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.