A Very Special Day--Far, Far, Away

Today at 2:30 p.m., EST, my very dear cousin Crissy is marrying Erik Kenny on the island of St. Lucia. Undoubtedly, they'll have a beautiful ceremony and I wish I could be there to see her walk down the sandy aisle in her gorgeous dress. Pictures will have to suffice until February 18, when we party-it-up in DC for their big reception! Just checked the weather in St. Lucia, and it looks pretty good, aside from some wind and chance of a shower. I hope everything goes well for them and that they're having a great time in paradise...

In other news from a colder part of the planet, we had a really fun time last night with the Flynns. We didn't end up in Chumleys (waaay too packed), but discovered a great little place around the corner (that happens to be owned by the Chumleys people) called Blue Mill Tavern. Entering the restaurant was like being tossed into the past--there was an art-deco feel with a huge wooden bar, and the dining room was encased in mirrors, and life-size murals depicting scenes out of the 1940s. The food was great, and as a bonus, Bill Pullman was sitting right next to us! So he's not Lindsay Lohan, ScarJo, or Brad Pitt, but it was a celeb siting through and through. Too bad I couldn't remember his name when I saw him--kinda defeats the excitement of a run-in when you have to announce, "hey look, it's that guy!".

Afterwards, Bec and John had us over for the most delicious apple and cranberry and walnut crisp (a la mode). A perfect way to cap the night!

Today is the last day here for our designer, Carl, so we're having a sushi lunch in his honor. This means I'm going to have to cancel my eyebrow appointment at Sephora, but I'd take free lunch over unkempt eyebrows any day!

A Rainy Day in New York

I hear New York is beautiful when it snows. Little would I know, as so far this winter has brought only a few inches of the white stuff. (And besides, it snowed overnight and had all but melted by the time I woke up, so that doesn't really count...). One might think that any precipitation that falls here in late December would be at least freezing rain, but today it's raining. A lot. And I forgot my umbrella, so when I exited the subway at 86th and Lexington, I received my second shower of the day. Good thing my office is only a few blocks away...

Rotten weather aside, today should be a good day. I am pretty busy at work and tonight we're meeting up with the Flynns again (last night, we had a lovely prix fixe dinner at Artepasta and then walked over to Washington Square Park and back). We're going to Chumley's, a onetime speakeasy in the Village with a working fireplace and lots of history. Afterwards, we're going over to Bec's for dessert, which I'm sure will be a delicious treat--both the dessert and the hospitality. Mark and I wanted to make sure that his family saw our apartment first so that they didn't have such lofty expectations of NYC spaces after visiting Bec and John's place!

I'll try to take--and post--some pictures of the night.

Savor that bliss...

I just got an email from theknot.com indicating that we've been married for 60 days. While I usually don't keep track of these kinds of facts or figures, I was still happy with the pleasant little greeting, and noted the knot's advice on "savoring the newlywed bliss." Actually, their advice wasn't really groundbreaking (communicate, compromise, blah, blah, blah), but it made me think about different ways in which Mark and I can continue to be happy long after our "special day" (hah hah).

To begin with, we (okay, I, but Mark will hopefully join the club) have committed to getting out there and exploring the city more. We've finally settled into a nice routine--work, hitting our new gym, dinner around 10, sleep by 12--neither of us want our lives to be, well, routine. So hopefully the many flavors this city has to offer will spice things up! And instead of wistfully thinking "...wouldn't that be cool...", I'm finally seriously considering checking out the various gallery, live music, and exhibit listings in Time Out New York and New York magazines. Certainly took long enough, I know, but hey--we've been a bit preoccupied!

The bliss factor can also be boosted by visitors. This week, Mark's parents and sisters are in town, so we're planning to hit a few spots with them (sadly, this all has to occur in the post-work hours since Mark and I are on the clock this week). I've been having fun coming up with a list of "must-see", but under-the-radar sites in NYC. (Note: if you're reading this and haven't visited us yet, whatcha waiting for? The eggplant couch is ready and waiting for you!)

Of course, the holidays are always blissful, so the concern to savor our wedding day happiness is pretty non-existent right now. And who knows, maybe all of the warm and fuzzy feelings will stick around for good. But it's good to be prepared, right?

Home Improvements

Now that we (finally) have a bit of downtime, Mark and I have been working a bit on improving our apartment. In baby steps. We've hung some things on the wall, hammered some nails, drilled some screws, and now our home is becoming more of a well, home.

Below are some pictures of the apartment, including our very first Christmas tree, purchased in the lovely metropolis of Jersey City!

Mark taking a snooze

Foyer

Our kitchen

Our "foyer"

Our rearranged bedroom. Check out that awesome spiral votive holder (thanks, Maureen, Erin and Eileen!)

Merry Christmas!

Paradise

Waterfall

A cave on the Napali Coast

Spinner Dolphins

A little Hula Girl

Enjoying the last rays of sunshine in Kauai

Dinner out

Sunset over the Napali Coast

Oh to be there again...

Just the two of us...

Mark the photographer--Kauai

It's Laird Hamilton--I swear! He was paddling out to the 20-30 foot waves in Kauai.

Our walk down to the beach in Kauai.

One of the many spectacular views from our hotel in Oahu.

A tree grows in Oahu.

The Pipeline: Oahu's North Shore. The sea was placid when we were there but the next day the waves rose up to 30 feet!

Mark on a rock--Oahu's North Shore

The Honeymoon's Over...

So sad, we are back from Hawaii after a ten wonderful, sunny, and fun-filled days. Mark and I had the best time exploring both the islands of Oahu and Kauai, and it was very hard to get on the plane to go home. Fortunately, we were able to return to our families, with whom we celebrated Thanksgiving. This year's festivities at the Farm lasted for three days, with Friday being capped off with a wild (and now annual) O'Connell Family dance party/sing-along (in the kitchen!) on Friday and then Sissy and Erik's wedding shower on Saturday. I will write more (and post pictures) about both of these events (and more on Hawaii) later on. For now, it's time to get rid of the trash--we've been putting all of our wedding presents away all day and now have to take an apartment-full of boxes and paper outside. We're also throwing away a few old household appliances, so I won't be surprised if a few of our neighbors go dumpster diving tonight!

Hawaiian Sunset, Oahu

The pictures just keep coming

Below is a quick glimpse of our professional photos, all taken by the incredibly talented Steve Ridzon. I can't wait to see the rest of his shots. These, so far, are amazing! Enjoy!

In other news, we had an impromptu Sister's Summit tonight at Bec's in which we enjoyed her delicious mac and cheese. I must report that Bec's mac and cheese is about 200% better than the concoction I whipped up for Mark last week. Let's just say I need a little, well, a lot more practice in the kitchen. But at least I'm trying!

We're watching Tivo'd LOST right now, so I'm a bit distracted. Also, I'm extremely excited babout the fact that in less than 72 hours, Mark and I will be in Oahu, where LOST is filmed! This is going to sound very corny, but it's truly a dream come true for me to finally visit Hawaii and I can't wait!

Underneath the Gettysbug Clock

Taking shots with Speed

In the Limo

The Kiss

Sarah and Corinne

Crissy, Sarah, and Corinne

Bridesmaids

Groomsmen

Corinne and Crissy

Crissy and Chuck

walking out

WHAT A DAY

I can barely keep my eyes open as I write this...and it's only 8:50 p.m.! Today was quite eventful. The day kicked off with me hailing a cab at 3:45 a.m. to make it to the New York Public Library by 4. True to it's reputation as the "city that never sleeps," Manhattan was bustling at that ungodly hour, with many people milling about the many bars in our neighborhood alone. I made it to the Library in time to meet my co-workers and about 200 volunteers who showed up (gotta give them so much credit for being there...without the lure of a paycheck!) to help out at the start. The buses eventually rolled out to Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, where we were greeted by colder temperatures, an eerie, thick fog, and weak coffee. After wandering around aimlessly for a bit, we finally found the rest of the volunteers who were assigned the information-giver duty and my manager briefed them on the FAQs. Little did these unsuspecting volunteers know that marathoners are quite the inquisitive bunch. I don't think they knew what they were in for as nearly 40,000 runners arrived in droves between 6 and 10 a.m. My main responsibility was to oversee the volunteers in the orange corral (the runners were divided into three start areas, designated by color), and I was lucky to have some very smart folks in my crew, making my job pretty easy. I mostly walked around to various areas within the corral, answering questions as needed but more importantly making sure the runers were as well informed as possible.

A little after 10, I took two of the volunteers (a mother-daughter team from Staten Island) onto the Verrazano Bridge, where we, like spectators at a parade, watched the runners stream by to their starting position. I kicked myself a few times for not having my camera as there were many picture-worthy sights, like a group of guys running in rhino (yes, rhinos--the big, spiny animals) costumes, or the man in full drag..fake, um, chest and butt included. We then watched the official start, where the professional men, leading a massive pack, took off just after Mayor Bloomberg and Mary Wittenberg offered spirited parting remarks. Although I got a glance at Paul Tergat taking his first steps en route to his victory 2 hours and 9 minutes later, unfortunately that's all I saw of the elite group. After all, I was there to "work," so we weren't able to catch any more of the race.

Later on, we returned to Central Park West, where I just roamed around observing the Family Reunion area (where runners can meet their family members). Mark (on his bike) joined me there and we had fun just watching all of the runners staggering about with their telltale mylar blankets as we headed to his office before eventually coming home.

Above is a picture of the start (not mine)...maybe next year I'll be in that crowd!

One Week Anniversary!

Mark and I have been married officially for one week! Unfortunately, the real honeymoon has yet to begin as we've been working since we got back from our wonderful wedding. Mark has been putting in long hours at the office and I've been running (well, not literally, but I kinda feel like I've already run a marathon) around for the ING NYC Marathon, which kicks off tomorrow at 10:10 a.m. In fact, I'm boarding a bus in just about six hours (4 a.m.!) to head out to Staten Island, where I'll be working at the race's start in Fort Wadsworth, just before the Verrazano Bridge. I'm contemplating whether to go to sleep now or just stay up until 3:30 when I have to go out and find a taxi to take me to the NYC Public Library where the bus is is picking us up. I attempted to induce a food coma with a delicious "anniversary" dinner at an adorable French restaurant called AOC L'aile ou la Cuisse on the corner of Bleecker and Grove Streets. Mark had lamb, I had an endive salad with roquefort cheese, walnuts, and grapes, and mashed potatoes. We sat outside--without any heaters---and I barely even shivered! We highly recommend the place to anyone and hope to take many future visitors there!

Here are some pics we took on the way home---including a stop at the car parked a couple blocks away. It gives us some comfort to check on the car every once in a while, to make sure it's still there because in this city you never know! We'll be back tomorrow with a marathon recap!

Legally Parked on 10th Street!

up on the mount

Happy Couple

Parents + Bride

The "getaway" car

Saying goodbye

Last dance 2

Irv and Leezie