Miscellaneous – Page 2 – LongLegsBigCity

2021 – The year that was a decade

January 16, 2022 1 Comment

Is it just me, or does every year now feel like a decade? I sat down to try and begin a blog about 2021 and I got so overwhelmed I put it off for 2 weeks. I don’t want to bore you with all of the ups and downs – after all, we kind of went through them together. Remember allll the way back at the beginning of 2021 when the vaccines (that’s right, more than one! We had options!) were proved effective and safe? And we thought “wow, this pandemic is going to end! FINALLY!” And then fast-forward to a “decade” later, at the end of 2021, when we had yet another variant and went back to checking positivity percentages every day. Yea, that part kind of sucked. But the good part about living a decade within a single year is, we had some pockets of time that were great!

I usually do a year recap in the form of a bullet journal goals check in. Bad news, I kind of gave up on my bullet journal in June. Oops. Good news, the reason I gave up on it was because I was doing too many fun things and couldn’t keep up! More bad news, I started another bullet journal because I guess I’m a masochist.

Anyway, I was able to achieve a lot of my 2021 bullet journal goals, despite the fact that we lived on the cusp of anxiety attack every day of the year.

Health

Mental health? Precarious. Physical health: not too shabby!

I was able to complete 260 Peloton cycling classes, which was 60 more than my goal. Also, I completed 100 strength classes and 100 stretching classes on Peloton. Not to mention, I joined Orangetheory and I got 10,000 steps/day all but 9 days of the entire year. Remember those mental health walks from 2020? I’m still going on them. I walked a total of 4,986,793 steps.

Also, I achieved my goal of only ordering in food once or twice a week. I know that may seem easy, but in New York, not so much.

Here’s what I didn’t achieve:

Going to a dermatologist. I tried, but when I got there I discovered they didn’t take my insurance despite their assurances on the phone. Then I gave up because I was pissed.
Drinking water every day before coffee. We have limited joys now, coffee is one of them. I threw this goal down the drain in February.

Work

Honestly, I didn’t write down any work goals. And work has been… CRAZY. My main goals were to get through every week without screaming at any coworkers or shooting myself. I sort of succeeded.

Social Media

Well guys, I failed you again. Every year I try to publish 2 blogs/month and every year I fail. I posted 13 all year. I am going to try and do better! I also failed at getting 5,000 followers on my braiding Instagram, despite going viral for the NYC Marathon. I have been hovering JUST under 4,000 for 3 years now. *shrug*. This next year I’m focusing more on TikTok, but more on that in my next post.

Finance

Crazily, this is the main place where I achieved all of my goals. Despite my major return to international travel, I was able to max out my Roth IRA, reach my goal in my 403B, AND get to a net worth of 60K! This is huge considering the amount of student debt I am still carrying around. Not having to pay any student loans for the entire year definitely helped my finances.

Relationship

I’m still in one, so yay! He tells me he loves me every day, even after I yell at him 900 times for leaving his dishes in the sink. We didn’t go on one date/excursion per month, but Covid made that difficult at times. We almost made it, though! We did some at-home baking with a zoom class, we traveled to Aruba and France together, and best yet, we set a wedding date!! It’s soon. Yikes. Maybe I’ll write more about this, maybe I won’t. So far, I’m the worst future bride I’ve ever met.

Other

These miscellaneous goals were hit or miss. I DID see 3 Broadway shows. Impressive, considering Broadway wasn’t even open all year. I didn’t achieve 3 things on my NYC Bucket List. In fact, I didn’t even complete one of them. I tried to see the Nutcracker but the show was cancelled two days before because of Omicron. I did travel to three new countries (four if you count Monaco). I tried to call a friend once a month, but I really hate talking on the phone. I braided clients for a musical festival, a wedding, Halloween, and two races. Not too shabby considering I spent most of the year avoiding strangers’ faces.

2021 was a wild ride. It felt like 60% of the time, my butt was melded with my couch, and 40% of the time I was out of the country. We moved apartments, we went snorkeling and ATV-ing, Chris ordered from Amazon 100 million times, I did my nails 55 times, and collectively we got 6 new credit cards. 2022 is guaranteed to be a crazy year, too. We already have 4 weddings in the next 5 months, and we are hoping to start trying to have a baby (what?!?). Next week I’ll let you know what my 2022 goals are. Do you have any suggestions?

Miscellaneous

Braiding Marathon

November 18, 2021 2 Comments

I have written a lot on my blog about marathons. Half-marathon training, full marathon training, marathon-running. Even marathon-DRINKING. But this year, I’m writing about a whole different kind of marathon: a marathon of braiding.

Yes, you read that right. 10 days ago, I braided for 19 hours. 2 days, 21 people, 49 braids.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know I started a side hustle in 2018 called Braid in Manhattan. Since my tiny little blog post in July of 2018, I’ve built a website, a Yelp page, a Tik Tok, and an Instagram with nearly 4,000 followers. But due to the unfortunate timing of Covid, I never really had a chance to scale my side hustle the way I wanted. The last thing I wanted to do over the last 18 months was be in close proximity to strangers’ faces for extended periods of time. But recently I started feeling a little better about contact, and I knew it was time to get back on my braiding game.

I had done a few events over the past season, a 10-year-old’s birthday party, a woman who was trying something new with her hair for the humidity, and a few people going to the Electric Zoo music festival. My goal was to try and get 8-10 clients for the New York Marathon. I felt better about braiding for the marathon because I got my Covid booster and I knew that 100% of the runners were vaccinated and/or recently tested.

Back in 2018 for the NYC Marathon, I worked at a braid bar event associated with a running fitness studio. It was 7 braiders and a whirlwind of fun. Since then, running and braiding hair have gone hand in hand. A professional runner, Colleen Quigley, started the “Fast Braid Friday” movement celebrating strong runners and associating them with braided hair. It’s a cross-cultural phenomenon about celebrating the concept of “look good, feel good” (and run fast). Plus, it’s functional because it keeps hair out of your face while racing. I started to get a following of runners on my Instagram, which is never what I intended with my brand. I started my company to focus on special event hairstyling, more boho and romantic looks. But it turns out that “athletic” braiding is a niche no one else seemed to be filling, and it turned out that I was quick and good at it!

With the lead-up to the marathon fast-approaching, I had 6 clients locked in and it was crunch time to meet my goal. Then, one Wednesday I was sitting on the couch watching Ted Lasso with Chris when my phone started BLOWING UP. I was getting emails. I was getting inquiries through my “contact me” page on my website. I was getting Instagram DMs. Facebook messages. I looked at Chris and I said … “I think I’m going viral.”

Sure enough, a woman who booked me for her own hair was in a Facebook group for people running the NYC Marathon, and someone posted asking for a hair recommendation. The woman who had booked me earlier in the day mentioned my company and BAM. The rest is history. I spent the next 3-4 days replying to people, scheduling on 45-minute intervals, and trying to organize the styles everyone wanted in spreadsheets. I was originally charging by time, but it got so impossible to organize that I ended up charging a flat fee toward the end. I needed an assistant!!

I had two weeks’ notice before the big event, and luckily I had all of my supplies with the exception of elastics. In earlyyy 2020, I was supposed to braid at a hair show with the brand StyleFactor, and the hair show was cancelled, but they’ve been sending me boxes of product every since! I have cases of edge control, which is generally used for more textured hair, but also works wonders to make styles stay through 26.2 miles. This stuff does not budge! I also have fitting foam and hair spray, all of which contribute to a super long-lasting style. I’ve had multiple people wear my racing styles for over a week!

I placed an order on Amazon for my favorite rubber band hair elastics, and I even reached out to my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE hair tie brand and asked if they wanted to collaborate with me. TIY (tie it yourself) is another woman-owned start-up and Andrea, the owner and founder, is the best. Sure enough, she said YES! She said I could take some photos and videos for her, and she would send me enough TIY’s to give to each one of my clients. The results were amazing. Also, she sent all orange, so it was easy to “spot the knots” throughout the race course, which is their motto.

The Friday before the marathon, I got to work. I had a client from Germany. From Seattle. From Philadelphia. From Austin. From Boston. From Naples. People running with their friends they met in online Facebook groups. People running with their husbands they met in running clubs. People running with Type 1 Diabetes who were running for a charity to support Diabetes research. People running for charities to support mental health support for family members of people with cancer. People running with run clubs. People running their first marathons. And one person running their final (6!) world major marathon. The stories were all so incredibly inspiring.

I wrote to all of the women who I braided and they have been writing reviews on my Yelp and Facebook, but better yet, they’ve been sending me all of their post-race medal photos in their braids and I am just KVELLING with pride.

Was standing for 19 hours difficult? Yes. Was my back killing me because I am ancient-years-old? Also, yes. But was I enthralled all weekend listening to the stories of women from around the world who waited 2 years to run the streets of my home city??? Also YES. It ALMOST makes me want to run a marathon again. ALMOST. But even more so, it makes me want to travel to another marathon to braid more hair! Where should I go next?? Berlin? Chicago? Boston?

Miscellaneous

Vaxxed and Relaxxed (Soon!)

April 26, 2021 2 Comments

I’M FULLY VACCINATED! Let the world tour begin. But for real, I have been stalking flights basically daily since my 2-weeks-from-2^nd-vax-mark. As they say on Instagram… vaxxed and waxed baby!!! Except I got laser hair removal, but, same diff.

I was vaccinated at the Javits Center both times #TeamPfizer. I’ve gone through a lot of emotions at Javits. That seems like a weird thing to say about a convention center, but it’s true. The first time I went there was for the Barbri practice Bar exam. I was terrified. The second time was for the actual Bar Exam. Terrified doesn’t even begin to describe the emotions. Petrified is more like it. Then, I went back in 2019 for the NYC Marathon Expo. I was terrified again, but also excited. I had a little bit of PTSD from the Bar. But this time, for the very first time, I wasn’t scared at all. I was RELIEVED. It’s been *a year*, I think we can all agree. After receiving the vaccine, I went to a waiting area for a few minutes where they had a Wall of Thanks for us to write notes to thank anyone and everyone who made this day possible. And that’s when it really hit me how lucky I really am. None of my family or friends died. I didn’t lose my job. I have always had enough food. Millions of people cannot say the same. So I am relieved, but I am also so incredibly grateful. For the healthcare workers, the grocery store employees, the national guard who mobilized to make it a smooth experience, to the politicians who have made it possible for nearly 15 MILLION New Yorkers to have already been vaccinated. And for the SCIENTISTS.

The National Guard had everything SO well-organized.

For a state as large as New York, it’s pretty miraculous that it’s not even May, but 46% of our population has had at least one shot, and 32% of us are fully vaccinated. I’m a bit salty that they now have walk-in appointments at the Natural History Museum because… um, HOW COOL IS THAT??? And my friend in Florida got vaccinated at Publix, where getting vaccines is a pleasure (IYKYK). I kind of wish I got a PubSub (chicken tenders of course) along with my vax, but beggars can’t be choosers.

And now, the world is my oyster! Not exactly, because like, Canada is still closed. And Australia has a 2-week quarantine. And the EU is… not really here for Americans just yet. However, news broke yesterday that they will welcome us back soon!

I know different people are comfortable with different levels of things even if they are vaccinated. I’m still wearing two masks to the grocery store. And I’m not gonna lie, I’m still wary of crowds and groups. I haven’t even dined inside yet! But If I double mask on a plane and I’m double vaxxed, I am ready to GTFO of New York. I have officially booked 2 trips and a third is on the way! My parents haven’t traveled anywhere yet, but I’ve realized that when I call the home phone line now, there isn’t always someone there to pick up! It’s been over a year since that has been the case.

My mom and I canceled a trip last year because of Covid, and I can’t wait to travel somewhere with her again. But first, I’m actually going to their house for a week! Working from home has its perks, as I mentioned last week. And then… who knows!? I have a 4-day weekend for Shavuot (thanks, #JewJob). I have a 4-day weekend for Memorial Day/My Birthday. I booked a trip to Aruba with Chris in June. We are ready to relax in a place that is not our home. The real question is… will my Peloton miss me? More on my fav quarantine purchase later this week.

For now… where are you going first? Your parents’ house? To see your new grandkids? Cancun? Let me know in the comments.

Miscellaneous

Covid Anniversary

March 2, 2021 1 Comment

It’s March! Happy Anniversary… to Covid! Of course, I am being facetious. It has been a horrific year and guess what? It’s not getting better. If you were expecting a fun and light blog, then you should close this and go to someone else’s blog because this post is going to be truthful and the truth is… THIS SUCKS Y’ALL.

Monday was the first day of March and I had myself a cute little breakdown. Anyone else? If you ask me, things are worse now than they were.

First of all, the burnout is REAL. Every additional day I live like this is exponentially worse. It’s like compound interest but way less fun because I am not getting rich.

Second of all, seeing people on social media still just going about their business like things are fine is THE ABSOLUTE WORST.

Third of all, the virus is, quite literally, worse! 6 months ago, the numbers were low, the virus “couldn’t pass through a mask” so we went about our business at the grocery store or on a walk, with a single mask. Just one! There were stories about full hair salons being spared from transmission by a measly fabric mask.

Now, with new strains of the virus every few weeks, to leave the house I suit up like a space man. I put on a huge coat (thanks SNOWPOCOLYSE 2021) and an N95, and a cotton mask on top of that. And boots. Because endless winter is also a thing, I guess. I feel like I should be wearing goggles, too, but I just can’t.

“BUT DON’T YOU HAVE HOPE?? Things have gotten better! Things are opening up! There’s a vaccine! Multiple!” – People with Hope

Let me tell you about the two groups of people who have hope:

The vaccinated people. Yep, you. I’m not shaming you for having the vaccine. It is awesome. Am I jealous? Of course! But also, sir/ma’am, that is why you have hope. Because for YOU, it is better. You are “safe.” I am not. I also have very little hope of getting the vaccine soon. Sure, Biden says we will have enough supply by the end of May. But by the time they actually figure out supply chain issues and coordinated vaccinations, it will be months after that. Then wait another month for the second shot (or maybe we all get J&J), and then wait another two weeks until it actually becomes effective. We are looking at July at best. And I highly, highly doubt that. Not to mention how long it will be until things like Broadway shows open again.
The people who have let their guard down. I see you. Going to running clubs “outside because it’s safe” in groups of 8+ people with NO MASKS. I see you going to Mexico and Antigua, because you “got tested first.” I see you traveling to see family members because you haven’t seen them in a long time. None of us have! I see you celebrating a coworker’s birthday with a “small group” of 7 people at a Hibachi table. I see you, and I’m judging you. But also, I have come to terms with the fact that not everyone is taking the virus as seriously as I have. It’s been that way from the jump. The thing I hate about this particular group, however, is the fact that they have hope. They say, “things are getting better!” and couple it with this behavior. Things are NOT in fact getting better, you are just getting more lackadaisical about protocol. I’m glad you aren’t burned out anymore, but it’s only because you’re not actually being safe anymore.

Here’s another reason why I’ve been much more depressed this month versus 2 months ago: people have started to make plans, or expect you to make plans. The people making these plans are the same ones in groups 1 and 2 above. The “things will definitely be better by June” crowd. Well guess what, they probably won’t. And I refuse to make plans for June because it’s too dang depressing.

Here’s a great example. My mom, love her, wanted to put a zoom event on the calendar for the last week of June. I had three options:

Say no. I will probably be vaccinated then and the second I can travel safely again, I am OUT OF HERE.
Say yes. This sh*t will be going on FOREVER so may as well just zoom until the end of time. But I already zoom 8 hours a day EVERY SINGLE DAY so that is VERY depressing.
Not answer because I am pretty sure the real situation will be #2 and I just cannot wrap my head around doing this for many more months.

Guess which option I took?

Anyway, y’all, I miss my friends.

I have no hope.

The end.

Long Legs and other Personal Problems, Miscellaneous

2020 Recap and Accomplishments

January 21, 2021 4 Comments

It’s January, which means RESOLUTION TIME!! Now, I understand it’s January 21^st so I’m a bit behind, but if you’ve been following along for a while, you’d know I actually hate resolutions. What I do love, is goal-setting. In the past few years, I’ve been keeping a list of goals in my bullet journal. Flipping to them periodically has helped keep me focused.

Unfortunately approximately 80% of my 2020 goals were unachievable because, well… ya know. Did I work out at 10 new fitness studios? No. Did I attend 100 bootcamp classes? No. Did I visit 4 new countries? Nope, not even one. Did I spend less than $400 on buying lunch for work? Sorta… because I didn’t actually GO to work for 5/6 of the year.

Anyway, I prefer not to talk about all of the goals I didn’t achieve. Yesterday was the beginning of a fresh start for our nation and for me. We are now focused on positivity. Therefore, I’d like to recap some of the amazing moments and achievements from 2020. Not all were planned, but I’m still proud of them! I invite you all to celebrate your 2020 accomplishments, big and small.

I Got Promoted

This is huge! Technically, I got the promotion in 2019, but my boss retired at the beginning of 2020 and I took on the reigns of the entire department alone. If you didn’t know, I work in career services so to say that my job was tough during 2020 when EVERYONE was seeking work and facing furloughs and pay cuts? Well, that would be the understatement of the century. It was hard. There were days when I felt 100 hours behind. But I did it! I was even rewarded with a raise.

I Got Engaged

Again, HUGE. Did we pick a date yet? No. Are we planning a wedding at all? Also no. Does it make living in a 500 square foot apartment with my fiancé any easier? No again. But I do have a gorgeous rock on my hand, and it looks FABULOUS in photos. Sometimes I look at it sparkling in the fluorescent lights and it makes me smile.

I Learned How to Do My Own Manicures

This may not be on par with the engagement and promotion, but it’s pretty darn cool. No one ever sees them IRL, but I do get comments about them sometimes on Zoom. Also, I started a 4^th Instagram for my nail photos, ManisInManhattan. I was looking for some home hobbies, and I found one plus I learned a new skill. It’ll probably save me money someday… after the initial investment of buying all the supplies.

I Achieved Net Zero

Speaking of saving money, somehow I achieved Net Zero. This is a massive feat if you know anything about my student loans. Not only did I achieve Net Zero, I surpassed it by many many miles. How? By barely spending any money. Getting a promotion. Not eating out. Not traveling. Not paying student loans thanks to Covid forbearance. Compound interest in my 401K (and maxing it out for the very first time!). Sure, I wish I had been traveling and eating at restaurants instead of saving money. But since I couldn’t, I am excited to have a much bigger pot for compound interest for the coming years.

I Kept Up with My Bullet Journal

In 2018 I gave up and swore off my Bujo. Then I tried it again in 2019 and liked it a bit more but also slacked. In 2020, I thought it was important to keep up with journaling for my sanity, to mark the difference in days, the passage of time, the seemingly endless weeks and months. Now, I appreciate my own tenacity because someday I’ll be able to look back on this crazy year and understand my headspace. I wasn’t perfect 100% of the time. Sometimes a week went by when I didn’t write at all. But in general, I kept up and made it 148 pages to December 31^st. Not only did I use it as a journal, but it let me track lots of stuff like these last four achievements.

I Published 26 Blogs

My goal was historically 2/month, so I achieved that. Also, it was not easy to write blogs when you DID NOTHING AND STAYED INSIDE EVERY DAY. Hopefully I didn’t bore you guys too much. Mommy, are you still there? Are you my only follower?

Some weeks I kinda fell behind, but that’s ok!

I Watched Movies I Had Wanted to See

Last year, I started the year with a massive list of movies to watch in my Bullet Journal. When I heard we were going to quarantine, I ordered a DVD player from Amazon, and I took 4 DVDs out from the library. I even brought them with me to Texas. I slowly made it through 84 new movies. That’s right, 84. I got through many on my list, like the Godfather, Casablanca, One Child Nation, Steel Magnolias, Frozen, and My Best Friend’s Wedding. And also watched some movies I didn’t plan to watch but loved nonetheless, like Ugly Dolls, The Princess and the Frog, The Social Dilemma, and 21 Jump Street.

My to-watch list. Look at all those check marks.

I Read 61 Books

That’s right guys, SIXTY ONE. 20,665 pages according to Goodreads. Back in 2018, I set myself a goal to read 4 non-fiction books a year. In 2020 I read 14! I also discovered audiobooks. I mean, I knew what they were before 2020, but I was never able to focus on them. In 2020, I took so many long walks that audiobooks were the perfect way to escape my endless thoughts and Twitter doomscrolling. I absolutely love them now and changed my reading tracker for this year in my bullet journal to track these.

Note, one book is missing from here from March, woops! (It was I Like to Watch and it was terrible)

I Discovered New Ways to Move My Body

It’s no secret I like to work out. Unfortunately, my two workouts of choice were teaching Spin classes and attending group bootcamp classes. Both of these were not options in quarantine. So, I had to adjust. First, my mindset. Maybe one day I couldn’t motivate myself to do a burpee. Ok, NO days I could motivate myself to do a burpee. But at least I could go for an hour-long walk. I got to know the Texas subdivision very well. I listened to podcasts. I listened to music. I zoned out. According to my Fitbit, I only didn’t make it to 10,000 steps/day 14 days all year! And 6 of those days were pre-Covid! That means I walked 10K+ steps 352/366 days. 96% of the year. If you don’t count the days pre-Covid, it’s 285/293… 97%! I walked a LOT. 5,019,509 steps according to my Fitbit. Five million, nineteen thousand, five hundred and nine.

I also danced. I discovered the freedom of moving my body to music. Dancing like no one was watching because… no one was. Well, Chris’s nephews sometimes but they already thought I was crazy. I did so much dance cardio; it became my escape. I’m moving next week, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to continue my dancing because I’ll officially have downstairs neighbors, but I’ll keep you posted. I did buy a Peloton so I’ll have to tell you all about that, too!

So many things to blog about. The Peloton, the move, the new apartment, maybe I’ll beat my 26-blog-post record.

What did you all achieve in 2020? Anything unexpected? New skills? Tell me in the comments!

Miscellaneous

NYE Party in the Living Room

January 4, 2021 2 Comments

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We were all looking forward to 2021, and I’m hopeful it will be better than last year. However, we were still stuck at home for New Year’s Eve. TBH I hate NYE. It’s always overhyped and ends up being worse than you imagined. It ends in fights with your significant other, sloppy drunks, vomiting, fried food indulging, and beginning the new year with a hangover. Not my favorite. If you’ve been following for a while, you know I MUCH prefer Practice New Year’s Eve. It leaves my real NYE open to run races in the below-freezing temps. But none of that was happening this year. No parties, no races, etc. Personally, we didn’t do anything festive for Thanksgiving or Christmas. There was no turkey cooking, no tree in our living room or twinkling lights. I was canceled from the Macy’s Parade.

I wanted to do SOMETHING for New Year’s Eve. I started brainstorming my favorite parts of the holiday. Watching Rockin’ New Year’s Eve on tv (RIP Dick Clark) with friends, eating lots of hors-oeuvres that are fried (shoutout pigs in a blanket), drinking yummy drinks, kissing at midnight, wearing sequins and taking lots of photos. When I reflected on my favorite things, I realized the only thing we COULDN’T do was see friends. So, I set about to make the rest of those things happen.

First, a stop at Trader Joes for many, many fried frozen appetizers. Unfortunately, they were out of pigs in a blanket, but I got truffle flatbread, mozzarella sticks, buffalo chicken popovers, spanakopita, and LOTS of dips. Not to mention the makings of a charcuterie board. After about $70 in food, I figured it was probably enough for 2 people. Spoiler alert, we only ate about 20% of that food. But it was fun to have choices. And leftovers.

Pandemic Food Spread, never far from hand sanitizer

Next stop, Party City. I only came up with this idea last-minute, so I went to Party City on December 30^th. It was pretty picked over. It seemed I was not the only person with this idea for an at-home party. I picked up a few things that were leftover, including a hat that was broken so they gave it to me for $2.50. SCORE. It was good as new with some hot glue gun magic. When I found an over-the-door streamer thingy, I knew it would make the perfect backdrop for my “photobooth.” They only had blowers in packages of 24 or more left, which gave me hope that people were not having large gatherings. I waited on the blowers with hopes that I could buy some off the street, in addition to more photobooth props, and I was right! The morning of December 31^st, I was first at the table of vendors on the corner, so I got my first pick of pre-packaged and individually wrapped glasses, blowers, 2021 masks, poppers etc. I was almost ready. All I needed was an outfit.

I wanted to take full advantage of our stay-at-home NYE and wear an outfit I’d never wear out. First, a dress that barely covered my bum. It was 100% sequins, which I’d totally wear out. But it was too short to dance comfortably in. Perfect for photos and couch-eating. Next, shoes. In New York, you always need shoes you can walk in. I have thrown away most of my heels. But I kept these crazy knee-high boots because I couldn’t part with them. They live in a bin deep in the recesses under my bed. They were the perfect addition to my outfit. It’s only 9 steps from my bedroom to the kitchen/photobooth. Don’t ask how I know this. I walk this route often. I could do 9 steps in these boots. Spoiler alert again, I switched into slippers at 10:30 pm.

And to top off my outfit: LIPSTICK!! If you live in New York, you know why this is in capital letters. I haven’t left my house without a mask in months. So, lipstick is not something in rotation. Makeup in general, but definitely lipstick. But it seemed like a festive addition to this not-opening-my-front-door outfit. Chris and I got ready separately so we could surprise each other with our outfits. He came out in a very snazzy suit freshly shaved.

We took a LOT of photos. I drank four berry Moscow mules and added as much vodka as I wanted. And spent $0 on booze. I sat on the couch, danced around, counted down, and got my midnight kiss. First (but not last) engaged New Year! How did you guys spend your evening? Did you dress up or stay in sweats? And most importantly… which of you guys bought all the TJ’s pigs in a blanket??

Big City Living, Miscellaneous

Holiday Tips… HELP!

December 16, 2020 4 Comments

It’s the most wonderful timeeee of the yearrrr. FALSE. It’s the most STRESSFUL time. Every year, I agonize over holiday tips. Who needs one? Who doesn’t “need” one but deserves one? How much? Do I pool the money? Or do individual gifts? How much did I give last year?

This year is even worse! Everyone is struggling and I am lucky enough to still have a job, all of my family members are healthy, and I even got promoted this year (humble brag). So I’m feeling pretty fortunate. But how does that translate into tips? This is, in my opinion, one of the worst parts of being an adult, right after laundry and understanding the difference between a W2 and a W9.

For tips, first, I need to decide who gets them. You’d think this would be a simple process, but it’s not. Growing up, I remember my mom always left tips for the postman. He even would leave an envelope for us so we didn’t forget. But now, I work a full-time job and if I ever see the mailman/mailwoman, it’s in passing, and they don’t even know which apartment I belong to. I’m one of many little boxes on a wall. Also, they usually have airpods in, and I’ve never had a conversation with them. It’s not like the friendly neighborhood suburban mailmen who actually walk up to your physical front door. But… they’re working so hard this year. And the absentee ballots!! I’m so thankful to USPS!

The guy who REALLY deserves the cold hard cash is the Amazon delivery guy. We get approximately 7 packages a week. Yes, you read that right, at least one per day. But it’s not like we have a relationship with the UPS guy. This is NYC. Again, the packages just sort of magically show up here while I’m working.

Now let’s talk about the people who I actually come face to face with. During Covid, there are VERY few of these people, and even so it’s mask to mask, but let’s say pandemic aside, who else provides services for me that I should tip.

Our cleaning person. This is a no-brainer. She definitely gets a holiday tip. But how much? She didn’t clean for us for 8 months this year. I sent her money periodically while we were out of state, but I know she’s hurting and I’m sure a lot of her clients have discontinued her service. We have her back now (our chore chart didn’t work, more on that another time), but she’s only been back for 2 weeks. And then the even harder question: how much do we give? The amount we pay for one cleaning? Like a bonus? Or a lump sum $100. Or more? This is a more difficult tip to give because it’s usually in person. Or should I do it by Venmo so I don’t need to see her face? Is that cowardly? I have tried googling these answers, by the way, but there does not seem to be a consensus.

There are other people I may tip on a normal year, a hairstylist, manicurist (before I did my own!), even a dry cleaner, but this year, I haven’t really seen any of those people.

In NYC, there is only one group of people who ALWAYS gets tips: building staff. Doormen, concierges, porters, superintendents. They always send around a happy holiday card to remind us of their names so we don’t forget them. Also, they’re the ones dealing with our Amazon dependency. And this year, they are putting their health and safety in jeopardy every day commuting to our building, interacting with 3,000 Doordash delivery men, and with idiots who take their masks down in the lobby.

BUT HOW MUCH?? When we lived on 96^th Street, we had a building staff of 8. We gave $50/person. That’s $400. Split between two people, it was reasonable. But would we have given the same amount if we lived alone? When I lived in that same building as a poor law student with 3 roommates, I think we each gave $50 (total of $200 for the apartment). Whether I gave $400 or $200, we were barely acknowledged for our card.

But in our building now? We have 6 people, and again the past two years we have given $50/person and we have been treated like KINGS. A majority of our building now is rent controlled, so I think it’s abnormal for people to give that much. It was SO appreciated. I almost felt bad. If we could afford $400 in the other building, should we have given the same here? How do you split that by 6 evenly? Should it be an amount by person?

And more importantly, do you give the same amount each year? There is a such thing as inflation. And this year, as I said, we are more fortunate than many others. Do we adjust for that? Our expenses have decreased. Well, Chris got me a ring so I should say my expenses have decreased. And the final question, do we put cash in an envelope for everyone? Or do we split it up into individual envelopes? It probably appears nicer together because the amount it higher, but is that the point? Shouldn’t it be personalized?

You can probably tell by the amount of question marks in this blog post (28) that I do NOT have any of the answers. How do you guys dole out holiday tips? Any tips, pun intended, are appreciated.

Miscellaneous

Purple Hair, Don’t Care

October 6, 2020 4 Comments

Hi Guys! So much has happened since we last spoke and there are so many things to write about. I went to another lake house, I went on an airplane during Covid times, I’m back in New York, AND I’m in quarantine in 500 square feet with my fiancé. But the most important thing that has happened: I dyed my hair purple!

This may not be so exciting to you, but it is to me. Here’s why:

I’ve wanted to do this for years.
It’s the only cool thing I have done for myself all year (getting engaged was pretty cool but it wasn’t my doing).
There’s really no better time for it.

When I say I’ve wanted to do this for years, I’m not exaggerating. A year ago, I got serious enough about it to go on Pinterest and Instagram and find my perfect inspiration photo. It’s been in my phone and bookmarked since then. Once I knew what I wanted to do with my hair, I needed to find the perfect time and the perfect stylist to create my look. You guys know I have a whole Instagram dedicated to my hair (hair in general, but MY hair during Covid-19). It’s not like I trust any old shmo to color my crown!

Approximately 2.5 years ago, I started following Sydney Lopez on my braidstagram, and even though I don’t color hair, her creations were SO gorgeous that I semi-stalked her and liked every single photo on her feed, replying to her stories, etc. 2 years ago at Christmas, I realized she lived and worked an hour away from where Chris’s family is, so I tried to book her when I was there for Christmas. Unfortunately she told me she doesn’t usually work that week, and when she does, she’s booked solid months in advance. Makes sense, I guess – she has 125K Instagram followers.

Anyway, when I found myself back in Texas, this time for 6 months and offseason from Christmas, I figured I’d hit her up! She recently had a baby, and was constantly posting on her stories about Covid safety (she even called out her drive-through people at Whataburger), so I felt comfortable with her safety measures. Next, I just needed her to have space in her calendar. When I slid into her DM’s, she said she hadn’t taken new clients in years, but she felt like she knew me, i.e. my stalking totally paid off. I made the appointment for the weekend before I came back to New York. I figured it would give me a fresh start and the perfect autumn hair.

The morning of my appointment, I picked up my mobile order from Starbucks, chugged it during my commute, and got ready for 4+ hours in a mask. She told me when I booked the appointment that it would likely take 4-5 hours, and included “cut, blow dry and style, & tons of pics of course.” She gets me.

When I arrived, she offered me a disposable mask so my cute one wouldn’t get dyed purple, and we were off to the races. The salon was adorable. It was set up so that each stylist had sliding glass doors around their chairs. She told me that pre-Covid, they had the doors open all the time, but it was so great for the pandemic because they didn’t need to make structural changes to the salon, they just slid the doors closed. First, she redid my balayage so my hair would be super light to paint purple over. In between steps while my hair was processing, she left the room and closed the sliding glass doors so I could take mask breaks. But honestly, it wasn’t bad to wear one at all. It’s difficult when running (more on that in another post), but when you’re sitting down chatting, or playing around on your phone, it’s not a big deal.

Speaking of chatting, we chatted the entire time! One of my favorite things to talk about is how people came into their careers, since I work in career services. Her story was so unique, and she actually didn’t go to cosmetology school until she was 29 years old, very old for the industry. It was so cool to meet and talk with someone IRL who I met through the internet! I met my fiancé that way, after all.

When she was mixing colors, she said, “it looks like your inspiration pic has some pink and different tones of purple; are you ok if I blend in multiple shades?” Of course I said YES. In all caps. She’s the professional. She did my regular balayage, darkened my roots (because grays), rinsed, painted it purple, rinsed, dried, and styled, and then the photoshoot began! Check out this Reel of the process.

She gave me some great posing tips for future braid clients, and we took photos in two locations so we could get different lighting. First, inside with a ring light, then outside in a parking garage (all white) with indirect sunlight. It looked SO GOOD. She absolutely nailed my inspiration photo. In fact, I think she did even better! And of course, since you guys know my new obsession with dip powder nails, I did my nails to match in preparation for the new color.

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I can’t think of a better time to have purple hair. I have no in-person meetings, the color barely shows up in Zoom lighting, and it’s not like we are planning a wedding or anything! I am absolutely loving my new hair, and I’ve been styling it in braids every day, multiple times a day, just because everything looks so much better in purple. What do you guys think??

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A post shared by Sydney Lopez 🌈 Rainbow Hair Edu 🌈 Social Stagies (@sydneyannlopezhair)

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A post shared by Emily (@braidinmanhattan)

Miscellaneous

PeppiGel Manicures, My New Home Hobby

September 1, 2020 1 Comment

Month 6 of quarantine coming in hot! What types of activities have you all been up to? I am slowly realizing that all of the things I used to do for fun – going out to restaurants, shows, concerts, movies, bars, hanging with friends – I can’t do any more. That leaves me with quite a bit of extra time in the house. This has led me to a huge expansion of what I’m calling Home Hobbies. You guessed it – hobbies I can do without leaving the front door of my house or donning a mask.

I started my Home Hobby Quest by ordering a mannequin head and attempting more and more intricate braids. Recently, I have semi-mastered a 7-strand ribbon braid on Quarantina.

Then, I ordered a tripod and learned to edit videos so I could make braid tutorials. I even made a Youtube Channel! More recently, I downloaded the SignSchool App to start re-learning American Sign Language. But my new ultimate obsession/addiction/money-sucking, all-thought-consuming hobby has been learning to do my own gel dip manicures at home. Enter PEPPIGEL.

PeppiGel is an at-home dip powder system that doesn’t use UV lamps and doesn’t contain any of the 9 harshest chemicals found in beauty products. But besides that? It’s fun as heck and more addicting than alcohol. Not that I haven’t had a pina colada on the side once or twice while dipping. I learned about Peppi from a friend as I was scrolling Instagram stories (another Home Hobby), and saw her AMAZING nails. Of course I jumped on her, as any good internet-policer/Karen does, and asked HOW she went to salon in the middle of NYC in a pandemic. To which she said, “I did them myself!” Me: “WHAT?? HOW??”

My Starter Kit (plus 5 other colors I ordered)

The basic premise is, you use their 3 liquids in a specific order, and together with the many different colors of powder, it creates a salon-quality manicure that lasts up to 3 weeks. Or so people say. I usually get so excited to use new colors/bored of my old colors/just bored in the house that I have been changing them every 10 days or so.

Now, when I show my nails in my Instagram story, or on my various aforementioned braid tutorials, people are in awe. The awe is usually followed by, “but is it hard?” The answer is… sorta. There is a steep learning curve. In my first attempt, the gel was SUPER thick and the edges were jagged. My second one, I still struggled with the straight cuticle line. But I’m learning new techniques all the time! I attempted tie dye a few weeks ago, and angle dipping last week.

And no worries, there are tens of thousands of ladies in the Peppi Cult to help you out! Think I’m exaggerating? Their private Tips & Tricks FB group has more than 43 thousand members. People post photos of their latest manis, ask for photos of new colors they’re considering buying, post funny nails memes, or just ask questions like, “My brush for liquid #3 is all stiff, what did I do wrong?” Within 5 minutes, there are 20+ replies and tips from other group members.

Me after literally 3 weeks in the group.

Still not sure if it’s a cult or a pyramid scheme? Kind of both. In fact, I have a code to give you if you want $15 off your starter kit! It gives me a discount, too. But beware, it’s incredibly addicting. Within a month of ordering my kit, I now follow them on Instagram, I subscribe to multiple nail artist Youtube Channels for tutorials, and I’m considering getting Pinterest. Considering. And keep in mind, I’ve only been doing this since July 22^nd! It escalates quickly.

It’s less of a pyramid scheme, and more like an ongoing Tupperware Party for fancy nails. And speaking of parties, they have one every single Tuesday!! It’s not like I’m doing anything else! On Peppi’s official FB page (liked by 108,174 people and followed by 114,084), they host a Tutorial Party weekly at 8:30 pm ET, where they teach different techniques and tips. There is a whole secret lexicon like the “apex method” and “use an orange stick around the cuticle” and “tap tap versus scrub ombre.” Oh, and they do giveaways! Sometimes it’s based on trivia and sometimes it’s random if they reach a certain amount of people watching. And the entire time, comments STREAM in with people buying the sale color of the night… and 7 other colors. Some of these women have swatches of more than 100 colors and rolling carrying cases! I created a Bingo Card/Drinking Game for FB Lives. Anyone want to watch and play with us??

Personally, I don’t have a carrying case yet, and I’m only at 12 colors (3 more on the way!), but I do have a Google sheet with color swatches in one cell, thanks to my sister, and links to the color in the next column. The colors all have super fun names, and they have quickly become a second language. I did my nails for a weekend getaway to a lake in blue (Pontoon Party and Just Say Yes). I am already planning a new manicure for my purple hair when I color it in September (Summertime Sadness and Disco Party). And I’m considering which autumn colors I should get that would go well with pumpkin picking (Chianti or Scorpion Venom?). And what about Halloween? Maybe Candy Corn nails (Onyx, Mighty Mango and Boombox Baby?). Or Florida Football (Manowar and Mighty Mango?) By the way, I just wrote that whole paragraph from memory. I didn’t check the website once.

Clearly, I have a problem. But it’s such a pretty one! I never painted my nails before because they chipped so often and frustrated me. Also because I have no left hand dexterity and got it all over my hands. But I am absolutely loving this new hobby of mine. And if I ever stop buying colors, I may even save money from not going to a salon ever again! Some women in the group do their own nails for their weddings. Want to join me on the cult journey? Check out the website, and don’t forget… USE MY CODE to help fuel my addiction!

Miscellaneous

Top Golf Social Distance Date

July 27, 2020 2 Comments

I asked you guys for social distance date ideas 2.5 months ago and we finally went on one! Needless to say, my Bullet Journal Goal of one out-of-house date night/month has not been being achieved. Another Covid casualty. We went to Top Golf and had a blast! Hopefully the fun we had will last me another 2.5 months. It met all of our criteria for a date: relatively close-by, open air, masks mandatory, fun, out of the house.

By the way, when I asked for your advice for date ideas, NONE OF YOU COMMENTED. What’s up with that??? Thankfully, I asked my Instagram followers on my private Instagram a week later, and I got a few great ideas. We didn’t do any of these (yet), but I wanted to post them here in case you are looking for things to do. Ya know, since you won’t find any in the comments of my last post.

Puzzle night
Top chef cook off, quarantine style, use only what’s in the kitchen
Hiking
Slip and slide in the backyard. Along with the kiddie pool, add White Claws for a water park day
Bake macarons
DIY Paint and Sip (order canvases on Amazon)
Drive-In movie theater
Bonfires & Boggle

Anyway, we haven’t done those things yet, but we are now golf pros!! JK, we are both AWFUL. We failed in glorious fashion but we didn’t care.

Since we are currently residing in a Covid hot spot, we wanted to go on a date at an off time. We decided on a weeknight at 9 pm. We made a lane reservation earlier in the day, and I even put on makeup for the occasion! I think the only things that mattered were eyebrows and eyelashes because masks, but it still felt good to have a reason to put on a bra. A real one. That I don’t pull over my head (what!?)

Top Golf required masks in all inside areas, which meant you needed one to check in (contactless) and to walk through the lobby to your outside lane. Every person working there was wearing a mask at all times, over mouth AND nose. Yes, I need to specify that here in Texas. I was impressed. The inside bar was closed, and the bathroom doors were propped open and facilities were being obsessively cleaned. Even the clubs were being sanitized between each lane turnover.

The actual golf lane did not require masks, and between each lane they had floor to ceiling clear tarps, sort of like shower curtain liners. It felt very safe. On the actual greens there were no tarps between, and most people were not wearing masks once in their lanes, so I just staggered my putts when someone was on the green in the lane next to ours. In bowling, that’s common courtesy so I didn’t mind. By the way, I’m MUCH better at bowling.

We both ordered drinks and had them at the table – masks off only when we were behind our tarp! It was really nice to have a drink I didn’t make myself. Even if it cost 5x more than the ones I make at home. It was the first time I had a drink outside the house since March 13^th! We decided not to get food, because we were still iffy about the kitchen etc., but it was fabulous to socialize, even to say “thank you” to a waiter (masked, of course).

We took a few photos of each other as well as videos, where I was usually swinging and not even making contact with the ball. Oops. We tried a few selfies. There’s no handing your phone to strangers nowadays, so it’s a good thing I am VERY well-practiced at selfie-taking. I attempted to teach Chris how to smize. He thought it meant opening your eyes as wide as they go. It made for some pretty funny pics.

Chris attempting a “smize,” me laughing at him.

Are you wondering when I’m going to tell you our scores? NEVER! We were so bad that at one point we accidentally golfed for each other, and let me tell you, it did not matter. We will not be competing against Tiger any time soon. It was a fabulous date night for my sanity and mental health, not so much for my confidence. If you have a Top Golf near you, they outline their safety precautions for each location online. Feel free to call ahead to ask questions, as well. I recommend it!

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