Blame it on Daylight Savings Time, with our 4:49PM sunsets and bordering pitch blackness come 5:30. Or you can point the finger at all of the fall into winter displays at various stores, focused on dark browns, grays, and blacks. The combination of all of the above has me obsessed with all things bright and sparkly. If I’m wearing a black dress, you’d better believe I’m finding something bright to contrast. Here are some of my favorite sparkly things I’ve been eyeing. Good ideas to add to your Christmas “want” list, to maybe buy for a friend, or indulge in for yourself as well. If nothing else, to brighten up your day just a wee bit. [Read more…]
walk me down the aisle
Music is so so important. Even if you aren’t going the play-your-own, do-it-all-via-iPhone route, you still have to have your parameters. Pre-ceremony, is it all instrumental? Is it all super soft love songs? Maybe it’s jazzy or bluesy love songs, or acoustic or instrumental variations of popular songs.
If you’re going the live route, well that’s an entirely different conversation (though not entirely unrelated).
It’s not just music. It’s the faint sounds of what you’re going to be listening to right up ’til the point you start down that aisle. It might not be that lengthy, but that aisle is going to feel like the longest walk ever. In the moments leading up to starting to make my way in, when I was so close to bursting into tears from the mix of so many excited emotions, the music really made such a difference to me. It was calming. Familiar. And a song that always for whatever reason, has always made my heart swell just a small bit.
We did our own music for all of the pre-ceremony, so for a thought starter, here you go. Check out our actual playlist, below. We went so far as to eliminate some songs along the way. You’d be surprised some hidden negative layers in some popular “romantic” songs. I think the end result is pretty awesome, though I know I’m entirely biased.) [Read more…]
the quick scoop: press your costume
Oh hello, Halloween weekend. Where’d you come from? One minute we were out on the beach, toes in the sand, and then BOOM. It’s cold and the trees are showing signs they won’t be clothed in beautiful yellows, oranges, and reds for too much longer. As always, there’s plenty happening across NYC in honor of the big weekend. Hit up Webster Hall for the official post Halloween Parade shindig starting at 8PM. For something different, the New York Botanical Garden also has their Dia De Los Muertos exhibition running Saturday and Sunday. It starts at 10AM both days. It’s also not too late to hit up the pumpkin patch. Check out these 6 spots that are actually reachable via public transportation. If you’re just looking to do something spooky-ish, this is a fun list of haunted bars across the US. I’ve been to the Ear Inn – can’t say I had anything creepy happen, but it definitely has an eerie vibe. Add people wandering the streets dressed in Halloween garb, and just might be a winner. If you’re bummed for Halloween to be here and done for the year, fear not. There’s Walker Stalker Con on the calendar for the first weekend in December out at the Meadowlands Exposition Center. Discounted tickets are available now via Goldstar. [Read more…]
let them eat cake
Wedding cake has always been a favorite of mine – in part because I love almost anything dessert-oriented and in part because it’s something you so rarely get to enjoy. The true classic wedding cakes I’ve had over the years are limited to, well, weddings! Until recently, I’d been to very few weddings over the years, making tasting a slice even that more enjoyable. I always knew that when it came the time for me, the cake selection was going to be one of my favorite “stressful” details of the wedding planning process. It was every bit as sugary delicious as I’d thought it would be.
Joking aside, there was a great deal of research that went into picking the right bakery. While I’m very into cupcakes, I also knew that wasn’t what I was thinking for our big day. That meant taking a look at additional options to select the final winner. I wasn’t aware of this going in, but many bakeries will charge you to taste. It’s good idea to first whittle down your list to the true contenders before you schedule with any – and the below considerations will help you start thinking through which ones best suit your needs/wants. [Read more…]
day trip to sleepy hollow
Even though Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow are fairly close to Manhattan (a straight shot up on the Metro North), I’ve never been. I didn’t realize just how many seasonal events take place there understandably leading up to Halloween. There’s even a special water taxi that runs between the city and Sleepy Hollow just for those couple of weekends at Halloween (for this year it was October 17 and October 24), and so M and I went up yesterday to check it out.
aerial yoga + brunch
M suggested we buy the Gilt City special for aerial yoga, citing it would pair well with some post-yoga brunch. 5 classes at $35 is a steal, so I was in. If you haven’t tried aerial yoga, it’s pretty awesome. I’m a big fan of the classes offered through Crunch. Being active in flying trapeze, I prefer the classes be heavier on the silks/aerial work than the yoga portion. The class we took today through Sacred Sounds Yoga was great, though definitely heavier on the yoga angle. Just a matter of preference. [Read more…]
the quick scoop: pumpkin-palooza
The countdown is on to Halloween, and this weekend is prime pumpkin carving time! It’s also down to the wire if you’re opting in to dressing up for the occasion. If you’re looking for some snacks to whip up while you’re carving away, I recommend giving these pumpkin cornbread muffins a go. Easy finger food while you’re focused on the task at hand.
If you’re ready to get into the spooky spirit sooner rather than later, Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg is running a number of Halloween classics over the weekend. Greenwood Cemetery has a number of special appropriately creepy evening events, but as of now they are all already sold out. Saturday is the ever-popular Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade. You might not be able to handle all of the cute. Things get underway at noon. There’s also the Halloween Harvest Festival at Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, which kicks off at 11AM. There’s a full schedule of events, including the annual canine costume contest from 1-2PM. [Read more…]
choosing a nyc wedding venue
I never thought about it this way, but your venue is your backdrop. The palette which sets the stage for your special day. For us, we didn’t have one venue going in that we had our hearts set on. This ended up being a very helpful thing, as we learned just how far out some venues book. We both really liked the likes of the Green Building in Brooklyn, but the space was booked essentially for the entire year. Insane.
And it’s not just them. This is pretty common for some of the more notable spaces in the city. If you have one particular venue you want, then a last minute, 6 months or less til wedding day approach might not be possible. If you are set on that one venue, then you should start with the venue and then plan the details from there. For us, going in we knew we wanted something that felt cozy and represented our relationship but that also had enough space to accommodate our wedding size. We ended up going with a venue that was a Brooklyn brownstone, beautiful and with enough space for our slimmed down guest list.
It wasn’t as simple though as just choosing the vibe we wanted. Choosing a venue boils down to a few main considerations you’ve thought about, and a number of additional ones that might not have yet crossed your mind. [Read more…]
6 ways working in social media is like flying trapeze
Last night, I returned back to trapeze for the first time in 6 months. I had one injury before the wedding and managed to slightly injure myself in a fall during our honeymoon, so it’s been a while since I’ve been able to attend class. Going last night though made me think about this piece I published on Buzzfeed back in June 2014. It’s still pretty much on point.
I’ve only been doing flying trapeze for five and a half years, but fighting my way to improve bit by bit over that time has led me to see lots of similarities between it and social media – as I think we can agree that at some times, our social communities can feel a bit like a circus!
Catching in mid-air
big band brunch at the heath
Last weekend was the first time we treated ourselves to brunch in the city since our wedding weekend. Hard to believe that in a few weeks, that will have been four months ago! The Heath is one of the venues associated with Sleep No More, an immersive theater experience we are both big fans of. We found ourselves plotting our next visit between rounds of brunch.
We’re on the McKittrick’s mailing list due to our multiple visits to Sleep No More. We get all of the notices of the fun activities at the McKittrick, Gallow Green, and The Heath – but this one was perfectly timed. For $35 a person, The Heath’s Saturday and Sunday Big Band Brunch includes an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet, coffee or tea, and a complimentary mimosa. Not a bad deal. This is something you should definitely book in advance (it was sold out the day we went). [Read more…]
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