7 Years Since 2007

When Sal and I first started dating, we would always joke, saying "next year." As if we weren't going to be dating next year, as if we might kill each other before we get to the next year, but look at us now... seven years later. If you asked me I don't know that I would have guessed we'd still be together, but we are and I would not have changed a thing. Every obstacle we faced, made us stronger than before. When I pushed, he pulled, and eventually I ended up pulling too. It's amazing how fast time goes... The days are slow, but before we know it, time slips away and we're looking back on pictures we took 7 years ago... 2,555 days ago. 

I feel like we've done it all together, from vacations up and down the east coast and islands, to extravagant dinners and dates, special occasions spent with one another's families, and lazy days curled up in one another. 

This year Sal was at a loss as to what to do, having pulled together such incredible anniversaries for the past seven years, including a cruise around the city, trips to Rockefeller Center, and delicious dinners. He turned to Groupon, which turned out to be such a great decision. He knows how much I love wine, being that we have been to many wineries and wine trails, so he typed in "dinner and wine." Turns out Groupon was offering a deal for the Wine Bar in NYC - 6 wines to taste, 2 cheese plates, two entrees, and a bottle of wine to take home for a price that no one could have passed up. He quickly bought it, made reservations, and picked me up on the night of our anniversary with flowers in his hand, after we went to kickboxing and showered up. 

We arrived in the city a little earlier than our reservations, so we strolled to the resturant after finding parking. They took us as soon as we arrived, and even though we ended up sitting at the bar, we were more than happy to pass up a table, because we had much more space at the bar, and it was definitely more comfortable. 

We immediately started off with our wine tasting, paired nicely with a cheese plate. Another wine, and we placed our orders... Another wine and our orders arrived - skirt steak for Sal and chicken Milanese for me. It was by far, the best chicken Milanese I've ever had, especially paired with the wine we were given. Even though the deal didn't include a dessert, we decided to have one anyways... We chose two cannolis, the perfect way to end such a good dinner.

The wine hit us as we wrapped up our meals, but we just kept enjoying one another's company, and eventually found ourselves heading towards the tree with our bottle of wine in tow - somewhere Sal vowed he would not go this year. 

It wasn't cold, but even if it was I don't think I would have paid any attention to it.  The magic and wonder of Christmas in NYC is enough to make anyone forget about the cold... It's as if you're a child in Disney and even after hours of running around the park, you don't feel your legs hurting. We took our annual pictures by the tree, we watched the video displayed on the nearby building, and we walked hand in hand admiring the lights in every tree, the decorated window displays, and the overgrown holiday soldiers, ornaments, and Christmas lights. We didn't leave though until Sal bought and ate his dirty water dogs. I, for one, passed those up rather quickly... 

We fell in love a little deeper and our bonds grew a little stronger that night. These last 7 years together were beyond words, here's to another 7 more after that... 7, 7, 7, 7! 

Halloween 2014 Recap

Was it just me or did it feel like Halloween lasted for about two weeks this year? Maybe it's because I went to a costume party a week before Halloween, or maybe it's because there's been candy in the store for about a month.

This year was fun nevertheless. Sal's friend, Jimmy, was planning on throwing a party the weekend before Halloween, being that he was in his new house, yes... you guessed it, the one by the lake. He had some of his friends decorate, got a bunch of drinks, and decided to order pizza and subs for everyone. It wasn't a requirement to dress up, but it just made it more fun. After work, Sal and I headed up there with my brother and his girlfriend, both were home from college. We were all dressed to perfection. Sal was Clark Kent, my brother was a doctor, and Michele was a football player. They were all cute costumes, most of which were put together with clothes they already had. For my costume, I decided to reuse an old costume. Sal and I buy a new costume every year and twice we had no where to go to wear them to... I know, sad story. Anyways, one year Sal and I bought Top Gun costumes; his being more of a flight suit, and mine a dress. I tried mine on, and it didn't fit my shoulders, which just shows you how much kickboxing has positively affected me, and how much muscle I've gained. So I decided to wear Sal's Top Gun flight suit, but I wasn't going to just be Maverick or Goose... oh no... I was going to be one of our friends, Mike, who is currently in Oklahoma in the Air Force. He wasn't going to be at the party, so I figured I'd be him! It turned out that one of our other friends decided to be Jimmy. The two, Jimmy and Mike, are best friends, so it was absolutely hysterical. We even had Jimmy's mom calling him upset that she didn't know Mike was home. I have to say that we were picture perfect. 

The night drifted on by as we kept the party alive - bonfire, beer, good friends, and music played by two awesome guitarists. 

We headed back home before it was too late for us grandmas and grandpas, because some people (like me) have to work on the weekend. When I was home, I felt as if Halloween was done and over with, and like another year had passed, but we still had a week until the real day!

I didn't have any plans for October 31st, and I had to work at the hospital all day, but it was so so worth it. The other Child Life Specialists and myself decided we wanted to dress up together, so we chose to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, even though there were only three of us. We bought the shirts, chose to wear black leggings, and I added long green socks, from my soccer days, and a purple tutu to match my mask. We wanted costumes that we could get away with if something serious was to happen at the hospital (a new diagnosis of something or a serious accident). 

We were at the hospital bright and early with a mission to make the day fun for the children, to get them to laugh, and not care if they were missing trick or treating with their friends. We do reverse trick or treating, giving nurses, who were also dressed up, bags of goodies (Halloween related and not) like playdoh, vampire teeth, shirts/socks, coloring books, toys, and more, to pass out to the children. They'd knock on their doors, yelling "Trick or Treat!" The children would be in the room, waiting, with their bags open wide and huge smiles on their faces. It turned out to be a huge hit once again, and we surprised the children, and their families with cupcakes decorated just for the occasion! Project Sunshine from a college nearby joined us for the party and had crafts available for the children, their siblings, and families to do in the playroom. 

It was such a great day, and I'm pretty sure no one was upset that they missed Halloween outside of the hospital, at least not too much. 

So now you can understand why I thought Halloween was much longer than it was, but how it might've been the best Halloween yet. Hope all of you had a wonderful Halloween! 

It's Not Goodbye, It's See You Later

Now I've been to just about every kind of party there is - birthday, bridal shower, baby shower, holidays, just because, and my parents have held most of these themselves. However, what we have never threw was a going away party... specifically for my brother. Even though my brother went to away to college for his undergrad, he was only two hours away, and we knew he'd be home some weekends, and that we'd get to go visit him. This time was different; he was off to medical school, a school that is about 7 hours away from us. We didn't make a huge deal over the party. We invited close family and friends who we knew would want to say "see you later." My dad picked up plenty of boxes of pizza, and everyone brought drinks. We turned up the music, and the night went on.

I, of course, had to work that day, but I went in as early as I could, so I could make it home on time, before people started to arrive. When my dad walked in with the pizza, I walked in with him. Cousins came that we rarely see, aunts, uncles, and friends... all people who care so much about my brother and although sad to see him go, excited for him to embark on this next adventure... the next part of his journey to become a doctor. We shared stories that made each other laugh, and ate until our stomachs couldn't take another bite... but we weren't sure if that was because we were laughing so hard, or we really did eat too much pizza. It didn't matter at that point.

I kept catching glances of my brother, smiling, and not that fake smile that you catch people making every now and then, not the kind of smile that you can tell hurts people to be making because they're not happy, but I saw a pure, genuine smile that let me know he wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I didn't want to think about the next couple of days, when he'd be packing up all of his things. I didn't want to think about his empty room. I didn't want to think about the fact that my brother, the boy who I grew up with for 22 years, would be leaving me to go to a different state. All of that stuff could wait until we dropped him off, until we drove away.

And Then We Celebrated...

Once I was showered and cleaned off after the Dirty Girl Mud Run, I was thrown into party mode. My brother's graduation party was that afternoon, and I had to help with the set up, or as much as I could in the short amount of time before the party started. Thankfully I had baked cookies for the party the night before, and just had to pick up the cake. Our backyard was decorated and set up perfectly by my dad, uncle, and brother. The food was being cooked in the smoker out front, and Sal quickly took over the grill when he arrived. We had quite the spread, and as guests arrived, they dug right in. 

I ran around catering to my grandma and her older friends, making sure they had the appetizers, and burgers when they came off the grill. I hadn't even realized I was doing it, until one of them mentioned how thankful they were. I made sure that I spent time at each table, talking to family members and friends, and making sure to have fun too! We had corn hole going in the front, as well as ladder ball - which was being taken over by my younger cousins, who were all enjoying it thoroughly. 

We ran from the front yard, down the hill to the backyard, soaking up the beautiful weather that we had and every drop of laughter we heard, especially from one of our youngest cousins. The party was in full swing. To make it even more memorable, my mom had a couple of things up her sleeves. First thing was her speech for my brother, for her son that would be leaving for med school in just a few short weeks. I am shocked that she made it through the entire thing, and thankful that I was able to catch the touching words she spoke, on video. 

Time seemed to slip away in the night, as we ate and ate, and turned up the music with each hour. By night fall, the party was in full swing and the bonfire was burning high. Dessert was brought to the dessert table, and guests helped themselves to the candy thrown about. 

My mom wasn't the only one with tricks up her sleeve though, and my brother, Kyle soon found that out. We were all talking outside by the fire, enjoying our cake, when something came over me. I  whispered to my friends and cousins, and began walking over, slowly, to my brother. Before I knew it, I smashed my piece of cake into his face. Within seconds he ran after me, and I could not remember the last time I had laughed that hard. We ran around the yard as if we were little kids again, picking on one another. I was laughing so hard that I had to stop, and that's when he got me back, with whatever cake he could pull off his face. My hair was covered, but I didn't even care. We're pretty good sports when it comes to things like this, and everyone else thought it was hysterical! I love my brother, and that one memory will last my lifetime. 

After I washed my self off for the second time that day, my mom pulled out her final surprise - the lighting of lanterns, in memory of all those who could not be there to celebrate - especially my three of my grandparents, and aunt. My mom even included those relatives of other family members who had come, and stayed when night came. We lit them, and my mom said yet another great, heartfelt speech for all those who had gone before us. As they floated into the dark sky, we held on to one another, and hoped even for a second, our message was heard. We couldn't help but stare, long after we saw their light fade. Unfortunately, now Sal has a scar on his neck that will remind me of this night forever - WARNING: for anyone that lights memory lanterns, do not stick your head underneath it while you are lighting it and waiting for it to fill with air. 

As more family started to leave, we gathered inside and took the last remaining pictures. When everyone had left, my brother made sure to get the piece of cake that he never got to eat - and ate it out of a colander. It was definitely, one memorable night - a night we celebrated my brother. 

Congratulations Kyle, you deserve all the success in the world. Keep making us proud.