Showing posts with label for fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label for fun. Show all posts

Nanny Diaries

Saturday, October 18, 2014

I jotted this down a while ago, because I wanted to remember it. Now I'm "publishing" it.


I'm currently a live-in nanny with a super fun family. I watch the kiddos 12 hours a week. Tomorrow is my 9 to 5 nanny day with the kids. I enjoy it. Last Thursday I cycled through eight children in one day. Kids were literally flying in and out the door. If that confuses you, I'll break it down. The family has three boys. They have one foster child. That makes four. The other four kids came from three other families. But I'm not complaining. It keeps the day interesting. I suppose it can also make me lose my mind a bit. Here's an example.
A few weeks ago I wrote this status on Facebook:


Crazy, right? After I got the keys back, I found the incident funny. During the two hours of waiting because I dropped the car and house keys into the city sewer and then proceeded to lock myself out of the car (by shutting the door to pick up the keys that fell). My cell phone was locked in the car and I had young children by my side. At that point, I looked like the ghost emoji with a blue forehead and transparent eyes. We were stuck outside and I really didn't know what to do. I couldn't put my hand in the storm drain to fish for the keys. I couldn't call someone for help, and I could only walk so far with toddlers. And, like, where would I walk to? I dunno.  Be advised, I only had two of the kids with me at this time.   
After the initial moments of panic, I did something right -- I started knocking on doors. First door, no answer. Second door, a nice gentleman named Paul was willing to help. Well, willing to let me use his phone to call for help. This is where having a great dad comes in handy. He rushed over and managed to get a City of Minneapolis truck to follow him to the scene. hallelujah! So I thought. The worker lifted the metal plate to the storm drain and went down. He dug and looked all over, but no sign of the keys.  I just concluded that I'll have to shell out a few hundred bucks to make a new Volvo key to open the door to fetch my phone and wallet, and, well, drive the car. Life happens, that's why we save and have emergency funds. But the worker gave me the number to the Minneapolis sewer department so they could attempt to go into the sewer tank to find the keys. For those who understand how the pipes and drains work under city roads, don't quote me on what I'm saying here. All I know is that when the sewer department came, they lifted the plate in the middle of the road and went down and managed to come up with the keys. 
Yeah, I said it. The man found the keys! He reached into a pipe under the road and then came out with them. Isn't that awesome? 
I still don't completely understand how I managed to drop the keys. Actually, I do: installing carseats. not fun. But hey! It all worked out and I now I have a story that I can take away. I can also assure you that I'm not parking over a storm drain, like, ever again. 


Shops I Like: Photojojo

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Have you heard of Photojojo? It's a quirky photography shop for the everyday photographer (like me, and probably you!) I think they are pretty rad. I love browsing through their site and reading all their product descriptions-- it's all so witty. I wanted to showcase some of my favorite items from their shop! I'll let the pictures do the talking. I'm going to hopefully try out a product or two this summer!

Color Flash Filters  $15 - For some fun colors

                                                             Macro lens band $15 - For stellar details

iPhone Bolt Charger  $60 - For on the go

Instax Printer $220 - For fun prints!

iPhone Super Suit $79 - Everyone needs a super suit

Phoneography Starter Kit $30 - For the Basics

Oh, they have so much! And if I had an extra $9639.84 to kill I would buy one of everything they sell! 

On a related note, I'm doing a moments in June photography challenge on Instagram. Today I posted a picture of a trash can for day 8, so that's pretty exciting. yeah. 


All images belong to Photojojo




Model Status

Monday, June 2, 2014

New York City Parks are filled with huge rocks and I think they're the greatest thing ever. I love them so much I wanted to pose with them. Doing so I discovered that I might have a future in modeling. 
Hands on the knee is always a classic.
Rocking that head tilt.

Mixing it up and posing with a bridge
Pop that knee!
Preparing for childbirth maybe?
 Alright... modeling isn't for me.

Check her out! My friend Liz could definitely be a model. 
And I'm pretty sure this girl is an ACTUAL model. There's models everywhere in NYC. Yes, we're still in Central Park, and yes that is a waterfall. A filthy waterfall for that much. 

Sidebar: My entire outfit was thrifted
Another Sidebar: I love the way these bloggers model fun outfits-
Color Me Nana
SaidKelley
Writes Like a Girl
Casey Leigh
Check them out!

Feel free to share your link in the comments if you put fun outfits together! I would love to see what you got.

You're here

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Image from Naptime Diaries
June, you're finally here. I was dreaming about you in March. You seemed so far away, but now you've arrived. Summer is starting. School is almost ending. Change is happening. And that just makes me happy. Today was a beautiful day in the city and a true Sabbath day for me-- Especially after a long day of work yesterday.

What does the month of June look like for me?

  • June is my last month in East Harlem. In July I'm off to the Upper West Side for the remainder of the Summer (more on this later?)
  • June is the month of my birthday.
  • June is graduation month from City Year. June 20th is my last day!
  • I'll have special visitors this month. Aunt B and Auryanna, I can't wait!
  • I'm hoping this blog might pick up the pace a little more this month as well. In May I focused on friendships and work. I also went on a week long vacation, so the month just whizzed by.
  • Sugar fast: I hate it to say it, but I quit that. I made it almost a month, but then I went to Florida and I couldn't keep it up. I successfully made it through a 6 week sugar fast in 2013, but not this time. It was hard and I'm glad I kept it up for the time I did. 
What are you looking forward to this June?



Fun in Sun.

Monday, May 26, 2014

(I know how to rhyme?) 
Consistency on this blog would be great, wouldn't? It's Monday night, and I've been away from school for 9 days and it feels like forever! Last week was vacation and today was Memorial Day. I would like to say I'm caught up in the "sleep" department, but I'm not sure if that's the case considering I woke up from a two hour nap at 9 pm today. Sheesh. I went to Florida with my campus ministry, so I guess I'll share pictures from that. Pictures are fun. 








we're a fun group


Also, I would suggest you follow me on Instagram or just check my profile to see what I've been up to if you're the type who enjoys pictures. 

Well, I guess I'll keep peeling away at my sunburn and get some sleep, because real life kicks back in tomorrow. 

Grapefruits and Gold

Thursday, May 15, 2014


I'm trekking along on my little sugar fast. It's not going as well as I would like, but I haven't given up. I've decided that if I can avoid chocolate, ice cream, cake, and DONUTS until June 22nd rolls around, I'll be happy. I've cheated in too many little ways: a little lemonade here, some frosted mini-wheats there, a pb&j, and recently, a caramelized grapefruit and gold-leaf fruit tart. 

I love grapefruits. After a long day at work, there's nothing more satisfying than coming home and slicing up a grapefruit. I went to a restaurant with my friend and saw boiled grapefruit on the appetizer menu. We waited an hour to get seated at this restaurant and I was craving some grapefruit.  I ordered it right away, no need to read the description. The grapefruit did not disappoint! The only downside- it was boiled in sugar. I paid 6 dollars it and like I said, grapefruits are the B E S T. I went for it. Wouldn't you?


Incident number two
The time is 9:30 pm. I'm sitting at a fundraising table for our City Year Gala in Columbus Circle. I ate a wonderful and fancy meal at the gala, but the portion was lean-cuisine sized. I had to do a bunch of greeting, socializing, chanting, and setting up for this event, so I needed a little more than arugula salad and fancy cheese to keep me alive and well. The program was running late and then the emcee announced that dessert was coming out. 
uh-oh.
Out comes this beautiful thing:



I couldn't let it sit there in front of me. It was so beautiful. It had gold on it! And I needed a boost of sugar to keep me going after my looong day of work. Once again, I went for it. 

Restaurant: Jacob's Pickles (highly recommend)
What is City Year? Check here

Boston

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I enjoyed a 3 day trip to Boston over Easter weekend. The East Coast is a great place for taking trips to other cities. Everything is so close! I stayed with my good friend from high school, Leah. She was a great hostess, and she took me everywhere!

The Democratic Donkey at Boston's Old City Hall along the Freedom Trail. I felt like Jesus on it...in a cheesy kind of way.


Wellesley College has a lot of spirit when it comes to Marathon Monday! Pretty much every girl comes out to cheer on the runners for hours and hours. Their motive? kisses. hundreds of kisses. This is an All Girls School after all. Notice the signs? There were all sorts of clever signs along what's known as the Wellesley Scream Tunnel. 

Ducks and bunnies. Both have marathon spirit. I thought Quack was quite charming.

Yes, that is a man hanging upside down by a rope. Rest assured, it was just a show. It wasn't a historical show either. Just a show.
Isn't that sunset beautiful? 

The good 'ole Freedom Trail. Red bricks or streaks of red paint run for 2.5 miles throughout Boston, representing the Freedom Trail. This city is a living American history book!

Together! That's us on a swan boat and that's us cheering at the marathon.

A camouflage tree at the Arnold Arboretum and the best ice cream I have ever had. I ate some on Saturday night and loved it so much we came back on Sunday night. worth it. 

Because this post isn't complete without pictures of us with a man in his underwear. a fake man. 

Well, that was fun! I got to Boston via a Greyhound bus. The ride was 4 hours and it cost about $25 each way. I stayed Saturday afternoon to Monday Evening. 







A Cheesy Spring Photo

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

My friend made me pose for this.
Spring has sprung here and I like life. Today I went searching for Easter eggs with a little friend (literally little, she's only 9 years old). Searching for Easter eggs really means walking all over the city looking for, and then scanning the QR code, on  fancy egg sculptures. Today was also a Monday and it happened to be a Monday that I was not in a middle school. Hallelujah for one day of spring break! I do not mean day one of Spring break, I mean one day of Spring break. That's okay though, people with real jobs don't get a spring break either. I guess you could say I have a real job.    

There are 260 eggs "hidden" in New York City. We have found 60 eggs so far. 


Monday & I'm Not White

Monday, April 7, 2014

Happy Monday. I started the day off right with a diet coke pepsi in hand (Ashamed, but I needed that caffeine). It was an interesting day at good ol' Hunts Point Middle School. We kicked off math class with introducing algebraic functions. Do you know what functions are? If so, good-- you were awake during Algebra II class. If you don't, that's unfortunate, but maybe normal??? I mean I remember learning about functions when I was in 10th grade, not 6th grade. Sometimes I think the curriculum we use is too ambitious for 6th graders. 

During lunch one of the students complained, 
"Miss- I want real food. I want Burger King or McDonalds or something."
I guess yellow sticks, shiny buns, and mystery meat is real food?? Maybe she just wasn't feeling the turkey sandwich.

During 8th period a dancer from the Bronx came and taught my class hip-hop. I learned some crazy moves. Some of the students loved it. Most of them found it too challenging. He was trying to get us to dance at like 100 steps per second. Ya'll should have seen me-- dance is not one of my strong suits.

During After School Art club we were playing Lady Antebellum in the background. One of the students complained and said she doesn't like "white people music." Then she went on to say she doesn't like white people. I talk with this girl a lot so I looked at her and asked, 
What about me? ...You like me.
"Yeah, but you're not white."
Yes I am, what do you mean?
"I thought you were Japanese or something."

I'm clearly white. 







Spring and other things

Thursday, March 20, 2014


To celebrate the first day of spring I had students in my art club make tissue paper flowers! and then hold them up for a picture :) Today was beautiful, and I can't wait to experience Spring in the city.

Here are those other "things":
I filed taxes for the first time this year. I got a couple hundred dollars refunded from Minnesota and the Federal gov't, but unfortunately I have to give all that refund-money to New York City. Just when you think NYC can't get any more expensive, taxes come along.

Last night I had an open house in midtown right after work, then I had a City Year meeting in Flatiron, then I had to shop for groceries. I had a little dinner on the subway (gross, I know) and finally made it home at 10 pm. When I got home, I put my groceries away, and then somehow wound up on my bed. BIG mistake.  I woke up in a haze the next morning (today) still wearing my City Year uniform....and very ashamed of myself.  I didn't even for shower! sheesh. Somehow I still made it to work (barely) on time. 

I paid $2.50 +tax for two hard-boiled eggs at the airport. Also, while at the said airport, a man started talking about his life to me and a couple other Canadians sitting in the waiting area. He was obviously feeling lonely and saddened from a divorce 8 months ago. I started to feel a little heartbroken for this man. He seemed so sweet and friendly. I can't imagine going through a divorce after a 14 year marriage. BUT then he went on to say that he went on 22 dates in 16 days to bounce back. 
Then he said that he made out with all of those girls. Sometimes two at once. 
Then he said he liked kissing and that kissing was great. 
Then this conversation became super awkward. And I politely withdrew myself from the conversation. 
What are you supposed to do when a stranger starts saying this stuff??

I met another "stranger" today. Thankfully this girl seemed interesting....and normal. She works at a start-up in the city and studied art in college. 

Today I found out that a teacher I see AND talk to every day at school is pregnant. She's been pregnant since October. Due this June. How do I miss these things?! I noticed she had a little pouch today, so I just asked a student if his teacher was having a baby. He said "yeah, we've been knowing she was having a baby." Then I went up to her and we both laughed because somehow that important life detail was never exchanged over the last 6 months. Before I left, I called her huge and she appreciated that. I guess that was the one thing I did right?? 

Well, here's to an exciting Friday and end of the week!








Coffee Houses and Coffee Shops

Sunday, March 2, 2014

The campus ministry I attend had an open-mic coffee house on Saturday night. I was blown away by some of the talent, and it was a lovely time for fellowship and entertainment. One of the girls even  drew portraits for us!  For those familiar with Biblical scripture, the event was called Hebrews holy grounds... He brews holy grounds. good one. 
A couple friends of mine have a tradition of going to a new bakery every Saturday in Brooklyn. I joined along this week and we stopped at Konditori. It was a new Swedish bakery (mainly coffee shop) in Greenpoint. The ambiance felt fresh and sophisticated. The pastries were delicious. I definitely recommend it! 

Weekends are the best.

Favorite [Big] Blogs

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Day 27
If you can't tell, I like blogging, but I almost enjoy reading other blogs more than blogging for myself. In my opinion, blogs are the best thing on the web. As part of the Blog Every Day in February Challenge, I'm going to share five of my favorite big blogs.

What is a big blog? A big blog by my definition is pretty much a professional blog. The blogger takes blogging seriously, and as a result she receives a income* and has plethora of followers. Posts are consistent and high-quality, and the blog has a "brand" that is appealing and engaging. 

She travels the world. She has been to a gazillion places and she shares tips and ideas that make travelling a reality for anyone. Her pictures are great too.

Joanna was a magazine writer and it shows. She has mastered the art of collaborating with other artists, writers, creatives, business owners, travelers, moms, and the list goes on when it comes to blog posts. She shares great advice and I love everything she has to say about New York City. Her blog has a unique simplicity and her posts never fail to be intriguing.

Melyssa was an expat in Japan and now works as a graphic designer and blogger. Her blog's branding is stellar and tastefully simple. Her posts are motivating and practical. She has done an amazing job building community in the blog world and promoting creativity! Plus, everything is positive.

Elise has a beautiful life. She shares projects that inspire me all the time. Her "Dear Ellerie" letters to her baby make me tear up. Her creativity and consistency is wonderful. She has her own business too.

And Kathleen.  Kathleen is creative coach. Her branding and blog style is one of my favorites. Her writing moves me. Her wit is genius. And she's a white girl with amazing blonde dreadlocks. win.





I have a few other categories for blogs I follow, including young blogs, medium blogs, and friend blogs. I'll make sure to share some of my favorites from those categories as the year goes on. 

*Income is a relative term. Some of theses bloggers blog as their career and others use blogging as a means to support their small business / endeavors. 

It stays the same.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Day 18: My Style

I'm supposed to write about my style. When it comes to fashion, I don't have much to offer. Sure, I can put on something cute every now and then, but for my whole “grown up”  life I've depended on a uniform to get me through most of my days. I looked through my iPone pictures to see what  I wear besides my uniform, and I ran into a problem: I still wear the same thing. Maybe my shirt is different, but my pictures from the last three months look like I have a wardrobe problem. Also know as having no wardrobe. Come to think of it, that is true. I have a small Ikea dresser and I share a New York-sized closet with two other girls. So I do have a wardrobe problem .
Sheesh! Even my bag and shoes stayed the same.
Thankfully, I discovered that I wasn't alone. Another east coast blogger looks like a sleeping bag during the winter months... It's what we got to do to survive. 
I'm anxious for spring to come so I can start wearing orange and floral. I'll stop wearing those Tims, and maybe I'll even strut around in these grapefruit heels

For the record, my roommates and I do NOT have a shortage on boots. 

5 Things

Monday, February 17, 2014

....That make me smile!
New York has lots of book stores to discover.  Strand Books is pictured above. 
Simplicity and organization are so refreshing. Picture taken at the Container Store...earlier today :) 

The taste of summer!

Vintage clothes are the best! Vintage shopping in Brooklyn is also super great. I'll write more on thrifting/vintage finds sometime. 
I miss that face a lot. The best 4 year old right there. More on Shelby
This concludes Day 17.
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