2010: Year in Review

Wow - is tomorrow already New Year's Eve? It got me thinking about 2010, what a year. It was an amazing year with LOTS of changes. Rather than write a long elaborate blog about it I thought it would be fun to recap in outline format, chronologically, a summary of 2010:

-Nate & I started dating (February)
-I spent 2 weeks in India: saw the Taj Mahal, rode a camel & elephant (March)
-My best friend & I spent a week in Italy (April)
-I graduated from Duke with my Master's in Public Policy (May)
-Nate & I visited San Francisco & Napa Valley (May)
-We moved to New York City (June)
-I got a job at the UN World Food Programme (June)
-Nate got a job in the Math Department at Columbia (July)
-Chrissy came to visit (August)
-We spent our birthdays in Boston (September)
-Our friends got married: Cara & Dan, John & Maresa, and Jessica & Austin (October-November)
-We celebrated our first Thanksgiving (November)
-My family came to NYC for our first Christmas (December)

Looking forward to 2011 and all the new things it will bring! Among them may be a move to Manhattan from Brooklyn, more friends getting married, trips to Colorado and Europe, and continuing our adventures in NYC. My sister will graduate from Columbia and Nate may start grad school. It should be quite a year!

Stay tuned... ;)

Nor'Easter

As anyone who's watched the news and weather channel knows, the northeast was hit with a HUGE snowstorm on Sunday! It was my first blizzard - I'd seen some snow in North Carolina, but that could not prepare me for what was in store here! Sunday afternoon it started snowing as Nate and I were heading to Rockefeller Center to (finally) see the Christmas tree. After that we walked to Times Square to catch a Broadway show with my family. When we came out, it was full-on blizzard! Gusts of wind 30-40 mph, snow EVERYWHERE - and we had my grandmother Mama Doris in a wheelchair (she can walk but in huge crowds don't want to risk someone pushing her down) so we had to make it back to the hotel in the snow! We have an amazing picture of all of us thanks to a very kind tourist:



Monday I got the good news everyone hopes for when a blizzard comes through - snow day from work! Nate and I got to go to Prospect Park and play in the snow. The park looked magical - absolutely amazing:



It was a total blast - and probably insanely obvious to everyone that we were Floridians who had never seen a blizzard before! We threw snowballs and we made snow angels. Nate taught me how to do it, and my angel actually turned out the best:



Lots of kids sledding too - this is definitely something I want to do next year!



All in all, we enjoyed the blizzard! Maybe after a few of them we'll be over it, but for now we love it!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! It's been an amazing holiday season in New York City. Nate and I celebrated Thanksgiving at our apartment in Brooklyn with Jenni last month. We cooked EVERYTHING on our own - using our families' recipes. My sister came down from Columbia so it was really wonderful to all be together on Thanksgiving. We even did our own turkey (plus green beans, mac n cheese casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, biscuits, gravy, yum! That's a little belated post, but it kicked off the holiday season!

Christmas season in New York City is unlike anywhere else. While I miss the memories of Florida, it definitely felt more Christmas-y up here with the cold! We got our own tree - my first REAL tree (my sister is allergic so we had fake trees growing up). It made the whole apartment smell like Christmas! Nate's family is from Iowa/Wisconsin and my mom's family is from Kentucky, so it was funny to see how a lot of our decorations matched - there is a tradition of cross stitching and so we had ornaments and pillows and wall hangings that complement each other! :)



Nate and I both had holiday parties - his was up at his office at Columbia, mine was at a restaurant a few blocks away from the WFP office. I am of the firm belief that holiday parties are an essential component of the holiday season ;) Jenni crashed his party too, which was fun. After Nate's we walked around Columbia's campus, they had beautiful white lights up on the trees along the walkways. Magical :)



We had a fun Christmas surprise this year - our good friend Katie had a group of us over a couple weeks back - and to our surprise, Nate's best friend Dylan was in town! We had a fun night of catch-phrase, tacos, and margaritas. Nate was super excited that Dylan came to visit. We're lucky to have great friends up here!

We were really blessed that my parents and grandmother were able to come for Christmas this year. This was a special Christmas for several reasons - it was my first Christmas ever not in Gainesville, Nate's first Christmas away from his family, our first Christmas together, and my family's first Christmas in New York City! Our first activity was to go to a Christmas concert - Burning River Brass Band at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was so much fun - a short, entertaining concert with lots of Christmas medleys and favorites including an arrangement of 3 songs from the Nutcracker. My family stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square: classic, over-the-top, touristy, we love it.



For Christmas Eve dinner we returned to a family favorite - db Bistro - which is near Times Square. It was Nate's first time there, we had a delicious 3-course prix fixe dinner, very special. The picture of my mom, sister and I above - we have one from 2003 that is exactly the same! We had fun replicating it seven and a half years later! Christmas Day we celebrated at Nate & my apartment in Brooklyn. Nate cooked breakfast for everyone, we opened presents - lots of thoughtful, beautiful presents, and lots of laughing and smiling! Then my mom and sister cooked dinner, Nate & I skyped with his sister and her husband in Colorado and his parents in Gainesville. Even when you can't be together, skype can help, the video is ten times better than just a phone call!



I feel so happy and incredibly blessed to spend this Christmas with my family and sweetheart in the most magical city! All our love :)

Jessica's Wedding

It’s hard to believe it has been a month already since Jessica and Austin’s wedding! What a weekend! First of all, getting home was not as easy as I’d planned! I booked a flight directly into Gainesville after work on Thursday. These flights are more expensive but save on time (in theory). Well my flight from New York to Charlotte was delayed 2 hours so I would have missed my connection to Gainesville. I was rerouted through Washington D.C., and then to Jacksonville, and then I still had to have my parents drive 2 hours to pick me up! It was a disaster! Instead of being home at 9:45, I was landing in Jacksonville after 11. So annoying!

I came into town for my oldest friend's wedding - we have known each other since we were two years old! Jessica and I both went to Brentwood, where we were in school together until 2nd grade when I transferred to Talbot. We met again at Gainesville High School although not becoming close friends until we were seniors. We stayed close throughout college and after, the rest is history! I knew Austin in high school and then after college I worked for the same company as him in 2008 - Charles Perry Construction, which does a lot of the corporate construction in Gainesville - UF, churches, hospitals, etc. I was really excited when they started dating in 2009, and was not all surprised when they were engaged a year later!

Celebrations started Friday! We started early, with meeting Jessica, Katie, and Jana at 9 to get our nails done – hot pink of course. I wore a little sundress and apparently didn’t look at the weather forecast because the night before a huge cold front had come through Gainesville (in my defense, it’s not typical for November!). Next we had our Bridesmaids’ Luncheon at the Gainesville Country Club, where I got to see Jessica’s cousins Kimber, Kelli, and Angie, who I’ve known since high school which is crazy! And Kimber’s girls, Kylie and Camryn. I couldn’t believe how big they were! They were teeny tiny when we were in high school! The luncheon was really fun:



After that though I needed some warmer clothes so we made a pit stop at the mall before the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner! The rehearsal was the most productive of any rehearsal I’ve been to – it was a more complicated ceremony with standing, sitting, and filing in and out a couple times, so it was a good thing we rehearsed! Jessica wore a stunning bright turquoise dress at the rehearsal and looked amazing, I want to steal this dress! Her faux bouquet was cute too, it’s one tradition I really love with all the bows from your wedding gifts making a ribbon bouquet that you practice with at the rehearsal.



We relaxed back at the house, the rehearsal dinner was casual and fun, great food, followed by an early bedtime! Jessica, Caroline and me slept all in a row in a king size bed for Jessica’s last night as a single lady!

The next morning we had hair and makeup done, mine was a little bit different than my own style which I was excited about – I gave free reign to the stylists! Jessica looked amazing, she wore her hair half up and half down in soft curls, so pretty! After that, we were ready to head back to the house to get ready. We did ALL the wedding party pictures before the ceremony, which was great. We did the girls and guys separately, Jess and Austin had their first moment together, then the whole group. We took a LOT of pictures (and tequila shots) as we started celebrating! So much laughing and dancing before the reception, that’s how you do it!



Jessica looked so amazing, I just couldn’t stand it! After all our pictures were done, we started watching the Florida game in the TV room, it was too funny that Jessica got completely into the game! Once it was time for the ceremony, we boarded the party bus (that’s right) to the church. I had not been in the church yet but it is gorgeous! It was actually Austin’s first construction job with Charles Perry Construction, and Jessica’s family goes there, so it was the perfect place for them.



The ceremony was beautiful, and since there was some sitting everyone could see Jessica’s HOT PINK satin shoes! Anyone who knows Jessica knows she is classic but with a splash, and the hot pink shoes could not have been more her! We had quite the hunt for them over the summer… luckily we found them for the day! After the ceremony we headed back on the party bus to the Weingart house for cocktail hour. There I was reunited with Nate and one of my closest friends, Janeen and her husband Ryan. They are also expecting a girl in MARCH! Expect more blog posts on that later! We took some great photos down at the koi pond in the backyard/gazebo, here are my two favorites:





The cocktail hour was at the pool and I was able to see my mom and tons of family friends before the reception. We had a fun entry into the tent – and it was a TENT in the backyard. There were 3 chandeliers, buffets, heaters, not your average tent! One of my dad’s friends was the DJ, so I made sure to put in good requests. Our wedding party dance song was Taio Cruz “Dynamite” – you can see below I taught one of the ringbearers to “put your hands up in the air” during the song! TOO CUTE!



There were 18 of us in the wedding party plus Jessica and Austin – we put the PARTY in wedding party! I’ve known most of the group since middle or high school, so it was really fun to be reunited and celebrate with everybody. It was really fun to see Janeen & Ryan too, it's also weird to think they have been married almost 3 years! Crazy!



Lastly, four of us from high school were reunited! It’s hard to believe 9 years ago we were seniors – the ’03 girls! Here we are now at Jessica’s wedding – time has FLOWN and I am so thankful to still be close to these amazing women – Janeen, Ashley, Jessica, and Me!



It was an amazing weekend – so much fun celebrating Jessica and Austin and I could not be happier for them! It was a blast to be there for their day.

Catching up on Fall

I’m really behind in my posts this fall! Too much has been happening! Well back in October my parents visited for a lovely long weekend. We had a blast – dinner at A Voce, which is in the Timer Center at Columbus Circle - really cute, great wine list! We also took my parents to Dizzy's Jazz Club, which I knew they would love. And we also went to Gotham comedy club for a live performance from Ralphie May, some shopping, and relaxing. Favorite picture from the weekend is my sister and I annoying my dad:



Nate and I were lucky to witness our first fall of leaves changing right around the corner at Prospect Park. Really beautiful! Fall weather up north certainly beats the weather in the south… but come winter I think I’ll want to trade back! Favorite fall photo below:



More to come soon!!!

John's Wedding in Orlando

Wedding season continued this week with wedding #2 – our friends John O’Connor & Maresa Bean! Their wedding was on a Friday so we decided to make a weekend of it. Nate, the “Best Man,” had to come down on Tuesday for the Bachelor Party and Rehearsal. I joined him later in the week so I could go to the events at night, while still working during the day. We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner – Smokey Bones BBQ – so Nate was excited! We were quickly reunited with old friends including Dylan and Brian. The next day the ceremony was absolutely beautiful!



The wedding was at Maresa’s church in Orlando, Florida and the reception was at the beautiful Eagle Creek Country Club – backdrop of a lake and trees, but still inside, it was gorgeous! The bridesmaids wore short, plum dresses and the boys wore suits with plum vests and ties. Very classy! After the ceremony we drove over to the reception, where we celebrated for the rest of the evening! The club even created a specialty “wedding cocktail” that was purple, to match the wedding colors! It was great being reunited with friends from high school and college – so much fun.



When the ceremony ended, we had a “bubbles” farewell for John & Maresa – and I was pleased with how well my picture of it turned out! After that, a group of us went to Miller’s Alehouse before parting ways to head home. Congrats again to our friends!



Saturday we drove to Gainesville to spend the day with our families. One of the nice things about wedding season is that we’ve gotten to see our families more than we otherwise would, since we live in New York! Nate’s parents made us dinner, and my parents made us dessert! We had a funny photo shoot at his parents house, including an authentic Wisconsin “cheese-head” hat and trying to get the unruly kittens to pose with us for a picture! This was the best we could do:

All in all it was a great wedding weekend! More posts to come soon: we have my parents visiting next weekend, Halloween, and then our final wedding weekend in Gainesvegas – my friend Jessica’s wedding! What can I say - life is good, so good! I love celebrating and spending time with family and friends!

When I'm 25

A few weeks ago, I turned 25. Unlike most of my friends who turned 25 this year, initially I didn’t find anything particularly monumental about it. Being able to rent a car, when I live in NYC, hardly seemed worthy of a major celebration. It’s turning 30 that’s had most of my attention… it’s the big benchmark on the horizon. But, the other day, I started thinking about being a kid, remembering all of the times we had to write essays on where we thought we’d be when we’re 25. “When I’m 25.” Wow. As a kid, this seemed so old. It seemed like at 25, I’d be a grown-up.

When I was little, I thought I’d be married, with kids. I thought I’d have a house and a dog – finally! My sister was allergic, so we couldn’t get one. I remembered thinking, that’s my top priority! Get a dog! Mom and Dad won’t be able to stop you! A fluffy loving golden retriever. I remembered thinking I’d be very responsible and very serious. I remembered thinking that I’d be someplace shiny and big, a friendly house and neighbors. I remembered wanting my childhood friends to live next door and for our kids to play together in the backyard, maybe we’d have a fort, something cooler than the simple swing-set my sister and I had to play on.

When I was in high school, I thought 25 sounded boring. All my attention was on college. In high school, I felt like I was at a crossroads, after a socially stigmatizing middle school experience filled with ridicule and isolation, I had become less the wallflower, as band drum major and student body vice president. Not popular, but not unpopular either. College was my chance for reinvention. 25 seemed like a benchmark beyond the finish line at the end of college, where I’d take a victory lap and everyone would applaud. 25 wasn’t as enamoring as my idealistic vision of my childhood years, and not as immanent as it would appear to be in college. 25 was just… 25. Who cared?

In college, 25 appeared as a finish line in a different way. My future focus in college was all about law school. If I started when I turned 22, I would graduate a few months before turning 25. At 25 I thought I’d be a lawyer, with a great offer in a firm in Washington DC, a working professional perhaps engaged to a classmate. I’d be working on international law, something I was extremely interested in during my undergraduate college years. I remember feeling like it’s not that far away. I remembered thinking a house and kids were the last thing on my mind. I remember vividly not wanting to return to Florida. So when an international issue tugged at my heartstrings and I abandoned the law school plan for an internship in Italy, the plan changed. It was the first time in my life that I didn’t know where I’d be at 25. It was also the first time I didn’t really care.

In grad school, 25 was just a few laps away. Running through a matrix of awkward social functions, jilted classmates stressed about policy memos and STATA outputs, 25 again became a dream. At 25, I started to think, I’ll be out of here! It became a benchmark for freedom from the tiresome world of graduate studies, where spring break isn’t a break, summer break is internship season, and even Christmas “you ought to be working on your master’s project.” Reading for fun became a guilty indulgence, one I finally gave up for a couple years. Everything swarmed around “the future” and “networking” and “job opportunities.” In the sinking economic climate, the year 25 seemed like salvation. By then, I thought, things will work out.

So where am I now? In the most basic descriptive sense, I’m exactly where I want to be. I’m a Partnerships Manager for the United Nations World Food Programme, working with people I respect and adore, on the issue of hunger, which is my passion. I’m living with the boy who in high school was my unattainable dream. I live near my sister and my parents visit often enough. Once the social outcast, I am deeply grateful for the exceptional friends I have in my life, some who have been there every step of the way since high school, some who I share the bond of college or sorority life with, and some who are co-grad-school survivors or travel companions.

In a more meaningful sense, I am incredibly happy. Somewhere in between childhood and high school and college and grad school I discovered things that I love and am passionate about. Reading, writing, taking photos for fun, traveling, Africa have become passions and pleasures. I’m studying French despite my anxiety in speaking new languages (I love to read them). I collect art from all over the world. I have broken away from stereotypes and expectations that going to college in southern Florida I felt trapped me. I still plan, everything, from wedding weekends and reunions to my carefully regimented after-work routine of the gym, errands, a snack, dinner, and select TV shows (Glee). I’m not married in the perfect house with the golden retriever, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that lifestyle, but I’m exactly where I want to be, and that’s important. I’m also not too serious, I’m somewhat responsible, but I’m more spontaneous than I ever thought I’d be. Adventures that used to scare me now thrill me. My life has a lot of love and meaning in it. That’s where I am, at 25.

Cara's Wedding in Chicago!

Last weekend we spent an amazing 2 days in Chicago celebrating the wedding of my first college friend at FSU – Cara! Cara and I met at orientation before we even started at FSU and I instantly liked her – she had pink toenails and she was in Honors program too! On move-in day in August 2003 she moved into the dorm room right across the hall from me – and we’ve been friends ever since! We went to our first FSU football game together (see the throwback picture!) We also joined Lady Spirithunters together in Winter 2004, and co-founded the now infamous group known affectionately as The Breakfast Club!

Nate and I flew to Chicago after work Friday and got in late, meeting up with Courtney & Jason at the airport. From there we cabbed to my Aunt & Uncle’s downtown apartment. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a gift basket complete with bread, cheese, and wine awaited us! The four of us settled in, drank and told stories till the wee hours of the night! Saturday we headed out to the aquarium, where we met up with fellow B-club member Kristy and her boyfriend Josh.

After that we got ready for the wedding. Cara was the most beautiful bride in a flowing strapless dress, and everyone teared up as she walked down the aisle. Almost the entire group was there to see her (we were just missing Melissa), and we couldn’t have been happier for her! The wedding went from 7-8, followed by a cocktail hour, reception with live band till midnight, and DJ till 2am! Now that’s what I call a party! We celebrated Cara & Dan for the rest of the night! It was great to be reunited with the girls again too, especially to honor Cara! We all managed to color coordinate too - Natalie & Kelly were bridesmaids, Kristy and Laura wore black, and Court and I matched in red! Gotta love these girls! I'm always thankful for this group because even though it's big and we live all over the US - from NY to Philly, from Chicago to Baltimore, from Chapel Hill to Atlanta - we still get to see each other frequently and it's like no time has passed :)



Sunday we had brunch with the group, and everyone parted ways – except for us! Courtney, Jason, Nate and I went sightseeing Sunday. We started at the Millennium Park, and you have to go to the bean! I forget its real name, but it’s a huge reflective surface where you can see the buildings and sky and of course yourself as you make silly faces and take tons of pictures! Sounds like it was made for me, right? I was impressed with the architecture in the city, everything was clean and shiny.

We continued sightseeing by walking up the riverfront and spending time at Navy Pier. I loved the indoor gardens, I tried to get someone to go on the Ferris Wheel with me (but it was too windy). We walked back up towards the apartment but headed up Michigan Avenue (all the shopping!) for some deep dish Chicago pizza before going. My Uncle, who’s the restaurant critic for the Chicago Tribune, recommended Gino’s and we were not disappointed! Sweet bread crust and delicious toppings was the perfect end to our AMAZING weekend in Chicago. I was sad to leave everyone – especially my best friend Courtney who lives far away in ATLANTA (and needs to visit!). But I wouldn’t trade the weekend for anything, we had the best time! A final picture at the bean, because it was too fun:

Boston Birthday Trip

Nate and I are fortunate that our birthdays are actually only 11 days apart – his is September 13th and mine is September 24th. So, to celebrate, we planned a trip to Boston the weekend in between our birthdays. Before the trip, however, Nate got a few presents – including tickets to Magic at New York Knicks in November! He’s a huge Magic fan, so he was very excited, as you can see!

My birthday was after our trip to Boston, but Nate surprised me with the tickets early – Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium! We are huge Yankees fans so that was a great gift! Can you tell we love sports? Anyway it was a great game even though the Yankees lost 10-8. But, they are headed to the playoffs and Boston isn’t, so I wasn’t too upset!

I’d only been to Boston once, last fall, so I was excited to return with Nate and do some sightseeing! We got lucky and the weather was absolutely AMAZING while we were there. Clear skies, cool and sunny. Our first stop was to the Long Wharf, where we saw the clock tower, which I think is just beautiful. From there we got on the “Old Town Trolley” which goes all around the city, stopping here and there. It’s the tourist thing to do!

We got off the trolley at the public gardens, and walked through there. We stopped at Legal Sea Foods for lunch, I had scallops, yummy! We then walked up Beacon Hill, which has the classic brick buildings, it’s a beautiful area. We stopped for a coffee and enjoyed the area for a while before heading back to the trolley and hopping on again.

We finished the loop around the wharf, where we took a cute picture as it got really windy! From there we walked up to the spot of the Boston Massacre, up state street, for a look at a few more historical sights. Then took the subway to meet Chrissy for the end of the FSU game-watching party – they won, go Noles! Also ran into a sorority sister, Catherine, and her husband Jared!

We headed back to the apartment and got all spiffed up for a nice dinner out at Sibling Rivalry – dueling chefs with competing menus, similar ingredients, you get to choose! We went with a bunch of Chrissy's friends, including her roommate Angela and boyfriend Bobby, and one of her friends from grad school Alyssa. It was really fun! We bar hopped after that, seeing a variety of the nightlife, before heading to bed for another full day of sightseeing!

Sunday morning we headed to the USS Constitution and had brunch on the water. It was beautiful and overlooked the Boston skyline! We also walked the freedom trail, seeing not only the USS Constitution, but the North Church and the Paul Revere House. We ended the day with 2 pints of Sam Adams (what else?) at the Bell in Hand, oldest pub in Boston! All in all it was the perfect birthday trip!