Workday

Sometimes the workday gets long and then this happens...

NYFW Spring/Summer 2013

I have been one lucky girl. I've attended one or more New York Fashion Week fashion shows for the last 3 seasons. This season I earned my seat by helping a friend report on a few shows. I guess it's true what they say. It's not what you know. It's who you know!

Check out the links below to read about my New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 experience!

Ricardo Seco

Strut: The Fashionable Mom Show

Marimekko

Mathieu Mirano

Joanna Mastroianni

I could really get into this fashion thing.

A Bridal Shower & A Bachelorette Party

Post-Bridal Shower and Pre-Bachelorette Party POOL PARTY

Boys and girls about to pile into the stretch Hummer limo

Kristin chose well considering these were the most eligible bachelors we ran into that night.

This past weekend I helped my best friend Kristin celebrate her upcoming wedding with a Bridal Shower and a joint Bachelor/Bachelorette Party. We started with a light lunch and gift opening at The Melting Pot for the Bridal Shower portion of the day. Later we kicked off with a little pre-Bachelorette party pool action at a downtown Kansas City hotel. Afterwards we got prettied-up and surprised the bride/groom-to-be with a stretch Hummer limo! We bar hopped and danced until the wee hours of the morning. It was such a memorable weekend and it makes my heart feel so full to see this girl that means so much to me so happy.

Congratulations Kristin and Matt! So looking forward to the wedding next month!

{ NYC Favorite } Central Park

It's been so great living close to Central Park. My apartment is a short 10-15 minute walk from the park and I go several times a week. Pretty much each time I go I find something amazing that I didn't see before.

Happy Birthday to me!

I received surprise flowers for my birthday yesterday! Thank you, Tucker! They are so beautiful and smell so good. Makes me want to have fresh flowers around more often!

So I'm 27 now and I feel old (I'm sure my 37 year old self is going to get a great laugh out of this sentence someday). This birthday was pretty low-key. Tuesday nights don't make for exceptionally exciting birthdays. It also doesn't help that I'm in a long distance relationship and we just happen to be apart for most birthdays. I got my hair done at a swanky little salon on the Upper East side and then hit up one of my favorite neighborhood bars for a celebratory drink.

I received numerous texts, Facebook posts and a lovely phone call from my best friend. When I told the bartender it was my birthday he gave me beer for free. Happy Birthday indeed.

Shannon visits NYC

My friend Shannon came to NYC for the weekend. I met Shannon through Gannett's Talent Development Program which we were accepted to after graduation in 2009. Shannon is great at staying in touch and making her friends feel as though they are a loved and valued part of her life. She inspires me to be a better friend. I did a horrible job of documenting her trip. Probably because we where having too much fun! In fact, the only picture we have together is the one of us on the Brooklyn Bridge at night.

I absolutely love having friends come to visit  me in the city. I really get to geek out on my love for New York. So who is coming to visit next?! Here are some highlights from Shannon's quick, but eventful weekend in the city and a taste of what you could be in-store for you when you come to visit! 

The Duck

This is the diviest of dive bars and it's right here in my current neighborhood of Spanish Harlem It's a country bar. In New York City. In Harlem. Go figure... 

Central Park

We enjoyed some fantastic sunshine in Central Park and sat in the grass to have a picnic.

McSorley's Old Irish Ale House

This place is my forever favorite and if you come to see me we will end up here at some point during your visit. 

Brooklyn Bridge

I love taking the long stroll over this iconic structure. The amazing views of Manhattan will never get old.

Back Room

A speak easy on the Lower East Side. There is no sign. You need to have the address. If you find the door you are let down a set of stairs and around to the back of this building. I won't tell you anymore because I don't want to ruin the surprise when we go. 

Moto Cafe

We planned on busting out our inner hipster all over Williamsburg, but settled for a quite dinner here instead.

The Grisly Pear

We popped into this West Village bar for just a second and ended up staying the whole night listening to fantastic karaoke. Two of which Shannon recognize as performers from Jimmy Fallon's late night talk show. New York City is full of amazing talent! 

PS. Here is another example of amazing NYC performers in unlikely places... Please excuse the brief profanity. My follow subway rider was really impressed!

Brandywine Valley Wine Festival

Spending your summer weekends outside of the city is key to survival in New York City or so I'm told. So this past weekend I attended the Brandywine Valley Food and Wine Festival in West Chester, Pennsylvania with my friend and old co-worker Jason. He scored VIP tickets and we sampled wines all afternoon and purchased a bottle of our favorite to enjoy in the grass.

 

Later, when we desperately needed to beat the heat we headed over to the new Whole Foods in Glen Mills, PA where they have a pub dedicated to local brews. We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking beers, playing Connect Four and snacking off the bar menu on things like this pub cheese for only $1! Yum!

Woodside Farm Creamery

On Memorial Day weekend my friend Laura invited me down to a small, intimate BBQ with her sister and her sister's fiance. I was thrilled to see Laura's baby Max for the first time in ages. Isn't he sweet? After the cookout we decided to head to the very awesome Woodside Farm Creamery in Hockessin, Delaware for ice cream. It's out in the country and they have an adorable picnic area where you can sit at a table or lounge on a blanket. We opted for the latter. I had Rocky Road and it was divine.

Laura visits NYC

This weekend I had my first New York City visitor. One of my best friends from college, Laura Vest. She has been overseas for the last 16 months in Mali, Africa being a rock star for the Peace Core. She was here for 4 days. It was her first time in New York and we had a perfect spring weekend in the city.

After I picked Laura up from JFK we came straight into Manhattan and headed to the Village. Laura had her first taste of New York City pizza and then we proceeded to walk around Washington Square Park. I took her to one of my favorite bars, McSorely's. It's very "old New York" and you only have two drink choices, light or dark beer. I just love it. I'm showing Laura how to do a "waterfall" in the picture below. An impressed stranger snapped this photo. I asked him to send it to me and he did!

We were tourists for the rest of the weekend. We had bagels for breakfast, rode the Staten Island Ferry, saw the Statue of Liberty, checked out Wall Street, perused through the Chelsea Market, walked the High Line, and navigated through Times Square. We found a beer garden in Battery Park and Laura could not resist having her first true American cheese burger and hot dog in over a year. It was a huge moment for her! We rounded out the weekend with a night out on the town, brunch, a Yankees baseball game, and a trek to Harlem.

Laura wanted to meet some NYC Malians and find a restaurant that served Malian cuisine. After some quick research online we headed up to Harlem. It was so much fun to watch her speak Bambara and to see her blow every one's mind. "Who is this little white girl in Harlem who knows how to speak our language?!" Everyone we met was so hospitable and inviting and the entire experience was incredible.  We had rice with peanut sauce and Laura showed me how Malians eat with there hands. It's a specific technique where you ball up the rice and then eat it off the tip of your fingers. NYC Malians do not do this. Everyone that saw us laughed at us and thought it was really cute...

It was an exhausting weekend, but one of the most eventful and most fun I've had yet. Thank you, Laura. I miss you already! I love it when friends come to the city. So who's coming to visit next?!

I'm Blogging

The Empire State Building on an overcast day in February.

Welcome to my blog! I've never embraced the whole blogging thing. I'm finally ready to jump on board with this little trend. Facebook is good for fun and brief facts, but it's difficult tell the whole story. This blog is meant to be a personal venue through which to tell a more complete story of what's going on in my daily life here in New York City and as a way to stay connected with family and friends.

I also hope to have this be a collection of the experiences, memories, ideas, people and basically a random compilation of all the things I adore. This past year I have really tried to concentrate on looking at the bright side of life. Before I felt stagnate, stuck and unsure of how to get what I wanted out of life. Things got pretty damn depressing.

I agonized over moving to New York City. Why? It's been a goal of mine for such a long time, but I was getting very good at doing what I thought I should do rather than what I actually wanted. I had a great job in Wilmington, Delaware, my family was super close in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and I had an amazing boyfriend waiting for me in Lawrence, Kansas. Living in NYC was what I wanted, but other than that there weren't a lot of reasons why I should.

Ultimately I realized that this is my life. The only one who will be disappointed by the things I don't do will be me. When I finally made the decision I can't even describe to you how giddy I was on a daily basis. Six months later the giddiness has worn off, but it has left behind a lingering satisfaction when I wake up each morning and remember that I am in the coolest, most diverse and thrilling city in the world.

I'll leave you this time with my favorite quote. I had this written in my bathroom mirror for the longest time before I moved to NYC.

Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves?

Thanks for reading and be sure to check back soon!