thanks for the memories

last weekend, my friend dillon passed away, so i just wanted to take a minute and reflect on the impact that he had on others. he always had this huge grin on his face and you couldnt help but smile when you saw him - he was a good kid with a big heart and i know he will be missed. dillon, i hope you find the peace you were looking for. we wont forget about you <3

just one of those nights that i have to share

on october 23, i turned 25 years old. i was spoiled by my family and friends, starting with a breakfast at the madison cafe with my former roommate sully :) then we had an afternoon visit from michele and sean, the cutest married couple ever :) they treated us to dessert at crisan, and then we stopped by the best gift store everrr, on lark street :)

sean, michele, and the little marzipan man that sean was slowly dismembering

later that night, our friends came over to see our new apartment and have a few cocktails before we hit up bombers for the free margarita, and then hollywood for some pool, and then lionheart for darts, and then... well, i'm just going to post pictures because i dont remember much of that night :)

back row: geoff, eric, joey, jurian, cayden, pierre, jake
front row: bryande, birthday girl, jermain
as pierre would say, 'we roll deep" :)

bombers...

hollywood...

lionheart?...

thank you to everyone who celebrated my birthday with me :) xoxo

step into my office, baby

so i ended up making another typography painting/poster for my new office. The color of my walls are a yellow/goldish hue, so i mixed a cadmium red with a pink rose, so it would stand out but not be too intense.

all is pretty. - andy warhol

and i've always loved this quote by andy warhol- 'all is pretty'- i think that about sums it all up :)

on my other wall, behind my desk, i hung my 'tree of life' poster, by klimt. i'm a big fan of all of his work (we have 'the kiss' hanging up in our apartment) but i knew this piece would also go really well with the wall color.

tree of life by klimt

so, this is my cozy little corner of the Y :)

days like that should last and last and last

the boyfriend and i were fortunate enough to spend time with both of our families this past weekend :)

friday night we drove into broadalbin to support a fundraiser that my dad was participating in called real men can cook. basically, men in the local communities volunteer to cook one dish each, and tickets are then sold for a 'buffet-type' meal, with all proceeds going towards breast cancer awareness. my dads been involved for the last 3 years, and we always make sure to attend because the food is so yummy! (this year he made a tomato pesto soup and he named it after me :) my mom, grandparents and i also entered a few raffles, so fingers crossed that we win that wheelbarrow full of adirondack goodies :)

and today, we celebrated our trio of october birthdays! joeys mom and sister both have birthdays in october, as do i :) so every year we get together for a big dinner and to exchange presents. first, we went to red lobster and filled up on yummy cheddar biscuits... then we had everyone back to our apartment for cupcakes and gifts :) i got a pineapple themed basket, with a whole pineapple!, a pineapple wedger, mai tai mix, and a book with different drink and appetizer recipes. this made me think it's time to start those dinner parties up again with the gang :) i also got some very sweet office materials for my new job, (along with a hip new tote bag) so i can be fashionable, and functional at the same time :) thanks guys! we hope you liked your presents too!

<3

say that you'll be true and never leave me blue...

i was inspired by some graphics posters online and feeling crafty this past weekend, so i created this little guy below. the canvas is something like 4 1/2 feet wide by 3 feet tall and i just used a tube of blue cerulean for the background to really brighten the place up.

*big love

i love how the big white helvetica type pops against the blue :) i think i'll make another one for my office...

baby, we were born to run

congrats to the boyfriend for running his first half marathon this morning! that's over 13 miles, in case you're wondering...

runner #2572

annnnd, he finished with an incredible time of 2:07! without any training.... what a punk :)

i miss the warm, and i miss the sun

finally posting pictures of my little herb garden... right now we have a very healthy assortment of basil, parsley, thyme, and pineapple mint :) and just for fun, we added some wildflower seeds and bearded blue iris's to another pot... fingers crossed that they have time before the frost sets in!

my mini garden :)

our sunny deck

slender threads and things to treasure

i moved into my new office this past week and got my very first visit from my favorite godson and his mama :)

after leland chewed on some empty boxes, random furniture, and a coffee cup - we took him for a little workout in the downstairs gym. kristin and i chased him around the basketball courts until he wore himself out and then i carried him around and showed him off :) im such a proud god-mommy <3

and! i would like to give a shoutout to the very nice man who helped me pay for my chinese dinner wednesday night. he was waiting at the counter to order his food when he heard the woman tell me that my meal came out to $5.13. as i headed over to the atm (because all i had was a 5), he stopped me and offered to help me out. now, i understand that this was only 13 cents, but it makes me so happy when someone goes out of their way to help a stranger, and it put a big smile on my face for the rest of the night :) so, pay it forward people!

hearts and thoughts...

i was going through some of my old computer files and found my favorite poem, so i thought i'd share it with the blogosphere... enjoy :)

I wrote a good omelet,

and ate a hot poem...

after loving you.

Buttoned my car,

and drove my coat home,

in the rain...

after loving you.

I goed on red,

and stopped on green.

Floating somewhere in between,

being here and being there...

after loving you.

I rolled my bed,

turned down my hair,

slightly confused but I don't care...

Laid out my teeth,

and gargled my gown.

Then I stood,

and laid me down,
to sleep...

after loving you.

-Nikki Giovanni

you and me have a better time

the boyfriend and i decided to visit the new fresh market in latham this past friday, and i would like to warn everyone that it is very hard to leave that place without spending a serious amount of cash. if you're an admitted 'foodie' like i am, you cant help but be dazzled by the rows of fresh organic produce and the yummy snack food isle that is stocked with all of the trail mix fixin's your little heart desires.

after careful consideration, we headed home to whip up our fancy dinner for the night. i cooked while the boyfriend concocted his famous dirty martini (with blue cheese stuffed olives- yum!).

chef guff :)

portabello ravioli with vodka sauce and a dirty martini

it wasnt until we sat down to dig in, that we realized we had made a vodka sauce to go with our portabello raviolis, and vodka martinis to drink. hmmm... vodka anyone? :)

everybody wake up, its time to get down

we recently celebrated our friends 26th birthday at both bombers and then the beirgarten. if you're unfamiliar with those two places, i will simply explain by telling you that bombers provides a gigantic free margarita on your birthday, while the beirgarten bestows a large beer-filled boot on your special day.

geoff & jermaine & the margarita at bombers

geoff and the beirgarten boot

now, lesser men have tried and most likely failed in the past, but our dear friend, geoff, drank both in one night, which should give you an idea of the debauchery that ensued :) plus! the birthday boys parents and our newly-wed friends were in town visiting, so we had a lot to celebrate...

the gang at bombers, september 24 2010

come on, come out...the weather is warm

last weekend was our first larkfest as downtown-residents! it was a bit noisy, but we loved every minute of it :)

us <3

the gang was all there, plus one– yajaira came to see what all the hype was about :) – and we wandered around lark street from noon until about 5pm. there were so many great booths to shop at, but we found one in particular where we spent most of our time/money--> Tiane Novati Modiste. luckily they have an etsy shoppe that you can check out if you didn't get a chance to visit them at larkfest.

afterwards we spent some time at a friends apartment on willette, where we relaxed, played a little catch phrase, and shawn practiced his pull-up technique....? :)

willette street, albany ny