Three Years

Eric and I had a wonderful anniversary last week! I just can't believe it has already been three years for us. Time flies when you're having fun, apparently!

The day of our anniversary was a busy one for me. A few weeks ago, I came up with a plan for Eric's anniversary gift and was ready to put it in motion. My idea was this: I would make a scrapbook of our marriage, with a page for each year. Every year I would fill a page with my favorite pictures of us from that year, mementos, stickers, etc. My hope was/is that someday, at our 50th Anniversary Party, we can have this scrapbook sitting out for people to flip through - you will be able to see our whole life together in just 50 pages. I figured it may not be realistic to expect to have the time to make a big fancy page every year, but I thought even the way I approach each year's entry will say so much about where we are in our life together. For example, maybe the year we have our first child will be crazy and I won't have the time to put a lot of effort into a page. But really, for that year, all I have to do is glue a picture of the new kid to a piece of paper and that pretty much says it all, you know? I just think it will be a great way to look back on our marriage, and maybe my kids and grandkids will get a kick out of it someday, too. I know I would love it if my grandparents had something like that - how cool would that be to look through?

To tie this gift idea into the traditional third anniversary gift of leather, I ordered a nice leather scrapbook online to put my first three pages in. However, the shipping on said scrapbook took forever and the thing didn't show up at our door until the morning of our anniversary! So I spent all day frantically cutting and gluing and decorating my three pages. I must say, it was quite a challenge to choose which pictures would go on each page, because we have done so many incredible things in our three years. It was hard to fit it all in! But I finished up just in time for Eric to come home from work. Success!

To celebrate, we went out to dinner at Puttanesca, a local Italian restaurant we have been meaning to try. We had a delicious meal: red wine, fried calamari, chicken parmigiana and white clam linguine. Yum! We also had a great time reminiscing about the last three years and reflecting on how our relationship has changed and grown since we have been married. It was great conversation.

We didn't get a photo of us together at dinner, so this collage of each of us individually will have to do.

After dinner we walked home, stopping to pick up a bottle of champagne on the way. When we got home we opened that champagne and exchanged cards and gifts. Eric gave me a lovely card, in which he wrote some really nice things. Then I gave him his gift, and as soon as he opened it, he had me open my gift from him. He had been describing his gift as more of an "idea" than a gift, so I was interested to see what it was.

Care to guess what it was?

It was the exact same thing I gave him.

Eric took manila file folders from work, one for each year of marriage, and inside each he glued pictures from that year and a list of some of the year's most memorable moments. He said he intended it to be a sample of a scrapbook we could make together, but I had already made it! I felt badly that I had gone ahead and done it when we could have done it together, but Eric assured me I did a great job. I decided to incorporate his idea of the list of memorable moments into my scrapbook "vision," as well - now in the future, we'll make a list like that and put it on the page opposite my photo page. I was just so touched (and surprised!) that Eric thought to do the same thing! How is that even possible? That boy is a keeper.

Two of Eric's file folders, and two pages of my scrapbook.

Apparently I made Eric feel insecure about his crafting skills, but I thought he did a great job.

We spent some time looking through all the pictures and comparing our two scrapbooks. We really picked up on a lot of the same memorable moments in both books, which was neat to see.

After our gift exchange we settled in to finish off the champagne and watch our wedding video, which is always great fun. It was just such a wonderful day.

And that was our third anniversary! I am so lucky to be married to such an incredible man.

Moments

This week, Eric and I were talking about this blog and I was trying to explain one of the things I love most about blogging: how it enables me to capture moments that might otherwise be forgotten. By keeping the blog up-to-date, I end up recording many more details of our life together than I would in, for example, a regular photo album. I love that looking back at the blog will remind me of things that may otherwise slip my memory. For example, I will always remember that we had an incredible view from this apartment. But will I always remember the colors of the sunset reflecting in the buildings? Will I always remember the moon rising over Rockefeller Center? Will I always remember the way the Empire State Building lights up the clouds on a foggy night? Thanks to this blog, I know I will.

Today is our third wedding anniversary. Third! I can hardly believe three years have already passed so quickly. In light of my "moments" train of thought, I've been thinking about moments from our wedding that I hope to always remember. Sure, I recorded the big stuff in my very first anniversary blog post, when I recapped our wedding day and how incredible it all was. But I want to be sure to remember the little details, too, and I'm not talking about planned details like the centerpieces or ceremony programs. Rather, I'm talking about the little moments and details throughout the wedding day and week leading up to it that meant so much to me, I still smile when I think about them. Details like...

...how delighted I was when I walked into my bridal shower and saw everything the hostesses had put together for me: the food, the decor, the games, all of it. My family put so much thought into what I would like and they got it just right!

...tearing up for the first time of my wedding week when Molly gave me the first of many scrapbook pages she made, using old letters I sent her about Eric when we first started dating. As soon as she gave it to me, I cried. I looked forward to getting new pages all week long!

...the "poofs" Heather gave all the girls for Night #1 of my bachelorette party! Snooki totally copied off us, I'm sure of it.

...going to Busch Gardens with Molly and Megan to see Heather perform the week before the wedding, and running through the rain to get there!

...putting together bridesmaid bouquets with my mom. She and I are the most "OMG EVERYTHING MUST BE SYMMETRICAL" people, and we were the ones charged with making the bouquets look "random." It was a tough task.

...Eric's face as we practiced our vows at the wedding rehearsal. I think that was when it all really hit him, and it was very emotional.

...having all our family and closest friends together for dinner the night before the wedding. It was casual, fun, and all-around perfect.

...sneaking off with Eric towards the end of the rehearsal dinner to practice our first kiss. Of course, at the actual ceremony, all our plans went out the window!

...the looks on my bridesmaids' faces when they opened the photobooks I included with their gifts, and the groomsmen's reactions to their personalized bobbleheads.

...the final stages of getting ready on the wedding day. The limo had arrived and I wasn't dressed yet, so we went into full-on rush mode. My mom helped me into my dress and then my dear bridesmaids rushed around helping me with the finishing touches. (In the photo below, my mom is lacing up my dress and Megan is helping me with my bracelet.) On any normal day I would have been stressed about being late, but I was just too happy to be stressed.

 ...seeing myself for the first time as a bride. I was so excited!

...listening to Heather's solo from a tiny room outside the sanctuary before I processed in, and peeking through the doors at the congregation.

 ...Eric's face as I walked down the aisle. He was the only person I saw in a church full of people.

...THIS:

...holding hands during the entire ceremony. It just felt right.

...the way the gardenias on my prayer book bouquet smelled as I listened to the Pastor's message.

...Eric wiping my tears during the ceremony.

...my cousin Jacob completely surprising nearly everyone by coming all the way from Hungary for the wedding! I saw him as we recessed out of the church after the ceremony and yelled, "Jacob!!!"

...Heather and Ronnie dancing their way into the reception. Eric told all of our bridal party members to do something fun when they went in, but only Heather and Ronnie did!

...our guests' excitement (especially Jeff!) when we entered the reception to the Gators theme.

...Eric's face during our first dance (when he wasn't telling jokes, of course).

...how much Eric's family LOVED the "clink your glass to make the bride and groom kiss" tradition! I can still hear sister Kelley's laugh whenever they would clink their glasses!

...the beautiful toasts Ronnie and Heather gave at the reception. Both toasts were very "them" - Heather was very animated (as is her way), and Ronnie was hysterical. He had index cards, and didn't know what to do with them when he was done so he just started dropping them on the floor. Then at the end, he put down his cards to actually make the "raise your glass" part of his speech, but forgot the end so he went back to pick them up again! It was all very funny. For both toasts, I remember laughing and tearing up all at the same time.

...Eric's dance with his mom. He kept wanting to tango and she just laughed at him. She told us the last time we visited her that their dance (and our wedding) is one of the last things she remembers from before the stroke.

...my 85-year-old grandfather doing the conga line, YMCA and Chicken Dance.

...my mom's crazy, unstoppable dancing all night long.

..."Pointy-fingers dancing" with the bridesmaids. I don't even remember how this started, but we were all about it.

 ...Heather teaching my mom to "booty dance" at the reception. My mom was also amazed that Heather was dancing with her beer in hand, and Heather was just all, "well, what are you supposed to do, CHOOSE between beer and dancing? Ludicrous." That's my sister.

...back at our wedding night hotel, giving up on our in-room hot tub that would NOT warm up (we even called maintenance!) and staying up late talking about the wonderful night and reading through cards and our guestbook.

...not knowing what to do with ourselves the morning after the wedding. We had planned to be leaving for our honeymoon, but were instead stuck in Florida for a week thanks to a hurricane. We just went back to Cha Cha Coconuts, our rehearsal dinner restaurant, for lunch. Even though we could have easily been bummed about our delayed honeymoon, we were on top of the world. (We also should have been bummed about forgetting to pack hair gel, because YIKES. But, we embraced it!)

...the long wait at the airport and overcrowded flight when we finally DID get to go on our honeymoon, courtesy of the aforementioned hurricane (people were returning to the islands after being evacuated). We were the last ones on the flight and almost didn't get to sit together!

...the joy we felt when our delayed luggage (again, thanks to that overcrowded hurricane flight) finally arrived at our hotel over 24 hours after we did!

...a sunset sail followed by a delicious dinner on our honeymoon, courtesy of another couple on the sail with us. It was intended to be our "splurge" dinner, so we went all out - surf and turf, soup, appetizers, wine, dessert. When it was time to pay the bill we were informed that some of our fellow sailors had already picked up the tab for us. We were so overwhelmed by their generosity and hope to repeat the favor for another young couple someday.

As you can see, there are just so many incredible moments to remember. I have never felt such excitement, joy, gratitude and love as I did at the wedding and during all the wedding events. I am so lucky to have such wonderful memories.

And all those moments were just the beginning. Since those couple of weeks in August of 2007, Eric and I have shared countless moments together that I never want to forget. In fact, Eric asked me just the other day what my favorite moment from each year of marriage was. Honestly, I couldn't choose. There were too many: coming home from our honeymoon to a mess of all our things waiting to be unpacked in our new apartment; setting up that apartment; my grad school graduation; our first married Christmas in Florida and Cleveland; New Year's Eve in Florida at the beach; Eric's graduation; packing up and leaving DC; our second anniversary in the Caymans (and another flight delay); our first days in New York; Thanksgiving Day parades; birthdays; our first Christmas in the city; New Year's Eve in Times Square; the BCS National Championship Game; Eric being sworn in to the bar; moving to our new NYC apartment; the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest; our trip to Hungary and Scotland; recreating our wedding meal for our second anniversary; the Gala at the Plaza; our Dexter Halloween costumes; Eric's half marathons; the Easter Bonnet Parade; Los Angeles; and so many other things. I want to remember it all. (For the record, I think I chose our DC apartment as my favorite thing from Year #1, New Year's Eve in Times Square for Year #2, and Los Angeles for Year #3. Those answers are subject to change.)

I'm also so incredibly excited about all the moments we will continue to create throughout our life together. We're still at a stage characterized by great changes. It's strange to think about where the next three years of our marriage might lead us - New Jersey? DC? Florida? Somewhere yet to be determined? Kids? House? Second dog (heh heh)? Any and all of these things are completely possible, and it's so exciting to think of the changes ahead of us. And then beyond that - who knows? There is so much to look forward to, and I can't wait to see where life takes us.

Eric, thank you for an unbelievable, unforgettable first three years of marriage. Here's to remembering all the moments we've created and all the moments yet to come. I love you!

Kissable

This past Saturday we had another one of those great, unpredictable New York days - the kind where you set out to just wander around, or maybe check something out, and it ends up being way more fun than you expected.

As is my usual weekend routine, I started the morning by checking the daily calendar of New York events on NewYorkology. There was a ton of stuff listed, and we had a hard time deciding what seemed like our best option. It was an absolutely gorgeous day (low 80s and sunny), so we knew we wanted to be outside.

One of the things that piqued my interest was a Kiss-In in Times Square to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the ending of World War II. To celebrate, they had brought in the huge "Unconditional Surrender" statue inspired by that famous photograph from V-J Day:

That morning, hundreds of people gathered to reenact that kiss. We weren't entirely sure what time this big kiss was set to take place (we just knew the entire event was scheduled from 11:00 a.m. till 2:00 p.m.), but we headed out that way anyway to check it out. We were too late to see the kissing, but we got to see the statue, which was very impressive and inspired our own kiss! (If you want to see some pictures of the actual kissing event we missed, there are some good ones here.)

"Unconditional Surrender" statue in Times Square

 Our own Times Square smooch, with the statue behind us!

They also had a Maybelline booth set up where you could have your lipstick done (so you could be totally kissable, of course!). Then, when you were all done up, you could take a photo with Maksim Chmerkovskiy of Dancing With The Stars! I'm not sure how he really fit into the whole thing but hey, he's adorable, so who's complaining? (Maybe they consider him especially kissable?) This past season he danced with Erin Andrews, a fellow Gator alum, so they were my favorite team and I was excited to meet him. And, once they took your picture with him, they put it up on the big screen in Times Square! I'm totally famous now.

Having my lipstick done in the Maybelline booth

With my buddy Maksim (is he not super cute?)

I'm on the big screen in Times Square! See it behind the real me?

What ended up being just a "well, let's stop by and see what's going on" ended up being a pretty fun little event! You just never know what to expect in this city.

After Times Square we were in the mood for some more time around town, so we decided to head down to Chinatown and Little Italy. I had such a good time wandering around down there last week with Megan, I took Eric back for more! We perused the inexpensive goods in Chinatown, and picked up a new hat for Eric in Little Italy. We also walked north to SoHo and did a little shopping there, though no purchases. It really has been a while since I've been to that area with Eric. In fact, even though I have been to Little Italy countless times with various visitors, I think he and I have only been there together twice: once when Eric was a summer associate here before we were even married, and again when Ronnie and Tom visited after we first moved here. As we walked around this weekend, we reminisced about our early days in the city (during Eric's summer here) and even recreated a couple old photos!

Little Italy - they close down Mulberry Street to traffic on the weekends, and it's a lot of fun!

We love this alcoholic shark! On the left is Eric circa summer 2007, and on the right is me on Saturday.

Gotta love the festive fire hydrants in Little Italy. Left: Eric in 2007; Right: Eric on Saturday, sporting an awesome new hat.

One of these days I'm going to show you more pictures of our first experiences with New York together, before we lived here, so stay tuned for that!

We picked up lunch on our way home, then spent the rest of the evening relaxing at home, drinking wine and watching a movie. A casual day with no plans really turned into a fun little afternoon! Sunday we just spent running errands and hanging out at home, which was also very nice.

This was our last weekend with no plans for a while, so it was nice to relax and enjoy it together. Now, as usually happens in August/September, things are going to get a little crazy for us for a while. I'm excited to share it all with you soon!

Meg(h)an Fun!

This week, my friend Megan has been visiting us. You may remember that last year, in celebration of 20 years of friendship, Megan came and spent a whole week with us. We had such a wonderful time - we did some touristy stuff, we shopped, we dined, we saw a show, we caught up on life. It was great. So, I was very excited when Megan told me she wanted to come visit me again this year! This time she only stayed four days, but it was still very nice. It's always great to have a friend in town.

Megan arrived at Port Authority around 10:30 a.m. on Monday. Achilles and I went to meet her, and brought her back to the apartment for a bit. We made some lunch and did a good bit of catching up right off the bat. Megan is just one of those friends who, no matter how long it has been since you last saw each other, you can pick right up in conversation as if a day has not passed. And that's just what we did!

After relaxing a bit we headed over to the east side for something I knew I had to take Megan to do: dessert at Serendipity. Remember when I nearly overdosed on chocolate there with my friend Amanda in January? On that day, from the moment that Frozen Hot Chocolate first hit my lips, I knew this place had MEGAN written all over it. So, we went. And we were not sad.

When we arrived they told us it would be about an hour wait, but we got in after only a half hour. We had a nice little table towards the back. Learning from my past mistake, we skipped a chocolate cake "appetizer" and opted for strawberries and cream instead, to mix up flavors. Plus, that makes it healthy. (Fruit! Duh!) Of course, we also each ordered a Frozen Hot Chocolate - Megan got the original, and I tried the mint. HEAVENLY. Thanks to our lighter "appetizer," we were actually able to finish our entire goblets of chocolatey goodness. (Although maybe I should not be admitting that, because they're huge. Don't judge.) Needless to say, Megan was pleased and Serendipity was an awesome way to kick off the week.

Strawberries and cream, and two Frozen Hot Chocolates. Try not to drool.

We are ready to dig in.

After Serendipity, we walked off our chocolate/cream/fruit down Fifth Avenue to Bryant Park, stopping for some quick shopping along the way. We were headed to Bryant Park for a Movie in Bryant Park (another NYC To-Do List item!). That evening's movie was The Goodbye Girl, starring Richard Dreyfuss. We arrived shortly after the lawn opened to movie-goers at 5:00 p.m., and we grabbed a good spot. We spread out our blankets and waited for the movie to begin at 8:30. Eric came by to say hello when he got off work, and he was nice enough to pick up a Chipotle dinner for us, too. He didn't stay for the movie, though. All of our waiting around gave us even more time to catch up, and in such a beautiful setting. It was a gorgeous evening.

In Bryant Park, with the Empire State Building behind us

Crowds gathered for the movie

Ready for a movie!

More of the view from our spot

Before too long, the movie started and we settled in. I have talked before about how I love outdoor movies - the crowd gets so into it and it's just such a fun setting. We enjoyed the movie, and afterwards walked home through Times Square just so Megan could get a little taste of the lights and energy. Always a fun time! We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at home and making plans for the rest of the week.

On Tuesday, we took our time getting ready in the morning, then left and went to the Richard Rodgers Theater to get tickets to In The Heights for that evening. We got a great deal on orchestra seats, so that was a great way to start the day!

Richard Rodgers Theater

We then took the train down to SoHo for an afternoon of shopping. We got off to a bit of a slow start, but both had some success at Uniqlo. By the time we finished there, we were getting pretty hungry so we started our walk north towards S'Mac, that macaroni and cheese restaurant Eric and I tried back in March. Again, we were not disappointed. I tried the Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese and Megan had the Napoletana, which is what I had last time. Both were delicious, although the Buffalo Chicken was a little hot for my taste!

Buffalo Chicken and Napoletana Mac & Cheese

After lunch we went back to the apartment to relax for a bit. Shopping in the heat can really wear you out! We just bummed around and watched TV until it was time to get ready for the show.

Our seats for In The Heights were great! We had a perfect view and I loved the show. I had heard some of the music before and was vaguely familiar with the story, but didn't know too much about it. I really enjoyed it - it was very high energy, and I liked the music and the dancing. Corbin Bleu (of High School Musical fame, I'm told) played Usnavi, and I thought he was good. Apparently he will be leaving the show next week, and the new headliner will be past American Idol winner Jordin Sparks in the role of Nina. I would definitely recommend this musical!

View of the stage from our seats

Rather unflattering self-taken pre-show picture

On our way home from the show we stopped at Blockbuster to pick up a couple movies: Date Night and Leap Year. We watched Date Night that evening with Eric, then called it a night.

Wednesday started with another relaxed morning. We lounged around and watched Leap Year, had lunch and then got ready to hit the town. We took the train down to Chinatown so Megan could do a little "cheap purse" shopping, and she was successful! I picked up a pretty little folding fan to keep in my purse, which I have been wanting for some time. We also wandered through Little Italy a bit, then headed back up to Midtown.

Mulberry Street, a/k/a Little Italy

Meg(h)ans on Mulberry Street

When we got back to my neck of the woods, we stopped to pick up some Crumbs cupcakes (a must for any NYC visitor), pretzel M&M's (Megan was singing their praises so we had to try them), and another movie for the night (Sherlock Holmes). Then we went back to the apartment and ordered in Italian food from a local restaurant called Maria Pia. Eric was home in time for dinner, and we had a very nice meal and more great conversation. Then we put in the movie and that was the rest of our night!

Thursday was Megan's last day, unfortunately. The weather was pretty dreary - much cooler, but drizzling off and on all day. We didn't let that stop us, however, and went down to meet Eric in Bryant Park for lunch for the last installment in their Broadway in Bryant Park series. The rain died down pretty early on in the show, which was nice. So, we enjoyed our lunch and listened to performances by performers from La Cage Aux Folles, American Idiot, Mamma Mia, Mary Poppins and West Side Story. They were great! (Side note: I learned that my husband has never seen the movie Mary Poppins. I find this unacceptable, and coupled with the fact that he also never saw The Lion King, I feel a Childhood Movie Marathon is in order.)

"Official" photo of us in Bryant Park before the show, trying to stay dry!

Cast of Mamma Mia

"Tony" and "Maria" from West Side Story

Enjoying the show!

VIDEO: A short clip from West Side Story

After Bryant Park, we made a stop at a brand new NYC establishment: Pop-Tarts World. Why should M&M's and Hershey's have all the outrageous store fun, after all? At Pop-Tarts World, you can use their Varietizer machine to build your own customized packet of Pop-Tarts, design a custom t-shirt, buy lots of Pop-Tarts crap merchandise, and order such delicacies as Pop-Tarts Sushi (which is, of course, minced Pop-Tarts wrapped in a Fruit Roll-Up). It was quite the scene. Unfortunately, the line was too long for me to sample the Pop-Tarts Sushi as of yet, but trust me, it will happen. It's too ridiculous not to try. How can I live in a city that offers such a divine culinary creation and not partake of it?

Exterior of Pop-Tarts World

The Varietizer Machine

Pop-Tarts in a classic NYC photo

The menu, which in addition to Pop-Tarts Sushi, includes other delicacies such as Pop-Tarts ice cream sundaes, Pop-Tarts trail mix, and Rice Krispies treats with Pop-Tarts pieces.

And of course, since we couldn't possibly let one day go by without shopping, we took the subway uptown to Michael's and TJ Maxx. I somehow ended up with a pair of utterly fabulous new black patent pumps, and then we came home. Megan packed up all her stuff (quite a feat, considering all the shopping we did!) and then it was off to Port Authority to bid her farewell.

All in all, it was a wonderful visit! I'm so thankful to have a friend like Megan, and so glad she was willing to come visit for the second year in a row. I hope we can make this a tradition and continue with these nice visits! Thanks for coming, Meg!