Woohoo I’m 31!

I like looking back over the year and seeing the different things that I did 🙂 it makes me stop and be thankful for the life that I have. I really am grateful to the family and friends that I have in my life, and as I start my 32nd year I hope that I will remember these things and remember the awesome people in my life and remember to show them that I love them.

1. Last year around this time Manhattanhenge happened (oh, and I turned older). I spent it eating mussels at Petite Abeille (I love this restaurant!!) with two of my favourite people.

2. I attended a lot of bookish events, but the KGB Bar on stood out. KGB Bar is a little hole in the wall (up some stairs) in the Lower East Side that hosts literary events. Packed into a tight room, we listened to authors read and talk about their books. Plus side is you need to be over 21, so no teens at the events (even though the event we attended had a YA author). Sometimes I just want to have a literary experience with people my own age!

3. I made my own signature scent! I called it Fleur de Ciel because it’s heavy on the flowery scent and there is a touch of ambrosia in there which makes it the “scent of the gods”.

4. Went to Europe! Prague, London and Paris – with layovers in Dublin. It was 10 days of non-stop action and fun!

5. While in London I saw Les Miserables in a West End theater, on a stage with the turntable, and it was fantastic!

6. Also in London I visited the Harry Potter set – it was magical. Now thanks to Google you can visit Diagon Alley.

7. I saw a lot of BROADWAY! Jersey Boys, Chicago and Spider Man, Rock of Ages, Newsies, Phantom of the Opera … I love Broadway!

8. I also got the chance to meet Maggie Stiefveter and receive a signed final copy of The Raven Boys! It was a wonderful book and I am a fan of Maggie’s superb imagination! I’m so happy to be working at my job!

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9. On the topic of authors, I saw JK Rowling (and got a signed copy of her book for grown-ups). If you haven’t read the book you should, and if you started it and put it down you should give it a second chance. I found myself up until 4am one morning finishing the story, I was so hooked!

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10. Hung out at the Batonical Gardens in the Bronx. It was my first time there and I really enjoyed the grounds and the art on exhibit. It was a beautiful afternoon.

11. Attended a Libba Bray event at Symphony Space for her Diviners book release. It was a 1920s paranormal tale; this book really intrigued me and raised an interest in everything 1920s – what a fascinating era!

12. Hiked with some friends, enjoying the fall foliage before Sandy’s heavy hand was served!

13. Went on a tour of the LES during Christmas and witnessed the area post Sandy. I know everything isn’t opened still, but I recently visited the southern tip of Manhattan again and am happy to see the place is slowly getting back to normal.

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14. Co-hosted an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party and absolutely loved it! I’ve always wanted to do one so I am really thankful for my friends who were game enough to come with their ugly sweaters 🙂 Now all I have to do is convince them to have a Mustache Party!

15. The New Year brought wonderful engagements and I was about to head home when I got a text saying that two of my friends just got engaged! It was a lot of fun rushing over just to say “aaaahhh!!!!” and jump around.

16. The aftermath of Sandy extended into 2013 and I spent a day at Grandma’s, cleaning up. I got to put on the final touches – swiffering the floor! ha

17. Swan Lake = Swell! It wasn’t the entire ballet, but just a part with a few other ballets. It was a lot of fun. I really love Lincoln Center!

18. I saw the inside of Carnegie Hall for the first time and experienced a Night of Awesome! John and Hank Green really know how to have a party!

19. The 3rd Annual Oscar party was the best one yet!

20. The 2nd Annual Easter Dinner with The Flaming Cake! I’ve never attempted to light so many candles before, it was a load of fun.

21. I was also a part of a Book Club, we were reading The Good and Beautiful God. I loved the sessions that we had! I want more book clubs!

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22. My first football game – a Jets game, where the Jets lost!

23. I attended an exclusive Harlequin Teen event and it was wonderful! I love their imprint, they have a lot of great books!

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24. The Sandy cleanup still continues! We planted a garden in Far Rockaway and this inspired me to start my own!

25. Giving blood for the first time!

26. Actually starting my own garden – I have tomatoes! I can’t wait until they start ripening more!

27. I attended a Spiritual formation retreat where we did manuscript study and it was a wonderful time! Not only was the campus that we stayed on amazing, but the sessions were so inspiring!

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28. In the lines of all things 1920, I visited my first Speakeasy. You entered via a telephone booth!

29. Best.Brunch.Ever.

30. Saw Willy Wonka in Bryant Park – after braving a few minutes of rain! I love movies in the park, especially when you have big blankets!

31. Finally, all the tea outings and movie outings with friends and family! Not to mention the cupcake eatings 🙂

I can’t wait to see what this year will bring. 🙂

Five Things (8)

Posted in Bookish, My New York, Plateful by

These five things are brought to you by the sunny days of summer!

— Thing One —

I took a plane to Canada for my cousin’s 30th (again) surprise birthday party. His wife put it together for him and he was very surprised! It was fun hanging with my family for the weekend. I don’t get to do to Canada often because the price of tickets are often ridiculous – I mean, the flight is not even an hour, do I really need to pay 400$ for a round-trip? – and when there are folks driving up I usually cannot go due to work.

I had a great time there, the birthday was fun and the food delicious but, the best part was the cake! Not only was it delicious it was a beautiful thing to behold.

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— Thing two —

I went up to a retreat at Nyack college. First off, that campus is AMAZING! The views from the campus are spectacular, the grounds are quaint and quite beautiful and the buildings are fun! The retreat was also AMAZING. I had a great time and hung out with friends and met some lovely people. It was rainy the first night, but the next day the weather was perfect. A few of us went into town and the stores in the town were so adorable! There was a bookshop called Pickwick (I know, cute!) and I wanted to go in to see if they had any Dickens. Such a lovely place, I’m so glad I went away for the weekend.

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— Thing three —

I was at a conference where the speaker was talking about the power of word of mouth advertising and he mentioned a speakeasy that exists in New York where you enter in via a telephone booth inside of a hot dog shop; when I heard this I knew I had to go visit!

It was definitely an experience. They took reservations on the day off, but you had to call after 3pm! I called about 10-15 times before finally getting through and making our reservation. I think it’s a great spot for a small group of friends to relax and have a good time. I loved that it wasn’t crowded and that we were able to hear each other talk. It was strange, but it was really peaceful, I’d go back again!

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— Thing four —

I have a set of pink clubs, I haven’t taken it to out in about three years – since my black car! A weekend ago I did take them out, I went with a friend and her hubby to the driving range where I attempted to teach him how to hit a golf ball. For me though, the best part of the trip was seeing that I was better than I expected. I hit the balls about 95% Of the time and got it out past the 100 mark most of the time – which is pretty amazing since I only recall barely making the 75 mark. There were a few times where I even hit it past 150! I was shocked!

I forgot how therapeutic hitting a golf ball was, I think I’ll have to do it again!

— Thing five —

When you get the right group of people, the right music and the right mood, Karaoke is pretty awesome. I definitely had the right group of people this past Friday. I loved it! We wanted to go for an hour more, but alas, the rooms were all booked!

You know, I really love New York. It might not be as old as European cities but there is a lot of history here. I also enjoy the cultural mix. The fact that I can go to a speakeasy one night, Karaoke the next night and if I want some Korean food with girlfriends, I can find it if I just walk down a block or two.

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~*~

From The Diary of the Mother of the Woman With the Issue of Blood

Posted in Stories, Thoughts by

Another exercise from the weekend. I really enjoyed this one, it was a stretch of the imagination. I will have to do it again! 

My missing daughter came home today, she looked shell-shocked. She went to her room, took all her things down to the river and began to wash them. I didn’t know where she came from, she was gone before I got up – which in itself was very unusual.

I followed her down to the river, “Where have you been?” I asked, trying to keep the accusatory tone out of my voice.

Her head turned towards me and she blinked slowly, like she was waking from a dream. “I went to see the teacher, Ima. He…” she stopped here, looked down at her hands through the water, and finished in a whisper, “I am healed.”

I had watched my daughter go from village to village, seeking out anyone who could help her; this wasn’t a new thing. I had to bite down the frustration that threatened to come spilling out; the tears that wanted to choke me as I thought about the times she would return, her strength leached out of her, the sickness making her pale as a ghost.

Twelve years I watched her sink deeper and deeper into despair, branded as unclean by everyone – alone. Twelve years of pleading with her to stop wasting her money on phony healers. Yet there she stood, telling me that she was healed, and all I could think of was, here we go yet again.

I braced myself and asked the question, “When you say you were healed, what do you mean?” Continue reading →

A Sonnet from the Weekend

Posted in Poetic, Religious Musings by

I told myself that I’m going to revise this sonnet before I post it, but who am I kidding, I am me, and being me I know that I’ll tuck it away and won’t look at it until a year or so later, at which point I’ll wonder why I even wrote it in the first place! 

But, this came out of a weekend away, where we did inductive bible study on some passages in Mark and where something struck me harder and a bowling ball on the head; my way is not necessarily God’s way and if I really believe that he’s all that, perhaps I should let him… well, have his way. 

So, here is first draft of a little poem I like to call…

Love – Not Always What I Expect

I want you to fulfill my heart’s desires
To listen to my wants and make them real
But instead I find frustration spirals
And tosses me as upon angry steel.

Now I must decide, should I keep telling?
Or should I pause, wait, see what you will do?
Suppose instead of telling I’m waiting?
Instead of demands, listening to you?

What if I let you do what you do best
And let you guide my paths and lead the way.
What if I let you handle all the rest
Would I find peace rather than disarray?

If I believe that you indeed know best
Then why not be amazed, truly impressed?

~*~

Five Things (7)

Posted in Bookish, Gardening, Thoughts by

These Five Things are brought to you by the letter S and the number 7.

— Thing One —

Shanny, Shanny, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? My sister, father and I went to Home Depot and Lowes one bright Saturday morning – far too early for a Saturday morning might I add – and bought the necessary equipment for planting a small vegetable and flower garden. Later, my sister and I spent four hours digging up the earth and laying down soil and compost (mmmm, compost), and finally, planted our garden! In the front we have Burgundy Blush, Silver Star, Sensation Deep Rose and I later found some English Lavender which has a wonderful smell! I cannot wait for late spring/early summer when everything will be in bloom!  In the back we planted some tomatoes and basil – I suppose we can make it into sauce. I want to plant some peas, cucumbers, mint and maybe lettuce, we’ll see how these take.

I’m not too worried about the flowers, they are pretty low maintenance, but I am a bit worried about the tomatoes, I already see issues with the leaves so I’m going to have to do some more research on taking care of them. I am happy to report though, that they have grown in the last few weeks which makes me hopeful that they will last! Maybe the black thumb curse has been broken!

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— Thing Two —

That one time I built a reading fort, one free Sunday afternoon. One of my poles got a bit messed up after this adventure, but I think it will still be able to support the tent. There’s really something fun about pitching a tent, even if it’s in your backyard.

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— Thing Three —

If you’ve seen The Princess Diaries then you’re acquainted with her work. Meg Cabot came to visit New York and I got a book signed by her! Yay! She’s hilarious, as you can see from her blog, and she writes for kids, teens and adults. She writes a lot! After signing the books she warned us about the weather and reminded us to take umbrellas. Author and meteorologist, is there anything Meg Cabot cannot do?

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— Thing Four —

There is this place in College Point called Spa Castle and it is wonderful. That is all!

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— Thing Five —

My dad, my sister and I took a drive from New York to Pennsylvania to visit my uncle and his family. They recently moved west and we haven’t visited them since. It was a great day for visiting, no rain and with hardly any traffic (looking at you GWB) the joys of cruise control was experienced.

A lot of country jokes were made, my sister decided to play Hunger Games because they had some “woods” (see clump of trees below) and someone might have spotted a “bear” or two. However, the best thing was the welcome we received from my little cousin, Nate, as he saw us pull in – the screaming and the hugs that we experienced were priceless.

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