Four Things

Time for a little mental break and to hop on another bloggy bandwagon! So here's my second list of Four Things.

Four jobs I've had in my life:

1. Retail sales associate - I've held this position at the Gap and PacSun. I actually ended up getting fired from the Gap when I bought my ex-boyfriends's sister a whole bunch of clothes with my 30% off discount. According to management, "I was spending more than I was making". Thanks, Gap. Real cool. Hate you.


2. Barista - I worked at an independent coffee shop in a hotel in Philly for almost 3 years during college and I actually miss it! I met some of my best friends through that place, and learned to make one MEAN cappuccino. The secret is using skim milk for the best foam!

3. Chocolate connoisseur - Wikka whaaat? It's true. I worked at this super cute little place called Naked Chocolate Café for a few months in college, where the owner and his daughter made all the chocolates and cupcakes and other goodies. The kitchen had a huge window, so the customers could see all the baking in action. I promise you, I have never had better chocolate in my life. We even served up European style hot chocolate and frozen chocolate mousse drinks! Oh geez, so good.

4. Hostess of the mostess - I've done this at.. three restaurants, I think? I can show you to a table like nobody's business. Don't knock it.

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. 27 Dresses - I don't even know, I hated this movie when I first saw it. Now I can't get enough.
2. Love, Actually - duh
3. 40 Year Old Virgin Freeeeeeeench toast
4. Disney's Robin Hood - Well not so much any more, but I watched this so much when I was a kid that I wore out the VHS in a day. Truth.

Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Family Guy
2. True Blood (via Netflix)
3. Jeopary!
4. Property Virgins Love you, Sandra!

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Mexico!
2. San Francisco - Just once, almost 10 years ago, but I would LOVE to move there.
3. Montreal - Le sigh, would love to go back.
4. Vegas - Would love to go back here, too. I went with family last time, and I definitely think I need a different kind of trip with my girlfriends :))

So what are your Four Things??

Sonnenberg Gardens

Last summer, Scot and I debated having our wedding in upstate New York, near where his parents live by the Finger Lakes. One gorgeous place I found was called Sonnenberg Gardens - thanks to the pictures on their website, I instantly fell in love with idea of an outdoor, tent reception in a garden next to a historic mansion. I mean, really. It's gorgeous. Then I cried a little when I realized we could never afford it. So we nixed that idea, moved on and never saw the place.

Until yesterday!

Scot's parents brought up how close it is to where they live and that I might enjoy not only walking the grounds, but playing around with my camera and taking pictures. Count me in. The four of us spent Tuesday morning and early afternoon exploring the grounds and learning a bit more about Sonnenberg's history - really interesting, actually!

A little background, as per their website:

Perched atop the sun-bathed hill of the estate known as “Sonnenberg” (German for “sunny hill”) is a 40-room Queen Anne-style mansion. New York City bank financier Frederick Ferris Thompson and his wife, Mary Clark Thompson, the daughter of New York State governor Myron Holley Clark, purchased the property in 1863 when it featured just a brick farmhouse on 14 acres.

This house was actually one of 5 summer homes that the Thompson's owned, and it was rumored to be their favorite. They eventually bought more land and expanded the estate to include multiple gardens, a carriage house, aviary, Roman bath, Japanese tea garden, etcetera and so forth. A lot of the work was done by Mary Thompson after her husband Frederick's death in 1899. The aviary alone had it's own peacock house with over $20,000 worth of birds (and that's in early 1900's money!). After Mary's death in 1923, the grounds and mansion were used as quarters for nurses working at the adjacent Veteran's Hospital, and nowadays the entire grounds are in the process of being restored and are open to the public for tours and events (such as weddings).

On to the good stuff!

Initial walk from the greenhouses towards the mansion:

weeping beech tree

Rock garden:

Carriage house:

The Old Fashioned Garden:

I do love me some daisies :)

Out front of the mansion:

Inside:

billiards room

grand foyer and deer head

I was amazed at the intricacy of the bathroom tiles!

bedroom with examples of summer dresses from the 30's, I believe

another view of the grand foyer, from above

the back grounds, from above

Roman Bath:

it has clearly seen better days - this used to serve as their swimming pool

Japanese Tea Garden:

can you spot the frog?

again.. it's a baby, but can you see the frog?

It was a perfect day for pictures, and I'm really thrilled with how some of them turned out! The history behind Sonnenberg is really fascinating, and I would love to go back to see some of the gardens we missed (some of them were undergoing repair and restoration). If you live in the Finger Lakes area.. I would definitely recommend this place for a visit or a wedding venue!

Peace out cub scouts <3

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'll tell you this - I'm loving a lot! Such as:

1. Pretty Little Liars is back on TV (or, in my case, Hulu). Hella good.

It's addictive.

2. Kale chips. If you haven't had or made them yet, change that. They're delish.

I would show you a personal picture, but I kind of ate them all before I had a chance to.

3. Express ReRock jeans. Screw 7 for All Mankind. These jeans are a godsend (and cheaper). They make me look and feel skinny, and give me a booty to make even J.Lo jealous. It's true.

No, that's not me. I wish. I die for those shoes.

4. The fact that we're going on vacation to upstate NY (aka Scot's parents and friends) for a week again this summer. 11 more days until I can be lazy, have time on the lake and boat, enjoy a (non)pig roast, and stuff myself silly with  Dinosaur BBQ. Oh, and totally rock it at tubing.

5. Only one more month until I'm eligible for a phone upgrade. In other words, HELLO iPHONE. Finally.

Want you. Need you. Loooove you.

Anything you're particularly loving today or this week/month/year?

Photo hussy.

I don't even know where I am with my Mexico recaps, but I do know that there are still a ton of pictures that I wanted to share. Hmmm.

Oh yes. One of my favorite days/nights there!

So the night before said day, I didn't stay out all that late. I was exhausted after all the beach and sun and delicious food.

Before dinner that night.

Oh yes, and Mexican shots!

It was actually pretty delicious :)

The next day, Braden was feeling pretty rough; apparently he stayed out until 9am. NINE AM. Cray cray.

So Gaby and I headed to the beach while he caught up on his sleep to just sit, chill, tan (sunburn), sleep, etc.

We were soon approached by a guy who was more or less selling photo shoots. This is sort of hard to explain, but I promise it was legit. He showed us these stunning pictures that his company has taken of other people on the beach and in their studio; basically, the session itself is free plus three photos, then every photo you decide to purchase after that is around 150 pesos (about $15 USD). We indulged in some liquid courage (aka mojitos) and decided to do it, not sure exactly what to expect, but excited none the less.

It ended up being a solo photo shoot of Gaby, then one of me, with just a few taken of the both of us. They originally said it would be about a half hour, but it ended up taking the rest of the day. It was a little awkward at first, for sure.. but I have to tell you that it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. I loved the pictures. Gaby and I each ended up ordering about 30 pictures each (so much for a free photo shoot, hah).

So please indulge me in some gratuitous professional photos.

Funny story: this is Scot's desktop at work. One of the guys he worked with actually asked "if she comes with the room." To which Scot responded, totally straight-faced, "that's my fiancé." Apparently I really am a hussy? Awesome.

And the only few I have of Gaby mid-shoot...

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Yea. It was worth every penny. There also may have been a few more scandalous photos that we each took individually that are not blog appropriate. ;) They're not THAT dirty (pervs), but mine definitely made for a good boudoir shoot of sorts to give to Scot. But hey.. one day 50 years down the line we will look back at these and remember that yes, we used to not be totally fat and wrinkled and had decent bodies. Hah.

And, side note: those beach photos? SO awkward. Everyone was staring like we were either models or just crazies. But whatever, they're some of my faves!

So after that escapade, we went to Gaby's friend Sabrina's house (about 15 minutes outside of Playa del Carmen) for some dinner and drinks.

We continued the night at Mandala in "downtown" Playa.. until 3:30am.

I blame the mojitos.

Yummm.

I should explain "3:30am". I went home then. Those other two crazy kids stayed out until who knows when. I was comfy-shmumfy in my bed back at the hotel, and I'm totally ok with that.

Crazypants.

And that was pretty much it! A fun, adventurous, unexpected, crazy day. Loved it!!

Tell me, have you ever done something completely unexpected at the spur of the moment?