NYC Trip recap...a blog hop announcement...and an OOTD!

Hi all!  I'm back!  

We had a great trip to NYC and enjoyed so many fabulous things!  We packed a ton into 5 days and were completely exhausted by the end, but it was so worth it.  Here's a recap via Instagram...I took lots of snapshots!

1. View of the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry

2. 9/11 Memorial-North Tower Pool
          3. My little guy making friends with the NYC locals at the parade

4. Me and my boy 

5. Family Picture at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!!!
6. Spiderman...we were really THAT close!!!

7. View of the World Trade Center buildings from the Staten Island Ferry

8. Found my favorite...Jamba Juice!  I miss these!  Come on Ohio, we need some!
9. My sis-in-law Hailey and I at The Today Show taping!  We'd been up all night!

 
 10. Doughnut Plant.  Enough said.

11. A little rough housing on the subway. =)
12. View of the Empire State Building from the Top of the Rock. AMAZING!

Some of the highlights included visiting the 9/11 Memorial, taking my kids to FAO Schwartz (yes, they danced on the BIG piano!!!), having my first Sprinkles cupcake (strawberry and salted caramel were to die for), having front row seats to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (AMAZE!!!), enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with family, shopping Black Friday sales in the city all night long with my awesome sis-in-law Hailey (we left at 11pm and returned home about 11 hours later...there is nothing like Black Friday in NYC), stopping by the Today Show taping and making it on TV!!, taking my kids to see Santa at Macy's in Herald Square, enjoying a Jamba Juice!!!!, and just watching my boys enjoy spending time with their cousins.  I'm so glad we made the trek out.  

So it was back to reality bright and early yesterday morning.  Only a little over three weeks until Christmas break starts though so we have that to look forward to at least.  We'll be staying home this year for Christmas so it will be a nice and relaxing holiday.  Did you get all your Christmas shopping done over the past few days?  I can't tell you how many emails I've received from stores since Thursday...my inbox has been insane!  I'm sure you can all relate.  If it's not one thing on sale, it's another.  It's enough to confuse me to death!  I did pick up some things in NYC while we were out and about, but still had some things to get my boys when we got home so I used my old standby, Amazon, yesterday to fill in the gaps.  I think this elf is just about done helping Santa out for my crew.  I still have some gifts to get the parents and hubs though...working on it.  All in all I feel like I've seen better deals in the past on toys but I managed to get a few good scores.  As for clothes, there were some pretty good deals to be had!  I MAY have managed to add a few fabulous items to my closet from a few places. =)  I made it to the 5am opening of the Rockefeller Plaza Anthropologie (GORGEOUS STORE and fabulous staff that early in the morning!!!)  and was a little underwhelmed by their 20% off full price sale. I'd honestly rather wait for the real sales to kick in down the road (when things are more like 50% off).  It was a nice gesture I suppose.  I did manage to grab a few sale items with the extra 25% off both in-store and online that I'm sure you'll be seeing here on the blog soon though!

So before I forget, I wanted to tell you about a fun blog hop I'll be a part of this week...you'll definitely want to check it out!!  The party will start this Thursday morning, November 29th.  Mark your calendars!!!

The blog hop/linky party will be called D.A.S.H. which stands for
Deals and Steals Hop!

 It will be all about the deals and steals we've found lately and how we used them or plan to use them!  I love a great deal so I'll be showing off some of my latest and greatest finds I've added to my closet.  I want to see what you've found too so be thinking of what you can share and link us up to!  Who doesn't love a great deal!?!

The lovely ladies that will be participating in this fun hop are (left to right):

Sheaffer at Pinterest Told Me To
Alison at Get Your Pretty On
Me at Found In My Closet
and Shannon at Wine Taste Girl

Go take a peek in your closet and see what fabulous deal or steal you've come across lately and get ready to share it with us all on Thursday!!!

I'll leave you with an outfit I wore last week on our vacation...

See my original set idea for this outfit on Polyvore HERE

What I Wore

Thousand Carat Pullover-Anthropologie

Mint AG Stevies-Anthropologie

Miz Mooz "Kelsey" Boots-Piperlime

Lagniappe Necklace-Anthropologie

Bracelet-Twisted Silver

Marc by Marc Jacobs "Henry Chrono" Watch-Piperlime

Tribute Bracelet-Stella & Dot (worn with watch)

Sainte Chappelle Earrings-Anthropologie

Pop Stone Ring-Banana Republic

I wore this the morning of the Thanksgiving Day Parade and layered my white puffer jacket from Banana Republic over it (see above Instagram picture).  It all kept me cozy and warm in the 40 degree weather!  

I hope you had a great holiday week!  Out with the old and in with the new though...we put our Christmas tree up last night and I'm loving it!  Bring on Christmas!

Have a great day!