I’ve been on blog hiatus, but the good news is, I’ve been so busy that I have PLENTY of material now. SURPRISE I got married! Ok, not a surprise because I talked about dress shopping, a hair trial, and other wedding-related things for the whole 4 months while we “planned.” I use that term loosely.
I’m going to do a series of blogs about the wedding. Here’s what you have to look forward to:
NO RAGRETS. Ok, I have a few. I’ll write about those today. Read on!!
Tips and Tricks: coming out this weekend!
Destination Wedding – do or don’t? (Spoiler Alert: the answer is DO): posting next week
Wedding Recap (and the things that went wrong): later this month.
First, a quick wedding summary: It was amazing. It was so special to have all of my friends and family in one place. It was a week-long party. It was GORGEOUS. The weather was literally perfect. Some would say it was too cool at night but since my internal temperature is roughly the same as an oven, it was perfect for me. The toasts/speeches were PHENOMENAL. I really would barely have changed anything. But since that is a very boring blog post, I decided to start off with a bang and tell you about the things I would have changed.
The good news about my regrets is that there aren’t many. I’ve been reflecting for a few weeks and despite the contemplation, I still have a short list of regrets, which is great!
My main regrets are regarding the photographer, but it’s not that they were bad, they were actually great. However, I probably asked them to cover the wrong times (my fault). Since our speeches ran late, they only could cover 15 minutes of dancing and I probably would have preferred an hour. I haven’t seen the photos yet but hopefully they got some good content! And to be fair, it was nice to take as many shots of gin as I wanted and know it wouldn’t be captured on film for my future children to see. The timing also affected the photo booth, which was another regret. We had it out for people to use during cocktail hour and then the first hour of the reception. Again because of speeches and mingling at cocktail hour, no one really got to use it! I kind of wish we just hadn’t paid for it. We didn’t need it and we had fun without it. Thankfully, we had plenty of friends with phones taking pictures of dancing at the reception and the after-party. Some of those will never see the light of the internet.
Despite the many podcast episodes I listened to, I didn’t pay attention when the experts insisted a bride should have a shot list for the photographer. I didn’t have one, so it was disorganized after the ceremony as I was pulling random groups for photos. A lot of people were waiting around in the sun and people were getting antsy and sunburned. I also wish we had taken photos with every guest. Since we only had 50, it would have been totally feasible, but I didn’t think about it at the time.
The only people I saw use the photobooth!I only had a few friends who specifically asked for photos and they came out so great I wish I had them with everyone (and these are the unofficial ones!)Post-reception at the clubDancing the night awayAll photos thanks to iphones
Another thing, as I look back – I wish we had a second shooter, at least for the ceremony. I didn’t realize that since there was only one person taking photos, they could only capture one angle of the ceremony. They got the most adorable photo of Chris as he turned around and saw me for the first time walking down the aisle, but since the photographer was behind me, I don’t think he got any of my face as I walked down. Again, I haven’t seen the photos yet (they sent us 10 as a teaser), but I’m not sure how they would have captured me, except maybe far away as we were walking down to the beach. Thankfully, my friends took a few photos and videos of my parents walking me down. Also, the photographer managed to get some great far-shots as well as some great close-ups, like of Chris putting on my ring.
Photo from friends of me walking down the aisle with my parents.How cute is this one????Very close photo, he must have changed lens.
My next regret should be filed under #SaveOrSplurge and for this one, I would say SAVE on bridesmaid bouquets. Full disclosure: I am not a flower girl, so these were on rock bottom of budget needs for me. Honestly, I would have gone without a bouquet myself, but it was included in the resort package. And don’t get me wrong, my bouquet was gorgeous. It’s just that it was BIG and difficult to hold! I kept asking the photographer to take photos without it. If you have a lot of bridesmaids, those bouquets can add up! The resort package included a “maid of honor” bouquet, and since I had 2 bridesmaids and no ”maid of honor,” I just added on one additional bouquet, which was a minimal cost, but a cost nonetheless. People always say, “it gives you something to do with your hands,” but the groomsmen didn’t have anything in their hands and they did just fine. I could have done without it, but I haven’t asked my bridesmaids what they thought. I guess matching bouquets do bring the pictures together in terms of cohesiveness, especially since they were in different dresses, but in my opinion, it was unnecessary.
Pre-wedding detail shots of the bouquets, they were massive!You can see my bridesmaids here with their bouquets.
My next regret is a true #firstworldproblem, but I wish that I had stayed longer at the resort after the wedding. I’m very thankful that we had another full day after the wedding (we got married on a Friday and left on Sunday), but it still felt too quick to return to the real world. I would have liked one or two extra days, but Chris couldn’t get the time off of work and it felt strange to stay there alone without him. It didn’t help that I had a few friends who stayed on, and I had serious FOMO! I would recommend a slower come-down for someone traveling to their wedding. I guess this is why people go on a honeymoon directly after, which brings me to my final regret – not planning a honeymoon before the wedding.
I wish I already had something to look forward to. Also, it’s incredibly awkward because once our registry was purchased (we didn’t ask for much – we’ve been together for almost 7 years!), people gave us money for specific funds for our honeymoon. For example, someone gave $50 for the honeymoon flight, or $100 for a couples massage etc. It’s extremely awkward when people ask where we are going, and I have to say “I don’t know yet.” Soon… hopefully! Stay tuned!!
I’ll be posting my wedding tips and tricks this weekend. I wouldn’t say I’m a pro now, but I have been to a LOT of weddings and now I’ve planned one, and I would like to think I have learned along the way!
I know I’m supposed to bury the lede but… I SAID YES TO THE DRESS!!!!
That’s right, I am one step closer to completing my checklist. The last item being: getting married.
If you read my post last week, you know I was not looking forward to a weekend of wedding dress shopping, but a lot of things about my experience surprised me and it was actually a super fun weekend.
On Saturday, I took a train to Philadelphia. It was my first time in Moynihan Station, which was a fun start to the trip. It was GORGEOUS in there! Although my train boarded 30 minutes late, I still got to the city of brotherly love with plenty of time to spare. It was so great to see my mom for the first time since before Thanksgiving. We headed out to our first bridal appointment where I had an entourage of my mom and her friend Randi who happens to be younger than me, despite being my mom’s friend (now my friend, too!). I really wanted a younger perspective and she’s been married 6 years so I knew she had been through this before.
My first appointment was at a salon called Sabrina Ann, a consignment bridal store with once worn and never worn dresses. A lot of the inventory comes from bridal salons and floor samples. While I was super excited about the idea of a more designer-quality dress at a lower price, I was most nervous about this store because I didn’t know if they would have anything that fit me. We were greeted by my consultant, Judy, who set the tone. She said “Is this our SUPER TALL VERY TALL bride?” At first, I was offended. But then I remembered that when I scheduled the appointment I had emailed ahead asking if they’d have inventory for me because I was “very, very tall.” They had assured me that it would be fine.
Something I didn’t know? At bridal appointments they never greet you by saying “hi,” they always say, “congratulations!” After we got the many “congrats” out of the way, Judy got to work. We talked sizing, and as I suspected, she pulled dresses 1 or 2 sizes larger than my street size. But they had many in my size! Since this was my very first appointment, I wanted to try on dresses in styles I had in mind, but I was also open to trying other styles just to see. It turned out my mom had made “Yes” “No” “Maybe” signs like what I mentioned I had made for my friend, which was super fun. These came into play a lot throughout the weekend.
Mommy and me!Entourage Day 1 with my consultant, Judy.Just Say No to the Dress.Randi and Me
To be honest, the first thing that surprised me so much about the whole process was how decisive I was. There were many dresses where the second I put them on, it was an immediate no. It was still kind of fun to put on lots of different things, though. Some were boho forest fairy, some were Cinderella, some red carpet, some Greek goddess. It was like playing dress up! Out of all of them, though, only 2 were contenders, but they were serious ones!
There was one dress that immediately stood out to me on the rack. Sure enough, it was one of the final two contenders, both of which I loved. But ultimately I went with a different dress that would need some alterations on the back, but overall fit extremely well and was very flattering (and long enough!).
I was able to Facetime with Chris’s older sister in Texas while I was in the dress to see what she thought. It was fun to have her and her husband’s opinions! I stayed with them for six months at the beginning of Covid (remember my time in Texas?), so I feel very close to them, and their opinions were important to me.
Since each dress was one-of-a-kind, the store gave an option if I wasn’t ready to buy yet, to put a dress on hold for $30 to take it off the floor for 3 days. I made a decision out of my final two dresses I loved, and we left the store feeling very successful. The pressure was off! I had two appointments the next day, but I knew I already had a dress I loved on hold so I felt like the rest of the weekend could be fun.
Day 2, two more appointments, and I officially had a family entourage. My sister and my future-sister-in-law took the train/bus into Philly, and we headed to appointment number 2: David’s Bridal. To make it even more fun, my sister came bearing themed attire. Y’all know I’ve never met a theme I didn’t love. I strutted into David’s Bridal in my “Bride To Be” sash and Bride Headband (duh hair accessory) like I owned the place. I had heard some horror stories about DB, like the zippers breaking and having to be sewn into a dress, but I had also heard that MANY bridal success stories, and they have dresses at very reasonable prices.
We got off to a rocky start, since our assigned consultant was 20 minutes late. They checked us in and told us to just walk around the salon and pick dresses we liked, and “turn them to the side.” This quickly became a sh*tshow because there were 8 brides all around the store, turning all types of dresses, lots I would not be caught dead in. Some were in garment bags, some were not, and we were very lost and confused. But then our consultant Melissa arrived, and it was a 180. She. Was. Awesome.
The first thing she said was, “Listen, I didn’t make any of these dresses, I just work here. So I need you to be brutally honest. If the dress is ugly, say, ‘the dress is UGLY’ I will not be offended.” She told us that the goal was to find a dress. But if we didn’t find a dress, the goal was just to leave the store with a way better idea of what I liked and what I didn’t. She said if I left with a better idea of material, silhouette, etc, then she did her job. She said she would make me try on each of the classic silhouettes and really listen to what I liked and didn’t, and start to whittle it down. And DAMN she was good. She heard things I was saying and things I wasn’t even saying, or didn’t think I was saying. Ultimately, I picked 5 dresses from the rack to try, she brought me an additional 4, and guess which was my favorite? A Melissa pick.
One of the things that really surprised me from bridal shopping was how much I needed to see myself in a photo. Thankfully, I had three people there taking pictures because it was difficult for me to get outside my body and really see the full picture. Not to mention, it was difficult to see the back! Sorry guys, but you’re not seeing any of those photos. After narrowing the dresses down to a final 2, I looked at myself in photos and there was really no question in my mind which was better after that. I had to look at my “on hold” dress photos from the day prior and compare it. But there was just no contest, the Melissa pick dress was far and above better. It was perfect. It had literally everything I wanted and a few things I didn’t even know I wanted (but Melissa did!).
This woman KNOWS her inventory. Huge shoutout to Melissa!My Entourage Day 2 (sister-to-be and sister). Not pictured: Mommy!
I was ready to say YES. BUT. When I first started looking at bridal gowns (like 3 weeks prior), there was ONE DRESS I kept coming back to. And it was at BHLDN, which was my next and last stop of the day. I really didn’t want to say YES before I saw that dress. I knew I would have the “what-ifs” if I didn’t try that gown on. So I said “yes for now” and I got Melissa’s card and said I’d call later. But I was 99% sure this was the dress. She said, “hold that thought” and brought over a bell. She said, “hold this bell, close your eyes, and make a wish for your wedding day. Then, open your eyes and ring it.” I did that, and sure enough the entire store started clapping and I started crying and it was just A MOMENT. I’m not gonna lie, it felt super anti-climactic to walk out of that store and not buy that dress right that moment, but I knew it would be there for me later.
NEXT UP: Stop #3, BHLDN, the wedding brand of Anthropology. We stopped for a bite to eat first, I ate a protein bar to keep my energy up, and then we headed to the final stop of the day. Trying on dresses is a lot of work! I had 6,000 steps just from many, many 15-step trips to and from a pedestal, and many shoulder presses, taking dresses over my head.
I’m not gonna lie, it felt WEIRD shopping for a dress knowing I had a dress to beat. But when I met consultant #3, Andrew, I told him the truth (mostly). I told him I had gone to one other store (lie) and that I had a dress I loved, and a dress to beat (true). He was totally understanding, and I explained that first and foremost I wanted to try on the one dress in my mind, but I was also very intrigued by the whole Anthro aesthetic boho fabulous IYKYK. I tried on about 8 dresses. This store was a bit of a struggle because the dresses were all BEAUTIFUL. But I didn’t love them on me. They reminded me of dresses I would drool over if I had a pinterest board (I don’t), seeing them on other brides prancing through fields of tall grass.
Andrew kept asking me what I didn’t like about the dresses, and for the first time all weekend, it was really difficult for me to articulate because they were all so pretty. I said that, and Andrew said, “Honey, wedding dresses are made to be beautiful. They’re all pretty. It’s not about which one is a beautiful dress, it’s about which one makes you feel beautiful in it.” At that, I said to him, let me go look at the photos, but I think I have found my dress at another store. I asked him if people come in a lot with a dress to beat and if he feels bad, but he said it happens often, which made me feel a bit better about wasting his time.
My Pedestal Pal Andrew. He held many trains to and from this platform, but none were THE ONE.
I sat down on the couch with my family, and made the decision, Melissa’s pick at store #2.
We went out to celebratory drinks and food (lobster mac and cheese YUM), and I called David’s Bridal to order my dress over the phone. It’s supposed to come in on March 6th and they will ship it to me for free!
It’s been 4 days since I said yes to the dress, and every day I have been looking at the photos on my phone. I LOVE my dress! I probably could have narrowed the dresses down to about 2 or 3 alone, but I never could have picked the one without my family’s opinions and approval. It meant a lot to have them there, and to have the signs. Sometimes their “maybes” surprised me since I was a definite no. Now is the hard part – keeping it to myself! It is KILLING me not showing Chris. It is killing me not showing you all! I live my life pretty publicly so it’s very bizarre to have this huge secret. I have to keep reminding myself that my wedding is actually quite soon, so I don’t have to keep the secret for long.
Oh, two more things. You may remember I was worried about body comments. Never once did I get a comment from a consultant about my body. Not once! Except for the initial tall comment, but that was my own fault. If anything, it was all “you look beautiful” “you’re gorgeous” “you’re the perfect height.” So, I had nothing to worry about there. And honestly? Most of the dresses DID fit perfectly! They didn’t all look flattering, and I definitely saw rolls in places I’d rather not see them (cough cough my back) but the dresses mostly zipped and it was just a matter of what I felt good in. And as for the cost, when I got home Sunday night, I told Chris that my dress was well below budget. And he said, “what was the budget?” and when I told him $1500 including alterations, he said, “Really? That seems low.” Which is a SUPER WIN.
On to the next decision! Well actually, on to my brother’s wedding, which is in two weeks. Too bad I can’t wear my wedding gown to that! I love it that much! But his fiancée probably wouldn’t appreciate it…
I used to believe: “If you want something done well, you need to do it yourself.”
Slowly but surely, I have migrated to the camp of: “Why would I do something if I could pay someone else to do it for me?”
It’s been an evolution, but the busier I got after college, the less inclined I was to spend my “precious time” doing tasks I didn’t want to do. And truthfully, my fiancé has had a huge influence on my thinking. It’s not necessarily that he can’t do things, it’s just that he doesn’t want to. And when you are working 80+ hour work weeks, I completely understand not wanting to spend your valuable free time putting together a bookshelf or cleaning the floor. It’s all about delegating! There’s an app for that: TaskRabbit.
You might say I had my “come to Jesus” moment when we first moved apartments together. My fiancé said hands down we were getting people to pack for us. Meanwhile, I BAWKED at the $1000 price tag. But then I realized it was $500 each, and the amount of time I would spend sourcing boxes, packing etc., (and badly – I’m not a professional!) definitely made it worth hiring out. And let me tell you… I’ll NEVER go back. We lived a completely normal life until the morning of the move. There was no “we can’t have eggs, our pans are already packed,” or “what the heck box did I put my underwear in!” It was THE BEST.
But back to cleaning. We both hate cleaning. Does anyone like it? I am not a messy person, in fact, I’m pretty tidy. But tidy is not the same thing as clean. And my sweet fiancé?? I don’t think he’s ever cleaned a toilet in his life. Pretty much the first month we moved in together he sent me a piece from the New York Times about it. The Times publishes almost the exact same article every year. The gist? You’ll be in a happier relationship if someone else does the cleaning.
In the 2017 piece, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School created a study that found, “People who spent money to buy themselves time, such as by outsourcing disliked tasks, reported greater overall life satisfaction.”
But now it’s a global pandemic and my same fiancé who couldn’t live without his cleaner is now scared to have someone come into our safe haven home. The main problem? Our house still gets dirty. In fact, it’s way worse because we are in it 24/7! The only food we eat, we make in our own kitchen. The only bathroom we use is our own. We aren’t taking vacations and sleeping elsewhere. It’s a mess. Literally.
I knew I needed to nip this in the bud as soon as we came back to NYC, so I started priming Chris for this idea of splitting chores. While in Texas I mentioned how I didn’t want to be in charge of all cleaning. Then I talked about how he wanted to split tasks. I have learned from working with children that the more buy-in and choice they think they have, the better the result. So I asked him:
Are there certain things you prefer to do?
Do you want to do the same chores every week?
Should we switch off?
What are the things we should make sure we are cleaning daily/weekly/monthly?
Then I took out my scrapbooking box from under the bed (this is NYC, a lot of stuff goes under there) and got to work. I even crowdsourced on Facebook to see if people had ideas or templates. Most templates I saw online only were for children’s chores. I only two examples of couples splitting chores, which I found semi-troubling (Thrifty Mom and Our Little Apartment).
I spent a long time figuring out the color scheme I wanted. Too long, if I’m being honest. Then I used a paper cutter to measure out the exact dimensions so it was even. I used a tiny puncher to round all of the corners. I layered paper within my chosen color scheme. I found sparkly stickers to spell out our names. Then I had to divide the tasks evenly.
Chris said he had no preference of tasks and that he’d like to switch off. I made my chart and I made our names on separate pieces of paper so I could switch them week to week. I looked on Amazon for cute, pretty, and strong magnets. I needed something that would stick through lamination, and I wanted them pretty since they were going to live on our fridge (which is visible from pretty much our entire apartment because New York).
I made a check list with mini circles that would hopefully match up with my magnets, and two columns for tasks to do, and tasks that were done. In theory, this was so that we could do the chores slowly throughout the week/month and know that at least they were getting done at some point. In reality, we have been leaving them until Sunday and then doing them all. I told you we hate chores! Procrastination is the name of the game.
Here’s how it’s going: the chores are getting done but we hate it. I feel less anxious because I’m not living in filth but I do dread Sundays. And 2.5 weeks in, Chris asked me to text our old cleaning lady and ask her to come back. She hasn’t written me back yet, but I’ll keep you posted. At least it looks cute!
Zoomed in so you can see the deets.
Zoom out so you can see the aesthetic. How’d I do?
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to run a marathon? Have you ever thought, “Hmmm… 26.2 miles is a long way and it takes FOREVER. What does one think about while they try not to focus on their legs?” If so, then this blog is for you. I am going to tell you a lot of my thoughts during those 5+ very long hours. But don’t worry, I won’t tell you all of them. Who has 5 hours to kill? (Me… I guess).
Pre-Start
Race Corral
Should I try
to pee again? I just tried but maybe I should try again? Oh god, what are the
port-potties gonna be like on the course? Is now when we need to take off our
sweats? Because I’m still cold and I don’t wanna. UGH ok fine I will. Should I
keep my tissues with me? Will they get soggy? They’re in a Ziploc but you never
know. I sweat a lot. So many questions. EW WHAT IS THAT SMELL!? Oh my god
port-o-potties. Wait… I can smell??? Oop! Now it’s gone. Thank god for this
sickness. Have people been smelling that the whole time? That must suck.
Start
Line
Oh wow! They
play Frank Sinatra before we start? That’s pretty cool. The people who work the
start line must be reallllly sick of this song if they play it every wave. This
would be the… 6th time they’re hearing it? How many apps do I need
to start on my phone? Strava – check. Nike Running – check. Spotify –
Check. How long will my phone last with
all of these apps on? I wonder if Strava works if my phone is on airplane mode.
I probably should have tested that. Too bad I downloaded it last night. I’ll do
anything for a free lululemon tank top. Tell me something I didn’t already
know. Ok. Time to run this sh*t. Or run-walk it. Or at least survive it. DAMNIT
I accidentally left my tissues in the pocket of my hoodie that I just donated.
I guess it’s snot-rockets from here on out.
START LINE! This is when I realized I had no tissues.
Not even a mile in and I was already taking pics.
Mile 1
Alright, this
isn’t too bad. The views are killer. Is it too soon to stop for a selfie? I’m
only doing this for Instagram likes anyway. Ok, that’s not entirely true. Damn,
I really wish I had my tissues. Should I still stop every 5 minutes to walk
like in my training? Everyone always says to take it easy through Brooklyn but
no one said anything about on the Verrazano. Then again, I don’t want to get
trampled. I guess I’ll stop to walk for 30 seconds and take a pic. Who knows
how long my phone will last.
Mile 2
*sees sign
“Yo! Welcome to Brooklyn!”* Oh cute!! Signs! I hope I see some witty ones.
Someone just welcomed me personally to Brooklyn by name. Such a good idea to
put my name on my shirt.
Mile 3
This isn’t too
bad! I wish this was a Turkey Trot. I’d almost be done. 23 miles to go. FML. Wait,
where did all those other people come from? Are they running the race, too? Let
me ask one of them. Ah yes, they are. They just started on the lower level of
the bridge. I wonder if that sucks. Not as many insta-opportunities. Well, look
at all of us together now. 53,000 people in one HUGE happy family.
Mile 4
Thank GOD
there are people out here with water bottles and TISSUES. Next year when I
cheer, I am def bringing a box of tissues. You never know if there will be
someone out there snot-rocketing their life away. Also, I’m glad I didn’t run
with a water bottle. It’s so nice to have my hands free! And there are people
all over the place handing them out.
Mile 5
First person I
know!! My coworker brought the whole family out to cheer for me! Gotta stop for
a selfie. OMG, her sign is made to look like my Braid in Manhattan business
card!! Am I too sweaty to give hugs? Meh whatever, they can shower. I
can’t shower. for 21 more miles. Woof.
Mile 6
I should be
looking for more people from the gym. YES! Spotted!! This is fun. It’s like a
super, super hard game of Where’s Waldo through the 5 boroughs.
Mile 7
Everyone wants
to high-five me but I don’t think they understand the germs on my hands. Ew.
Oh! That woman is giving high-fives with latex gloves on. Smart lady.
It’s 11:30!
Time for more Dayquil! “Um, ma’am? Excuse me? My hands are shaking and I really
need to open this Dayquil. Yes, I’m sick. No, I don’t feel great. Thanks!”
Alright, well
that took a full 90 seconds. Good thing I already knew I wouldn’t be making any
sort of time record. How many miles ‘til those meds kick in? 3? 4? 19? UGH.
Mile 8
The street
names are words now instead of numbers. I’ll never find any of my friends. My
dripping sweat is impeding my vision of street signs. OMG GYM FRIENDS! YAYYY
BROOKLYN! I have to stop for a photo or two. Another coworker! This is so fun!
More photos, please. Make sure everyone knows I am still alive. For now.
I actually turned around and walked back for this photo opp. #worthit
More of the YMCA Crew in Brooklyn
Mile 9
Full mile with
no one I know. Wahhh, this isn’t fun. Why am I doing this again? Also, every
time I stop for my scheduled walking breaks people scream my name to try and
make me run again. Maybe I shouldn’t have put my name on my shirt?
Mile 10
SISTER!!! I
hope I make it into her 1secondeveryday. I even made sure I was running! I can
give her a hug despite the sweat and snot. She’s related to me. Hopefully she
tells my mom I’m still alive. I wonder if I’ll spot her in Manhattan, too. I
think my Dayquil is setting in! I can ALMOST smell. Smell myself, that
is.
Mile 11
SO. MANY.
JEWS. I was warned about this deadening silence. Like, I see them. They see me.
But they’re pretending it’s just another normal day and 53,000 people aren’t
running down the street. Cool, cool. JK, not cool, this is annoying AF. I
almost wish I had headphones on. ALMOST.
Mile 12
No friends here either. Well at least there are a few spectators again. Why is everyone handing out candy? Oh yeah! It was just Halloween. I think I’ll stick with my Clif Bloks. I’m not trying to make any port-o breaks. Who knows how a Snickers will react in my stomach with all that Gatorade.
Mile 13
Remember when
I ran a half marathon and I was like EW NEVER AGAIN? Why the hell did I think,
“yea, let me do that TWICE IN A ROW.” I could be DONE now! And to make matters
worse, it’s another bridge! Wahhhh I hate uphills.
Mile 14
Another huge
bridge coming up. This is what I trained for. I’m EXHAUSTED. And the last two
people I was supposed to see, I couldn’t find. This isn’t fun anymore. Should I
just walk this whole bridge?
Mile 15
Oh, ok. So
EVERYONE walks this bridge. It makes sense, because I’m walking relatively
quickly and I’m almost passing some of the people “running.” Why waste my
energy? SELFIE BREAK! There are NYRR volunteers stationed in the middle of the
bridge specifically to take our pics. Ok, that’s probably not what they are specifically
there for, but it’s a good bonus. Sure, I’ll stop. Why not. I’m not going very
fast anyway.
The halfway mark! (and ANOTHER bridge, the Pulaski into Queens)
Middle of the Queensboro bridge on my way into Manhattan. See all the people taking pics behind me?
Mile 16
FRIENDS
FRIENDS EVERYWHERE!! I needed excuses to stop and chat. Just a little
coffee-clatching while very very sweaty. Should I change my shirt? My amazing
emoji bf brought me a change. If my hands weren’t working enough to open
Dayquil, I will probably struggle with the safety pins on my bib. Meh, I’ll
just stay sweaty. “Only” 10 miles left anyway. It’s so fun to see my friends
and their signs! Maybe I should just stay here. Ugh, ok FINE I guess I’ll go.
MY SISTER
AGAIN! YAY! She noticed I didn’t change my shirt, HA! And our friend brought
tissues. Thank god. Is it possible that Dayquil isn’t effective if you’re
pushing your body like this? Like how antibiotics make birth control not work?
Hmm, I should ask somebody that.
Mile 17
MORE FRIENDS!
Omg Jacy brought her baby! That is dedication. Gotta take another pic. First
baby on the course!
My sister disgusted by my nose-blowing and Sheridan’s festive hat
Jacy and my littlest spectator
Mile 18
Gotham Gators
out here with a personalized sign for me. Gotta chomp with them. At this point,
I do realize I’m just taking any opportunity I can to stop running. Where the
hell are the people with the water bottles like in Brooklyn?? I’M SO THIRSTY. I
wonder if people in Manhattan are too broke from paying rent to be handing out
free bottles of water. I really should have taken a water bottle with me. Come
to think of it… it’s been many many hours and I’ve been drinking water and
Gatorade at every mile… how don’t I have to pee at all? Is it all coming out of
my nose? Is that a thing? I should ask someone that question, too.
They had a sign with my name on it too, but I think I liked this one better.
Mile 19
PERSONAL
RECORD! I’ve never run more than 18 miles before. Yes, I feel like I want to
die but I did it! Even if I don’t finish, at least I am breaking my own
records. GOD I’m exhausted. Where is Sara? She said she’d be right on this
corner! I better stop to look for her. Also because I MUST STOP.
Wait, is that
her ponytail walking away? “SARA!” Omg! It’s her!! Come, walk with me. Forward
is forward. Let’s take a selfie. Ok. Gotta go to the Bronx, I’ll be back in
half an hour! I hope…
Mile 20
Willis Ave. Bridge. Well, good news is, I’m not the only one walking. Literally EVERYONE is. This is a secret piece of info no one ever told me. I did wonder how people run the whole thing. I guess the answer is, they don’t. Let me take a selfie and check on the battery percentage of my phone. 17% DAMN! I still have at LEAST an hour left! Oh damn, there’s a photographer. I guess he just got a pic of me on my phone and walking. It is what it is. #WorthIt for the selfie.
Mile 21
Good lord this
is not easy. There’s a whole slew of port-o-potties. I guess the good news is,
I still don’t have to pee at all. Bad news is… why? Should I be worried? My
left ankle hurts. That’s weird. It’s not even my “bad” ankle. It’s not too bad,
though. Oh, a biofreeze station, I’ll ask them to spray me. Hmm, that worked a
little bit! And there’s an NYRR volunteer with The Stick. I’ll roll my quads a
little. Plus, I need another break. God these stick thingies are miraculous.
I haven’t been to the Bronx since I filed something in court here. But now I guess I live here because I cannot move my legs anymore. HA! I cannot live in the Bronx. Jenny from the Block loved it so much and even she left. I must move. Forward is forward. I cannot stop coughing! I think these coughs are getting way worse. FINAL BRIDGE. A lady just screamed “This is the last f*cking bridge!” Hell yes, lady. Also, I enjoyed the sign that said, “F*ck it up, buttercup.” Obscenities are infiltrating my every thought at this point.
Mile 22
Holy hell this
is HARD. And my coughs are def getting worse. I don’t want to stop but I have
to double over from these coughing spells. I have some cramping in my abs, even,
from the coughing. Oh, thank god. There’s Sara again. PLEASE WALK/RUN WITH ME.
Yes, let’s go on Instagram-Live to distract me. No, I don’t think it matters
that you’re just joining the race course. I NEED HELP! I wonder if I’ll regret
talking about nipple chafing on Instagram? Meh, too late now. COUGH COUGH COUGH
OW. Well, good news is, everyone around me limping and walking super weird. I’m
running/walking totally fine. Except for when I’m doubled over struggling to
breath between coughs.
Mile 23
5K left! I can
do this. I’ve run a 5K a million times. Granted, I’ve never done it after
running 23 miles. Also, why is this uphill? Seems like a cruel joke. But the
crowds here are deafening. God, I love Manhattan.
Struggling to breathe through coughs at mile 22.
The struggle was so real, I was just trying to catch my breath.
BUT THE END WAS SO CLOSE!!
Mile 24
Time to go
back into Central Park. I can do this. I can do this. I know this park like the
back of my hand. Why do people say that? Do people look at the backs of their
hands a lot? I think I’m delirious. The sun is setting! I should take my
sunglasses off. What time is it? Damn. 5 hours. I’ve been running for 5 hours.
I thought I would be done by now. Oh well. I guess my new goal is beating the
sunset.
I just passed
a 40K sign. What the hell does that mean? How many K’s is a mile? Wait, 5K is
3.1 miles… 40/5 x 3.1… I cannot do mental math. I think I’m close to the next
mile marker? My phone is at 5%. I need to remember to stop my Strava at 1%. I
WILL NOT LET MY PHONE DIE.
Mile 25
25! More
coworkers! And another racecourse baby! The spectators keep saying “you’re
almost there, Emily!” and FINALLY they are telling the truth! They’ve been
saying that sh*t since mile 13. Which was incredibly annoying. But finally it’s
TRUE! Oh my god it’s so close. I can run, still! I need to run through the
finish.
This was just past the 40K mark (see it in the back?) I was definitely doing mental math here.
So excited to see another baby!
Group pic (and chance for a breathing break).
Mile 26
26 freaking
miles. The .2 is a cruel joke. Ok, that sign just said 800 meters to go. How
long is a meter? It would be really helpful to understand the metric system. I
know I’m close though. I bet I can run the whole rest of this. Phone at 2%. Omg
this is like the Hannukkah oil that lasted for 8 nights. Incredible. Will it
last ‘til the finish line???
Mile
26.1
Back in the
park! Look at all of these flags lining the street. SO COOL. I am so so so
close!
Mile
26.2
400 meters to
go. Welp, still don’t know what a meter is but I SEE THE FINISH LINE! I WILL
CROSS THIS THING WITH MY HANDS IN THE AIR!
FINISH LINE IN SIGHT!
FINISHING WITH MY HANDS IN THE AIR!
YASSSSS!!
FINISH
HOLY CRAP. I
did it. I DID IT! I thought I would cry but I don’t think I have enough fluids
in my body for that. Speaking of… how come I still don’t have to pee? And where
is there water?? I earned this medal! AHHH so cool! Phone at 1%. End Strava.
End Nike+ Run. End Fitbit.
“Hi! Excuse
me. First of all, congratulations. Second of all, will you take a photo of me
with my medal? Here’s how you switch the camera around. Oh. Sorry, my phone
just died.”
“Hi, sir? First of all, congratulations. Second of all, my phone just died. Can you maybe take a photo of me with my medal at the finish and then send it to me? Yes, I need you to take it on your own phone. Then send it to me. My phone died. Oh, you live in France and don’t have service? Ummmm, do you think you can Whatsapp it to me later when you have wifi?? I’d be soooo thankful. I’m never doing this thing ever again. Ever.”
If you made it all the way through this journey with me without even carb-loading first, you deserve a Gatorade. And a medal. But not my marathon medal because I’m never giving mine away. After reading this, do you think you want to run a marathon? No? Me either.
Last photo taken on my phone before it died.
Photo taken by my French friend and Whatsapped to me later.
Well, not to me me, but to LongLegsBigCity! Yesterday was the one year post-iversary of my very first blog entry, Tips for NYC Living. Not only is it my post-iversary, but this is my 100th post on my blog! It seems like yesterday that I was watching WordPress tutorials on YouTube all day every day, trying to figure out how to get something I wrote up on the internet for all to see. In my original welcome post to my blog, I told you what my blog would NOT be (a health, fashion, travel, dating, legal advice blog), and I have mostly stuck to those things. I am still figuring out exactly what my blog is, but so far it has been a mix of everything that makes me, me! LongLegsBigCity, a blog about my NYC problems, my life, my explorations of new fitness studios, and a few serious pieces.
I am officially at 84 blog subscribers, and I have even figured out how to make a weekly RSS newsletter using Mailchimp (this is why you need to subscribe, guys! Don’t you want to see my hilarious weekly TBT pics!? Put your email address in that annoying popup box when you go to my site!). So far, I have not achieved my ultimate goal for the blog: my dream of being discovered as a super funny, witty, hilarious, young female writer. If you know anyone at Betches, NY Mag, or any other publications, HOOK ME UP! Tell them how cool I am and how I can write about anything from 6-figure student loan debt to How to Be a Professional Wedding Guest.
I have tried to increase my social media presence (not many of you even thought this was possible), and I now have a LongLegsBigCity Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and even Goodreads. Not all 84 of my subscribers have been with me all year, so as a celebration of my one year of blogging, and in commemoration of my 100th post, I wanted to recap my first year. I’ll even include some internal links in case you missed something you wish you hadn’t, or if you want to reread about my all-time favorite NYC Ice Cream in preparation for a trip to the big apple. I have recently added share buttons to each of my posts so you can share them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or by email (or print them, for those technologically challenged among us). Please feel free to share and spread the word. I love to write, which is why I started this baby blog to begin with, but I love it more when I get feedback! Thank you all for reading and for supporting me in this side project of mine. I appreciate you all!
The blog started with a bang. I decided to start with a list post about my Tips for NYC Living. Then, I shifted gears to talk about the biggest thing that was happening in my life: Half Marathon Training. I wanted to complete a half marathon before I turned 30, and my training was sidelined when I sprained my ankle weeks before the race. I still managed to finished, and posted yet another list post about my stream of consciousness thoughts as I ran 13.1 miles on a bum ankle. As you may have recently read, I have 2 healthy-ish ankles now and I am on a NEW quest to complete a FULL marathon by the end of 2019. Fingers Crossed! My half marathon posts got some of the most comments I ever received on my blog. Maybe that the real reason I decided to run a full…
In May, I talked a bit about my birthday, being a Gemini and about trying to get in control of my finances. Personally, I loved writing about trying to use mint.com. Surprise, I’m still using it religiously. Surprise, I’m still not saving any more money. HA!.
Then the real fun began when I decided I would eat at 30 different ice cream places in 30 days for my 30th birthday. This quest became known as #30Years30IceCreams, a hashtag that continues to live on in infamy
Happy Birthday to me!
So. Much. Ice. Cream.
I made the reveal announcement on May 11th and then I posted weekly recaps throughout the rest of the month (1, 2, 3), going into June. These posts became reallllyyy long and unwieldy. I had a ranking system, I had reviews, I had external links, and I had so many pictures. TBH I think most people just scrolled through the text for the pics.
June 2017 – Mommy’s Girl, Ex-Lawyer, Ex-Jew, OkCupid, Travel and MORE ICE CREAM!
Wow, I did a lot of posting in June. It must have been a slow time at work! After the unwieldy posts about ice cream (those took SO MUCH TIME to write!), I started to get into the vibe of writing more about myself. I wrote about being Jew-ish (amazing throwback pics in that one), and I wrote another stream of consciousness post on my 2nd anniversary with emoji bf, about my thoughts on our first date. I loved writing that one, and I got the most comments! My favorite part of that post was finding the perfect emoji to put on his face for each photo. I traveled to Montreal with emoji-man for our anniversary, and I took my first stab at travel-blogging. In retrospect, I think I wrote a little too much. I tried to work on that for later posts. But if you’re interested in Montreal, check it out!
Some people may think my most useful post was published in June, about Drinking in New York without breaking the bank. And then of course, MORE ICE CREAM! The Scooper Bowl, Week 4, and the final summary. Check out the summary for my favorite ones! I consumed all those calories so you didn’t have to. Speaking of calories, June is the first time I did a review of fitness studio, 305 Fitness. This became a trend. More fitness reviews coming in the future!
Also, I posted about my borderline-obsessive communication with my mom. I call her every day. And/or text. And/or email. And/or tag her on Facebook. She still wants to guest-blog for me at some point. Stay tuned!
Most importantly, I posted my first blog about being a “Recovering Attorney,” and why I always advise everyone I know to avoid law school at all costs. And the costs are high. Like hundreds of thousands high. This remains my 2nd most popular post of all time, with 245 views. Feel free to share it with your friends, and not share it with your enemies if you wish 6-figure debt on them.
July 2017 – Summer in NYC, Travel, and more Fitness Reviews
In July, I started to get into real blogs about things happening in my life, from working in a construction zone, to rainy days in NYC, to super, super hot subway cars. Here’s what I found: people didn’t really care. People tended not to read these, at least according to my site analytics. I’m not sure what that says about me or my life; either I’m boring, or people just DGAF. Or maybe people didn’t know I was hilarious yet. I’m hilarious, right? Maybe now that they know, they’ll click back and read them. Probably not.
I had a few more reads on my travel posts, maybe because I wrote a bit less than that first post in Montreal, and focused on the big events on my trips. Also, I’m pretty sure EVERYONE loves looking at ridiculous photos of me on Segways. I went to Traver’s Island for the 4th of July, I went to DC for a wedding, AND I went down the shore in New Jersey. Busy month.
I also continued with reviews of fitness classes. I went to The Dance and Orangetheory in July. More importantly, I introduced the world to my addition: my Fitbit. It goes everywhere with me. It did in July and it still does now.
August 2017 – Full Time Slavery, Fitness, and STUDENT LOANS
I started the month of August in Pennsylvania, helping my mom rehab after her hip replacement surgery. I lovingly called my post about my time there “My Life as a Full Time Slave.” This post had a surprising amount of views. I secretly think this is because half of my 84 subscribers are my mom’s friends. I’m semi-positive of this. My mom is my biggest fan, after all. She comments on almost all of my posts!
She was up and walking around with a cane one week after surgery!
August brought more fitness posts, including a review of my all-time favorite spin studio in NYC, Peloton. Although this was the first time I mentioned Peloton, it was not the last, and I’m sure there are even more to come. I also talked about how to join a gym for free, and about a free rooftop class I attended in NYC. Free is my favorite price. Another trend on my blog. Why? Because of my student debt.
The most important post of the month was the beginning of my exposé about my student loans. To date, this is the most read post I have ever written. I spent months thinking about possibly talking about my loans, but I was embarrassed about it. I waffled back and forth for a few weeks and surveyed some friends to see if they would be interested in reading it. Ultimately, they all said yes, but I was still scared to talk about it. After some introspection, I decided that was the perfect way to start the conversation. Why was I so embarrassed? Why was I scared to speak about it? Doesn’t everyone have loans? Clearly people related to my story, or at least empathized; it has 279 views!
September 2017 – New York on 9-11, Park City, and MORE student loans
September began in a very New York Fashion, with a mystery date pulled off seamlessly by emoji boyfriend, including a hotel room overlooking the Freedom Tower, the night before 9-11. I talked about our date, and what it’s like to live in NYC every year on this somber day.
Check out that view!
Emoji-man did well.
I also recapped some September travel; I was a busy bee! I went to Florida and Park City, Utah, where I stayed in the coolest house I’ve ever been in. I also continued my saga about student loans, and I actually revealed the amount of money I owe. Spoiler alert, it’s more than $100K. GASP. Pause for heart defibrillation. I wrote another post about how this massive debt hanging over my head affects my decisions, everything from whether to get Starbucks, to when or if I can ever think about having children. It was a heavy month.
October 2017 – Fitness & Spotify, Finale of Student Loan Saga, and Halloween/Costuming Madness
I started the month with some light-hearted content (to take a break from that student-loan-downer-crap) about fitness classes. I tried BollyX for the first time, and I had a participant in my Spin class make a playlist and be my guest DJ for the night. I also introduced my readers to my Spotify for the first time. Follow me if you want two amazing playlists every week! Hint: My username is LongLegsBigCity.
I finally finished my student loan memoir by talking about how I am trying to pay them off. I provided some practical tips, but more than anything I just told my story. Take it or leave it. It’s my blog and I’ll write if I want to.
October would not be complete without at least 4 posts about my favorite holiday of the year: HALLOWEEN!! Most likely I will post 2-3 times about Halloween every year, in perpetuity. This year, I wrote a poem the night before the Halloween Pub Crawl, I wrote about the crawl itself, I wrote about an adventure upstate to the Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze, AND I wrote about my all-time favorite pastime: DIY costuming. Are we cute? DUH.
So cute.
November 2017 – Marathon Sunday, Macy’s Parade, and moreeee weddings
November is the month of my 3 favorite events of the year, Marathon Sunday, the VS Fashion Show, AND the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. If you think I’m kidding about that last one, you don’t know me, or you haven’t been following this blog very carefully. This year, I posted not 1, not 2, but THREE times about Thanksgiving and the Macy’s Parade. I wish I could promise you I wouldn’t do it again, but like George Washington, I cannot tell a lie.
Thanking NYPD <3 For a safe race!
Even Emoji BF was there for the fun!
Cheering on the stragglers!
Picked up the sister!
Gold Stars for the first time in memory. Merry Christmas!
November was also all about weddings. I attended 2, in 2 different states (neither of them was New York), and I posted about my trip to Durham, North Carolina as well as another great list post of my tips on how to be a Professional Wedding Guest. And I am one. It must be true, it’s in my Instagram Bio.
Church Wedding.
Beach Wedding.
Outdoor Nature Preserve Wedding.
Emoji BF clearly LOVES a good photobooth.
December 2017 – Winter/Christmas in NY, #MeToo and New Year Resolutions
Winter finally arrived, so I posted about the first NYC snow, the magic that comes along with it, and the piles of sludge and yellow snow that come after it. I also wrote about an NYC staple: Christmas at Rolf’s.
I tackled my first serious post since my student loan saga when I posted about My Worst First, one of my many #MeToo experiences. This was my 4th-most viewed post, and it was another one I was initially afraid to post. Being vulnerable on the internet is a scary thing, but ultimately I think people enjoy reading it, whether it is to secretly troll me or because they actually relate to my stories and appreciate them because they make people feel less alone. I prefer to think it is the second reason. Speaking of trolls, I got a NOT-so-secret one on that post that was nasty and I did not approve his comment. I was semi-honored to have a troll at all though, not gonna lie.
I closed out the year by talking about resolutions, both my general thoughts about them, and my personal resolutions. Stay tuned this year to see if I followed through!
January 2018 – Midnight Run, West Coast Travels, and Moving Saga
My year began with a bang. A very, very, very cold bang. I ran the Midnight Race in Central Park in temperatures lower than 20 Fahrenheit. This run inspired me to start signing up for races again, and led to my decision to embark on 9+1, the road to the TCS New York marathon, which I did not actually write about until two days ago.
My month was dominated by two huge events: a west coast trip to Seattle and Vancouver to visit my best friend, and trying to find a place to live in New York. Yes, it was difficult to do both of those things simultaneously. I was worried we would be homeless. Spoiler Alert: we are not. I also was worried that our old, TERRIBLE leasing company would swindle us out of thousands of dollars. Spoiler Alert: They did not, but they sure tried to. I used that Esq. after my name in every dang email I sent. It was a veritable saga.
Very. Very. Very. Cold Race.
Everyone loves a good Segway Pic.
February 2018 – Moving, West Coast Ice Cream, and Sara Bareilles in Waitress on Broadway
February was a crazy busy month for me between moving (we found a place, YAY!) and a 10-day work trip to California. I posted about the horrific experience of moving in NYC, as well as a quick west coast edition of #30Years30IceCreams. It had been almost 8 months since I talked about ice cream, I knew you guys missed it.
March 2018 – Reading, SoulCycle, and My Missing IUD
I wrote a 3-part series about reading, which is what I am usually doing when I’m not writing. I am addicted to Goodreads, where you can follow me and read along.
Although I only posted a few times in March, I wrote two of my top 10 posts during this month. First, I wrote about another personal saga, when my IUD disappeared inside my uterus. I guess I decided that there is no such thing as boundaries for me.
Lastly, I posted about my hatred for SoulCycle. I got another troll comment! I really made it!
We made it! We finally got to the current month. If you have read this whole recap, you are a real, true, LongLegsBigCity fan. Hi, Mommy! I think it’s just you and me, now. I can’t wait for your comment!
This month I talked about old people and technology (with a special shoutout to my mom), and I began my 9+1 journey with you on my way to the TCS NYC Marathon aka #SoreLegsLongDistance.
I hope you all continue to follow along on this blogging side hustle of mine in 2018 and beyond. I appreciate all of your reads, and I absolutely LOVE getting comments! I promise to reply to each of you. Until I get super, crazy famous, that is, and there are just wayyy too many to reply to. Considering I still don’t have 100 subscribers, and my mom is usually the only one who comments, I can probably keep this promise for a while.
If anyone wants to get me a cake for my 1-year-blog-iversary, I won’t say no. Or ice cream.
