we stuffed everyone from the party into a single photo booth.

hmmm hmmm, like I said, "it WAS Martin's Birthday..." (But Where Is Martin?!) Oh, Here he is...He is but a Chin.

How did this happen?

Lexie took over way too much space, That's how! She was only allotted head-room but somehow managed to make her entire body known. Martin kept saying "Go Down! Go Down!" as he pressed the top of her head down with his solitary Chin, but she claims she didn't know what this "Go Down" nonsense meant.

A secret ploy to etch Martin out of his own Birthday Image? You decide.

Good Morning

I am not a morning person by any means--- go ahead, ask anyone. They'll all tell you, "Ashley? No... Not a morning person." BUT, and this may be the strongest 'but' you've ever seen, I love to wake up to sunlight streaming through windows in our new house. (I've probably never said 'I love to wake up' in that order ever!)

This is one of the things I saw this morning.

I found some great old carafes and filled them with our shampoos, body wash and conditioner and put them in our bathroom window. I really love how it looks and they all filter the light into little rainbows on the opposite wall.

Happy Morning!

Date Night

Bryan and I went to Shapley's on Monday night for a date! It was fantastic! It was so good to hang out together and eat delicious food! We had escargot. (and salad but no pictures of that)
Fillet Maison with lump crab meat and Gruyere & herb roasted potatoes.And.... Bread Pudding!!!!!!

We also had a really delicious bottle of Robert Mondavi wine.

(thanks to Google images for all of these great pics... I didn't take one at the restaurant because it was sooooo dark in there!)

Weddings!

Lexie asked me to go with her to look at wedding dresses today! So exciting!!! We saw tons of dresses and she probably tried on twenty different ones. She wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for but I think we got it pretty well narrowed down to a few favorites!

I know Parker probably shouldn't see her in THE ONE before the big day... but I thought Lexie would be okay with me showing this favorite:

What do you think? Did I lead her astray?

The Journey

Bryan and I went to The Journey (church) tonight. It was perfect and made me feel like I could belong to a community of like-minded believers again. I had really really been missing that and didn't even realize it. It was so refreshing and fun and I encourage anyone around here to try it out. We saw several familiar faces and absolutely look forward to getting involved in ministry in some way! The people there are mostly 20 somethings and all seem to really love each other and the Lord. I can't wait to see what new friendships come from this place.

Hey, Haley, Let's go Walkin'

Hola! I know... It's been a while.

Jackson just isn't New York, ya dig? I've spent the week looking for a job, unpacking the rest of the boxes, those can't be the only things I've done, I just can't seem to remember what else I've been doing.

Yesterday I drove up to Starkville so that I could give my internship presentation. Our whole class came back to present. It was so good to see everyone and to hear what everyone did this summer. I think I even sold a few of the underclassmen on New York!

The beautiful morning!

Robin, Emily, Cass, Anne, Stacy, Lauren, and Liz

Once I got home from Starkville, a bunch of friends got together to go out to eat!
While we waited for everyone to get to our house, we all sat around and watched Roomba! I love Roomba! He's my favorite vacuuming robot ever! If you don't have one... you should seriously consider getting one! I got him as a graduation gift from my mom (who was like "you want a vacuum for graduation?!" and I was like "heck yes!" so I got one!) I really hate to vacuum, and with Roomba, I'll never have to again! I just press 'clean' and he does (or schedule a cleaning time and I don't even have to press anything)! Once he's done cleaning, he even re-docks himself so he can recharge his batteries!
We all met at our house and decided to walk to the Mexican Restaurant. People honked at us like they'd never seen people walk anywhere. The walk was way more like a nature hike... Let me show you:

Complete lack of sidewalks.Shrubbery-infused walk ways. (which forced us to take a 'one-at-a-time' straight line approach to walking.)Broken and cracked sidewalks.Walking in the street.Overgrown sidewalks.Low-hanging trees...

We did finally make it, however.Bryan accidentally cut his head off... That's his forehead near me.

Here we have Lexie, Parker, Aaron, Meredith, Sully, Christine, Me and Bryan's forehead.This painted wooden parrot, strapped to this bracket near our table was really curious. Some places make the decor a little less obvious, but this place had no shame. PETA should be alerted immediately.

When we got back to our house, Meredith popped a blackberry cobbler into the oven and Christine made a Strawberry Rhubarb pie from scratch! They were both delicious! I've never had Rhubarb pie but it was fantastic! I'll have to get the recipe!

More updates to come. Hopefully our house will be in photographable order soon! Have a great Saturday!

Back in the South

Well... I'm home! It's great to be back. I'm getting our apartment arranged and looking for a job this week. Hopefully something will come along soon!

I drove for the first time in three months yesterday. It was scary. I also noticed that I was a much more aggressive driver than when I left. I guess I made it out of NY with a little bit of attitude and in more of a hurry than anyone else around here. I did make it to the store and back in one piece though which is always the goal.

Pictures to come! Of what I don't know, but there will be some soon!

All my bags are packed

I'm ready to go. I'm leaving quite early in the morning via a requested car. I'm supposed to be home in about 13 hours! It's so crazy. I know I'm going to miss the city. I really had a fantastic summer. It was hard at times and at one point I thought I'd never make it so long. It has been perfect though and I don't know if I could trade this experience. I do miss Bryan like crazy and can't wait to see him tomorrow!!

I hope you've all enjoyed this three month long blogging New York ride! Stick around for the next phase... blogging goes to Jackson, Mississippi! Well, not all blogging... just mine.

Bye Bye NY!

Drum Roll Please!

LEXIE AND PARKER ARE ENGAGED!!! Congratulations guys! Marriage is the best!

The ring is gorgeous! Parker did such a good job! They were in central park yesterday when he proposed by the lake. I was asked to go back with them today to photograph the reenactment. And I was honored to do so! :)

Here's me... the pack mule. :) I carried everyone's bags and purses while we photographed!

Lucky Cheng's

Today is my last day in New York and it must be treated as such! (That really just means Pinkberry and one last trip to Ikea.)

Last night was one of the more unbelievable dinner features I've seen. We (Me, Ashley, Ashley's sister Brittney, Brittney's friends Madison and Caroline and Madison's boyfriend, Brandon) went to a restaurant called Lucky Cheng's. It's a tranny bar... Like with drag queens as waitresses... It was totally inappropriate and apparently a destination for bachelorette parties! We did have fun, though. The hostess of the show, Sweetie, will be appearing on Project Runway next week. She said, "Honey, when they gave me that runway--- I did NOT give it back... then I slapped Nina Garcia! not really but I wanted to" You'll have to tune in to see Sweetie and experience what we did last night. I'm not going to lie. Those waitresses were fierce.

Me, Brittney, CarolineMadison, Ashley, Brandon

SweetieUs with performer Tiara.

Special post to come later today! Tune in to find out what it is and to see what happened on my last day in New York!!!