This year I decided to participate in a few Secret Santas to spread the holiday cheer! Today I received my final Secret Santa from the Reddit Secret Santa Exchange.
Check out my awesome gifts!
Reddit Secret Santa
The Bucket List & Portable Charger from my Reddit Secret Santa evergreener_328!
AMEX TLS Secret Santa
Laptop Case & Sloth Post Its from my co-worker Greg!
AMEX MA Secret Santa
Tarte Lip Mask Set. Mud Face Mask & Hand Sanitizer from my co worker and fellow MA Gina!
2020 was not the year any of us could of anticipated. Here’s hope for a brighter year for 2021!
Happy New Year! ✨
Happy New Year!!! 2021, we are ready for you! 🎉
Throwback to getting to the top to see the NYE ball in Times Square up close, it was even bigger than I imagined!
Check out my interview with Brennan of Waterford Crystal on designing the NYE Ball!
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from my family to you & yours! 🎄
One of my annual Christmas traditions is to visit the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and this year was no exception. Thank you to the NYPD for keeping us socially distanced & still able to see the tree this year!
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! 🥳 All the warm messages truly made my day, especially during a year like this! ❤️
I had a very low key birthday this year, but still managed to have all my favorites to celebrate! My awesome boyfriend got me some beautiful earrings, delicious dinner and a yummy ice cream birthday cake!
Happy Birthday to my favorite sister Jacqueline!
It has been a crazy year, but at least we have each other!
Happy First Date-iversary to my amazing boyfriend, Daniel!
One year in the books, many more to go - I LOVE YOU DANIEL!
Our First Date!
Who ever thought that what the girl we met at the bar would predict our future?
Fun story - on our first date at Barcelona Bar, we met a girl who’s birthday it was. She had asked us to take a picture for her and she offered to take one in return. She had asked how long we had been together, and we told her it was actually our first date! She did not believe us and thought we had been together for a while. We continued to have a great time and when we left, the birthday girl and her friends said “you guys are so cute together!”
Did Daniel pay these guys off? HAHA!
Minion Shots at Barcelona Bar
Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours! 🦃
This year has definitely been different to say the least, but I am so grateful for all my family and friends who have been with me along this rollercoaster we call 2020! ❤️
Today I went to get tested for COVID-19 before heading home for Thanksgiving and spent 9 HOURS waiting for a COVID-19 rapid swab test at CityMD. I thought I’d show up 20-30 minutes prior to opening to beat the rush, but I guess everyone had that idea…
Here was my schedule for the day.
6:40 AM - Arrived at the end of the line
6:15 AM - Wake Up
6:25 AM - Walk to CityMD
6:40 AM - Arrive at CityMD & look for end of the line. The line went down the avenue and around the corner to the end of the block (and wrapped around the next corner behind me)
7:00 AM - CityMD officially opens
8:00 AM - I made it to the front of the line, only to learn they were just taking down names and phone numbers a list and would call me when it was my turn, then I will only have 15-20 minutes to return
I was #82 on the list. There was only a small group of people (~12) waiting around outside at this point, so a few others and I stuck around and waited around for our turn - how long could it take? I live 15-20 minutes away, which was exactly how long it would take me to get back, so figured I should just stick around and worry about hustling back - my mistake!
8:45 AM - 45 minutes later everyone still seems to be waiting outside
I asked the woman checking people in what number they were up to, in disbelief I learn they were only up to #6 on the list & she laughs that i am #82 on the list
Shocked they are still in single digits, I tell my line buddies to hold up one hand and one finger and that was the # they were up to. They were shocked as well!
8:48 AM - At this point, I was freezing and disheartened by the lack of progress on the list - I decided to go home and wait to be called since it would definitely be a while.
10 AM - No call yet
11 AM - No call yet
12 PM - No call yet
12:15 PM - I called CityMD to see what # they are up to… Any guesses? They were only up to #50 since they opened, 5 hours ago. I guesstimated they see ~10 patients per hour
1:30 PM - I received a call to return to CityMD - “you need to return in 15-20 minutes, your number will be called soon”
I immediately drop my fork, stop eating my lunch and hustle back
3:18 PM - Made it inside!
1:48 PM - I make it to CityMD in just under 20 minutes and head to the front door of CityMD. The security guard shouts “MISS” and points to the line, of course there is another line. This one should be quick, right? WRONG
I see my line buddies from this morning and join them on this new line with ~10 people in front of me
2:48 PM - 1 hour later, I am still standing in line & have not moved a bit
3:00 AM - I am second on line… to get into the building, they are letting people enter the waiting room in small groups
3:18 PM - I made it inside!!! They let a few of us in, I checked in, sat down & waited to be seen
3:45 PM - Finally being seen!
3:38 PM - About 2 hours since I ran over, my name is finally called and I am taken to a room to be swabbed & tested
The nurse takes my vitals - temperature, pulse and blood pressure
I am given the nasal swab test and the nurse leaves (probably a total of 5-7 minutes max)
3:50 PM - The PA finally comes to see me after waiting for what seemed like a long time since the nurse left. She says sorry for the wait to get into CityMD and that they were trying to create a new more efficient system that gives a more accurate window of when to show up, asks if I need anything else while I am there and then dismisses me.
3:52 PM - I stop by billing, confirm my information is correct
3:54 PM - I am out the door. DONE!!!
4:03 PM - Results are ready - my test is NEGATIVE!
Overall I spent a little over 9 hours end to end, and probably spent ~5 hours between waiting on line and commuting between my apartment and CityMD. This is definitely an experience I would NOT like to experience again. (I did offer the PA help in creating a more efficient waiting window system). However I am thankful they did give us the opportunity to go home, which I was able to utilize working for a few hours. I know other CityMDs did not give people the opportunity to do so.
While waiting online, I learned a few interesting facts:
The line was cut off after 2 hours of opening (7 AM - 9 AM) with 166 people on the list.
If I was half way down the list at #82 after 9 hours, how do they anticipate to finish another ~80 people by 9:30 PM in 5.5 hours?
I overheard person #61 arrived at 6 AM, 40 minutes before me! I was debating arriving or leaving my apartment at 6:30 AM, so I am glad that the 10 minute difference did not make much of a difference. What time did person #1 show up?
Thank you to the frontline workers for all of your work, especially on days like today! I appreciate all that you do!
I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thank you to all those who have served and are still serving in our military. We appreciate all that you do!
Wounded Warrior Project Holiday Party 2012
There are so many ways to support our Veterans, one of my favorite organizations is the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). WWP a non-profit focused on helping veterans and those serving in the military who have incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound while serving in the military. WWP provides programs to support
Mental Health
Financial Wellness
Physical Health
Peer and Community Connection
I had the opportunity to get to know many soldiers, primarily through college debate competing against West Point cadets and from working at the US Embassy in the Bahamas where I was able to work very closely with a few branches of the military, many of which I now consider to be big brothers to me. Having been so close to all of these amazing people gives me that much more respect for all that our military does.
I cannot be grateful enough for all that you do, thank you!
This year’s election has definitely been unlike any other election from socially distanced presidential debates (mute buttons and all) to the president contracting COVID-19. Many records have also been broken this election, an astonishing $14 billion was spent on this election, making it the most expensive election to date. This election has had the highest participation rate in over a centurion with 80 million Americans already casting their ballots!
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to social distance, the government provided 3 ways to vote:
Mail in Ballot - similar to an absentee ballot
Early Voting - voting during the week prior to election day at a central location of many polling locations
Election Day Voting - your traditional voting at your designated voting station
Not going to let the rain keep me from voting!
Many of my friends who chose to vote early waited anywhere from 30 mins to a few hours online for early voting. This year I chose to vote early with a mail in ballot to minimize my exposure to COVID-19. For those of you mailing in your ballot from NYC, it costs $0.70 (1 forever stamp and 15 cents) to mail you ballot. I had no idea and almost did not add the extra 15 cents, so make sure you have enough postage!
Make sure to get your vote in, every vote counts!
Some of my favorite dim sum dishes!
Today I had dim sum for lunch at Lake Pavilion in Flushing, Queens. This was the first time I had dim sum at an authentic dim sum restaurant since COVID started - and it was definitely a different experience than the traditional, pre-covid dim sum experience.
Traditionally at dim sum, metal carts filled with the delicious dim sum dishes are pushed throughout the restaurant with the women pushing the carts shouting the names of the dishes in Chinese for you to select what you would like to order.
Today’s experience was different for a few reasons (in the order of experience):
Dim Sum in the parking lot at Lake Pavillion
We were seated outside in a tent set up in the parking lot of Lake Pavilion Restaurant, which is the new norm in NYC for outdoor dining.
We were served with disposable paper goods - paper plates, disposable wooden chopsticks. However what was very different to me, was that instead of tea cups, we were given mini paper cups for tea (similar to the ones that you get for sampling drinks or from a water dispenser at the doctor’s office).
We ordered our dishes by finding the item we wanted on the paper menu and writing the # of that dish that we wanted, rather than selecting the food from the carts directly. I have seen this done at some smaller (less traditional, Americanized) dim sum restaurants, but not at traditional dim sum restaurants. However, this does reduce the dishes from being exposed to the germs, and it would also be difficult to get the carts to and from the restaurant kitchen and the parking lot.
Some of the dishes were even served in plastic to go boxes instead of plates or traditional dim sum trays
Dim sum served with paper goods
While this was a different experience, the food was just as delicious as normal and definitely hit the spot! I am glad the restaurants were able to open while adhering to the COVID-19 safety precautions! I was really worried that dim sum would be lost to COVID - that is one thing i am happy to be wrong about and can’t wait to go back for more!
Today I went to Aamodt’s Apple Farm in Stillwater, MN, this was also my first time at an apple orchard!
As a city girl, I was astonished by the number of apple trees at the apple farm and they even had a grape vineyard to make wine! While we missed the apple picking season, there were still a ton of apple and products for you to indulge in! My favorite was the apple cider and the deep dish apple pie muffins! I had never even heard of deep dish apple pie muffins, but they were AMAZING!
I can not wait until next year to go apple picking!
I met this cutie at a friend’s family farm in Foreston, MN!
Today was my first time at Hidden Beach, which is just a short 10 minute drive from the city of Minneapolis! This was also my first time to a beach in Minneapolis.
As a New Yorker, this was not quite a beach as many would perceive a beach on Long Island, NY, California or Florida, but more of a shoreline, but still a great place to enjoy some R&R on the sand by a lake.
Hidden Beach is a nice quick getaway from the city with a like you can swim, kayak or just hang out in! Minneapolis is filled with many of these hidden gems, I can’t wait to explore them all!
What is a hidden gem where you are from?
Outside Van Leeuwen Ice Cream at Hudson Yards
Happy National Ice Cream Day!
For those of you who know me, you know I LOVE ice cream - nothing beats some delicious ice cream on a hot summer day, especially during this heat wave in NYC!
What is your favorite place to get ice cream? Some of my favorite places in NYC are:
Ample Hills - TBD on their future :\
Van Leeuwen - this is where this picture was taken
Morgenstern’s
Ice & Vice
Grom
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
Honorable Mention - Sprinkles: Red Velvet Ice Cream is definitely my all time favorite! If you can find a location that sells ice cream, I would recommend this - you will not regret it! The only locations I know of that are still open are in Las Vegas and Disney Springs, FL.
Stay safe and cool everyone!
P.S. Thank you to Sensodyne for sending me this yummy Build Your Own Ice Cream Sundae Kit, this made my day! :)
Since I am quarantined this July 4th and I love baking, I wanted to bake something patriotic. I decided why not bake one of my favorite cookies RAINBOW COOKIES in patriotic colors!
The recipe was very tasty and easy to make.
Here is the recipe I used. Let me know your cookies come out!
Ingredients
8 ounces almond paste
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
25 drops red food coloring
25 drops blue food coloring
1/2 cup seedless red raspberry jam
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Line 3 9x13 inch baking pans with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, break apart almond paste and mix with butter, sugar and egg yolks. When mixture is fluffy and smooth, mix in flour to form the mixture.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites to form small peaks and fold into mixture.
Divide mixture into 3 equal portions, mix red food coloring into 1 bowl & blue food coloring into another.
Pour each bowl into a separate baking pan and place in oven for 10-12 minutes and cool after baking.
Once cooled, place bottom layer (blue) on a large piece of plastic wrap. Spread a layer of raspberry jam on top of the blue layer and place white layer on top, sandwiching the jelly. Repeat and spread raspberry jam on top of white layer and red layer on top of white and blue layer.
Wrap and cover cakes with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator with weight (heavy pans, plates or cutting board) on top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Remove plastic wrap from the cake after refrigeration and spread a layer of chocolate on top of the cookies and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until chocolate is cooled.
Once chocolate is set, remove from refrigerator, cut into small 1/2 inch pieces & serve!
Happy 4th of July!
Channeling my inner Captain America & hoping to help the world during these hard times ❤️
Have a safe and fun holiday weekend everyone!
Today marks my 5 Year Anniversary with American Express!
I can’t believe it’s been 5 years at AMEX already! I guess it’s true what they say - time flies when you’re having fun!
Thanks everyone for an amazing experience so far, can’t wait to see what the future has to hold!
