this is the day to be engaged

...was the direct quote from my fiance after i'd had my ring on for .5 seconds and starting asking, "so WHEN can we get married?!?!"

that's right, folks.  he popped the big question one week ago today, so settle in, it's story time.

last sunday morning i woke up, got especially chipper when i looked out the window and saw that it was sunny and not freezing, and headed uptown to meet daniel and our friend chorissa for brunch.  i had set this brunch date a couple of weeks ago and had firmed it up with her a couple of days before and daniel was going to tag along, too.  chorissa lives in the upper west side so it was decided that we would go to a place she'd always wanted to go right by columbus circle.  this worked out perfectly, as it was the NY marathon, therefore we'd be close and could hopefully snag a spot by the street to cheer on the runners when we were finished stuffing our faces and not running a marathon.

when i came up out of the subway (glasses on, hair in ponytail, un-showered), i called daniel to see where to meet him and he said our reservations had been pushed back because of all the marathon traffic so we had 30 minutes to kill.  perfect!  i walked over to where he was, right at the entrance to the park where the finish line was and i couldn't believe our good fortune.  we literally walked up and were standing at the finish line.  as i was looking around, about to ask someone for a noise maker and start participating, he got kinda weird and said he wanted to go to the other side.  this made no sense to me and i bit my tongue and muttered an "mmkay" as we gave up our prime spot and walked under a bridge and over to the other side of the biggest running race in all the land, to then have him say, "actually, i don't feel like doing this.  let's just walk."

you must know that daniel never complains and is always up for anything, so i thought i'd better just go with it because he must really not want to do this.  i still had no idea at this point... clearly our brunch was still happening in about 20 minutes.  so we are walking around the park (away from the crowds) and i think i was asking him what he had on his plate for the week, trying to get a mental agenda lined up, and he started talking about college and how crazy it was that we had been apart of each other's lives for ten whole years.  he said, "remember when we were at baylor and i broke up with you because i didn't think you were spiritual enough and and i didn't want a wife?"  i was like, "uh yeah.  i do remember tha....." and it all started to come together in my head what was happening.  then he said something like, "well i'm ready for one now," and started going into all this stuff that i have no recollection of, and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!  i think then at one point he was trying to pick me up and ended up dropping the ring before he put it on, but it's honestly all a blur.  i just remember needing to sit down, my eyes filling with tear,s and in complete shock.

daniel had asked two of his close friends to take pictures and video along the way, so they had been in stealth mode, hiding behind trees and snapping away the whole time, and they finally came out and we had a group hug and it was so great.

where does one go from here, you might ask?

welp... to the subway :)  and then to brunch at my faaaaaavorite breakfast place (which does NOT do reservations, but my amazing husband-to-be emailed them and told them the story so they put our name on the list!), then on a gorgeous drive upstate to the most ridiculously delicious dinner either of us had ever had.  the day was a fairytale and i actually don't think it's all even hit me yet.  what all he did in advance... what all everyone of my family members and friends have been planning and spending time and effort on unbeknownst to be... what all this means for our future... instead, i'm just trying to breathe and take it a day at a time and let the waves of pure and utter gratitude wash over me as i think of the faithfulness of my God in bringing daniel grant onto this earth to be my mate for as long as we both shall live.

much more to come, but until then, here are some photos of exactly one week ago today :)

down on his knee... 

the gang right after (thomas, me, d, jeff)

on the subway on the way to brunch.  ny moment :)

biscuit blingdaniel had some of our family and friends send him a video for me to watch after he proposed so i would feel like they were there.  it was beyond thoughtful and i loooooooved each of them.  melt.

after dinner at blue hill.

aaaaaaand the best picture i received the whole day.  the gyllenhaals wishing us a congrats!

#FF

i just learned that this post title means "friday follow" on twitter.  who came up with that?

couldn't go another second without letting you know about this.  don't ask me how/where i found it.  searching to the end of the internet is a specialty of mine.  i read through the whole thing this morning and am thinking about reading through it again this afternoon.

what is everyone doing this weekend?  i'm counting down to quitting time where i will leave my office and proceed to bus it to here:

where i will then stuff my face with this:

next to him:

blue tooth blue tooth blue tooth

happiest of weekends to you... fall it up!  xo, sem

get me to pay day

 here are some items i'm eyeballin' to spend my paycheck on this weekend...



this is the softest tee & they sell them at anthro every year & i'm freaking getting one.  to put under my puffer. 
lounge wear lounge wear lounge wear



i visit emerson made's website almost daily & this black turtleneck will be my first official purchase from their company.  why you ask?  well... i guess it's just because i'm a turtleneck kinda gal...



& won't this go nicely with it? 





&i think this gem will go perfectly with said turtleneck as well.  who is ready for fall in nyc?!



& finally, my roommate, who is a VARY established new york style icon, has recently introduced me to steven alan.  these flannels are to die for & his dresses & bascially everything is adorable aaaaaaaaand a million $$$.  so i'm going to his "outlet" on the UWS to see if i can get a bargain.  fun!

happy b-day, z-baby

at a loss for words is something i rarely if ever am.  but as i sit here thinking about it being my sister's birthday and me not being there in person to tell her she's OLD to her face... i all of a sudden don't know what to say.  all i can think about is how i accidentally turned her hair pink a few months ago in an at-home hair hi-lighting gone awry.

(still feel really badly about that one.)

or how i used to yank her around our house by her ponytail when we were little.  or how i would steal her clothes every day in high school but would never let her touch mine.  or about the one time she told the boy i had a crush on that i wrote about him in my diary and i pushed her into a hot tub fully clothed.

for some reason i'll never understand, somewhere along the way, lindsey jo forgave me for being a total monster to her.  can you believe that?  i can't.  she shouldn't have.  but that's just the kind of little lady she is.

being away from her today is no fun.  but i hope she knows her heart is still in mine and my prayer for her is that she would continue living for something bigger than herself... she is such an example to me and i miss her so much.

happy happy happy birthday, sugar booger!

know you are LOVED and all our lives are better because you're in them.

summer in the city

in honor of it being FRICKIN FREEZING in new york this weekend, i thought it would be fun to update you on how the last few weeks of my summer were spent.  first full season in the northeast... or anywhere else other than texas for that matter.  it's different for sure, but my favorite time of year still pulled through and left me begging for more.  here are some pics to prove it happened.

i tried to run as much as i could.  since the temps rarely went above 90, i really didn't have an excuse.  once i huff and puff to this bridge i know i'm half way through.

the best best best best treat i discovered was rockaway beach!  it's on the furthest tip of brooklyn and just a 40 minute subway ride away.  does that blow anyone else's mind that i can get on a subway train in downtown manhattan and get off at a beach?  d and i spent many a saturday here and i brought along a visitor or two as well.  it was delightful.

rockaway taco stand probably had a thing or two with my obsession with this place as well.

d and i also began teaching in the kid's ministry at our church one sunday a month.  couldn't get that guy off the play mat.  pretty weird.

of course we have also happened upon some amazing places to eat.  bar pitti is a pretty satisfying italian experience.  and it's in the west village so i'm all in.

this is at birreria atop eataly in midtown.  eataly is the brainchild of mario batali and is a must stop for anyone coming to the city.  

and you'll be thrilled to know i've decided what my favorite flower is.  white roses!  my bf surprises me with them a lot.  way more than he should.  i'm so glad i moved here so he can buy me my favorite flowers all the time.

now would probably be a good time mention that i also survived my first hurricane this summer.  for real.  we spent a good day and a half sequestered in my apartment watching the news, checking twitter, taping windows, filling up bathtubs and the like.  thank the lord ol irene did not pack the nasty punch she was supposed to.  just some fallen tree limbs aaaaaaaaaand a lost baby croc.

labor day weekend... the swan song of summer... was one of the best weekends yet.  some good friends of ours (also bu grads) had a big baylor/tcu watch party in their brooklyn backyard complete with projector screen and a cookout.  made me feel like i wasn't so far away from home and in the most bizarre turn of events: baylor won!  still waiting on my commemorative piece of the goal post.

the next morning d picked me up IN A CAR and drove us 15 minutes to harlem where i proceeded to jump up and down like a 10 year old school girl as we pulled up, got out, closed our own doors, and walked into...

target.  this photo does not do it justice, but let's just say he and i both spent a small fortune and every single penny was worth it.  d was patient as i meandered down every aisle, not really needing anything but also everything at the same time.  what a trooper.  would've stayed all day and night but we had to get back to get ready and kick it into wedding mode for a co-worker of his getting mawwied in new jersey.  we got to drive there, too.  magical.

then on actual labor day my roommate casey had an extra box seat to the us open and invited me to go!  it was so nice of her and although i've never played or watched a game of tennis in my life, the experience was so fun and i even got to see serena strut her stuff.
(remind me never to run into her in a back ally.)

so that about rounds out the last few weeks.  now it's getting dark earlier, i'm packing up my flip flop and ordering my first trench coat.  it is very safe to say i'll never forget this summer and the beginning to the rest of my life.  

server to the stars

you didn't think i'd hostess at just any 'ol place now did you? i have begun my nyc career in the service industry at a restaurant that has fed the likes of beyonce... sjp... and i'm sure others. yesterday was my second day of training and guess who came in for lunch?

none other than jonathan cheban of course! you know... jonathan cheban? of "the spin crowd" fame? better know as...

the k sister's pr rep, dolls! for once my kardashian/jenner trivia knowledge works to my advantage! none of my other co-workers knew who he was so i just played along and acted like oh yeah, i'e never seen that guy on a kim kardashian-produced tv show on e!, either. so naturally i needed to blog about it because keeping it inside has been torture.

and just so you know, if at any point i see lam lam... i will believe with all my heart that my number is up.

xo, sem

better late than never

mmmmkay. i am internet/picasa movie-making challenged. i finally got the pictures and captions working but the song wouldn't load. and that's the best part! so. follow these simple steps, if you will:

1) press play on this youtube directly below.

2) wait for the freaking intro commercial to finish.

3) once the song starts, press play on the video below the you tube

4) yay!

From Movies

bible: next picture montage will be more efficient. i mean, it's 2011, can somebody get me a user-friendly movie maker up in here??

accountability

i have to stop drinking so many cokes. my apartment is directly across the street from this great little bodega and i've gotten into the habit of getting chicken salad and a coke from there almost every day during the week. didn't think much of it until i saw that 20 fl oz bottle packs a whopping 240 calories and i've got to give it up. at least no more until after the 4th of july.

so i'm putting this out into the blogosphere... SAWAH IS DONE WITH COCA-COLA. THE SUGAR OVERLOAD IS GOING TO GIVE ME DIABETES & THAT'S THE LAST THING ANYBODY NEEDS TO BE DEALING WITH RIGHT NOW, MY EARLY ON-SET DIABETIC LIFESTYLE.

ok, i feel good about this. new mantra...

xo, sem

my new normal

maybe it's time to put some words to my experience in new york thus far. (warning: this post might not have any pictures.)

i have been here a month now and so there's definitely been enough that has taken place to comment on. basically i'm having the time of my life. daniel is here and i get to do crazy things like have dinner with him every day. when he says he's going into his office, i know where he's going because i've seen it and could get there in 20 minutes if i needed to. his friends are becoming my friends and i love them. we've even gotten over our witching hour that would come every weekday when we'd meet up around 6pm and come close to having a fist fight for no good reason. the lesson has been learned that he needs some time to "unwind" and i need to not expect a parade fanfare right off the bat. so expectations have been shifted and 6pm is now full of peace and delightfulness. (wine and or margaritas have also been of helpful assistance.)

the city in itself is amazing and getting around on foot, bus, subway or cab is becoming easier every day. the weather is nice, the things i'm exposed to are incredible (except that one time i stepped on the homeless man laying on the street) and everyday i wake up so excited about what the next 24 hours will hold. it's all so good and i'm so thankful. however...

i think it's worth noting that not all of it is exactly perfect. a lot of times when i look at blogs or facebook albums or 140-character tweets, i sometimes struggle, being led to believe that whomever i'm stalking at the moment has a flawless life and got to where they are with no hardship or effort. everything seems seamless for them and i feel like a big, fat failure. (note: this problem is my own, not the lovely people who post about the fun things going on in their lives. you feelin' me?)

so i just still haven't found a job. i interview all the time and nothing has come up. and in the spirit of boot strap pick up, i'm going to start hostessing at a resturant here until the right permanent position comes along. not exactly what i planned, but i can either pout about it or look at it as a blessing. you see, the thing that is hitting me is that there's always going to be something. before my move to new york, i was whining about not being able to find a guy that i connected to and or would ever want to commit to and where is MY knight in shining armor?! the Lord has now graciously provided that in an abundant way and the first thing i do is start complaining that i'm not working at the right place or living in the right neighborhood and i'm having to use all this PATIENCE crap again and why meeeee?? why isn't it all instantly working out like i thought it would in my head??? ughhhhhhhhhh!! spiral spiral spiral.

i hope i'm getting to the point of finally learning that my life will never play out like i think it will. and that's ok. in fact it's better because that's when i must rely on a little thing some like to call faith. and i always say i want a life of faith, so um, actually pursuing it in my day to day issues and decisions is the only way i'm going to get it. funny how that works. trying to make everything look the way i think it should or like how it's worked for someone else is taking away creative license from the Creator of all of it in the first place and don't you love the thought of being 80 years old, rocking on your porch, thinking back over your life with a huge grin on your face thinking "only He could have made all that up"?!

the best part about all of it is that i've been typing this entire post on my laptop... sipping hot tea... in the middle of the afternoon... at an east village coffee shop. are carrie bradshaw and i the same person yet? have to be getting close. and in other news: i have been working my fingers to the bone, trying to put together a picture montage of my first month here and it keeps freezing up! i have no clue what the deal is, but i will get this posted, if it puts me into an early grave or not. be looking forward to it...

until then, here's to faithful hearts, barista pranks and rocking in those rocking chairs... xo, sem

happy friday...

from NYC!

hope everyone has a rockin good time planned for mem day. we are headed to boston tomorrow morn and i am pumped! and let the countdown begin for z's arrival next week! who needs a job when you have so many extracurriculars to keep you busy, am i right?

xo, sem

grace active

Lord Jesus, Great High Priest,

thou has opened a new and living way

by which a fallen creature can approach thee with acceptance.

help me to contemplate

the dignity of thy Person,

the perfectness of thy sacrifice,

the effectiveness of thy intercession.

o what blessedness accompanies devotion,

when under all the trials that weary me,

the cares that corrode me,

the fears that disturb me,

the infirmities that oppress me,

i can come to thee in my need

and feel peace beyond understanding!

the grace that restores is necessary to preserve,

lead, guard, supply, help me.

and here thy saints encourage my hope;

they were once poor and are now rich,

bound and are now free,

tried and now are victorious.

every new duty calls for more grace than

i now possess,

but not more than is found in thee,

the divine Treasury in whom all fullness dwells.

to thee i repair for grace upon grace,

until every void made by sin be replenished

and i am filled with all thy fullness.

may my desires be enlarged and my hopes

emboldened,

that i may honour thee by my entire

dependency

and the greatness of my expectation.

do thou be with me, and prepare me for all

the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity,

the losses of substance, the death of friends,

the days of darkness, the changes of life,

and the last great change of all.

may i find thy grace sufficient

for all my needs.

read this little gem this morning and thought i'd pass along. do you have valley of vision? if not, you must. and i took that pic this am whilst "running"... the bf ran 13.1 miles in less than 2 hours this past weekend and i've decided i'm going to need to start bringing my a game. xo, sem

monday morning love fest

completely skeezing this off nat cat's blog. how does she find this stuff?

LUCK - NYC Wedding Proposal from Aria Melody DJ on Vimeo.

up from the grave she arose...

well hello! greetings from the isle of manhattan! the 'ol blog has been on the back burner for the past couple of weeks as i have been focusing on things like... walking. eating pizza. going to see this at the met. eating dinner with my guy here and here. walking some more. purchasing metro cards. learning the city according to where the whole foods are located. and your run of the mill celeb stalking. spotted so far: him and her.

my first seven days were heavenly... sun and highs in the 70s. that was then followed by a week of rain that should hopefully be wrapping up soon. d bought me a little something i had been coveting since last season's gossip girl... he thinks they are dorky and refuses to walk directly beside me when i use it, but i love it and have found it to be extremely handy and efficient:

along the lines of nyc purchases, my first "must have" survival item i procured on day two (after walking in flippy floppies all day one) were these babies:

cliche! i know! and so ellen. but your feet need support here and they should be covered at all costs to prevent various city liquids from splashing up on them at any given point. so i bit the bullet and did it and have not regretted it once.

and one more thing to note. i'm trying really hard to not buy anything i don't absolutely need because 1) i am unemployed and 2) i have 0% place to put anything, but i am going to break down and get something this weekend. i've been going back and forth with it... not sure who i'm kidding and why i thought i should delay the inevitable. so first b&n i see, i'm headed in for this:

could you love her anymore right now? she is my life's inspiration and will now be fully incorporating meal times.

hate to blog and run, but that's how it goes these days. love to all... missin my atx peeps like a fat kid misses cake. huh? xoxo, sem

seasons of michael

can't believe this guy is permanently leaving my thursday nights. again with the CHANGES!!! what is happening?!?! and for all wondering, the last scene of this clip sums it up in more ways than one.

michael scott, you will be missed.

i'd like to thank the academy

AND sweet elizabeth dalton dains for giving me the "versitile blogger" award... aka "one of the best blogs on the internet" award! dalton's blog is precious and she's always posting the best recipes... how amahzing do these look?! THANK YOU for passing this honor onto me... what an absolute treat!

so once a blogger receives the award, they must...

- thank the person who awarded them (check)

- share seven facts about themselves (seems excessive but ok...)

- pass the award to seven new found blog friends (easy)

- let these friends know they have been awarded (too bad i have no idea how to get a hold of a courier pidgeon)

ok here goes... seven things about me...

one. i leave in six days for new york city to be in the same town as my muffin...

two. if i had to choose to eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be mission tortilla strips & clint's hot sauce.

three. i believe my friend's kids to be half mine & i love them sooooo much.

tripp & kate / maddie pie & coop

blakey girl & charlie mack!

four. the celebrity i most identify with is khloe kardashian.

five. i sponsor a little boy in rwanda. his name is george & i had the blessing of my lifetime when i was able to go there & meet him last november.

(ps: if you've ever thought about sponsoring, stop thinking & do it! more info here.)

six. my mother, father, brother, sister-in-law & sister are my greatest gift.

seven. sometimes i think cougar town is funny.

that was fun. now onto the seven blogs i would like to bestow this award to...

LIFE IS GLAMOROUS & FABULOUS. tiffany is a darling friend of mine who always has great things to say about life, love, faith, family... you name it. i think she has close to 1.2 bazillion followers, so join the club if you haven't already.

KRISTEN & CO. kristen is tiffany's sister of all things! she always knows the "latest" on fashion, style, tv shows, you know, the important stuff. i always want to know if kristen thinks something is cool before i give it my final decision.

EMILY'S MAKEUP BAG. clod pod has single-handedly gotten us all out of our beauty ruts & has rescued my sad make-up application on more than one occasion. this girl is legit when it comes to product knowledge & i'm not quite sure what i'd do without her!

THE LITTLE KITCHEN THAT COULD. i believe this to be the one that started my love affair with blogs so many moons ago. my sister and i have made 99.9% of her recipes & have yet to be let down. they are instant favorites & she makes them easy to complete with her pictures & very detailed instructions. i will keep up with little kitchen's blog until they take me out feet first.

A JOY-FILLED JOURNEY. liz is hysterical. whether it be about her precious baby boy charlie or nyc or the latest reality show cast off, she will crack you up & then send you out into the world just a little bit more in the know.

COMING HOME TO SUN. you could say stephanie is a lady jack of all trades. the girl literally knows how to do everything and she shares it all on her blog which makes us all the better. she is working, going to school, being an incredibly doting wife, running around boston, and about a million other things, so steph, you're off the hook for the stipulations listed above but my list wouldn't be complete without mentioning your inspiring writing and perspective.

MILE MARKERS. well i'm clearly not going to alert kristin armstrong that i believe her blog to be one of the "most versatile" (can you imagine?!) but she's my all time favorite & i'm not going to neglect her because she's big time & i'm just a little bit less than that. thanks for marking my miles, kiki!

wow. this is the most effort i have ever put into a blog post. you all better still be reading. feel free to leave me comment after comment after comment!