Twelve-Hour Travel Itch

So it may not be a purchased plane ticket to an exotic destination, but this handy 12 Hours Guide (recently discovered from the lovely blog Sho & Tell) might actually bring me closer to following through on my "Life Goal" of traveling more often. For me, the planning of a trip is the hardest part. Just contemplating the figuring out of where to stay, what to see and do, where to eat, all under the watchful eye of Miss Wallet, usually leaves me feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to begin. Result: very little travel. But the 12Hour team essentially plans out a day for you, including unique sites to visit and hotel suggestions, with fun instructions and commentary on what not to miss. Short, sweet and to the point. I've got my eye on the Antwerp tour (because, why the heck not). Here are some lovely photos from that city's guide for your enjoyment...

Do you enjoy planning trips? What are some favorite places you've visited?

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Ailey Is Here

I'm an aunt for the first time. Feels strange to type and say out loud, but exciting in a life-changing way. Although my name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue when paired with the word Aunt. Auntie Ana? A.A.? Still working on it.

Flying into Minnesota on Thursday afternoon, after getting the call the previous night that Carly was headed to the hospital with pre-labor contractions, I was overwhelmed with nervous excitement. How am I supposed to hold her? Will she immediately burst into tears? Then what do I do? What if I drop her? All legitimate fears, I would say.

Unfortunately, the Minnesota weather gods had other plans--ones that involved lots of snow, plane delays and more snow. This is how St. Paul, Minnesota likes to do mid-April:

Ailey has a liftime of balmy springs to look forward to, that's for sure. 

Weather aside, this entire weekend has been filled with pure joy. None of my family members, including my parents who flew in from Seattle and Justin's parents who drove down from upstate MN in a literal blizzard, can wipe the smiles from our faces. We probably look like a bunch of crazies with a few screws loose. But who cares, let's cut to the chase--the BABY!!

Ailey Roselynn Anderson was born healthy as can be on Thursday, April 18th at 2:54am weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz.

My sister of course rocked the delivery, popping that little thing out in no time. Arrived at the hospital at midnight. Baby born and nursing by 3:00am. Carly is superhuman, no doubt about it.

Once the rest of us arrived at the hospital, we quickly morphed into a swarming mass of paparazzi, little Ailey becoming a prop in the quest for the perfect photo op. But I think she enjoyed all the attention. She certainly better get used to the spoiling, because there's more from where that came from.

The grandparents!

The next day, we welcomed Carly, Justin and Ailey home from the hospital in true paparazzi form with multiple photographers and a sign!

Their dog Naddie was probably the most excited to see them back home, since they had been at the hospital for three days straight and had left, understandably, in a traumatic rush!

Of course, the first day home from the hospital was filled with a lot of Ailey firsts.

Her first wear of "real" non-hospital issued socks...

 Her first diaper change at home (as Naddie looks on intrigued)...

Her first manicure...Just kidding, we are actually only filing her nails with a mini nail filer. Yes, this is a real doctor-ordered thing!

Many more firsts to come!

Carly and Justin did an amazing job with Ailey's nursery too. I mean, just look at that rocking chair.

Can't wait for more Ailey firsts.

If you have any advice for new parents, please share, I know Carly and Justin would welcome it!

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Hello BlogLovin'

This li'l blog is now on Bloglovin. Apparently it's what all the cool kids were using way before the demise of Google Reader. It allows you to easily find and follow all of your favorite blogs in one place (including mine of course). So check it out! You'll be a cool-kid in no time.

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/6732385/?claim=3t3b94j274b">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>


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V & LB in NYC

Two of my bestest college buddies, Laura and Vanessa (Vanessa of Wear Flats to Dinner!), came into town yesterday for the weekend. Unsurprisingly, we really hit the ground running upon their arrival. Within the first five minutes, we'd established who was who in the inevitable episode of 'Girls' the weekend was sure to become (me: Shoshanna. sigh.) and discussed at length Kristin's odd habit of storing nail polish in the refrigerator. Didn't you read this fun fact in a fashion magazine at age five too?! 

After much oh-my-gosh-we-are-reunited freak outs, it was off to dinner at Italian hot spot Forcella. Their claim-to-fame is a pizza with deep-fried dough. I know what you're thinking. Off-putting. But accept the sheer popularity of everything being turned into a fried version of itself these days, and you will realize the utter genius and deliciousness that is fried pizza dough.

After devouring every last crumb Forcella had to offer, it was of course time for dessert. Or two desserts, but who's counting? We stopped first at Butter Lane for cupcakes and then right next door for ice cream. But I only documented the Butter Lane excursion, so the second dessert doesn't actually count due to lack of incriminating evidence to prove we were even there. Who said anything about two desserts again? 

 

With sugar highs firmly in place, our only recourse was to dance it out so to Grey Lady we went.

Honestly, I am still just so gosh-darn excited to be reunited together in the N.Y.C., that there are really no words to accurately explain said excitement (shout out to key missing members Lisa and Alix!)... so instead I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. Or in some cases *ahem Laura* sign for themselves...

I'll leave you with a nice little sequence demonstrating Laura signing for us the song that's playing over the speakers.

We all took it very seriously. Especially Kristin.

Here's to more adventures today!
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Poster Metropolis

As most of you are probably unaware (all five of you lovely readers), since I go to great lengths to hide it, Kevin is an avid movie poster hoarder collector. His collections arrive weekly (ok that's an exaggeration...I think) in shiny tubes which are then carefully stored in the back of his bedroom, stacked vertically side-by-side, for eventual framing and displaying (one day). I have dubbed this area the “poster metropolis,” with its various levels of tube heights resembling the skyline of a booming cosmopolitan town. Always growing, seemingly without end. Actually, a more appropriate analogy might be a Sim City nightmare come to life, but I'll let you decide.

With that said, there's a small gallery in Williamsburg called The Bottleneck Art Gallery that showcases original prints and pieces from contemporary poster artists around the country with different collections every few months. Naturally, when the latest show opened a couple weeks back, we were just dying to check it out. And by we, I mean Kevin. I dutifully tagged along :) The current exhibit, entitled "The Popular Face of New York," features work by the artist Chris Thornley (known as Raid71) that takes inspiration from classic New York-centric movies like King Kong, Godzilla and Taxi Driver. 

Getting to and from Brooklyn is never as simple as you expect despite the actual distance between the boroughs being less than a mile. Let's just say this particular journey across the river involved a lot of aimless waiting, mistaken train platforms, missed trains, and more waiting. I considered documenting this portion of the night, but furrowed brows and frustrated grimaces do not a good photo make. After finally emerging in Brooklyn, we made our way to the Bottleneck, where our recent travel woes were immediately forgotten and replaced with enthrallment... for one of us at least.

  
As we walked around the gallery, Kevin tried to introduce me to new terminology like “variant” (the variation on an original print, usually using different colors; e.g. the two Godzillas above) and “metallic ink” (do you care?), but most of it drifted over my head...I mean, completely registered, Kevin.  

 

 

 

 

By the end of our perusing, self-described patron of the arts Mr. Schneider walked out with five new posters.  New housing developments for the booming metropolis!  

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Juicer Meets World

Today the juice extractor made its official debut! Despite feeling fairly intimidated by the prospect of my first home juicing attempt, due to the below scary-looking assembly instructions...

...things turned out to be a breeze once we got over that first hump.

There are really only four simple steps to achieve juicing success, as far as I can tell. 

Step one: Wash veggies and slice up any that are more than 3 inches in diameter (e.g. apples). 

Step two: Feed said veggies into the tube one by one. 

Step three: Should any veggie give you trouble, squash them in using the "masher of death" (the technical term) pictured below. 

 Step four: Pour and enjoy!

Here's what went into my juice (yielding 28 ounces):

• 2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
• 2 handfuls of baby romaine lettuce leaves
• 3 celery stalks
• 2 whole carrots
• 5 large kale leaves (with stems)
• half a cucumber
• one apple
• half a lemon

Best part? I totally put Juice Generation's "Supa Dupa Greens" to shame. Half the cost and twice the homemade love tastes much, much sweeter.

If you are a juicing connoisseur, please share your favorite recipes or veggie/fruit combos. I'm eager to avoid the sophomore slump with my next juice outing!

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