a long easter weekend.

thursday morning my sister and her little man flew out to spend easter with us & it was wonderful.  better than wonderful, in fact.  having her and niko around, totally made my month & easter that much more special.  it has been 4 years since she's visited our little home and i was more than happy to show her around.

while in town, we took them to their first hockey game and road-tripped to michigan to spend the weekend with our extended family.  to break up the 8-hour road trip, we stopped in buffalo to meet up with one of my sister's old roommates for coffee and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring niagara falls.  it was a beautiful day- so we really lucked out- & lindz got some awesome shots (although the below pic is courtesy of niko).

after an remaining five hour ride, we finally arrived in michigan.  my other sister had arrived that evening as well, so it was a full house.  we spent the rest of the weekend catching up with one another and the family, playing cards, games, hiking in my grandparents backyard, exploring ann arbor (of all weekends we had to visit, it was hash bash) and celebrating easter- complete with a brunch & an egg and beer hunt.

the ride home wasn't too bad, but the weekend went much faster than i would have hoped.  i had so much fun sending time with everyone & loved the all the company.  especially that of the little man who can belt out jason aldean's dirt road anthem, asks "why?" after everything you say, and starts each sentence with "an jen."  melts my heart.

it was a totally awesome easter & we had such a great time.  this is the second year i've trekked it to michigan to spend the holiday with our grandparents and family & i hope to keep this tradition alive for more years to come.

surprise par-tay!

remember a few weeks ago when i posted about my red & white stripe crush?  well, after all the anticipation, the secret theme was revealed at a surprise party for a.!  it was a great fiesta that surprisingly went off without a hitch.  the birthday boy was shocked- completely flabbergasted- and excited to spend the evening with friends from near & far.

i hosted the party at a local, mellow bar close to home.  since i was out of town until wednesday, i knew going into this i couldn't stress- and so, much to my surprise, didn't.  i ordered a bit of striped paper before i left, purchased a cake, sent out the invite and made arrangements with the venue.  while away, i brainstormed a few decor ideas and once home, got to work.

i called my girls on friday afternoon in a mild panic hoping we could meet up at someone's home for an impromptu craft night.  and being the rock stars they are, were thrilled to partake.  we cut piles of circle disks and mustaches from the aforementioned paper.  we hot glued the 'staches on some sweet paper straws i ordered from amazon and taped the paper circles on wooden disks for drink tickets.  we also cut out a few flags for toothpicks so guests would have something other than their fingers to grab food.

the night of, friends gathered and we waited for the party to kick off.  a. was lured to the bar with false hopes of watching a lacrosse game over some great beer and instead, entered the bar to the sound of noise makers and a jubilant "surprise!"  honestly the night couldn't have gotten any better.  joining us were great friends, good food, fun tunes, and mustaches! 

yay for birthdays & surprises...double yay for surprises that go off without a hitch and a birthday boy who had a ton of fun.

mr. a & the big 3-0.

i can't believe it.  despite a couple deployments, we've spent 11 birthdays with one another- celebrating our ripe "old" age.  when i first met a. it was in high school and he refused to tell anyone his birthday- and even took extra precaution to make sure no one got their hands on his license.  i still like to joke it was an attention thing...he still laughs and says it probably was.

and that's just one of the things i love about him...he laughs at himself and makes me laugh along with him.
he loves nature, adventure & good 'ol fashion, clean fun.
he can play the guitar, piano and dabbles on the harmonica.  not bad babe.
he laughs so hard his eyes tear up and loves food so spicy that he sweats.
he finds mowing the lawn relaxing and hates folding the laundry.
he enjoys managing our finances and spending money.  
he's kind, and caring and gentle.
he makes time to snuggle.
he's served his country both here and overseas.  positively & with no regrets.
he offers to make dinner and then orders chinese take-out.
he's honest and fair and full of love.
he's truly my best friend and best hubby ever.

he's my main man & i'd follow him to the moon and back.  because he's just that amazing.  
happy birthday mr. a.  
i am still very much in love with you.

happy "whatever age you are!"

technically, her birthday was yesterday- but i'm in the spirit of a double celebration, since you only get to turn twenty-something once!  so lindz, how do you feel, now that you are the age you are?  happy birthday week! xxo.

the beginnings of a san diego christmas.

we arrived in san diego yesterday.  our flight went exceptionally well and we actually landed early (gotta love when that happens!).  when we arrived, sunny san diego truly lived up to it's reputation with  crisp winter air, blue skies and plenty of palm trees.  the undoubtedly beautiful day welcomed us warmly home.

(the above pictures are from our flight.  we passed over what we believed to be colorado- and were instantly mesmerized by the snow-covered ground (that's way more than we have in ny right now) and mountain tops.  the other image is actually the cover of the united in-flight magazine.  it made me happy.)

we were excitedly welcomed with giant bear hugs and smiles.  which also makes me happy.  seeing niko, our little nephew, and a. together- was one of the highlights of my day.  they were so excited to see one another.  it'd been far too long.

 most of the afternoon, niko and i played outside- spying lemons, riding scooters and rescuing lizards.

we found this poor guy in a bucket of cold water and thought he was dead.  trying to keep my "brave tia" facade, i picked up the little guy to give niko a better look and put him somewhere peaceful.  while holding him, my tough, brave image went instantly out the window- the instant he moved!  that's right, the poor guy wasn't dead- but was freezing.  so we moved mr. lizard to some sunlight and kept a careful eye on his recovery.

later that evening we went to a friends house for dinner and games.  we watched the sunset and christmas lights sparkle over the san diego skyline...wrapping up a wonderful day, perfectly.  it feels so good to be home for the holidays.

this panoramic image is a new ap i found for my iphone.  i'm not yet certain how i feel about it- though i'm pretty sure many of the issues i'm finding with it are due to human error.

my sister's visit.

one of the best parts of thanksgiving was having family stay with us.  we love it.  and hopefully they do too.  it's not very often our families fly out this way to visit, so when we have family in town, we are stoked.  this morning was a bit bittersweet since we just said goodbye to a.'s parents, but my little sister madeline is still here celebrating the holiday.  and celebrate we will.

one of the challenges of our home is that it's small.  scratch that.  our home is perfect for the two of us, but when you add other people into the mix, the house get's crowded fast.  you see, we live in a two bedroom, two bath townhouse.  and we love it.  the spare bedroom operates mainly as an office and doubles as a guest room (gotta love a pull out couch) when necessary.  in this case, the guest bed was reserved for a.'s folks.  and i wasn't about to have my little sis live on the couch for a week.

a. and i have been talking about finishing the basement for some time. it's a daunting task, but with madeline coming to visit, we knew it needed to get done.  only, we didn't start early enough.  basically we framed two of the four walls before madeline arrived in town.  so we had to get creative.  and creative we were.

using found objects from around our house, a. and i crafted a cozy little space in a basement for madeline's stay.  we pulled out our old guest bed (it retired once we found the pull-out couch) and set that up over large blankets that served as rugs.  for a head board, we opted to use a large cut-out sign that we used for a friend's 30th.  we thinks it totally makes the room.

to create walls, we took old curtains and stapled them around the perimeters of the space.  the soft look actually turned out quite nice and while it didn't do much to muffle the sounds of running water, the heater or sump pump, it did keep our daunting piles o' crap hidden.

since madeline is working from our house next week, we also wanted to create a quiet work space for her to use.  so we pilfered an old table, lamp and plant to make her her very own "office."  all said and done, we are really proud of this little space.  & while you won't find this on hgtv (unless it's for a before picture), it really made our little house the perfect size for a group of five.

so there you have it.  the perfect make-shift room.  because nothing is too good for my sis.

side-note: we'll be continuing the basement remodel this weekend and next week.  we hope to have everything completed before christmas.

weekending.

as always, the weekend goes so much faster than i would like.  as a surprise for my mom, a. and i decided to take her on a road trip.  to steer her away from our intentions, we told her we were spending the weekend in hershey, pa and gettysburg.  we hopped in the car friday afternoon and thanks to some serious traffic leaving our city, didn’t officially hit the road until close to 5pm.  originally we weren’t going to leave until saturday but with a work crisis coming to a head, i had to be in the office on monday.  boo.

as we drove into hershey via the freeway, the gps still read another 2 hours.  my mom was convinced i inputted the address incorrectly or the gps was just plain wrong.  as she pulled out her trusty iphone and mapped our location, we bought ourselves some time by telling her the hotel was closer to gettysburg than we thought.  once we reached gettysburg, our cover no longer worked. 

we broke the news that we were surprising her with a trip to dc to visit her best friend and my aunt.  yay!

some highlights of the trip: we spent saturday afternoon in georgetown and tried oysters at j. paul, went shopping at anthropologie and paper source (love!) and spent 45 minutes standing in line for georgetown cupcakes (we tried: coconut, chocolate birthday, chocolate 2, pumpkin and salted carmel…super scrumptious).  before the ride home on sunday we made our normal stop at trader joes and then went to ikea., for some basement remodel ideas.  we didn't have enough space in the car, but we got some great loot.

we had a great time and it was so nice to be together.  sure, it's a long trip but as always, it's worth it.  

my mom's in new york!!

my mama just arrived and i'm so excited.  it's been forever (about two years) since she's been out here and i can't wait to show her all my favorite spots around cny and spend long hours catching up!  i also have a few diy projects up my sleeve that i can't wait to do together.  

love you mom and we're so happy you're here! xxo

photo circa 2009

a washington wedding.

last weekend a. and i drove to dc for a wedding.  actually, it was more than a wedding.  it was the first time a. saw his family since he came home from afghanistan.

it was an amazing reunion.  we spent the better part of saturday walking the streets and spending time in museums.  then there was the wedding and what an affair that was.  the wedding was held in a stone church nestled in the streets of dc.  very quaint, very swanky, very elegant.  the bride and groom looked amazing (too bad our pictures didn't turn out) and jetted off to take pictures on the lincoln memorial before the reception.  the reception was held at the willard and my oh my- was that a party.  ah-mazing food, a live band and tons of dancing.  not a bad saturday night.

sunday was the perfect day in dc.  we had a nice breakfast and spent the better part of the morning exploring the monuments.  the leaves were starting to change and the weather was warm, so by the time we made our way to the fdr monument, the shade and man-made waterfalls were a welcome surprise.  once we decided it was time to eat, we headed back into the city to the taste of dc for a sampling of local food and drink.  it was a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon.  once we said our goodbyes to a.'s parents, we had dinner with his brother and sister-in-law and we then decided to walk the monuments at night.

and what a sight that was.  the monuments are quiet and serene under the moonlight.  very few people venture the parks after dark, so with the exception of a few locals and some die-hard tourists (ehem), we were the only ones out there.  we saw the washington, lincoln, korean and world war 2 monuments.  after a lot of walking and some achy feet, we headed back to the hotel for a much needed night of sleep.

monday consisted of breakfast, some more goodbyes and our road trip home.  since we only had one headlight (a huge shout out to maryland deer), we wanted to make it home before dark.  we drove home talking about everything we did and commented over and over again about how much fun we had.  it was an awesome weekend and it was so wonderful to see family.  i know everyone had a great time & we build some killer memories.

weekending.

for the long weekend, i jumped on a plane and headed to the land of eternal sunshine.  aka, san diego.  it was a busy weekend full of friends, laughter and fun.  i always love going home, regardless of how tired i am when i return.

i made the trip for my good friend kelsey's wedding.  seriously, cutest. ceremony. ever.  the wedding had a boardwalk-meets-1950's theme and my good friends, many who i've known since kindergarten, were there for the festivities.  it was so great to dance, catch-up and drink good wine.

i spent the rest of the weekend making time for family and friends.  i was finally able to meet cammie, my sweet friend's daughter over brunch and some much needed girl talk.  i went to a great roadside farm stand on our way to the race track.  it's claim for fame?  wolfgang puck buys his produce there.  everything was heirloom, organic and triple the cost of a grocery store.  i of course, had to take pictures.

we ventured to the race track.  i bet on the horses with the coolest names and prettiest colors.  i think luck was on my side...i won $3!  i helped my super-crafty sis* make invitations for a birthday party, took my other sis on a death march-turned-girl talk, had a fabulous barbecue with the inlaws, sister in law and niece.  there was swimming, fire pits and make-believe.  

saying good bye is always the hardest part.  so i ventured to the sister-in-law's with family in tow for one final hoorah (and the yummiest ice cream ever).  after getting caught up in chatter and niece/nephew playtime, i nearly missed my flight (not that another day in san diego would have been a bad thing) and left san diego in the manner i arrived & played...full speed ahead.

i won't be back until christmas, but these little weekend getaways always remind me how good it is to be home!

*in 15 minutes, my super-crafty-sis managed to teach me, her computer-illiterate sis, a thing or two about photoshop.  she's a genius.  i learned more from her in 15 minutes than i have in a month- you can thank her for the most-awesome photo montage.

30 years.

my parents met in high school and fell in love.  they dated through college and after they got married, they had four two little girls & moved from michigan to california with nothing more than a dream.  together they started building a little life and had two more little girls.  they sacrificed so much to make sure their babies went to the best schools, were involved in the right activities and had the opportunities to do amazing things. 

they surrounded us with music, art, mechanics, the outdoors, bike riding and tennis games.  we learned to play racquet ball on the outdoor courts and went on morning trips to home depot.  we went to fish markets and farmers markets.  learned to make floral arrangements and use our very best manners.  they gave us the ultimate childhood, bundles of love and so much more.

these dreams came with sacrifices.  there were hard times and long days.  but throughout the years, they stayed united and fought to build a better life for their little ladies and themselves.  now, 30 years later, they support one another and continue to follow their dreams and work toward their goals.  they have such a unique, honest & genuine love for one another.  it is my dream that over the next 30 years, that love continues to grow and continues to build upon this beautiful relationship.

a very happy anniversary to my mom & dad.  thanks for forever being amazing role models and proving to us over and over again, that love really does conquer all.

{a. with my mom & dad}

carrots.

{via}

years & years ago, when i first started eating solid food, my mom learned that i liked carrots- a lot.  so, she fed them to me all the time.  and as the story goes, her fair-skined, red-headed little girl, started turning orange.  of course, as a brand new mama, she had no idea why.  so she rushed me to the doctor.  the doctor took one look at me and pulled his stethoscope up to his ears (insert doctor smirk here) and asked what i liked to eat.  

carrots, said my mom.  she loves carrots.

how often do you give her carrots? asked the doctor.

well, that's all i can get here to eat... replied my mom.

hmmm. responded the doctor.  i bet if you fed her something else, she would probably stop turning orange.

happy mother's day to all the mama's who have and currently are, learning to raise us through trial & error.  to all the moms who have spent countless hours loving and teaching and listening to each of us as we grow.  to each of you who spend countless hours setting guidelines, teaching manners & morals and stressing the importance of safety & heathy lifestyles.  and of course, to the moms who sacrifice so much so we can have amazing, life-changing experiences so we can grow up to be the people you dream for us to be.

and to the one mom, who not only did all this, but also opened me up to a world of veggies outside of carrots.  i love you.

easter. a week (or two) later.

easter weekend was spent in michigan with my grandma and moshu, aunt, uncle and cousins.  believe it or not, the drive from syracuse isn't long at all.  about 6 1/2 hours via canada (not including a few stops for gas and wait time at the borders).  but when push comes to shove, it's not all that bad.  even when riding solo.  

after a great drive- despite the weather, i made it over the bridge from canada and onto the home stretch.  then, 6 miles from my grandparents house, my car died.  seriously.  i had to call a tow truck to get it to an auto repair place.  and of course, because if it wasn't already bad enough, i got in a) late enough that everywhere was closed and b) on a holiday weekend, guaranteeing no one would be open.  needless to say, i was planning to drive home monday, so this was just fabulous*.

despite the car issues, the weekend was outstanding.  spring was in full bloom & i had so much fun spending time with the family.  we ventured to ikea and i picked up some great duds for the casa.  a duvet cover, candle holder, shelf, and a colander.  my grandma and i drove around michigan looking at homes and neighborhoods.  i watched dumb & dumber with moshu.  easter brunch at la sala (i convinced the cousins to dip bacon in the chocolate fountain.  i totally would have, but the vegetarian thing go the best of me).  hiked for miles with radley and saw deer, wild turkey & peacocks.

it was such a great time that i'm determined this will become an annual tradition.  i figure next year, in addition to radley, i'll have my favorite travel buddy with me and the road could go on forever and ever.  our car could die (although this wouldn't be preferable) and with our easter baskets packed, and a long weekend ahead of us, it'd be another adventure in the making.

*my car got fixed.  luckily, it sounded worse than it really was.  the nice guys at the auto shop took the time to fix it first thing in the morning since i told them i had to get on the road.  long story short, the guys back home didn't put my calipers on right after fixing my brakes.  with a short adjustment in michigan, the car was up and running in no time.

gonna party like it's your birthday.

meet madeline, formerly maddie.  she's my little sis & today is her birthday.  madeline, without exaggeration, you are one of the most inspiring people i know & i am so thankful to have you as a sister.  you live a contagious lifestyle of grace, humor and kindness- you're the kind of friend everyone should have.  while i would love to surprise you & be there to ring in another birthday- please know i am thinking of you during this birthday extravaganza.

thank you for being such an amazing little sis.  for always saying yes to long days at the pool and afternoon trips to the beach.  for never turning down an adventure (even if that meant a nighttime hike or homemade rockets) and for letting lindsay & i surprise you with leprechauns.  thank you for showing me the importance of loyalty, for teaching me the art of living genuinely & why we all should be standing up for everything we believe in.  i am so proud of all that you are and can't wait to see all the amazing things you are going to do with your life. 

i love you mad.  so very much.  happy birthday to you. 

"We know one another's faults, virtues, catastrophes, mortification's, triumphs, rivalries, desires, and how long we can each hang by our hands to a bar. We have been banded together under pack codes and tribal laws." ~ Rose Macaulay

san diego in pictures.