[friends, babies, weddings & pharmacists] In The City! - All Over Edition

After three weeks of pure craziness, I am finally back in New York until Baby S makes his arrival in November. If there is one thing that I have learned in all of this craziness is that I am truly blessed beyond comprehension. Surrounded by love, laughs and amazing people, I am beginning to see life a little bit differently. What was once an intimidating situation is now just a blank slate. I guess celebrating my wedding shower, my sister’s baby shower, Ruben becoming a licensed pharmacist and Shannon’s wedding all within a month helped me to realize that anything is possible – something I like.

As you know, I was in Indiana for my sister’s baby shower. It might be because of the prenatal vitamins, or the large volume of blood that she is carrying, but pregnancy looks good on her! That “glow” that people talk about it blatantly obvious and though she may feel huge, she looks amazing. I can’t wait to meet Elliot and like the rest of the family, am anxiously waiting for his arrival.Check out some photos below.

After my extended trip to Indiana (thanks to Irene!), I came back to New York for a whopping 4 days before heading to Orlando for Shannon’s wedding! While I was here, Ruben and I set one goal: never be inside. We met up with some of our best friends and set out on an adventure with no plan. We went to the market near Union Square, ate expensive chocolate from Max Brenner, played around inside of Babies R’ Us (don’t ask), lounged on a roof top in Flat Iron/Gramercy, ate lots of yummy food, had great conversation and just celebrated the day. Later that weekend, Ruben and I went to Central Park and finally, after three months of living here, I actually got to go inside! With a hot dog from Gray’s Papaya and a bag of cookies from Levain’s, we found a rock near the water and just watched people as they rowed by. I am really beginning to love New York and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Fall.

And finally, the much anticipated and oh-so-romantic marriage between Shannon and Kyle brought us all down to Orlando. Ruben hasn’t been home since we moved to New York and we were all excited to celebrate the new Mr. and Mrs. K. Lulofs! As her maid of honor, I helped make sure everything went as planned and may or may not have told off her harpist to make sure all was good for Shannon’s big walk down the aisle. Shannon and Kyle have been together for more than seven years, so the big day was a huge celebration. I can say with confidence, there were not many dry eyes during the ceremony.

Before we left Orlando, Ruben and I visited our wedding venue and solidified our oh-so-amazing menu. We're keeping much of it a secret, but let me just say, it is going to be delish. Take everything you've ever thought about wedding food and throw it out the window - this isn't your best friend's wedding.

Now that we are home, I am excited to continue planning our wedding and am looking forward to the changing of seasons. Until then, with Ruben passing his boards and becoming a licensed pharmacist, I can definitely see one thing in our very near future, Morton’s – “Morton’s Steakhouse.”

[showered] In The City! (Orlando Edition)

Huge apologies for my lack of updates! It has been a very busy two weeks and we’ve had a lot to celebrate. As you might have read, last week I was back in Orlando for my oh-so-amazing, not –very-typical, perfectly-sweet Bridal Shower. A huge thanks to my top ladies (Mama, Michele, Shannon, Gina and Ashley) for putting together a shower that I will never forget.

Initially, I was against having a shower. I find them to be stuffy, awkward and kind of cheesy; however, my girls planned one that was truly unique. We all met at All Fired Up!, a pottery painting studio in Winter Park. The girls had arranged to have a set of dishes painted by the guests at the shower so that Ruben and I would have a complete set that matched in terms of color, but were different and designed with love. We also played a trivia game where the girls asked Ruben questions ahead of time and recorded his answers. They passed out fun cards with the questions and answers and the guests took turns asking me the same questions. For every question I got wrong, I had to stick a grape in my mouth. I’d like to say that soared through the questions like a champ, but my honey is a trickster and was very witty with his answers. Ruben and I are truly blessed to have such an amazing friends and family and it was so great to catch up with those we left behind after the big move.

In addition to the shower, I was also able to meet with potential vendors for our wedding. Things are definitely not set in stone yet, but I am positive that we are on the right track. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed and a little perplexed on how to make our “vision” come to life. After meeting with our florist and working on some very southern, shabby-chic, DIY projects with my mom and sister, things are finally coming to life. Three women, 2 scissors? I think so. Vintage glass vases and oversized fabric boutonnieres – even better. March cannot get here soon enough!

While I was in Orlando, Ruben was taking the much anticipated NAPLEX. After he graduated pharmacy school back in May, he began studying for the NAPLEX, the biggest test that he would ever take. Broken into two parts, we just found out that he passed the clinical portion of the exam. This coming Saturday, he will take the MPJE, which is the Federal and New York law portion of the exam. I’m sure that I speak for both us of when I say, “Finally!” Ruben is the most dedicated person that I know and I am confident that he will do well and that we will have the opportunity to celebrate him becoming a licensed pharmacist soon!  We are already planning how we will celebrate. Check out this prefixed menu from Morton’s Steakhouse. This restaurant is located a mere 0.2 miles away from our studio and the smells that tickle our noses are intoxicating; needless to say, we’re excited.