[familiar faces, bee stings & parks] In The City!

There is nothing better than getting to spend time with a familiar face in a new place (ha! I did not plan that). This past Friday, I had the opportunity to explore New York with one of the sweetest girls I know. We grabbed a bagel, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, explored the financial district, took in the sites around the WTC, walked around Greenwich Village, grabbed lunch at SOHO Park, went shopping in SOHO and lounged near the fountain in Washington Square Park. Needless to say, we both had ‘Disney’ legs on Saturday morning. Thanks for exploring with me, Lauren J

                                     

                                               

When I was a mere six years old, I was told by my all-too-wise sister that if I stayed still in the presence of a bee, they would leave me alone. Upon standing still, I was stung in my thigh. On Saturday, a full 18 years later, I was walking through the farmers market and stopped to grab a quick taste of some local cider and made a conscious effort to ignore the abundance of bees flying around. The woman behind the stand greeted Ruben and I by joking that she was dodging the bees and asked if we wanted some cider. We said yes and right when I reached for the cup, I was stung in the arm. I felt bad because right when I was stung, I dropped the cup of cider all over her table and burst into tears. Bee stings freaking hurt. Ruben was a champ and grabbed the stinger and body and I excused myself to cry. Now, two days later, my arm is still swollen and is turning a yellow sort of color. Bees in the city? No thanks!

After a delicious brunch at Armando’s, Ruben and I headed to Gustavo’s where he played basketball for a few hours. The weather was absolutely perfect and I didn’t mind sitting and watching – I even got a few shots in when the boys weren’t playing. Ruben then surprised me with a lovely date night and we headed home early since we were both so tired.

On Sunday, Ruben and I walked along the East River and explored the new parks that they developed between Atlantic Avenue and the Brooklyn Bridge. The views were gorgeous and the Mr. and I continued repeating, “We are so spoiled.” Will we miss Brooklyn? Most definitely.

On our way back home, we received a text from Gustavo with a photo of keys – Ruben’s keys to be exact. Apparently he left them at his place after basketball and I told Ruben and I would go retrieve them since he had so much work to do. I grabbed a cab and made it to Gus’ without any issue. I stayed for a few hours and watched some football, but decided to head back around 4:15. They say that it is nearly impossible to get a cab between 4:00-5:00 am and/or pm. I can confirm that after more than an hour of trying, it is true. I walked down three avenues and made it to Union Square. I’m glad that I at least got a walking tour of the lower east side before jumping on the train home – it is a pretty neat area.

On a quick side note: We are up to our eyeballs in wedding planning and I am excited that we have finished so many projects. There is still a ton of things to do, including finishing designing our invitations, but we are beyond ecstatic and proud of the way things are coming together. Our Save-The-Date’s went out a few weeks back and I am confident that most everyone has received theirs. Check them out below. A HUGE thanks to Studio222Photography for taking such amazing photos. Seriously, if you are getting married, look into them – even if you are not getting married in Orlando, they travel.