Lost

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Welcome to 2020.

I was really hoping to start off the year with a clean slate. 2019 did a complete 180 once the school year started. I feel like I’m a shit teacher. I feel like my relationship is crumbling under my feet. I’m super stressed with buying the apartment and on top of that My mental health his been a dumpster fire.

My depression had been on and off since October but had increasingly been getting worse. The climax was me crying home alone Christmas Eve until I ended up on the suicide prevention hotline. I’ve missed work from it. I’ve pushed away David because of it. It’s been exhausting.

I was finally about to make a doctors appointment for New Year’s Eve. My doctor was incredibly nice. She has me back on anti depressants that unfortunately doesn’t start working for another two weeks. I just want to feel like myself again. I had the shittiest New Years of my life with David and I can’t tell if I’m paranoid or what but I hate feeling crazy.

On top of all the bullshit, Trump pissed off the Middle East and now New York is on high alert for a terrorist attack. Because that’s great for my depression and anxiety.

I could really use all the love, prayers, and support anyone is willing to send my way.

Twenty-five and feeling alive

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Can you believe it, your girl made it to 25! A whole quarter of a century.

I got to celebrate early with my mom but the festivities lasted the entire month of September.

I went over David’s the night before my birthday and rang it in with him. We watched tv and hung out and he gave me my gifts. He got me a lion king sweatshirt that matches one he has so we can take an obnoxious couple picture in it. We also got me Lots-O which I’ve wanted for years.

The actual day of my birthday was the first day of school…again. I didn’t mind but I was pretty exhausted from being back around my students. David took off work so we could celebrate. He got me pizza from little Italy and not one, but two cakes. We watched our show on Netflix and I went to bed super early.

That weekend, David took me to the Palisades Center which is an incredibly large mall. We arrived around 11:00 and stayed until 10:30. What did we do you ask? We spent our time wondering through all the shops and making each other smile. He got me tons of gifts. He bought me a groot mug, Gilmore girls sweatshirt, a cat tee shirt, a captain marvel tee shirt, and an animal cracker pillow just to name a few. I had a cinibun for the first time and we went to the Yard House for dinner where I smashed on some killer lobster ravioli.

My favorite part of the day was when we spent time painting each other gifts. I made David a spider-man mason jar and he made me a ramen bowl that says my nickname back from ballroom on it. It was honestly my favorite gift.

The next weekend, my friends from Cleveland came into town to visit. I got to show my bestfriend around my favorite city. We get out for drinks Friday and Lukas, Kam, and Matt met my work friends. Then Saturday we explore Brooklyn and Sunday they got to see my hood for a bit. It was so nice to have Lukas see how I live. I loved it.

The following weekend, I was on a mission to use up my free birthday coupons. I had a sleepover with Erika and Oumou and we feasted on Bucca di Beppo.

The following day, me and David explores Trader Joe’s and then he took me to the Alamo which is a dinner theater. We saw Hustlers even though we had no idea what it was supposed to be about. It was super good and the food was yummy too. We both got burgers and milkshakes.

The final celebration was of course with David. The last weekend of the month David asked to take me out on a date. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going other than it was a restaurant in the Bronx.

The name of it was F&J Pine. It was amazing. We shared toasted ravs since I’m obsessed with them and David has never had them. I ordered seafood risotto and he got chicken Alfredo that was big enough to serve like four people. The food was absolutely amazing. He surprised me when he had the waiter bring out tiramisu as they sang me happy birthday. I haven’t had that happen to me since I was a little girl. It meant the world to me.

The following day we went to the NYBG. David has wanted to go and I’m now a member. The weather was 80 and sunny so it was nice to get out. The roses were in bloom like non other. I’m looking forward to my quarter-century year.

Momma Bear Pt. 2

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My last post was getting pretty lengthy so I thought I’d break it up for everyone’s sanity.

Thursday my momma and I continued our adventures starting at Hudson Yards. They just built this interactive art piece called the Vessel. It’s just a bunch of stair cases put together but it was still pretty cool. My mom and I walked all around it so get every single angle in. The Vessel by itself is gorgeous and the views aren’t shabby either.

It kind of looks like a bee hive.

On the way back to Queens, we stopped in Astoria to try this New Orleans joint called SugarFreak. It was so good. I want to go back. With both had fried catfish and shrink with some nice strong drinks.

After lunch/dinner it was time for a Mets game. I can’t tell you a thing about the game. Me and my mom were pretty lit the whole time. We both started with a single drink and ended up splitting a bottle of wine. Thank god my house is walking distance from the stadium.

Friday morning we headed back to the Bronx. I know I know, I need to just move there since I spend most of my time there compared to Queens.

I had been to all of the NYC botanical gardens except for the main one in the Bronx. This one was by far the largest one. Most things typically bloom in the spring but the rose garden and other random things were in bloom. It was nice to just wonder around and talk with each other.

After the gardens I met up with David who was visiting his mom in the hospital. It was the same hospital his grandpa passed away at so that put him in a funky mood. He was supposed to come to dinner with us but he declined. Me and my mom went back to city island and tried more of a sit down restaurant because I knew that’s what she wanted. We ended up with soooo much food. They brought out multiple loaves of bread and cheese as an appetizer. I got crab cakes and plantains and my mom got catfish and fries. Plus it came with corn on the cob. We took a lot home with us and brought David dinner as well. We were very satisfied.

Saturday was another chill day. We walked around the park by my house and visited the Queens Museum. It’s not a big museum. It had a panoramic of the city which was so much cooler than it sounds. Like honestly so dope go check it out.

We didn’t do much else Saturday since we had covered so much ground and my mother’s feet were a mess. We watched tv and ate left overs and it was still perfect.

Sunday was my mom’s last day in town. We celebrated with brunch at the same place we had gone her last visited. They never let your drink go empty and the food is delicious. I’m happy she got to visit, even if it wasn’t on my birthday. I love my mother.

Momma Bear

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My momma insisted on coming up to New York to celebrate by birthday since I was turning the big “two-five”. She wasn’t bale to be up for my actual birthday, but she was able to stay with me for my last week of summer vacation.

She flew into NY Saturday, August 24th. This so happened to be the last day of Fans Week for the US Open. We watched some Tennis practice and got to see Naomi Osaka on the main court.

In the evening, we hit up The Bronx Night Market and invited Nicoletta. It was her first time in The Bronx. My mom loved it. We shared a ton of food, my favorite being a soul food cupcake which was a corn break base filled with Mac and Cheese and then topped with mashed potatoes and catfish. I love New York.

Sunday morning, we packed the car and headed to New Haven, CT. I’ve been working on visiting all the Ivy League colleges but I’ve been saving Yale for me and my mom so that we could have a Lorelai and Rory moment. We explored campus and bought matching shirts at the Bookstore.

Afterwards we headed to Mystic and visited the aquarium since I didn’t get to see it when I was there with David. We also got ourselves so kickass pizza and explored some of the nearby shops.

Monday morning I had to go up to school to speak to my Vice Principal about a coaching position I was hired for. I am officially the Boys Cross Country Head Coach.

After our meeting we took a train into Manhattan for an early birthday lunch. We tried to go to Empellon for their famous octopus tacos, however they currently didn’t have them on the menu. We shared crab nachos with sea urchin and I had some fish tacos. Even though we didn’t have tacos, the food was well worth it.

After lunch, we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge. My mom had never been and I hadn’t been since my sophomore year of college. We walked across and hung by the water’s edge admiring the skyline. We also went on a mini ice cream tour. Ice and Vice, OddFellows, and Jacque Torres were all next to each other so we went to all three. They were all on my list of places to eat so we had to cross hyphen off.

We walked back into Manhattan after filling ourselves with ice cream. My mom suggested drinks, so I took her to Dallas BBQ. We both got pretty drunk. Her exact words were “one drink and you’re fucked”. I was my favorite day.

Tuesday we had a Bronx filled day. We spent most of the day at the Bronx Zoo. We had gone once before but didn’t get to see the whole zoo. Now get this, we got there when it opened and stayed 30 minutes past closing and we STILL didn’t see the whole zoo. That’s how massive it is.

For dinner we heard to City Island. We went to Johnny’s Reef which is where DAVID had wanted to take me. The food was good but I could tell my mom expected it to be fancier. We walked the island and got some delicious ice cream for dessert.

With all this walking, my mom developed some pretty bad blisters. So Wednesday we had a very chill day. We got dinner at Sweet Chick which was the first time my mom had chicken and waffles. Then we went to David’s and I made some peach cobbler. It was nice to hang with him and my momma together.

Cruisin’ In Love

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After spending time with David’s family in North Carolina, we hit the road bound to New Orleans. Our first stop was Charlotte where we spent the night with his best friend from college. It felt good to finally meet Jordan, like things were becoming more official. We now follow each other on instagram.

Before heading out in the morning, we stopped at the Golden Cow, a creamy that Jordan and told David about month prior.

We made our way south, taking turns driving and stoping to take pictures at each state’s visitor centers. We spent the night in Alabama and drove into New Orleans the morning of our cruise. Before boarding, I treated David to Cafe de Monde. I love making memories with him.

Our cruise was great. I won’t say amazing because I had different expectation, but I still enjoyed myself. We ate dinner in the dinning room everyday. We ate all our meals together even when we were annoyed with each other. We watched movies on the main deck as the sun went down. We attended karaoke and I found out that’s one of his secret passions. He even made me a build a bear on the ship and bought me a charm bracelet. I really do love him.

On the 3rd day of the cruise, we docked at Cozumel. David and I signed up to swim with dolphins. We spent and hour with them and got some dope shots.

We also got to swim with stingrays. Not just touch them but snorkel as they swam around us. I think David was freaked out by the whole experience. I forgot that he doesn’t know how to swim. He was a good sport about it. I think the open bar helped as well.

Aside from the dolphins we also ran around town collecting free items. We’re suckers for free stuff. We got charms, and pearls, and keychain. We also got color changing shirts, so yeah we’re pretty cool.

The next day we docked at Progresso. We booked a private beach day were we honestly just relaxed. I napped on the beach. We went kayaking in the ocean. David got to lounge in a hammock for the first time. We even got a guac demonstration in the kitchen. It was a good way to just chill in Mexico.

Southern living

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The day after his birthday, David and I headed out and headed to our first stop of our two week trip: his dad’s house. As you know I’ve been down there a few times now. We wanted to visit Slapfish again. so we stopped there before continuing to the house.

That night we went out to a Chinese buffet to celebrate his birthday again. The food was alright but we still enjoyed ourselves.

In the morning, David and I continued the drive to his mother’s house in South Carolina. I had never been so to me this is a big step. This is something I had always wanted to do with Colby. He would always talk about his family in Georgia and how I should visit but never did. I’m sure david didn’t see a difference but this visit meant so much to me. I got to meet his grandma and his other family. It’s nice to know that a good amount of them know me and have met me. It gets more real everyday.

All the days at his mom blended together. We didn’t do much. We ate plenty and went to Walmart just as much. We prepared for our cruise and spent time with his family.

I tried bojangles for the first time and we ate cookout milkshakes almost everyday. I ate all the southern food I could and spent time with him and his brother as he shaved off his beard at the barber shop. I enjoyed seeing his baby pictures around the house. There was nothing special about the trip other than the sentimental value it held for me.

Twenty-Fine

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August 5th, my partner and bestfriend turned 29. This is the 2nd birthday I got to celebrate with him. He’s not really into birthdays and we were leaving for our trip the next day, but I wanted to do a little something for him. I tried to come over the night before but after 20 minutes looking for parking, I went back home.

I made reservations at Emily’s. They’re shouting have the best burgers in the city and known for they’re pizza. It wasn’t a super dressy restaurant or anything. He got the burger and we shared a vodka pizza. The drinks at the restaurant were weird so we didn’t get any and they didn’t have dessert so we headed out in search of some.

We went down the street for cupcakes and ice cream. We ate the ice cream right away and took the cupcakes to go.

On the way home we stopped at Dallas BBQ to get drinks we’d actually enjoy. He had two but I was drunk off one of course. This was our first time really spending time together after I had gotten back. I had missed him. We had amazing sex. I wore lingerie I had bought in Seattle. I needed to be with him. Not just physically but emotionally as well.

Last day in NZ

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I can’t believe we’re already here, but the day has come.

There isn’t much to Auckland so we spent our last day at Waiheke Island.

We took the 10:00am ferry ride to the island and got a mini tour of the beaches before stopping at a winery for breakfast wine.

We continued to olive oil tasting and another vineyard for tastings. The second vineyard did a good pairing with the wine. We had a curry soup, salmon mousse, a meat roll, and this phenomenal chocolate brownie. I loved the brownie so much I bought two on the way out.

We had a long lunch break so we could explore the town on the beach, but we happened to be there the coldest day of the year. It was only around 50 degrees (which is still warm for winter), but we weren’t prepared for it so it still felt frigid.

That night was out farewell dinner. I didn’t make any significant, life-long friendships on the trip so I didn’t find it all that sad like I have in the past. I had Mac and cheese balls, followed by fish and chips, and then a brownie for dessert. The food was alright. Sydney’s farewell meal was significantly better.

I’ve had a blast on this tour but I’m ready to go home and see my kitty and cuddle with David angling with sleep in my own bed.

Science is all around us…

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Rotorua is a city literally built in the mouth of a dormant volcano. This make a lot of the surrounding land and water hot with geo-thermal heat.

We got to experience this phenomenon first hand by spending some time at the Polynesian Spas. The spas are naturally heated by the earth and they use the mineral water from there nearby area. It was very relaxing. I almost fell asleep at one point.

The spas were the perfect way to recover from the interesting morning we had in the OGOs. OGO are these giant balls filled with water that you roll down a hill in. It sounds super weird but it was some of the most exciting fun I’ve had in NZ. We just sloshed around rolling down the hills. I would highly recommend. It was early and cold that morning but they have hot tubs and the water inside the ball is warm as well. Well worth it.

After drying off from our wet morning, some of the group went to Hobbiton and the rest of us stayed to explore Rotorua. We saw the redwood forest. I thought that was cool because I’ve never been to California. We also saw the geo thermic lake in the middle of town that is so hot it boils. It was a science teacher’s dream. J wanted to spend so much longer there but we had to travel to Auckland.

Rowdy in Rotorua

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The moment we landed in Rotorua, we headed to to the gondola and went straight to their winery. We tasted 5 of New Zealand’s finest wines and I proceeded to get drunk. Thank god we did the live run down the kill before wine tasting because I definitely would have crashed haha.

After a quick nap, I woke up and got ready for our traditional Maori Hangi dinner. A Hangi means that the food is cooked by the geo-thermic heat that comes naturally out of the ground. Rotorua is built in the mouth of a dormant volcano so they are known for their heated spas and geyser. Maori people also gave us a look into their culture by showing us a traditional wakka in their clear stream along with their weapons, instruments, a welcome ritual, traditional dances, and a war haka. It kind of reminded me of Hawaii (not that I’ve ever been). I was very impressed with all of it.

For our Hangi feast, they served chicken and lamb (that I didn’t eat) along with regular and sweet potatoes, stuffing, rice, cheesey potatoes, chowder, and garlic bread. Everything was amazing but I ate way too much.

After dinner they showed us some of the traditional buildings and their spring that provides us with fresh drinking water. We also got to see some of the famous blue glowing worms. It was a great welcome to their culture.