Mailbox fun

Nerd alert. I just figured out you can order FUN stamps online to be delivered right to your door through USPS. It's not the same, but makes me feel a little bit like a kid at heart when I used to walk the beach with my Gramma to her post office in Northern Michigan and get fun stamps. I'm not a fan of flags and liberty bells. Give me color or give me email!

Yeah stamps! Pixar ones coming in the fall too.

Happy Independance Day

We spent fourth of July this year on the roof deck of our building. I'm still learning the night settings with my camera, so this is a terrible picture to share. Somehow I'm in love with the colors, blurs, and city skyline though. Love seeing the Empire State Building lit up in red, white and blue too!

Happy Independence Day! Hope you celebrated in style.

The BirchBox

On the recent subject of obsessions, I've got another thing to share. I was reading an article in the Times a few weeks back about a venture capital firm that is going to open an office in Manhattan this summer. The article went on to explain some of the VC firm's companies. One was called Birchbox. I thought "what the hell is that?" So I googled it to find out. Oh be still my miniature heart. It's beauty samples (the best kind of miniatures!) delivered straight to your door every month. How could I NOT get a subscription after finding that out? So me being well, me, I signed right up. This week my first delivery arrived:

It's here!

All wrapped up with a little bow. Yah presents for me!

Can't wait to see what the next 11 months bring.

I must admit that my first Birchbox was pretty rad. And also extremely coincidental. You see, the very day that I got the Birchbox in the mail, I had also seen a quote on Pinterest that I really loved. It said "She had a cocktail in hand and confetti in her hair." Turns out, that quote is the tagline for the Kate Spade Twirl perfume, a sample of which was included in my shipment. I adore when things like that happen! So between this new perfume to try (I'm digging it), bronzer, nail polish remover mitts, face moisturizing spray, and shiny hair oil, I've got plenty of new things to play with. Thanks Birchbox, for delivering some fun to my mailbox.

Pinterest and Cardigan Love

Shhhhhh. Don't tell the Mister, but I've got a few new obsessions. You see, this week I discovered something AWESOME. Jaw-droppingly awesome in fact. Pinterest. I'll spare you the details and let you check out the website for yourself, but basically pinterest is a virtual bulletin board. You "pin" things from the internets (mostly pictures) onto "boards" that you create for yourself using categories, and then you can share these boards and pins with the rest of the world. For a lady who has spent years collecting magazine articles of interest and sorting them into categorized binders, this is a dream come true. Now instead of clunky binders, I've got "boards" for inspirational quotes, apparel I love, new make-up techniques, photography ideas to try, and a whole range of other things. It's amazing.
Related to this new pinterest obsession though, I've been spending a bit too much time evaluating my wardrobe and "pinning" cute outfits. That's led me down the road of purchasing 4 new cardigans in the last 24 hours. Because a lady can never have too many cardigans, right? Am I RIGHT? My summer wardrobe really needed some new cute blouses, some cotton summer weight cardigans, and some cute shoes. Thanks to sales recently at Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Jcrew, I was able to make that happen for dirt cheap. Thank goodness the Mister just tells me I've been looking cute lately and hasn't delved any deeper into the credit card statements. ;-)

I currently can't get enough of this ensemble. I want to live in it. Daily.

On Exploring, Wizards, and Butchers

Having this new camera has been super rad. I spent one afternoon after work wandering around Brooklyn Bridge Park with my snazzy new camera & Crumpler camera bag in hand. I managed to take a few cool shots of the Brooklyn Bridge and Pier 6, but mostly, I was just interested in getting to know my camera, and testing out how it performed in different light conditions. Note to self. Need to take a camera class ASAP.

Empire State Building off to the right!

<3 This

The tall building is the new Frank Gehry Building. The cranes are for One World Trade.

Love the purple in the glass & the taxi sign

A little Bridge love

Then I spent another day last weekend totally nerding out, and going to the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Discovery Center in Times Square. Being an American Express cardholder, I was also able to snag a free audio tour, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the exhibit, and I wasn't spending $17 for an "exhibit book," so I don't have many images to show for my fun trip. I will say however, that this exhibit was super cool, and my favorite part was getting to see all the wands from each of the characters in the movies. You better believe they had a gift shop at the end of the exhibit selling all the wands too. I was THIS CLOSE to buying one. But I told myself, wait, wait. Spend all your bucks when you eventually make it to the Harry Potter world at Universal Studios in Orlando. Perhaps this year over Thanksgiving? I wonder if I can convince the Mister....

Harry Memorabilia

Display case at the gift shop

And in another nerd alert, I got some new glasses finally! I'm psyched about these Modo's with green inside and tortoise shell outside. They look cute on, and after picking them up from the shop, I promptly wore them for the rest of the evening while I read my new cookbook/butcher's guide. The famously humane Fleisher's is opening a branch of their butcher's shop here in Park Slope, literally 4 blocks from my apartment this fall. I could NOT be a happier camper. Local eggs, grass fed and happy meats, and a whole variety of other local cheeses and goods will be right at my finger tips! I'm geeked for my weekly trips to the store.

Flowers, Camera, Wedding!

I'll be back soon with longer posts and more details about things happening around here. For now there have been three important events:

1) I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden's Annual Cherry Festival. The blooms really were a sight to behold, as was the smell of all the blooming lilacs (one of my favorite smells).

2) My Mister really is the BEST ever, and he surprised me on the closing of our house with a very important gift. A new camera!

3) The Frankel's got married, and although I don't have as many pictures as I would like, a lovely time was had by all over the long Memorial Day weekend.

Now welcome June! It's hard to believe you're being ushered in with 90 degree plus days.

Randomness

I've been having some random thoughts lately about my general well-being. Allow me to share:

• I was recently informed I have a cavity. I was 12 when I got my first and only cavity so far.
• I'll be riding in a limo next weekend for the first time. I'm 31 years old and have never rode in a limo before. Anyone else think this is as odd as I do? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?
• I'm suffering from a small cold, and I haven't had one in over a year. At the first sign of illness, I immediately ran out to Walgreens and spent over $50 on cold remedy products. Why yes, I DID need that new waterpik water pulsator!? Thanks for asking!
• I got my nails painted earlier this week in a color called "fondola gondola." The week before it was "dim sum plum." Apparently, I'm either craving soup dumplings or a trip to Venice. Frankly, I'll take either.

There you have it. Thanks for stopping a moment in my noodle brain.

Officially Official

After 376 days, I can honestly say, "this house is not my home!" That's right people, it's officially official, the mister and I FINALLY sold our house in Milan. We made a lot of happy memories in that house, but I can't exactly say I'm sad to see this chapter close. We have been through hell and high water trying to sell this house in a terrible market, and the taste it's left in my mouth is less than desirable. Maybe someday well down the road, we'll consider purchasing again. For now, we're more than happy to rent here in New York, and will NOT miss having to do things like mow the lawn or tend to the ever growing weeds in the garden! Of course there are things I'll miss. But for now, I'm glad the place can be someone else's hassle.

RIP 826 Barnswallow (circa 2003-2010)

Now with that, I'm off to drink the 3 bottles of cava and prosecco I've got chilling in my fridge. Hurray!! 

Happenings

Hello there! It's been a while. Things have been interesting here in Brooklyn. April was pretty much a non-stop slew of visitors and the arrival of spring. Among Casa Zawacki's guests were the other Zawacki's (our first child visitors!) including this hilarious guy:

Having the children here was beyond fun. Between trips to the zoo, the aquarium, lots of giggle stroller rides, the park, the library, celebrating Sylvie's 5th birthday, and watching about a million "eeeba's" pass on the street (2 y/o code for city buses), nobody was bored for a minute. I just wish those small fries could be here visiting all the time!

After the kids and my brother & sister-in-law came and went, it was time for another visit with Liz, who was in town over the Easter weekend with her boyfriend Jason. What was unexpected however, was the SURPRISE visit from my friend Erin, who came all the way to NYC from Munich, Germany for work! It was sooooooooo nice to have her stay with us for a few days and get to show her our cool little 'hood. It was also a great excuse for me to actually cook an Easter meal.

Finally, I've been working on a few little projects here and there. I got some fantastic new city street art (thanks again Kristal!), and I wanted to get it framed and hung in a special place. I'm really happy with the results, and seeing these pictures on their shelf make me smile every morning.

"Cause Diamonds are a Girls best friend"

It's somewhat possible that my love for brown paper packages tied up in strings has been replaced by robin's egg blue boxes tied up in white ribbon. Never in my life, did I ever think I'd set foot into a glitzy jewelers like Tiffany & Co., willing and able to purchase something! But my Bestie really is the bestest in the whole wide world, and she thought my 31st Birthday was simply the perfect time to get me a Tiffany's gift card. Armed with a gift card of her own, we headed together to 5th Avenue in the big city to have an adventure. It was certainly an experience that I'll never forget.

I guess I wasn't totally sure what to expect when we set foot into Tiffany's, but what I certainly did NOT expect was to be treated so well. They've got their customer service down to a science! Never once were we treated like lesser customers because we weren't buying 20k engagement rings, and every salesperson was enthusiastic about letting us try on whatever we wanted. There certainly is something magical as well about all those glass cases, all the glittering jewels, and all the white gloves of the sales personnel as they're constantly cleaning and polishing!
It was tough to look at so many beautiful things and have to choose, but after a long look around the store, my heart was simply set on something from the Paloma Picasso line. An odd choice for someone like me who isn't particularly a fan of either Picasso's paintings nor a bunch of hearts! But this sterling silver piece just spoke to me for some reason. It needed to be around my neck.

Difficult to photograph, but intricate and gorgeous in person!

A few more walks around the store, and Kristal feasted her eyes on another lovely sterling silver piece, a graduated necklace. It seemed a bit dramatic to me in the case, but once it made it's way around Kristal's neck, we both knew she had to have it! She says she feels a bit like June Cleaver when she wears it, and I think that simply adds to it's glamor.

All in all, I honestly couldn't have asked for a better birthday gift. I'm getting to an age where "things" aren't as important to me as experiences are, and Kristal really knocked it out of the park this year in finding me something that accomplished both! As a wise woman once said "Your memories are your jewels," and this one I'll treasure always.

Thanks Kristal (and Rick), for a wonderful birthday experience!