The funniest thing in the WORLD is happening right now, so funny that I cant continue to type!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ugh.

Now I understand why people pay ridiculous amounts of money to hire a wedding planner!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

We started out having a private mini Thanksgiving on Wednesday night. We cooked a small meal, creamy macaroni and cheese and sweet onion broccoli. We had a great bottle of wine that was given to us as a gift for our engagement party. A little later my brother came over and we spent the whole night being merry! It was great!






Our Thanksgiving dinner at my Uncles House! It was so nice to spend it with my fathers side of the family. My whole life I was with my moms side, but as I mentioned in an earlier blog, y dad and I are getting really close lately, so I wanted to spend it with him.

giving thanks

So its that time of year again where we think about all that we are grateful for. This time of year is no different from the rest of the year for me in terms of my thought process. I occasionally think about why I feel I am blessed, but theres something about having it all typed out and pretty like this:

• I'm grateful for the opportunity to engage in different activities: dance classes, boxing classes, and being able to sign up for races all around NYC
• I'm grateful for my friends of course and especially this year where I am spending time with them and am able to just send a text or make a call whenever I like, unlike the past few years where I was out of the country and had to do it via email or facebook.
• I'm grateful for my dad. We are spending so much more time together and speaking on the phone almost everyday. He is turning out to be one of my favorite people in the world!
• I am grateful that I have a passionate, intelligent, educated, handsome, sporty, sophisticated fiance that doesn't smoke, do drugs, stay out all night, or ever disrespect me. He is perfect in every way possible, and I found him on my journey around the world.
• This may sound superficial, but its really not. I am so grateful to have the financial means to live on my own, pay for a wedding and save up money at the same time. This is all due to the passion and drive that I had in the past 10 years, not only graduating High School when many people said I wouldn't, but going on to get all A's during undergrad and then traveling around the world and getting a masters degree. In addition, I'm also grateful that my fiance, although he is not from this country and wasn't educated here found a fabulous job within his first week in NYC, especially in this bad economy.
• I am grateful to myself for being and staying healthy, keeping a healthy diet and really taking care of my body and soul because when I am healthy and happy the people that are around me are too.

Happy thanksgiving everyone.

2010!

(more blogs to come on Thanksgiving 2010 in NYC!)

stuff.

So I just wanted to write a quick update on my NYC life. Spanish guy and I are deciding whether or not to go back to Spain in September or to stay in NYC for another year or two. The reason we would go back is for him to get his Masters Degree, and I would study Spanish and start my own business. The reason to stay in NYC would be for me to get my PHD and for us to save money. Its a difficult decision, I really miss Spain, but at the same time, I'm loving life in NYC. Its great to have such accessible friends, and theres so much to do.

I'm still taking dance classes at Alvin Ailey. I started taking a fight-club class with a friend of mine too. I started running again (after my roller blading accident) and will run a 4 mile race in December. Running is like my drug, I just really don't feel well when I don't run! There' really is something to this whole endorphin thing!

Spanish guy and I have been seeing friends on the weekends, and really taking advantage of our time in NYC. We love Brooklyn and we love Queens and thats where we spend most of our free time. We only go to the city when we have a party to go to or when theres a restaurant we want to try out.

Well, thats all for now, I just thought I'd pop in and write something non wedding related, haha.

xo

estamos indo para o Brasil

We finally decided on our honeymoon...

We are going to Brazil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and we couldn't be more excited! All the discussions really paid off! We cant wait!!! Spanish guy speaks Portuguese, I'm taking Brazilian Dance classes, there is a mixture of beaches (the real Copacabana), culture, sports, and the Amazon Rainforest! How romantic! 

Rio de Janeiro, estaremos lá em breve.

tchau, beijos.

luggage and laptops

So every free second of my life has been put to planning the wedding. I am currently creating a registry, but the problem is we don't want gifts. The type of lifestyle that we are going to live is not really the type of lifestyle to have a lot of "things" we want to travel around, learn and explore. We don't want pots and pans and all that stuff! Do people want to only buy gifts instead of giving dough? 

Is it bad etiquette to ask for cash? 

We want to put it towards investments: mutual funds, property in NYC and Spain, paying for higher degrees, etc.

The only thing that we really need is luggage and laptops. 

YES!!!! That will be our registry!!! luggage and laptops! 

Why do we have to be so traditional? geezzz...

 luggage and laptops it is! 

more engagement party pictures!

Here's a few more pictures of me with a few of my best friends and me with Spanish guys best man, and one of my best friends since Kindergarten.

big things at work

Im heading back to work today and its going to be a doozie. Im meeting with the secret service to set up our meeting with the PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA tomorrow! yes, you heard me right. My students and I have tickets to hear her speak and ask her questions for inclusion in my students documentary on LIberians resettlement after the civil war.

Exciting things are happening this week. Okay, its 9:05am and before I get caught up in the Maury show, I should head out to work. (Maury is my guilty pleasure).

okay doke.
xo

engagement party- all the love

BEST-ENGAGEMENT-PARTY-EVER!

We had so much fun and so many people came! My friends that I grew up with, my mom, dad and both sides of my family! My maid of honor bought cup-cakes with gorgeous flowers on them. The fondue was amazing! AND we had the whole bar/resturant to ourselves for the first 4 hours until it turned into a club, playing salsa, Euro music, and old school hip-hop. It couldn´t have gotten better! PLUS-- it was daylight savings time so we had an extra hour of partying!

I love my fiance and I love my family and friends. What a great kick-off to serious wedding planning! Cant Wait!!!!

heading to the spot!

our party favors and save the date cards!

wine and fondue!
how pretty! the cupcake tree!
my heart (my bro) and my crazy eyes, ha.

xo

getting ready to take a series of pictures, my family!

maid of honor and me!

she got engaged!

cup cakes and champagne

me and my life long friend!

awwww, my maid of honor with a surprise attack hug!

waiting for the toast

my my girl and my bro

look how handsome my fiance is! whistle whistle!

more pictures and blogs to come.

preparing to celebrate our life-long commitment

Okay, so tomorrow is our engagement party. I'm so excited! I have a one o'clock appointment to get my nails and hair done (which I never do, I usually do them myself). Then I'm meeting my maid of honor, my fiance, and his best man at my house to put together the Save-the-Date cards and little gifts that I bought for the guests. Then we're going to speed into the city and meet my family at the venue and welcome all our guests to celebrate with us!

What we have planned:

• A chic party at a trendy NYC hot-spot with our closest friends and family members.
• appetizers, fondue (which I'm super excited about), and cocktails
• A cupcake and champagne toast

After that, anyone who is up for it will dance the night away with us!

What a perfect way to celebrate the beginning of our commitment to spend the rest of our lives together! We are so happy and so blessed and so fortunate to be on the same page in life and to make all the right moves. We are lovingly and happily gliding through the steps that truly make both of our souls happy.

Tonight we are having a private engagement party. My fiance is going to surprise me with a fabulous evening. Can't wait.

Wedding plans are in FULL EFFECT! woot-woot!

my maid of honor is going to be a bride

My maid-of-honor just got engaged. I'm SO happy for her... BUT I wonder if she still wants to help me with my wedding when she has her own wedding to plan now. :/

honeymoon

Spanish guy and I can't agree on a honeymoon destination. Should I just give in and tell him to pick it and surprise me? decisions decisions.