Phases

I promise to get back on the New York City recap train soon, but I thought I'd pop in to share a quick furniture makeover I did a couple weeks ago. It's just part one of a little guest-bedroom redo the Dude and I are working on. I figure if I'm going to work from home 15 hours a week, I should have a nice space to do it in.

I started out with this bookshelf that was a hand-me-down from my mom. She had originally bought it from Crate and Barrel and then painted it black. I started by sanding it down.

Then I painted it with a coat of primer. I forgot to take a photo of this step. After the primer dried, the shelf took two coats of my selected paint color to cover completely.

Here's the finished product:

The color is less yellow and more tangerine-y in real life. I'm in love! I'm thinking for the rest of the room, I'm going to go with a tangerine + pale gray color scheme, thought not quite as pale as the walls.

Checkpoint: New York City, Part One

OK, time for New York City recaps to begin! Why is it always so hard to get started with these things? Oh well, you guys probably mostly just care about the photos, so here we go...

These are a couple photos the Dude took out of our airplane window. (I always give him the window seat. He loves it. Besides, I like to be as close as possible to the bathroom at all times.)

We made it to our hotel in midtown. OK, it wasn't that difficult, as we took a cab. It was so quick and easy---totally worth it if you fly into La Guardia.

I was ecstatic to find our tiny-but-oh-so-modern hotel room had a giant, soft bed, perfect for napping. But it wasn't time for naps---it was time to head out to meet up with some bees! I had made tentative plans to meet up with some of the New York City Weddingbee bloggers at the Ace Hotel. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was a madhouse, as predicted. Miss Thimble was waiting outside, so we hung with her and got to know each other for a bit while we waited to see if anyone else would show. After about 20 minutes, we decided no one else was coming and headed to a nearby bar where Mr. Thimble met up with us. Then we found out that Miss Hippo was at the Ace looking for us! We texted her our new location, and she came. Luckily, she wasn't too pissed about the inconvenience.

The Thimbles and Miss Hippo were all really cool. Mr. Thimble is a lawyer like me, only I think he actually kind of likes it. Miss Thimble is super funny and sarcastic. Miss Hippo is really bubbly and sweet, and she was great at getting the conversation among a table full of strangers going. I'm always so excited to meet new bee bloggers! Wish we could have hung out more. (And I REALLY wish I had some photos of the evening, but I guess we were too excited/overwhelmed to be in NYC, so we didn't take any.)

After the bar, we decided to walk to Shake Shack in Times Square (the one in Union Park was closed), and Miss Hippo accompanied us. We all gorged ourselves on burgers, crinkle-cut fries, and ice cream concoctions. Hippo got some kind of shake with little rice bits in it---it tasted like a Rice Krispie treat! Yum. I got a coffee and donut milkshake thingy. Wow.

After that, it was a longish walk back to our hotel and blessed, blessed sleep.

We woke up refreshed and ready to start the day. First, I wanted Stumptown coffee, so we headed back to the Ace Hotel, which has a Stumptown right next to the lobby. We walked past the giant Macy's.

And pretty soon we were there!

I got an Americano. It was good, not mindblowing or anything. Personally, I prefer Intelligentsia.

Then it was time for us to head to Brooklyn to meet up with Mrs. Swan for lunch! (Again, we're dumb, and we didn't get any pictures with her! Apparently we were too busy concentrating on taking pictures of our food. Sillies.)

We walked around the neighborhood for a bit, before stopping into Fornino, a cute little pizzeria, to meet Mrs. Swan.

See what I mean about the food pictures? I got a clam pizza, and the Dude's had eggplant and a bunch of other veggies. If I recall, Swan got something yummy looking with prosciutto.

It was so good getting to catch up with Swan! I met her in Vegas earlier this year for the big Weddingbee bash. She's so sweet and totally knows what she's talking about when it comes to eating in NYC (more on that later).

After lunch, the Dude and I popped into this bar (alas, we tried to go to the Brooklyn brewery, but it was closed) for a quick drink and restroom break. (Side note: this is the one thing I can't get behind when it comes to living in a big, urban-type place. Where the hell do people use the bathroom when they're out and about? When I lived in Chicago for a summer, I had "my McDonald's" downtown that I would always use coming and going across the city. It was disgusting, but what are you gonna do?) The bartender here happened to be from Dallas, and he was very friendly and talkative. Although, I got the impression (as I often do when the Dude and I meet new people) that he was way more interested in talking to the Dude than me. The Dude tried this thing called a Pickle Back: a shot of the bar's house-made whiskey and a shot of pickle juice. I think he liked it.

Anyway, after that little pit-stop, we had a couple more hours to kill before meeting up with my friend Deniz at the Mets game. We did a little shopping at Uniqlo and Top Shop. (Top Shop had nothing I could afford. Oh well, it was pretty to look at.) Then I dragged Jason to Greenwich Village to the famous Mamoun's for falafel. Yum! It's the best. Ever since Deniz introduced me to this place, it has been the falafel to which I compare all other falafel. Nothing else quite measures up. On the way to Mamoun's, guess who we ran into?

Yep, that's Ice-T. He was just out walking his dog. We didn't talk to him or anything, but he was very nice to the group of fans surrounding him and taking photos. We actually recognized him because of his voice. Heard it from the side as we were walking up the sidewalk, turned, and AHA! Thought I recognized that voice.

After falafel, it was about time to head out to Queens for the Mets game.

We met up with Deniz, got our free Mets-blanket souvenirs, and checked out the Mets museum in the new stadium. Then it was time for the game!

Hey, the picture is blurry, but at least we got one!

We ate a ton of greasy stadium food, including kettle corn, burgers, fries, and hot chocolate. Yum. Too bad the barbecue place was closed. I wanted ribs.

After the game, it was late and our bed was calling, so we called it a night.

 Up next: day two, which was our one-year anniversary!

Where the Wild Things Are

Hey, dudes! I don't have time for a full post, but I thought I'd give you a photo teaser of our NYC trip! Recaps coming soon.

 

 Enjoy! I'll be back with more soon.

The Dark Age

My favorite thing about blogging (and now working!) for Weddingbee is hands down the community of people that I have come to be a part of over the past year and change. I know some people are cynical, or at least skeptical, about the relative benefits of socializing online (compared to "in real life," whatever that means). But for me, this group of (mainly) women have become true friends. Sure, I don't feel close to all of them. But the most amazing thing is that I can travel to almost any major city in the United States and meet up with bees, who immediately feel like friends.

I was never in a sorority in college. I always preferred to hang out on the fringes and make my friends more haphazardly. And I wouldn't change any of that. But being a part of Weddingbee feels like being a part of a giant, nationwide (and even international!) sorority, where you don't have to prove yourself or maintain a certain level of cool (be it hipster cred, wealth, or something else) in order to be accepted. And on the surface it may seem like a lot of these women have nothing in common with each other, besides the obvious. That's why it's so cool to get to know these women who I would probably never come in contact with in the real world. Women from different cities, different religions, different age groups. In speaking with them, in person and online, I've realized I have a lot more in common with some of them than I would have thought.

I don't necessarily think the place to spend my entire day is on Twitter and Facebook, and I definitely think keeping real-life connections is massively important to mental well being. But I'm just saying that online social networking has a place in my social life, and I wouldn't want to change that.

How do you feel about online socialization? Has it gone too far?

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

A year ago today the Dude and I got married--and now we're celebrating our one-year in NYC! I thought I'd share some never-before-seen photos (well, seen only on Facebook) from our wedding in honor of our anniversary!

It's been a great year. It's flown by faster than any year I can remember. As much as I loved our wedding, being married to the Dude is a million times better. And I'm really glad I never have to plan another one of those.

Empty Places

The Dude and I visited my hometown of Mt. Pleasant, Texas this past weekend. I hadn't been back in over two years, since the time spent with my family after my dad passed away. I'd been meaning to get back and visit my dad's grave in nearby Mt. Vernon, so the Dude and I picked the last free weekend before college football season to make the five-hour drive.

On Saturday morning, we grabbed donuts at Donuts, Etc., a place that hasn't changed much since I was a kid (besides the owners). Then we made the 15-mile drive back the way we'd come the night before, toward Mt. Vernon.  We drove by the house that used to belong to my great-grandparents. Mt. Vernon has a ton of historical homes, and they put cute little wooden signs out front.

You might see a familiar name here. It's because my first name is my great-grandmother's maiden name. (That's why I spell it all weird.)

I know I went to this house a couple times as a very young child, but I barely remember it. Still, it's a neat part of my family's history.

We picked up some flowers at the grocery store to leave by my dad's grave. This was the first time I'd seen the headstone. I think my mom did a wonderful job picking it out and writing the inscription.

We drove back to MP to meet my friend Kelli for lunch at Herschel's, a local fast food staple. (Kelli was a bridesmaid in my wedding, so maybe you have seen pictures of her pretty face before if you followed my wedding blog.) Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos together. Isn't that how it always goes?

Since we really didn't have an agenda for the rest of the day, I decided to drive us out to Daingerfield, which is another small Northeast Texas town that I only care about because it has a beautiful, old movie theater. When I was in high school, it was the dollar theater, showing movies that had been out already for months. Well, as you can see, their prices have gone up.

We drove back to MP and lounged around in our motel room for a bit until it was time to go to dinner.

 Our original plan was to go to Western Sizzlin', a steakhouse with a baked-potato bar that I hadn't been to in at least ten years. But we discovered earlier that day that it had been closed down for months. So we decided on Italian food at Luigi's (the only Italian restaurant in MP).

Don't let its humble exterior fool you--these people know what they're doing.

 This location, however, was totally new to me. When I lived in MP, the Luigi's was right next to the Best Western. Oh, how times change.

I had eggplant parmegana, and the Dude had a spicy shrimp pasta. They were both excellent.

After dinner we met up with Kelli again and her brother J.T. for drinks at Chili's. (Yeah, there aren't a lot of places to get drinks in a dry county.) Didn't get pictures, but trust me, it was a crazy night...or maybe not. We had a great time, though, and pretty soon it was time to go to bed so we could get up and drive back to Austin the next day.

Maybe I'm alone in this, but there is something about going back to where I grew up that makes me feel really strange. It's kind of a combination of feeling those old insecurities, being somewhere I never really belonged + being so far removed from my past that I'm now to a point where I'm proud of my roots. I have no idea if that makes any sense.