Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, growing up it was full of Vettel-family traditions - a big breakfast, mom cooking all day (lol, poor mom, we appreciate her!) while Jenni and I started Christmas decorations, and a big Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner we would watch The Santa Clause, one of our family's favorite Christmas movies (it's the sarcasm). However the last 7-8 years, my family hasn't spent Thanksgiving together. It started with my sister on a band trip my junior year of college (her junior year of high school). The next year, my dad was in Hawaii for work. The year after that, I was in Italy. The year after that, my mom and I went to NYC with Jenni (dad had to work in Florida). In 2009 I went home, but my dad was in NY for work and celebrated with Jenni (I celebrated with my mom, grandmother, and my mom's best friend Gamin). Last year, Nate and I celebrated in Brooklyn and Jenni came for dessert. This year Jenni was home with mom and dad - but Nate and I stayed in New York. So we've created our own traditions - some great ones at that.

After Nate and I got home from the parade we made a "Jenni recipe" - cranberry brie bites (crescent dough in mini muffin pans stuffed with brie and cranberry jelly. Yes, they are amazing. See the picture above!). We also enjoyed seasonal lattes - I had pumpkin spice and Nate had peppermint mocha - thanks to his mom for the sweet Starbucks gift cards! We started cooking up a storm after that. Last year we had TOO many leftovers, so this year we stuck to one turkey, two casseroles, and baked sweet potatoes and pumpkin bread. The casseroles took the most work - one is another "Jenni recipe" - baked macaroni casserole which is out-of-this-world good (ingredients: pasta, cheese, butter, cream, bread crumbs. It's practically fat-free... NOT!).



Nate and I were BOTH helpful in the kitchen (yes me too, to all you who might be skeptical). I'm actually less helpful day-to-day, but for big cooking events, like parties and holidays, I happen to be a lot more useful! Not sure why this is... lol.





We had an amazing dinner, and it just reminds me to be thankful for the abundance of food on the table, how it's not something I have to worry or stress about having - just about preparing it right. It's crazy, but 1 in 7 billion people went to bed hungry when I went to bed stuffed with turkey, green beans, and macaroni. And there's nothing wrong with enjoying the holidays... it just reminds me to be thankful and not to stress the details - the food was amazing, but more than that, it is such a blessing not to have to worry about where my next meal will come from.



I'm also thankful for my job, which reminds me every day to be thankful for the things that I have. I'm so lucky - at my age 5 out of my 6 grandparents are still alive, my parents are in excellent health, I have a great relationship with my little sister, I have the best friends anyone could ask for, and I have the sweetest love, my boyfriend Nate who I share all these adventures with - and we get to travel around the world, which is an amazing opportunity. I'm really lucky in life and lucky in love, I feel thankful today and try to remind myself to feel thankful EVERY day - that's what Thanksgiving should really remind us to do.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

One of the many perks of living on the Upper West Side is that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade route is right in our neighborhood! Thanksgiving morning we got up at 6am and walked just two blocks to Central Park West to watch the parade. We had good spots too! My first time watching the parade was in 2008 and I went with my mom and sister Jenni. Here's a then & now picture spread:

Mom, Jenni & Me - November 2008

Me & Nate - November 2011

The parade always starts with the Turkey float, which is animatronic (spell check that). I like it because the parade starts with the Turkey, and ends with Santa:



Every year there are amazing floats and balloons, but the balloons are the most impressive things to see in person - they are larger than life and as tall as the buildings lining Central Park! My personal favorites are Snoopy and Kermit the frog:





And of course, the parade ends with Santa. He was really jovial, a great end to the parade and a fantastic morning!

Lovely Fall

It has been a lovely fall in New York City! We've spent a lot of time in Central Park photographing the trees :). That's one of the things I love about living up north - getting to see all the seasons! Of course, in NYC that means 3 months of seemingly endless winter misery, from January to March. That, I could live without. By March I'd just assume it be spring with flowers and sunshine - but last year it snowed on April 1st (not an April Fools joke, though it seemed like one!). That time of year, I really miss Florida. But one of the best things is fall, where all the leaves change. I love the colors - the yellow, orange and red. You don't get leaves like that in Florida - they tend to just turn brown. It's a tradeoff, with fall and spring as the upside to winter (in my opinions!) Anyway, we have some really lovely pictures of the leaves below:







We were also excited to celebrate the engagement of our good friends Josh and Melissa! They both went to college with Nate - Josh was Nate's college roommate, and Melissa is also from Gainesville like us! It was awesome to celebrate with them (at a yummy Mexican restaurant!).

Josh, Melissa, Me, & Nate at Dos Caminos

Beach Weekend

Beginning of November Nate and I were lucky to be able to join his family in Saint Augustine for a relaxing beach weekend. It was perfect as we were both recovering from being sick and just wanted to spend quality time with family. His parents came up from Gainesville and his sister, her husband, and baby Tanner came from Colorado. I brough him an Elmo hat - which I think he likes (even if I'm being somewhat pushy about it, haha!). We got to see them this summer in Colorado, but even in the short amount of time since then Tanner had changed so much! Talking more, already taller and so much more mobile than when we saw him in May.

We got cool but nice weather our first day, and spent a lot of time walking the beach. It was so nice just to be out under clear skies and wide open spaces - nothing like New York! Plus we both spent a lot of time at St Augustine Beach/Crescent Beach growing up, so it is a place filled with lots of happy memories :)

Nate & I at St. Augustine Beach

Nate, Me, Angie, & Ryan at St. Augustine Beach

We were also lucky that my family was able to join us, and my parents and sister Jenni were able to meet Angie, Ryan and Tanner. Jenni and Tanner in particular hit it off. You can see her reading to him and they both get excited at the same part of the book:



It was great to have our families together! And it was a super relaxing and fun weekend. Hope we get to do it again soon!

Both families: Quenta, Larry, Jenni, Allan, Eadie, Me, Angie, & Nate

Breakfast Club Reunion: The Return to Tally!

At the end of October I brought Nate to Tallahassee for a true FSU football weekend! We are both from Gainesville but he went to school at UCF, so he's never been an FSU fan... but all that changed this weekend! I think it helped that FSU was playing NC State, a UCF rival, but I'll take what I can get! He even wore garnet :). I was also reunited with my best friend Courtney, who like me grew up in Gainesville but went to FSU, and the rest of the Breakfast Club - our group of friends from Lady Spirithunters. Lady Spirithunters was the first club I joined at FSU and it changed my college experience. Without it I wouldn't have met these amazing women, and it helped me truly feel at home at FSU. I still remember seeing the FSView with my name as a new Spirithunter... and the way I felt a year later when I saw my best friend's name in the paper (I may or may not have delivered a paper to her that morning at 6am... haha!)

Our first night in Tally we returned to an FSU favorite - MASA Japanese restaurant. Great sushi! After that we headed to Finnegan's Irish Pub - I went there first when I was in town for Mallory's wedding. It has a really cool vibe. And I got to see Anna, one of my friends from when I was an intern in Rome! She is from Tallahassee and lives here now! It was so great to see her.



The next morning we were up EARLY (noon kickoff, thus an early tailgate). But we made the best of it! We were reunited with Laura, Kelly and Natalie for our early morning tailgate. We had Sam Adams Octoberfest, seven layer dip, free sandwiches thanks to Jimmy Johns, Publix subs, and more chocolate chip cookies than we could count! We had GREAT seats at the game thanks to Natalie, and it was a clear and beautiful gameday. It was the perfect day!

The Breakfast Club Girls: Melissa, Courtney, Me, Natalie, Laura, & Kelly

Me & Nate in Doak Cambell Stadium

After the game we walked campus for an hour, everywhere from Courtney's ADK house to the PiPhi house, and the College of Ed and the College of Social Science. And of course, we had to take a picture at Westcott. We even returned to Bullwinkles! It was an amazing weekend!

Me & Nate at Westcott

Catching Up on October

Ahhhhh.

Okay. I admit it.

I've been a bad blogger as of late.

I have this terrible habit of being really good about blogging, falling behind, and then some two months later I update on the past couple months. It drags on because (of course) I'm a perfectionist about my posts and I never want to skip anything. So without further delay, let's catch up on October!

It was a nice and relaxing first half of the month. We spent a disproportionate amount of time on the weekends walking Central Park. Honestly I can't get enough. And we're starting to really learn the park - remember where favorite spots are, where trails lead to. I've also gone running a bit. We really enjoy it. We miss Prospect Park at times, but it's so nice to be the same distance in Manhattan from a large park. You can forget you're in the city!



We also discovered Pier One, which is a new favorite for the warm weather months.You have to take a staircase from Riverside Drive down by the Hudson River, and then the Pier goes out into the river a ways and you get a beautiful view of the Upper West Side.



We also had a great visit from my parents halfway through the month. My parents are New Yorkers at heart, and fly up to visit as much as they can. This visit I was able to give my parents a tour of the United Nations headquarters, including the General Assembly Hall and the Security Council Chambers. I have a great picture of my dad and I in the Security Council:



They also treated us to a new restaurant experience - Nobu - an incredible Japanese restaurant in Tribeca. It's been on my want-to-go-to list for at least 10 years, and it didn't disappoint. Lobster in spicy sauce, tuna with jalapeno, and so many more amazing dishes. We also tried an Italian Salumeria in our neighborhood that had great salami and cheeses and wines. And we returned to Dizzy's Jazz Club in Columbus Circle for live jazz, it's my parents' new favorite (and I get credit, thanks to a friend who introduced me to the place!). All in all it was a GREAT weekend!



More posts to come! Stay tuned!

Weddings Vs. Marriage

So, like everyone else in the US that pays attention to/is amused by pop culture, I had a minor shock Monday when it was announced that Kim Kardashian was filing for divorce after 72 days of marriage. Now, to say I am deeply invested in her decision is not accurate. But it prompted me to think about some very serious issues surrounding weddings and marriage in our culture.

As a 26 year old woman in a serious, committed relationship bordering on 2 years, conversation inevitably turns to marriage. And I'm as guilty as anyone for bringing it up - it's definitely exciting to talk about when you feel like you've met the right person. However, this announcement yesterday got me thinking about what marriage means, especially marriage versus a wedding. A commitment versus a party.

A Wedding is Just a Party.

Now my close friends will laugh, knowing I've already thought through many details of the type of party - WEDDING - that I want to have. Guilty as charged! I know the details will be fun to plan.

But I started thinking about Kim Kardashian's story. Last fall, in 2010, her face was on the cover of People magazine with the caption "I thought I'd be married by now." I remembered thinking, how sad. Marriage is not a finish line... it's a benchmark, one of many in life. And it's not the only one that defines you. Then she started her whirlwind romance and wound up engaged 6 months later. I remember reading the article on her engagement... and thinking, this is all about the ring - this giant, over-the-top 20 carat diamond ring. It was all about her - her reaction, her surprise and shock, and her family celebrating her. The guy was just background filler - could have been anyone, really, as you were reading the article. Finally, her wedding magazine cover featured solely her - not her new husband - on the cover. It was all about the day, the dress, the jewels, the money spent on the party. Her bridesmaids got more coverage than the groom.

What's missing? Why am I so interested? Why do I even care to flip casually through these magazines, I wondered? And I yesterday when she announced her divorce, I was as guilty as anyone in reading articles on the demise, comment boards filled with "who cares?" and "no surprise!" messages.

Yet the same people watched her wedding special. Purchased the magazines featuring her on the cover. I was one of those people after all, I liked reading about the details and seeing the pictures too. So what's the problem? The thing is, society rewards this kind of behavior. It rewards the glamour and materialistic aspects of marriage. It focuses on the party, the amount of money spent, the size of the ring. And when things turn to divorce, no one acts surprised. Why buy into it in the first place? And why do we allow ourselves to feel like we should have the biggest of everything, as if that will make or break the union? To spend a fortune on a ring that you can't take with you. I'll admit there have been times I've worried about everything looking perfect. But I realized, just because something sounds perfect doesn't mean it is perfect. I already know a dozen people my age who are divorced.

I had a lightbulb moment (aha!) when I came to the realization that everyone should ask themselves before getting married: If getting married means no wedding, would I do it? No celebration, no white dress, no toasts, no flowers, no photographer. If it means signing a piece of paper down at City Hall and then going off and building a life together without any fanfare, just hard work. When you can say yes, I think you've found the right person.

My grandparents were married in a quiet ceremony, no diamonds, no glamour. And they were happily married for the rest of their lives, over 50 years, until my grandfather passed away. Those vows meant something to them, and I'm not saying they don't to everyone. But it's really, really tough. Good times and bad means after the photos are framed and the honeymoon ends and you're stuck with a mortgage and kids and not enough sleep and more than enough work to do, that you can look at each other and smile and still be best friends, still have that sparkle when you think about how you built your life together. That's what I saw in my grandparents. And that's what I want. And from this point forward, I resolve when the time comes, to keep perspective.

I'm not the expert - I'm not even married after all. But I see it everywhere, in all the bridal magazines and in coverage of pop culture events, that the obsession with weddings over marriage is the problem. And it's increasingly evident with high profile engagements, weddings, and divorces such as Kim Kardashian's. I'm not saying Kim Kardashian is blameless, nor am I saying she's a bad person, after all we all make our own choices and only we have to live with them. I'm also not saying that when the time comes, I won't be excited to plan all the details of my wedding and have one hell of a party. There's nothing wrong with envisioning a dream wedding and being excited to plan it. But the union is more important than the celebration.

A wedding is just a party.