First Celebrity Sighting

This happened a few weeks ago, but it was so exciting for me that I wanted to blog about it before I forgot. 

Since we've been on the east coast, I have been hoping we would run into a celebrity somewhere! I was thinking we would definitely see one in NY. We had stayed in the upper west side were quite a few celebs were suppose to have lived. But no luck. I guess to be honest, this isn't my first celeb sighting actually. Just first in awhile. 

I guess the first real one was Tyra Banks in Ralphs in Granite Bay while she was dating Chris Webber on the Sacramento Kings. She was buying make up with a friend. I was with Tany and I we were soo surprised to see her there! Chris Webber was there too, but Tyra was more important to us haha. Second time was in San Francisco outside of Japantown, my cousin  Michelle and I were walking back to our grandmother's house and right past us walks Robin Williams. I am an extremely giddy and star struck person, so I was overly excited everytime. I leave them alone though, because I assume they are wanting to have that "normal" life for a few minutes and I didn't want to cause a scene. 

This time we were in Boston. This was our second trip to beantown since we've been on the east coast. This time we wanted to make sure Elyse was enjoying her time, so we went to the Boston Aquarium, also known as the New England Aquarium on the Boston waterfront. My aunt, Cole, Elyse and I were waiting in line to get tickets and the line was kind of long and wrapped around like an "S". We were in the last row and I see about 2 feet in front of me, a woman with a child in line in the row in front of us, facing me. Her sunglasses were off (mine were on thank goodness) and I realize her face is really familar, and so my first thought was... "I know this person.."

Then it clicked, I don't know this person, I just know her character. Meridith Grey, from Grey's Anatomy.  She sees me looking at her, (fail.) and she immediately puts her oversized glasses on. Now im not sure if I was right, but just to validate that I was, the girl in front of her in line randomly whips around and says something to her, and Ellen(Pompeo) smiles and brings one finger up to her lips and nodds. (making the "shhh.. quiet" signal). Then I feel validated that I was right! I tell Cole, and he wants to go up and ask for a picture, and all I can think is "no, I don;t want to be the person to ruin their trip to the aquarium."  I eventually convince him its not nesscary and I can just stare at her for awhile from a distance. :)

(Terrible picture, but I was snapping a picture of Stella, Ellen's daughter, next to the red stroller. You can only see the a little bit of Ellen next to the older man in the white shirt. You can see her sunglasses. The woman with the jean shorts was with her. She's not the random person.)

So I snap a few pictures like a creepy fan and a little jealous cause I see her pose for a picture with the girl that was in line in front of her. I don't think much of anyone else noticed though. The reason this was so exciting for me was because when I moved to Seattle, Courtney got me hooked on this show. It was a little depressing but so addicting and interesting. Plus,I had the added interest that it was based in Seattle. So It was fun to notice the little things they did to make it more "seattle like". Since then (7 years ago), I've been hooked on the show. Although it got a little weird with Izzy was leaving then came back, then was having sex with a ghost, but other than that, I loved the show. (oh and the season premire is tonight so I figured this post was appropiate)

(here's my best picture. I am still in line and they are buying their tickets. Ellen is bending over Stella.)

So this particular sighting was the most exciting for me since I am an actual fan of this actress. Later while we were in the aquarium, we ran into them one more time. I sound like a such a dork, but I was RIGHT next to her!!! It was in a small room where you can see the samllest penguins in the world. Stella and Elyse were standing next to each other, looking at each other then looking at the penguins too. I was kind of hoping they would talk to each other, but I guess Elyse has to talk for that to work out haha. It was my oppourtunity to ask for a picture because it was a small room, and it was just us and them, but again I didn't want to ruin it for them.

We saw them again as we were leaving, but that was it. I didn't do it. It was an exciting day though 

Since we're in Philly for a few more weeks, we may run into someone!! We've seen quite a few movie trailers around town, but no actors. When we first got here, we saw teh trailers for the movie Paranoia, which is starring Liam Hemsworth. He would have been fun to see :) Then 2 days ago, we saw more trailers for a TV show called "do no harm". Maybe we'll see someone else

Longwood Gardens

                                  

Recently, while my mom came to visit us in Philadelphia, we went to Longwood Gardens. It's a about 45 min from our place but it was worth it. We went in the evening so that we could see a recent display of light installations at the garden. When my mom first mentioned it, I was thinking it was going to be kind of cold and boring and that we would be the only ones there. I was very wrong. 

When we got there, there were tons of people there ready to see the light installations as well. Also, to make us feel a little less out of place, there were a lot of strollers too. Elyse loved it. She could walk were ever, and didn't have to worry about holding our hands or cars or bikes. We got there a little before sundown and saw parts of the garden early. As soon as the sun was gone, it was even more beautiful than I would have realized. 

When I think of light installations, the first thing I thought of was when Carrie Bradshaw dated "the Russian" and how he was worried he would be the "crazy old man with the lights". I realize this is  extremely girly and  a little dumb that  I reference Sex and the City when it came to art, but it's what I thought.

So here's a little of what we saw that evening!

Elyse and her freedom

Part of a clock in a garden that made you felt like you were in Alice and Wonderland.

More Elyse and Freedom! With Cole and my mom in the background

                                     

Elyse and I as it got dark. She wasn't thrilled that I was getting in the way for her freedom.

In the conservatory

More in the conservatory

Orchids in the conservatory. There were sooo many and so beautiful!

Water Lilies in the pond

Lights!!!

There were professional photos done of the installations. Here is a photo of one of the photos. You will see later that I added this photo because the photo we got of this installation was TERRIBLE!

More in the conservatory. This one was one of my favorites. Looks like a perfect place to get married :)

This one is the only one I remembered the name of. It was called Forest Walk and it was definitely a long walk. But worth it.

Ok, heres the terrible photo we got. They were pillars of 2 liter bottles with water and lights inside. Also, weird music playing. It was fun!

This one looks like Forest Walk but is a different one. It was REALLY hard to get this photo because we didn't have a tripod. But there is a little pond in front of this and it was so pretty they way it all reflected.

There were in front of the main entrance. It was a wonderful night :)

Till next time!! 

The Jersey Shore!!

Last weekend we went to Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Also known as the Jersey Shore, made popular by the MTV show. Turns out Seaside is only about an hour away from Philly, so why not check it out! It was a beautiful day and really fun. The drive there felt long though. It wasn't a highway really. There were a ton of lights and had to stop a lot. Elyse thankfully fell asleep. 

Although lately, her new favorite thing is to dance to the youtube sensation "gangnam style" by psy. It's a newly popular Korean song and every time she hears it, she smiles and dances. So above is a picture of how she was sleeping... a few minutes later, gangnam style comes on the radio and her little eyelids burst open and she starts smiling and dancing in her carseat! It was hilarious!!

We finally get to the boardwalk and the first places we found parking was surprisingly right near theJersey  Shore cast house! SO before we go to the house, we check out the Shore Store. This is where the cast worked while filming. I was worried it was going to be stuffy or crowded. But it wasn't. We got there around noon on a sunday. So I assume most people in the area hadn't rolled out of bed from their previous night at Karma. haha jk

 I got a shirt from the store just because I did enjoy the show and felt we came all this way and I might as well. There's a selection of shirts, pants, shorts that you can pick from. Then you pick from a HUGE wall of decals they put on it. It;s nice you can make it anyway you want. The downside, it's pricey. I got a longsleeve shirt with decals for $40!!! But it was nice go. Also the whole store is Jersey shore quotes. It's fun that they play up their popularity from the show :)

 Also, all the yelp and foursquare tips told us we "HAD" to try the deep fried oreos. Although its not on the diet.....

We had to give it a try. I wasn't entirely thrilled about the amount of calories we were about to ingest.  They weren't bad though. We definitely didn't eat them all. It was good, but I don't think I would have it again. It was like a warm oreo in a funnel cake haha

 Last stop on the "Jersey Shore" tour, we went to Rivoli's. An Italian restaurant also made famous bThis is a picture of Cole and Elyse waiting for their food at Rivolisy the cast in Season 3. The portions are HUGE! We had to take home all the left overs.Inside they have a huge painted mural of the cast as well. I guess they are grateful for the publicity from them.

After lunch we went back to the boardwalk for some walking around and the beach. Elyse really enjoyed strutting around and checking out all the sights and music. She was mesmoried by all the rides that she was not tallenough to ride. you had to be 36inchs tall.

Here's Elyse drawn toward a ride blaring music. She started dancing of course.

First time for Elyse walking in Sand! Last time we were at a beach it was hawaii, and she wasn't walking on her own yet.

Still at the beach! (with my new small diaper bag :) ) and new hair cut! Although, I didn't straight iron it that morning.... whoops!

She loved the sand... unfortunately, she loved finding the strange things in the sand too. I.e bottle caps, cigarette butts, shells. 

Family foot prints in the sand.... 

I had never been to the Atlantic Ocean before, so now I've touched both! Although the water felt exactly like ice water.

Best way to spend a Sunday. Beach, Sun, Family, Fun :)

NYC

Last weekend, our family went to New York City! It was the first time for both Elyse and I, so we did all the tourtisty things. Well, not everything but as much as we could. It was great to see so much history and of course, all the things I've seen over and over in some of my favorite movies and Tv shows. It's a city a could see us live in very comfortably. (as long as we stay far far away times square. That wasn't fun.)

The only thing I didn't like, is the subway isn't very stroller friendly. That makes things really difficult to get around with a baby. We didn't get to see everything we wanted too. Someone needed naps and couldn't sit through long historial movies... and then there's Elyse. haha just kidding. :)

So we plan to go back and see Ellis island and the 9/11 memorial. We tried 2 times to see it, but you need to make prior reservations, and if you go without reservations you can't pick the time you go see it. So we are thinking of going back while my mom is in town  and can watch our little baby.

She did like the New York harbor cruise though! That was definitely a hit with Elyse. She was also a fan of Central Park and the Zoo!! She also REALLY like roaming around Tiffany's and getting all the "aww.. what a cute baby! Does she want crayons?" haha

On a different note, we're going back to Boston this weekend for a game at Fenway!!! Can't wait!