water babies.

I woke up Monday morning and just knew it was going to be a good day. I got to work and was immediately greeted by a smiling Max, and straight after breakfast we couldn't wait to put on swim suits and head outside. We texted Brooks, Max's best friend, and his nanny Dionne to come over and play with us, and set up his water table and squirt pool.

The only thing I love more than watching a toddler play and explore, is watching them play and explore with another child. Brooks and Max are a couple months apart and are attached at the hip most of the time. Watching the two of them develop individually and as a pair over the last six months has been so amazing to see. They interact so much more now, calling to each other by name and using phrases like "come here!" and "let's go over there!" It's awesome.

Today was a great day to watch. The boys were dumping water on each other and running around on the grass and through the squirt pool splashing everything. They played in the water table and focused on what each type of toy did - some had small holes in the bottom, some had lines cut out - and smiled and laughed when they figured out how and why the water was spilling out of their buckets.

It seems like such a simple thing, running around outside in some water and playing with plastic solo cups, but to a two year old it is all so much more. Every single moment is a learning experience, and kids pick up so much more than you think, especially at this age. It's so great to watch them grow and learn how to do such little things that we take for granted as developed adults.

It's also great that kids' towels are made with little hoods. It's the little things.

And that was our day. We splashed and laughed until lunch, took a nap, and finished off the day with some car watching out the big front window. Again, little things.

tunes tuesday // passenger.

This week's tunes tuesday is back to the kind of music I really, really love: folk. Passenger used to be a band with multiple members, but after their split up, the founder Mike Rosenberg decided to keep the name for his solo work. He released the album "All the Little Lights" last year, and it is so good. Rich's brother actually got this for me for my birthday (maybe? I'm the worst) and it took
me a while to get around to really listening to it until about a month ago. The album is different. Not every song is all about love and romance and heartbreak, some of them are actually kind of funny. One of them, called 'I Hate', is literally just a list of things that Mike hates, and it's pretty silly.

I think the way Rich's brother Ed heard about Passenger is because Mike toured with Ed Sheeran last year, and he's a shared love between me, Rich, and Ed. So far in America, just like Ed Sheeran at first, Passenger has not caught on. This is something I'm so used to and have talked about countless times, but the first single off of this album 'Let Her Go' has hit #1 in sixteen countries, so it's just a matter of time before this song is played on the radio right after a techno or pop hit. It's annoying to me because I think that folk should have it's own place and not be downgraded by being overplayed to a lot of people who normally would never like a folk song, but it's good publicity for the artist and that's what's more important at the end of the day I suppose.

The song 'Let Her Go' is an obvious single compared to the rest of his album and also just because of the nature of the song, but it seriously is a beautifully written song and the music is so relaxing and lovely. I really love it's message, the classic "you don't know what you have until it's gone", because it makes the song so relatable. The video is very simple, basically just men, instruments and the occasional shot through fairy lights. It's a whole package, and I love it so much.

Listen for yourself, and definitely check out the video and the rest of the album if you like what you hear. Like I mentioned, the rest of the album isn't as mainstream, which is why this song is the obvious single, but I love it, and if you like folk and exploring other types of music, you'll like it too. Happy Tuesday :)

                                                       Let Her Go

                                                       Passenger

                                                       ALL THE LITTLE LIGHTS

why starting a business is hard on the most basic of levels.

This past Christmas I made Rich mugs. I went to IKEA and bought four white mugs, and at Michaels I bought a black glass/ceramic marker. I made him a few different ones, and had a ton of fun with it.

At this point, I was still working a retail job for almost nothing, and thought it might be fun to open up an Etsy shop and custom make some of these bad boys for the people of the world.

Here's the thing. Any type of business, no matter how small, is a commitment. Obviously I know this, and I'm sure you do too, but I just want to emphasize that little fact. You have to love what you're starting up, and in this case, I did. I had a lot of fun making these mugs for Rich, and I thought it would be fun for a long time, but I've decided now that it causes more anxiety than anything.

These are a few of the problems I have encountered over the last seven months that have caused me to put this on hold for now:

1// people are very particular about what it is they want in a custom anything. Some of the orders I got were verrrrrry interesting. I thought that when I posted the pictures of the mugs I made Rich, that people would stick to those basic designs with different names and sayings. No. No, it was not like that.

2// it is very stressful thinking about whether or not the person who ordered the mug is going to be happy with it.

3// money, money, money. It costs money to buy materials, it costs money to ship, it costs money to list things on Etsy, and it costs money when you make mistakes. I feel like I probably didn't make any money from this little endeavor, it was most likely a break-even situation in the end.

4// the markers I use have to sit to dry for four hours, and then get baked in the oven for 40 minutes. At first, this wasn't an issue because I worked either until 4pm or from 4pm until about 10. I had time to make my mugs and make sure that I would be home to bake them on time. Now that I'm a nanny, I leave the house at 7am and get home around 6:30. By the time I get home, eat dinner, workout - whatever it is that I'm doing - I do not have four hours and 40 minutes to wait for a mug to dry and bake in an oven before I go to sleep, let alone the time it takes to create the mug. Refer to number 1 and imagine how long some of these could have taken.

5// the DecoArt markers are really cool, but they are limited in their abilities. When you first open one up, it can write pretty thin, but once the tip is saturated with the glass paint, say goodbye to intricate designs. Also, the tip will sometimes develop a stray "hair" and create it's own little design on the surface of the mug. And when you make a mistake, for the most part you can get it off with a tissue and a little bit of water, or you can run the whole thing under water and start fresh. If you make a million mistakes though, and just can't seem to get it right, the mug becomes less and less forgiving. This has resulted in quite a few inner tantrums and mugs in the garbage.

6// the mugs i got from IKEA are very basic. They're white, hold a normal cup of coffee, they work. However, they sometimes have a weird surface area, and I can't figure it out. No matter how clean and dry it is, or how well the marker seems to be working on its own, when I draw something on the mug it looks like it's wet, and the ink starts to streak like I'm drawing through a puddle. But the mug. is. not. wet. It blows my mind, and I don't understand why it happens.

7// bubble wrap is expensive for what it is.

Those are a few of the more annoying issues I have with this little "business" I was trying to finagle. I think I had a good idea, and I'm not completely dismissing doing this again in the future, I just need to think about everything that goes into it a little more and will definitely need better materials, particularly better markers. And I really need more time than I have now unless I could figure out a more efficient process.

I'm not sure if this was advice or venting. Probably venting, but even if one person who reads this thinks twice about an idea they have and decides to refine it more before starting up, I guess it was worth writing about my failures.

why long distance sucks.

Rich and I have been in a long distance relationship between New York and England for our entire relationship - five whole years this July. It's crazy to me that we've lasted this long under these conditions, but at the same time it just feels so normal. And because of that, I am so much more grateful and appreciative of the time that we get to spend with each other. We try not to take any moment for granted, and make each one count. We don't always know when exactly we'll see each other next, goodbyes are tough and last forever, and most of our relationship is over iPhone, but man, do we love each other despite all of that. We've had our ups and downs just like any relationship, but because of the distance, even trips to the grocery store together seem special, because it's just such a rare occurrence. It's the little things for us, and that's how I know we'll (hopefully!) never get bored.

But with all that said, if I could choose between the relationship we've had completely long distance, or a normal relationship with at least a few days a week of physical contact, I would never wish this LDR on myself, or anyone else for that matter. It's just too traumatic at times, and there's no need for it.

Yes, long distance has made us stronger, but at times it has made us very weak, weaker than I think we could have ever been had the situation been different. Yes, distance makes the heart grow fonder, but after four months of distance, the heart just gets tired of waiting and puts its cranky pants on. And yes, I find it a lot easier to never take R for granted because the time we get is so sparse, but I like to think we would have appreciated our time together no matter what.

So I guess the bottom line here is that long distance just sucks.

Here are a few of the reasons why I really find it hard sometimes:

1 // Sweet and simple: flights cost a lot of money. Like a lot, a lot. This doesn't always effect our visits, but it can shorten them by a day or two, which is a lifetime of extra time for us, or it can cancel plans all together, like it did a few months ago.

2 // when something exciting happens, and I want to tell Rich first, it has to be over iMessage. Or I have to ask to FaceTime. Or he might be asleep because of the time difference. There's just so many things that get in the way, and then whatever I wanted to say loses a lot of its depth.

3 // at the end of every visit, no matter how long, there is a goodbye. If you're optimistic, it's a "see you later" but if you're a little tired of being optimistic, it's a "see you later if later means four months from now, but it doesn't, so bye". There are always tears, no matter how long it will be until we see each other again, and it always lingers for too long. It ends in a long car ride for one person, and an even longer flight for the other, both with red, puffy eyes.

4 // it's a lot harder to find time to video chat when there's a five hour time difference. I mean we're lucky that we get to talk for a large part of the day, but it's still really hard. Rich wakes up while I'm asleep, which might be a little easier for him because he goes to work and keeps himself busy for the most part until I get up and start my day. I find it hard that Rich goes to sleep between 5:30 and 7:00 my time, so I still have a lot of time before I go to sleep, and it's all down time. There's nothing extraordinary to keep me busy, I usually just want to talk to him. Saying goodnight every night is only second to saying goodbye in airports.

5 // we miss a lot of fun things like shows and concerts because we won't be together, or in the right country at the time of the event. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it happens to us a lot.

6 // sometimes you just really want to hug the person you love, and when you know you can't for another two or more months, it hurts more than you can imagine.

7 // when a really long time goes by, I can almost forget what it feels like to be kissed by Rich. It's a really sad feeling.

8 // we are both going to have carpel tunnel when we get older because of all of the texting. And probably some kind of disease from the radiation cell phones give off.

I thought I would have a simpler time creating a list like this, but it's actually really hard to think of the reasons why I hate LDRs so much because they're probably such simple reasons. To be continued, I suppose.

ink.

Soooooo I posted about going to AC, and while there I got a new tattoo.

I guess for a little bit of backstory on what it is and how it all came about starts back in 2003. My grandfather passed away that June, and it was my first real loss. I grew up staying at my grandparent's house in the summertime, would sleep there a lot on weekends, and always brought friends there with me for sleepovers and to use their huge pool. Both of my grandparents played a giant part in my childhood, and I am still so blessed to have my grandma in my life today.

My nonno, which means grandfather in Italian, was my best friend. It sounds so typical and cliche, but he was. I'm an only child, so those summers spent at my grandparent's house were what I had. I didn't have an older brother to teach me how to ride a bike, or a little sister to play dress-up with; I had a nonno who taught me how to swim, and shared his love of dogs with me. I have cousins, and they contributed to my childhood in rich ways as well, filling some of the void that my lack of siblings left, but my nonno and nonna are with whom I have some of my most vivid memories with as a child.

me and nonno, and my nonna with my younger cousins, circa 1993

When nonno passed away after a long battle with cancer, I took it really hard. Even though I was only thirteen, I always knew I wanted a tattoo, and I assumed that when I turned eighteen, that a tattoo for him would be my first. It wasn't. I got a tattoo with my best friend when we were nineteen, and then I got one on my grandfather's birthday when I was twenty, in Italian, but not exactly for him. Then when I was twenty-one I got a third tattoo, but I was still not sure of what I wanted for my grandpa. Then, on the way to Atlantic City, I was talking to my friend Meagan about what I think I finally wanted for him, roman numerals of the date he died. Simple, like he was. That's when I realized that I would be in AC on June 13, the tenth anniversary of his death. Perfect, right?

So I took the plunge and decided to go to a small tattoo place on the 13th, and get VI XIII on my wrist for him. I originally had wanted it in white, because all of the pictures I saw on google and on tattoo sites looked awesome. It looks more like a scar than a tattoo. But, the artist at the parlor said that white fades to yellow, and when you get tan (which I thankfully do very easily) it gets weird when you return to your translucent state again in October. So, I went with black. I didn't think I would ever want a black tattoo on my wrist, or in any other place that it's really noticeable, but I went for it. I want to see it every day. My rib tattoo and back of the hip tattoos are only seen in the summer, and my foot tattoo is more noticeable but covered half the year. So I figured I could afford to do something a little more noticeable that can easily be covered by a watch or a bracelet once it's healed.

So that's that. I'm happy I did it when I did it, and I'm happy that the last year and a half of planning to get a new tattoo since my last one ended up fulfilling my plan to get one for nonno for the last ten years.

tunes tuesday // the 20/20 experience.

Cutting to the chase here, Justin Timberlake is a god. He was my first crush as a kid, the first poster on my wall, my first "kiss" (with the poster on the wall), and now, he's all grown up, as am I, and he's sexy as ever. The fact that he's married, though I'm bitter, only adds to the charm because it's obvious that he's such a romantic. His newest album, The 20/20 Experience has a different feel to it than his previous two albums and of course his music from the N'Sync days, but you can feel that it's the JT that was always around finally coming into his own.

The music on this album has a little more of a bluesy, jazzy feel to it, and all of the tracks are long, but not drawn out at all, I just think he was really vibing while he was making the music and let it all floooooooow out of him.

Most of the album is about love in general and his romance with new wifey Jessica Biel (hearts all over the world, including mine, broke on that wedding day), and it's just the cutest thing. He really is such a stud.

The best thing about JT, for me at least, is he is a quadruple threat. He sings, he dances (well), he acts, and he's awesome at improv comedy. I love his music and movies, and I loooove watching him dance, but my favorite thing about him is definitely his ability to make me and others laugh. His skits on SNL are absolutely laugh out loud, tears streaming down your face funny. One of my favorite skits, and probably a million other peoples' favorite, is this one. He just kills me. And his latest hosting experience on SNL, his fifth one, was a huge success - the show got more views on that night in March than it had in about a year.

I'm not totally positive on how true this is, but my cousin Jonathan, who loves JT (and also kind of reminds me of him both physically and in his humor), said that Justin wanted to be a full time member of the SNL cast a while ago and was denied. I personally think that would be the best thing for the show since Christopher Walken, but I guess now with the new album and a new movie coming out soon he's a little busy. And I suppose he also has to be around for his new wife a bit. I mean whatever.

So the track I picked off of his album is one of his singles and it's all over the radio. Normally I try to pick a track that isn't as mainstreamed because it hasn't been heard before, and most of the time my favorite track isn't a single (yet), but this song is just. It is just beyond words. It's so perfect, and the video for it is even more perfect. It's written about his grandparents' relationship, and if you watch the video you can kind of seeing where his train of thought was when he wrote it. I love it, I'm obsessed with it, I can't get enough of it. The end.

Mirrors

Justin Timberlake

THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE

what happens in AC, stays in AC (unless you write about some of it).

Last Wednesday, I hopped in the car with my best friend Meagan, and we drove down to Harrah's in Atlantic City, NJ. We were excited beyond words the whole ride down, and even more thrilled that our two friends Katherine and Nicole were about two hours behind us. We booked a room two weeks prior in the harbor tower, one of the older ones of the four existing, but still awesome. It had two queen size beds and a couch, perfect for the four of us, plus our friend Alyssa was meeting us down there on Thursday night and she is the perfect hotel couch sized person.

We explored the main floor for a bit while we waited for Katherine and Nicole to get there, and made our first purchases at the Pandora store. We both bought the exclusive (to AC and Vegas) dice charm, which is something I was on the fence about because I don't wear my bracelet all too often anymore, but I knew that I only had room for one more charm and when I worked with Pandora product I always thought how fun it would be to have that one, so I caved. It's really adorable and will remind me of my trip for sure.

After the girls got to the room, we went down grab a quick something for dinner before trying our luck at the slots and getting ready to go out that night. I am not much of a gambler because I don't make that much money, so I put five dollars into a slot machine and on the first night I lost all but 20 cents. Katherine did the same and ended up breaking even. It was the luck of the Irish apparently.

That first night we decided to check out 'The Pool after dark', which is the hotel's indoor pool turned into a night club with fancy lights, several bars, an outdoor rooftop bar, and of course, the giant pool. Wednesday night was a little meh. We had high hopes, and it turned out that the main crowd at the pool on a Wednesday were guys that wanted to come up behind you and pelvic thrust a bit. No. So we had fun, but we prayed that the next two nights would consist of more dancing and less Malibu bay-breezes.

The second day, me and Meagan went on a little excursion of our own, to be written about in another post, but if you follow me on instagram or twitter, you can probably guess what I'm talking about. Then we met K & N at the Pier Shops in Caesar's Palace. Holy moley that hotel is large and in charge. It was pretty overwhelming just following the signs to get to the shops. While we were on the second floor we noticed the beach right below us and a sandcastle building contest, so we walked along the boardwalk to the beach to check it out.

We only saw the very beginning stages of the building process for the World Championship Sand Sculpting competition 2013, but the artists had created this awesome sculpture together that people could see when they first walk down to the beach, and to take pictures in front of. That was one of the coolest things because apparently this competition is a really big deal, and we didn't even know it existed, let alone that it would be down there when we were. After that, we headed back to the hotel, got beautified, and went to an amazing dinner at Dos Caminos, the hotels tequila bar and Mexican restaurant.

We started the night off with a giant bowl of guacamole, a basket of fresh home made tortilla chips, and tequila-based drinks. I got a pomegranate blueberry margarita that was out of this world. Everyone's food looked delicious; I got chipotle brisket enchiladas that came with a really spicy sauce over them, which was sooooooo good. I didn't even have time to think about taking a picture of them because I dug right in as soon as they were put in front of me. After a few drinks and plenty of toasts to a so-far awesome vacay, we went back to the casino to try our luck again.

By the end of it all, my total loss in AC was $9.99, Nicole's was $5.00, and Katherine's was $10.65. It took a long time to explain Kath's losses to everyone because she kept going up and down on the machines, though never going over her original bets. She kept thinking she was up when she wasn't, ripped one of her vouchers out of the Mermaid's Gold machine into two pieces (above), and then finally decided that she would put a quarter into the Emerald City machine (even though I explicitly reminded her that the machines only take bills) and broke it. That was the last time we gambled. She cashed her voucher for 25 cents and I kept mine for a penny because I thought it would be really patronizing to have a penny shoot at me out of a machine.

Alyssa arrived at around 9:45, so we pumped her full of tequila while she got ready, and we took obligatory photos in the room before catching a cab to the Tropicana to check out their nightclub 'Providence'. I think that Thursday night was definitely the most fun just because we danced the entire time, which is all I want in a night out really. We stayed up late in the hotel room eating guacamole & tostitos and reminiscing, which is the best part about a vacation - not having to go home to separate houses after going out.

On Friday we went to lunch at the little cafe in our hotel and ate delicious sandwiches. Since the weather was kind of crappy, again, we decided to head to the Tanger Outlets down by where the club was the night before, and do a little bit of shopping. I bought a few goodies for my hair and got a free iced tea from starbucks because the barista was practicing making drinks. Awesome. By then it had turned out to be a pretty nice day, so it was beautiful out while we kept walking around the shops. We went to dinner at the hotel, which was delish (all of the food we ate was so good), and we had jello shots for dessert to kick off our night, as you do in AC.

We decided as a group to go back to the pool party after dark that night because we got handed free passes. At this point we were all feeling a little lighter in the wallets, so it definitely is the reason we were so easily swayed, but it turned out that the Friday night crowd was much better. There was still a lot of pelvic thrusting, but there was much more dancing, so it was worth freezing our bodies every time a weird guy approached us from behind to be able to continue dancing to fun music together on our last night. On our walk back to the room from the pool we found an advertisement for the Emerald City machine, and this happened:

On Saturday morning we packed up all of our things, cleaned our disgustingly messy room, and checked out of the hotel. After a bit of breakfast we went up to the rooftop sun deck for some rays before leaving for good, which was a great choice. Before getting in the car we decided to get some gelato from the cafe we went to for brunch every day, because after three days of getting free samples but being too full to enjoy it, we were hungry for it.

All in all, Atlantic City was what I pictured and more. We didn't have the best weather, but we spent our time well and feel like we did all we wanted to, which is the most important. It was nice to have some quality time with some of my besties and get away from Long Island for a minute. A great kick-off to getting things on my summer bucket list crossed off.

we have both paid attention for a large portion of the last five years.

I did a questionnaire the other day about myself and Rich's relationship, and then sent him the questions so that he could fill in his answers and then we could compare. I was expecting some of the questions like "who is smarter" and "who is more stubborn" to get a little hairy because I assumed we'd both be in denial about our own traits, but it turns out we actually agree on most of the answers. Looks like we've been paying attention to each other for the last five years. Good.

So here are Rich's answers to the same questions that I answered:

What are your middle names? 

Graham and Marie

How long have you been together? 

4 years, 11 months 

How long did you know each other before you started dating?

About a month

Who made the first move?

Duh. Alessia

Who asked whom out?

Alessia

How old are each of you? 

23 (A) and 26 (R)

Whose siblings/family do you see the most?

Has to be mine!

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? 

Living on different continents

Are you from the same home town?

No

Did you go to the same school or work together?

Not school, but worked at a sleepaway camp together

Who is smarter?

Alessia

Who is the most sensitive? 

Me?

Where do you eat out most as a couple? 

Olive Garden seems to be our date place, but must be the diner or marios

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

Puerto Rico

Who has the craziest exes?

Alessia

Who has the worst temper?

Rich

Who does the cooking? 

We both do!

Who is the neat-freak?

oooohhhhh Alessia

Who is more stubborn?

mmmmmm me!

Who is funnier?

Alessia

Who hogs the bed?

Rich

Who wakes up earlier?

Rich (if it's waking up naturally!)

Where was your first date?

We didnt really have one! We were at Aylene's house the night we got together. A night off at Diggers?!

Who is more jealous? 

Rich

How long did it take to get serious? 

a month

Who eats more? 

Rich

What is your favorite thing to do together?

go out to eat or go to concerts.

What are both of your favorite movies?

Into the Wild (R) and Titanic (A)

Who does the dishes?

Richie

Who's better with the computer? 

Alessia

Who drives when you are together? 

Its me most now!So those are his answers, and we were both pretty pleased with ourselves! We answered a lot of them the same, which I guess kind of means something. I wish there was a question about who was the cuter baby, because that would be a toughie. But I mean really, how cute are our kids going to be someday?!

And, that's that. A little insight into our relationship according to both of us, mostly in consensus (yay).

introducing a&r.

This is my boyfriend, Rich:

I've talked about him before, but nothing too in depth. We've been dating for five years this July, and the entire five years has been long distance. Craaaaazy. But we're a couple of kids in love, and even though we've had our ups and downs, we've gotten this far with a little bit of hard work and a bunch of international flights. I guess I've never fully posted about Rich because I was keeping this blog more of a tutorial and recipe type of thing, but now that I've realized that I like writing about tons of things, my life included, I figured I'd bring Rich into the picture. Instead of me rambling on about how much I love him and why he's so great, I decided to fill in this little relationship questionnaire so you could get to know a few things about us.

What are your middle names? 

Graham and Marie

How long have you been together? 

5 years July 12

How long did you know each other before you started dating?

about a month

Who made the first move?

I did

Who asked whom out?

our status was kind of just assumed after the night we first kissed.

How old are each of you? 

R is 26 A is 23

Whose siblings/family do you see the most?

I'm an only child so Rich's brother wins that by default, but we see my family most I think.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? 

the distance from England to New York for sure.

Are you from the same home town?

nope

Did you go to the same school or work together?

we worked at a sleep away camp together for two summers, it's where we met.

Who is smarter?

that's probably a close one, maybe R, but he can't spell to save his life.

Who is the most sensitive?

A

Where do you eat out most as a couple?

in New York probably Mario's or bagel boss, in England we kind of eat everywhere but we always go to a burger place in town whenever I visit.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

besides back and forth to England and New York I think Puerto Rico.

Who has the craziest exes?

mmm we both have good ones I think, but probably me.

Who has the worst temper?

R- if he's mad he's mad.

Who does the cooking? 

we both do & we bake also.

Who is the neat-freak? 

I think me, definitely.

Who is more stubborn?

That's a close margin but I'm gonna say R.

Who is funnier?

We make each other laugh a lot but I would say me.

Who hogs the bed?

RICH. He'd probably say me but I hog the blankets and he takes up all the space. 

Who wakes up earlier?

Usually R 

Where was your first date?

Sadly, we didn't really have one alone because we were always with our friends at camp, but that's ok. 

Who is more jealous? 

R

How long did it take to get serious? 

No time, less than a month I'd say.

Who eats more? 

Rich is a human garbage disposal.

What is your favorite thing to do together?

we like traveling and seeing new places but we also love splitting a bottle of wine (lets be real we have one each) and watching a million episodes of a TV show.

What are both of your favorite movies?

mine is titanic and his is maybe into the wild if he had to pick one.

Who does the dishes?

we both do but I swear rich has a passion for it.

Who's better with the computer? 

I'd say me

Who drives when you are together? 

in England it's always rich because I can't drive stick and in NY it's mostly rich.

So that's a little bit about us according to me, and I'm going to post what Rich comes up with (without having seen my answers) as soon as he sends me his version and we'll see what we actually think we know about each other! I think we'll do alright though.

Stay tuned!

why I love being a nanny.

I have been a nanny to Max for the last six months, and it's no secret that besides teaching, this was the job I was hoping for. There are a million reasons why I love being a nanny, but I could go on for days. Here are a few:

1// I love kids, always have, always will.
2// I can't wait to be a mom, but I'm not ready just yet.
3// I've made some unexpected friends - moms & other nannies (my "coworkers").
4// Pinching chubby little cheeks.

5// The face he makes when he realizes he learned something new.
6// I secretly love watching the same movie over and over and over again, as long as it's a good one. And Cars is a good one.
7// I have inside jokes with a two year old, and sometimes they're funnier than the ones I have with my adult friends.

8// I get to do what I love all day long.

9// My boss is a loving mother who just wants me to make sure her kid is happy and healthy.

10// Thursday morning music class with tons of other rugrats.

11// Sunny days spent outside with friends.

12// I have so much love in my heart on a daily basis, I feel like it could explode at any time.

13// My life has become richer and more purposeful.

14// I am a teacher who gets to spend one on one time with her student all day.

15// I'm really passionate about cutting pizza into a million pieces with a food scissor.

16// This face:

17// Getting asked to "howld me" when he's tired or groggy before and after nap time.

18// I feel like my days are full of laughter and joy, something I definitely cannot say about my last job. That job really sucked.

19// Baby laughter is the best sound in the whole world - it's all but a tickle away.

20// My social media presence has become much cuter.

21// Every moment is a learning moment - from learning how to eat yogurt "all by myself!" to going down the slide without any helping hands.

22// Kids say the darndest things. And with iPhones, a lot of it gets caught on camera.

23// I have a life-size doll to play dress-up with.

24// I talk to a two year old all day and still feel sane because he is such a smart kid.

25// All of my Mickey jokes are on point, and I am rewarded with uncontrollable laughter.

26// Kids can fall asleep almost anywhere, which makes for hilarious videos and pictures.

27// Kids can fall asleep almost anywhere, which makes for the sweetest photos and the most love-filled moments.

28// Dance parties at 9am to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse pandora radio.

29// I have discovered I have an irrational love for applesauce in pouches. It's delicious and easy.

30// He learns something new every day, and when it's because of me it's even better.

31// My boyfriend looks beyond adorable with a little babe, and I can't wait until it's our little babe.

32// Kids and their friends are just the cutest.

33// Baby soft skin.

34// Taking long walks hand-in-hand at a toddler's pace.

35// Going to kid's gyms and watching them explore and grow every visit.

36// Being run up to at full speed for a big hug.

37// Even potty time is play time.

38// Toys that aren't toys are the best toys.

39// Reading before bedtime.

40// I feel like I am learning so many things about being a mom and a best friend to my future children.

41// I have become a more patient and loving person through having this little being to care for.

42// Hearing "I love you, Alessia" in his angelic voice a million times a day.

Right now I can't imagine my life changing. My world would be shattered without Max in it, and the pressure from outside sources to get a teaching job stresses me out. I'm so happy where I am and I think that is the most important thing. So for now, I'm a nanny, and a damn good one at that. I do what I love and I love what I do. Isn't that what it's all supposed to be about?

favorite fonts.

I have always been a sucker for a good font. I made my boyfriend a scrapbook for our one year anniversary, and I went nuts downloading a million fonts and printing out quotes in different colors. I have downloaded quite a few fonts this year, and have some favorites that I've had for a while and keep  using over and over, so i figured I'd share them for my fellow font lovers out there.

(from left to right and down)
1// league gothic
2// american typewriter
3// aracne regular
4// pacifico
5// skinny
6// stereofidelic
7// sketchetik
8// arsenale white
9// pea jacks and matty
10// claire hand
11// thinnyness
12// sue ellen francisco
13// king cool kc
14// lobster 1.4
15// lobster two
16// nautik

If I had to pick a favorite of all these it's probably league gothic because it makes for a really good all caps font, but also has a lowercase set so you're not limited in the ways that you use it. American typewriter is also fun because it's just really clean and neat, and I've always wanted a typewriter so I love the way it looks; and the two lobster fonts are fun as well because they're a chunky script that make any word look awesome. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

tunes tuesday // imagine dragons.

So this Tunes Tuesday is all about Imagine Dragons, a current but longstanding obsession of mine. I have probably mentioned this before, but I am a music brat. When I listen to a band way before they are on the radio, I feel like they're mine and I don't have to share them. I can't be the only one who gets this feeling, but regardless, it's probably some kind of illness. I did not discover imagine dragons on my own though. That part I cannot take credit for.

I was on a retreat on one of my last weekends of senior year at Scranton called Fourth Day. It's basically a follow up to Search, another retreat that tons and tons of schools do. I was listening to one of the retreat leaders talk about his life in college and things that happened to him that made him appreciate the life that he has been given, and at the end of his beautiful talk, he chose to play 'On Top of the World' by Imagine Dragons. It had me at the first note. Granted, I was in tears at his story and was feeling emotional, but this song just made me feel so alive in that moment.

As soon as the retreat ended (in tears, like most of the weekend), I regrouped with my housemates while I impatiently unpacked my things, and finally when I had a minute to myself I got on spotify and played the song over and over and over. After a day or two, with the lyrics and tune committed to memory, I decided to give the rest of the album, Night Visions, a go. Man, oh man. It is just such a great album. They have such an awesome sound, pretty uncommon, but at the same time I can hear their influences and easily compare them to bands like Biffy Clyro and 30 Seconds to Mars. But every single song is different so there isn't one things to compare them to. They are so wonderfully themselves.

The first song, 'Radioactive', is a great opening to the album, and also feels a lot like it would fit in the movie version of either Divergent or Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Both of which I have been meaning to review (oops). But if you've read those bad boys, you probably know what I mean, unless I'm nuts. But I don't think I am!

So anyway, I love Imagine Dragons, I am trying to see them at the new Jones Beach Theater this July, and even though I have a 6 CD changer in my car (I know, so up with the times), I am constantly playing CD 3. Which is this album, obvs.

Take a listen below to 'On Top of the World', the one that started it all, a song that I am still obsessed with. It's one that makes you want to roll the windows down in your car, drive fast, and sing as loud as you can. It just has a great effect. And the rest of the album is amazing as well, so if you like this check it out. If you don't like this, I mean, I don't know how you couldn't, but still check them out because all of their songs have different feels.

Happy listening y'all.

On Top of the World

Imagine Dragons

NIGHT VISIONS

DIY glitter mason jar.

Glitter should be the fifth element. I love glitter with a passion, so naturally when I saw a glitter covered mason jar on Pinterest, I had to diy my own. I saw the picture on Pinterest, but knew that I wanted to do it that second, so rather than looking at how anyone did theirs, I just grabbed my gold glitter, mod podge, and a sponge brush and went to town. I'm sure this procedure, and tons of others are floating around out there in the internet universe, but this is how I did mine.

First, I covered my entire jar with mod podge. I have the matte kind, but I'm sure any type would work because it's just acting as a glue. Then, with my mason jar on a large paper plate, I poured glitter all over the surface, then put the jar on another plate and poured the extra glitter over it again. I had to go back and forth a bunch of times to make sure every area was covered, and I applied more mod podge as I went along to areas that didn't get a lot of glitter the first few rounds.

Once the entire thing was covered I let it sit for a few hours so that everything dried. There was a ton of fallout, so I tapped it with my fingers a few times to shake off the excess glitter, and then sprayed it with an acrylic sealer. It is so not the right type of thing to use at all, but it's what I had and it ended up making everything look shiny and the glitter stuck to the jar a lot better after that.

I still find that there is a bit of fallout even after using the sealer, but I'm not too worried about it because it's not going to be moving around a lot. I'm using it to hold my pretty summer pencils from this etsy shop on my desk.

This diy took no time at all, and looks really cool. I had all of the things I used in my craft box, so if you are a diy person or just like to craft then I'm sure you could whip something up with the things you have, which is the beauty of it. And if you don't have glitter just laying around, well, I'm not sure what you're doing with your life.

Let me know if you make one of these bad boys and find a way to prevent fallout.