My top 100 of 2011

100. “By the grace of God and Professor Phagan you are here tonight Stephanie.”

99. F. Scott Fitzgerald and our secret love affair

98. “Stop staring at me swan!” being able to say that for real!

97. Doing Gill & Emily’s make-up the first of the year

98. Quitting BBB, even if it meant leaving the amazing spy team

97. Becoming Manager at Addictions, I complain about retail all of the time, but I love my girls!

96. New Year’s Day with my amazing cousins who I have become closer with this year

95. A Valentine’s Day in with Steev

94. Snow, and more snow, and more snow!

93. Going through old pictures

92. Scanning old pictures

91. Becoming a go to picture person

90. Home movies

89. Spending time in the city with my cousin Katie

87. That squirrel picture!

86. JC Penny and the 200 dresses I have bought from there (on sale for a steal!)

85. Not caring that I shop at JC Penny because I look good! Hahaha

84. The great GHD switch :)

83. Kelly Roux and her redheaded friendship

82. Cirque De Sole with the Coiro’s

81. Really blue skies on warm days to walk Annie

80. My iPod

79. Tons of new great music

78. Madison Square Garden

77. The New York Rangers (I love hockey)

76. Finally having Sea Port Deli for the first time

75. Urban Decay’s Naked Palette

74. Laughter

73. Scrapbooking

72. Finally getting back into reading

71. Drafting my novel

70. Finding the discipline I have needed all along

69. Inner strength

68. Seeing a ton of movies

67. Steev & I finally having a day off together – date days have been amazing

66. Orange Soda out of a big glass (Big Steve)

65. Big Steve in general (who is off facebook so he cannot be tagged)

64. Getting to know Big Steve’s family Michelle, Christine, Desiree, Stephanie & Cutie Tess better

63. Desiree’s Baby Shower

62. Down Port

61. Root Beer Floats

60. Featherin’

59. Having Seb’s Empanadas for the first time (amazing)

58. ‘EEEEEYYYYYYYY’ aka Sebbing it

57. Extended family

56. ‘Seriousy?!’

55. ‘Shut up!’

54. Panama

53. Drunk friends using our couch more than once

52. CCCCOOOLLLLEEEEEENNNNNNNN

51. Toilet Paper Wedding Dresses

50. Inspiration Boards

49. Getting kicked off of LI Weddings like 8 times

48. St. James Day

47. Sivana Salon in St. James

46. Jessica Nelson being the most kick ass hair stylist I have ever met and worked with

45. My hair, yet again, had an AMAZING year (see above)

44. Lake Grove Village Florist, Amanda is amazing!

43. Meeting all new professionals that I get along with and respect so much

42. Pumpkin picking in the rain (again)

41. The Fall Festival with Gill & Stephen

40. Giving Stephen the nickname ‘PH’

39. Kan Jam

38. Pumpkin, my Jeep, even if that was an 8 month affair

37. Stella & Dot Jewelry (see Michelle about that one)

36. The Avalon

35. Pumpkin ice cream

34. Jerry’s Wings (the best on the damn island)

33. Expanding our pallets to find secret ingredients in food and becoming some of ‘those’ people

32. Annoying even ourselves with that one

31. My mall walking senior citizen friends

30. Dunkin Doughnuts Hot Chocolate

29. My Starbucks Gold Card

28. William Faulkner and our Love Hate Relationship

27. Steev turning 25

26. Salem Massachusetts & Another Awesome Halloween

25. My Sephora Girls, I love you and miss you all so much! You all were with me through so much and I miss seeing all of you in our all black uniforms! haha GaGa you are amazing and I am so proud of you this year too! And Ashley B he finally put a ring on it!

24. Candy Apples. I Believe in Candy Apples

23. Gulianna & Patrick James being the cutest ever and the Avella Family

22. Having like 6 Thanksgivings & my family in general

21. Our Photobooth Pictures – we love having photos of everyone

20. College friends, love and miss you all too, I constantly immitate professors and nobody laughs like you all did! No matter what I know that when I text you all I get a good conversation for a little while and rememember wherever we used to catch up, rant and rave or study together. I miss St. Joe's, but not the parking.

19. St. Michael, the place and the Arch Angel

18. Summer BBQ’s at our place with friends. It was great to have such good company this year

17. The crab leg and lobster feast

16. My wedding dress

15. Our 8 year dating anniversary and the pretty French restaurant we ate at

14.Bliss Restaurant in Setauket

13. Our Lovemore Photo Shoot

12. The 1963 Mercury Comet

11. The Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden

10. My 22nd Birthday and seeing old and new friends all in one place

9. My Shameless Photography Pin-up shoot, want to do another one!

8. Starting Create New Occasions (what’s up 2012, ready for us?)

7. The bridal showers (and the year of the wedding in general)

6. La Cole Salon & Spa, best hot stone massage ever, and Liz’s bachelorette party in general

5. The Awesome 80’s Prom & Lips. My friends & cousins really shared such an amazing night with me, we looked CRAZY but it was so much fun. My cousin Krystal surprising me, my cousins being there, and everyone having a great time. My bridesmaid's in general deserve a shout out. I was sad Jen wasn't there, but she brought it on our wedding day :) and Nicole again was kick ass for me this year!

4. Liz & Seb’s wedding, it was beautiful and such an honor for me to read for them at their ceremony. I was so touched to be asked, and so proud to have been a part of it.

3. Paris. We will always have Paris. I am home sick for Paris.

2. Getting married to the man of my dreams, the love of my life, my best friend & having the wedding I always wanted. The party where everyone comes together, dances their faces off and shouts songs at the top of their lungs. It was perfect. The ceremony by Pastor April was everything we needed (not to mention totally BA with a reading from ‘The Little Prince’ and our ending quote by Mark Twain). Everything was beautiful.

1. Graduating from St. Joseph’s College and earning my BA in English and Film Studies. It was one of the most challenging things for me to complete, and I did. To say that I am proud of myself is an understatement. The day itself was insane, but Lauren was there to sit next to me, cry walking in, make fun of the speakers and hug me when it was over. It will always be such a great memory for me, as well as an accomplishment.

Seasons

I know it is summer when all I want to do is get home from work, crack open a cold AZ Iced Tea and eat a fresh deli sandwich. I wake up wanting that sunshine to make patterns in between the leaves on the ground. The need to sit outside and to Belle and Sebastian while reading a crappy best seller consumes me. Then the months pass, the chill settles and there I am no longer longing for that cold deli sandwich (maybe a hot one), fall is happening. My make-up becomes earthier and smokier, my hair becomes a warmer darker shade and I want to get that last fresh s’more made before it gets too cold.

Long Island’s climate normally climaxes at 100 or so degrees and then plummets to chilly without a real in between. Fall sweatshirt weather is unfortunately short lived. I did however have my first fall craving the other day – a big mug of hot chocolate. It is the best part of it getting colder outside, in my opinion. Hot chocolate makes my heart happy. My husband hates hot chocolate. He hates a lot of things. It doesn’t take away my need for a mug at least three times a week.

The best part of fall for me is driving home from work. Belle and Sebastian turns into The Smiths (yes I have seasonal musical preferences) and the volume is always loud. Not only do the colors of fall surround me, but seeing the kids outside and playing is the best. At abut 5:30pm it starts to get dusky, not dark yet. When you were a kid this was the best time of year and the best time of day. It was right before dinner and you were still allowed to be outside with your friends. It was awesome watching everything become a shade of blue gray as you rode your bike down the block until you heard you Mom call you name for dinner. To me, this pre daylight savings dusk is the most magical time of day. I was never a lover of fall. My asthmatic self always found it the hardest to breathe this time of year. Plus cold is not my friend. I am one of those freaks that can stand outside in 100 degree weather and be comfortable. But these seasons have grown on me.

I have learned to find joy and comfort in every season (see my seasonal musical preferences). This weekend I will go up to Salem with my husband for the second Halloween in a row. It is amazing and a tradition we plan on sticking with for ourselves and our future family. Salem at Halloween is all fun and I am all for that. This time of year is magic in my eyes, the world slowly dies to be reborn again in spring (my FAVORITE time of year is spring).

The cycle of life is mirrored in our seasons.

Taking a second

I am taking a second (in my second post, yes pun intended) to show my support for old friends, local theater, and productive twenty somethings. I would like to direct you all to this:


http://igg.me/p/47121?a=286327&i=shlk


Now I know I am not a popular blogger but I have to show my support for local theater and productive people who are chasing their dreams any way that they know how. Please contribute whatever you can, and go see their show if you are in the New York area.


Good day. More postings to come.

What's Up?

Most of my life has been telling people where the nearest restroom is. No joke.

If you think about it, you yourself have most likely answered this question thousands of times each time mindlessly telling people where they can go to relieve themselves wherever you are. Your house or your job serve as the places where you would have such knowledge.

Hi, I am Stephanie. Currently I am building my own business with a couple of gals that I get along with and subsequently stuck in a retail job where I constantly direct people to the bathroom. Or the Apple Store. People always have to pee, and everyone is stuck on the Mac, so that is what my day consists of normally.

I am a typical person, and I do not know why you would find me interesting. Why would I think that you would find me interesting? I did start this blog right? So possibly someone would want to read what I am writing which is why I chose to post it onto the internet instead of keeping it handwritten in a journal somewhere.

But HEY I am putting myself out there probably to be criticized by people around me (I have heard it all before ‘why do you think people care what you have to say?’ ‘I don’t blog my life, I LIVE my life’ and blah blah blah). Honestly I don’t know why I have the perpetual need to document myself on the internet. It does not have a lot to do with people paying attention as it does my need to put myself out there. I cannot answer that, I have thought about it countless times. With every blog I start up – BOOM I think about it. But needless to say there is no answer. I just do it.

What I do know is this:

I am a twenty two year old female who is a college graduate, married, who is building her own business while potentially starting her own family. My first love and passion has been written word, and blogging helps to keep that heart beating. So welcome to my circulatory system, I hope you enjoy the ride.