Sleep, Eat, Repeat

Happy Monday/Memorial Day! What have you been up to this weekend? Hopefully more exciting activities than those that figured largely into the past three days for me: sleeping, eating, napping, 24-hour pajama wearing, the occasional Keeping Up With The Kardashians re-run, and more sleeping. Just as thrilling as it sounds. However, I did manage one productive/semi-exciting long overdue task. A hair cut! If you've witnessed lately the colossal travesty that is my hair these days 1. I'm sorry and 2. Clearly, it's time to trim these Little House on the Prairie length locks. With summer around the corner, and New York humidity looming (not to mention incessant Cousin It taunts from Kevin), significant inches had to go.

It's been over a year since these strands last saw a pair of scissors, with the split ends to show for it. Too chicken to make a drastic change though, I decided to stick with simply taking inches off my already existing cut.

To middling results. The new 'do certainly isn't anything to write home about (but, apparently, enough to write on the blog about?), but hey you can't win 'em all, right?!

Enjoy the holiday, y'all!
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Snail Mail Heaven

As a long-time Papyrus devotee, the recent discovery of its craftier, funkier, more DIY-inspiring alter-ego, Paper Source, has really shaken up my greeting card store convictions. Does everyone else already know about this place? Have I been living under a rock? Assuming the answer to that is an emphatic yes, apologies in advance for the ensuing blather. I promise to cover something much more exciting in my next post. Probably not though.

First off, let me just say I am a big believer in the power of snail mail. Both sending and receiving. A good hand-written thank you card? Love. Postcard from a traveling friend or relative? Adore. Who doesn't feel a little thrill of excitement opening the mailbox to find real mail addressed to you, that's not a pre-approved credit card scam letter? Under my bed sits a box stuffed with almost every birthday card, note, postcard, letter I've ever received during the last six years here in New York. To be pulled out ages from now, each scribbled sentence poured over and re-read, allowing a moment in time to be re-lived. Or so it goes in the movies. Most are from my family, as we've always exchanged cards at every holiday (which isn't that weird), with gifts of course for the biggies, but always cards no matter what (including Valentine's Day, which I think may be a little weird?). So, yeah, I'm a sucker for a $12 bedazzled Halloween card and Paper Source really scratches that itch.

This place knows what it's doing when it comes to bedazzling and more. Chock full of crafty, cleverly irreverent, hand-made anything and everything, it's a crafting-junkie's dream. An entire wall of uniquely-designed wrapping paper bombards you upon entering, so overwhelming irresistible in its sheer spectrum of colors, that I almost bought five rolls. You know, for all those gifts lying around. That need wrapping.

If you're a budding DIY-er, there's more inspiration than you'll know what to do with. The back wall is basically a Pinterest board come to life for literally every single invite design possible. (currently pinning this photo to Pinterest)

Something adorably clever or stirringly uplifting pops up at every turn. I even discovered matching pillows to the one in my niece's bedroom!

Or, you might find a 50 Shades of Grey party game. Who knew! And how exactly is this played?!

Browsing the massive greeting cards section, these couple of gems called out to me...

In the end, I bought the Love You More pillow to match Ailey's To The Moon And Back version, plus the "Hello Friend" note cards. Don't be surprised if a bug-eyed fuzzy owl turns up in your mailbox sometime soon...

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Sunsets & Sailboats

Hello Monday! In the face of another workweek ahead, I'm sharing these photos I took during a stroll through the neighborhood this weekend. And by neighborhood, I mean a few square feet of Battery Park, but no one needs to know that. Looking through the colorful sunsets, blooming flowers, and little sailboats bobbing in calm water, I don't know about you but I get the warm and fuzzies, instantly feeling at ease. The perfect respite to the Monday morning onslaught of all the things that need to get done this week. Hopefully they do the same for you!

Ana.

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A Fork In The Trail

Finally, finally, New York decided to get it together and show up for Spring (except today is monsooning). This past weekend brought out the best of the best in perfect warm-but-not-too-hot temps, blooming trees and flowers at every turn, and nary a cloud in sight. All the usual spots to soak it in--Central Park, Battery Park, etc--quickly fill to the brim with eager New Yorkers starved for sunshine at times like this, so Kev and I decided to go big and really soak it all in at Bear Mountain State Park. A short drive up the Hudson River, Bear Mountain is a beautiful expanse of woods, lakes and trails overlooking the river with spectacular views from every vantage point.

With lofty ambitions of tackling a "challenging" hike, yet not a clue as to which trail that might be, we set out blindly for a path that appeared sufficiently steep and winding. Starting out, happy and un-sweaty:

Things got pretty hairy pretty quickly. Five minutes in, gleefully trotting along oblivious to what lay ahead, we came to a fork in the trail. Kevin felt both options looked promising.

To the right, a nice orderly stone stairway built into the path to form the next leg of the trail. To the left, nothing but dirt, leaves, rocks, and twisted tree limbs forming not much of anything. Imagining ourselves modern-day Robert Frosts, we chose the "adventurous" and "more challenging" fork less-traveled by to the left.

Immediate regret. There's a reason the road less-traveled is less-traveled. Foolishly believing we could blaze our own path like a pair of pioneering explorers, our legs and (my) Lululemon yoga pants were no match for scaling the side of a mountain. Only a few yards in, thighs burning, lungs heaving, with sweat beads dripping into our eyes, thoughts of This might have been a mistake began creeping in. Kevin may or may not have cursed the bear of Bear Mountain. I took a tumble at one point. All I can say is, taking the road less-traveled certainly made all the difference.

More than ready to trade in challenging for easy, legs still shaky (ok so we are out of shape!) from descending the trail of terror, we hobbled along to one of the more picturesque spots in the park--easily accessible via a well-marked 1 mile paved path. Which lead to a breathtaking view of the Hudson River valley...

And even spotted our first deer!

Sometimes the road more-traveled by provides the best views.

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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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