i thought i would include pictures from the highlight of my nyc trip and summarize the rest of our summer! i still can't believe it's coming to an end...:(
so, the highlight of my new york trip was...
meeting giada de laurentiis at the today show! i am a huge fan of the food network and very much enjoy giada's shows. it just happened to be her first day back from maternity leave! what are the chances? so, i thought i was lucky enough just to see her but i decided to be loud and keep yelling her name. at first she made eye contact with me and said she didn't have time to talk right now but she would return after the next segment. so, as soon as she was done, i started yelling for her again (i'm so persistent!) and she started coming my way! i got to shake her hand and she signed her name on the script that the anchors used earlier in the show. i was completely starstruck! of course, all of this happened so fast and joe was held responsible for taking a picture. let's just say it's still a sore subject here in the stolp home. so, here's a picture of giada and here's a picture of me with the autograph!
the week after we got back from nyc, i went to chicago with a friend from work for a shopping trip. i had never been in the actual city, just the suburbs. besides the rain, i enjoyed my time downtown. i actually really liked the city. and of course, the shopping was good too. here is a picture of us at the grand lux cafe (yummy!!) right off of michigan avenue.
july 8th was our 2nd anniversary so we had a nice dinner out at a local restaurant that we love. here is our anniversary dinner picture.
joe also recently found out that he passed the exam that he took in philadelphia. we are very excited! step two written exams are next in september. joe is busy studying for those and hopefully all goes well.
i also had a chance to visit sd for a while. i had lots of fun with family and friends. joe's mom and dad had a mini-stay here in august as well. it was fun to catch up with them. we always realize just how much we love our families when we spend time with them and we realize how much we miss them when we part. hopefully, we'll be closer to friends and family in a few short years!
