Because You Have Not Had Preston in Awhile...

Just thought I would give you some cute pics of Preston since it's been about a week. We are recovering nicely from vacation and settling back into our routines. Tomorrow is a big day for me-I am moving offices. My office is stuffy and there is a musty smell that even the mold specialist they called in cannot truly identify. Since they have not found the cause and origin and each day I am getting a headache, they have finally allowed me to move. Apparently real estate within the firm is quite hot and my move was finally approved. I am also closer to my assistant and the coffee machine (priorities).

So this first picture is from Preston's play date two weeks ago with Amanda. He is a serious daredevil now at the playground. I was very happy we left with all teeth intact.

Then there is Memorial Day Preston-very festive (of course). I was stressing about what he would wear now for the Fourth of July but luckily my mom has made sure their are two flag tee shirts in his drawer-one for each patriotic holiday!Finally this is Preston in his glory eating a cookie bought by Cousin Matt. Although the Yankees suck a goat right now, he still is standing by his team.

Top o' The Mornin' to Ya!

Well I am back! The trip was a lot of fun, but I must confess, I am very glad to be back in the USA! Where do I begin? Tuesday night I was at JFK for an ungodly amount of time since my family was on the Aer Lingus flight and I was on Delta-five hours later! Absolutely no television set was tuned to Idol. In fact I had CNN on in the gate and literally if I had to listen about Ted Kennedy's malignant brain tumor or Hillary's win in Kentucky for one more minute I was going to take a nail gun to my head! The Delta representatives actually looked at me as if I had two heads when I asked to see AI! Once on the plane I was delighted to see my whole row was empty and I had the bulkhead seat, but alas, the armrests were bolted in so I I could not stretch out. When you get the bulkhead seat you are asked if you can perform the necessary evacuation maneuvers. This to me is amusing. I mean first off, if I actually survive the plane crash, once I open the door, I'm outta there! No offense but at that point I think it is every man for himself! But I humored the good people at Delta advising them I was their gal. I mean really the only requirements are lifting forty pounds and speaking English, so I think my resume qualified me. I had a horrible flight because I was so uncomfortable and the plane was frigid. Once I landed in Ireland it cost $50 yes $50 American bucks to go 8, yes, 8 miles from the airport to the hotel. And I thought New York was expensive. We stayed in County Clare which is three hours south of Dublin, so we were in the countryside and when I say countryside I mean like cows and sheep.
On the first day we all decided not to sleep since we were now five hours ahead of New York and decided what better way to deal with going on 24 hours of no sleep than to conquer Bunratty Castle. It was amazing and we went all the way to the top! Here is Bunratty!Of course I am petrified of heights so I went up but did not want to look down. The architecture was AMAZING! The furniture inside was beautiful. I think my mom wanted to ship a few pieces back home. It was fifty very spiral, very small steps to the top and back down. I was extremely pleased that my mom also conquered Bunratty. Since she did, we celebrated with a pint in Durty Nelly's.

The next day we were off to Ennis to do some sightseeing in the "city." My Lord does our dollar suck over there. There were a lot of cute shoes but they were so expensive. Baby diapers were $25 for 58! If Preston and I lived in Ireland his two options would be toilet trained at one or pee on himself. Ennis was really cute and we had drinks at the Temple Gate Hotel. That morning we went online to watch the last 9 minutes of Idol on You Tube. My aunt's Blackberry showed David won-gee thanks Internet, but once accessing the story we learned it was David Cook and I was sooooo excited since I had heard prior to boarding Archu-loser was expected to win. That night was the rehearsal dinner at Abbey Tavern and the meal was delicious. Here is Ennis and pics from the dinner. (Yes Mel, my dad totally thinks he knows Ennis, although I was able to direct him to the grocery store).

In the background is the Abbey in Quin where Chris and Anna took their pictures the next day. This pic was also taken at almost eight. The sun sets around 9:30 at this time of year which was pretty amazing!

Friday was the wedding and we had a great time. Mom, Aunt Pat, Caitlin and I got our hair "did" at Dromoland Castle which is where Clinton and Bush have stayed when they frequent Ireland. It was beautiful! The mass was at noon and I went back up to my room at 3 a.m. after drinking way too much wine. The weddings in Ireland are done a bit differently with dinner done first, then dancing, then a cocktail hour. It was a lot of fun and Chris and Anna looked amazing as well.

Our last day there was Saturday. We really got a taste of Ireland on that day. We saw the ring fort! I loved the ring fort. The ring fort was the Caherconnell Ring Fort in an area called The Burren-or "place of rocks"-very original I may add. The limestone used to be under water. The history behind the landscape was fascinating, although I will not bore you here. The ring forts were circular limestone forts built by hand and accommodated a house, animal pit, fire pit and other areas, yet once we got into the ring fort it was the size of my parents' kitchen extension, so I am impressed with these people that they fit in this space. They would do great apartment hunting in NYC. Here are pictures of the ring fort. I truly believe my father wants to build his own ring fort in the backyard.

After the ring fort we stopped to take pictures of the landscape and then ate in LaHinge which was on a beautiful beach.

We topped off the day at the Cliffs of Moher. I have never seen anything so breathtaking in my life (other than Preston of course...who by the way I was missing something fierce by this point). The cliffs on the right side had a stone wall so you could not fall off. The left side had no wall. We opted wisely, I think, for the right side of the cliffs. The pictures do not do any justice to the cliffs. I was watching these people go up the left side and peer over. Now let's put it this way-birds looked like little white dots from up there. The view was ridiculous. It is 656 feet high! It was amazing. Earlier in the day my brother's best man Keith proposed to Ally on the top of the Cliffs! What a great way to end our trip. Well actually my trip ended being bumped to first class while my family took Aer Lingus and wound up in Dublin and then had to fly to New York. And the best part was my little monkey waiting for me at the gate and literally running into my arms. It was a great trip. I am supremely annoyed that I have to go back to work tomorrow. I leave you with the Cliffs of Moher!

A PRESTON VIDEO!

Today my mom was in the kitchen and was calling for my dad. She said "Hellllooooo?" really drawn out. So Preston of course mimicked her and it was too cute. I was trying to get a video and he finally cooperated when I had him waiting for his grilled cheese. Check this out. Notice he also says, "I love you" and when I ask him where Mommy is going he says "airplane!" I love Preston's talking, but being at the "parrot" stage I have to watch my potty mouth. In fact the other day looking for a spot (which is beyond nerve grating in Westchester) I went up the block and all spots were filled which prompted a "Holy Crap!" out of me. It prompted a certain little dude to also say "Holy Crap" to which I immediately said, "No, Mommy said 'Holy Moly.'" Damage control people. So this video is also for Jennifer, because if you thought he was cute in still pictures....

And for good measure because I know that video was not cute enough-here is my love bug!

Just Too Cute!

A little late on the weekend pictures, but here is Preston during his adventures last weekend. He is very into being independent now with everything like getting into the stroller, getting on and off the step stool to brush his teeth and blowing bubbles-he actually blows a few which is adorable. He is very pleased with himself.

Below is a picture of Preston from Mother's Day. We had such a great day. My father and uncle and sister cooked brunch for all the moms. It was so delicious! We had bagels, eggs, bacon, sausage, danish, banana bread, fruits, veggies....and then dessert! In Preston's hand is a rock. He is still very much into collecting rocks. I have no idea why when he picks up rocks he says, "Bird! Eat!" I really do not recall teaching him that birds eat rocks. Actually I am pretty confident that this was never discussed. I try explaining that birds eat bugs, which he accepts, but still tells me that in Preston's world birds also dine on rocks. Gotta love him!

American Idol Week 10

This is it folks. I am off to Ireland next Tuesday so I will be unable to cover the finals and trust me no one is more disappointed than me. I actually e-mailed the concierge at the hotel about the Ireland replay policy of Idol. Unfortunately the results show will be broadcast Saturday! I may catch Tuesday night at JFK if I am lucky. So in Idol Chatter this week we found out Archuleta's loser dad is no longer permitted backstage because he is that annoying. Apparently he wanted lyrics changed in a song last week and the show had to pay for that. Who is this guy? Three months ago he was shoveling manure and now he is stage diva?

Well the top 3 performed. And I watched it on my new HDTV that my parents bought me for my 30th. (Hee! Thanks Mom and Dad). We had judges' choice, contestant's choice then producers' choice. The show kicked off with David Archuleta singing "And So it Goes" by Billy Joel. Now being raised on Long Island you have to be a Billy Joel fan-I mean it's like being born an automatic Springsteen fan in Jersey. OK I will admit, I think Archuleta has a great voice-he does, but he can only sing ballads (as will be proven in Round 2). The word "pitchy" has been replaced by Randy's new catch phrase "Dog, you can sing the phone book" which he used like fifteen times tonight. They all say Archuleta can sing anything. I beg to differ. I will bet my next two paychecks that David would not rock anything from the Ludacris catalogue. Syesha sang "If I Ain't Got You" and looked AMAZING. I think she is really good. She is a true performer. Then David Cook sang "First Time Ever I saw Your Face." Wow. This was the first song I used in Preston's first birthday montage. Then his mom was standing up. Remember Ryan saying people had tears in their eyes? Yours truly. I was bawling on my couch. I clapped for David. I really hope he wins.

Round 2 was a little rough. First off who is dressing Archuleta? This kid is way too wholesome for the whole vintage skater look. I picture Archuleta in footie pajamas with an embroidered bear. I am so glad Randy shared a brain with me, because seriously when Archuleta said "My Boo" and then "Hey Baby Mama" I paused the television, called Mel, mocked him and then watched the rest for comic relief. See what happens when David's dad cannot pick his song? Syesha I thought sang "Fever" awesome but for some reason it was anti-Syesha night. David Cook also did well, but I agreed with Paula that the song felt like it was a nanosecond long. David actually received the only pitchy comment of the night.

Round 3 was producers' choice. If I had a choice I would have made Archuleta sing "Safety Dance." That would be a sure fire failure. Instead they pick DAN FOGELBERG? I mean are you kidding ME? There is nothing exciting about Dan Fogelberg!!! Even his name is boring! "Longer" was a long one and half minute snoozefest. For all of you not up on all things Fogelberg, he sang that song "Same Auld Lang Syne" that they pull out around the holidays every year. You know the one where he meets his miserably married ex girlfriend at the grocery store, they buy a six pack, drink a toast to innocence,drink a toast an hour and then she drives off with the snow turning into rain. I personally think the song is quite irresponsible in that this woman drives off after drinking with Fogelberg for the past couple hours. There should be a follow up verse where she is pulled over for DUI and thrown in jail for Christmas...but I digress. It bored the hell out of me.

Poor Syseha just wanted the show to end, go backstage and cry. Poor thing. She is told that singing old songs is "cabaret" and to sing contemporary. Then she sings contemporary (granted it was from Happy Feet) and is torn limb from limb.

David rocked out Aerosmith. It is a safe bet that the finale will feature the Davids. I am so sorry I will miss it. I wish there was is a way to do a blog if I do see it. My sis is bringing over her computer, so we will see. Enjoy!

My Little Star

Preston is Student of the Month at school this month. My sister and I put together a cute collage that hangs outside his classroom! Jake is the other little boy who is also featured this month!
Yesterday my mother and I attended Mother's Day Tea at the school. We each received a plate made by Preston and I also received a picture frame with a Mother's Day poem and a sunflower planted by Preston himself. We played with pink Play-Doh and had great cookies. It was so adorable! Happy Mother's Day everyone!









The decorations and Preston's cute achon hand print on the Mother's Day banner.











Playing with Play-Doh with Grandma and Mommy.













Here was the presents table and to the right is Preston showing off the Color Wall to Grandma.

American Idol-Week 9

Rock n' Roll night. How did they do? Well first off they decided to critique after each song-I am sure for Paula's benefit. Simon seemed so protective of her this week that after each critique he would say, "Thanks Paula." And he would beam like a proud father. Thank you Paula for a semi-coherent critique that will not spark more Internet rumors of your possible self medication. Poor Paula. I think she is just going through a rough time. Her hair looked great tonight though....

Moving on. We are down to the final four! Unlike this past March Madness, this Final Four to me is not made up of all Number 1s, because just in case you forgot, Michael is no longer with us...David Cook started us out with "Hungry Like the Wolf." OK so I am a huge Cook fan. I love him. I think in eight months he will be on the radio, but I don't like people messing with the 80's. Remember my story about the synthesizer? Well the 80's are just my thing. My favorite song from the 80's is "Gloria." I love electrified voices, big hair, videos so awful that they are amazing, etc. I love the 80's. I even loved the VH1 special about "I Love the 80's." My sainted IPod sports a good 70% from that era alone. I mean you have hair bands, Madonna, Prince, Men at Work, need I go on? It's just a decade that should not be messed with and Duran Duran should not be messed with. I promise in a future post I will dedicate it to my top 10 favorite 80'songs. Now that you are hanging on the edge of your seat in anticipation, I will move on.

Syesha did "Proud Mary." Funny story about this. I was uploading songs onto my mother's IPod and this was one of the songs she was putting onto her ITunes library. I was also playing the song and Preston wandered into the room. Next thing you know all of us were dancing to the song. Preston was doing the moves and everything. The next few days he walked around going "Rolling....rolling." So cute. Anyway, I think she was awesome. She is truly a great performer.

Jason, Jason, Jason. What in the hell were you thinking? "I Shot the Sheriff?" Were you thinking, "Bob has dreadlocks, I have dreadlocks? Bob smoked weed? I live in a permanent drug induced haze?" I had one word for his performance-painful. It was really bad.

David Archuleta. "Stand By Me." It's as wholesome as white bread in a 1950's soda shop. Apparently David never sang this song to anything but his dog. How sad. The issue I had was with the wardrobe people. I mean here is David Archuleta-who literally stepped out of his alter boy robes prior to trying out and is singing "Stand By Me" and he is dressed like one of those artsy dudes at a small college in the North East majoring in Organic Recycling, driving a car with a bumper sticker counting down to Bush's last day in office and working at Starbucks in his free time. At first I thought it was a barbed wire shirt, but then realized it was a bitchin seagull tee with SKINNY JEANS! I mean really. And have we noticed David's father in honor of his son potentially becoming the next American Idol has retired his trailer park mesh baseball hat for a newsie? How chic.

Round 2 for David Cook was just awesome. He did The Who proud. Although after he screamed "They're all wasted." I know Jason was backstage saying "Totally. Rock on Dude." Syesha-ok I have a confession. She sang the song as Simon would say "brilliantly," but I was a little bored. I found myself thinking about balancing my checkbook and the billable hours I have to make up tomorrow for today. She was very good though. Randy totally feels like an idiot, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. And after Jason's second terrible performance if she goes home then I may not continue watching the show. David ended the show with "Love me Tender." To me it was ok. David said he never has sung a romantic song, but considering it is a safe bet that David has never been to second base, I don't know about his level of romanticism.

I think Jason goes home, as does Simon and I love Simon so we will see. Speaking of Simon I am looking for a second husband similar to his way of thinking. See Simon is not into the romantic holidays and special dates, he told a magazine "If Terry [his fiancee/girlfriend] wants a car, I'll just get her a car." See this is what I need for Round 2. And the accent too! Hee hee!

Who's it going to be?????

My 30th!

Well I have officially left my 20's behind. (Sniff Sniff).I was a little bummed. I must say though, I am very lucky. I have a great family, wonderful friends a career and the world's most amazing little boy! This was a great weekend. Mel organized a Ladies Night Out in NYC. First we met up at Mel's for a spread and drinks and then off to Tony's for an great feast. Here are some pics from the night.
My Mommy

My Sister Katie (Aunt Tinka)

Cheryl and I

Aunt Melski (Preston's godmother) and my oldest friend of 23 years!

My friends from work Kim, Katrine & Alyssa. Not being lawyerly tonight!
My sister bought me this GORGEOUS CAKE! It was so yummy!


Our table shot. Some loser in the background gave us the finger-how 4th grade!

May 4th was my officially birthday and Preston seemed to make a pit stop at the jewelry store for his mommy! The picture is me crying after reading his Mommy card that he signed! It was the best birthday ever. My aunt bought me BON JOVI tickets for July(so psyched for Jon) and my sister bought me tickets to see The Little Mermaid on Broadway. I received many amazing gifts from all my friends, but my greatest gift was having everyone together! Thank you guys for sharing this special day!

American Idol-Week 8

This show was so time strapped that I felt as if I did not even need my DVR. Five contestants, two songs each and the theme-Neil Diamond. I must say I was extremely disappointed that no one picked "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" and danced a la David Spade in Lost &Found. Here is our recap.

Jason started the show with "Forever in Blue Jeans" and wore...blue jeans. What pissed me off was that he looks so much better than I do in jeans. His legs looked slim, he obviously does not have issues getting his thighs into them and his hips are not even a consideration. This never happens for me. I think the only thing worse than shopping for jeans is shopping for bathing suits.

Prior to David Cook's first number, Ryan told a story of having a station wagon (or stay wag) when he was younger. My parents had a blue stay wag when we were younger and the four of us literally almost drew blood to determine who would sit in that oh so safe back seat that faced the other cars in back of ours. The auto designers on this one really had child safety in mind didn't they? I mean did not one person envision the rear end collision? The possibility of multiple below-the-knee amputations? OK enough legal theorizing. David Cook honestly should just be crowned the winner now. I have an ulterior motive however for him becoming the American Idol. It has come out through the good people at TV Guide that David Cook is considering a duet with my main man Michael Johns. Anyone who supports the coming back of Michael gets my vote.

When Brooke sang "I'm a Believer" all I pictured was the final scene from Shrek with all the cartoon animals dancing and lip synching in the forest. Of course I could not take her seriously with visions of the gingerbread bread man dancing with Donkey floating through my mind. I also could not take her seriously in the denim version of the Seinfeld puffy pirate shirt.

Of course David Archuletta goes for "Sweet Caroline." I have some issues with this song. Well not so much the song as my issues with Neil. I liked it better when I did not know the song was inspired by anyone. When he finally broke his silence and told the world it was inspired by Caroline Kennedy I was cool with it. I mean she's a Kennedy for God's sake. But then Neil had to go on and say how he saw this picture of her as a little girl near a horse and she looked so cute, yada, yada yada and it suddenly felt a bit awkward. Think of the lyrics..."hands...touching hands...reaching out..." Anyone else feel a little AWK after that? He should have never brought up the horse. What annoyed me was the audience totally did not participate in the chorus so I sang along at home. Honestly this performance was so cheesy that it reminded me of something that would be sung on one of those after 7:00p.m. Disney Channel shows like Suite Life or Hannah Montana. Don't ask how I know about Disney after dark.

Syesha was pretty good but after both performances Simon thinks she'll be saying "Hello Again" to the bottom two. After her performance, Ryan gave the judges time to do a quick critique and this is where we found out Paula has lost it. She begins to critique Jason on both his songs, yet unless she has a Dolorean and traveled ahead fifteen minutes and then back, he has not yet performed. Even the audience was laughing and Ryan is looking off stage like, "WTF? Should we cut to commercial?" The judges thought Jason has lost the Jason from prior weeks. What I think is Jason has lost himself because Paula has stolen his secret stash and Jason is now totally stone cold sober for each show. Jason needs to toke and Paula needs to take her meds and the show will go on.

The second performances were OK, but honestly David Archuletta butchered "America." I really don't think the America card should put him through. Personally "America" is one of my favorite songs and of course is on the IPod. There is something so patriotic and awesome about Neil getting the audience to scream "Today" while he recites"My Country Tis of Thee." I mean in the car I completely fist pump with this song. (Not to mention it features a synthesizer....). When David sang this, it sounded so 8th grade talent show. Now when I was in eight grade in the talent show I was Wayne and one of my longest cherished childhood friends Cheryl was Garth. We did a "Wayne's World" skit that was so funny. Anyway, way off topic, but I thought he was terrible.

I think Jason should go, but Syesha will probably go. I think it is inevitable that the Davids will be in the finale.

Weekend Fun

We had a great weekend! Saturday turned out to be a nice day. We went to lunch with mom, Katie, Aunt Pat, Caitlin and Nana and Preston spent a lot of time outside. He was decked in his spring gear. At two, he is quite comfortable in his masculinity that he can wear lavender and pull it off! His newest outside adventure was collecting rocks. He was under this mistaken impression that birds ate rocks since he kept repeating "Eat birds! Birds eat!" I did explain that birds ate worms and other bugs on the grass.

Sunday was a pretty miserable day-cold, rainy, the complete antithesis of this past week. Preston was a really good boy at the grocery store and later in the day Aunt Tinka and Uncle Steve came over for dinner. Aunt Tinka helped make Preston's "Student of the Month" collage for school. It was like having a school project all over along! I leave you with the below picture-a testament to the agony I go through each morning before school because Preston's hair takes on a new life throughout the night. Here he is eating his french toast sticks with his Lyle Lovett hairdo!