That's how strong my love is

Today's one of those headache days where nothing will make it go away no matter what I do or what I take... so here's to trying to distract myself.

My life in pictures over the past few weeks.

My new baby cousin Trent, looking adorable and tiny in his swaddle.

Mom & Dad on their 33rd(?) anniversary. We took them out to this amazing new seafood place but sadly somehow wound up spending over $250!

Save the dates went out! I guess we're officially getting married now :D

The turkey! I actually entered this pic into an instagram contest to win a $200 gift card to one of my favorite stores... but I guess it wasn't good enough 

Another new baby cousin! Vivian stuffing her cute little face.

The tuxes! Still trying to decide if Marvin should go gray or charcoal...

Very blurry pic but some of our outrageous Thanksgiving leftovers. And these are Italian/American/Caribbean leftovers!

Our tree! We didn't even try but literally have the EXACT same setup as last year. (But this year's tree is a little bit bigger)

My new lotions from Origins! Everything on the right was free!

This is how a child was reading in class. Like seriously.

Marvin putting the angel on his mom's tree

Ah-MAZING pumpkin muffins I made yesterday!

Learn what you are, and be such.

It's been awhile! 

Life lately...

Marvin's "costume" on Halloween

My first time making roasted chickpeas! They were delicious but I tried 2 batches and couldn't seem to get them exactly right (first batch a little overdone, second batch a little underdone).

Crazy hat day at school, some of my favs who are slowly becoming the loves of my life...

Syniah:

Brooklyn (left):

Jasmine

Baked white carrots! These were so good and literally tasted like a slightly undercooked french fry. Marvin loved em too!

Some intimidating looking cranes on Flatbush Ave

Brunch after the Out of the Darkness walk. Of course only one person looked... but it was the most important person :-)

Before the walk. Blue beads mean "I support the cause. Purple means "I lost a relative to suicide"

A tiny little boy who truly believes he's batman (Adrian)

Homecooked meal from Marvin's mom: Pan fried swordfish, cole slaw made from scratch, and green beans from the farm. Also... something brand new that i tried...

Coo-coo! Yes, coo-coo. I have no idea where they got that name from, but its basically cornmeal, chilled into a block, sliced, and then fried into these delicious chewy crispy "chips." If they weren't deep fried I would have eaten a million.

Bridesmaid dresses... Check! I finally found the perfect color, honeysuckle, and can't wait to see them on the girls.

A few weeks ago at Tricia's birthday... drinks at Stone Street after. Even though Stone Street is like a frat house for Wall St. bankers, I love it there and it reminds me of Europe.

We've been drinking a lot of Sixpoint lately... this is not really one of my favs though,

I just loved how this tree looked on a perfect fall day.

Apple picking with the Clement clan.

The truth: 

Highlights of a 5-day weekend

I'm grateful for the perfect weather and LOTs of time I spent relaxing during this 5 day weekend. Here are some highlights:

Wednesday night: Obsessed over wedding planning (not really a highlight but I can't remember what else I did).

Thursday: Booked our photographer! Then ate chicken quesadillas from Mama's Taqueria

Friday: Starbucks with a coworker, bought new flats... Happy hour pumpkin beers and good conversation at 200 Fifth (which I am now, embarrassingly, the Dutchess of on Yelp). 200 Fifth is the best place for happy hour beers; all their drafts are half off and they literally have like revolving drafts. Also, they have huge windows/doors that they keep opening, making any bar seat a great spot to feel the breeze and people watch. 

Saturday: Long walk to Mr. Lime to buy some cheap fruits & veggies. Watched The Last 3 days on our couch with some cocktails. 

Our most common home cooked dinner lately: stirfry with chicken and veggies (using cotsco frozen boneless skinless tenders and frozen premium veggies)

It's perfect to bring for lunch with some cashews on top!

For some reason this giant spaghetti squash was on sale for $1.49 today. After roasting it and scraping it, we has it for dinner with some Parmesan cheese grated on top. YUM

I just finished reading The One and Only. It was okay. I'm not really into football so I skimmed a lot of pages. But I really loved the main character, Shea, and I love how the story ended. 

Now I'm onto Visitation Street. Another book that takes place in Brooklyn. Supposedly the style and plot is supposed to be a lot like Gone Girl. So far it's okay, I have been skimming pages... But trying to stick through it. 

Happiness is...

When I was in my late teens/ early twenties I always used to make the same wish- on birthday candles, lucky pennies, eyelashes, dandelions. I always wished "to be happy in the future." 

How strange am I?! I made this wish seemingly despite the current satiation I was in... I just always hoped for "true happiness" one day.

Well... Am I here now? Is this it? What is happiness?

For me, happiness is comfort, safety, security. And at least once a day laughter. And the little things that when you count, add up to a lot of things.

Like..

Costco purchases that remind me of "shopping" in my garage. Now I have a 600 count bag of Dixie bathroom cups all to myself. 

Waking up at 6am to rain pouring down on fire escape, only to remember I have the day off today... And snuggling back in the covers for a few more hours of blissful sleep.

Coffee. With cream and one sugar in my favorite Brooklyn mug.

Being reminded by a very wise person to e n j o y every moment of wedding planning. I only get to do this once :-)

On that note, getting to see the suite I'll wake up in on my last morning as a Babyatzky, and go to sleep in as a Clement (!!!!!!).....

Booking our 10 day luxurious adventurous honeymoon in Costa Rica!!!!!! And...

(Most likely) finally booking our photographer. Crossing off that to do list!

Having a parent tell me I'm their kid's favorite teacher. The years go by but that happy feeling doesn't fade.

Cleaning my ring with compressed air and watching it sparkle :-)

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.

Gosh. Choosing a photographer for our wedding is seriously stressing me out! There are just so many options and things to consider. Every time I think I found the "perfect" person, there is just one thing I don't like about what they have to offer.

Essentially our IDEAL package would be:

Photo:

• 2 photographers for 10 hours (ideally people who don't actually time it, and are okay with staying longer)
• Someone with 100% excellent reviews, someone who knows their stuff but is also willing to do whatever we want
• A mix of photojournalistic, traditional, vintage & creative style with an emphasis on natural light as opposed to flash
• Someone who uses smaller more modern cameras
• Someone willing to split time between bride & groom for getting ready time
• Online gallery available for viewing in 2-3 weeks
• 1000+ photos taken
• Complimentary engagement session (love to have)

Products

• A flash drive with all the unedited files + edited files
• A nice album or photo book, at least 10x10, 30-50 pages - for which we select the images

Video

• 1 Videographer who stays the whole time and uses a handheld digital video recorder
• Edited full length video (around 90 minutes, covers ceremony + important parts of the day)
• Edited cinematography "trailer" video w/ music (love to have)

Other

• Option of purchasing save the dates and/or thank you cards

If I could find this for $3500 or under I would literally sign a contract in seconds. Unfortunately, we have yet to find that exact "package" listed above... the packages that came close to what we wanted range from $4,500 - $10,000. No joke.

Anyway type that all out helped A LOT. Onwards.

Right now I'm reading "Resconstructing Amelia." I love it because it takes place in Park Slope. Its about a teenager who commits suicide. The book starts from the day of Amelia's death and then is written in three different points of view; Amelia's, in the few days before she dies. Amelia's mom, in the few days after Amelia dies. And then through a collection of technology snippets that Amelia's mom looks through to sort of figure out what happened (FB posts, text messages, emails, blogs post, etc). Its a pretty modern twist on a mystery and I'm actually loving it.

Today I had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season. I was so happy but felt a little bit embarrassed considering the social media mockery of white girls and their obsession with PSLs. :-/

Today is Brandon's (Marvin's nephew) 8th birthday party. Its crazy because it feels like just yesterday when we went to his 6th. Time flies

293 days until we say "I do" :D 

Some pics from the week:

Delicious Baked flounder dinner I made - I top the fish with fresh chopped tomatoes, onions, olives, olive oil, lemon juice and oregano and then bake it at 375 for 10-15 minutes. Served on top of sauteed yellow and green zucchini and whole wheat couscous

I read that bananas will live longer (not brown) if you put tin foil over the top. I honestly did not see any difference and we will still prob wind up wasting 2 of them :(

Some yummy things from our weekly grocery store trip

This adorable picture of Marvin with his parents that I just love!!!

Sun Day

I love when Marvin & I spend some of our Sunday taking a long walk down 5th avenue. Today was extra good because of our fun purchases

Farmer's Market purchases:

-Honeycrisp apples

-Green zucchini

-Yellow zucchini

-Onion

-Red heirloom tomatoes

-Yellow tomatoes

Other:

These cute Tom sandals! They were 30% off + an additional 20% off so they were $35! I <3 them. I just hope I can stand in them all day at work.

Homemade Mini Fennel Taralli from the new Italian store, Russo's

2 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc from one of my new favorite wine stored, Red, White & Bubbly

We've reached the 200s!

299 days to go until I marry my love! ❤️

Sort of copying Julie's post but here some highlights from this past week:

Spending Labor Day mostly relaxing since we got all our laundry done on Sunday. Venturing out only to get some Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger beer at the Montrose, and finally trying brunch at Alchemy. 

Having a relatively good meeting with my neurologist. 

Eating some delicious Vegan chicken salad from The Green Planet more than 2x this week. 

Surprised by The Rolling Bean at work, starting my day with an iced espresso and pineapple smoothie.

 

Absolutely loving my students this year, watching them grow as readers and writers already, hearing parents reactions (who are used to getting negative reports) when I call home to say how wonderful they're children are. 

Wine and long talks in the last balmy summer nights on the stoop.

Cooking some of the frozen wild-caught organic flounder from Costco, one of the many purchases I am so excited about. 

Making appointments for my next wedding dress adventure!!

Hearing back from our travel agent that's she's starting our "honeymoon wishlist"

New Lavazza espresso coffee we've been drinking. 

My mom getting (her words) her "dream job"

Today I'm off to the farmers market to find some inspiration for dinner.