A Little Girl Turns One

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It’s hard to believe that a whole year has passed since our baby girl arrived.  Over the past year, we’ve enjoyed every second of watching her grow, learn and develop into a little girl.  She’s had quite an exciting first year and I hope that, through my documentation in words and photos, she’ll look back and be grateful for all that she’s done so far.  

For Eliza’s birthday, we decided to take a family trip down to New York City for the weekend.  So, we packed our bags and headed down...

Eliza slept most of the way and was bright eyed and bushy tailed when we arrived.  We quickly checked into our hotel, changed into our party clothes and were off to The Plaza Hotel for afternoon tea.  

We checked in and then used the spare time we had to wander around and check things out.  

We've arrived!

Eliza wanted to stop and say hello to John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Then, it was time for tea.  Eliza was an absolute doll.  She truly behaved like a lady and had a wonderful time.  The highlight for her, however, was the beautiful white table cloth.  She was bizarrely blown away by the linens.  She rubbed them constantly, with a look on her face that said These are the finest linens I ever have seen!  I suppose the girl knows a good thing when she sees it.  

"I've just GOT to get some of these!"

And she thoroughly enjoyed her Eloise tea, complete with PB&J, strawberry and cream, cucumber and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Scott and I enjoyed our tea, as well.  The Plaza sure knows how to wow.  

Before we knew it, the piano was playing Happy Birthday and Eliza had a tiny chocolate cupcake and candle in front of her.  

Not to be outdone by The Plaza, we had ordered cupcakes from my favorite Newport bakery, It’s My Party, and took one along.  While Eliza showed a lot of interest in playing with the cupcake...nary a bite was taken!  

We were so pleased with our afternoon at The Plaza.  We wanted to do something very special and unique for our girl, so naturally, an afternoon tea for our Little English Miss was the perfect treat.  We all enjoyed it and celebrated a wonderful first year as a family.

After we arrived back to the hotel, I was lucky enough to get to visit with my friend, Austin, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, while Scott took Eliza to our room for a nap.  

Nap and visit complete, we were off to the Empire State Building.  We took a nice, relaxing stroll down to Fifth and 34th, stopping to watch the ice skaters at Rockefeller Plaza (and see the beginning work of the annual Christmas tree) and taking in the sights and smells of New York.  By about 9:30pm, we arrived and eventually made our way to the top.    

It was SO brisk that night that Eliza and Scott only popped out for a minute before retreating inside to listen to the sounds of the jazz musician who was playing in the observatory.  I, on the otherhand, nearly froze to death walking around outside, taking in the gorgeous city below me.  

Finally, it was nearly midnight and time to head back to our hotel and call it a day.  All-in-all, I’d say that Eliza had a fabulous first New York City-style birthday.  

The next morning, we hurriedly made our way up Fifth Avenue to Laduree.  Famous for their macaroons, Scott and I visited Laduree while in Paris and have talked about them ever since.  So, when I found out that they just opened a shop in NYC, we had to visit. 

After Laduree, we had plans to meet Scott’s friend, Jake, in TriBeCa at a restaurant called Laconda Verde, for brunch.  I couldn’t have picked a better place - quintessentially trendy NYC location, fabulous food (the apple cider donuts?  I’ll talk about until I die.) and a darling staff.  They do breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner - I highly recommend any of them.

Bellies full, we took a walk around TriBeCa and SoHo, stopping in Jack and Kate Spade and an adorably magnificent toy store (and judging staring in bewilderment at the line outside of Dash -- really?!).  It was a perfect New York morning.  

After saying our goodbyes to Jake, we hailed a cab and made our way back up to Central Park for a quick stroll before heading back to our hotel and getting Eliza changed into her Christmas dress for the Christmas Spectacular.  When we arrived, this is how we found her:

So, we decided to have a seat and relax a while, too.  We all really needed it.  

Re-energized and hungry for lunch, we caught a cab to Times Square and met our friends from London, Mark, Mary Kim and their son, Zach, at John’s Pizza (divine, by the way!).  Unfortunately, we only had a small window in which to eat and catch up before we had to be at Radio City Music Hall.  Luckily, it was as though we had seen them yesterday and no time had passed at all (other than the fact that our babies had sprouted into kids). 

We made it to Radio City and into our seats just in the knick of time.  The show was exactly as I remembered -- whimsical, majestic and mesmerizing.  I whispered to Scott during the show, “Do you think I still have a chance to become a Rockette?”  He didn’t even take his eye off of the stage before simply replying, “No.”  They truly are a talented bunch.

Eliza was so good throughout the show, sitting through the whole 90-minute production.  She even applauded, danced and squealed in delight a couple of times.  After the show, we bid farewell to Mark, Mary Kim and Zach and headed to the stage to meet my childhood friend and Rockette, Teneise, for a backstage tour.  We were blown away by how everything looks backstage and how it all comes together so seamlessly for the show.  We were so pleased and honored that Teneise was able to take us for a tour, and more importantly, visit with us after the show.  It was a true delight!

On our backstage tour - Eliza got to meet Teddy, the camel!

After the show, it was time to head back to Newport.  We had such a wonderful weekend together as a family and visiting with such great friends.  It was one of our most memorable trips to date.  

Once we returned to Newport, I wanted to have a little party for Eliza and her girlfriends, too.  However, most of them ended up being sick, so only two of the six were able to make it.  It was a more intimate gathering than we had anticipated, but fun and celebratory nonetheless.  Her friends Adelyn and Baby Hadley were able to attend and celebrate with macaroons and pink lemonade.  It was quite an adorable affair.  

Singing 'Happy Birthday' once again.   

Playing with Addie.

Poor baby was worn out after her big weekend and birthday party.
Who can blame her?!

It has truly been a wonderful year having Eliza in our life.  I always tell Scott that life is just better and much more fun when he’s around.  Well, the same rings true for that little girl.  I couldn’t imagine my life any other way.  And I’m so blessed that she chose us to be her parents.  

Happy birthday to our expressive, big blue-eyed, adorably gapped-teeth
baby girl - we love you!