it's really cold

my aunt called me this morning and told me it is actually snowing in Philly. it was just 70 degrees last weekend. the freezing cold and the wind is making me miss vacation.

looking back at my pictures, how could i not? honeymoon planning is keeping me going though... santorini, here i come!

shoes shoes shoes

I am trying so hard not to spend money. Not only do I have a wedding/honeymoon to pay for, but I can't help but notice that everyone around me is scared for their life savings. I haven't even checked my 401(k) in months for fear I will have to work until I am 85. There is something to be said for cash in a savings account these days.

So, all of these emails about amazing sales going on at my favorites stores (that means you anthropologie) are just not helping my fiscal responsibility. I am all for helping the economy but one woman can't do it all. I can try but S might not be too happy about that...

back to reality

and we're back from vacation (cue the heavy sigh and very sad music). the trip was fantastic, filled with sunshine, lots of food, some serious driving in our hip pt cruiser and some extremely friendly people along the way.

the first part of the trip took us to LA where S and I met the genius who designed and made my beautiful engagement ring so that we could design our wedding rings. the trip was highly successful and very fun, until the part where our jeweler informed me that he needed to keep my engagement ring in order to make sure the wedding ring was a perfect match (cue my gasp of horror). in all seriousness though, it was really weird parting with it. the timing was as good as it could have been since we did so much hiking, but now that we are back in new york i feel like something is missing. i can't wait to get it back. (hint hint) S and I were also lucky to catch up with some friends in LA, do some shopping and site seeing, which included a Pauly Shore sighting, and eat some excellent sushi.

after LA, we flew to albuquerque to begin our mini tour of the southwest (well, part of new mexico and arizona anyway). we spent a night in albuquerque and stayed at the lovely mauger bed and breakfast in downtown albuquerque. while we very much enjoyed this adorable bed and breakfast (and ate a killer breakfast including homemade scones and perfectly cooked bacon), all in all albuquerque was not really worth the trip. we made the most of it by spending some time in olde town and then heading to the zoo. the gorillas and the polar bears were the highlight of the trip.

after albuquerque, we headed to santa fe. i will retire here. preferably, next week after i hit the lottery. this town has character and soul. the people are friendly, the food is fantastic and we stayed at the lovely el dorado hotel in downtown santa fe. s and i took a jog by the (dry) river and marveled at the simple but beautiful houses. i have never felt more relaxed.

we left santa fe and headed for our longest drive - 6 hours to sedona. before we left i wondered why no one responded to my chowhound post looking for notable places to stop along this car ride. now i know why. there is NOTHING there - nothing but a few very sad looking casinos, numerous mcdonalds and the occasional reservation. but then, just when you think it cannot get any more boring, oak canyon comes up and you are absolutely blown away. that 30 minutes of highway (excuse me, freeway) is well worth the six hours of previous torture.

sedona was an adventure itself. we took a spine rattling jeep ride, wandering into a vortex, sat in traffic trying to get to the best meal of the trip, saw ancient native american ruins, heard all sorts of alien conspiracy theories about why this native american tribe disappeared and had a mind blowing massage. pretty good for two days of adventure.

the last day of our trip brought us to phoenix. we accidentally booked a room at a 5 star resort, complete with multiple swimming pools, loads of activities and a spa. so naturally we left this oasis (thanks s) and went in search of the desert botanical garden in downtown phoenix and "america's best pizza." i'll leave the rest of this to the imagination - but suffice it to say there were a lot of catci and one of the best pizzas i have ever tasted.

Pizzeria Bianco - worth the potential 5 hour wait? not so sure. but it was damn good.

shop til you drop

The wedding is getting closer and closer (just seven months away by my count) and I continue to reflect about how I can make our wedding seem like us. If I can walk away from the big day with a shiny new ring, a lovely new husband and a feeling like my wedding was unique to S and I, I'll consider it a success. Right now, I am not so worried about minute by minute scheduling of the actual day, the perfection of flowers or even my shoes (ok that's not totally true) as I am about making sure our personalities shine through.

To that end, I have spent a lot of time trolling http://www.etsy.com/ to find artists who can create unique and affordable things to add to my day. (along the way I have also found some amazing gifts for friends and family). I feel great about supporting someone's art and the quality of work and professionalism I have encountered has been an added bonus. The many artists who make up the etsy community take their art and businesses very seriously and provide some excellent customer service. So far, I have ordered my invitations, my sign-in book, the men's boutonnieres and ladies' corsages and the cake topper from various vendors. And it's been nothing but a pleasure. Not too mention I find things everyday I want to buy. Today I am coveting this...



From etsy designer Pine Blossom
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5235111

the photo shoot

This weekend, of perfect 70 degree and sunny weather fame, S and I had the good fortune to have scheduled our engagement photo session. We met our wedding photographer on Sunday morning at 11:30am in front of Pastis for about an hour long photo session taken throughout meatpacking and the west village.

Side note, I highly recommend this endeavor to anyone, single, married, engaged, whatever. Hire someone to follow you around and take pictures. Or don't hire someone and just take your camera and snap away. It's ridiculous amounts of fun.

Anyway, we wandered throughout the warehouse-y (what's left of it) parts of meatpacking and ended up on Jane Street, Charles Lane and Horatio Street around Washington Street. This is hands down my favorite part of New York City. The houses (and they are houses) are immaculate yet they still maintain an unbelievable amount of personality. The flowers are lovingly maintained by the residents and are just one example of how much the people who live here understand how amazing these streets are. This neighborhood is virtually untouchable to mere mortals making even a decent living (by New York standards). I continue to believe that these houses have been in families for generations, bought by enterprising New Yorkers many years ago, who paid $10 for a full brownstone because at the time, the neighborhood was utter crap. I like to maintain this little fantasy as it (1) lets me be ok with never being able to live here and (2) it makes for some amazing story telling.

I was not lucky enough to be born into one of these families, so my only connection to this neighborhood are my many hours spent wandering around, discovering its intricacies and history and now, these engagement photos. Some of my best memories of this city lie on these streets, many of them with S. It is why we chose this neighborhood for our pictures and when I finally leave here, why it will be one of the first places I come back to visit. And when I look back at these photos, not only will I remember this utterly blissful time but I will also remember why I love this city so much. And that makes me smile.

just two weeks from now

I will be on vacation! S and I are traveling out to the Southwest for a good old fashioned road trip. Our last trip was seven months ago and I knew we wouldn't make it until May for our honeymoon. As a gentle nod to the ever decreasing value of our dollar, we decided to forgo our traditional sprint outside of the 48 states and check out some sites where our dollar actually means something. Since neither of us has been to New Mexico or Arizona, it seemed like a pretty cool place to check out. Maybe we will find enlightenment in the red rocks of Sedona and never come back. It's tempting...

My goal for this trip to eat some great food, take some pretty pictures and spend some quality time with S and some friends who live out west. Life has been way to hectic these days and we are both in desperate need of time to smell the roses. Or a cactus.

the weekly mitzvah

This week I went to Rosh Hashanah services with my dad. I try to go with him for one of the two days while my mom usually stays home and cooks up some amazing Jewish food. Normally, this yearly trip to the motherland consists of a huge meal, some family spats and about 12 minutes spent praying while everyone around me is whispering and checking out what everyone else is wearing. The other 3 hours I am actually in synagogue I traditionally catch up with people I've known since I am little but hardly ever see. This year was slightly different.

This time I actually sat in the sanctuary for longer than the traditional 12 minutes and listened to the Rabbi's sermon. I often find these sermons to be preachy and long and they usually come back to how we should all love Israel and move there and give money, etc... Surprisingly, the sermon this year was a little different. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of Israel propaganda. But mixed in this year was a message about life's purpose. The Rabbi (a very young guy about 32 or so) talked what a mitzvah is. Growing up, I was always taught that a mitzvah is defined as a good deed. My parent's Rabbi, however, proposed a new definition for mitzvah - purpose. The Rabbi's hypothesis was that a mitzvah performed each day should be geared towards understanding your life's purpose, whatever that may be. The Rabbi differentiated this "life purpose" from "life goals" and cautioned against confusing the two.

I was really struck by his point. I often equate my "life purpose" with my "life goals" - i.e. success at work, happy at home, etc. In fact, however, I think I need to start differentiating between purpose and goals. Then, hopefully by working toward my purpose it will make it easier to reach my goals.

I have been reflecting a lot about what the Rabbi said and have decided to incorporate this into my daily living. For now, I am going to start simply with a purpose of extra kindness and tolerance to others - those I know and those I don't. And I don't mean just generally saying I'll be nicer, but instead, making a concerted effort to perform at least one act of kindness each week. I started this week by taking a few extra seconds to give some money to my favorite street performer who entertains me most mornings on my commute to work (who knew I loved the accordion so much). And what was I rewarded with? A huge smile, a sincere thanks and a great feeling which has already last for about two hours. I like this already.