Insta-MommygoesonvacationtotheHAMPTONS...

So I just returned from a major bucket list vacation to the Hamptons. 

(I still can't get over it, I just spent the weekend in the Hamptons.) 

("the Hamptons"... like it was just down the road or something)

I'm a nerd.

I should also warn you - this may be a long post. :)

I caught a 9:30am flight out of College Station on Thursday which meant I got to drop these kiddos off at school with Ryan for one last goodbye before my trip. Let's all take a minute and reflect on Emmy's face. This girl. cracks.me.UP!

I arrived in Houston around 10:00am and was just two little flights away from my second favorite place in the entire world. 

And - I lucked out and got on a BRAND SPANKING NEW plane. It was the biggest, nicest plane I have been on to date. AND, no one was sitting next to me. AND, I managed to talk the sweet, kind, friendly flight attendant into free Bloody Mary's. 

Not a bad day for Katy King.

When I got to DC there was the unfortunate experience involving a cancelled flight and lost wallet. Both of which belonged to me. Luckily I was put on a different flight that was going to land earlier in NYC than my original plane and found my wallet before the plane left me. They actually opened the door to the jetway back up just so I could board. 

And then the plane sat on the tarmac for an hour because Newark wasn't letting anyone in. 

But THEN... our plane took off, safely landed, I hopped on a train to Penn Station, grabbed my bags, walked up the stairs, and breathed a sweet sigh of relief. 

There is just something about NYC. I feel so at home there - no worries about what to do or where to go. I just hailed a cab and was on my way to Niki's. 

Niki and Joe were out to dinner to celebrate their 4th wedding anniversary so Abby and I had the place all to ourselves. I dropped off my bags, ran and got a quick bite to eat and then we had some girl talk until they got home. 

(And for all of those out there that are shocked I would let a dog lick me... Abby's probably the only dog that I would let do that.)

Friday morning arrived like most mornings do and Niki took me to her favorite breakfast spot, Sarabeth's. Located directly across Central Park - kind of like heaven on a plate. 

A quick stroll to Niki's office so I could "see where the magic happens" before leaving. Niki works for Primary Wave , a music management company. In short - she's kind of a big deal. She rubs elbows with big players, attends the Grammy's and got to go to one of the inaugural balls this year. NBD, right? So, I wanted to see where all this "work" happens. :)

Oh, this guy is one of their clients. 

After a fun tour, we headed back to her apartment and we.were.OFF!!

OMG - going to the HAMPTONS!

First stop? Soul Cycle. 

What? You don't work out on vacation? Neither do I - but Niki insisted. And I am so glad she did. This class is awesome! We were pumped before...

And slightly exhausted after!

:)

But not too tired for a fun night out. We have this same photo of us from about the 5th grade in Louisiana. Our moms wanted a picture and told us to "do something" when we asked what they wanted one of them shouted, "pick each other's noses". 

So we did. 

Maturity at its finest. 

From Robinson to the Hamptons 

Day 2 started with another workout - holy cow was it hard. These NYC people are crazy, luckily there was a hammock right outside for me to lounge in. 

And a coffee shop next door to get some "juice". 

That afternoon we were planning on going to an pool party for a new hotel opening in Montauk (the town where we were staying).  I made some new friends in no time. 

:)

We got to lounge by the pool, drink some fruity beverages and just enjoy the sun. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Then we hit the beach!

Isn't her hat adorable?

And then the water actually hit our toes and we almost froze to death. So glad that Jason was able to capture this reaction!

And like I do most places, I made friends with the nice gentlemen in front of me who were happy to treat me with frosty beverages. 

We hung out, took naps, read silly magazines and then headed out for night number 2. 

Another AMAZING dinner of lobster guacamole, oysters on the half shell, pizza, fish, dessert, wine and beer. Oh - and awesome company with one of my dearest friends. 

Who just happens to love me a lot.

:)

We ate and laughed, got pushed around on the dance floor (we push back), busted some moves, scored some drinks, and caused zero trouble at all. 

We spent our last day in East Hampton (after a morning yoga session of course). This is what most people think of when they hear "the Hamptons". This is "Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give" Hamptons. This is where I told Niki to buy a house. :)

Every single house, shop, restaurant, and garbage can has hydrangea bushes surrounding it. I was in floral heaven and could not believe how beautiful this place was. I felt like I was on a movie set because places like this just aren't real. 

I could have walked up and down the streets for hours and been perfectly content. We popped into the East Hamptons bookstore so I could buy the kids their souvenir. Ryan and I buy a book for them every place we go. The collection is growing pretty large and it's a fun tradition to have. They really enjoy reading the books and hearing about where we have been. Recommend it to anyone!

And then much too quickly, it was time to say goodbye. 

(See - doesn't it look fake?!?)

We took the train back to the city and arrived to rainy evening. We grabbed a cab and had our sweet driver take us to pick up dinner and dessert before settling in for an evening of silly movies, deep conversation, and a menu that may have done some damage to our three days of work outs.

You only live once, right?

Niki and I had a slow morning and then had to part ways once again. I am SO so SOOOOO thankful for our enduring friendship. Her generosity, her spunk, her passion, her laugh, her determination, her beauty both inside and out make her a treasured and protected friend. I love you, Niki! Thank you so much for an unforgettable weekend. A weekend where I didn't use my "real" camera one time. A weekend where I was only responsible for feeding myself. A weekend where I got to use the bathroom alone for FOUR days. A weekend to soak up you and us. 

And as sad as I was to leave... nothing is better than coming home to these three (and their sweet Daddy).

:)

Please don't go girl you got the right stuff...

As soon as the "soccer celebration" was over on Friday, I jumped flew torpedoed myself got into Ryan's car and headed to Waco to pick up Jenni so we could drive to Dallas for the ultimate GNO at "The Package" tour. Y'all. I was more giggly than that time I secretly held Craig's hand in the library during reading time in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade. 

This was going to be EPIC.

Ten, yes TEN, of us girls from the good ol' class of 1997 were meeting up for some fun. 

(Can we pause and reflect on that? How awesome is it, that we are all still friends after all this time? Some of us talk and see each other more often than others, but we have friendships that have lasted for 30 years. And we are barely even 30 (ok, maybe not barely anymore). I am SO incredibly thankful for the blessing of a small town childhood. A place that is just as much home today as it was the day I left for college. A place that brings love and laughter into my life to this day.)

Katy, Jenni and I met up at Amy's to get ready before heading out to meet the rest of the girls for some dinner first.

We gobbled up some delicious grub, drank some bubbly beverages and filled the first part of our evening with silly stories and laughs. 

One quick group photo and then we were off...

And as soon as we entered American Airlines Center my heart was flooded with memories that I didn't even know I had. Boyz II Men was seriously killing it and I.Was.GIDDY. Like stupid happy. Like a giant kool aid smile on my face. 

Amy got us great seats (and if I would have brought the 300mm lens like I wanted I could have taken some much better pics, but size did matter in this case and no one wanted to lug that sucker around). They sounded amazing and had the whole house swooning and singing to their greatest hits.

We couldn't stop laughing at ourselves. Jenni and Kellie really couldn't stop laughing at me. I may or may not love to sing (loudly) but could potentially be slightly tone deaf.

All too quickly B2Men had to say goodbye - and that is always so hard for them.

(get it?)

Then there was this part in the middle that we like to pretend never happened where Nick Lachey, Brother Drew and two other guys that I don't know their names came out, danced a little, sang some songs and then brought a pregnant woman on the stage, sat her on a stool and proceeded to dance around her in ways that married men should never dance to a woman who is WITH CHILD. 

Or the part where we all realized we were 30(ish). 

So we paused to take a group pic instead.

(We missed you Niki!!)

And then it happened.

My 5th-7th grade dreams FINALLY came true.

They arrived.

NKOTB!!!

And for the next two hours proceeded to put on a great show! They sang all our favorites and sounded great! They also added some parts that I don't remember from 5th grade, like stripping - and while we were all too mature to buy-in to that, we had fun watching the women around us go crazy.

All 15,000 of them!

;)

Jordan still loved the spotlight and could strangely still sing as high as when he was 17, Joey was still adorable, Donnie was still the bad boy, Danny was still the one that no one noticed and poor Jonathan just looked miserable. 

We still knew all the words to all the songs, sang them loudly and only paused once or twice to sit down...

 (well some of us more than others).

:)

It was seriously an AWESOME night spent with some of the greatest women around. 

(this is me. Hanging Tough).

:)

DC: Day 1...

A couple of months ago we started planning a trip to DC. One of my friends was getting married and we definitely wanted to attend. My blog bestie also happens to live about 40 minutes north of DC - she has 3 kids about the same ages as our 3, so we were going to make a vacation of the trip and bring everyone along. 

Then we tried booking tickets and holy guacamole is it expensive to fly. 

Instead, we just booked two for the Mr. and Mrs. and I am so glad we did. We really needed the time away and got to celebrate a great weekend that included Ryan's birthday. We still stayed with Jenn and Dave which was amazing. 

Our weekend started bright and early on Thursday morning - our flight left at 7am but that meant we were in DC by 12:30 and here by 1:30. I was so excited about the trip but nothing could really prepare me for how I would feel to be standing at such historical parts of our history.

We walked around the National Mall and Memorial Park for a bit in the afternoon and then headed to the Gorrie's to get settled in and change before I took Ryan out for a surprise early birthday dinner at Fogo de Chao. This place is INsane - all you can eat meat and other delicious treats. You get a card with a red and green side - when it's on green, servers appear at your table and slice meat directly onto your plate until you tell them to stop. When you are done - you flip the card to red.

You can do this over and over and over again. They have 15 different choices of meat (because why not) plus a gigantic salad/side bar and fresh bread with melted cheese in the middle. 

It was basically Ryan's heaven.

And he made it through seven meats. Because he's a man.

:)

After gorging ourselves, we drove to the Lincoln Memorial because we wanted to experience some of the monuments at night and I am so glad we did. Besides being just breathtaking, I was just overwhelmed with pride and respect and honor for everything that these monuments represent.

 I also loved just watching Ryan walk around and take it all in. He is such a history buff so this trip was the perfect way to celebrate a milestone birthday. 

Y'all - this is incredible. 

Please plan a trip to DC - even if you think it's a place you'd never want to see. Because it is amazing - just a BEAUTIFUL part of our country full of such history and heritage. I could feel the tears sting the back of my eyes as we walked around and read the words of some of our nation's greatest leaders. As we walked in the steps of pioneers whose vision and belief helped shape the country that we are today.

We had the perfect start to our four day trip and there was still fun to be had!