Hey everyone! Head on over to the lovely blog at Treat, where I am guest blogging for the day, and you can hear more about this crazy Italian family of mine 😉 Oh how I love them dearly. By the way, the credit on this photo goes to my amazing cousin, Marisa of MisaMe Photography, and we couldn’t have captured this magic moment without her.
Speaking of family, my sister Angie, her boyfriend Adam, and my cousin Nick are on their way to Brooklyn RIGHT NOW to spend the weekend with us, and we couldn’t be more excited! We even have a babysitter for tonight. Whoo-hoo! Just a little excited, can you tell?
I have been downing one of these almost daily. They are super refreshing and hydrating for my prego body, not to mention tasty. I love to mix it up with different fruits including watermelon, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, pineapples, and more.
My husband made this receipe from Bon Appetit Magazine last week, and it was absolutely delicious! In the middle of cooking, the chicken actually ended up falling over on the grill, and he was convinced it turned out burned and terrible, but I beg to differ! It was juicy and flavorful, and I would definitely request we have this again!
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3. Favorite Wedding Hairstyle – Beautiful Top Bun w/ Headpiece
My beautiful cousin, Alex, adorned this stunning hairstyle on her wedding day last December courtesy of Creations-a-la-Nikki. I love how super-chic and classy her look is, captured by the wonderful photographer Abby Grace.
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4. Favorite Blogger – Keiko Lynn
I have been following Keiko’s blog for awhile now. I absolutely love her retro-yet-modern, punkish-yet-feminine chic style. Her blog is definitely one of those that I go to for inspiration. And her make-up tutorials are phenomenal!
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5. Favorite Funny Video – Dad Life
This video actually reminds me more of my own Dad, than of my husband, but who knows, it could only be a matter of time once Zack starts rockin’ the Dad Life style as well! Haha.
Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. We are headed down to Maryland for one last quick trip (before we hibernate in NY until the baby gets here) for my sister-in-law’s baby shower for my future little nephew! We are so excited our boys will be born right around the same time. It reminds me of growing up with my cousin, Marisa, and I hope our boys create the same type of long-lasting friendship that we did throughout the years.
Got an ever-growing baby bump, and can’t really wear sweats and a t-shirt to the office? No problem…skirt the issue! Luckily, I can pretty much wear whatever I want to work on a daily basis. However, when I have meetings or lunches with clients or advertising creatives, I do like to look presentable! This particular day, we were having a birthday lunch at the Mandarin Hotel for my boss and I, who both have our birthdays around the same time. The meal was delicious, and the view overlooking Central Park was even better. I scored this outfit at Motherhood Maternity, and both top and skirt are quite comfortable, yet presentable for the workplace.
My husband and I had a BUSY weekend. Unfortunately, we never made it to that Hester Street Fair (don’t worry girls, we will make it before August is through!). However, we made LOADS of progress on our little boy’s nursery. I completed all of my thank you cards, Zack installed the carseat and built the stroller. We figured out how to use all the stroller seats and attachments. We built the bassinet stand, swing, rock and play, and activity gym. We cleaned out the entire living room (so we can now sit on the couch), and found a place for almost everything, set up his dressers and started decorating the room. We decorated his name in wooden letters, adorned an entire wall in monkey and tree decals. We built a crib…loaded up shelves…I think there is actually more we completed if you can believe it, but my brain is too tired to think straight anymore! Not to mention my body. All this while 8 months prego, and a husband running a fever. I have to say, we were pretty proud of ourselves.
After all our hard work, we decided to treat ourselves to a little dinner out last night at a new restaurant in the neighborhood called Wheated. They boast fresh Neapolitan pizza. Let’s just say we will be returning! This whole area on Church Avenue is actually booming with new businesses and restaurants, so we discovered a whole slew of places that we need to try in the near future.
It’s a gorgeous day in NYC. If every day in August is like this for the rest of my pregnancy, I promise to never complain! It’s amazing. Hope you all had an awesome weekend, and wishing you a very wonderful week ahead!
This is my fourth and final post from the Guilty Jean series. This is one of my favorite spring/summer dresses, and I love the way the Guilty Jean jewelry adds to this boho look. It has been a ton of fun accessorizing my looks with the Guilty Jean pieces these past couple weeks. Nicole and Maria are extremely talented designers, and they put love into every single piece they make. Thank you ladies for allowing me to be a part of this collaboration!
Make sure to check out the Guilty Jean website. Besides the fact that their 20% sale is still going on for their “Sinner and Saint” and “Rockstar Buddha” collections, they have some phenomenal new pieces in their spring/summer “Love, Gypsy” collection as well!
It’s another beautiful day so far up here in the Big Apple. Hope you all have been enjoying this sunshine!
When I was a little girl, my parents went to see Phantom of the Opera, and they came home bearing a soundtrack of the performance. My sister and I started listening to it, and we quickly grew addicted. We played this soundtrack day after day, memorized all the songs, sang them around the house, and fantasized about the day that we would get to see this show ourselves.
Fast forward to about a month ago. The hubby and I now live in the Big Apple with Broadway at our fingertips. We decided that we were going to check this item off my bucket list, and we bought tickets as our Valentine’s Day present to each other. To say I was excited would be an extreme understatement. I skipped around the city for the past month giddy with anticipation. I played the songs around the house to get Zack as equally pumped up for the show (well maybe not equally.) I counted down the days until I would finally be able to see the show of my dreams.
Well, let me tell you. It was everything I had dreamed of and more. The sets were absolutely stunning. The acting was superb. The music was phenomenal. You know how you wait for something for so long (almost your whole life), and the excitement builds up, and then when it finally gets here, you are just overcome and overwhelmed with emotion?!?! Well, that was me on Friday night. Blubbering in my seat to all of my favorite songs that I had been waiting to hear live for all these years. I almost felt silly for tearing up at a Broadway show, but I just could not believe that I was actually there seeing Phantom on Broadway. Before Friday, I only knew the music. Now I could put faces and emotions and stories to the tunes. It all came together, and it was just perfect.
I cannot believe it took me that long to see this show, but I will say that it was worth the wait. I will also say that I am pretty sure there will be a “second time” of me seeing this show. So Angela, (my little sister) you better get your butt up to New York. You have no idea what you are missing!
Ok, so I know I promised I would move on to the fall season, but I wanted to share some of the last moments of summer that we spent in the Big Apple. These photos are from a visit from one of my best friends and her husband (who also happens to be a great friend as well!) They drove up from Maryland, my original home state. We explored our neighborhood (Ditmas Park) in Brooklyn, Prospect Park and the beaches of Queens. It was such a fun weekend, that I couldn’t pass up on sharing these photos. Hope you enjoy!
Yes, these are WILD parrots in Brooklyn! Insane!My new favorite local beach–Ft. Tilden in QueensHubby catching some wavesLovebirds Erin and Rai having fun in the sunApparently, this is how you sell ice cream in RockawaySurf Competition in RockawayTrophies for the winners!AmazingBesties!One of the many dream houses in my neighborhood
Playing in Prospect Park
What were some of your favorite adventures this summer? Any fun plans for the fall?
In 2 days, I will be partaking in yet another adventure. I will be running the Rock N Roll NY 10K in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Now, the fact that I am running this race is not so much the adventure. I have done plenty of races in the past. The adventure is more in the reason I am running this race. I am running for my friend John Petrovick who you see pictured above.
John was a friend of mine for 14 years. We met in high school in biology class and hung out after school on the soccer fields. John was hilariously funny and while making everyone laugh, he is also the most amazing, inspiration person that I knew. He battled through 4 years of brain cancer all while continuing to run marathons, finish law school, and remain the funny, friendly, caring person that he was.
We unfortunately lost John on April 28, 2012, but we did not lose the legacy and inspiration he left behind. John played a huge role in his doctor’s (Dr. Q) quest to cure brain cancer. He encouraged his doctor/surgeon to join him for the Baltimore Half Marathon, and they raised thousands of dollars to help Johns Hopkins departments of neurology and neurosurgery. These past few months, I have tried to continue with John’s efforts to raise money for this cause, and so far I have raised over $3,600 in his memory. My goal is to get to $5,000, so I still have a bit to go, and not much time left! I’m at 72% of my goal, and I would really appreciate your help in achieving this for John.
For those of you who did know John…you already know he was “superman.” Please join me in the fight against brain cancer. As John would say, “Inside all of us is HOPE.”
Thanks for your support, and I will update you after the race!
