the only thing missing was the man himself.

Ry in front of his office. aka the treasury

high five for abe

high five for the washington monument

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: changing of the guards

brad and dierks doing it right.

Saturday night, we drove up through VA to go to the Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley concert.

During our tailgate party it might have poured for 20 minutes and we might have gotten soaked from head to toe, but once Dierks got up on stage and did his thing, the rain stopped and we did ours!

After the rain stopped, the mud made for a little added entertainment

My, is that Brad Paisley in that white cowboy hat?

blue buck breakfast.

Todd and I took the 10 o'clock party bus to DC and

arrived in at about 3:30 am—a bit longer than expected...yikes!

After a few hours of shut-eye, we woke up and headed on over to the 

Eastern Market. A very charming fresh food market right in the heart of 

Capital Hill. In the middle of the market is a beautiful barn that's been 

up for over a century serving fresh blue buck pancakes and lemonade. 

It felt like we were back in NYC after waiting in line for 2 hours, but 

hey, if it's worth it, you do it!

 Yum!

whisked away to dc.

last minute, todd and i decided to take the bus down to dc 

to visit my brother and enjoy the beautiful city.

we had such a wonderful time and covered a lot of ground

in that short weekend, but one the most memorable things

on the trip were the beautiful little houses. they were simply adorable.

park extravaganza.

Traditions are being made, and I
couldn't be more excited about what they are.

Park Sunday!

After church, we all gather in Sheep's Meadow
in Central Park to enjoy great company, a lovely breeze, delicious
goodies, and a nice round of bocce ball.

love love LOVE!

So I don't usually use caps in my headers, except for special occasions,
and THIS is one of those special occasions.
Lugging groceries home is one of the biggest headaches of living
in the city. First of all, there are no grocery stores nearby and secondly,
once you do find a grocery store it's 7 blocks away and you don't even
want to think about lugging all your burdensome goodies home.

Until...drum roll please...
FRESH DIRECT!

I've heard all about this little charm since the day I moved in,
but hadn't yet tested it out until this week. My biggest concern was
that it would have a limited selection and that there would be no
sale items. *i'm quite the bargain shopper*

But there was everything— Great prices, great sales, great selection,
and your own handy delivery man to lug it your 4 flights of stairs!

I highly highly recommend this to anyone! And there are so many
coupon codes online to get free delivery (only 5 bucks anyways)
or other goody deals. And, it saves your past purchases so you can
easily go back and buy them time and time again.

They know just how to hook ya and keep ya. Thank you!

museum of natural history.

nyc restaurant week.

From July 12-31, foodies swarm the streets as NYC Restaurant Week is in full swing. It's just awesome! You can experience a three-course meal for $35 at some of the finest NYC restaurants that normally, we would never step foot in. After searching through all the menus I found this little gem, The Post House. We went with our friends Lauren and Hera, and had a delightful and delicious visit!

Some Jersey boy laughed and asked if we were tourists as I 

was taking this shot. I was proud to say no, but still felt like an idiot. 

But cute shot, right?

ny philharmonic.

Catching fireflies. 

Every year thousands, and let me say, thousands of New Yorkers

 gather in Central Park to hear the NY Philharmonic. Even if  you're

 50,000 people back from the stage, the music is still spectacular, 

the weather is just as beautiful, and there are still just as

 many people crawling over you searching for a seat.

crif dogs.

I feel like I haven't posted on our food adventures in forever, but

don't be fooled, we're still eating out every night!! (ridiculous I know)

But tonight I went out with my girls, Hera and Lauren, and

wandered on into Crif Dogs. For super cheap you can get hot dogs, 

hot dogs, and more hot dogs! Lots of options! Yum.

back to our roots.

I made him Skype me an hour before going into the MTC

for one last goodbye!

I am so proud of my little brother who just left to serve a mission

for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oaxaca, Mexico.

He is such a great kid and I know he's going to make a lot

of people very happy. And I couldn't be more excited for him

to go back to our Lucero roots and learn SPANISH!!!

on a date with my hubs.

At work I had heard about this great opportunity to go kayaking

on the Hudson for FREE, anytime! And anyone knows that in a city 

where money is constantly leaking you need to jump on that. 

So we did, and it was great! Just go to the Downtown Boathouse, 

put on a life jacket and start paddling. 

And you might want to think about wearing a swimsuit....

After paddling and working out newly-discovered muscles

we cleaned up a bit and went out on a romantic date.