Amy and Mike’s Wedding

As I mentioned yesterday I had the pleasure of attending my former roommate Amy’s wedding yesterday. Amy and Mike started dating shortly before Amy moved in with us three years ago and I’m proud to say I got to see their relationship grow. Amy left us to move in with Mike a year and a half ago, but we kept in touch and I was honored to be invited to their wedding.

My current roommate Grace and I were dates. We got there early so we decided to do a little walking around and ended up doing a photo shoot.

So, funny story, that last picture, which I think depicts my personality best, was taken as pretty much the most attractive man ever walked by. He offered to take a picture of both of us, Grace said no, then looked over at him and said yes. Which is how we got the first picture. Once I saw this picture though I was pretty mortified. He was just so attractive. And he did a good job, he took a picture, said he didn’t get all of our beautiful dresses, so he took another one. So he was probably gay, but oh well, I still should have invited him to the wedding.

The wedding itself was on the Williamsburg waterfront and had an absolutely gorgeous backdrop.

They actually started late because it was so hot guests refused to come out of the air conditioning. It was incredibly hot, even at 5:30pm, but eventually they got everyone out and we got started.

The ceremony was lovely and very appropriate for them. And quick so we got to go into the air conditioning sooner!

My (very small) plate from the cocktail hour. I pretty much took a little of everything.

My drink for the evening, vodka and soda with a splash of cranberry. I had four. And thanks to A LOT of dancing I wasn’t even tipsy.

There were a ton of flowers around where they had the ceremony which must have really helped their budget and they looked totally gorgeous.

Their guest book involved taking a Polaroid and then taping it into a journal and writing a note. I thought it was a great idea and I loved how this picture of Grace and I turned out (she wanted to steal it).

After the lovely cocktail hour we headed upstairs for the reception, which also had lovely views.

After the toasts they did a ton of dancing, which I thought was great. The only bad thing was that our salads got taken away while we were dancing. But it really set a fun vibe for the evening. And I loved the DJ, he was kind of cheesy, but I thought it was great. The energy in the room was really phenomenal.

Here’s a really awful picture of them cutting the cake at the end of the night.

It was an absolutely lovely wedding and I am so happy for Amy and Mike (and jealous of their three week honeymoon!). L’chaim!

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Our Nation’s Capital

I am back from a whirlwind weekend in Washington DC visiting my friend Becca. It was literally nonstop all weekend and it was so much fun. I love DC, although I was pretty miserable the summer I interned there I still think it’s lovely. And I hadn’t been in almost three years!

I took the 2pm Bolt Buss from NYC (this is a random picture, but there’s so much I like about it, the random guy’s enormous hand, the sign for Peep World…). We left about 20 minutes late and then sat in so much traffic on the NJ Turnpike, in Delaware, around Baltimore, and then all the way into DC. We got into Union State an hour and a half late.

Luckily I had snacks! I had a turkey sandwich I had bought from a deli by my office, I ate half when I first got on the bus and the other half around 4pm. I also had a bottle of water, which I drank sparingly so I didn’t need to use the bus bathroom, M&Ms, and watermelon.

I forced myself to finish this book, it wasn’t very good.

The storms between Delaware and DC were insane. It was pitch black at 6pm and the thunder, lightening, and sheets of rain were terrible. I heard there were tornado warnings.

But I made it!

Since I was so late and we were both tired we headed back to Shirlington, where Becca lives, to have dinner. We ate at Guapo’s which is a local Mexican restaurant. I had a pork dish with tons of onions, which was really good, and a passionfruit frozen margarita which was also good.

When we went back to Becca’s apartment we opened a bottle of wine. She had one of those electronic bottle openers that she had never used so I forced her to learn how to use it. She said it was worth it!

On Saturday morning we went to Best Buns to get breakfast.

The line was long but so worth it. I got a lemon blueberry muffin which was AMAZING. Seriously, best muffin I’ve ever had.

After sitting outside to eat we headed over to Georgetown to go to the Taste of Georgetown.

You could get 5 tickets for $20 so that’s what we did.

The tents were all set up on Wisconsin Ave. just south of M Street and they had tables along the canal.

We had some really great food. Sliders from Thunder Burger, Paella from Bodega Spanish Tapas and Lounge, meatball and ravioli from Filomena Ristorente, and cherry pie from Shut Your Pie Hole.

I love seeing how they make paella, such giant skillets!

We sat on the lawn of Grace Church, the event’s host, to eat our sliders.

Here we are, eating away!

Between meals (we had the burgers and paella and then a few hours later the Italian food and pie) we walked over to Foggy Bottom to visit the GW dorm where I lived in the summer of 2006 when I interned in DC. It still looked run down.

It was strange being back in that area. They’ve added a Whole Foods and a few restaurants/bars that looked like they would have been nice to have. I can’t believe that was six years ago!

After much walking around we headed back to Georgetown to eat more food. We took our pie down to the Potomac and sat on the steps watching boats and people. It was such a gorgeous day!

They also added some fountains around the waterfront.

Then we went to the Swedish Embassy, which is a joke since Becca has Swedish ancestors.

They had a cool wall of water.

This was the line for Georgetown Cupcake. I cannot imagine waiting on that line for a cupcake. Luckily we used our final ticket to get cupcakes at the Taste of Georgetown event.

But unfortunately I didn’t really pay attention to how they were situated in my bag and when we got back to Becca’s apartment that’s what they looked like. And I assume that’s still what they look like as I haven’t eaten them yet.

By that point we were hot and thirsty so we went to Wisey’s for smoothies.

I got the dairy free pineapple (OJ instead of fro-yo) and it was delicious and so refreshing.

By that point we had been in Georgetown for about seven hours so we headed back to Becca’s apartment to chill for an hour or so. Once we managed to back out of the parking spot.

For dinner we went to the Capitol City Brewing Company in Shirlington. My Pale Rider Ale was delicious.

They gave us soft pretzels instead of a bread basket and they were so good. Although see that horseradish sauce spilled on the pretzel?? That piece was SPICY! The pretzels and the beer were the highlight of the meal. My chicken sandwich was pretty mediocre.

I had requested that we go walk around the monuments at night since I hadn’t done that in a long time! We started at the Lincoln Memorial.

There’s the man.

And the Emancipation Proclamation.

Looking across to the Washington Monument. The reflecting pool and surrounding area was closed for construction. We walked by the Vietnam Memorial and wanted to make our way to the other end of the mall. Since we couldn’t walk along the reflecting pool we took this other path which turned out to be pretty creepy. It wasn’t well lit and there was no one around.

But we ended up at the World War II Memorial. I really like this one.

DC is so pretty.

I like how you can kind of see into the Lincoln Memorial in this picture. After that we headed back to Becca’s apartment and called it a night.

The next morning we went back to Best Buns so I could get another lemon and blueberry muffin. Indulgent, but so good.

After breakfast we headed over to the Phillips Collection. I had never been there but always wanted to go. We ended up getting in free because it was some kind of family jazz day or something. We checked out the Antony Gormley exhibit, I had seen his sculpture work before, but never his drawings.

I liked this one. But overall I prefer his sculptures.

They also had a whole Rothko room which was really cool.

Then we checked out the Jasper Johns exhibit, it was also different than I expected, but interesting. It was mostly all from one foundation’s collection and had mostly lithographs. You weren’t allowed to take pictures.

We had to quickly eat lunch because I had a bus to make. We ended up going to Nando’s which I had heard about, mostly from people in the UK, but I’d never been to. I didn’t even know they had them in the US.

I had a chicken caesar wrap and garlic mashed potatoes. The wrap was really good. It was very light on the dressing and had sun-dried tomatoes. I ate half at the restaurant and brought the other half with me to eat on the bus.

It was a great time in DC, but ultimately I had to head back to NYC.

At a rest stop in Delaware I bought some mini Reese’s. They were not at all fulfilling.

And then in NJ it started pouring. Apparently when I’m on the Bolt Bus it pours. We made it back to NYC about 45 minutes late and I was so happy to be home. I had dinner plans with my roommate, which was fun, but maybe not the most relaxing idea.

It was a really great weekend but I am so tired and I have such a busy week ahead! Which is why I am finally heading to bed!

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Ooey Gooey Sunday

Today was another gorgeous day in NYC. The next few days are supposed to be rainy (don’t quite know what I do with my wrist cast that can’t get wet…) so I spent a chunk of the afternoon outside enjoying the sun.

I went to the library to pick up a book. Then I sat on the library steps (they put out tables and chairs) reading my current book. I’m pretty sure the library is supposed to be open until 5pm, but around 3:30 they started packing up the chairs and tables. I took my clue and moved over to Prospect Park, where I sat on a bench and read for another hour or so.

I met my old officemate Amy for dinner. She was out of town for my birthday last week so we had made plans to meet up this weekend to celebrate. We went to Kiwiana, a New Zealand restaurant in my neighborhood that I’ve walked past probably hundreds of times but I’ve never gone in. They were pretty empty when we went in, but had reservations for most of the tables about half an hour later so we decided to sit at the bar.

The staff was so friendly and nice, the bartender gave us the leftovers from a cocktail she made too much of and the other staff chatted with us (several times, but not too much) all night. I had a cheeky Kiwi cocktail, I think it had gin, St. Germain, passion fruit juice, and mint. Amy had a watermelon-tini and both were delicious.

We split the yucca tater tots for an appetizer and they were delicious, lighter than a regular tater tot. For my entree I had the New Zealand snapper with saffron and chorizo risotto.

It was fine, I don’t think I’d order it again. The snapper was perfectly cooked, but I didn’t think any of it had very strong flavors. I like foods with strong flavors. Amy had the seared diver scallops with cauliflower and bacon ragout, passion fruit sauce. I thought hers was good, I liked the cauliflower and bacon ragout, but I didn’t really like the passion fruit sauce.

Overall would definitely go back. Yes, I didn’t love my entree, but the appetizer, cocktail, and service were all so great that I’d have no qualms about going back and trying other things from the menu.

After dinner we headed over to Ample Hills, my favorite ice cream place. Amy and I had been there a few weeks ago and I had longingly stared at the drawing of their sundae.

I said I would never get it because it’s enormous and because it’s over $7, but then Amy suggested I get it for a special occasion, like my birthday which was coming up! Ample Hills was packed, we probably waited on line for close to half an hour.

But I got my sundae!

Ooey gooey butter cake, chocolate flake ice cream, hot fudge, rainbow confetti, and whip cream. So good!

Delcious! And so worth it! And I don’t feel like I’m going to die. Next time I want to try to purple cow float.

A good Sunday, thanks Amy for dinner and ice cream!

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Keith Haring

After brunch at Applewood, Amy and I went to the Brooklyn Museum today to see the Keith Haring exhibit. I was familiar with his work, but not that familiar. Whenever I see his work it always seems really comforting to me somehow. At the exhibit today I realized that’s because he did the cover of my favorite childhood Christmas album:

(Image from here)

I think this one was my favorite. That’s only the bottom piece, it was a long, narrow painting.

These make me dizzy to look at, in person and in the photos.

There was also another exhibit called Raw/Cooked that we checked out too.

Once you signed a waiver they let you climb up this roof.

It was very fun and different. And after the museum we went to Ample Hills!

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Hunger Games Premiere

For a long time I resisted reading the Hunger Games books. All my friends at work talked about them and got the advanced reading copies and went to midnight releases for the books. But not me, I held out.

Finally, once they were all making plans to go opening night of the movie I felt left out enough to read them. I read the first one in two days, read the second one a week later in two days, and read the third one a few days after that in two days.

I really liked them. And, luckily for me, I only had to wait a week or so after finishing the last one for the movie to come out!

We bought tickets, about a month in advance, for an 8:30pm show. We headed over to the theater around 5:30, got there a little after 6, and were the 4th or 5th group of people in line. Erica and I went to get food from Lenny’s and then we came back, ate, and waited around.

They finally let us into the theater right around 8. You had to show your ticket outside and then again inside. My friend Matt did one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen and SPRINTED up the escalator, around people, to get into the theater to get us the perfect seats. One minute he was there and one minute he was gone. I’m pretty sure he would win the Hunger Games.

We got perfect seats (thanks Matt!) in the middle of the theater, went to the bathroom and grabbed popcorn, and then waited. Like I predicted the large, large, large majority of people there were in their 20’s and 30’s. Once the movie started people were really respectful.

I loved the movie. I thought what they decided to include/exclude/add was pretty perfect. And I thought all the performances were great, especially Stanley Tucci and Elizabeth Banks. I’m super excited to see how they make the other two books into movies.

After the movie we went to grab drinks at a generic Mexican bar by Penn Station to talk about the movie. It was a pretty lame bar, but a very good night.

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Take Two

This year I got another chance to participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, being a balloon handler on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon. If you want a full breakdown of how it works check out last year’s post where I go into all the specifics. This year I’ll just post the highlights.

We lucked out with another year of really great weather. It was actually pretty warm!

My pass, which never arrived, thank you Laura for delivering it!

Getting ourselves sexy in the bathroom.

One of my favorite things, both this year and last year, is seeing all the random people in the parade. This guy was butter, he’s holding toast for his lady friend who couldn’t get it down the aisle of the bus.

Unlike last year it was light when we got uptown, which confused me because I swear it was the same time.

Laura and I

I think this is one of the coolest parts, being able to see how the balloons look from underneath.

Elisa, me, and Laura

After I had the Buzz balloon on Halloween I feel a special connection to him. The Buzz handlers also had really cool outfits (relative to how ridiculous the outfits are in general).

We were a few balloons earlier than last year, but somehow I had to take a later train to my grandparents’ than last year. Penn Station was insane (I don’t remember it being insane last year), I got a smoothie, a bottle of water, and a magazine which I could barely balance. Then you had to give your ticket when you boarded the train (normally they come and collect them once you’re on your way) which was almost a near disaster.

But otherwise it was a really great experience yet again. The Wimpy Kid balloon will be in the parade one more year (you buy 3 years at a time), but I don’t know if I’ll do it again if I get the offer. I’m pretty lucky that this year and last year were both dry, pretty warm, and that we were at the beginning of the parade.

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Governors Island: Take Two

On Saturday my friend Laura and I went to Governors Island for the day (my second visit of the summer, check out the first). It was a perfect day, warm, but not too hot, sunny, but still some clouds so it didn’t feel like the sun was beating down on us all day.

Pics and some commentary:

Laura and I love swings.

There was a cool Volkswagon car show.

Cincinnati! Where I’m going Wednesday!

I think this one was my favorite.

My future home (aka the admiral’s house).

Laura in my future library.

Sadly we missed this.

I think this is my favorite shot from the day. Imagine, the people who were stationed in that fort would look across and see…nothing.

Actually, I think my favorite thing about the day was a banner that was a piece of art that goes along with a show at the New Museum. It was in Russian, but translated it said: “I do not complain about anything and I almost like it here, although I have never been here before and know nothing about this place.”

It faced the Statue of Liberty and I thought it was very meaningful.

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The Weekend

Yes, a recap of what I did this weekend. I really like these posts but lately I’ve seen bloggers bash their own recap posts which I think it strange. They’re really great!

Friday started with a pool party at my friend Elisa’s apartment. It was an overcast, hot day, just like every other day she’s hosted us for a pool party. Why break tradition, right? The best tradition of the Elisa pool party is breaking out our friend Erica’s delicious 7-layer dip the moment we arrive. That stuff is so good and so dangerous.

After devouring 7-layer dip we headed down to the pool to barbeque.

There were a few problems getting the BBQs working, but luckily her building’s great maintenance man fixed everything and we were soon in business.

Burgers, sausage, and corn. Yum! (And note to self, my scarf tied like that is not flattering!)

We hung out by the pool for  awhile and around 6pm decided to go upstairs for dessert. Which was good because right when we got upstairs it started pouring.

Dessert was a delicious frozen chocolate peanut butter pie made by me and a very inappropriate ice cream cake.

If you don’t know what that means just Google. The birthday girl says it all the time.

I got home around 11pm Friday night and happily crashed.

When I woke up Saturday morning I intended to go running but I just wasn’t feeling it. Instead I decided to take in a matinee showing of Crazy, Stupid, Love.

I’ve been so excited to see this movie since I love all of the actors. Sadly I was disappointed. In my opinion, the movie focused too much on the babysitter and Steve Carrel’s son. And too much on Steve Carrel. I wanted more focus on Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. It was a cute story though, not really original, but it was entertaining. Probably better to wait for the DVD though.

Since I didn’t get my run in I brought my gym clothes with me to go to the gym right from the movie. That worked well and I was in, on the elliptical, and out in no time.

After a quick stop at the grocery store I went home to relax in front of DVRed episodes of Suits. Anyone else watch that? I think it’s pretty good!

Then it was time to get ready to meet my friend Natalie, who was down from Boston, and a group of people at Motorino in Williamsburg.

Unfortunately it took me 5 trains to get there (stupid weekend construction), but luckily there was a long wait for a table so I didn’t miss any food!

Three of us split the Cremini, Margherita DOC, and the special pizza (all I remember was the heirloom tomatoes and raw basil). They were all delicious, but I thought the cremini was the best.

The only I picture I snapped from the night was one in the bathroom.

I wore my romper (same outfit as here) and it’s just so annoying to go to the bathroom. That’s my belt and cardigan on the top of the toilet (I didn’t know where else to put them!).

I got home just before midnight (I love that I was home before midnight both days and didn’t get drunk this weekend). And headed to bed so I could wake up to run.

I did indeed go for a run Sunday morning and it was hot! In the shade wasn’t bad, but when the sun was shining down on me it was terrible!

I managed to run 3 miles with only 2 walking breaks, but man, it was rough!

I called my parents as I walked home and also stopped for a bagel along the way. Then I did some weights and caught up on Necessary Roughness (another USA show I really like).

Otherwise I’ve just been relaxing. It’s been nice to have some downtime since last week was pretty crazy and the week ahead will be pretty crazy as well.

I’m going to head out to grab some food in a bit and then keep relaxing. Perfect Sunday!

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Sad Solo

That’s a really bad title, I know.

Now for my Sunday in Portland. My grandparents are very regimented people. As I mentioned in my first post about Portland they eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time every day. They watch Wheel of Fortune every night, and they are big, big planners.

Before I come out here I get an itinerary of activities. This year I wasn’t very good at letting them know what I wanted to do in advance so there were some blank spots. The itinerary I was sent in the mail prior to leaving NYC had Sunday blank which sounded good to me because it meant I could watch the Women’s World Cup final.

But, when I got to Portland, Sunday had been filled in with a winery tour. When I was talking about it with my aunt on Saturday we realized we could move the wineries to Tuesday and I could watch the soccer game. Score! (ha)

I knew I wanted to go back to The Thirsty Lion which was where I watched the men’s World Cup final last year.

My aunt came with me this time (last year they just dropped me off) and it was nice to have company. I thought the game started at 11 local time but it actually started at 11:45. We got there around 10 so we had plenty of time to kill.

My stomach was a little queasy from all the beer I had had Saturday so I just had a Coke. A guy sitting with us at the bar (I was in the same seat as last year) kept trying to talk to me and share how much he knew about soccer. Sadly for him I know more than he does so I knew a lot of what he was saying was BS. Plus he was wearing a wedding ring so I wasn’t looking to just be nice and flirt 🙂

The game was good. The bar really filled up and while it wasn’t as packed as last year, the atmosphere was great.

I was sad to see the US (and my girl crush Hope Solo) lose, but I was happy to see Japan win. I was also happy I ordered a third beer right before Japan scored their second goal and the game went to penalty kicks.

I really love The Thirsty Lion. If I lived in Portland I would be there all the time. I think I’m going to have to time next year’s trip to Portland with the Euros since there won’t be a World Cup.

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What You’ve Missed

Since I neglected posting the last few months I thought I’d do a little recap of everything that’s happened in my life.

I went to the rodeo at Madison Square Garden.

I got an iPhone!

I took my room from looking like this…

…to this. And it’s stayed neat!

I got tested for allergies (maple tree, dust mites, dust, cats, dogs).

I went to the USA-Argentina soccer game.

I got new bedding (love!).

I ate a chicken and waffle cupcake (chicken was kind of tasteless).

I went to see the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

But I thought the ugly water things were much cooler.

My friend Laura and I made royal wedding cupcakes for a bakeoff at work (we didn’t win!).

I hosted a royal wedding party.

I ran a 5K, my first race since my half marathon over a year ago.

I went to visit vineyards on Long Island.

I visited my friend Natalie in Boston.

Where we went to the USA-Spain men’s soccer game.

I walked the Highline.

I attended my friend Elisa’s wedding party and Laura and I made hats for the occasion.

I drove from Amarillo, TX to Dallas, TX.

And in Dallas I visited the Texas Book Depository.

And now you’re all caught up on what’s happening in my life!

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