A few from NYC and a lot from SD!

This post will be a bit of a hodge-podge with a random assortment of photos from October.  It was quite a month! We'll start with the first half, in NYC, and end with SD, the highlight of the second half of the month.

The first weekend of Oct, we got to participate in United Way's Live United Walk as one of our friends, Scott, works with United Way.  We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on a beautiful day that ended in a fun festival in Brooklyn - where Maelee's infamous dancing video was shot!

The first half of the month was an especially busy one for me as I was preparing for my first recital since finishing at Stony Brook.  All brand new pieces, all very challenging, and all by composers whose country of origin could be highlighted in regards to its problem with human trafficking, and child sex trafficking in particular. A very important cause to my heart.  It was a lot of work but wonderful to be playing again and it was awesome that several hundred dollars ended up being raised to benefit GEMS , a local group in NY that works with victims of trafficking. If you're interested in hearing/seeing the performance, I do have recordings, and if you're interested in learning more about the issue of human trafficking, I'd LOVE to give you info on that!!! Awareness raised is a good thing.

To prepare for the recital, I was blessed by several good friends offering their time to hang out with Maelee so I could get in some much needed practicing and rehearsing.  One of them, my sweet friend Heather, gave a lot of her generous time, and she has a quite a generous twin sister, too!  Heather's sister, Sheena, came to NY a while back and brought the cutest top for Maelee. Here she is, proudly sporting the top and her age:

Ever the most supportive parents, my folks came up to hear the recital, and of course, spending time with their favorite granddaughter was an added plus to the trip :).  Had to get a few shots of her dancing for them, playing with her new stroller from them, and just enjoying them:

And enjoying time with daddy!!!

Now onto beautiful San Diego and the second half of the month!  As Steve had a conference in Mission Bay, we couldn't pass up the chance to go back to our first home, and a city that still holds a very dear place in our hearts.  I was nervous about bringing Maelee along, but she did great and had a blast.  First, a few pictures of the gorgeous hotel room and view:

And then, even better than the hotel, we had the amazing treat of visiting with some very special friends. Schedule and transportation issues prevented us from seeing all of our old pals from our old stomping grounds but we were so thrilled to see the Saldana and the DeMott families.  When we left San Diego, between the three of us couples, there was one child- now there are 6! And all twelve of us enjoyed a wonderful dinner our first night there, at our friends' beautiful home, overlooking the gorgeous water of La Jolla...  ahh.

With one of my dearest, most talented pals, Summer

Again, yes, that is the view from the DeMott's backyarding.  Ahhh-mazing.

The kiddos!

Taylor, Chloe, Maelee (who was pretty much done after being up for about 16 hrs straight!),  Jacob, Luke, and baby Andrew!

Out to dinner with the amazing Saldana fam our second night there.

Maelee and I also took a trip to the San Diego Zoo and Maelee LOVED getting up close and personal with the animals:

Some real


Some not so much...

But her favorites were definitely the goats, which she lavished with hugs... sigh.

We got to go to one of our favorite spots, La Jolla Cove, for dinner one night and enjoy the breathtaking views...

And then got to top off the evening hanging out w/ the awesome Ron & Megan:

And Maelee had fun with their super sweet boys the next morning...

Jumping on Luke's "ship"

Sharing some Cheerios w/ Jacob



And enjoying a wonderful lunch w/ baby Andrew

 While the mommies REALLY enjoyed some amazing food and view...

Incredible fish tacos- mmm!

Our last evening in San Diego was spent with the DeMotts at a casual Thai place where the kids were able to let loose and we had a blast visiting:

Followed by a late night "date" on our balcony w/ each other and some wine :)

We're so thankful for the memories and such a wonderful time!  San Diego friends- come out to see us in NYC soon!!!  October was a big month - super fun at times, super stressful at others, but busy pretty much throughout.  And I can't believe we're almost half-way into November already!  I always feel right around this time of year that January is basically next week...  This season will fly.  But we're excited for it- Happy November!!!