New life Update

So, we have officially moved away from NYC....I could not be more sad. The last couple of days were very hard for me. I cried at church, if you did not notice and felt sick all day. Thank you to The Bennion's and Hardie's for making life easier and making us dinner on Sunday night. Monday we packed and mailed the last of our things, we echoed in our apartment....so sad. Monday night Reagan did an incredible job on my highlights and cut. I wished that all of you could see it but.... I look hot. I would post pictures but I am writing this from Idaho and I don't have any. Kaedi completely saved my life by finishing all my last minute items on my to do list on Tuesday, you were such a life savior.
Tuesday night we were off, well kind of. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7pm, oh ya....we finally took off at 11pm. To make a long story short, we had to sit on a very hot plane for three hours then get off and transfer to another plane. By the time we got into Utah is was 3:30 AM. Thank you Matt for picking us up anyway. Wednesday we were off to Idaho for my family's reunion in Island Park. We will be there until Tuesday then drive to California for Doug's family reunion.
We did buy our first car together. It was the BMW that Doug was telling all his friends about. I have to admit that I really enjoy driving again, it has been awhile. I am not missing the hot subways and crappy sidewalks. I am missing everyone already in NY and I hope to keep in touch.

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye to friends is never easy but making excuses to see all of them is the best part. This week has been the fastest week of my life with way to much going on. We had to pack everything and ship it. Thank you so much Kendra and Amy for not taking no for an answer and coming over to help me pack, I could not have finished without you. We finished our third round of IVF and learned that the "third times a charm" theory did not work on us....the test was negative. Thanks Doug for coming home early to help me deal with my crazy emotions. I am sorry that Doug has poison ivy all over his face and can not see out of one eye but still worked hard and helped me pack everything twice.

Then we did some great things like Andrea hosting a breakfast that was delicious. Thank you Andrea and all you wonderful ladies that came so early in the morning to help.


Nikki was able to have her baby early enough for me to meet John Henry. He is just beautiful in every way and I am so excited for the proud parents.


I was finally able to eat at Dinosaur BBQ and it did not let me down. It was amazing and if you get a chance to go....take it. Make sure to make reservations and go with great friends like Dozier.


The Hardie's took us out to eat Thai and treated us like Royalty ordering everything on the menu. I am going to miss our time together.

I went to see Mamma Mia with the girls, I needed a mindless film that I could laugh at and this did the trick. Then I fell off the wagon and ate like I used to in college.


We leave in two days and I am so thankful for all the memories. Hopefully more are to come.

Our Own Chocolate Factory

For those that know me well, you know that I could swim in this and be in heaven.


That is why we have eaten at Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Guy more then anywhere else in the city. Yes, you can have dinner but just look at some of these desserts.









Our friend Carl shares the same passion as I do for chocolate so it made sense that this was where we were to have our last dinner together. The face he made when he walked in was priceless, it reminded me of my first time. The smell of chocolate is everywhere, even the pipes that run through the restaurant have chocolate in them....See


Oh....yummy, delicious chocolate factory, I am going to miss you the most of all.

Appreciation #15

This weeks appreciation goes out to Jeff and Caitlin Mulcock. I usually like to do one person at a time but these two go so perfectly together that it seems only appropriate. If you read this blog at all you know that we are always guaranteed a good time with these guys...always. Not only are they the funnest couple, they are also the most sincere and giving. I can not even begin to count the number of times that they have come to cheer me up and do whatever is needed at the time. I really don't think that I have ever heard a negative thing from them....sometimes I just think that they are to good to be true. I know that we were meant to be friends and that we will friends forever. I am excited that they are moving to Chicago and we wish them all the best. I love you both more then you will ever know and I am so looking forward to Costa Rica!!!

Fierce Hair

So, Christian (from Project Runway....of course) is having a contest for who has the most fierce hair. I was going to sign up, but a lot of girls have nice hair and mine does not stick out that much (even if it is my best quality). But....Ryan's hair sure does so we signed him up for this fabulous competition. The winner gets many prizes, one being two free tickets to NYC!!! Ryan already lives here and does not need them, that means that Doug and I will get them. This is where you all come in....we need your votes. Click here and vote for Ryan and we will be seeing you soon. Come on, does this not deserve the most fierce hair???

Not My Cheeringleading Pom-Poms

As I have mentioned before, Carly and Neil are getting married in a couple of weeks so I helped with her shower. I always inspire to be like Kendra Smoot so I wanted to make the Martha Stewart's Pom-Poms that I saw Kendra make at a shower once. I must say that they turned out very nicely. What can I say, sometimes I have skills.

Here is what Martha's looked like.

Dinner Club

For the past year or so, the six of us have been meeting once a month at each others home for dinner. Each time a different person host and we all bring things to help out.....it has been a great tradition. Along with everything else, this past week was the last one that Doug and I will attend. They were already voting on new people to invite to take our place (just like that, we were never here). Sense Neil and Carly will be the new token married couple, they are looking for a couple that is dating....you should start warming up to them now, it is way worth it. I am going to miss all the incredible meals and of course, great conversation.

Any Excuse....

It is so hard to leave the city but I always like an excuse to have another party or in this case, a picnic. We had our official "Going Away Picnic" this past Sunday in Central Park. What made it even cooler was sharing it with the Mulcock's who are moving to Chicago this summer. Everyone will be surprised to know that I was not crying (all tears where gone from the night before). I still don't think that it has hit me that we are moving and my none packing is proof of that, I need to get on that.
Sunday did mean the world to me seeing all the people that I have come to love so much and realizing what great friends we have. It made me think about how different it was when I first moved to this huge city and only knew one person and I am leaving with many fiends that I will remember for the rest of my life. Each person there touched my life more then they will ever know. Thanks to those that came and those that brought really yummy snacks.

Here are a couple pictures, but to see more click on Hall Photos.

My Man...Bon Jovi

Yep, you guessed it right, we were there with 48,000 other crazy fans, dancing, screaming, and crying at the Bon Jovi concert. Yes, crying...I will admit it (Jeff already called me out on it). They were tears of complete joy I will assure you. I have been a fan more many years and thanks to Jordan Burke we were able to get tickets to the free concert in Central Park. People were camping out but Doug put his foot down and still went kicking and screaming getting there four hours early. We still had a great time meeting up with our friends, playing games, munching on some food, and taking naps.

Then the concert began and I could no longer control myself. Doug was quoted that night saying, "I saw a side of Tamara that I have never seen before!!!"

Need I say more??

As displeased as Doug was, Jeff was able to capture a little something.



Words can even begin to express how much fun I had and how much I LOVE Bon Jovi. I think that it is because it brings me back to my youth where I had no worries and all I cared about was getting tan that summer, driving my convertible, and living on a prayer!!!

Here's to you Bon Jovi



Things have changed a lot and I must say that I enjoyed the evening so much because of the friends that we were there with. I love this crew and I could not think of a better evening to say goodbye to New York.

Healthier Cookies???

I am wanting to be healthier but still craving chocolate so I made these cookies and they were not that bad and only 70 calories per cookie and 1 point on Weight Watchers.

Fiber One® Crunchy Fudge Cookies

1 box (1 lb 2.3 oz) fudge brownie mix
2 cups Fiber One® original bran cereal
2 tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, mix all ingredients with spoon. Onto cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container. Freeze up to 2 months if desire

Let me know what you think??

Serious Running Skills

The Regis and Kelly show decided that it would be a great idea to five hundred women in NYC run a race in 3 inch heels. My friends Reagan and Becca were lucky enough to be chosen to be part of this one time event. Kelly was in the race and was favored to win but she did not stand a chance against some of these girls that took it very seriously. Great job Reagan and Becca for completing the race with so much grace.

Card Club

Once a month for two years now I have been a member of a very important club, the card club. No, we don't sit around and play games, we make cards that we then give out to others. Many of you might have noticed that I send more cards out these days and I put a lot of work into them. There are about nine of us girls that get together and someone different each month hosts the evening. The person hosting comes up an idea that we should all do and has the supplies for everyone else. Then, everyone comes with enough cards to hand out to every other member of the group, it is a great set up.
I have really come to enjoy this evening (so does Doug because it usually gives him an opportunity to play Halo). Not only are we learning a skill but we are also forming some great friendships. I have come to really value all of these ladies in many different ways. I admire how we all look after each other and we make sure that every ones needs are met. This is truly something that I am going to miss when we move. Thank you ladies for the fond memories, I will cherish them always. The picture shows one of the cards made this month, so cute.

Yay Conan

Yesterday Doug was able to skip out of work early so that we could go see the filming of The Conan Obrien Show. Thanks to our friend Kayte we were able to get VIP seating. It was enjoyable, we didn't have to wait in any long lines or anything which is always a plus these days. They showed us a clip of all the "Best of Conan" that was really funny. Conan came out and had a little chat with us, he seems like a nice guy. His kids were there so it was fun to watch him play with them. When the show started it really was not that funny until he admitted that his lines were true but not that funny.


The first guest was Kyra Sedgwick (Doug had no idea who she was and all I could say was that she was married to Kevin Bacon). She was way thin in person but did not have much to say. She just wanted to talk about her experience at the nudest beach with her brothers.




Then there was Jim Cramer from Mad Money. His ideas were a little out there but he seemed to think that he had some great ideas. Doug said that nobody of importance really listens to him, he may know his stuff but he is often wrong in his opinions.



Then there was Joe Crocker who I did not recognize until he started to sing. I very much enjoyed his performance even though he looked like he was going to fall over. He sang two songs and in my opinion he still has it.






I am glad that we had the opportunity to go, Conan Obrein has now been checked off the list.

Appreciation #14

This week’s appreciation goes out to Stacey Hallmark. I cannot say enough good things about her but there is one bad thing....she makes all of us other wives look bad. Not only did she plan a Halo night for all the husbands, she then cooked them dinner and baked cookies once they were all there. I just buy them pizza and go out with the girls!!
Truly...Stacey is an amazing friend, wife, and mother. There has been many nights that she has cooked us dinner when I just did not have the strength to do it and it was always incredible. She will take me to Costco when needed, and always makes sure to check in with me. She is very talented as well. I went over for a birthday lunch (yep, still working that birthday thing) and she made me some beautiful earrings on the fly...the girl has skills.

Sad but True

I don't know if this is just sad, but I know that it is true. I love this world of blogs because I can actually keep in touch with friends but are we taking away from everything personal??

The battle for men's souls

When we went to Coney Island, I thought I was prepared for an epic battle between Joey "Jaws" Chestnut and Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi. I was totally unprepared for the spectacle that ensued.
As some background, Kobayashi burst onto the scene in 2001. Over years the hot dog eating record had risen to 24 1/2 and in 2001 Kobayashi, as a rookie, ate 50 hot dogs (which was such a shock that they didn't have signs counting that high) and remained undefeated until last year when Joey Chestnut defeated Kobayashi and set a world record of 66 hot dogs in the process. There was a bit of a mark on the victory because Kobayashi had a jaw injury. Somehow, showing the triumph of the human spirit, he still managed 63 hot dogs. This year there were no excuses and it was bound to be awesome. We were not disappointed.
We arrived at 10:30 and thought the competition was at 12:00. Initially we thought an hour and a half would be long. Then we found out the coverage on ESPN started at noon but the contest wasn't until 12:40ish. I wasn't sure what to do. Fortunately, the world's greatest emcee was running the event. George Shea, who is also the chairman of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), burst onto the stage with this line: Competitive eating is the battleground upon which God and Lucifer waged war for men's souls. It caught me totally unprepared and he went on with some of the most over the top, preposterous, and amazing introductions of the competitive eaters. Here's a little highlight:

Needless to say, we were entertained.
Finally the competition started. Chestnut jumped out to a quick lead, downing 10 hot dogs in the opening minute. I'm pretty sure there were two hot dogs in his mouth in the first 10 seconds. Ridonculous. He built up a four hot dog lead. Kobayashi battle back, took the lead, and was up by several hot dogs late in the competition. Somehow, and I'm still not sure how this happened, Chestnut came back and tied Kobayashi at the very last second. I mean, the very last second. It's known (I'm sure you already knew) Chestnut has a bigger mouth and he somehow stuffed an extra hot dog in at the last second. You don't have to the brät swallowed when time is up, it just has to be in your mouth. But seriously, how many hot dogs can you stuff in your mouth? Especially after eating over 50 in ten minute? But I digress. For the first time in history, there was a tie. 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes. To break the tie, they had an eat off. The first to eat five more hot dogs. No biggie, right?. Joey won by maybe a quarter of a dog. It was so epic.
The place went nuts. There were tens of thousands (seriously, the official count was 45,000 last year) crammed around watching the US reassert it's global dominance. We celebrated for a few minutes and then headed off to the beach, awestruck and amazed. Many of you will remember for our previous post about Coney Island. While we didn't go visit the official freak show this time, the freaks were out en force.

After topping the day off with a funnel cake, I had accomplished pretty much everything I set out to do. We had a sweet time at Coney Island. If you're ever in NY for the fourth, there's only one place you should be.

The 4th of July....Ryan Style

Our friend Ryan, whom you all might remember from my birthday videos, out did himself last night. He put on a one man show to celebrate this 4th of July. Words can not express how funny this man is so here are the videos:









If these videos don't get you excited to be an American and proud of our country, I don't know what will.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Sushi I would Eat

We all know that I don't have kids but if I did, I would totally make this for snack time.

Click on the picture if you want to get a better look at the recipe.

The Last Supper

I have a feeling that last night was the last supper that this group will all be together. Everyone is the picture above has affected my life more then any of them will ever know. The picture shows Tracy, Doug, myself, Carl, Jeff, Caitlin, and Dave. We all have a bond of be single and Mormon here in NYC. Doug, Carl, and Dave (all guys in blue) were roommates when Doug and I started dating. There were many times that I was the fourth roommate especially during the subway strike of 2005. I could always count on Dave being there to talk and sending embarrassing texts from my phone and Carl having a chocolate snack stored somewhere in the apartment. My favorite quote from Carl is "Your shoes are your exclamation point to your outfits" He just gets me!!
Caitlin and Doug were good friends from BYU so they continued their friendship here in the city. Because I was always with Doug, Caitlin and I became fast friends. I actually met Caitlin before meeting Doug because she is one of the most social and friendly people that I know. The first time that I met her she told me that I was so pretty and I knew that we were going to be friends forever. Tracy and Caitlin are besties and Tracy, Dave, and Doug used to hang out all the time with their dessert group. Tracey and I were both Activity Leaders for our wards so we would plan the parties together. We were a perfect team, I loved to plan the parties and her ward had all the money (thanks to Doug being the clerk and demanding more money). Tracy is one of those friends that you can count on no matter what.
Jeff joined the gang when him and Caitlin met at Duck Beach and started dating (I had actually met Jeff earlier from my old roommate), but Jeff fit right in. He came to my birthday party two years ago and totally understood what I big deal it was...I knew that he was perfect for Caitlin. So did everyone else after Caitlin sent me an e-mail talking about her new crush but sent to "reply all" instead of just to me (this reply all e-mail went to everyone invited to Doug's birthday party so it was no short list).
All in all we have had some good times and great memories together. I am sad to see them come to an end. Last night we did it right. We went to dinner at Grapes and Grain downtown and way on the east side. I thought that people were kidding when they said that there was an Avenue B. The reviews seemed to good to be true but they had it right on. This place is great and worth the two subways and walk to get to. We were able to take our time and enjoy everything. We then walked to ChikaLicious and enjoyed some yummy dessert. Carl once again came through and bought me some creme brulee'...fantastic!!
I so love all of these guys and I am hoping that our Blogs and Facebook will make it so that we always keep in touch. Ok Tracy and Dave....and gmail.