Hey all you cool cats and kittens! Today’s blog is different. Instead of giving you guys ideas, I’m soliciting them from you! Saturday marked 9 weeks that my fianceeeee and I have been here in Texas with his family. That is a full 5 weeks longer than we were engaged and living alone. Needless to say, despite being safe and healthy, there are some downsides to living in a house with 6 other people – namely, the inability to be alone and go anywhere together! Yesterday we took a v romantic 25-minute car ride to Whole Foods to drop off an Amazon return. SEXY. So yeah, we’re looking for ideas.
In 9 weeks, we have had one date night (besides our SUPER romantic nights of watching Ozark while I cover my eyes and sometimes walk away because it’s too scary for me). Our date night, however, was super fun! Chris bought a tarp/picnic blanket from Walmart (contactless pickup), we packed a bottle of wine and picked up some takeout from a restaurant. Then we went to a park at sundown and had a picnic! Bonus, we downloaded the Michelle Obama documentary from Netflix and brought the iPad, although we ended up changing that plan because of cold and bugs at sundown. I highly recommend this date idea. Or if you have an SUV with a back you can sit in, you can park in a parking lot somewhere and do this, no picnic blanket needed! Next time, we may even picnic in the backyard so we can both drink.
Perfect spot for a solo picnic
The full spread
Selfie!
Picnic Date Tips:
Bring utensils and napkins, some restaurants don’t provide that.
If bringing wine, don’t forget the corkscrew. Cups optional.
Bring layers of clothing if the sun is going to set.
Related: wear comfortable clothes. You’ll be sitting on the ground.
Remember the ground may be wet! I linked our picnic blanket above, $12!
ABSC. Always Bring Solo Cups.
Also, note to self, remember a spoon next time, This is Chris drinking soup bc we forgot one.
Another tip: download a movie on an ipad.
There. I gave YOU an idea. Now you all owe ME one! I had a friend tell me she did a flapper-style 1920’s theme night with Amazon-purchased accessories. Show me what you got!
Here are the ground rules: must be socially distant or at-home, must be low maintenance (he already planned one EXTRAVAGANT date weekend this year for our engagement, I’m cutting him slack), must be fun, and bonus points for themes. I’m a sucker for them. Write your ideas in the comments below or send ideas directly!
2 photos, 2 people.
Getting ready to leave means getting ready to mask up for the parking lot. See it hanging off his ear?
Do you want a build a snowman??? Since it’s supposedly snowing some places in the north in late April, I figured it was the perfect time to talk about going to see Frozen on Broadway back in February. Ya know, back when we could do things like go to plays, sit next to people, hear people sing from a stage and not on zoom in their own living rooms. SIGH.
Anyway, as you may remember from my 2020 goals, I wanted to go and see three Broadway shows this year. I had already seen Mean Girls (twice!), and thankfully, I won the Frozen lottery before Broadway went dark. I knew that Frozen was on my to-see list, and I wanted to be prepared. Unbelievably, I had never seen the movie (GASP!). For some of you out there currently quarantined with your small children, this probably seems physically impossible, but it’s true. Thankfully, my no-long-emoji-fiance loves Frozen and bought a 3-year pre-subscription to Disney+ so he could watch it on repeat. Ok, that’s a lie, he got Disney+ solely for the Mandalorian and Marvel movies, but still. Lucky for me, I had Frozen at my frost-bitten fingertips.
At the beginning of January, I invited my best friend to my house so we could binge Disney movies and I could braid her hair. Many hairstyles were done that day, but better yet, I was initiated into the Frozen cult and now I cannot LET IT GO. (Get it?)
Once I saw the movie, I was ready to see the Broadway show STAT, but I had to wait until I won the lottery. Ballin’ on a budget! My very first blog post talked about tips for (cheaply) living in New York including free stuff and discounted stuff, the only way to live. Broadway lottery is a big tip.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long to see the show – I won the lottery on February 28th for the next night. I asked my best friend if she wanted to be my +1; it only seemed right since she was there with me when I saw the movie for the first time. She had already seen the show, but supposedly they had recently changed some of the music, so she had mentioned wanting to see it again. Sure enough, she said yes to being my +1 and we started to plan for the next day!
I LEAPED down to Times Square on February 29th to pick up the tickets. (Get it? I’ll stop with the puns now.) You may remember, the hard part about lottery Broadway tickets is that the “winning tickets” are sometimes crappy seats, and sometimes not together. I went to the theater two hours before showtime and got the tickets. They said Orchestra Row A, and I couldn’t believe it. Were we in the FRONT row?? They also said “Partial View,” which I’d hoped didn’t mean allll the way to the side.
But first, we went to dinner at Carmine’s, a New York City classic. It is great for huge family gatherings since the portions are MASSIVE and there are usually many leftovers. For the first time in forever, (pun again… I can’t stop!) I went there with only one person and we knew we couldn’t have any leftovers. We ordered one dish between us, and trust me, it was more than enough. The plate was larger than our heads combined.
Chicken Marsala over Fettucini. Enough for an army of 2.
We rolled out of there and hustled to the theater, which was thankfully next door because ironically, it was FREEZING. The usher led us down the aisle, allll the way down the aisle, to the front row, DIRECTLY behind the conductor! That must have been why it was “partial view” but it was so awesome to watch him conduct the whole show. He was not in the way at all, and I mostly forgot about him except for the times I was specifically watching him.
PRIMO Tickets
Front Row Seats
Conductor!
Quick look into the pit during intermission
The show was FANTASTIC. I expected the production value to be high (I mean come on… we are talking about Disney money here), but it even surpassed my expectations. Olaf the snowman was hilarious, and the Let it Go scene made me audibly gasp! I loved all of the outfits and sparkles, and DUH the braids. I could NOT get over all of the hairstyles. Fun fact, my emoticon on Disney+ is Elsa, and it has been since before I even saw the movie. She had a braid, I couldn’t resist. How could I possibly not like a show about winter and cold (my fav season), with plenty of sing-along-able music (love), and braids (DUH). It was amazing.
I highly recommend seeing Frozen when Broadway is open and we are able to see shows and gather in groups again. I may even be slightly biased since this show and dinner at a restaurant were some of the last things I did in New York. I miss my city so much, and I can’t wait for things to get better so we can resume a bit of normalcy. In the meantime, if you have a Broadway itch that must be scratched, Andrew Lloyd Webber is streaming some of his biggest musicals online for limited times. Each show goes live on YouTube on Friday at 2 pm ET and usually remains viewable for 48 hours afterward. It’s not quite Elsa and Anna, but it’s still pretty awesome.
My main tip for when you see Frozen: expect to find confetti “snow” in your hair and clothes for WEEKS after. I had to shake out my clothing at the door of my apartment, and I looked like I had large dandruff flakes in my hair as well. #worthit
All of our favorite characters
And even better, Kristoff and Sven
Post-show snow on the stage, and subsequently in my hair, coat, bra…
February 14th, I got engaged to the love of my life. One month later on March 14th, we made the split-second decision to flee our home and asked his sister if we could temporarily stay with them in Texas. And here we are on April 14th, basically moved in with my future in-laws with no end in sight and trying not to kill each other. At least once a day I catch myself looking down at my ring, taking a deep breath, and reminding myself that I signed up for this. But did I? Did any of us?
I think everyone can agree that besides Tiger King, the only thing keeping us sane in 2020 is the abundance of memes on Instagram. My personal favorites are the ones like “Day 27 of Quarantine, I have realized that I can’t stand the sound of my husband breathing.” I spoke to a friend recently who said she never realized how loud her partner chewed and has now resorted to playing loud music whenever they dine together. Which is every single meal, every day.
Don’t get me wrong, things could be worse. SO MUCH WORSE. I have a roof over my head, a job, and plenty of (too much?) food. I also have a loving partner who said last night that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. To which I said, “Really? Still?”
Living together is hard. I remember when Chris and I first made the decision to move in together, about 1.5 years into our relationship. I was SUPER nervous about it. I had lived with people my entire life, from parents to roommates, to more roommates, then MORE roommates, because NYC, ya know? Anyway, I had never shared a room with someone besides for one year in a dorm with a roommate who basically slept at her boyfriend’s apartment. And I certainly had not shared a bathroom with a boy besides my brother, who I could just hit if he left the toilet seat up. But a tiny 1-bedroom apartment with a man who I couldn’t just hit when I got annoyed? That was uncharted territory. And it was not easy.
There were socks everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. I would take the sheets off and find anywhere from 2-7 single socks at the bottom of the bed. Socks in the bathroom, in the living room under the couch. RIGHT next to the hamper. And don’t get me started on the dang toilet seat. It’s an ongoing battle. We are still in training, much like when you adopt a puppy, but it’s “please don’t pee on the seat” instead of “please don’t pee in the corner on the rug” (but also sometimes that).
Thankfully, this quarantine happened after Chris and I had already been living together for 3 years, so we had both come to terms with each other’s eccentricities. We were prepared. Or we thought we were.
Narrator: “They were not prepared.”
Living with each other in your own home is one thing but living in someone else’s home is a completely different thing, especially when it is one of your family’s homes. Don’t get me wrong, I love his family. First of all, they are INCREDIBLY generous allowing us to come from the heart of the pandemic in NYC and move in on 6 hours’ notice, literally. Also, they have never been anything but welcoming to me. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is not my house.
There’s a level of comfort in knowing where the containers are and knowing that each top has a bottom because if it doesn’t, you throw it out.
Or knowing that the pillows are the right height so your neck doesn’t feel off all day.
Or knowing that by 11 am, everyone is awake and you can blast music to do a workout class or run the blender to make a protein shake.
Or knowing when the dishes in the dishwasher are clean. (Side note: I have spent 4 weeks now using my incredibly stealthy detective skills to try and figure out their system. I still have not made any headway.)
If you’re sitting at home reading this and playing the world’s smallest violin for my troubles, I get it. There are people out there struggling to survive. People in abusive relationships or without loving partners. I am lucky to have a loving partner, but he treats this house like it is his parent’s home with mommy dearest to clean up after him. Except she isn’t here, I am. And I am the guest, so I feel the need to clean up, pitch in, cook, fold laundry, etc. He feels the need to do NONE of those things except prance down the stairs when he smells bacon. This literally happened today.
This is certainly not the way I would have predicted our engagement to go. Thankfully, we have both been really busy with work. As you know from my previous blogs, one way we try to stay sane and keep from yelling at each other for breathing is by having a weekly date night. This has disappeared. I keep telling him he needs to plan something for me. ANYTHING. A picnic for lunch. A hike. Breakfast in bed. He told me today he is “just waiting to surprise me.” I told him it’s been 4.5 weeks and I’m sick of waiting. But what other choice do I have? Where am I going? Literally NOWHERE.
The good news is that we were not in any rush to get married, so we haven’t lost money or time on deposits or slashed dreams. The bad news is that there are no future plans in place to keep us together. We are holding it together by a tiny band of platinum and a not-as-tiny diamond. And love. Sometimes. When he picks up his socks.
Hey guys, how are you doing? Keeping busy? My mom sent her day’s work-from-home schedule to the family group chat this morning. She’s a busy woman. There was cleaning of rooms, pedicuring of toes, and best yet, DOWNLOAD INSTAGRAM. That’s right y’all, my mom is officially on Instagram. Since most of the people who subscribe to my blog are her friends, let me be the first one to tell you to follow my mom! She needs followers!
Anyway, back to the schedule, she inspired me to send her my schedule for the day:
8:00 am Wakeup
8-9:00 Do hair to put on the gram
9-9:15:00 Try and be creative with a breakfast avocado meal
9:15-12:00 pm Be mad about work
10:00 Coffee date with my mannequin head
12:00 Walk around neighborhood trying not to be frustrated about work
12:30 Convince one of the boys to take a photo of my hair outside
12:45 Try and be creative with a lunch avocado meal
5:00 Try to convince one of the boys to exercise with me
6:30 Shower but probably not wash hair bc why bother
7:00 Try to be creative with a dinner avocado meal
6-11 Try not to murder Chris
See??? I’m busy too!! If you guys don’t know why there’s so much on there about avocados, the short version is that somehow we came into a free case of avocados that I am trying to eat/use before they go bad.
So back to the
schedule. If you have been on social media at all (if you haven’t… WHAT ARE YOU
DOING?!), then you’ve seen many parents’ schedules. They include wakeup times, bedtimes,
physical activities, craft activities, outdoor time, school time, scheduled meals,
etc. Basically, doing THE MOST.
God bless
those parents. I do not know how they will continue with that level of
discipline. Personally, I relate a lot more to the Israeli woman who is
screaming at her iphone in her car, trying to escape her 4 kids at home.
Then, if you hit up the meme accounts, like @no.fucksgiiven, or @wheredidmyvodkago or @fuckjerry or @quentin.quarantino , you’ll see very different schedules. Basically, trying to stay alive, trying to stay sane, spending 88% of your waking hours on screen time, and eating every single snack at your house. Also, completely giving up on all of your new year’s resolutions because like… WHY BOTHER?!
(Mommy – you should
follow those meme accounts! It may inspire your schedule for tomorrow.)
I like to
think my schedule is a healthy balance of both. I have a Zoom Happy Hour on the
calendar for Thursday (which is still 2 very long days away), but most of my
day revolves around cooking food, exercising, and trying to consciously stay
out of the kitchen to eat all of my food. I told my BFF I was going to write
this blog, and she sent me her schedule, as well. Please note, she is a nurse
in Seattle, so her life and schedule is MUCH more stressful than anything I am
dealing with, but there is still a lot of overlap.
10:00 am Wake Up
10-11:00 Read news articles about Corona and panic. Sometimes cry.
11:00 Make eggs for breakfast, but not the usual amount because I’m rationing
12-1:00 pm Open work emails and panic again
1:00 Go for a run and wonder why there are so many cars on the road
3:00 Prolong shower
5:00 Shower*
6:00 Beer*
*In the next few days, shower and beer may fall into the same time slot
Reading her schedule made me realize that I had left “panic” out of my schedule, but don’t fret, it’s an all-day event, so just assume it belongs in all of my waking hours, and sometimes my sleeping ones, too.
We have our HUGE event of the week scheduled for tomorrow… “try not to get coronavirus at the grocery store.” Wish us luck!! What are your schedules looking like? Leave them in the comments.
It’s TUESDAY!! And that means Date Night. Date Night is something that is sacrosanct in our house. It’s how I have lasted years through CFA studying, and years in a relationship in general with someone who works upwards of 70 hours/week. Every Tuesday, there is a recurring event in my google calendar, (shared with my fiancé), “Chris and Emily Date Night.”
Why Tuesday? To be honest, date night started at the very beginning of our relationship. Girls love to create their own rules to make sure they don’t seem too “available” or “easy.” My self-designated way of doing that? I told him I was only free on Tuesdays! It made me seem unattainable and super busy, it meant no sleepovers (duh I had work the next day), and it was a great way to get through the week. Both of us had busy schedules, I was teaching 3 classes/week at the gym and he was working 90 hours/week at the time. It was important to set aside time to see each other. Slowly, it became a tradition. Nowadays, if I have something else I need to do on a Tuesday, I ask in advance if we can switch date night to another night of the week. I love that it ensures that we see each other or make dedicated time for each other at least once.
When we moved in together, I didn’t think date night would
be necessary anymore, but I was wrong. Even if we fall out of the habit for a
few weeks because of work travel or other things, we can always feel the distance
start to come between us. I guess that’s what living in New York means, everyone
is so busy!
I know what you’re thinking… every week??? Don’t you run out
of things to do? Isn’t it expensive?? No, and sometimes.
When we first started dating, I used to complain that Chris’s only date ideas were going out to dinner. Not that I don’t like dinner, hello, I LOVE food, but I like doing activities. A long time ago, I sent him a list of possible ideas. Now, I have a running list of date ideas in my Bullet Journal. Some still involve dinner, but at cool spots, like a Liberian restaurant, or a Japanese place that has a prix fixe menu set to old-school vinyl. And some involve actual activities like mini golf, bowling, pottery, and holiday markets.
DANGEROUS Date Night, ax-throwing in Brooklyn.
Yummy Date Night, make your own ice cream.
Fancy Date Night, out to a Broadway show.
Casual Date Night, out for a margarita.
Some of them are relatively cheap or free, like walking around a new neighborhood, and some of them are pricier, like seeing a Broadway show. And about half the time, they don’t involve going anywhere at all! One of my favorite date nights involves cooking dinner at home, watching Netflix (we STILL haven’t finished The Wire), and maybe walking across the street for ice cream after. The purpose of date night isn’t to spend money or explore new places (although the latter is a cool perk), it’s to spend time with each other and not get lost in the hustle and bustle of New York. It gives us a designated day of the week where I promise not to teach at the gym or go out with friends, and Chris promises to try and get home from work at a normal hour.
Most recently, we went to Dave & Busters. Taking the subway and the getting out at Times Square, especially amidst the Corona situation, is not usually something I would volunteer to do. The food was sub-par and the table was a little dirty when we got there. But the drinks were half off until 7:30 (helloooo $6 watermelon margarita!) and the quality time together was so much fun! We spent an hour after we ate just playing air hockey, ring toss, skeeball, corn hole, and various other games. I think we got a LOT of tickets, but it’s all virtual on the cards now, so I can’t be sure. We had so many credits left on our play cards, that we decided we’d need to go back another time and cash out on our winnings, then.
Air Hockey Champs. By that I mean me. I am the champ (ok, I lost twice).
Lots of tickets won on ring toss.
Coronarita. DANGER.
I always think of myself as a trendsetter, but Date Night has definitely caught on with some of our friends. I recently found out that two close friends of Chris’s have take the idea themselves, and they designated Wednesdays as date night. Having a weekday date night makes it low pressure (no need for an all-night Saturday marathon date) and it’s also easier to make reservations or get tickets to things. I hope to combine some of my “Date Night Ideas” with my “New York Bucket List” items soon, like going to the Guggenheim or seeing Alvin Ailey. Good thing there are 52 Tuesdays per year!
Do you have any awesome date ideas? Leave them below in the comments!
This may be the most exciting blog I’ve written. I know you guys loved to read about my student loans and fitness classes, but what you were REALLY waiting for was a proposal from the mystery-man-behind-the-emoji. And it happened! I was completely surprised and I had no idea I would be publishing this blog this week. I thought I was going to write about HelloFresh. No offense to HelloFresh but this far exceeds anything that post would have been.
Of course the first question everyone asks about the proposal is, “How did he ask??” Actually, the FIRST question everyone asks is, “When are you getting married??” But when I tell them I have no idea, the next question is “how did he do it?” Since the proposal was a surprise, I decided to write this blog in first person, mostly in the order in which I found out the details, not in chronological order. There was a lot of pre-work and scheming that went into the proposal, ring choosing, etc, but I didn’t know about any of it until after. Let me start on Friday night, Valentine’s Day.
As is the case with pretty much every night we try and go out, I was running late. I had taken a comp day from work because I had been working long hours all week. Even though I woke up at 6 am to go to the gym, I was relaxing and running errands all day. Gym, laundry, grocery store, etc. My emoji-boyfriend (… um… emoji-FIANCE… um… should I call him Chris now?) was also working from home Friday, so as I was folding the laundry as he was in the shower getting ready for our date, which was a surprise.
I had showered earlier and asked him for a brief outline of the date, so I knew what to wear. He said, “dinner and a show, but not crazy fancy dinner, I know you hate that” (true), so I pulled out a semi-casual dress. When he got out of the shower the apartment was completely steamy, and if you’re a girl with any sort of wavy hair, you know that means – absolutely no style will hold in your hair. Of course this caused me to be even later. I quickly straightened my hair and put a 1-minute French half braid in my hair. This may seem like an inconsequential detail. But it just proves how much of a surprise this proposal was. I would NEVER have had my hair straight and/or with a haphazard braid if I had known. HELLOOO I have 4 different curling wands/irons AND A BRAIDING BUSINESS. I would have PREPARED. Alas.
We left the house 15 minutes later than intended and headed to one of our favorite wine bars in our neighborhood called Vanguard. Luck was with us, because there were actually two seats left at the bar next to each other, which I was surprised about on Valentine’s Day. We each had a glass of wine and paid as soon as the bartender poured because we were in a hurry for our dinner reservations. I couldn’t tell you a single thing we talked about, probably a show we are watching on Netflix. After our wine, we put our coats back on and the only clue I had was that we were taking the 2-3 train southbound.
Around 14th street, Chris asked if I knew where we were going. I said, “no clue, somewhere downtown?” When we got off the train at Chambers Street, I still had no idea, but I remember making a comment about being jealous of girls going out in groups for Galentine’s Day. LOL I mean, don’t get me wrong, obviously I LOVE my FIANCE but also I love my girls. If i had known there was a diamond on the horizon I probably would not have made that comment.
We were walking for what seemed like an hour in 18-degree weather (it was about 5 minutes), when Chris asked again if I knew where we were going. Again, I said no, but then I realized that we were in front of Bubby’s in Tribeca, the restaurant where we had our first date. For a SHORT second, I thought maybe he would propose, but then I realized it’s just a restaurant we both like, and that he could probably get a reservation there on Valentine’s Day. Also, the Tribeca location where we met was closed for renovations for a few months, so I figured he just thought I’d be happy it was open again.
Before the date even began he brought me home flowers while I folded laundry!
My insta-story as the night began (long before I knew what was going to happen).
Thank goodness for these biscuits!
Kisses and emoji bfs (fiancés?)
The hostess seated us, and the server announced a prix fixe option including unlimited champagne for 90 minutes. Since we both don’t love champagne and we also wanted to order off the menu, we said no to prix fixe, and ordered our own drinks. I had a Bourbon Sweet Tea. Yes, this is an important detail too, so you understand how much we are about to drink. It was mango infused bourbon, sweet tea, & lemon. Of course we ordered biscuits to start. If you ever go to Bubby’s, GET THE BISCUITS. In hindsight, I was certainly glad I had some carbs in my stomach because by the time the meal came, I was too excited to eat.
Some of our conversation at dinner was about our first date, what we talked about then, etc. Chris later told me he was trying to set up the proposal, but as usual, I was completely oblivious. He also later told me that he took the day off of work because he knew he was going to propose, and I ruined his alone time by taking a comp day – also completely oblivious to that. ANYWAY.
When our main courses arrived, I started cutting up the avocado in my cobb salad when Chris said, “before we have our food, I have a question to ask you.” FULL STOP. That was when I knew. If you know me, you don’t come between me and my food unless it’s for something amazing.
Then Chris started in on his semi-planned proposal (maybe he planned to practice in the mirror all day, but I ruined those plans by hanging out on the couch).
He said that since this was the place where we got our start, he wanted it to be the place where we had our next start. Then he said a lot of amazing things about me and how much I mean to him. I pretty much blacked out when I realized he was going to propose. But I later asked him what he had said, and my memory was almost spot on. Then he asked me to marry him and took a FABULOUS ring out of his coat pocket. AND I SAID YES!! I was so excited I couldn’t even cry. I did say, “Should I be crying? I feel like I should be crying.”
Now before I go on with the story of the night, I want to take a quick break to address this ring. Y’all… this thing is GORGEOUS. I mean. Showstopper. He did SO WELL. This is not the first time my adorable fiance has bought me jewelry, and let’s just say, it’s been hit or miss. We have made exchanges on more than one occasion. But this?? 100% perfect. How did he do it??? Well duh, he had some help from my friends. I couldn’t leave something this important up to chance. I mean, ladies and gents, we had been dating for 4.5 years. Yes, I was COMPLETELY surprised that he proposed on that night, but did I think it was coming?? I sure hoped so! I had sent a photo of the type of ring I wanted to anyone I thought he might ask. My mom had it. My best friend had it. My sister had it. His sister had it. Sure enough, I found out later that he asked my BFF and she did me proud and showed him the photo. And he got it exactly right, if not better because it is SO SPARKLY. I didn’t post a photo on Facebook because that’s tacky but if you want to see it, I’ll gladly show you. Either in person or photographic evidence. Ok, now back to the story.
So remember we already had a glass of wine at the wine bar and a whiskey drink at dinner because we hadn’t picked the prix fixe option? My now-fiance had called the restaurant ahead of time to tip them off, so the server was waiting for the right moment to bring over a bottle of champagne, on the house. I don’t love champagne but I do love free stuff! Needless to say, I could barely eat because I was so excited. So instead I just guzzled champagne while staring at my ring every time I brought the glass to my face. The next day’s hangover was worth it.
We finished the entire bottle of champagne and got ready for the next stop of the night. But first, I went to the bathroom and texted a photo of the ring to my best friend. The text read something like, “This is completely unexpected so my nails look like sh*t and don’t show this photo to anyone but OMFG!!!” Of course she started texting me back with a million questions but we were already en route to our next destination, West Side Comedy Club.
We love going to comedy shows together, and especially when they are right in our neighborhood! This show was a special 9 pm Valentine’s Day show about relationships. There were single comics, queer comics, comedians who were enagaged, comedians who were married and performing together, comedians who were married and performed separately… it was a lot and it was hysterical. I love shows with multiple acts because if one person is terrible or not your style, you only have to put up with them for 10 minutes. But overall, they were hilarious. The tables had chocolate Hershey kisses and hearts on them, and best of all, despite the club having a 2-drink minimum, our server forgot to come back to us so we only had to have one drink each, which was ideal after the chugging of the bottle of champagne at dinner.
Insta-story continues (no one knew I had a ring on my rfinger!)
CHOCOLATE. It’s a celebration!!
When the show was over, we hustled home in the cold and passed out. Too much to drink. I woke up early the next morning because I had to teach a spin class. One of the girls I see often at the gym saw me helping someone adjust their bike and said, “Did you get engaged or have I never noticed that ring?” and I said, “I got engaged,” and she said, “Congratulations! When?” and the whole room went silent just as I said , “Last night.” I went from telling two people, to telling 25. Woops.
After spin class, I took a quick shower and rushed off to get my nails done so I could take a proper photo of my new pet rock, as I have taken to calling it. I used the ring light (no pun intended) that I have to take hair photos to show off the SHINE properly. Once my nails were 100, we went out to brunch and then Chris told me he booked a hotel room for us! We packed overnight bags and headed to the Conrad Downtown.
Brunch post-manicure.
Getting ready to set off on our staycation.
Bags are packed, we’re ready to go!
We had a water view room where we could watch the ferries go to and from New Jersey. I was in the room for approximately 60 seconds before I put on the softest most luxurious robe ever and sat down in bed. Chris promptly took a nap and I read my book. Being engaged is EXHAUSTING! After a little energy boost, we finally started the mandatory phone calls and texts to tell people before the news broke the internet. It’s not like I’m Kim Kardashian, but y’all know people have been waiting for this for literally years. Legit, every time I go on a trip with Chris, my DM’s are filled with messages that just say “💍?”
The second we got there I put on the robe
Large beds are the best thing ever!
View at sunset
View from inside the atrium of the hotel
We called his siblings, and I texted my friends, I called my siblings, and after a few hours of that, we went to dinner at El Vez. I usually don’t drink at dinner, but it was a celebration! I had two margaritas. Ok, I had three.
I told Chris how much anxiety I was having about posting on social media. The pressure is intense! I have been seeing engagements on my feed for at least a decade. I have seen everything from cliche to disgusting. I didn’t want to be either of those things. I definitely was not going to post “I said yes!” I thought about just posting a photo of us from the restaurant. But people have been seeing photos of us at restaurants for YEARS. I didn’t think people would believe me without seeing the ring! But I don’t believe in just posting a photo of the ring. So garish. So materialistic. Also, it’s not about the ring (but goddamn that thing is so pretty). I said to Chris, “Quick, get me with this taco so I can show people the ring.” Chris is great at taking photos of my hair. But of me eating? Not so much. There were ten outtakes. We finally got a good, “Does this taco make me look engaged” photo, which is very on-brand, and cliche but not too cliche, and I decided to post the taco and the happy couple pic. But I still wasn’t ready.
When I was asking him who else I needed to tell, it came out that he went all the way to Philadelphia to ask my parents for their blessing! I had no idea. He had told me he was out to dinner with a friend in New York, which I blindly trusted. I guess that’s a good thing? Anyway, my parents already knew when he was set to propose. My mom took a photo when they were together in Phily and wanted to post it on Facebook, which my dad and Chris promptly told her would ruin the entire purpose of the surprise. And since my mom can’t keep a secret and knew she couldn’t post about it, she told my sister. Then she felt bad so she told my brother, as well. And my sister didn’t want to hold it in, so she told my best friend. BASICALLY, everyone knew except me. This made breaking the news much easier.
We went back to the hotel Saturday night, slept a longggg time, and when Sunday rolled around, I was finally ready. Around 3 pm, I said to Chris, “Are you ready to break the internet??? Let it rip!” And I posted on two Instagram accounts and on Facebook. As of this writing, we are at 392 likes on Facebook. I still need a good photo for my Braidstagram with ring on display, I’m waiting for the perfect moment.
It’s been a little longer than a week since he proposed, and I’ve slowly been asking him details about how he planned it. Turns out, it’s been a long time coming. He bought ring-sizing instruments from online and sized one of my rings when I was at work. I fully sabotaged this plan by telling my best friend the wrong size, which he trusted. The ring is currently back at Blue Nile, being resized… I miss it so much.
I promised you guys a grand reveal of his face once we were engaged, so here it is: the very happy couple a few minutes after his proposal. Was his cute face worth the wait? I SAY YES!
Ring so shiny it GLOWS
We always need to experiment with different lighting, but we look good in all of them. Duh.
Last week I went to a spa for the first time and it was magical. Really, like stepping into a dream. Specifically, I went to SoJo Spa, and I am definitely going to be making a trip (or 10) back. Here are a few reasons why:
First of all, it was almost free. Ok, it wasn’t free, but I
had paid for it last year as a Christmas present for my bf and we never used
it. So pretty much I had forgotten how much I had paid for it and it was free.
In reality, it’s $75 on the weekend on $55 during the week, which is actually a
bargain since you can stay there for like 14 hours.
Second of all, the transportation was free. This is actually
true. They have a free shuttle that picks you up from midtown Manhattan! This
is a huge perk because the spa itself is in New Jersey (I know, ew), and it’s
not easy to get to NJ without a car. Plus, tolls! I was happy to book us seats in
the shuttle 2 weeks in advance online, and not have to worry about getting
there and back. The only drawback was picking the time in advance. I didn’t
know if I’d want to spend the whole day there. In hindsight, duh, I should have
taken the last shuttle back, but at the time I wasn’t sure. We picked the 11 am
shuttle there, and the 6 pm back; it left exactly on time and the ride only
took 20 minutes.
Morning Shuttle, left exactly on time!
Evening shuttle, also exactly on time and free!
Third of all, they have Asian-inspired food in their dining
hall, which is some of my fav cuisine. It’s Asian-fusion, with sushi, bulgogi,
salmon rice bowls, udon, etc. When we had lunch, it came with a surprise bowl
of miso soup. Yum.
I realize I haven’t actually talked about the spa yet. Let’s
get to the good stuff.
When we were dropped off at the spa from the shuttle, there
was a huge line to get in. This was a little annoying because it was cold. But the
line actually had HUGE heaters, so eventually the top of my head was burning
hot. Not ideal. But it moved pretty quickly, and we were inside within 15
minutes. Then we paid/scanned our gift certificate, had our bags checked (I had
to chug the remnants of my iced coffee), and proceeded to the “shoe lockers.”
The whole facility is a shoe-less facility, so you put your shoes there for the
day, and the “key” to the locker is a wristband you wear all day. You can pay
for food with it, massages, and also open your main locker with it upstairs.
We went up to the 4th floor where the locker
rooms are and got changed. They give you a towel and a robe to wear all day
over your swimsuit. A majority of the facility is coed, so swimwear it
required. I am pretty used to stripping in front of other women in gym locker
rooms, so this was normal for me to change into a swimsuit. For the shy people,
there were changing rooms but there was a line for them.
I locked up all of my valuables, took my book, and explored
the locker room a bit. There were about 100 showers with nice toiletries (which
I never used), and also women-only hot tubs and saunas. There was an interior
exit and an external exit to
many many hot tubs, each with different purposes. I had told Chris I would
meet him at the foot massage path, a shallow pool with flat and rounded stones on
the bottom. This is meant to “provide walkers a natural foot reflexology
massage while improving balance and heightening body awareness.” What it really
did was KILL my feet. There was a sign that said, “advanced to the left, beginners
to the right.” Unfortunately, I started on the wrong end, so left was right and
right was left, and I had no idea what I was doing besides that fact that I was
crying in pain and holding on to the railing for dear life. Oh, also, I couldn’t
find my bf and my phone was in my locker. I slowllllyyy got to the other end of
the foot path, went back to my locker, and told him to meet me at a more
central location.
Once I was with my emoji-bf who is much smarter than me, he
helped me realize that we were walking on the wrong side of the foot path, and
things got much easier from there. We took off our robes in one of the many
heated tents, and quickly shuffled into the first hot tub, or “silk bath,”
which “utilizes state-of-the-art Japanese white ionization technology that
infuses hot spring micro-bubbles directly to the water to nourish body tissue
and improve skin elasticity.” Do I believe any of that? Maybe. But it was a
nice hot tub either way. We then made our way to the hydrotherapy pool, which
was one of my favorite spots of the day. It’s a pool with various little
cubbies you can stand and sit in, which have jets aimed at different parts of
your body. Shoulders, calves, hamstrings, lower back. It was glorious. After
trying out a few different cubbies, we headed to the Dining hall for some Asian
fusion.
The death trap aka foot massage path.
Outside pools and fountains, some of them closed for winter.
Infinity Pool we didn’t go in.
After lunch, feeling refreshed but a little tired, we
decided to do some exploring, then check out some of the saunas. We stopped by
the gym ($5 extra fee, but like, who wants to work out??), we saw the infinity
pool which was packed with people taking selfies, we saw the yoga studio, and
checked out their “coworking space,” which was really just a corner with a long
desk and 6 office chairs. After walking a few hundred steps, it was time to
relax again and find the saunas. It was packed! Granted, it was a three-day
weekend, but it was a little annoying to go into the first sauna and find it
packed like sardines. Luckily, there were many options. We eventually found room
to lay out on the ground in the charcoal sauna, and spent about 15-20 minutes
baking in there.
After that, we headed to the relaxation lounge,
and I finally got a chance to dive into my book. I even took a little nap.
After my nap, I was reinvigorated and ready to sweat some more, so I did some
sauna hopping. I went to the red clay sauna, the Himalayan Salt sauna, and the
white clay sauna, I mixed in some times in the ice room to cool down, and even
spent 15 minutes reading on the hot stone beds.
I met up with my bf, who was still relaxing back in the relaxation lounge, and we watched the sun go down over Manhattan and realized we only had an hour left before changing to go back to NYC. We made a plan to hit up some of the things we hadn’t seen yet, and started with the Ganbanyoku Room. This is “bedrock bathing,” which is basically Japanese hot stone therapy. According to SoJo’s website, you lay down on a “heated black mineral slab which emits far-infrared rays and negative ions to speed up the release of toxins from the body through perspiration. Pressure points around the body that are in contact with the stones are stimulated to alleviate joint, muscular and nerve pain. Other benefits include healthier skin tone, blood circulation and improved immune system.” Again, not sure I believe any of that. But what I can say for sure is it was HOT. I mean like 110 degrees. You must put towels down under every part of your skin that is showing including your toes. I lasted approximately 8 minutes in that room. We then headed back to the pools for a final dip. First to the carbon-rich bath, and then to the Hinoki, or white cedar bath.
No pics!! Relaxation only!!
View of the GW Bridge
Nighttime in the hydrotherapy pools
Steam!
Unfortunately, our time was up (if we didn’t want to miss
our free shuttle back to NYC), so we went back to the locker room, changed,
checked out by scanning our wristbands and paying for any extras, and headed
back downstairs to our shoe lockers.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience. It was crowded, but on the Sunday of a 3-day weekend, it was no more crowded than I expected. I still was able to experience everything I wanted – 4 saunas, 5 hot tubs, I finished half of a book, spent time with my bf, AND I got to take a nap in the middle of the day. I can’t imagine going in the summer, because my favorite part of the hot tubs and saunas was the cold outside air in between. However, there are cold pools and waterfalls, and chaise lounges for tanning in the summer. Those were all closed in January. I may need to check it out in June and write a compare/contrast blog by season. Anyone want to go with me?
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a night filled with
champagne and a next day filled with naps and recovery. At least, that’s what I
did.
As you may know from years past, I don’t totally believe in resolutions, but yet I make them every year. This past year, instead of calling them “resolutions,” I instead called them goals, and I tried my best to work toward them all year. As I said in my previous post about resolutions, they don’t have to be negative or painful, like, “starve self to lose 10 pounds in a month.” Mine tend to be more positive, like “use all of my vacation days.”
One of my failed resolutions 2018, as you may recall, was starting a bullet journal. Well SURPRISE, I decided to actually try my hand at BuJo-ing again in 2019, and I switched up a few things about it to try and set myself up for success. I will dedicate an entire post to my semi-successful BuJo next week, but for now, I mention it because it’s where I wrote down my goals! That’s TIP #1: write your goals down!
I decided to split my goals into categories both for
organization purposes and also because it helped me focus my thoughts and think
meaningfully about them. Also, I tried to follow the ultimate goal formula, to
make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based).
My categories for the year were: Personal (a little vague), Social Media,
Relationship, Work, and Financial.
Ironically, although I feel like I spend a majority of my time on social media every day, that is the sole category where I did not reach any of my goals. Lesson learned is TIP #2: Make sure you are being realistic in your goals. And TIP #3: Don’t be demoralized by failure, just reevaluate if that goal is still something you would like to achieve, decide if it should be adjusted, and then roll that goal over to the next year.
So what were my 2019 goals and did I achieve them? I’ll break it down for you.
BuJo goal-setting
Personal
Travel to 2 new countries – Check! I planned to go to Italy for my friend’s wedding, and Greece as a girls’ trip in the Fall. Sort of on a whim, my emoji-bf and I decided to add a 5-day jaunt to Paris for Labor Day, so I actually checked 3 new countries off the list! I LOVED this goal (who wouldn’t!?) and I think I’ll roll it over to 2020 to do again.
Learn to do a Dutch infinity braid on myself – Success!! I am not PERFECT at them, but they are presentable. I will continue to work on this one.
Film a tutorial video/learn how to edit video for Braid in Manhattan – FAIL! Or rather, I should say, I decided in around March that this was no longer a goal of mine. I reevaluated my business and decided it was more important to focus on getting clients and less important to give people tutorials on how to do it themselves and essentially undercut my client base.
Social Media
100 Tweets/Month – Fail!! Every year I
make some sort of goal about getting better at Twitter. This was by far my best
year yet, but I only tweeted about 650 times total. This is another roll-over
goal. I think I will attempt the same thing again.
10,000 Followers on Braid in Manhattan – For
my first year of BID, I gained over 1,000 followers from 500, and I thought
that the growth would be exponential. I was wrong. I think Instagram also
changed the algorithm so I was getting less likes as the year went on. However,
I still did gain 2,080 followers over the year so that’s a nice bump! I’ll need
to reevaluate my goal on this one. Maybe 6,000 is a more achievable goal.
Post at least 2 blogs/Month – Fail again!
As much as I try to be consistent on here, things keep popping up (like
surprise trips to Paris) and I lose my momentum. I started the year strong with
3-4 posts/month last year, but tapered off and only totaled at 17 for 2019.
This seems like a feasible goal though, and I think I will try for 2/month again.
Relationship
Date Night once a week – Success! I am so
happy this worked out, and we really tried to maintain it. I even put a
calendar reminder at 7:30 pm every Tuesday night so we would remember. It didn’t
need to be a date out, but we tried to switch between Netflix and home-cooked
meals in, and fun nights out. Since our weekend activities often don’t line up
with work travel and other responsibilities, we agreed to Tuesdays and have
stuck to it.
Over the summer at one point, we let it slip
and realized we weren’t spending any time with each other so we reinstated it
and were much happier. I recently found out that one of my bf’s friends
instated their own weekly date night and also love it, and that made me so
happy!
Work
Successful Interview Week – Check! This
is a week-long event I run every year, and for the second time, it was in LA last
year. It was a huge success with a record number of participants.
Title Change – Career Center Director – Success!
My actual title is Director of Career Services, which I like even more, but it’s
important to really visualize what you want, so I wrote that title down on
January 1 and kept looking at it every day!
Raise! $$ – Done! I went through a LONG
job search process this year that was originally unplanned (perhaps I need to
write a recap of that whole thing in a blog post), but ultimately I decided to
stay at my current employer with a new title (as seen above) and new salary!
Run Session at Continuing Education Event – Success!
I ran a session this past summer on the Johari Window and Covey
Window/Time
Management Matrix. It was great practice being in front of a group, and I
think my group teaching skills are improving.
Begin Career Coaching Course – Not only
did I begin this, I finished it! I submitted my final project last week and I
am waiting for the grade so I can begin the credentialing process (a 2020
goal).
Finance
$38K in Retirement Account – Surpassed!
Due to a good year in the markets, and a raise in the autumn, I surpassed this goal
and I’m almost at $40K. I also maxed out my Roth IRA the last 2 years. That
makes my overall net worth about -$50K! LOL
Pay off Private Student Loans – DONE.
As I talked about in a previous
blog, I transferred these to a credit card to give myself 20 interest-free
months to pay them off. And I did! WOO! Of course I still have about $100K in
Federal Loans but I’m trying to still run the clock off on those. 4.5 years to
go!
Monetize Braid in Manhattan, Make $1000 –
Surpassed! This was a great one to track and I had fun with it, filling in
segments of a bow on my savings page in my BuJo. I can’t wait to see what 2020
has in store for my fav hobby/side hustle.
Bring Lunch
3x/week – Surpassed. I brought lunch 4-5 times a week! This was a TOUGH
one. It was very time consuming, but I saved a LOT of money, and I felt like I
was eating healthier meals. It was semi annoying to always be carrying
containers with me, but I think it was worth it. I’ll be trying to continue
this one. It helps if your coworkers also bring their lunch. I love to go for a
walk so I would often go with my coworkers and then get jealous and want to buy
something. If we instead just go for a walk without a lunch destination, I save
more money and have less FOMO.
Overall, it was a great year for me and I achieved a
majority of my goals/resolutions. I am still forming my goals for the coming
year. Who says they need to begin on January 1? Mine will probably begin around
January 12. Brainstorm a few for yourself and let me know what you’re aiming
for in the comments!
I’m here today to talk about my most recent money-saving
venture: meal prep. In 2018, I had a resolution to bring my own iced coffee
from home instead of buying, and it seemed to save money (about $900/year).
When I first decided to try and meal prep, I wasn’t convinced it saved money.
In fact, I’m still not convinced. Simple math: I used to spend $6-8 on lunch
per day, with the occasional $12 day. I still feel like I spend a similar
amount in groceries, but something happened a few weeks ago to change my mind:
I actually did the calculation.
My friend posed a question to Facebook-world: “How much do
you spend per month on groceries?” Somehow, even with living in New York, I
spent less than almost everyone on the thread! I checked my
mint, and I averaged $146/month over the past year, but $170 since
December when I started bringing my own lunch ($274 if you include eating out
& delivery, but I won’t go into that). That means I only added $24/month to
my grocery bill to make about 18 lunches/month. That’s CHEAP.
To be fair, I really spent $340 on groceries, but I split
it with my emoji-bf, whose lunches I also make. I know, I know, I’m a catch.
But still… $170 for myself.
On the Facebook thread, people asked me how I did it, and
I promised a blog. But spoiler alert, it’s not a huge secret. The main secret:
it takes a LOT of time. The secondary secret: Trader Joes. Not only does TJ’s
have the lowest prices I’ve ever seen (especially on organic berries and meat),
but they also have some great pre-made/pre-seasoned things. And I’m always
trying to cut down on time, so that helps.
Every lunch I make has the same formula: protein, vegetable, lots of seasoning, and some carb (preferably whole grain).
I’ll separate those three parts and lay out some of my fav
options, while interspersing some of my go-to recipes. I have started putting
my recipes on my Instagram story when
I meal-prep, and some of my friends take screenshots to make the recipes for
themselves. I’m such a trendsetter! And budget-setter!
Protein:
TJ’s is a game-changer here. I buy their organic chicken
breast (thin-sliced). And I buy a LOT of it. Literally last week the cashier
asked if I was preparing for the apocalypse. But I just freeze it! Then I
always have chicken in the house. And I can season it however I want to make
something for the week. Also, TJ’s has some pre-seasoned proteins we like. Here
are a few of our go-to items:
Pollo
Asado – Also good, especially in taco bowls! I
throw in black beans, onions, brown rice and fresh spinach – tada!
Chicken
Sausage – Again, game changer. At Trader Joes they
have a million options (roasted garlic, jalapeno, sun-dried tomato, smoked
andouille, etc.) and they are about $4 for 5 links. At my regular grocery store
they are $8.99 so this is a HUGE savings. They are fully cooked, so it makes
for great, easy meal prep or last-minute dinner. Also, they don’t expire for a
while so I can keep it in the fridge and wait for a day when I don’t want to
cook but also don’t want to spend money.
Veggies:
TRADER JOE’S, MAN! Are you sensing a theme?? They have the
cheapest produce. Sometimes when I put a lunch together, the vegetables are
raw, sometimes baked, sometimes sautéed, or sometimes steamed. TJ’s has a lot
of “steam in bag” options, so I mostly buy these, in case I run out of time to
bake or stir fry them.
I love brussel sprouts, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower,
and spinach. Our lunches usually contain these. The best part of making all the
food is I get to pick what’s in it!
Carbs:
Carbs are a necessity for my emoji-bf for lunch. He says
he doesn’t feel full without them. Before I started meal prepping, I often bought
salad for lunch. And even though it filled me up, I must admit that a carb
added helps me get through the day. I often don’t eat between 1:30 pm when I
finish lunch, and 9:30 pm when I get home from teaching Spin class. 8 hours is
a long time without food! Carbs help me power through.
Brown Rice. This is
usually what I make because I can put it on the stove to simmer/cook, then do
the laundry, or take a shower, or even go for a short run. I’m all about double
tasking. Also, it’s SO CHEAP. Especially at Trader Joes. I buy Basmati
sometimes, or Jasmine, both are good, and incredibly cheap. It’s about $4 for a
bag that can make 20 lunches or more.
Pasta. Again, I always
try to use an alternative grain instead of white. I like the brown rice and
quinoa fusilli pasta, or red lentil pasta, or vegetable radiatore. All of these
are about $3/bag and make 6-7 lunches.
Refrigerated ravioli:
TJ’s has some awesome ones and they are all cheap, but these are the unhealthiest
carb option of the bunch, and heaviest, so I usually reserve them for dinner.
Some of my favorites: Butternut Squash Triangoli, Lobster Ravioli, Honey
Roasted Pumpkin, Spinach Tortellini, but our absolute FAV: Porcini Mushroom
& Truffle Triangoli. Did I mention, these are each about $3??
Seasonings:
Again, I love Trader Joe’s for this. I can cook chicken a
million ways using some of my favs:
Everything Bagel
Seasoning! If you don’t have this, RUN and get some. It’s good on veggies,
salmon, chicken, bagels… pretty much everything.
Soy Teriyaki (I love
to throw chicken in a ziploc in this for 24 hours then simmer in a stir fry
with fresh veggies. DELISH!)
Tikka Vegetables or
other of the $1.99 Indian non-refrigerated packets. These come in many options,
some veggies, some with lentils. I usually will add lots of fresh veggies to
this mix and simmer on the stove. Sometimes I’ll add chicken sausage and
there’s a whole meal!
Now that you know what I like the cook, the questions are how and when? I ask myself this, too. I thought I was totally tapped out on time since I have 5 different side hustles, but somehow, I’ve managed to fit this in. I usually try to complete all food prep for the week in under 2 hours. The best way to do this is by multi-tasking and buying lots of containers.
CONTAINERS
But still wine.
I wasn’t kidding about the containers.
So many.
You need to go in with a plan. I always try to cook in the
least amount of time, and with the fewest dishes to wash (also cuts down on
time washing less). I try to always be using at least 2 or 3 cooking methods at
a time –
Example to save time: roast chicken in the oven while cooking rice on the stovetop and steaming veggies in the microwave.
Example to save dishes: boil pasta in a pot, split that into containers, then use the same pot to cook and season ground turkey, then add in the sauce and veggies in the same pot, and let simmer for 20 minutes, all while baking salmon in the oven for dinner (on foil… no dishes).
One dish!
Example of Tomato Sauce in process.
You guys get the idea. I hope this helped a little bit, even if for no other reason than to give you a shopping list of things to buy at Trader Joe’s! This blog is not sponsored, by the way. But if you have any connections at TJ’s and want to throw them my way for some coups, I’m all in! Buon Appetito!
