NEWS FLASH

Big News!  We're moving....AGAIN.

The Guptas are moving back to good old Virginia!  We are so excited that this is official!

About a month ago, Nick interviewed with an engineering consulting firm in Washington DC and got a great job offer.  Everything with the offer got finalized a little later and we made the decision to move back to Virginia!

They want Nick to start on a project very quickly...actually wanted him to start November 12th, but he was able to push it back 2 weeks.  Still a very quick turn around.  So we are currently looking for a place to live and plan to be living there by December 1st!

This move is what we wanted...we want to be back in Virginia closer to friends and family.  We want to settle in Northern Virgina and hope to buy a house in 2013. However it does come with some mixed feelings...we are sad to be farther from my brother and his family in Boston.  We're a 4 hour drive now, so now 8 hours...but at least its not different coasts!  Also sad to be far from our favorite city, New York.  I cried when we moved out and part of me still achingly misses it.  If Nick and I were rich and could have a huge apartment (big enough for multiple kids, a dog and every one's stuff), we never would've left.  Our pipe dream is to have a condo there as a second home...in the west village of course.

my niece Caroline, the bunny for Halloween.  How cute is she!?!?!  to die for.

ahhh...the west village, nyc.

And actually....New Jersey has grown on me.  I really like the area we live in and we have made a couple good, supportive friends.  We also have great neighbors and a great pediatrician...just a good support system overall which is hard to leave.

Also...I had to leave Boston Beer Company after 5 1/2 years.  I am ready to move on after having a really good 5+ years and getting great experience, but it's still weird to make the change.  It is a GREAT company...very good vision, direction, products, training, and support to employees.  That I will miss and know is rare.  I gave them my notice a little while ago and it couldn't have gone smoother...I am thankful they understood and were happy for this change for our family!  I may not get free beer anymore, but I still have connections ;)

when I first started in 2007...celebrating 4th of July in DC

receiving my 5 year award in Jan 2012 from owner-founder-brewer Jim Koch

This fall has brought many changes to us...new baby, new job, new location...but change is something that Nick and I do well, so it will be good even if I have a few crisis' in the meantime. I'm excited to spend Christmas in Virginia again!

New Jersey Fall

I know I've said it before, but fall is my absolute favorite season.  There are few things more beautiful in nature than trees in shades of red, gold, yellow, and orange.

Since we've been home every weekend this fall loving life with our new baby, we've gotten to really enjoy this wonderful season!  The weather has been gorgeous...warm with a few rainy, cool days...perfect!  Here are the fun fall things we've done in New Jersey...

We visited Alstede Farms in Chester NJ to do some pumpkin picking.  It was a beautiful weekend and the leaves were really changing. We live in a part of New Jersey that is somewhat rural, but has really nice neighborhoods and huge houses on lots of land....in a nutshell it's a very rich area. (we rent a townhouse...don't get the wrong idea, haha)  The rolling hills make the area very scenic!

The farm was packed, but we maneuvered our way through the mass of kids in the petting zoo, kids falling down the hay stacks, kids getting lost in the corn maze...kids everywhere!  We could have picked apples, corn, lettuce, corn, sunflowers...anything really.  We just did the pumpkin patch and found some great pumpkins...then hit up the market for some apple butter, apple cider, and warm apple cinnamon donuts that melted in our mouths.

The next weekend we went down to Haddonfield NJ (cutest town in america) for the annual fall crabfest at our friend, Joey's parents house.  We sat outside in hoodies and sweaters to drink spiked apple cider and Octoberfest beers while picking crabs.  Great to see friends we haven't seen in a while and set the tone for fall!

Last weekend we went with our good friends, Trace and Natalie, to "The Hunt" which are NJ horse races.  Again, perfect weather for sweaters and sunglasses.  Other horse races I've been to are more Kentucky Derby style with bow ties, hats and sundresses...but this race was CLASSY with NY/NJ style.  Think Kennedys or JCrew catalog...flannel, corduroys, cable knits sweaters, oxford shirts, and boots.  I got to enjoy a few beers for the first time because Waverly is taking a bottle so well these days and we had a great time tailgating, betting on a few horses, and hanging out with our friends.  They stayed with us the rest of the weekend...chinese food, long talks, cooking a big brunch spread, football, and hanging with Waverly...good times.

Guess who's been a sweet angel for all these fun activities...miss Waverly!  She's such a good baby...rarely cries now unless she's a little tired or hungry, two things we can fix very easily! She just hangs out taking in her surroundings or cooing and smiling at people or just sleeps...it's great!

Cozied up for the fall weather!

Annual Smith - Gutta Beach Vacation

Now you may wonder "who are the guttas"?  That would be Nick and I...after a minor crisis when it came to renting a beach tent for the week, I put the tent in our name.  As I walk up to rental company's pick up truck, the business owner said to me in DEEP southern drawl...

"well heyyy leslie!  wow! look at you! now you can't go all week without shade in that condition, now can ya?"
my response:  "haha nope, I definitely need it!"
"so it's "gutta"...right?"
my response:  "umm sure"

haha.  gotta love the south, pretty sure there aren't too many "Guptas" in the Sunset Beach, NC area.

Anyway....we had another great vacation at Sunset Beach!  Full of relaxation, lots of beach time, golf, playing with our niece Caroline, and NOT working (yay!).  We are excited to bring our little one next summer!

Here are some pics...

in line for ice cream!

 best buds

beach dog on his 3rd birthday

can't we just stay here forever...?

gradually becoming friends

  who's 8 months pregnant in this picture?? wow.

Granddaddy and Caroline

Nana and Caroline

family putt putt

 chatting about the important things in life

finding seashells

 golf!

annual family photo

the guttas

 Can't wait for next year!

What a week!

Last week was one of those weeks...a full blown roller coaster.  Luckily we were strapped in tight and rode it out.

I'll start with the not so sweet moments since it's always nice to have a happy ending.

For starters I came home from Virginia with a solid start to the cold Nick had the previous week.  Sore throat, cough...yuck.  I blamed Nick for my miserable state all week...poor guy, but hey, I'm pregnant so I get to blame someone else!  This progressively got worse as the week went on, but I called the drs office on Tuesday to see what meds I was allowed to take...mucinex, cough drops, and vitamin C tablets were my defenses.  Then I had an appointment on Thursday and my Dr was nice enough to tell me that I could take Robitussin...praise be...it's what finally got rid of my congested cough and sore throat!  Gotta love a laid back doctor who allows you to take some meds since you're miserable and in your 3rd trimester!

I am now caught up on sleep and feeling so much better :)

Secondly Cole fell sick...if anyone knows what it's like to have a sick dog...or be "sick as a dog"...its no joke.  Starting Monday evening and going into Thursday we had to take him outside every 2 hours like clockwork...that means Monday and Tuesday night were dreadful.  He must have really wanted to prep us for the new baby.  He couldn't keep anything down or in...too much detail??  So sad...and normally I can pinpoint a cause but for the life of me could not figure out what he could've eaten.  No toys were missing or destroyed, nothing in the house was awry...I walked him Monday and never saw him eat anything outside.  Finally a vet visit was made on Wednesday which proved inconclusive so it seems he just caught a bug.  I felt so bad for him, but since I was feeling sick too, it was really Nick who took the brunt of it.

Cole recovered around Thursday / Friday in time for us to drop him off in Delaware with my mother in law for the weekend.

Lastly my car was sick.  The AC broke and I got it fixed, but came home with a LOUD squeaky rattle. Never good to come home from the shop and have to take it back in again.  PLUS a small crack caused by a rock turned into a huge long crack...I would love to be the winner of a new car right now.  Know any contests?  The rattle got repaired free of charge (booyah!) today and the windshield is being replaced Friday...sigh.

Now amongst all this...we were leaving town for a long weekend for a wedding of some of our close friends...this is where the good things start...

One of my best friends had her baby girl on her due date, Monday June 4th!  Sophie Lynn Peddicord arrived pretty smoothly and is just a precious little bundle.  Great job Tray - congrats again to you guys :)

Tuesday was our 2nd year anniversary!  Somehow I put my cough away and we got a neighbor to let out Cole so that we could keep our plans to celebrate in NYC for the night.  We've been wanting to try Mario Batali's restaurant in the West Village, Babbo since we moved to NY, but it is one hard reservation to get!  They only take reservations a month in advance and even if you call (like Nick did) exactly a month in advance there are people who have called before you so times are limited!  crazy.  But we got a table and loved it.  I really want to go back when I can drink wine because they had a tasting menu with a different wine pairing for each course....uhhh, awesome!  In the meantime delicious bread, pasta and veggies did the trick :)

buffalo mozzarella with squash and zucchini

nick had black spaghetti! risky.

happy...in the West Village at Babbo!

That night Nick surprised me with tickets to see Wicked on Broadway too!  I've been dying to see it and he really wanted to see it too...so he splurged.  It is a FABULOUS show...singing is amazing, dancing is fantastic, the set is phenomenal and so are the costumes.  We both said it was the best Broadway show we've seen.  The main character, the Wicked Witch was amazing...her voice was impeccable.  The set was so cool and the costumes and dancing were just fantastic.  I also really loved how they tied in the story Oz, but didn't show any part of the "Wizard of the Oz".  Such great writing.

cool set.

Wicked!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

29 weeks in Times Square!

Finally the end of the week came and we made it down to Washington DC to see our friends Natalie and Trace get married!  They are such great friends of ours...Trace and Nick were friends at Virginia Tech and Natalie and I LOVE hanging out together. We've taken trips together and try to visit whenever possible. One day we plan to all live in the same neighborhood...don't disappoint, Nat!  ;)  They are truly one of those couples that everyone was so happy to see get married...they were best friends in high school, started dating between VT and JMU in college and now live in Boston...their relationship spans 14 years!  Their wedding was a blast...Nick was a groomsmen and looked handsome, I put together my best maternity wear and we had a great weekend.  It was so fun to see a lot of friends we hadn't seen in a while and to be in DC....Baby G and I danced the whole reception with a few breaks for water and the candy bar...obviously.  Congrats again to Trace and Natalie!

yay!  Natalie was a GORGEOUS bride.

Bridal party flash mob...awesome. Here is the video

wish this was a full length shot b/c I had navy blue snakeskin 3" heels on!  They lasted a while...till flip flops :)