WEEK LINK LOVE.

Why not start the week of (since I didn't get this up over the weekend!) with a few favorite links:

Found this Grapefruit Sorbet that would be the perfect sweet treat for these dog days of summer.

For my fellow NYC friends out there, you know how rare it is to find a pool in the city, right? I mean there have been some days this summer when literally I would have gone so far as to use my bathtub as a pool. Don't judge. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Welcome, King & Grove in Williamsburg. You can purchase a pool pass for only $35 during the weekday and $45 on the weekends! Go on and embrace your inner Magda, but make sure to buy your pool pass in advance here.

Turn up Ellie Goulding's Burn on repeat, and turn on the incredible music video too.

Thanks to their flickr group, we can now enjoy the Central Park Dance Skaters all day every day. They happen to be one of my very favorite things about this city, now if only I could join them!

Oprah's on Insta. OPRAH IS ON INSTAGRAM, and it is AMAZING. "Oprie" as my family affectionately refers to the lady who tops my heroes list {I might have flown to Chicago for less than 24 hours to get a front row seat on her show, and just in case you were wondering, she is as fabulous in person as on TV.} She is 'gramming pictures of her safari in Africa, her man Stedman, and Oprah herself is looking gorgeous sans makeup in quite a few of her latest pics. 

Red Sox thank Yankees by playing "New York, New York". No explanation needed.

Can. Not. Wait. for Carrie & Brody's return to TV in September.

Hillary Clinton Tumblr Needlepoint...who run the world?

Food for thought on this Monday: "Show up with the energy and curiosity of your first day and the honesty of your last." Read on for more words of wisdom from Kate Aronowitz, Design Director of Facebook. 

P.S. Still on the search for someone to help with a few technical related changes on the blog, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Have a fabulous start to the week!

HURRICANES & HALLOWEEN & HOW YOU CAN HELP.

HELLO AGAIN, WORLD. Wow. While there really are no words to describe what the past few days here in NYC have been like for those of us in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, to say that I am immensely grateful and lucky is quite an understatement.  If you turn the corner one block, 25th Street and essentially the rest of downtown NYC, remain in the dark, without power for the 3rd day today. Miraculously, my street was the cutoff point with those to the south losing power, and I've never appreciated electricity more than the past three days.  As someone who has seen and lived without electricity in Ghana, a third world country where clean drinking water was not an option much less electricity in the area of the country I visited, I've never imagined life without this luxury in the United States. It has served as an enormous reminder of how dependent we are, all of us, on electricity to function in everyday life.  Yes that might seem an obvious observation, but honestly it is frightening to think about how much Americans depend on electricity to function in everyday life.  And furthermore, the stark realization that Mother Nature, can and has proven she will, at any given moment, strip us of these essentials, and we must find a way to continue life as normal as possible.  It is impossible to ignore the fact that these natural disasters that used to be so rare and monumental have now become a common occurrence and we have to to address these harsh conditions, rather than ignore them.  Also, please remember if you would like to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy, you can donate to the Red Cross.

Love this video which seems to be the best so far that I've seen showing the true impact of Sandy on Manhattan and the moment the lights went out in the Big Apple, pretty incredible when you stop to think about it...

      

A litte Halloween inspiration.... Do ya'll have a fabulous costume in store for Halloween? Any fun plans? Would love to vicariously live through your fun plans as due to quite the chaotic week here in NYC, I'm going to make it a low key night. 

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{Side note: Had this ready to post yesterday on Halloween, and due to a glitch in my internet  wasn't able to post it, so better late than never, right? Hope ya'll had a very Happy Halloween!}

NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OLIVE BOX.

Treat Yo' Self.. yes, I'm guilty of gifting myself (you know, To: Me, From: Me gifts!) more often than I should, and well the latest gift to myself I just had to share with ya'll.  Olive Box, founded by Grace Kang of the fabulous NYC store Pink Olive, is a recently launched subscription service for paper lovers  (I told ya'll this was too good to share!).  Based on the joy and love of good ole' snail mail, Olive Box is meant to share the love of "snail mail and paper goods of all kinds" and to reinvigorate the love over "beautiful, handwritten letters and receiving a physical gift in the mail."  I couldn't agree more with this philosophy and am so excited to receive my first Olive Box in the mail in the coming weeks. Hello, paper goodies delivered to my mailbox every month, sign me up! It really doesn't get much better than that in my book! And on a side note, a quick reminder the holidays are just around the corner, and this would be a fabulous gift idea for the paper lover on your list! 

Photos Via Olive Box

ONE YEAR...

HAPPY ONE YEAR IN NYC TO ME (and Boo Radley too, of course!).   I can't believe I did not realize that my one year anniversary as a NYC resident was several weeks ago.  To be honest, I completely forgot about it with my mom being in town and a few other things going on...it just hit me this weekend that I have lived here over a year now!  WOW and what a year it has been. I'm so thankful for the amazing experiences I've had this first year in New York, and for all of the wonderful friends I've made so far.  I could never have predicted in my wildest dreams the past year to turn out the way it did but I'm immensely grateful for each and every experience life has thrown my way.  I also believe now more than ever that with each new experience there comes a chance to learn a lesson or something about yourself and the world around you.  That certainly is the case here in New York, because every single day, without fail, I see something new.  It's really quite interesting to think what used to make me stop in my tracks to take another look no longer warrants a second glance anymore.   For me, that is one of Manhattan's biggest allures, and often the biggest drawback for those outside the city. There is something I've come to love about the day-to-day craziness, and the belief that truly anything can happen in this city, and quite often it does!

I absolutely love this article by Brett Nelson titled "Fifty Important Lessons New York City Taught Me." Such a great read and definitely recommend it to anyone who currently lives in NYC or is thinking about making the move here.  Another good article to take a look is Goodbye To All That by Joan Didion. 

Looking forward to what the next year brings in NYC and if you're ever on the fence about moving to NYC or really just outside of your comfort zone to try something new, I would say DO IT.   Don't wait.  You could convince yourself forever that you'll never have enough time, money, friends living in the city, job opportunities, whatever the excuse, they are all just that...excuses.  As the inspirational Randy Pausch, once said, "The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people." If you want it badly enough, you'll figure out a way to make it happen, whether that is moving cities or not is something only you know, but the reality is that if you want to move, then move, because I can guarantee you it will be worth it and change your perspective on life allowing you to see the world through a different, larger, lens.  I'm working on a list of my NYC favorites for anyone who is visiting and in need of recommendations, make sure to check back in a few weeks and hopefully I'll have it posted by then!

LOVING THIS JULY...

Happy 4th of July ya'll! Hope you are having a wonderful day & celebrating the holiday with family & friends.  Four days late, but didn't forget to put together the things I'm loving this month.  
I'm looking forward to the Olympics which begins in London on July 27.  I always love watching the gymnastics and reliving my glory days (ha!), yes at one point in life I was majorly into gymnastics, and those girls who make it to the Olympics for gymnastics are amazingly talented.  Then there is the swimming, and I think it goes without saying those guys have incredible bodies, and who doesn't like to watch that? Seriously though, check out the picture below of swimmer, Ryan Lochte? Wow.
  
Those who know me well (and if you don't, well you certainly should get to know me..) know that I love to throw out the phrase "Why So Serious" more than I should... I'm not one to quote anything from movies. Ever. As in I'm NEVER able to remember movie quotes or name that movie, unless it happens to be from Dark Knight, and it happens to be the phrase, "Why so serious?"  Not to mention, one of my favorite songs Pink's "Raise Your Glass" even quotes the great Heath Ledger's phrase, that definitely makes it quote worthy, right?  Well, get excited because the final Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, comes out this later this month and it's sure to be a huge hit.  You'll have to wait until July 20th to see the Dark Knight Rises in theaters, but you can check out the just released trailer here.

(source: Fireworks Image, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Dark Knight Rises, Catalpa NYC)

NO PLACE LIKE NEW YORK CITY

Last weekend I walked the Brooklyn Bridge with friends to have brunch at Bubby's in Dumbo.  It was the second time I've actually walked the Brooklyn Bridge, and I must say if you have never done that while living or visiting New York City, it is definitely worth it, and a wonderful experience, not to mention you can get some incredible photos from the bridge of the city.  The first time I ventured across the bridge was two years ago when I was living in NYC for the summer and got the bright idea to take my parents with me in the 100 degree heat to trek over a mile one-way across the bridge.   Let me just say, I highly recommend you DO NOT take your parents across the bridge in the dog days of summer to wait  in line at Grimaldi's while the pizza bus unloads with an entire bus full of people who will be ahead of you in line.  Overall, they absolutely loved the chance to see something they never would have done had I not suggested it,  and really we all enjoyed Grimaldi's pizza, probably would have thought it was amazing had we not been standing in line outside waiting for over an hour to get a slice of it! A few photo favorites from the first time across the bridge are below.  

However, this past weekend could not have been more perfect. Everything about the day, the gorgeous sunny but not too warm weather, the stroll across the bridge where I captured the photos below, and the brunch, oh the brunch was AMAZING.  Bubby's is also located in Tribeca, but I loved the spacious layout of the one in Dumbo and we did not have to wait at all to get a table which is rare on a Sunday around brunch time.  Overall it was a wonderful day, and a second great experience walking the bridge.  Have any of ya'll walked across the Brooklyn Bridge? If so, aren't the views amazing? 

Finally, that leads me to the video, A Year In New York, shown below.  I mean it speaks for itself, and reminds me there is no place like New York City.  Don't get me wrong, I love Austin, TX and I will always hold it near and dear to my heart, but I get excited every single time I return to NYC and every single day I wake up here is exciting, a new adventure, and I have no clue what I might see or experience on any given day here in the city.  There is no place like it, and the video is another reminder of what makes this city so fabulous!

WEEKEND LINK LOVE.

A few favorites for the week, and the video below which is how I only wish I started each day!  I know this has been circulating online for months now, but it's worth sharing with ya'll again, and is guaranteed to make you smile on this Sunday!

Loving this When In New York City tumblr, especially the one below:

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This post from Sarah on A House In the Hills is an incredible reminder of something we all have heard multiple times before, but for some reason, so often forget the simple principle that, "your value does not lie in your career succes, the width of your thighs, the amount/quality of things in your home or closet." Sarah goes on to say, "I'd like to remind you, you ARE enough. right this minute, exactly as you are. even before you grow your career to where you aspire it to, or lose 10 lbs, or decorate your house, or wrangle your children into well behaved munchkins. right this minute, you're exactly where you're supposed to be. just keep reminding yourself and i'll do the same. and yes, i just got all deepak chopra on your asses. good day to you. xoxo"  She literally took the words out of my mouth, as I so often find myself saying yes, I just got all Oprah on you, but it is a much needed reminder to all of us to realize we are enough, and we are exactly where we are supposed to be right now, in this moment. You can check out the rest of Sarah's post and her fabulous blog here.

And finally,I came across this post about the powerful things happy people do differently and really loved what it is saying, thought I would share my favorites from the list with ya'll. 

NYC MARGARITA MAP, AND I'M BACK!

Hi there! Did you miss me? I have been a bit MIA this week after a weekend in Austin with great friends and then a few days in Waco spent with my family which of course was pretty wonderful! How was the weekend? Did ya'll do anything festive for Cinco de Mayo? My sister-in-law had an amazing Cinco de Mayo engagement party for one of their friends and I was so impressed with her creative decor ideas for the party that I'm can't wait to share pics from it later this week when I get back to New York.  I meant to post this on Friday, but got a bit sidetracked with travel delays and was not able to get it up before the weekend.  That certainly doesn't mean I can't go ahead and post it for ya'll now! Hope ya'll are having a good start to your week & check back later towards the end of the week for new posts up on the blog! 

Via

Refinery29's NYC Ultimate Margarita Map is AMA-ZING. Not only does it break down the best margs in the city by neighborhood, it covers almost any kind of margarita you could possibly imagine. I am looking forward to trying out the delicious sounding Jargarita at Sweet & Vicious. Even though Cinco de Mayo was last weekend, it is always the perfect time for a margarita, so why not try out one of these restaurants this week, or hit up a few of these hot spots this weekend! If you do, let me know what your thoughts are on the margaritas!

Also, I am loving this jam right now, not to mention all of the latest songs by Gotye.  If you haven't downloaded their latest album, I would recommend it!

Oh, and did anyone go by and check out the Shops at Target that I was so excited about last week? Well, if not, then don't rush to your nearest Target. I am sad to report that I was really not that impressed with this first collaboration at Target.  While a few items were worthy of purchasing, I didn't see anything I had to have and certainly nothing to write home about.  Would love to know what your thoughts on the Shops at Target are if you checked them out this weekend, let me know!

BLOGGING YOUR WAY WORKSHOP

WOW, it's been a pretty fabulous week and I am so excited to share with ya'll about the AMAZING workshop I attended last Saturday led by the incredible Holly Becker, Founder/Executive Editor at decor8, LLC and Leslie Shewring of A Creative Mint.  It was the first time this class was held in person rather than online and I would certainly recommend the workshop to anyone if it is offered in this setting in the future.  

It's a two day class with the first day focusing on the creative business of blogging, and the second Leslie Shewring shared her knowledge of photography, specifically how to place and style items for photo shoots.  I was only able to attend the first day, but would have loved the chance to go both days, and hope they offer this workshop again so I can learn some of Leslie's tips on color, photography, and styling.  

Everything in the class was beautifully presented and articulated. The room was transformed into a beautiful studio with bright neon strips of crepe paper, gorgeous flowers, striped paper straws, fabulous journal from Chronicle Books on each desk with a pink and white striped paper bag containing both Holly and Leslie's business cards (fabulous of course!) and a gorgeous postcard. Every single thing about the room was wonderful and simple at the same time. 

Holly led day one of the class and focused on what she refers to as "using your blog as a catalyst to live your best life."  She reiterated and really drove home the message that your blog should serve as a tool to launch you forward in all areas of your life, and that is something that resonated with me.  In the next few weeks there will be some changes to my blog, both in style and content of posts, so bear with me please while I take the information learned from this class and apply it to my blog:)  One of my favorite suggestions from Holly was to keep a journal, and below you can see pictures of her personal journal.

Overall, one of the things I most enjoyed about the day was the opportunity to hear about and speak to an entire room full of creative, passionate and interesting women.  Holly and Leslie are both very passionate, beautiful and incredibly inspirational women.  I felt extremely honored to have the chance to learn from them in an intimate setting and can not thank them enough for the amazing workshop.  

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

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HELLO 2012!