Central Park Conservatory Gardens

We made it a point on this trip to visit the Conservatory Garden at Central Park.  I had seen photos and knew it was beautiful but they don't do justice to seeing it in person!  And Central park in the Fall..... so beautiful!

I believe it was last year and I was trying to come up with something really neat and special for mom for Mother's Day when I remembered seeing that you could have flowers planted for someone in the Conservatory Garden.  As soon as the thought popped in my head I knew THAT is what I was going to do!  Some people may think it odd that I gave her flowers that are over 1300 miles away but by now you know what NYC means to us both and how much we love Central Park!  So it was perfect!  

How gorgeous is this?!?!?!?!

Fall in Central Park 

Garden Entrance

It looks like it's right out of a fairy tale!

Mom's flowers!

On our walk to the Garden - just gorgeous!!!!!

Pizza A Casa

So this January afternoon it is a very unseasonal 64 degrees here in Nebraska (with snow in the forecast for tomorrow - lol!) and pizza sure sounds good - but doesn't it always?!?!?!?!?!?

I've taken some time out of my day to spend in the kitchen putting my mad pizza making skills to work!  Where did I obtain these amazing skills you may wonder....  Well I'd be more than happy to tell you - NEW YORK CITY!!!!  Surprised? ;)




In October mom and I returned to NYC once again!!!!!!  We went out for the Food Network Wine & Food Festival - more on that later.....but we finally made it to pizza school!  And boy are we glad we did!

Pizza a Casa teaches you how to make a-mazing pizza right in your very own home kitchen.  I was surprised how easy it really is!  The class was so much fun and it is some of the best pizza I've ever tasted!  The instructor started by making some pizza that we all got to taste and then we learned step by step how to make our very own.  And believe me - we highly value our time spent in NY and this was sooooo worth our 4 hours!  We would do it again!

I would highly recommend Pizza a Casa to anyone looking for an awesome NYC experience!  We have such fun memories from the class and I feel like a little bit of NYC came home with me too!  It has been a really fun new skill!  I have even since hosted a few "pizza making" nights at home where guests are challenged to come up with a unique pizza and bring the ingredients and then we bake them off and have a fun tasting night!  We always throw in a few standards too but it's great fun trying new ideas and we haven't had a bad one yet!  And who doesn't like PIZZA!!?!?!?!

So if you are interested in your very own pizza adventure check these guys out at pizza school.com you will be so glad you did!

Part of their amazing panty selections

Neil, our instructor

He's got skills!

Soooooooo delicious!

Time to make some dough!

Yes those are potatoes and this was one of my favorites!  I make it at home and everyone loves it!

Our class photo!  We did it!!!!!!!!  YUM!

We will never forget......

The Chew

During our last trip to NYC we scored tickets to one of our favorites shows....The Chew!  My husband and I have our DVR set to record this show daily and we usually watch in the evening after dinner but sometimes we catch them up on the weekends.  But we both enjoy the show too!  So it was very exciting when I got an email saying mom and I were selected for tickets!

We found our way to the studio in the morning where we had a brief wait outside before we were let in to the studio.  There was a nice audience holding area where we had some treats, "chew"y granola bars ;), before entering the studio.  It was so exciting to see the set and to get ready for the show.  They had a wonderful comedian that came out and got us pumped up for the show!

Before the taping began it was fun to see the crew getting everything lined up and we even saw Michael Symon come out and do some prep work.  The show was even more fun in person than it is on tv and that's saying something!  During the commercial breaks they would crank up the music and Carla Hall came out dancing into the audience.  She is so much fun!  

They did a segment on Cirque du Soleils Zarkana that was in it's closing week at Radio City Music Hall.  AND the best part was an audience giveaway of tickets to see the show!!!!!!  We did a tour of Radio City our previous trip and they were setting up for a NEW show called Zarkana and here we were ticket holders to this same show in its final week.  We were so excited!  

After the taping Clinton Kelly came out and chatted with the audience for a few minutes before jetting off to tape What Not To Wear!  Love that show..... I adore Clinton!!!!!  And as we stepped out of the studio we bumped into Daphne Oz who was as sweet as could be and took photos with us!  

It was great fun!!!!!  And then we headed to Radio City to get our tickets to Zarkana!  Such a great time!