the yoga of the bbq.

Long weekend of yoga-ing and bbq-ing.

After a heavy (read: groovy) sanskrit workshop -- the path of luminous shabda -- I arrived home to find Jared practicing his own yoga.

Only in NY: fashion statements

i was walking behind this lady on ny way to the train. couldn't help
but take a pic.

real housewife advice.

everyone offers their advice. i take it usually with a grain of salt.

but, i do wonder what kind of advice the real housewives of nj have for a future real housewife of nj (a girl can dream, can't she)???

we noticed while walking in town the other day that the housewives are appearing at the wellmont theatre just a mere hop, skip and a jump from our place. i have no idea what those ladies could possibly be doing at the theater that garners a whopping $27+ entrance fee. but you have to know that i really freaking want to go!!!

have you seen this show? it's OUT OF HAND. and i've only seen like three episodes!!!

anyone want to join me?? i mean if not for the great entertainment of the ladies, there will be endless amounts of amusement from the choice nj cliches that will attend!! i hope it's an open Q & A session.

the name game

i just read a funny article about the whole taking on of the husbands name issue.

apparently, it's not gender neutral to take on your new huzzies last name. but, a bunch of women in middle america believe it should be mandated that the ladies take on the husbands last name. i don't know if there needs to be a government mandate -- that's a bit much.

i don't really consider myself to be a very strict feminist. though i have some strong views, i seem to fall back on the 1950s housewife model which seems in all honesty to be a pretty sweet deal, minus the misogyny.

being one of two daughters to carry on the michaelson name, i definitely considered keeping my last name, i might even keep it as a middle name. no hyphen though, i don't think i am progressive enough for that.

i mean, what happens to your kids if you don't change your last name? what name do they get? do they have to use a hyphen??

bridesmaids -- jersey style.

there's no doubt that when new jerseyans do something, they really do it with gusto. this goes for wedding planning and the like. i am sure that people in other states have their own standards to live up to, but in new jersey there is a lot of pressure to perform. trust me on this one.

i arrive this afternoon at 5 minutes to noon at the david's bridal store near my house -- there's a line. now, i've been here more than a few times being that my sister and best friend got married a few months ago and the first place i went to try on dresses for my own wedding was at this exact spot. the girls in line are a motley crew of total jersey ranks. there's a lot of long straight brown hair, overexaggerated makeup and the distinct markings of tanning beds, coupled with the ubiquitous accent that puts us on the map for being just tough enough to be referred to as jersey girl (emphasis on the jerz). cue the bon jovi.

i strike up a conversation with some other girls who are out there waiting with me. we are already complaining that the sales poeple all see us and are not letting us in. i find out that the one bride in the group is there with her bmaids checking out dresses. she's getting married at some wedding place in bergen county which, i just googled, looks lovely and actually a little less wedding-factory than i expected.

the doors open and like a scene from the shoppers on black friday, the mad rush ensues.

since i've been here before, i already have a sales person who is very sweet and helpful. she greets me and asks me about some details. my sister arrives and we then start our rummaging through the dresses. i find a feather hairpiece and adopt it at mine, at least for the trip so everyone knows that I AM THE BRIDE, dammit. ;) and we do rummage they have tons and tons of dresses for every size.

the thing with being a bmaid in a wedding is that there are only about ten different possibly wearable dress styles that you can pick from, no matter who the designer. david's bridal just seems to have them all there in different sizes so you can actually see how they fit. when i went with my sis to try on dresses at other stores they had all the dress styles in size 2. right -- have you seen us jersey girls??? we could eat you for breakfast. and also, as if you don't feel bad enough that you have to be a bmaid, the damn dresses are sized so poorly that you have to go about two to four sizes up -- total boost of the self esteem.

two other bmaids arrive and it's on. i had put a bunch of dresses in the dressing rooms and basically it's total chaos. i came into this day thinking i'd be all, you can wear whatever dress you want. and after an hour of dresses that were less than flattering i thought, damn, i'm going to have to play the bridezilla card and mandate one dress to end the madness. then we spied another bmaid trying on this two piece number. it was actually a hit amongst all that were in attendance. it even can handle some major boobage and still look hot.

now in jersey while shopping for bridal dresses, you get the experience of seeing the girls that want to be a freaking princess on their wedding day try on dresses right in front of you....full on big ass dress with tiara and enough satin to let you think they'd never have a tramp stamp to cover up -- but they ALL do. this may be the best part.

i know everyone has a different style but it's so comical to see the girls with their poofy dresses and accoutraments. oh the accoutraments. i am all about accessories, don't get me wrong. but some things should have died in the 90's (see the gloves in the pic to the left). and those dresses with pick-ups for you and your bmaids. we actually saw one girl try one of those cake-topper bmaids dresses on and go -- this is it!!! i thought cinderella and belle cornered that market, girls. i am pretty sure prince charming, i mean guido, isn't going to really going to save you from your wicked stepmother and step sisters either -- but he will be driving a camaro and possibly even wear a cavaricci tux -- hmmm, do they even make those??? (ha, it's nice to see they actually have a website, complete with trance music!!)

luckily i have five awesome girls in my bridal party. all super-cool and totally fun, they'd have my back any day, as i would theirs. all but one are jersey girls, born and bred, and the non-jersey girl i am now inducting into the jersey girl hall of fame. i can do that -- that's how jersey i am.

only in NY: flipping out.

my coworker and I just enjoyed a very tasty and yet VERY expensive burger lunch at the new burger joint in bloomies.

don't get me wrong, it's no hundred dollar burger but it's definitely a pricey lunch -- even for midtown/ upper east siders. no bun, lamb burger with olive tapenade, feta and skinny fries -- mmm.

TGIF.

The weekend can't come quick enough. my little alpha-kins arrives tomorrow and there will be parties and free haircuts and bridesmaid dress hunting!!!

instant gratification.

on this super rainy day, we came home to a big box on the doorstep. our first wedding present arrived!!!

We just registered last week!!

Very exciting times over at the apartment. Even heathcliff is enjoying the cardboard box it came in.

gluten free date night: candle cafe NYC.

I've heard about this place and it's more upscale companion since I first uttered the words 'gluten free'. The yelp reviews claim it to be the best vegan restaurant in the country. All I have to say is believe the hype.

After work Jared and I met up by my office and walked over to crate and barrel to start registering!! So much fun. Then we headed to candle cafe for vegan and in my case gluten free goodness.

I am so full - it was awesome. The ambiance wasn't much to boast about but the menu was great and definitely drove home their from the farm to the plate mantra.

All I have to say is quinoa crusted tempeh.....mmmmm. And the rice pudding was amazing. Definitely worth the trip uptown and all the traffic out of the city right now as I sit and blog.

that's one hell of an entrance.

i just watched this video which at the same time made me laugh out loud - literally (loll) and tear up a bit.


all i have to say is bridal party if you're reading this.....bring it!

~~~~~

the engagement party was a lot of fun. a LOT of people, most of which were meeting for the first time. my father and stepmother did an amazing job making the backyard look so nice and preparing food that everyone thought was from a caterer. my mom even made me special rice krispie treats (thanks, mom) since i can't eat the wheat that was in that massive cake which everyone devoured. i am still in awe that basically the whole thing was gone at the end of the night! jared and i cut EVERY-SINGLE piece! the only thing i might have done different is have name tags with how/ who people were related to as a sort of ice-breaker. regardless i think/hope people mingled and had fun.

if the engagement party is any gauge of how the wedding will be, i really need to up my game endurance-wise. it was lovely and a lot of fun, but totally exhausting! i also realized that i am usually the family photographer so there's a lack of photos. note the few photos i had to work with in the collage.

i was playing around with picassa 3 and made this fun little collage..... sorry if i don't have a pic of you if you were there.

i'm actually totally utilizing a lot of what google has to offer and finding it very useful, esp when planning a wedding. there's the google task list, and google reader which are also two of my faves. i basically have subscribed to a bunch of wedding blogs and they get filtered into one place. i know, it's totally nerdy....but it's very useful if you don't have a lot of time to play on the net or just want to star or tag things for later.

other than that we are working on our first wedding project....the thank you cards from the e-party.

rub-a-dub-dub.

heathcliff definitely wasn't too fond of taking a bath. fortunately,
he survived and smells much better in spite of it.