feliz navidad

From our house, to yours :)


Yesterday we got up and ran errands, picked up a few last minute sale items and then settled in and started watching old Christmas classics... Home Alone and Home Alone 2. In the middle of watching movies, we had a delivery.



My family (aka my sister) sent some beautiful flowers with real Christmas tree in the arrangement! It's just about the best smelling bouquet I've ever gotten. Def made my night :) We enjoyed a delicious candlelit meal and went to bed early. I heard Eric wake up around midnight and knew something was up but stayed put when he said he had to "go to the bathroom." The longer he took the more suspicious I got. WELL! What a devilish boyfriend I have. I got up and went to the bathroom and noticed all these weird colors bouncing off of the deck. I thought the NY city lights were Christmas colors and then I realized the colors were coming from INSIDE the living room!



Santa Claus was pretty good this year.



MERRY CHRISTMAS!

11/09

This month was my birthday month. My birth DAY is November 9 but it was 11/9 all month :) it was an insane whirlwind of fun and madness and emotion. I was fired on the 3rd day of the month and proceeded to have 2 days of depression, until my best friend flew in from North Carolina and I was forced to put it aside in my mind.


the coolest bar in brooklyn, where you win tickets for free beers!


Then, my old job asked me to fly home to LA to help them with a huge, crazy Neiman Marcus order. So the day after my birthday Eric dropped me off at JFK at 5AM and I had a day to hang out with my dog, lunch with my parents, and trek 2 hours with Melissa to see 311 on their fall tour opener. I saw a lot of old friends at that show, celebrated Mel and I's mutual birthday week... just had a ridiculous amount of fun.



The next day it was back to work and I crammed in long days and got tons and tons of stuff done. I finished my work load and didn't have to work Saturday so Friday night I went to see my Lojic boys. It was a great show, great bar, great night. The next night we went out in Long Beach for my sister's boyfriend's sister's birthday (a grand family affair) that ended with a late night stop at Wockano.



Sunday was my cousin's baby shower, which I was very happy to be in town for. Got to hang with the family and the kids and eat some crazy good food and play the rice, tp and all the other random games.



That rounded out the middle of November... I didn't do much the other days I was in town other than work. Flew back to NYC on the 20th and I'll blog about that week tomorrow :)

skype

what a great tool! Just wanted to share a pic from last nights video chat with the fam :)

Bonefish Grill

On Friday night, I had a mini-meltdown because we had nothing to cook for dinner and when I get off at 9pm, I am hungry, tired and cold crossing the Hudson River. So we decided to make it a night out. We're still new in the area so we don't know where all the good places to eat are, so we decided to try something new.



We waited about 5 minutes versus the hour and some change wait Olive Garden had at the same time. The walls across from the windows our booth was attached to had a beautiful stream light fixture on it. I will try to snap a pic next time we make it in... because there wiiill be a next time.

All of the food was amazing. I ordered scallops and shrimp and everything melted in my mouth...seriously. Eric ordered steak which was really undercooked (but he ordered it that way!) it was still good though. The food was great and the prices were not bad. We ordered higher end meals, aps and a drink and spent right around $50. I thought we'd be spending a lot more.

My favorite about the entire experience were these two things:


Calamari and $5 sangria. mmmmmmmmm! There was a sweet sauce for the calamari that I've never had before and just thinking about it is making my mouth water. I will highly recommend it to anyone that will listen.

If you have a Bonefish Grill local to you, plz check it out :)

I heart NY

It is really great and fun being in Manhattan every day. It is intense but I love the energy. My hours are not ideal but at least I get to sleep in and this is a city that is open late. So much to explore and do and eat and drink I don't even know where to start! I am def gonna start reviewing bars and eats as a go-to guide. I am always uptown, downtown, midtown... I am getting the lay of the land. Come visit!

-I have never been hit on so much. Who said I need to lose 10 lbs?
-I am now a junkie... Starbucks 3/4 times a week! Uh oh!
-I need to shop... oh lord, I NEED TO SHOP!
-I am freeeezing, being on the Hudson River is brutal! I need to tough it out 2 weeks til I go home and get my winter gear.
-I don't mind the subway or the train. Beats hours driving in traffic! Minus getting trapped like my coworker did...yuck!
-I love the West Village. Very cute and trendy... the restaurants and bars all look SO GREAT! There is a place on the end of our street under our FedEx drop that has $9 (half!!!) pitcher of Sangria. whut?! I think I'm in love! AND I walk by a Jekyll & Hyde Pub every day that I am dying to go to. I love Halloweeen!

I'm going to leave you now with some recent pics. More to come for sure :)

A day in the park...

Exploring...

Lord & Taylor store display on 5th Ave!!

New York, NY

Where do I start? Goddamn, here it goes. A year ago, I was falling for this guy who I'd been crushing on for years. It wasn't supposed to go anywhere. He was a bad boy and he resisted us... even though I knew he cared. How many times before that feeeeling had come back to bite me... I cannot tell you, I don't even want to think or admit it! 

But... this crush and that friendship and my faith proved to be good things. I love this man and this man loves me. I am happy to call him my best friend and my love. I am not scared to be with him, I believe in him, I enjoy every moment with him. I adore him. And to be honest, I don't know how I did it, but sometimes I really think he now loves me more than I love him. And I fell first! It's beautiful to have someone mirror what you're feeling, every moment. 

So here I go again. This time, I'm not alone. I didn't really consider moving to Maryland because there wasn't much for me other than this man. Circumstances changed, and in a bittersweet way, WE are ending up in New York City. I am really nervous/happy/excited/scared/sad/ecstatic. Nervous because it's so big, it's so bright, it's so massive! Happy because I can't wait to be with this man, every day, every night. Excited because it's NEW YORK CITY!!!! Land of Sex And The City... THE CITY!! It's massive and amazing and beautiful and there's sooo much at our fingertips. Scared because it's a huge step, a leap of faith, a new place, a new life... Sad because I'm going to miss my dog, my sister, my parents, my life, my car, my friends, my city... Ecstatic because... NYC!!!!!! 

When shit hit the fan, I know it was going to be do or die. I wanted to do. But I wasn't planning on do-ing anything this soon. I was thinking I'd ease into a move and leave Los Angeles by October. September is such a big month and there's so much to do! But when we went to NYC over a weekend to look at places, I had a job interview and offer so amazing I could not pass up. 

So here we are. My heart is heavy but it's happy. 

I guess my view ain't so lonely anymore, right?! 

 ;)