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So I’ve never been much of an outdoors kind of girl (despite the fact that I played an outdoor sport basically my entire life up to this point).  I hate bugs and I hate being sweaty and gross and not feeling comfortable AND I REALLY HATE BUGS.  The Maverick loves being outside and doing outside things so I find myself outside a lot more of the time than I would normally choose to be outside.  This probably sounds cheesy and cliché and blablabla, but being outside is large amounts better when I’m doing it with him, so I typically don’t mind that this is the case.  On our most recent adventure we took a trip to Hacklebarney State Park, which Wikipedia tells me is located between Long Valley and Chester in the Morris County area of New Jersey.  On our way, however, we got a bit turned around and ended up at some sort of outdoor education center called Bamboo Brook.  We walked around for a bit and saw a snake (UGH) but I was able to get some cool pictures of the Maverick looking like an adventurer-explorer-guy.

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Eventually we found our way to Hacklebarney and immediately the Maverick began sharing all these memories with me because he’s been going to this park since he was little.  There are lovely hiking trails and beautiful waterfalls, one of which we decided to set up our camp near after completing our hike.  The Maverick got this really cool portable hammock as a graduation gift and I was super excited to use it.  We started out reading but eventually fell asleep to the sound of the waterfall (rough life, right?).  After we woke up, we decided to head back home.  I made it out alive with only a few scrapes (I fell while hiking ugh) and minimal bug bites!  Overall, a huge success for me.

 

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Bear

 

How could I say no to hiking to that smile?!

 

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Maya Birthday Collage

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Life has been a complete whirl-wind since I graduated at the end of May, so you can imagine how unbelievably excited I was to make a trip out to San Francisco to drink delicious wine (post coming, stay tuned) and celebrate my adorable little niece’s first birthday.  I would get so annoyed when I was little at how often grown-ups talked about how fast time moved (because what did that even mean anyways??) but y’all time is just flying by.  I feel like papaya was just being born, and now here she is walking around with little teeth in her little mouth.

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My sister, a party planner extraordinaire, decided to capitalize on the proximity of the Fourth of July to her daughter’s birthday and combine them into one super event, which I have deemed The Fourth of July Themed First  Birthday Extravaganza.  She enlisted the help of CrateAffair, a design company that asks for the theme and occasion of your event and provides you with a complete set of (adorable) decorations.

 

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My sister served the classic BBQ food (hot dogs, fruit, chips, various salads, wings, etc.) that you can pick up at your local grocery store.  My sister had my mom make a special smash cake for Maya that contained healthy ingredients like bananas and greek yogurt that would be safe for her to smash (hence the name) and mush on her face, but also tasted pretty delicious!  The cake that all the adults ate was from a local Bay Area Bakery called Love at First Bite and was supplemented with mini bundts from everyone’s favorite Nothing Bundt Cakes.  Everything was super delicious and we somehow ended up with just about the right amount of food which is always nice!

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Of course, in classic one year old style, Papaya cried the entire time people sang “Happy Birthday” to her and refused to eat (or smash!) any cake whatsoever.  BUT.  Overall, the party was a huge success and everyone had a really good time.

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Make sure you follow CrateAffair on instagram: @crate_affair

 

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So I have some really incredible friends y’all.  Like, I am so extremely blessed to have such wise, beautiful, talented people in my life that help me and push me to continue to grow and follow my dreams.  Something that has really become apparent to me since graduating is the fact that I am now at a point in my life where I’m supposed to experiment and do crazy things that I might not be so sure about while I don’t have any kind of responsibilities holding me down.  This makes perfect sense when you say it out loud and there are days that I’m totally down and psyched to take on the world, but…there are also days when I am terrified out of my mind thinking about how I literally have a world of possibilities in front of me.  There are some friends of mine (4 in particular) that I have been watching go after their dreams and embrace that scary unknown and it has been super inspiring for me, so I want to give them a lil shout out.  I think it’s super important to really support the people you love and create a cycle of promotion and encouragement.  In my personal opinion, it’s so cool that my best friends have these passions that are completely different from mine because I get to learn some new stuff and then have my mind blown at how great they are at things that I couldn’t even imagine doing.  It’s also great for networking and makes those times when you have to do self promotion or ask for favors a little less awkward and horrible because everyone is spreading the love anyways!  So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to my bffs…

 


    

The Stand-Up Comic

As a performer who is comfortable singing, acting, and even just talking in front of people, I can tell you without wasting a breath that I would never be able to do stand-up comedy because it is (arguably) the hardest, most terrifying kind of performance anyone could ever do.  The nuanced dance you have to do with your audience is something that has to be so perfectly timed and requires so much skill very few are able to actually do it successfully, which is why I’m so incredibly proud of my best friend Abe.  He’s been out of school for a year now and has been doing stand-ups around New York City, but frequently performs at the well-renowned and very famous Comic Strip.  Probably any comedian that you can think of off the top of your head got his/her start here; but in case you’re drawing a blank, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, and more all have performed here. SO COOL RIGHT???  So to already be doing something so brave and be on the right track in such a short period of time is just remarkable and so so inspiring.  Abe is going to be gone for a while because he’s working at Camp for the Summer, BUT.  Come August (or even before then if you’d like to see some good stand-up) if you’re in the city, head over to The Comic Strip at 6 every Friday to watch him do his thang.  It’s a $14 cover but you get a free drink of your choice. Yum.  Learn more about The Comic Strip here and check out Abe on Twitter here.

 


  

The Professional Soccer Player

Growing up I always knew Tate was destined for greatness.  She was always traveling for ODP and National Camp and I remember being so incredibly excited to see which college she chose from the ridiculous amount that were courting her.  It came as no surprise to me that she very quickly played a huge role in Stanford’s success and was able  to make it to the final four of the NCAA’s multiple times.  She has a million accomplishments so it would be silly of me to try to list them all but her most recent was signing a contract and joining the ranks of the Arsenal Ladies.  I’m so incredibly proud of her because she has already been extremely successful, but also for the fact that she has just been so brave to move across the country to do what she loves. I’m so excited to see what’s next for her, because I know she’s only going up from here. If you ever get the opportunity, you have to see her play, she’s so fun to watch. Chi has been writing blog posts about her time overseas and also other soccer related things, and you can follow those here. She also has a twitter that you can follow here.

 

    
The Floral Arranger 

Casey has been like a big sister to me since I’ve known her, as she is the big sister of my best friend (also sister) Cati. I remember being younger and always looking up to her for her creative flair. I was incredibly excited when I found out a few years ago that she would be relocating with her husband to Albany, which was fairly close to where I live! I remember upon her moving, Casey pursued a lot of cool activities to keep her busy including picking up photography and starting a blog, as well as volunteering at this super cool cat sanctuary. Later on she decided to start working as a nurse again in an oncology unit and also became a clinical instructor for a local college. Although these activities consumed her time, she still felt as though she had a void in her life that she wasn’t able to fulfill until she pursued her dream of floral arrangement. I remember one post of hers that was particularly striking to me:

 

“Lately I have been disheartened with my job. I often come home feeling as if I’ve survived some war. I often Feel like I have talents that are being stifled by something that I should do, rather than what I want to do. I’ve always had dreams of working for myself in creative aspects. But alas, as the bills must be paid, therefore I will continue to clock in and out until I find the courage to pursue the road less traveled.”

 

This was particularly touching to me also being a creative that has found herself in the medical world but GUYS HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU FELT THIS WAY?? Sitting at your desk at your job that you hate and/or knowing that your heart is in some other place while you’re on the clock? I’m extremely fortunate and blessed to be young with limited responsibilities and have my entire future ahead of me to pursue my dreams; however; I am a huge believer and advocate for following your dreams in some capacity no matter where you’re at in your life. Casey, a woman with a job and a husband and responsibilities, is living proof that you can make it work! Seeing how incredibly talented Casey is in floral arranging has inspired me beyond belief and you can really see her passion through her work. It would be such a shame for you to not shine and share your passion with the world because you’re scared to take a chance! You can see all of Casey’s beautiful work here and request for her to make you things here. If you’re into alliteration and heartfelt talks with good friends you should read and follow her blog that I mentioned earlier here.

 

    
The Semi-Professional Basketball Player

LAST AND MOST CERTAINLY NOT LEAST…The Maverick!!! Okay first before I even start, I’m going to say up front that I’m going to try to not be too mushy and proud girlfriend while I write this, but guys I AM SUCH A PROUD GIRLFRIEND. I love this guy for an infinite amount of reasons but one of the main ones is he is so great at inspiring me to be a better person and teaching me new things about love and life. A little over a year ago he made the decision to move to England to attend the University of Nottingham and play basketball while getting his Masters. Naturally I cried about a billion tears over this, but I knew it was the best next step for him and I was so excited and proud of him for taking the leap and following his dreams to play basketball at a high level. He quickly became a standout on his university team and was eventually named MVP and was the lead scorer in the most important game of the year. He also was invited to play for a semi-pro team and greatly contributed to the team’s success, allowing them to move into a higher division for the next season. To have been watching him work so hard for the past few years and see all of it pay off is just… indescribable for me. Watching him play is one of my most favorite things because I can see the amount of passion and dedication he has for this sport (passion and dedication on a man are probably some of the most sexiest things ever. Basketball muscles aren’t too bad either I guess..)

The amount of love that I have for these people is so immense and overflowing and never-ending. It’s so so important to surround yourself with people who inspire you and help you grow and teach you things. Life’s too short to keep people around that keep you down or make you feel bad about yourself. It could seem hard in the moment but cut them loose and power on to your happiest most empowered self! So believe in love. Believe in magic. Believe in others. Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. If you don’t, who will? (Jon Bon Jovi said that. Genius right? I know.)

 

Please tell me about the people who inspire you and what they’re doing and what you’re doing! I love go-getters.

 

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