Whew! This Week Was Longgggg!

Hi loves! This week has been CRAZYYYYY! I have had lots of fun obligations and I'm so looking forward to just sleeping all weekend (or just more than like 6 hours a night). 

Here are some highlights of my week and some of my favorite Internet finds/desires.

I got this in the mail today from Amazon. 

I want this for my farmer's market shopping. 

I joined this site as a way to make some extra cash. 

I met this guy on Tuesday and got to chat with him for about 5 minutes. 

I really want to make these this weekend. Yum!! 

This is one of my new favorite blogs by one of my favorites Kristen Cochran. Write that name down because she is going to be a HUGE interior designer one day (she's already pretty badass)!

Hope you all have an AMAZING weekend! XOXO

Hello....Fall?

Last week was the first day of Fall, but you sure wouldn't know it by the AMAZING weather in SF!

Seriously, everyday has been beautiful, which makes it hard to be at work. The other day I had to leave work a little early to run (a work-related) errand, so I stopped at the beach with the dog. It was gorgeous and made me so happy to live in this beautiful city.

Thursday Night As A Grown Up....

....sure looks different than college.

I also get to walk the dog, give her a bath and clean my apartment. Oh, and I'd kill to go to bed by 10. Not gonna happen :(

OMG, NYC!

Where to even begin? I got back from New York last night and it was one amazing trip. I arrived Wednesday night and the next 3 days were a blur of fun and craziness.

Thursday

Since Kristen had to work and Jared wasn't scheduled to arrive until Friday evening, I had the pleasure of spending the whole day alone exploring the city. I started off at the High Line to grab some of my favorite SF coffee in NYC at the Blue Bottle kiosk. The High Line was amazing! Such an amazing way to incorporate some nature in such an urban setting. 

Yummmmm! 

Bird House Sculpture

Cool Benches Overlooking the Streets

After grabbing a quick crepe at Le Grainne Cafe (very cute), I decided to walk to the Met through Central Park. This was about 3.5 miles away, but I felt like it would be a great way to see the city. Since there was a threat of rain, it was a pretty quick walk, but I made it just in time.

 The Mall in Central Park  

The Met

The Met was beautiful and completely overwhelming. I focused on two photography exhibits and then just did some general wandering. After about 3 hours, I decided to see if the rain stopped and walk around a bit more. Fast forward past some light shopping and more walking, and I met Kristen at her apartment with a bottle of wine for a pre-dinner cocktail (and a pain reliever for my poor feet).                                                           

These dogs were barking! 

Amanda met up with us for dinner and drinks a Public (Amanda had kangaroo!!) and then we hit one of their neighborhood bars. And, boy, did we hit it hard. There are no pictures of this, thank God.

Friday

Since I was super hungover, I spent most of the day walking around Kristen's neighborhood and playing with Jackie's puppy Nikita. I stopped at The Grey Dog for some lunch and decided to treat my hangover with a little mac n' cheese. 

So good

That evening, Jared arrived and I met him at the hotel. Since we weren't in the same city for my birthday, we decided to celebrate Friday with a date night. We had one of the best meals I've had in a very long time at Scarpetta. Fresh, homemade pasta and an amazing steak were the highlights of the meal, well, besides the company, of course :). After dinner, we had a drink on the patio (I guess that is what you would consider the area we were in) of the Standard Hotel. Such a lovely night with my favorite guy. There are no pictures because we were just too into enjoying each other's company (awwwww!). 

Saturday

We started the day by meeting Dana for brunch at Peels. I had shrimp and grits topped with a fried egg and a side of fried chicken (yes, I was being a total fat kid, I know). After catching up we headed our separate ways: Dana off to Philly for a half marathon the next day and Jared and I off to explore more of the city. Jared and I started by checking out Governor's Island, which, to both of our surprises, was totally free. We decided to rent a quad cycle to check out the island, which I was really happy about since my poor feet weren't fully recovered.  All the pics for this portion of the trip are still on Jared's camera, which is with him in NYC, so I'll post those later. 

After we left the island, we decided to walk to the World Trade Center site and we ended up also finding a moving photo exhibit in a nearby building. The pictures almost brought me to tears and reminded me of what a tragic day that was for so many families. 

We were both a little pooped at this point, so we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap and to get ready for the evening with Kristen, Chelsea and our significant others. We all met at Southern Hospitality, where Chelsea works, for some delish BBQ and drinks. After dinner, we made our way to Terminal 5 (cool venue, rude staff) for the Ghostland Observatory concert, which was AH-MAZING! 

GLO!!!

Since it was my last night in NYC, we all decided to get another drink at a bar with a great view, so we headed to Ink48. The bar had a breath-taking view of the entire city. It was truly a perfect setting to catching up with old friends on my final night on vacation. 

Ink48

ZTAs in NYC! 

The End

Sunday was a little rough, but I was so glad to get home. Perfect birthday vacation with lots of my favorite people! 

A Great Greeting

I finally made it to NYC! And, when I got here, Kristen had a really cute cake waiting for me for a belated birthday celebration. So sweet! 

Traveling Flowers

They were so pretty I couldn't imagine leaving them behind.

Sigh.

I'm really missing these two right about now. Luckily, I get to see one of them on Friday in NYC! I'll let you guess which one. 

Goodbye 25, Hello 26

Happy Birthday To Me!

In reflection of my last year, here is what I have learned:

1. It's okay to switch jobs in the pursuit of happiness.

I have had 3 different jobs in the period of 3 years. I LOVE my current job. I have some much room to learn. Are there everyday annoyances? Yes. But I generally go home every night and either don't think about work or worry in a good way.

2. Relationships may get harder, but the bond should grow deeper in the process.

Relationships are never easy all the time. But we (or at least I think we, I never want to speak for Jared)are still in it to win it. No one ever said love is easy, but it is totally worth it. * I made some edits from this original post because some of my friends made me see what I wrote wasn't coming across as I meant. Oops :)

3. Things get better with age.

I honestly feel hotter than I ever have. I work my ASS off every time I work out, whether that be at CrossFit or by myself, therefore I deserve to feel HOT right now. Bring it on 30!!!

4. Family means more than ever.

My biggest fear is to lose my Dad, but I respect the long life my Grandma Yo has lived. While I hope Grandpa is okay without her, I know Grandma has lived a full and (generally) happy life.

SO, all in all:

Live

Love

Laugh

xoxo

Carmen

Conference Report

 So far, there hasn't been much action here at this conference. I probably should have arrived today, but the booking was out of my hands. I arrived last night and promptly ordered room service and took a bath in their lovely tub. 

Today, I slept in (in the HUGE bed), then hit the gym. Expecting the regular sub-par hotel gym, I was pleasantly surprised to find a fully stocked facility. After a pretty good workout, I grabbed some food and then went back to my room until a pre-conference workshop. 

In case I haven't mentioned, this is a Catholic fundraising conference, so it's an interesting group. Lots of nuns in habits getting some looks from the other hotel guests! The organization I work for was started by an order of nuns over 100 years ago, and while we are no longer governed by the group nor do we teach any religious lessons in the classroom, we are still registered with the church. I'm not a very religious person, and I, like many others, have heard the less than favorable reportings on the Catholic church. Regardless of any other information about the church, I have to say the nuns are the kindest, most accepting group of people I have ever come across. As a whole, they have done an INCREDIBLE amount of service in our world. Sadly, there are not many new nuns, and many orders are literally dying out. With this aging population, the orders are faced with having to care for women who sacrificed worldly possessions, including money, to serve others. Since money makes the world go round, they are having trouble funding their late-life care. While I personally don't have a solution for these issues, I realize there are many issues that people face that would have never occurred to me. 

Tonight is another night of room service and relaxation, and tomorrow things will start to pick up. How's your weekend going?

Crazy!!

There's a TV in the mirror of the bathroom of my hotel!!

Hi!!

Hi there! So you may be wondering if I fell off the face of the Earth, and I'm glad to report that I haven't. I have just been crazy busy and not home very often. My travels started when I went on a vacay to Jared's family's house in Waldoboro, Maine, then I took a unexpected trip to LA to see my Grandma, who isn't doing well, and now I currently on a plane to Orlando for a conference then off to NYC for some fun. WHEW! That sentence alone made me tired! 

Pics of Maine will be up soon. It was a great time with some great friends, food and scenery. We ended up extending our trip another day due to Hurricane Irene. Aside from rain and a lot of wind, Irene wasn't too bad. We even spent most of the day of the hurricane playing outside.

LA was a bit stressful and sad, as my Grandmother (my Mom's Mom) is declining. She is 89 years old and has lived a long eventful life. It was nice to catch up with my Mom's side of the family, but I wish we could have gathered for another reason. Grandma is currently in an amazing nursing home, so we are glad she is safe and as comfortable as possible.  I'm a little worried about my Grandfather, but they luckily have great neighbors to check in on him everyday. 

Now for Orlando. I'm going to a fundraising conference for work, which I think will be really beneficial and a great learning experience. Unfortunately, I will be spending my birthday there, but I honestly don't love my birthday anyways. Since I have to work over the weekend, I'm going to take Thursday and Friday off to go to NY to visit some of my favorite friends (and ZTA's!). Jared is going to meet me there on Friday to have a late birthday celebration. All in all, it should be a great trip and I promise to be better about posting! How have you been?!