Little Lucy

Michael and I have a new, beautiful little niece! Lucy Jameson Ridd was born October 28, 2010. She weighed 6 lbs. 1 ounce and 20 inches long. Michael and I are going to see her tomorrow, we are so excited. Congrats to Nick & Carly!

New York

Michael and I went to New York over our Fall Break to visit Marci and Dan. It was so nice of them to let us stay at their place and hang out with them for a few days. Dan took us around the city, the first day we were there. We walked around Central Park, which I didn't realize was so BIG! We got the most amazing cookies at a bakery, went through the Museum of Natural History. I made sure to take pictures of the big dinosaurs for my nephew Carson who absolutely loves them. :) We walked past the Manhatten Temple and through the Julliard School's campus. That night Marci met us at the Shake Shack, a most delicious hamburger joint with yummy milkshakes!

Michael in Times Square

On Friday we made our way into New Jersey. We had to take a trip to my favorite, Trader Joe's for the essentials: Joe Joe's and dark chocolate covered raisins!

We stopped to take pictures at a park where you can see a huge portion of the Manhatten Island. It was the perfect day for pictures with an overcast sky.

It was a really cold day, so Dan and Michael decided to run around the track to warm up while Marci and I took pictures of these two silly boys.

We finally reached our destination: Hoboken, NJ. Michael and I have wanted to go to Carlos Bakery in Hoboken for the longest time!! The owner of the shop, Buddy, has a show on TLC and makes the most amazing cakes and pastries. I don't think I've ever been so excited as I was while waiting in line to enter the shop.

We ended up getting a lobster tail, an eclair, four cannolis, a lemon cookie, a cupcake and a 9"x10" piece of apple crumb cake! {Yes, we did go a little bit crazy.}

We all decided that the cannolis and crumb cake were by far the very best.

Before we indulged in our sweets, we decided it best to eat some real food first. There's an italian deli a few blocks away from the bakery called Fiore's. The owner of the deli makes fresh buffalo mozzarella daily. It was to die for!!

The owner of the shop was such a genuine person. He told us to pick some baguettes and he made us the most delicious italian sandwich with prosciutto, salami, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella, and balsamic vinegar.

We went out to the pier to eat our sandwiches, as well as take some more pictures!

There was a beautiful view of the city from this look out point.

That night, the boys couldn't help but play with Michael's new purchase. My husband is a little boy at heart. The souvenir he wanted most on this trip, we bought at a toy shop. He got a remote control helicopter...but I have to say, it is pretty fun to fly.

This is Maude, Dan and Marci's cat. She has such a cute personality.

Friday morning, we made a stop at the Doughnut Plant just outside of SoHo. I got a creme brule doughnut and Michael got glazed. I think my favorite was the one Marci got, it was coconut creme... sooo yummy!

Marci took us into SoHo for the day on Friday. We stopped by a few of her favorite places. This store is called Papabubble and they make taffy. We watched how they put different sayings inside the little pieces of candy. It was amazing to watch how it's done; a very time consuming process.

Another shop Marci introduced to us was Sabon. They have soaps, lotion, scrubs etc.. and it all smelled really good.

My parents recommended a place called Key Chocolates in SoHo. I got a dark chocolate truffle and Michael got a mocha flavored chocolate.

We had a blast spending time with Marci and Dan in the big city. The only problem is we wished they lived closer, because we have so much fun with them! It was a fun trip, one we will definitely have to do again.

So Long...Garden!

Gone are the days when I can go shopping for fresh produce in my backyard. This photo is a few weeks old. We cleaned up our garden and found these Zucchinis hiding underneath the masses of leaves. Needless to say, our garden got so big and overgrown that we could hardly even get past the gate! Next year I will do a few things differently, like put cages around my plants...right after I plant them.

Now, in light of Jimmy Fallon,

here is a thank you note.

Thank you garden, for giving us more than we ever needed of zucchini, crook-neck squash and green peppers. Oh, and to my five tomato plants.. I have a bone to pick with you. Thanks for NOT growing into luscious, juicy things and disappointing me like you'll never believe. You were this close to losing your spot in my 2011 Spring garden, but fortunately for you tomatoes, I love you too much to ever give you up. :)

Until then, so long garden!

Ridd Halloween Party

Every year, my parents put on quite the Halloween party. This year was our 3rd annual and it definitely was the best thus far! Michael and I decided to be Ronald Mcdonald and Wendy. haha Michael's costume was seriously SO funny. My mom and dad were dead people, although I thought my mom looked like that funny little man in Princess Bride. Andy and Camille were the love guru and an indian woman. They made the pillow that Andy is sitting on, and it has wheels! Wes, Jess and their family were characters from the Wizard of Oz. I personally think Dorothy was the cutest. It was fun to have Nick and Carly this year. Carly is expecting and due on Halloween! We are so excited for baby Lucy to come. As usual, my mother had everything in her house all decorated like halloween. She always sets the table so perfectly, with a fun centerpiece and cute little favors. She had little coffins with our names on them and they were filled with candy. We started off eating a delicious dinner. My mom had put papers in test tubes for us to read at the table. Some of the papers said: "I walked into the haunted house and..." "Something that grosses me out is..." We had to finish the sentence. Then we went into the garage where we had a donut eating contest. I read a few stories from a cute halloween book I just bought. It's called "Frankenstein makes a sandwich." It has a bunch of fun little stories in it. After that, Michael did a magic show for all of us! He did such a great job. I can't even tell you how much fun he had putting it together. :) It was a really fun night spent with my family. Thanks mom, for putting such a wonderful event together!