Friday, August 29, 2008

The Hamptons

So we got the pictures from our private beach in the Hamptons. It was such an incredible experience. The lighthouse is literally the very tip of Long Island. We spent some time in Mantauk before spending some time on the beach. It was fun to just play and swim.














Anne & Steve Prince Visit

Although this is a little old, our good friends Anne & Steve Prince came out an visited us for a week. It was good to see them and to spend some time with them. Actually, Anne and Steve are the people that set me and Emily up on our first date. We owe all of our happiness to them. Anne/Em were roommates (they met in CA when they were both doing temple pageant, then they were both in Helaman Halls together Freshman year). Steve and I live 1/2 mile from each other, and went to good old Highland High School together. They said that we would be good together, introduced us, and the rest is history.

Grand Central station above & below.


What is a NYC trip without a stop in Chinatown to buy a Gucci or Fendi purse. The experience is all about the black secretive bags, the secret rooms and doors so that the police don't find out. Look at the smile on their faces - children at Christmas. Good times!

At a Yankees game! Thanks Anne/Steve - we loved it.

The 7 train of the subway - the love of our lives (as long as it works!)

HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EM!

We made it! 2 full years! Who would have thought we would have made it? Two years ago today, Emily and I were married in the Oakland LDS temple. It has been a wonderful 2 years and I couldn't be happier. I love you darling!

Now, kind of a funny story. I am celebrating this anniversary by myself. I am alone. Emily is still in California with her family. It just isnt the same going out to an anniversary dinner alone.

The really interesting thing is that Emily and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary apart as well. I was living in New York last summer doing an internship while Emily was doing an internship in Chicago. We were separated for the summer - a Tale of Two Cities if you will. They both ended on Aug 31, and so we were apart and were not together then.

I hope this isnt becoming a habit babe? :-) I love you. Happy Anniversary.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

A Lone Man in NYC

The rumors are true. Emily is leaving me and going back home to California. She is saying good-bye Friday Aug 22, and will be gone until late on Aug 31. I dont blame her though, if I had to live with myself, I would be bolting for the other side of the country as well.

Actually, her good friend Jessica is leaving on a mission to Canada, and so Emily wants to go to support her. Emily is going to stay with her parents and is so excited to see their puppy Mousse. It will be sad to see her go. I will be a lone man in the jungle of New York.

It actually works out really well, because Emily has 2 days off work she has to use before Sept, and so she can use these over there. Also, she is going to work out of the San Fran office for a few days, to meet the team over there and get some work done. This is a good thing to actually meet the people that she works with everyday.

Have a great trip babe! Love you!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Kobe Grill

Great news! The New York restaurant week has been extended until Labor Day! We were so happy when we found out the news. I guess that the economy really is struggling, and so these restaurants needed to do everything in their power to attract more customers. We are not complaining!

So we decided to go to this place called Kobe Grill. Emily and I have never before eaten Kobe beef. We have heard rumors that it is the best tasting beef in the world - so we decided that this was our chance to go for gold.

This place was crazy. The ambiance and atmosphere was incredible. We could tell that this "club" truly was for the rich and famous. The dim lighting and interesting design made for an extremely interesting evening. The mood was certainly set.

We dined and had a wonderful time. To learn more about this just search wikipedia for kobe beef. This was a great experience. The food was delicious, the atmosphere unique, and we really really enjoyed ourselves. Now, I think the picture below, those 2,000 hanging things are actually Samurai swords (securely fastened we were promised).


The Hamptons

We did it! We saw the Hamptons. After hearing about it on Seinfeld, we can now say we have done it! Thank you Taylor and Melinda for the pictures.

We went for a day and had the time of our lives. It did start to rain for a little their, but we were not deterred. We stayed true and strong, and our efforts paid off. We ended up spending almost a full hour on the beach by ourselves. It was truly heaven on earth.

We drove through the town of South Hampton and mingled with the extremely rich. I have never seen so many nice cars. We looked at some real estate for sale, normally selling between $5 million and $25 million. Insane! South Hampton even had their own Sachs 5th Ave store and Louis Vuitton.

We drove to the very tip of Long Island, saw the lighthouse, and experienced the end. It was a fantistic time!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Breaking Dawn

Emily is ignoring me and banished me to the living room, commanding me "Not to Disturb Her!" The new book "Breaking Dawn" by Stephanie Meyer came out yesterday and Emily has been looking forward to this moment for months. I think in the last 5 months, she has re-read the Twilight series 4 or 5 times. When she gets bored, she just picks them up and starts reading them, just so that she remembers everything. It is pretty incredible to see the dedicated cult following to this Meyer woman's books.

Funny story -- so we went to the Hampton's and the end of Long Island yesterday with our good friends Taylor and Melinda Jones. Emily was a little distraught, because at midnight on Friday evening, the new book was coming out. Emily begged me to go the midnight showing, but being the bad husband that I am, I turned her down.

So there we are, walking around the Hampton's, surrounded by Porsche's, Lamborghini's, Bentley's, and other extremely expensive cars and super rich people, and we see this little bookstore. Emily drags me over just to see if they have Breaking Dawn. Regrettably, they don't, but they mention to check K-mart. So we drive a little bit further and find this great place to stop for lunch, and guess what, K-mart was next door.

After lunch, we rushed into the store, but could only find the older 3 books. The first person we asked had absolutely no people skills nor knowledge about the store, so we found someone else. Much to our surprise, he had never heard of the series, but went in the back to check, just to see if they had it. After 10 anxious minutes of waiting, he emerges with a jewel worth more than all the riches in the world, the Breaking Dawn book. Emily was esctatic!

Now, she reads, and I am enjoying bachelorhood. Now, there are a couple of take-a-ways:

1) It doesnt surprise me that K-mart is a struggling company, they have tons of Breaking Dawn books, but have not put them out. Nice marketing strategy guys, that will keep you competitive.
2) If you ever want something that is tough to come by, go to K-mart, because there are not going to be any other shoppers there. As long as you find a K-mart worker who has communication skills, you should find what you are looking for.
3) The Hampton's are everything you thought it would be and more. It has a really cool feel, it is a fun atmosphere, everyone is extremely rich, and the homes are selling for $5 million to $25 million. Pretty ridiculous stuff, but it was fun to go and see all of Long Island and to spend some time on the beach.