a couple reasons i love NYC.

Mr. Larsen and I ran across this Doo Wop group on a corner in SoHo. 

it made me happy.

and this....MADE ME SOOOOO HAPPY.

 

look closely and if you are a fellow POTTERPHILE you will see why. 

Giving Thanks

2010 also presented me with my first Thanksgiving away from my entire family.

i was so happy to hear that my cousin Amber and her family would be coming to NYC for the holiday!

Mr. Larsen and i went on an amazing trip cruising the Caribbean with the Tingey's last summer and always have fun with these two.

Amber's sis-in-law lives here in the city and they invited Mr. Larsen and myself to join in on their shindig!

we gladly accepted the invite, and were so excited to spend time with family and new found friends!

i had so much fun cooking with Amber and Becky, and it was fun to incorporate some of our Granny's recipes into our city dinner!

i carried out a life long dream and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Larsens and Tingeys

Mr. Larsen and his buddy Ammon bundled up in the cold

 the girls sitting along Central Park West

j. simpson. my high school idol.
i may have acted a little loco when she rode by.

and of course Garrett's Popcorn.
yum.

we had such a great time here in the city on Thanksgiving Day.
we are so blessed and thankful for all that we have!

Christmas

this is a post from ohhhh. December. 

i suck at blogging.

{also: please excuse the terrible iphone pictures.}

since we are now east coasters going home for the holidays is a little harder than it used to be.

as a first year analyst, Mr. Larsen has been working hard for the money.

so hard for it honey.

first year analysts aren't supposed to take very many days off. and by very many, i mean any.

so let me rephrase that.

first year analysts aren't supposed to take any days off.

bummer.

we also learned that doing Christmas the "normal way" is a little hard to do in the city.  

you cannot just drive to the mountains and cut down the most beautiful tree you find.

no..we settled for a small faux tree this year...mainly because it is all we could fit in our studio apartment.

 our cutie pie tree topper from anthropologie

 i secretly love it.

 this is a picture of our first skiff of snow on our little island.

we didn't do most of the normal Christmas time things.

we sent out our Christmas cards to all of our loved ones back home and made holiday plans for the east coast.

Mr. Larsen has family in Maryland.

they are so sweet to us, and welcomed us into their home for our first Christmas away.

we had so much fun being in an actual house, eating yummy food, and spending time with family.

even though i was so sad to be away from my family on Christmas morning...(which just so happened to be the first time in my life)...Mr. Larsen's relatives totally filled that void and made my Christmas magical. 

 Christmas Eve gift from my family <3

i wore my holiday bow

 Mr. Larsen's aunt had stockings made for us

 relaxing by the Christmas tree

Mr. Larsen had fun being with his cousins and spent a little too much time goofing off.

after all of these magical holiday events took place we then endured ....{this}.....now you can get an idea of the time line I am working on at the moment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMACITA!

today's post is all about my amazing mother, because today is her BIRTHDAY!

i feel so blessed to have such an incredible woman as my mom.

my mom has been there for me in good times and in bad, through thick and thin, through happy and sad.

she is so beautiful and so much fun!

my mama is my best friend.

it takes a special mama to raise three crazy girls.

fortunately we lucked out with the most special mama there is.

mom, thanks for all that you do for our family.  you are such an incredibly talented and loving woman.

i have learned so much from you in my short 23 years.

not everyone is happy when they start turning into their mother.

i can tell you that i could only hope to be just like you when i grow up.

i love you!

Independence Day.

 boy's body surfing in the atlantic.

 spending the day at rockaway beach.

 had the best lunch a rockaway taco!

 picnic at rockefeller park, waiting for the fireworks.

 mr. larsen and his pals.

 the never ending sea of people in the park.

 the AMAZING sunset that evening.

 one of the most spectacular fireworks shows!

(fireworks on the left. empire state building on the right.)

 

this was our first 4th of July in NYC.

we had a wonderful day celebrating our country with great friends.

i get so many questions about this...

you may have heard about the new hit musical The Book of Mormon.

i get asked about it often.

John Mark Reynolds wrote a great article that i wish i could hand to all who ask me or mock me regarding the play.

read it {here}

if you want to know the truth about the religion and what we really believe 

go {here}  

all i want to say is that my life is lovely.

and i am a Mormon.

<3

Catching Up.

yo diggity.

i am a self declared "Terrible Blogger."

i vow to step my game up and catch everyone up on our lives here in NYC.

i have so many things to blog about over the past 7 months....yes 7.

the most exciting happening as of late was my sweet birthday surprise from my hunky hub.

see pictures below.

we were both in need of a vacay, and his surprise hit the spot in a big way.

we spent 4 1/2 days in the sunshine state.

we dominated disneyworld and universal studios/wizarding world of harry potter.

and we had the time of our lives.

i will post more on our uhhh-maaay-zinggg trip soon!

school is out, and i, erica lynn athay larsen will from this point on be a better blogger.