Zoos, Fondue, Poker, and Camping in the Car....

Monday is here and so another workweek has begun! Temperatures have begun to seriously drop here in NY and I was greeted this morning by frost on the ground as well as on my car. I actually had to sit and let my car warm up this morning. Since we just bought the Edge, we haven't had a chance to get an automatic starter installed and I think its due time. Those things are worth every penny spent, there is no price on climbing into a toasty, defrosted car in the morning instead of feeling as if you just stepped into a freezer...brr! Last week was a good week. Ant and I both had off on Monday, Columbus Day, so we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and jetted down to the Bronx Zoo with Sophia. Neither of us have been there before, gasp!, so we were both excited to check it out. It really is a nice zoo, you definitely forget about the fact that your in the middle of NYC (except for the little pathway past the Congo Gorilla Forest where Naseem's Grocery and Juan's Cuchifritos peek through the fence). Sophia and I even took our first camel ride together! All in all, as much as we love being with our friends & family, it was sooo nice just to spend some exclusive time together with our daughter. The remainder of the week flew by...work work work. Ant's birthday was Saturday so we spent Friday night with his parents for dinner and cake. And being the spontaneous couple that we are...we decided to head down to Atlantic City for Ant's birthday night, just the two of us. His parents love the alone time with Sophia, so she spent the night with them and off we went. Due to our lack of planning, we didn't have a chance to book a hotel room and being it was a Saturday, all of the decent hotels were running around $400 a night. Well, we figured we just bought a nice & roomy SUV, why not take advantage and camp out in it for the night? (here is the part where my Mother is going to say, "you did WHAT!?!") So, we threw in some nice, heavy blankets and a few pillows and hit the road. We got there around 4 ish and the weather was amazing. We found The Showboat parking lot and got ready to hit the boardwalk. We had dinner reservations for the Melting Pot at 9 so we figured we would walk down towards Midtown and gamble at Caesar's until it was time. I had some beginner's luck at the Roulette table and one of my number's hit on the first go, $100 richer!!! After swiping our player's card, the dealer saw it was Ant's bday and gave us two free glasses of champagne. We decided to take the bubbly on the go and enjoy it while strolling the boardwalk. It was so romantic, the waves were rolling in, the fall breeze was blowing, and the sun was setting. Just as much as we appreciated our time on Monday with Sophia, we always love the alone time as well. As our dinner reservations drew near, we continued on to the restaurant (with my new champagne glasses nestled in my purse, lol) figuring we would have a few cocktails at the bar. This was our first time at the Melting Pot and I have always wanted to eat there so I was very excited, and what a time it was! It is definitely the PERFECT "date" restaurant to get cozy with your loved one! After a few amazing martinis and the most amazing cheese fondue ever, we were escorted to our table for dinner. Our table was this snug little corner, very closet-ish if you can imagine that, where we sat side by side with the burner for the fondue pot in the center of us, perfect for snuggling up. It was so much fun, too! After choosing what cooking style and entree platter you would like, they bring everything out "unprepared" and you cook it yourself by letting it sit in the steaming hot broth. It almost reminded me of cooking hot dogs over a campfire, only a LOT more sophisticated, lol. But the best part by far was dessert. We chose the yin & yang fondue which is essentialy just half dark, half white chocolate, accompanied by assorted fruits, cheesecake, pound cake, marshmallows, and brownies to dip in it. You can't even imagine how decadent and romantic this is, an absolute must for couples. We will be paying this restaurant a regular visit for when we are in AC. After dinner, I made my grand poker debut with my poker obsessed husband. Usually I walk around bored out of my mind while he spends hours playing, so it was time to get in the game. I figured I had the basics down so we signed up for a 2-4 Limit table and each bought in for $100. I was very nervous but kept my cool. It was very overwhelming at first, everyone plays so fast! But I refused to be beat, and we kept at it. After a few hours, and a few great hands, we were shocked to learn that it was almost 3 am! Time flies by at a poker table and now I see why he takes so damn long! I had fun, though, and maybe I'll try it again sometime. We even doubled up on our money! We agreed that we were exhausted at this point and decided to get some sleep, off to the trunk we went! It wasn't that bad, I was a little scared but we had chosen a well secured (at least we hoped) parking lot and I was so tired that I didn't care. Its not something that I will actually plan to do again, but in an emergency situation I know that my car makes a functional hotel room! lol. I did manage to steal the all of the blankets and I had a very cold hubby in the a.m. We woke around 8, went into the casino to pee, made a quick $150 off of blackjack, and hit the road. All in all, we left with money in our pockets and some very funny memories to look back on. Then last night, the fire alarm kept going off at The Outback so I even got a night off from work, which I certainly did not complain about. And here it is, Monday morning again! I always look forward to Mondays though, its "Hills" night after all!!! Me and a few of my closest girlfriends are extremely obsessed with the show so we made a little girl's night out of it every week. Some good vino and a few snacks, we are happy ladies when Mondays roll around! I hope everyone had a great week...hopefully this week will be just as fun & eventful as last!!! xoxoxox