Much like October, November was a busy month. It started out fabulous as my 23rd birthday was the first Friday in November! I got off work at 3:00pm, went to get my hair cut and styled, then headed home to find a nice surprise. Alex was at my apartment and when I walked in the door, he was walking down the hallway with a cake, candle lit, singing Happy Birthday! It was so sweet. He also gave me my birthday present, which was a brown pair of Ugg boots. I had mentioned to him once that I had fake black ones because I couldn’t justify paying full price for real ones so he took it upon himself to get me real ones for my bday. One of the things I love about Alex is that he is so thoughtful. He’s also a really good listener and will remember things that I say months after I say them. We put the ice cream cake in the fridge, got ready and then headed to dinner. It was a nice candle lit dinner at a restaurant in the trendy meatpacking district of Manhattan. Afterward we headed to the Upper West Side to meet Blake, Val, and Katy at a Latin-American club. We spent the night sipping on drinks and dancing to both American and Spanish music. Another thing I love about Alex is that he is a great dancer. He taught me a thing or two about salsa and we did our fair share at the club until the wee hours of the morning.
Alex and Me at Columbus 72 on my Birthday
At the club celebrating my bday
Saturday rolled around and the roommates and I began preparations for our Housewarming Party. Katy spent most of the day in the kitchen making tasty treats while Val and I cleaned every inch of our apartment. Woj (Katy’s friend), Katy, Blake, Val, Alex, and I enjoy drinks and conversation until our guests starting arriving around 8:00pm. Throughout the night there were about 20 people in and out of our apartment. Many guests brought wine, which was nice, and overall it was a success. Between Friday, Saturday and a nice relaxing Sunday, I had a great birthday weekend.
Roomies! :)
Housewarming treats
Me, Val, and a friend and co-worker Kirsten
Tio Marty, Alex and Me at the Housewarming Party
Monday morning came way too soon as I had to wake up at 4:00am in order to head to JFK to catch a flight to San Francisco for a work conference. After a 6-hour flight, I landed and the conference began. My long lost roomie, Jacey who just moved to San Fran, and 2 of her friends were able to join me for drinks Monday night and I met up with her again Tuesday evening after the conference ended. Before I met Jacey for dinner, I headed to Union Square to catch a Cable Car to Fisherman’s Wharf to get a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, just as I got on the Cable Car, it started raining. Due to it getting dark pretty early and with the foggy rainy ugliness, I wasn’t able to see the famous bridge very well, but it was still a nice little adventure. I jumped back on the Cable Car and headed to the Metro in order to take a train to Jacey’s new apartment. It was nice to see her new digs, but really made me realize how much I miss her in NYC. Jacey, 2 of her friends, and myself enjoyed drinks and dinner before I headed back to my hotel for a short night’s sleep as my car back to the SFO airport was at 5:00am in order to catch an early NYC flight.
My first trip to the West Coast
San Francisco
Fisherman's Wharf
Cable Car ride
The weekend after I returned from San Francisco, Val’s mom and sisters were in town so we had a full house. It was nice to catch up with the Gunn girls and as Val details in her blog -
Life Through Val's Eyes - they had a nice weekend in the city.
At the beginning of November I joined the Park Slope YMCA. It is literally 1 block away from my apartment and with it getting too cold to jog outside, I had no excuse but to join and start working out more. There was a November special when I signed up – free 12 week program with a personal trainer – so of course I took advantage. I met with my personal trainer to establish goals and a work out regime that works for me and I continue the program on my own until our bi-weekly sessions at which time we up the ante. I try to hit the gym at least 3 times a week, but sometimes that’s difficult with work and the various holiday events going on. I absolutely love the holidays, but I hate the winter weight gain and I’m hoping I can avoid any permanent damage this year! The way I look at it, I already made the first step by joining a gym, now I just have to stay motivated to go, which of course is the hard part. I have the best of intentions and once I get to the gym, I’m all about it, but it’s the getting there part that I’m not too great at. I find it easy to find excuses not to go, but I’m really trying hard to catch myself in the act and overcome my, let’s just face it, laziness! I’ll keep you posted on how "Project Get Fit" goes.
November 15 would have been my Abuelo’s 80th Birthday and the first my family had to celebrate without him. The Sunday before, my family made a visit to his grave and then had a family gathering at my Abuela’s house. I obviously wasn’t able to attend, but was there in spirit as I thought about my grandfather all day. It was definitely one of those days I really wished I had Dorothy’s famous ruby red slippers so I could tap 3 times to return to Kansas to be with my family. It was a bit difficult to deal with on my own considering I am the type of person who likes to talk (imagine that) as it makes me feel better and allows me to cope easier. Instead, I spent most of Monday evening in my room thinking about all kinds of memories. I laughed to myself and cried myself to sleep that night. I woke up Tuesday morning feeling a little bit better, but it didn’t last too long. You see, every holiday season my mother and I bake several loafs of Banana Nut Bread together and share it with our family and friends. Every year, my Abuelo would hide almost an entire loaf so he could have it for himself to eat with his coffee in the mornings. It was exactly one week after his birthday that I was in my kitchen preparing this bread for a Thanksgiving potluck at work when I broke down and began sobbing on my kitchen floor. The thought of my Abuelo not being alive to enjoy my holiday bread this year was heart wrenching. I sobbed for 10 minutes, got it out of my system, and once I felt better again, I continued baking. Believe it or not, having a good cry always makes me feel better. My family and friends tend to joke that I’m overly emotional, and let’s face it, they are probably right, but one, I can’t help it and two, if it makes me feel better then why not?
My Banana Nut Bread turned out great and my co-workers enjoyed it the next day at our potluck. I left the office on Tuesday to make more Banana Nut Bread (yes, me in the kitchen 2 nights in a row, possibly a miracle), but this time for Thanksgiving Day. I didn’t have a breakdown this time, but I did get a little emotional as I thought about this wonderful tradition that I usually share with my mother. As I cracked the eggs, mashed the bananas, added the various ingredients and stirred the mixture, my mother was not only not in my kitchen, but thousands of miles away. Again, it’s times likes this I wish I had the ruby slippers. It was the very first time I made our bread on my own so you can understand my sadness.
Side Note: Mom, I love you so much and I can’t wait to come home this Christmas so we can make our Banana Nut Bread TOGETHER!
It’s never easy living in another state far away from your family, but it’s even more difficult celebrating a holiday without them. Sadly, this wasn’t my first Thanksgiving without my family. Two years ago I spent Thanksgiving in Spain, but luckily three of my uncles were visiting me that weekend so I wasn’t completely alone. I was fortunate again this year as Alex and his family adopted me for Thanksgiving. My roommate Katy went back home to Virginia, Val headed to her
Grammy’s house in Boston and I stayed in the city to spend Thanksgiving with Alex. We had a huge Puerto Rican feast and spent the holiday with the 3 F’s: Family, Friends, and Football! ;-) I of course missed my family like crazy and wished I was spending Thanksgiving with them in Kansas, but spending time with Alex and his family was definitely the next best thing. We had a really nice time and throughout the day I reflected on how lucky I am and how many things I have to be thankful for.
I’m so thankful to have such a wonderful family who loves and supports me no matter what I do. I’m thankful they are all happy and healthy. I’m thankful for the most precious niece and nephews I could ever ask for. I’m thankful for wonderful friends. I’m thankful to have a good job. I’m thankful I’m happy, healthy and have been granted so many wonderful opportunities in my life. I’m thankful for an amazing, thoughtful boyfriend who cares about me so much. And among so many other things, I’m thankful to live in a place where freedom rings.
The month of November came and went so quickly, but I enjoyed every minute of it. As we head into the heart of December, I have so much to look forward to, including and most importantly, a trip back home!
