Giants Game!

Last Sunday we went to the Giants vs. Eagles game - my first NFL game (and another item off the bucket list!). Thanks to Christmas gifts from Nate's parents and sister, we had awesome Giants gear to wear - jerseys and beanies - and we were lucky that the weather was unseasonably warm! It was overcast but it never rained, we had fun tailgating at the Bud Light Beer Garden, and even though the Giants lost we had a blast with my sister Jenni and her boyfriend Amado! Jenni gets credit for coming up with the idea of doing this as their Christmas gift and Nate and I decided to join and I'm so glad we did! It was an awesome day we'll always remember. And, win or lose, we still love our New York sports teams!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Schweers! We haven't really dressed up for Halloween in a while - two years ago we went as Hunger Games (see that post HERE) but Hurricane Sandy had just hit, and there wasn't really anywhere to go out so we just hung out in our building lobby. This year, Nate and I decided to do more of a DIY costume and we went as the Peanuts gang! Nate was Charlie Brown, I was Lucy (hence my sign, The Doctor is IN!) and our baby girl Siena got to be Linus for a minute, with her light blue baby blanket.

Nate and I went downtown with my group of friends from the Book Club. We had a blast! Everyone's costumes were so original - we had everyone from Captain America to Peter Pan, a homemade Peacock costume, American Hustlers, a Boy and Girl Scout, Jackie and JFK, to Gilmore Girls Luke and Lorelei. Seriously everyone looked amazing and the night was so much fun! Here's a cute picture of all the girls - I wish we'd gotten one with the guys too, since so many of us came in couples costumes. Such a great night!

1989

Thanks to my good friend Harper, I was introduced this week to the new Taylor Swift album, 1989. I've always liked Taylor. I think she's kept it classy when so many girls her age are just selling sex. I like her songwriting and catchy country tunes. I admire that she's able to poke fun at herself and her list of famous exes. She's got a better perspective at her age than I did, that's for sure. But I was never a super-fan, never bought an album, just a few singles. Country music, admittedly, is something I listen to on occasion but not most of the time.

There was a pretty big deal about this being Taylor's first "pure pop album" - I've been seeing articles pop up on Entertainment Weekly and other sites. To me I kind of shrugged it off (hasn't she always been a bit pop?). But I have to say I really, really love this album. The writing is spot-on and transports me back to when I was her age or a bit younger. So many of the songs, especially Blank Space, I Wish You Would, and This Love resonate with how I remember a younger version of myself. And maybe that's appropriate since her album title is 1989, the year she was born, the music is a throwback to the pop of the late 80s and 90s, the beats are catchy, and it's just absolutely fantastic.

So, here I am, highly recommending the new Taylor Swift album (never thought I'd be saying that!). And for what it's worth, it's always good to open yourself up to new music. If you looked at my music on my iPhone it's pretty random. So here I am, officially on the Taylor Swift bandwagon. Go get it, go get all the songs stuck in your head, and tell me which ones are your favorites!

Disclaimer: I am in no way a music expert, but I just had to obsess a bit about this awesome album

My Orphan Black Obsession

Nate and I have started joking that I tend to have an annual obsession. 2011 was the year I discovered Harry Potter. 2012 was the year I obsessed and worked on Hunger Games (lived it 24/7). 2013 was the year of World War Z (seriously, read it, best book ever). 2014 has become... the year of Orphan Black!

So what is Orphan Black? I'll admit the year it came out I didn't pay it a second glance. The posters were kind of weird and looking at them didn't give me a sense of what the show was really about. But then in early 2014, I saw an Entertainment Weekly that likened it to the best cult-followings - Doctor Who, etc.

In a nutshell: Orphan Black is a drama with a sci-fi element. Its plot centers on Sarah Manning and how she becomes involved in an illegal cloning experiment. The unique part of Orphan Black is that it stars a female - actually females (which rarely, if ever happens in this genre) as the main characters and drivers of both story and action. I thought, well this is something Nate and I both might be able to enjoy. Bonus - the first season was free on Amazon Prime streaming.

Nate and I gave it a shot... and we became obsessed, not just with the storylines which were suspenseful, engaging, and intricate, but with the multifaceted performance of Tatiana Maslany as all the clones. By the end of season one she had appeared on screen as seven fully-developed clones each with her own unique mannerisms, speech, accent, hairstyle, walk, you name it. We kept having to remind ourselves - particularly as she plays off herself in scenes Parent-Trap style - that this is the SAME actress. She's just absolutely incredible, and her performance is so convincing it really takes the show to the next level.

Season two, we get to see her play two (!!!) new clones on screen. Sometimes she's hugging herself - or fighting herself (see above, Sarah versus Rachel). Seriously, there's nothing this actress can't do! Season two was equally good - now we can't wait for season three to return in 2015. If you've watched it you're hooked, if not - what are you waiting for?

Party on, clone club. Party on.

PS: Yes she's playing all four clones in that scene. CRAZY!

NYC Bucket List: Governors Island

We finally had our first free summer weekend in NYC where we weren't too exhausted to do something fun! Between guests in town, our wedding, our honeymoon, and two trips to the mid-Atlantic (Kentucky and North Carolina) we have hardly been home at all! Last weekend we were treated to a cloudy (but not rainy) day so Nate and I decided to conquer something that's been on our NYC bucket list for FIVE SUMMERS - Governors Island! We first heard about Governors Island after moving here - one of Nate's friends, Katie recommended it for bike riding. Nate was missing his bike that he'd left behind in Florida for our move up north so we decided we HAD to check it out! Weeks turned summer to fall, and before we knew it our chance to bike Governors Island had slipped away. We decided we'd definitely go the next summer... and the cycle repeated itself.

We set off on the 2/3 train downtown, transferred to the 1 train to South Ferry. The ride to Governors Island is cheap - only $2 round trip! The ferry passes the Statue of Liberty (not closely, but you can certainly see it!). It only takes about 5 minutes to get to the Island, 10 if you include the wait time to embark/disembark. We really enjoyed the ferry ride - and of course, we snapped a selfie to commemorate it :)

Once we got to the Island we decided to walk around first, before committing to renting bikes. We walked to Fort Jay, the corner Castle, and through the Food Court before settling on Little Eva's Beer Garden for lunch. They had a cute seating area (as opposed to some of the other options, which were food trucks) so we settled in to enjoy summer beers and sandwiches. After lunch, we rented our bikes and spent an hour biking the perimeter (or as much as we could - a large part of the island is roped off for renovations - by 2016 there will be two huge hills on Governors Island with unobstructed 360 degree views of Manhattan, Jersey, and Brooklyn). Biking was a blast and the views were still amazing -  here's Nate biking towards the skyline, and me with the Statue of Liberty behind me:

 All in all it was the perfect day. It took about 5 hours, including the commute to and from our apartment. While I can imagine pictures would be better on a nicer day, the overcast skies kept a lot of people away so the Island was not crowded at all! I'd highly recommend it to anyone, especially on a cooler, overcast summer day! Bring an umbrella, just in case ;)

One final picture - panoramic of the view from Governors Island.

Honeymoon Highlights

A lot of people asked us if we were leaving for our honeymoon the day after the wedding. Props to anyone who has done that because there's no way we would have been able to enjoy ours! We gave ourselves two weeks until we left for our honeymoon and it was the smartest decision we made. We had a buffer weekend to just relax, sleep, look at wedding pictures, and start to think about packing, laundry, etc. We left Saturday June 21 and returned Thursday July 3, with a three day weekend to readjust to the time change.

Our first stop was Singapore, where we stayed for three days. The first day we had no plans other than to enjoy our hotel, the Marina Bay Sands, which features three towers and a rooptop infinity pool and restaurant that connect all three. The pool was incredible and did not disappoint, with incredible views of the Singapore skyline from 57 floors up:

We also took in a lot of sightseeing - Indian and Chinese temples, the famous Raffles Hotel, and an amazing cable car ride that took us from Mount Faber, the highest point in Singapore, to Sentosa and back on a loop. We had dinner in the car, three courses, and got each course after a full loop. 

Each loop lasted exactly thirty minutes, so it was the perfect amount of time to enjoy the course and the views while the sun set.  I highly recommend it! We also enjoyed dinner at Ku De Ta, the restaurant on top of our hotel, and enjoyed an evening walk on the Helix Bridge that gave the perfect view of our hotel:

We also did a day trip to Melaka, Malaysia. It was a little longer on the bus than we thought, which meant less time in Melaka than we wanted, but we still had a yummy lunch at the best spot in Melaka called The Baboon House - delicious burgers - and we walked the Melaka river and fortress ruins.

After that we were off to the island of Bali, part of Indonesia, for a week! We spent our entire stay with Alila Villas - could not recommend them more for a romantic, secluded vacation. We spent the first half on the southern province of Kuta in an area called Uluwatu, famous for being atop high cliffs. Upon arrival we were upgraded to the four bedroom luxury villa with our own private infinity pool - it was the highilght of our trip. The views from the clifftops were incredible looking south over the Indian Ocean.

After three and a half days we reluctantly said farewell and headed to the west coast to experience Tabanan. We visited the amazing Tanah Lot Temple, which at high tide looks to be floating in the surf - incredible. We also saw how coffee is made, and even bought a little for ourselves! 

Then we were off to Alila Villas Soori, in a beautiful one bedroom oceanside villa with our own private cabana and view of the pounding surf and palm trees. It was gorgeous! The surf was so loud we could hear it as we fell asleep and it sounded like soft thunder. It was the perfect soundtrack to fall asleep to! We also had the best food of our trip here, some delicious Indonesia satay, pumpkin risotto, and Wagyu beef (amazing!).

Our last day in Bali our flight was not until 8:30 at night. So we decided to do a daytrip to Ubud, a popular area in a more forest/jungle environment. Thanks to a tip from a friend of mine we had a fantastic lunch in a little hut overlooking the famous rice terraces! The lunch was great and the views were amazing! We also visited the famous Monkey Forest, where monkeys run around everywhere and you can pet them if you dare, some people were also feeding them banana but that made the monkeys aggressive so we were glad we didn't attempt that!

After our stop in Ubud, we had a long journey home back to the US. We flew from Bali to Singapore, resting in the airport hotel for a few hours (11pm to 4am) before waking to catch our 6am flight from Singapore to Tokyo (6 hours) and our final flight from Tokyo to NYC (13 hours). By the time we got home, we had only slept 4 of the previous 48 hours. Thankfully we have had this weekend to rest and recover - today we are finally feeling back to normal.

We cannot thank our friends and family enough for contributing to our honeyfund and making this dream of ours a reality. It was the trip of a lifetime that we will absolutely NEVER forget. 

Our Wedding: The Highlights

June 7, 2014 is a day we will never forget. It was absolutely perfect, from the prep to the weather to enjoying every moment of the day. I was up by 5am and we didn't crash until 1am that night, but it was all worth it! Our incredible photographer, Steve, captured all the special moments. Rather than overexplain everything, I'll just post a few of our absolute favorites.

Here's to the next chapter.... cheers!

My Amazing Orlando Bachelorette Weekend!

Back in May I was treated to an absolutely perfect Bachelorette weekend hosted by my beautiful Maids of Honor, my sister Jenni and my best friend of fifteen years, Courtney. I arrived Friday afternoon and was whisked away by my bridesmaid Jessica to some poolside lunching with another bridesmaid, Janeen. Once the room was “ready” I headed to our condo at the Marriott World Center – decorated with the perfect touches – my favorite snacks, adorable pink décor, everything girlie and fun and classy – aka me to a T! Friday evening we spent eating delicious tapas in a big private booth that held all 7 of us!

Saturday I was surprised with an Italian breakfast bar – nutella, croissants, mimosa bar, the works! After a lengthy breakfast we headed to the Marriott pool, the main reason I chose this resort. The pool is stunning, with waterfalls, slides, and palm trees everywhere. An oasis – definitely not your typical “Disney” resort – given that we were in Orlando. Saturday afternoon we had build-your-own PUBLIX SUBS which everyone knows I am obsessed with and miss too much up in NYC. Then we were dressed to the nines, with a Parisian themed cocktail hour – champagne and macaroons! Seriously, no detail was forgotten. My girls know me well! They also surprised me with a slideshow of photos and memories of all the girls there – as well as the ones who couldn’t make it. I can’t begin to describe how much that meant to me. Sunday night was sushi and then out dancing at Wall Street in downtown Orlando! It was such a fun night.

A pic of all the ladies below: Janeen, Chrissy, Jenni, Me, Courtney, Amanda, and Jessica!