Erika S. parties

B turns 36

My favorite person, B, turned 36 last week. We had a small backyard BBQ to celebrate the weekend before, and I hastily snapped some photos of him with some of our closest friends who happened to be in good lighting. Here are the best of them.

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I’ve been super lazy with blogging lately, I know. I got back from a spring break trip to Toronto, so a post on that will be coming up soon.  I’ve also been amassing a list of blog post ideas that will help put me on a schedule with posting more regularly. I’m determined to get better! Thanks for hanging in there in the meantime.

Erika S. fun stuffs, parties

Hello 2017!

Another day, another year! 2016 was pretty amazing (deaths and politics aside) – B and I planned and grew our first vegetable garden, we traveled all through Australia, climbed three 14ers, took a canoe camping trip, and my sister had twins! Last new years, I made a small bucket list and I got through every item except for one – the hike from Aspen to Crested Butte. That hike is definitely going to happen this year, no excuses. This year’s bucket list is also going to include a trip to Paris and London, more planning and growing (we’ve tripled the growing area this year) vegetables, climbing four more 14ers, going fly-fishing a lot (and actually catching a fish on my own), visiting/camping in every national park in Colorado (there are four), snowboard Vail and Whistler, and getting more comfortable snowboarding through trees. Also, I’m turning 37 this year – hello middle age! If I could afford it, I’d add, buy a motorcycle, to my bucket list but let’s be real – I’m working with a teacher’s salary here.

B and I threw another New Years Eve party this year and it was so much fun, I think it’s going to be a regular thing from now on. It was a small but close group, and the shenanigans went into the wee hours of the night. I picked up a vintage punch bowl at the thrift store a few days ago, and we mixed a double batch of very, very potent Rabbit Punch for the party. That punch fueled a lively game of catch-phrase, B showed off his favorite Christmas present (a Silky Saw), and I managed to get some fabulous photos of everyone. Most of my friends are/were teachers, and we all know how to have fun!

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Happy New Year everyone!

Erika S. parties

Holidaze with the Schebenses

B and I hosted a small holiday party this past Saturday with a few of our friends, and I just wanted to share some photos from the night. I have been waiting for a good opportunity to break in our new dining room table with a feast, so I bought a standing rib roast and made prime rib. B and I are not religious in the least bit, but I do like the festive coziness of a Christmas tree. A couple of our friends brought their menorah along with print outs of the prayer (written phonetically) for Hanukkah. We started off the night with gin martinis, friends brought the red wine, and we ended it with hot apple cider and group photos!

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Erika S. parties, trips

Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi – Part 2

For Part One, check out this post here.

After Melbourne, B and I headed up to the Sunshine Coast for his brother Kai’s wedding to Jill. I’d met Kai once before, but only knew Jill via social media. I’d also never met B’s dad (he doesn’t travel out of Aus much), so this was pretty exciting for me. It was great to spend time with B’s parents and creep on how many behaviors and mannerisms B picked up from his mum and dad. B’s dad Craig runs a dive shop down in Bremer Bay, which is a hot spot for Sea Dragons. After many years of observing and tracking behavior and distribution of Sea Dragons, he’s probably one of the world’s leading experts on these delicate and beautiful organisms.

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The wedding itself was of course absolutely beautiful, taking place in the temperate rainforest, by a lake. Checkout their wedding video here, to get a feel of the setting and the event. I got my first taste of Australian wildlife here, when possums came to visit us at night looking for a treat. They are really, really cute. I round out the hard way though, that they actually have sharp claws. oops. For the wedding, I chose to bring a dress I found at Anthropologie that seemed appropriate enough. I had a ridiculously hard time finding a dress to wear that was not white, black and was not covered in flowers. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I spent too much time having fun at the wedding, and forgot to get any full photos of me in the dress. Jill and Kai looked amazing, as they always do, as did all of the Lebenses. The wedding was a 2 day affair, and the next day we spent time at Aussie World running around jumping on rides and driving bumper cars. IMG_0378

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Our last day in the Queensland, we stopped by Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo for a few hours before flying out of Brisbane. Oh my god, I was so happy. I got to pet Koalas! and Kangaroos! So ridiculously cute and amazing. I spend the whole time there running from animal to animal, and poor B, Mum, and Peter had to jog at some points to try and keep up.  Crickey!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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Part 3: Perth coming soon! Teachers report back in 2 weeks! I’m not ready.

Erika S. fun stuffs, parties

the Nerd Prom

There’s no great way to start writing this post without giving a huge shout out and thank you to my bro-in-law for being my friend in a high place.  Thanks, Dave (with my sister, below) for bringing me along to the White House Correspondents Dinner Pre-party event (not to be confused with the actual dinner).  Next year?  😉

WHCD Kris and Dave

The night started off with me feeling very out of place and awkward – like a teenage kid being brought along to adult parties.  It’s not every day I get dressed up in fancy gowns (first time, actually), and I don’t normally hobnob with politicians/reporters/celebrities.  Pretty much a complete 180 from my usual crowd: teenagers with fart jokes.  The awkwardness eventually gave way once I figured out how to maneuver around with such a long dress and stopped worrying about my bra showing.  Getting to see Bradley Cooper helped up the fun factor immensely (as did a martini or two).  I also got to molest a cardboard cut out of Conan.  My night was complete.  WHCD the cooper

Photo Apr 27, 6 35 21 PM

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gown: bcbg on super sale

Erika S. outfits, parties

to wed

B and I were lucky enough to attend a wedding of new friends Mandi and Keith at the Green Building the other night in Brooklyn.  It was gorgeous, fun and all around a fantastic time.  What a way to kick off spring break!

Of course, B and I had to snap a few pics prior to running out the door.  photo

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I hadn’t worn this dress (Banana Republic) since 2007, for my friend Marissa’s wedding in Cali.  Good thing I kept it and brought it with me here to NY!  The shoes on the other hand were a last minute I-don’t-own-any-fancy-heels-for-black-tie freak out purchase from DSW’s clearance section.  So then there is B, cheekily copying my “blog posing” in his outfit.

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A little photobooth fun with animal masks.  Why the hell not, right?

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Erika S. outfits, parties

Going Out

B and I actually “went out” friday night, meaning went out to a place that didn’t involve our couch. Amazing really, considering that for the past few months we’ve spent just about every weekend on our couch, drinking wine and watching movies.  All domestic and shit.  This domestic and shit phenomenon is a common thing among teachers – in bed by 10pm, awake by 6am and forced to be perky by 8am when the kiddos walk in your classroom door.  So by the time the weekend rolls around, all you want to do is marinate on the couch hugging a bottle of wine.  If anything, you might head out to the local bar with your other teacher buddies, drops some cash on beer and unhealthy bar food while you discuss dropping knowledge on shared students.  This Friday night however, B and I had a plan – we had an invite to a Punch Party at B’s friend Darren’s house in the Lower East Side.

After 30 min of rifling through my closet, B hassling me to hurry up and 5 outfit changes, I resigned myself to the going out basics.  Skinny black pants, a basic t-shirt, black boots and red lipstick.  There is still a whole bunch of exciting things going on, while still being basic enough to not feel like you’re out on a sartorial limb.  This is my new go-to fashion philosophy:  Basic, reliable and comfy but with a few interesting details.  My two details for the night were my new hard-ass studded booties and a new lipstick, Red Square by Nars.  All together exciting enough for this increasingly fashionably lazy teacher out on a Friday night.  Didn’t even bother putting in contacts or changing my ever present teacher-bun-hair!

glasses: warby parker beckett – jacket: two year old madewell, but similar one here – flannel: uniqlo – t-shirt (which I looove, btw) & booties: zara – belt and pants (got mine on super sale): j.crew – necklace: f21 

Erika S. outfits, parties

I Love College

Many of my former students are starting their first years of college in the next few weeks, and I’m super excited for them.  This excitement (fueled by their updates on FB) is often mixed with fear that I didn’t help prepare them enough… lots of should haves and could haves.  Are they going to be screwed in freshman Bio because I didn’t make them memorize all the steps and intermediate molecules involved in the Kreb’s cycle?  Oh my god I ran out of time and never covered phylogenetic trees/cladograms!!!  Will they remember that hypo=under/below, iso=equal and hyper=over?  Are they going to maintain the self control needed to keep from partying themselves into hungover dropouts?!?!?  Will they remember my lesson on the benefits of delaying gratification?  O.M.G!

My fears for the impressionable young minds of my students were revisited the other evening when B and I went on a booze cruise down the East River hosted by coed.com (probably/most likely NSFW).  Coed.com is hosted on WordPress.com VIP (B is a developer at Automattic) and thus our invite and our free swag – blue sunglasses.  For the record, B and I held it together, there was no vomiting over the side, all staggering was due to the choppy waves on the river and we exercised self control and moderation.

I bought this dress (called the Shore House Shift dress) from Anthropologie over a year ago on sale.  It was a great buy because of the massive markdown, the high quality silk material and the cute little anchor buttons at the shoulder.  It’s held up pretty well too, but I’ve only worn it about 3 times.  This last time may be the last though, as I managed to get ketchup, pickle juice and just about every other condiment all over the front of it that night.  I’m not known as the family klutz for nothing, here’s hoping that I don’t ruin it totally trying to get the stains out.

dress and bag: anthropologie – shoes: madewell also seen here – mustache necklace: purchased the renegade craft fair

I had to throw in this shot of B, because he’s cute and the glasses matched the lining of my bag.

Erika S. fun stuffs, parties

The view from up top

Last friday, B and I were lucky enough to be a part celebrating the “becoming one” of Kyle and Heather, at the Top of The Mark.  The view was breathtaking, the happy newlywed couple was stunning and festivities were fantastic.

I’ve been loving the shots using my iPhone app Camera Awesome lately, so I haven’t even been bothering with lugging around my usual camera.  I bought this dress (from Banana Republic on super sale) at the beginning of last year and wore it once, to prom (may 2011).  It’s been siting in my closet ever since.   I love the color (mint!), it fits me perfectly and I like the look.  My brother-in-law Dave called it a toga once…and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since.   Now B calls it ‘the toga dress’ too.

I didn’t get any full length shots of the dress, so I found another blogger who did here.

Erika S. outfits, parties

The ThirtyOnes

B turned 31 last thursday.  So friday night, we all went out to celebrate, meaning really good steak at Harris’.  I bought him a Cheap Monday Chambray shirt for his birthday. He hated it at first, begrudgingly tried it on to humor me, and ended up loving it, wearing it out that night. He rarely lets me dress him, so, success!! Happy Birthday, loves.

very quick, badly set up photo in B’s kitchen before we headed out for the night:

I love this Vasia dress.  It looks like a dark and stormy windy night.  I found it a while ago deep in the mess that is the Urban Outfitters sale section when they were having an extra 30% off sales promotion.  Not bad for $27 right?