It's Broadway Baby!

I have made it a point to take advantage of living next to New York City and having the ability to go to Broadway shows whenever I want!

The last show I reported that Tom and I went to was "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" for our 2nd anniversary and we loved it!  A few weeks later, we got tickets for Sister Act and had such a great time.  The music was awesome, the story is just like the movie and the performers were so entertaining! Oh, and it was set in Philadelphia, PA and they even mentioned the Philadelphia Inquirer and I loved that as it reminded me of my Dad!

The best part of all - Tom got us tickets in the first row of the balcony - it was incredible!  To not have a head in front of me to have to look around - made the show so much better!

About a week later, I went to go see Memphis with my friend from work, Lindsay and her mom.  They stood in line for the 1/2 price tickets so we had amazing seats for half the price!  Not too shabby!

It was absolutely amazing and it was so nice of Lindsay to invite me!  The leading lady in the show had such an impressive voice and I felt the hairs on my arm stand every time she opened her mouth!

Last night, Tom and I went to The Lion King!

It was absolutely incredible.  The costumes, the dancing, the songs, the set - just amazing.  They made the story really come to life and we left the theater so  impressed! 

Every show we see, we take the playbook and decide which show we want to see next.  I am proud to say that we are making quite a dent in the Broadway shows so far and cannot wait to buy tickets for the next!

One Happy Island

And now for the main reason why blogging was not feasible over the last month...

Tom and I were in Aruba for a week of relaxation and fun together!  This was our first trip together and it was absolutely perfect.  Our main agenda for the week was to lay by the pool, read our books and go out to nice dinners and I am happy to report - that is exactly what we did!

We read the last two books in the Hunger Games trilogy - these books are just awesome and we cannot wait for the movie to come out!

We also went ATV-ing and got to see a ton of the island past the pretty beaches, amazing pools and lounge chairs!  Tom and I rode on one ATV - which might be one of my most favorite pictures of the two of us:

I think we look like we should be in some sort of video game with those big wheels and helmets - cracks me up!

On this 4 hour tour, we got to see some great spots with our tour guide - here are the highlights:

The chapel at the top of the hill 

Tons and tons of cliffs overlooking the crashing waves

Swimming in a natural pool - really cool!

We went to a ton of great places for dinner, including an authentic Aruban cuisine place called Soenchi, which translated means "kiss."

After we had a wonderful Aruban dinner

Another fun spot we went to for dinner was called Texas de Brazil - where they serve you as much meat as you can possibly eat, which Tom loved and I enjoyed an endless salad bar!

We had a lot of company while we sat at the pool...

Pretty cool colors!

He is the scariest looking one we saw!

These guys come out and just walk around all over the place.  They were a little scary at first, but by the end of the week, they didn't really bother me!

We were able to catch a few beautiful sunsets...

Play some games at the casinos...

And soak up some rays...

Most of all, we got to spend a whole week together and have tons of memories to last us a lifetime!  We felt so lucky to have been able to get away and we loved every minute of it!

My absolute favorite photo from the trip of me and my main man -

And when life gets a little hectic, I will imagine sitting here and life's troubles will seem to disappear!

Aruba - you lived up to your name and were nothing but "one happy island" for us!  Hope to see you again soon!

Are you ready for some football?

First football game I went to this year - Eagles vs. Jets!  Even though it was only a preseason game - we had a great time tailgating.  AND the Eagles won - so - uh, "Fly Eagles Fly!"

The boys

The girls (notice I am the only one in Eagles gear...)

New York vs. Philly - the saga continues...

First friend at Loyola - budsss!

Lets go boys! 

Scoreboard!

The next game I went to was the Jets vs. Cowboys game on September 11.  It was quite emotional to be in the New York area on the 10th anniversary and see so many people with t-shirts, hats, etc. with names of the Fallen Heros on them.  It was such an exciting game and I truly felt proud to be an American on that day.

We were celebrating two of our friends' birthdays and had a pretty impressive tailgate prior to the game!

Brett's (Mr. Brophy) birthday is always a great time and we made sure that the tailgate was top-shelf!  We had both ladder golf and corn hole games set up, tons of food and brews packaged with great friends and a night full of great memories!

Happy Birthday, Brett!

Loyola crew

Never forget

George Bush came for the coin toss!

The most impressive thing I have seen in a long time - this flag was incredible!

Lady Antebellum sang the National Anthem!

Half time show that honored the Fallen Heros 

This is the beginning of a fun fall of watching football with friends and enjoy spending time together on Sundays!

Hole in one?

Think of a way for post-college kids to get together and pretend they are in college again?

A pub crawl.

Think of a pub crawl + competitive drive + matching t-shirts

A pub golf tournament.

The premiss is to go from bar to bar (9 in total) and each bar has a "par" or list of drinks that equate to stokes on a golf course.

Here are some pictures from the day!

Introducing my new roommates, Drew and Jen!

Me and my boys! 

Drew talking strategy!

Hey Jen!

Camo? Yep - it went there...

So - as a recap - we walked the streets of Hoboken - highlighter yellow shirts blinding all "along the green" (Washington Street)- drinking some brews and hanging with friends!  Not bad for a Saturday in September!