Jamaica and other thoughts.

How is it the 19th of December already?! I truly don't understand where the time is going. We've been back from Jamaica for over a week now and have been lost in a fog of Christmas preparation, sad, sad news (my heart absolutely aches for those families and the town of Newtown), and gray weather.

This season always feel like a tiring whirlwind, but especially so this year since my body is not operating at it's full physical capacity. Which means a lot of online shopping and not nearly enough out and about New York Christmas magic. In truth, New York is kicking my butt lately. I feel so tired. So tired. It is a kind of tired that it difficult to describe to others. It's as if the moment I step outside, the city yanks all of the energy and life out of my body. Ok, that sounds dramatic, but it's true! Turns out this city is *not* the most relaxing place to heal from brain surgery.

In contrast, Jamaica (or any tropical location, I imagine) most definitely IS the best place to heal physically, emotionally, etc.! And I completely credit the sun. I was a different person in Jamaica. I had ENERGY. I looked HEALTHY. I swam like a fish in the ocean and felt so wonderful! Of course there were moments when I had to stop and take a rest, feeling normal, post-surgery tiredness and effects. But nothing like the exhaustion I've experienced in New York. 

Coming home I assumed that I was "better" and could maintain the same pace that I did in Jamaica. But I quickly realized that was not the case after nearly fainting in Whole Foods from carrying too many groceries. Of course, everyone knows that vacation, especially in a relaxed, tropical place, is good for you. But now I have seen firsthand just how imperative and vital the sun is for our overall health, especially in a situation like mine. Time to start planning some winter getaways to Florida, I think :)

Oh, and have I mentioned how beautiful the wedding was? And how overjoyed/filled-to-the-brim I am? Sigh...there needs to be a whole section devoted to just that alone. It was amazing. And I feel such deep happiness for my beautiful sista/friend and the wonderful, perfect-for-her man that she married. The wedding was beachy and heartfelt and so them. Perfect. And now some pictures! Of love, sunshine and healing... 

New York Views.

 upper west side

Have I mentioned that my oldest and dearest friend in the world now lives in New York with her husband? No? Probably because it pains my heart a little that they moved in right as we were moving out. And that they now, in fact, live just a short distance from where we used to live. AND that it would be pretty dang fantastic and dreamy to be neighbors again like we were when we were kids and lived two houses apart and did everything (everything) together. Sigh. We stayed in their super cute Upper West Side apartment during this visit and had so much fun. Not to mention the views. It was pretty great to wake up to this each morning:

 (it snowed!)

xo

Thanksgiving Eve.

Faneuil Hall Market Place

Another shot of the marketplace where I'll be selling my work. Yes, I'm still excited :)

And now here we are on the eve of Thanksgiving. The fire is going and the tv is on and we are in full vaca-mode. Tomorrow, it's just the two of us up here in Cambridge -- our first Thanksgiving on our own! And the first Thanksgiving that I will attempt to cook a feast (a mini-feast, really, with a pre-cooked half turkey and a bunch of sides). But still! An important attempt none the less :) The rest of the weekend includes the wedding of a dear friend (hooray!) and catching up with friends. A perfect way to spend a holiday weekend. 

I may get on here again, but maybe not. If not, have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Back!

the west coast of Scotland

Hello my friends! A quick note to say that I am back in Boston after a lovely jaunt over to lovely Scotland to spend some quality time with a dear friend & her little family (including her new cutiepie bundle of joy, Eilah). It was a wonderful week of getting to know her daughter and having lots of much needed friend-time w/ Erin. There is more to say and pictures to share but at the moment this jetlag is kicking. my. butt. And so it will have to wait unti tomorrow...

'Night world.

Summer to Fall (& the things in between, like: Friends & Weddings!)

chilly, wet walk to Harvard Square
Confusing temperatures happening around these (east coast) parts. It was hot, hot, hot & summer-like this weekend (which we spent in the rolling hills of Virginia for a dear friend's wedding ~ it was beautiful & fun & I got to sing them a song), but today was overcast and crisp and totally, wonderfully Fall-like. As much as I love sunshiney, summery wedding-weather, sometimes a gray, wet day is just what I need.

(And look! The leaves are even beginning to change!)

Goodbye, vacation...

Lady Liberty (as seen from the Staten Island Ferry)
Here we are, sharing our last moments at the condo in Stone Harbor before driving back up to Boston early tomorrow (with my mom in tow ~ she's anxious to see our new digs and spend a couple days exploring Beantown!). Not quite ready to say goodbye to vacation just yet (it's never easy), but feeling refreshed and ready to dive back into life up there -- it's been a rejuvenating time of reconnecting with all my people in my city and on the beach. Perfect.

My days are all wonky but I just realized it's Friday, sooo...hope you have a great weekend and see you back here on Monday!

Magical Steakhouse Castle (read on).

...a magical castle in the middle of Boston...
This was taken during our walk around Boston last Saturday evening. Around a corner and then...a castle! Happy surprise. Also surprised to see that it is in fact a Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse.

After doing a little digging on the web, I found this delightful & informative post (from a beautiful Boston food blog that I've just gotten sucked into for the last half-hour) all about this Steakhouse Castle (including a little history lesson). Too bad I didn't know about her blog and the $50 giveaway sooner!

Aren't her pictures beautiful? That upstairs dining room would be perfect for an elegant wedding reception, don't you think? And even though I just ate dinner (our third 10:00 p.m. dinner this week = bad!), I find my mouth watering just looking at these amazing food shots!!

We might need to come up with an excuse (anniversary! birthdays!) to take ourselves out for a nice steak dinner at the Steakhouse Castle (as I am now calling it) STAT.

In other fun news, tomorrow is Friday! And Cynthia is coming to visit! (yippeeeeee). A familiar face! A piece of New York! Can't wait.

A good night.

High Line Park
Got some things checked off the list today. Saw some good friends, went to the Biergarten underneath High Line Park (something we've been wanting to try for awhile), took a nice stroll up on High Line (one of my favorite spots in the city) and ended the evening at a yummy Peruvian restaurant on W. 43rd. A perfect New York kind of night.

Beautiful Night.

cafe on Amsterdam
It was a beautiful evening full adventure and laughs on the Upper West Side tonight. A friend was in town on her way from France to Cali, so we took her to a cute outdoor cafe where many stories were told, some good wine was consumed, and lots of laughter was shared. A perfect New York kind of night (complete with a full-on street brawl right across from our little table that had cops and ambulances lining Amsterdam Avenue like something out of a movie. Exciting!)(Not that I support street fighting. Or any kind of fighting for that matter. I do not. For the record.)

Police activity on Amsterdam Ave.
(I was not the only one snapping pictures!)

Weekend in Virginny.

chelsea, NYC
Well, we're back in New York -- back in the middle of it all. Which is pretty nice in a whole lotta ways, but we're also missing the rolling green hills of Virginia that we experienced this weekend, too. The weather on Friday was a dream -- perfect for our friends' beautiful outdoor wedding -- and the drive through the countryside to get to Charlottesville (where the wedding took place) was just so gorgeous and reminded us that we do indeed (still) heart Virginia. The wedding on Friday was lovely, followed by a lazy Saturday at a Virginia winery with a group of friends and then a perfect (albeit chilly) Mother's Day on Sunday at a little french cafe in Leesburg with both of our sweet mamas. A really lovely & perfect weekend all around.

*King Family Vineyards, Charlottesville, Va.

The San Remo

The San Remo
I know we've seen this building before (well, here anyway) but I just really like it :) One of my faves. And home to Bono and Demi Moore (he's in the north tower, she's in the south). Do you think they're friends?

We are heading to Virginia tonight for a weekend of celebrations (specifically, a wedding and mother's day). But I will set this sucker to auto-post a special NYC picture tomorrow on my behalf while I'm out frolicking in the southern sun with family and friends :) Yay technology!

Fresh Air.

The San Remo, Upper West Side
It wasn't the greatest day today, I will admit. In fact, it was downright tough.

Did you know that today was Administrative Professionals Day? I know, it's easy to forget. And you wouldn't really know it from looking at my office. Except if you saw most of the admin staff being taken out to a lovely lunch at a restaurant across the street. Which looked nice. And fun. I wouldn't know -- I covered the front desk while they were all gone. Yep. That's not really my job and my 2 bosses therefore had to okay it (that is, my time & services being taken away from them for a 2 hour period), but I suppose it never occurred to them to ask *why* I was covering the front desk. Or *why* the other admin assistants were being taken out for lunch. What I'm (discreetly) trying to say here is that they TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT ME.....for the 4th YEAR IN A ROW!!! Sheesh. (I'm not bitter though).

Needless to say, I left work feeling a little frustrated and sad.

But then I got to my fellowship group. Have I told you about these fab ladies? Every Wednesday night I head up to the Upper West Side near Riverside Park to a warm, inviting apartment where a group of amazing women are gathered to share community, food, prayers and some (sometimes hard but always life-giving) biblical truth. Tonight it was like walking into a breath of fresh air. Clear, fresh air that I so desperately needed after the old, stinky woe-is-me air I'd been choking on all day.

Not only are they each so comforting and lovely in their own unique ways and personalities, but the studies seem to always be so applicable and just what I need. Like tonight. So much encouragement. So many a-HA! moments. So many reminders of how BIG and DEEP and REAL God's love is and where true joy and meaning comes from (which I know all sounds so trite and cliché. but tonight was one of those rare moments when those words cease being JUST WORDS and suddenly take on this very vivid and rich meaning, like with (mental) pictures and everything, and you just GET it. and it's this amazing feeling that sinks into your heart and warms you up and makes you feel okay in your own skin and life. you know what i mean?!?). Sigh. Anyway, I left with some little nuggets of goodness tucked away in my heart, which I plan to climb into bed with and ponder/journal about once I am finished here.

It is always good for my soul (and mood) to be reminded that there is so much more beyond ME and the little aggravating hurts and annoyances in my life. Fresh Air. It does a body good. Can I get an a-men?!

A Night in the Village.

John's Pizzeria on Bleecker
It was a chilly New York day, but a lovely New York night warmed by the company of my husband and a good friend. First there was live music at the Red Lion, then some yummy cheesy goodness at New York's famed John's Pizzeria in the Village. Mmmm. There's a reason it's so famous.

Sunset in Brooklyn.

Sunset Park, Brooklyn
This is a picture of a sunset in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Pretty fun, huh? It was a delightful Friday evening of exploring a new New York 'hood & eating yummy authentic mexican food with friends (old & new).

{have a great weekend!}

Monday (is here again).

Central Park
Happy Monday, folks. Here's a pretty shot from our stroll through Central Park on Saturday. The weather has been GORGEOUS here lately (and is supposed to continue all week long! YAY!) and we got plenty of sunshine-filled walks in over the weekend.

It was a bit of a stressful & busy day at work, but tonight a couple of friends came over for some much needed girl-time, complete with red wine, take-out & more 'Bachelor' ridiculousness (Molly & Jason's Wedding ~ which included, of course, old clips of all the past drama as well as former bachelor & bachelorette 'where-are-they-now' footage). I know. I KNOW! It's ridiculous & I am ashamed to admit even watching it. But don't worry, there was plenty of mocking commentary and trash talking throughout, which is an absolute must when watching such a cheesy spectacle.

So yeah, a good start to the week, I gotta say :)

{PS - be on the lookout for more Etsy listings this week!}

The day (not much to say).

Bryant Park fountain
a long, long day. very, very tired. that's about it. (ooh, highlight of the day though: getting pictures of erin's baby girl who was born march 1st. so. cute. can't stop looking at her!).

Ooh, and one more thing: don't forget to stop by Caffe Vivaldi tomorrow night at 9:30 for some good, live music (by me! and aimee!).

An especially lovely Tuesday.

Bryant Park/NYC Public Library
it is late & i am too tired to formulate coherent sentences. but i will just say that it was an especially lovely tuesday. okay, well maybe i'm not too tired to make a little list of the loveliness :) here we go:

~more sunshine this morning (hooray!).
~a good, long chat on the phone with a good, good friend.
~the very happy news that another dear friend had a healthy baby girl (ok, so that was yesterday, but i forgot to mention it on here. it still made me feel happy today, so therefore it gets to be on the list of loveliness).
~a lovely stroll through bryant park after work tonight.
~a birthday dinner for a good friend at a charming little italian restaurant.
~lots of catching up with fun friends from the off-broadway show at aforementioned birthday dinner.

see? a very lovely day.

the 4th: mini-recap

I had big plans for this post last week. It was the Monday after 4th of July, and I'd just had an amazing and relaxing weekend with Dan and good friends. Pictures were taken and memories were made (ah, memories...) and I fully intended to share all of that on here.

But then Monday turned into Tuesday and then Wednesday and so on...and with our race against the clock to get our wedding invitations out STAT (which we are still working on this week) I wasn't able to do the kind of weekend recapping/blogging that I wanted to do.

Now that holiday weekend feels sooo long ago and I really don't have the same motivation to recap anymore. Plus I seem to only be able to blog in 15 minute increments these days since I feel like there are always pressing wedding matters staring me down from to-do lists on my desk. So I am keeping this short....with the hope that I will have another 15 minute increment to work on a mini weekend recap from this past weekend (which involved sleeping on the streets of NYC...intrigued? :)

But before I go, here is a sweet little pic that gives you an idea of just how dreamy that 4th of July was:



That's us hosting a little dinner party on Dan's rooftop with friends. The weather? Perfect. The setting? Magic. The company? Lovely! And we were even able to see a smidgen of fireworks through that tiny crack between the buildings. Good, good times.

'Firefly Lane,' Friendship, etc.

I interrupt my crazy, exhausting, blurry-whirl of a life (thanks to endless rehearsals -- another post for another day) to bring you this very important message about books (mmm, books). Well, A book, that is. This book:



There is not much to say...just read it :) (Okay, if you're a dude, you *may* not like it, so ladies, this post's for you). This book has honestly been my sanity-saver lately -- my "happy place" in the midst of chaos. I find myself constantly reaching for it, hungry for more pages, as I dash about the city from one thing to the next (which usually means reading standing up...on a moving train...with 25 of my fellow New Yorkers pressed up against me).

It's nothing super-fancy (literarialy speaking), just a simple and beautiful story about two friends who share the ups and downs of life for more than thirty years. It starts out in the summer of '74 and goes on from there. It made me miss my friends, especially those friends I've had for 25+ years (hi, Nancy :) and reminded me of the days of BFF necklaces, roller skating and games of freeze tag on warm summer nights. It also made me realize how incredibly lucky I've been when it comes to friendships. God has blessed me with so many amazing women and friendships over the years. I saw all of you in the pages of this book.

So, yeah -- go pick up Firefly Lane, curl up in your favorite chair, then call an old friend. That's all.

{Oh yeah, and also: FOUR MONTHS, PEOPLE! FOUR months 'til the BIG DAY! AHHHH! Thank God I will have my girls surrounding me on the most important day of my life :) Just like we promised each other in 7th grade, Nancy...remember? :)}

last weekend...

It was a mixed bag of emotions here in the Big Apple this past weekend: adventures and fun with the beau, busyness and exhaustion from all the running around, and a difficult goodbye with a dear friend who is no longer "officially" a New Yorker.

We started out the weekend with a birthday/farewell party for Anna at the 79th Street Boat Basin (a very cool place to host a party, FYI). The Boat Basin is on the Upper West Side, right on the water, with beautiful views and beautiful boats (the beau and I like to play a fun game called, "Which Boat Should We Buy?"). It was a great time of honoring the birthday girl on her last weekend in New York and spending time with good friends.



Saturday we woke up (late) to the most lovely, mild weather you can imagine, which is SO not the norm for August in New York. The beau and I enjoyed a leisurely UES brunch before hitting the pavement for a long and full day of fun in the sun. South Street Seaport was first on our list, which is a bit touristy but fun to check out. We headed to the half-price ticket booth and bought theater tickets for a Sunday show, then wandered about the seaport, taking pictures and enjoying the views.



Next we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge, which I have never walked across in the summertime on the Most Perfect Day Ever (meaning I have never had to share the Bridge with quite so many people before). It was almost too crowded to enjoy (and there is always that ONE PERSON who decides it's a good idea to stop right in the middle of the walkway to take a picture, causing a HUGE traffic jam behind them. COME ON, people!). But the bridge is such a stunning piece of architecture and the views are so spectacular, it is totally worth it -- even with the crowds.



We spent the afternoon in DUMBO walking around Brooklyn Bridge Park and grabbing a late lunch, then headed up to Brooklyn Heights where we wandered down tree-lined streets and daydreamed about living in one of those beautiful, old brownstones. The evening was capped off with a stroll along the Promenade and a breathtaking sunset over Manhattan.



Sunday we were up at the crack of dawn, but for a good (and sad) cause....it was time to help our friend move out of her Harlem apartment. Anna is off to share her beautiful heart and friendship with the good people of SC -- lucky ducks. I'm excited for her and this new journey, but will miss her (and all of our New York adventures) terribly.


{anna & i: on an adventure in 2006}

After the moving and sad good-byes, the beau and I headed home to get ourselves cleaned up and ready for the Broadway show we had purchased tickets for the day before. We caught a matinee of Legally Blonde (which was highly entertaining!) before taking the beau to Penn station where his D.C. bound train awaited him -- always my LEAST favorite part of the weekend. :(

Like I said, a mixed bag...it left me tired and happy and full to the brim of love for all the wonderful people in my life and this great city that I call Home. For more weekend photos, feel free to peruse my flickr page.