{shopping...and not the good kind}

I’ve got a question to put out into the void: Does anybody like grocery shopping? As fun as it is to drop 100 bucks every so often at the grocery store, I think I would much rather have my kitchen cupboards magically replenish themselves, and take that 100 dollars to Nordstrom to buy a new outfit. But, maybe that's just me. Something about the whole experience just doesn't sit well with me. It’s a pain looking for the best bargain; or not being able to cross something of my list because they are out (now what’s for dinner?); or watching the screen as they ring up my items and the numbers quickly bypass the amount I thought I would be spending; or walking past the bakery section and drooling all over those donuts I definitely want to buy, but won’t. Anyway, you get the idea…I find the whole experience to be miserable.

Due to my dislike of grocery shopping, I try to do everything I can to make the experience as painless as possible. For example…

1. Meal-plan and make a list. This will greatly shorten the amount of time I spend in said grocery store, and will also ensure I come home with every ingredient I need for the weeks meals.

2. Eat a filling meal before entering food zone. Going to the store on an empty stomach is the worst thing EVER!! When I am at the store hungry, everything looks delicious and it is a 100% guarantee I will come home having bought some random food item that looked good at the time, but is actually no bueno. Like those weird sugar coated pineapple things I bought once…

3. Grab the wallet lanyard and ditch the purse. I hate walking around the store with a cart or basket, plus a purse, plus my list, plus a phone, etc. Its waaaay too much to handle.

4. Use the mantra from one of my favorite movies (“Confessions of a Shopaholic”) “Do I need these?” most likely I don't need the M&M’s, or the Coconut Oreos, or the Sour Patch Kids. Unfortunately.

This past week I made my way to the grocery store and zipped into the closest parking spot I could find. It wasn’t my best park job—of that I was fully aware. I wasn't quite centered and was a little too close to the car on my right side. But honestly it wasn’t that bad. It just needed a little straightening out! I planned on re-parking just as soon as I texted Rob back and put my phone away. But, moments before putting my car into reverse, I looked out my window to see a very ticked off chick squeezing out of her car, giving me the death glare. Right as I was about to mouth “sorry” she angrily put her face to my passenger window, gave me the bird, and sneered “nice park job” (with at-ti-tuuuude) and stomped off. Sheesh!! The last thing I expected to happen at the grocery store was to be flipped off! So I re-parked faaaaar away lest I come back to my car to find that it had been keyed, and headed into the grocery store. So much for a painless experience!

Moral of the story: Someone out there dislikes grocery shopping more than I do.

Fate must have brought us together.

it's story time

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Brianna and—yep, you guessed it, that girl is me (side note: spell check keeps telling me to change me to I...but let’s be real, how weird would that sound? “That girl is I”? Ha no thanks). Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Brianna moved to New York with her newly acquired husband. One weekend, when Brianna’s mom and aunt were in town visiting, the four of them decided to pay a visit to the Brooklyn Flea Market.

Alright, who is as tired of third person as I am? Lets cut to first…

So we arrived at the flea market, and it was pretty rad. There were food stands, and old clothing, vintage furniture and décor, faded maps, awesome prints…you get the picture. Really neat stuff! But I knew I’d found the Flea Market’s crowning jewel, when I stumbled upon these oh-so-beautiful mirrors. I instantly fell in love. Each had a unique tin frame in a variety of colors and patterns, and, well, if I hadn’t already found my soul mate (ahem, Rob), I might have thought I was destined to be with these mirrors (I like to exaggerate oooooobviously). They were perfect and I loved them, until HELLO!!! How much does that cost?? Lets just say they were a little out of our price range. There was no way I was going to spend that much money on a mirror after we’d just spent practically our entire bank account to get married and move to New York. So, I walked away, head held high, but oh so sad.

Not too long after I bid the mirrors goodbye, we were meandering around the market a little more; when lo and behold, Rob disappeared. I instantly knew he was up to something. If I knew my husband like I thought I did, he had gone to buy a mirror. And that is exactly what he did. A few minutes later he came walking up to me with a mirror in his hands. I wish I was the heroine in this story, but sadly I am the villain. The second I saw the mirror I was furious! How could he tempt me with that mirror when I was trying with every fiber of my being to be a responsible, married, woman? How DARE he!! I could not keep it, and I would not keep it.

So, lets be honest. How ridiculous was my behavior? Out of control ridiculous!! Rob was being such a thoughtful husband, trying to do something nice for his new bride. I should have gratefully accepted the gift, but instead I shut him down hard core. Tears pricking my eyes, I angrily made him take the mirror back. It was a lose-lose situation for me: not only did I lose my opportunity to bring that beautiful mirror home, but I hurt Rob’s feelings, and felt like a horrible wife because of it. Sigh. I’m so silly sometimes.

Now, I know you are thinking this story has a sad ending…but it doesn't—because one year later, Rob decided to end this story happily. This weekend we went and stayed at the Little America to celebrate our anniversary. When we walked into our hotel room after dinner and I saw a large, rectangular, wrapped package, I knew (or at least hoped) instantly what it was. You guessed it…he got me the mirror. Awwwwwww! How lucky am I? Now, I have two soul mates…

Alright alright, I'm totally kidding! How materialistic do you think really think i am? Gosh! Rob's the only soul mate for me :)

So i guess it's only fitting to end this post with...

...and they all (Rob, me, and the mirror of course) lived happily ever after!

...when you're having fun

Well…looks like I took an unplanned sabbatical from blogging. Sorry to all my avid followers (aka Grandma Binny) for being MIA for so long…did ya miss me? That's all right if you didn’t; I do this blog mostly for me anyway!! And I’m back at it!

Today is a big day. For most of you that big day is Hump Day…yep, you are 2 days away from the weekend. Congrats! But for my significant other, and me well, we’ve been married one year--which, if you ask me is a bigger deal than hump day…sorry, we win! But hooooooly cow! 1 year?! How did that happen! To quote my insta post, “you know what they say…time flies when you are having the time of your life happily married to and completely in love with the best guy in the world! Well, that's what I say at least!”

In one year, I got married, moved to New York, fell in love with Scarsdale, only had a husband on the weekends, adventured on the East Coast, moved back to Utah, got a husband 7 days a week, and found myself more in love with him each and every day. For you hopeless romantics, cue the sigh. For you mooshaphobes, sorry, but it's true! Being married is the best. I highly recommend it.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the year…

Welp, one year. I guess that makes us old fogies now!  

Bring it on year number two! 

in case you were wondering...

I’m alive!!!!!!!!!

Oh. You weren’t wondering?

Well you probably should have been because this girl just made her first drive to the JFK airport, and barely made it back safely. Whew! This journey--notorious for its crazy traffic, ominous roads, hard to read signs, and chaos in general—trumps all driving experiences (in a bad way) I’ve had in NY thus far and I would be glad if I never had to make the drive over. Well, maybe I’d consider doing it again so long as it wasn't pitch black and dumping rain like it was this time around. Not a good combo.

That being said, before the drive I was an innocent little Utah girl afraid to use the horn. After the drive I can proudly and aggressively say I honked. 3 times! So maybe it was a success after all—I officially feel like a New Yorker.

If you were wondering whom I took to the airport, well, I had the sad misfortune of saying goodbye to my cute husband. He is off to Europe on his first business trip...

I think his mom would agree with me when I say this little boy is growing up too fast! 

Good luck Rob, i'm rooting for you :) 

It's Christmas Time in the City

The song “Silver Bells” pretty much nails NYC in December. That being said, if I might be so bold I would like to make a few changes to the current lyrics we all know and love….

City Sidewalks, busy Sidewalks,

Dressed in holiday style

In the air there’s a feeling:

It’s freezing

Children shivering, people pushing,

Meeting shove after shove

And on every street you’ll see

(chorus) 

Camera lights,

Trinket stands,

It’s tourist season in the city

Silver bells

I don't hear bells

Just honk after honk after honk

Strings of streetlights, even stoplights,

Blink of bright red and green

As the shoppers drain out their life savings

See the crowds bunch

Feel your toes crunch

As they get trampled on

While you wait in long line after line

(chorus)

There’s the tree

Yes THE tree!

Hurry, take a picture for all to see.

Still listening

For that ring-a-ling

Maybe those bells don’t exist!!

Okay okay, I think its safe to say I’m no lyricist. And while my version of the song may seem a bit pessimistic, let me clarify: The city really is great at Christmas time! I just had to add what the christmas songs don't tell you :)

Anyway. We had a fun outing on Saturday where we got to see the twinkling lights and busy street corners for ourselves. And yes, it was crowded and freezing but boy was it worth it just to get a glimpse of the ever-famous Rockefeller tree. I highly recommend a New York City outing during the Christmas season.

A few pics from the day…

Gotta love the Holidays!!