This past weekend Adam was visiting and as he had never been to NYC and in a few short weeks, I will no longer be a resident of the Empire State, we decided to spend a long weekend in Manhattan.  Without planning out anything before hand, we ended up fitting in a ton of stuff and I felt like I gave the big apple a proper farewell and at the same time giving Adam a proper introduction!

Friday night we checked into the Hudson in mid town and met up with Adams childhood friend Lindsey and my friend Matthew who I went to school with at Syracuse for dinner at Freemans Alley in the lower East side.  After an awesome dinner, Adam, Matthew and I ventured off into the night to a pub where we ran into another classmate of Matthew's from SU...how weird is that?  The boys were in the mood for some Karaoke, so we headed to 2nd street where we found both Karaoke and following an hour or so of questionable singing, a bar that the three of us lasted about two minutes in.   At this point it was 2 am and where else would we have gone, but Times Square!  We ate hot dogs under neon lights and then called it a night.

NY_ZooSaturday we had brunch with my sister Gillian and her boyfriend Javier and then headed off to the Central Park Zoo.  It was the perfect size to wander around and not get overwhelmed and so much fun.  The boys then wanted to check out the big Nike store, and Gilly and I perused Chanel and Miu Miu where I had no desire to look at Fall clothes as it was 95 degrees out.

NY_DinnerAfter an afternoon out and about, we dressed for dinner and headed to The Porter House in the Time Warner building for oysters, the most delicious steak on the planet and fantastic scotch.  I learned that I now prefer steak so rare that I should order "extra rare" so its not charred black and blue style.  Mouth watering awesomeness is what it is.

NY_ShakeI though of going to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolates, but we decided to go visit Gilly at the Shake Shack she manages and have a delicious shake for dessert instead.  We also had Gilly there with us to take dorky photos of us...love it.

NY_YankeesvvSunday we went to a Yankees Game with Gilly and Jav, and it was awesome, they won...we had cotton candy, beer and hot dogs.  It was perfect.

NY_Yankees2We meant to go home on Sunday night, but decided to stay on until Monday and I was so happy that we did!  Jav lives in the Financial District so after the game we visited Ground Zero and wandered down by the water where we could see Lady Liberty off in the distance.

NY_LadyLibertyWhile deciding on dinner, the four of us played cards and had cocktails on Javs deck which was like a little jewel filled with flowers and teak deck furniture amid the mass of concrete around of us.

NY_BrooklynBridgeWe opted on a fantastic Sushi restaurant with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge and copplestone streets outside the open doors.

After dinner, Adam and I headed back to our hotel and finished the weekend off with fantastic live blues at Terra Blues on Bleecker Street.  We sat in candle light with a great selection of scotch and even managed to get a dance in before we called it a night.

NY_SushiIt was an amazing weekend, the majority of it spent smiling like we are above and saying a proper farewell to nyc!

May 302011
 
TheaGraduation

Gillian, Holly, Thea & Sierra

All four sisters at Thea's Graduation...and the end of our 20 year span at Millbrook.

Daily Muse: 5.27.11

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May 272011
 
FirefliesJar

we heart it

I am in the midst of a family filled weekend.  All four of us girls are going to be together for our littlest sisters graduation from the boarding school we all attended.  Holly flew into town yesterday and after we had dinner with Thea and my mom we gabbed the night away together at my house.  Gillian will join us tomorrow night and we'll all spend Sunday together at the ceremony and then a big bash at my moms.

I realized yesterday that this will be the last time we will all be together until Christmas.  We better get as much family bonding in as possible and make sure to take lots of pictures!

May 082011
 
MothersDay

My Mom and her four girls

Happy Mother's Day Mom, I love you!!!!

 
OceanRain

we heart it

I drove a friend to La Guardia yesterday afternoon.  This whole plan came up during our weekly breakfast at the diner when I asked him about his trip that began later that day.  We traded airport runs and when Gillian and I go to Austin, TX in April to visit Holly, we have a ride lined up.  On the drive down, I texted Gilly to see if she was going to be at work, as I figured I would at the very least nip into the upper east side to say hi as I was only 10 minutes away.

In an awesome twist of fate, Gilly was leaving work shortly and going to an Oscar party at a friend of hers from prep school (who I know well too) and why didn't I come along.  So I did.  It was great fun, there was only a small group and I've known them all forever...awesome to catch up and yell at the tv together.

Such a random end to my day, although it kind of sucked having to drive 90 minutes home at almost 11 at night, but glad I did it!

 

I was just over at A Beautiful Mess and was so inspired by Elsie's post that I had to make one myself!  I realized that I need to start taking waaaaay more photos if I want my blog to be what I want it to...some months were pretty bare in the photo department!  I still managed to gather a wonderful array of images from the past year...enjoy!

January 2010
January: Cancun with the Besties (my college roommates).  The weather was unseasonably cold but we had a fantastic week together anyway.  So fun to be all together again as I think it was the first time in a few years!

February 2010
February: A bit bittersweet as I was at one of my favorite places...the Museum of Natural History in nyc and had such a wonderful few days. I met with my favorite Ladies Who Launch and Gillian introduced me to the best cupcakes in the world.  I however arrived home 6 hours later and discovered water pouring out from under my front door and my entire apartment and studio was flooded from a burst pipe.  Ah, c'est la vie.

March 2010
March: My birthday!  I threw myself a little soiree as it was not only my 33rd birthday (three is the magic number!!) but it was the first party in the new apartment!  That would be an angel food cake that I am gazing at...my favorite cake in the whole wide world.  I also began the Out & Abouts this month...it was a month of new beginnings!

April 2010

April: Out & Abouts really hit their stride...I think this was the best month we had doing them...just look at how much fun we're having!

May 2010
May: I think this was about the time that I knew I had to start over with Manic Trout.  It's odd looking over the photos and posts from the past year.  In retrospect it all looks so much more simple and obvious.

SierraJune10
June: I officially began The Evolution of Manic Trout and hired marketing experts to help rebrand.  It was a pretty monumental month.  I also bought a belt that makes me feel like Wonder Woman.

July 2010
July: Shanley and I made the Super Epic Rainbow Cake!!! (ok that may have been August...but July was really slow) There was some press and I did finished the Game Night Collection, which was my first cohesive collection I designed...that was pretty cool!

August 2010
August: I bought a new car!!  Which I promptly drove to New Hampshire with Thea to visit my dad and family.  I try to get there every summer and stay at my favorite place on earth...our families camp where I get to sleep right next to the lake and experience the ups and downs of no internet and an outhouse.  I also got to visit my adorable nephew, Ryan and his new baby sister Zoe!

September 2010
September: I started doing yoga!  Well, it was actually August that I started yoga...but August was a surprisingly full month!  That would be Thea and I with Faye after my first yoga class.  This month I hired a graphic designer to create my new logo, started doing shows again, and also debuted the Mermaid Parade Necklaces, which were the first line created after the rebranding began!  It was a BIG month for Manic Trout!!

October 2010
October: Holly came home for Mom's birthday and we took the first family photo ever that mom was in that she would actually let us print.  I finished the website part of the rebranding and started to see the results of the three months working with the marketing pros.  The majority of the month basically focused on getting ready for the holiday madness.

November 2010
November: A blur of work.  The season of holiday shopping kicked off, the press rolled in and as it is the busiest month for my parallel career (I am the general manager at the restaurant of a private club open only on the weekends) I basically worked my ass off all month.  I did however find time to come up with the new Daily Muse section on the blog which is a big part of the blog makeover I have been working on and an addition I love.  I think this was the month I came up with the Limited Edition Bling Ring settings concept for 2011.  I made the first color choice of the rings to send off to my publicist...Peacock Blue!

December 2010

December: I did a lot of baking, enjoyed the craziness of the last two and a half weeks of online holiday shopping and spent time with friends and family.  My sisters all came over Christmas eve and we baked cookies and listened to our favorite Christmas music while enjoying one of the now rare times of year when all four of us get to be together.

What a great way to look back over the past year...thank you Elsie for the inspiration!

Happy New Year!!

 
Tree

photo by Thea of our Tree at mom's

As Manic Trout has grown over the past few years, the holidays have taken on new meaning for me.  The six weeks up to Christmas is hectic, chaotic and filled with hour upon hour of full filling holiday shopping orders to be shipped out as fast as possible.  Even though its stressful I truly love it and have in the past two years streamlined the whole operation so I can manage it all with as little freaking out as possible.  I however have had to really make an effort to get my own shopping done in the midst of all this...one year I completely forgot and had to go to the mall on Christmas eve.  NOT FUN, and my gifts that year, while still thoughtful...were missing something.

So this year I did a bit of planning.  I decided I was only going to by either handmade, from businesses owners I network with online or from local business owners I know (well except for one item that my mom really wanted for the kitchen, but hey, who can say no to their mom!).  I found gifts I loved and I was really happy to hand over my hard earned earnings to those I see work so hard themselves all year growing their own businesses.

A few of my favs were a gorgeous photo of the UVA campus which I framed for my stepfather David who is an alum.  I found this on Etsy through their gift finder facebook tool...excellent suggestion Etsy!

UVA campus

image by Malcolm Macgregor

A Robot tote bag for my sister Thea from Ex Boyfriend.  I have been in the same circles of networking online with the co owner Meredith for years now and love her work ethic and company...they have the best t-shirts too!

robot romance

Robot Romance from Ex Boyfriend

However, my favorite gift of all was a last minute addition, I saw these vintage paint by number paintings in their matching wooden frames at The Pumpkin House (owned by one of my besties, Tara Wing) and knew instantly that they would look awesome in the man cave (aka, Shane's apartment).

deer paint by number

image by me of man cave art

Aren't they awesome??? They are even signed on the back, and they were painted the year I was born.  I can't wait to see them up!

Do you try to shop local, handmade or from those you know?

 


Gilly just introduced me to this one...How cute is this kid???


I had this album...as in record when I was a kid...which brings me to my all time favorite Christmas song...


I have had John Denver & The Muppets Christmas album on vinyl, cassette and cd....and now YouTube.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Nov 172010
 
Vogue Italia, March 2010

image from Vogue Italia, March 2010

I loved growing up as part of a big group of girls.  My mom was insistent on sisters coming first in everything, so we have always been close.  We are however super spread out age wise and being 33, 25, 24 & 17, I sometimes pay a more parental role then a peer.   In the past few years, I have been enjoying not only seeing each one mature and grow into themselves, but have developed stronger friendships with them as well. Which is why it really sucks that Gillian and Holly have moved further away and we are all such busy ladies.

Vogue Italia, March 2010

image from Vogue Italia, March 2010

However, Thea stopped by tonight for some sister bonding and home cooked food!  I made her two rings, a few pairs of earrings and made sure she had all the Manic Trout she wanted.  We ended up in my studio at desks with our macbooks, Thea doing her homework and I was working.  Don't you worry though, we managed to get a good amount of chatting in anyway and talked blogging (check out Thea's Blog!) and boys and all the silly things sisters share with each other.  I always feel a bit more myself after I see any of them...funny how that happens.

Oct 182010
 

Save Water Soap

One of my favorite quotes is from a 1990 Earth Day Celebration Special, it was the 20th anniversary of Earth Day and Chevy Chase said repeatedly "Save Water...Shower With A Friend" though out the show.   He said it about every 5 minutes of the episode, and it stuck in my 13 year old mind rather permanently...I have for some reason been saying A LOT recently.  So far, no one I have said this to saw that Special and fully understands the reference, but I keep trying anyway.

Today I was in a drug store, looking for some random little presents for my mom who I found out as my sister texted me while I was in there, was feeling low today after a bad month of pet loss.  While wandering around the aisles, I stumbled across this soap.  I was so excited that I bought the last three boxes they had and tossed one in the goody bag for mom.

I arrived unannounced at the Hopper Compound and presented the booty...a movie I love that she hasn't seen, cobweb/spider Halloween decorations, the soap and candy corn (which I broke my candy ban and ate with her, yum!!).  The loot was a hit, and the best part was mom got the reference!!!  Well, of course she did, I watched it sitting next to her.  I was so happy that not only did I finally find someone who appreciated the reference, but I made mom smile too ;)

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