i love food

One of the things I miss the most (besides the people of course) from New York is the food. The variety is just incredible and the availability is one of the things that has been lacking here in Nashville. That is not to say that the food here isn't great. It's just different. ;)

I think I will let the food pictures here do the talking. These were all taken from our holiday vacation in December through January mostly in Queens because hey, it's my hometown. :)

^^^left: ube donuts || right: calamansi donuts^^^


^^^chocolate chunks pizza from max brenner^^^

More from our trip to NY soon.

fight for air climb

Three weeks from today, I will be climbing up 29 flights of stairs for the American Lung Association. I signed up early December with super high hopes. On Wednesday my team and I climbed up 31 flights of stairs during our training session. It was very difficult. At times it felt like I would collapse. But I persevered. 

Confession time: my insecurities are at an all time high. I am majorly overweight and it's impossible for me to do those stairs without taking many breaks. I have over 100 lbs to lose. I'm five feet and possibly a half an inch under 5'1" so climbing stairs takes me a really long time. I blame my super short legs. I had a breakdown Thursday night and cried out to my husband that I was thinking of giving up. I climbed the flights, I said but I did it so slowly with many breaks in between and I felt l like I would be letting my team down if I couldn't do it without stopping. Which would be impossible. Because hello, over 100 lbs to lose! I also haven't raised any money and I was just feeling really discouraged. Luckily my husband was able to talk me down from my hysterics. Yesterday afternoon I climbed the 31 flights of stairs again. And yes I huffed and puffed. And yes I took many breaks. But I didn't give up. I'd like to think that counts for something.  

ps. If you're interested in donating to the American Lung Association to aid in their research, education and advocacy efforts, please check out my page!

adele can do no wrong

Pull thru, QUEEN!!!!! 😜🙈🏆👑👑👑 #Adele #Monster the attitude & fingers to match. #Oh #Ok #IcoNIC ❤️ I cried when she waved bye to the careers 😩 #Hello #BuhBye 😩🙋🏽

A video posted by Nicki Minaj (@nickiminaj) on Jan 13, 2016 at 10:27pm PST

I MEAN!

Original video here.

throwback thursday

It's so bittersweet to look back at some of these pictures. So many changes have happened and yet, some things remain the same. Time really is a fickle friend. 

too many words

My youngest brother took us to two of his (many) favorite places to eat on Christmas Eve. The first was a diner in Oakland Gardens (close to my family's place) for breakfast. We had omelettes, hash browns & pancakes (oh my!) and it was lovely.

Later that day he took us to this super cool cafe called Bean & Bean. He would post pictures on social media and rave about the honey lattes which made me experience major FOMO (fear of missing out). So... I made him promise to take me there when we finally were in town. I was in heaven from all of the Christmas decor, macarons, drip coffee & (of course) free wifi.

Once there, I could not for the life of me figure out what to get. When I asked him for help, my brother recommended the iced white mocha and oh my goodness gracious, goody two shoes, mylanta was it delicious! It's like he KNOWS. Ha. I'll definitely be back for more whenever I am visiting the fambam.

reflections

It was raining when we landed in New York and, not surprisingly, humid + warm. We walked out to a sea of cars waiting for passengers. My brother, when he saw us, gave both of us each the biggest hug when we finally found him and we rushed to get the luggage in the car so we could leave the chaos behind.

It's funny, when I sat at my desk or contemplated the trip back home in the few weeks before we left, I missed NY something fierce. I couldn't wait to go back, see my peeps and eat all the food. And yet, once I actually was there, the brisk pace of the city and all of the reasons I couldn't wait to get out came rushing back to me. Sure, I miss my people the most, but I have never been more thankful to call our little place here in Nashville home. Peace and quiet. That's what I savor currently in my life.