Rock Shic

#869 Fall time in Montauk

In an instant.... a mere flash — we went from the beginning of October (anniversary celebration!) to nearly the end (Halloween!!).  How did that all happen so quickly?

Is this just part of getting older? 

I always think that I will write more when I have “my down time”... “peace and quiet”... a greater capacity to engage and reflect and pontificate.  The truth is, that is all a luxury — a concept born of a bygone era.  The reality is that I am constantly in a flat sprint just playing catch up, trying to survive.  Forget riding on planes! Now I do the bulk of my writing on my phone (in transit). 

That’s what life with two kids, a husband, and a full time job is all about, I suppose... juggle juggle juggle — all day long, until I collapse in bed with a drained phone in my palm, desperately in need of charging.

The truth is, there can never be enough time... but we can only try, and capture those beautiful moments that will help us relish this very short and precious life that we have. I went away this past weekend to Montauk (aka the ending of the world!) with a few girlfriends.  It was a chance to “get away from it all,” however fleeting that moment and concept was.  

I can say with absolute certainty that this year, much more than last year, the weather was COLD.  In fact, we were super lucky to have encountered such wonderful weather in the Hamptons this time last year, and I shall always look back at our time there with tremendous fondness. 

Ultimately what this trip taught me, more than anything — is the recognition that we are at a different chapter now in our lives.  The weather was actually a good metaphor, among many others.  Whatever illusion I harbored earlier (perhaps linked to summer?) I can safely and peacefully let go of how, because it’s time to accept that we are entering a new year (it’s almost time to bid adieu 2018!) and a new way of looking at things.  I’m now at a point in my life where I recognize that I cannot “have it all” without losing some element of my other self.  For me, the most important things in life right now are my career and my family, and those two are constantly at odds with one another.  Outside of that, everything else is pretty much gravy and I just want to make sure that I do right by them.  

So there you have it, some meaty reflections at close to midnight, when the entire house is asleep and I’m about to pass out myself.  

To quote Logic...

Who can relate? 

#868 A look back at our 9th wedding anniversary {circa 2017} 💍🍾

Smiling happily with my Mister... we were going through so much at the time but we mustered a big smile for the camera

The years go by like a passing dream, and sometimes I need to pinch myself just to realize how long I’ve been married.  Is this what “growing old together” is truly like?  I still recall that post on weddings I wrote back in 2013, during those early days of writing my blog... (hubs and I were expecting our first Nuke baby, and soon to be celebrating our five year anniversary).  "It now feels like a real union!" I said.  Funny how these words resonate now.  Never mind a union -- hubs and I are practically running our own company with the amount of planning and coordination we orchestrate between two kids, two jobs (feels like more?), and the complications that is life. 

I am extremely lucky to have the partner I have.... and believe me, we’ve been through a lot over the years together (I know what you’re thinking — they all say that).  

Last year was particularly difficult, and as a result I uncharacteristically did not write about the experience.  It was still a very special anniversary celebration, and certainly one worth documenting... so here we go!

Hubs took me to the Time Warner building at Columbus Circle (or was it I took him?), and we dined at a little speakeasy called “The Office” (right next to Aviary at the Mandarin Oriental).  I was having a particularly frustrating time at work (this was pretty much my norm ever since I went back to work from my second maternity leave)... not to mention the incredibly stressful housing situation we were both in -- as we anxiously waited for our current place to be finished -- all the while living like roaming nomads in between multiple homes (i.e., FiDi where hubs had a temporary sublet, Long Island with my parents, and further further out on Long Island in the Bridgehampton on the weekends).  

All I could remember was giving my husband a card that was titled “Home” (it may have even sang a song called "home" when you opened up the card, a feature which seemed to really disturb my British husband who hates drawing attention to himself in public in any way).  It was then that I told him, in no uncertain terms... that I love him always and forever, and that no matter what, HOME is where you are and when we are together.  ❤️ He probably found me melodramatic at the time (as he is want to do), but I do think that he felt the same way deep inside.     

This very much holds true, a year later at our ten-year anniversary.  I'm so happy to be with this man, and I can't wait for our twenty-year, third-year, forty-year, fiftieth-year, and beyond.  

Related:

Anniversary Dinner at Masa (our 5 year)

Happy Anniversary from Per Se! (our 8 year)

Elegant Expecting (Week 29) -- Eight Year Wedding Anniversary (preggars with Nuke Baby #2!)

 

#867 Girls Getaway — Best Moments in Cabo 🦄🌴☀️

OMG — October is here already (4Q18)!!! Eeks.  This year has officially flown by so quickly by it’s just insane.

I can absolutely attest to the fact that September was simply INSANE.  Summer was nuts on its own merits and went by much too quickly (Summer Camp! Turning 5!! Shelter Island!!!), but September took things to a whole other level.  Between my oldest munchkin leaving for New Zealand with dad, mummy going on her first business trip to Buffalo/Niagara (look out for my post on Niagara Falls!), then hosting a reunion at our new home with some of my college buds… PLUS a bachelorette party in Cabo… I am one MEGA exhausted mamma!

Oh, and did I mention – we also hosted Rockshicbaby his 5^th birthday party at the Intrepid Museum – which was EPIC (larger than my own wedding in fact, haha)… think 30 kids, yes, that’s right 30 kids – plus corresponding adults, I think we had about 70 adults total, NO JOKE.

These photos were taken in Cabo, which really was gorgeous and lovely… it was akin to Arizona (which mamma visited last year), with a beach… and that pretty much captures Cabo's landscape.  The resort was gorgeous and we had loads of girl time/fun time/down time.  I must say, there's something very endearing about hanging out solely with a group of Asian girls, where we can slip in and out of our own native language with such ease and fluidity, like it's no big deal and assimilation isn't this all encompassing worry that permeates our political environment at the moment.  There is something to be said about living in a bubble, and I think that I do live in one, whether I like to admit or not.

Political musings aside... we’re actually heading to Tulum in November (and we were JUST in Cancun in June), but MEXICO – I DO LOVE YOU!!! Just can’t get enough.

Hope you enjoy these captivating Cabo photos!!! I know I certainly relished those magical moments... it was definitely one fabulous girls trip for the history books.

Related:

Retail Therapy in Tulum

A luxurious girls getaway at the Four Seasons Scottsdale -- Arizona 

The Best of Ritz Carlton Cancun -- Summer Getaway

 

 

#866 Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival

Happy Fall!!! Omg is that right?  I can hardly believe it myself – but we are officially entering FALL you guys.  Another summer passed…

This Monday was the Mid-Fall Festival.  As I said, I never used to be into this stuff when I was younger (and before I had children), but now that I have little ones, I loooooove the idea of passing down some of these traditions to them.  It brings me crazy joy!  Plus, I learn a piece or two of new information myself, which is pretty cool! 

Traditionally, the Mid-Fall Festival marks the beginning of Autumn, with the Fall Equinox and the celebration of the full moon (hence the round mooncake!). There’s a bunch of great stories that go with it (such as the tale of the Chang E the Moon Goddess and the Jade Rabbit who accompanies her on the moon).  In Mongolian culture, there’s also the idea of “Chasing the Moon,” which is celebrated with lanterns every Fall.

Of course, yours truly had to bring home some delicious moon cakes on her way home from work… my favorite was from Taipan Bakery.  They had the most amazing flavors!

Durian was actually my favorite (recognizing that it’s an acquired taste).  For munchkin, it was chocolate (OF COURSE).  Surprise surprise!

Happy Fall Festival my lovelies. 

#865 Labor Day weekend — A Love Song to NYC

Hello and happy September!!! It’s hard to believe the August is officially behind us (what?) and summer is officially OVER.  Doesn’t Labor Day always mark the last days of summer?  And isn’t there also some rule about wearing whites about Labor Day. ☺️ 

We’ve covered some tremendous grounds over the course of this long weekend (is this why we get hat extra Monday off?).  First and foremost — my monkeys are finally back in the city!!!! Whoo-hoo! Summer has been wonderful but it’s also high-time for all of us to be back in the apartment now and finally get settled (not that we were ever truly settled since we only moved in earlier this year).  

We started off on Saturday with a BBQ in Harlem, then Sunday we covered the upper east side grounds of the Metropolitan museum (for the amazing “Heavenly Bodies” exhibit — more on that later!) and Central Park, followed by adventures in Soho today and the West Village (catching up with an old school friend plus shopping for back-to-school shoes).  

What struck me the most is that... no matter where we went, we always ended up back in the Lower East Side, and always with more to do, more to explore, in our own hood! It truly makes me realize how much I missed our city, our hood, and the very pulse that has always kept me alive and happy... and now I have my whole family back to share all of this with — really could not be happier! 

Hope you all had an amazing Labor Day weekend! Here’s to Fall and more magical moments to come 🌟

 

 

#864 Turning Five on Shelter Island 🌴

This little one turned five officially!!! Whoa — half a decade, seriously where has the time gone?

I look at him now, and it’s crazy to think that time has flown by so quickly... this kind, gentle, humorous, lively, thoughtful, headstrong, and industrious little man — how can it be that he was once a baby freshly out of my womb? Really, it’s difficult to imagine.  Yet, every once in a blue moon — like today when he feel deep asleep at Sunset Beach, I stare into that scrunched up little face of his, and I see the spitting image of that baby boy , all swaddled up and wrapped at the NYU Langone hospital.  There he is! My son!! The originals Rockshicbaby, the one that has captured my heart always and forever.  

It’s hard not to get sentimental on your children’s birthdays.  I suppose with my first — celebration just comes so easily.  It’s always summer, life was light hearted, and his birthday takes me back to a time when things were (somehow) simpler. 

Speaking of blissful and simple, we find ourselves, yet again... back in the little oasis that is Shelter Island.  We’ve been here for almost a week now (and I really should have written sooner), but somehow life just gets in the way.  We rented the perfect little Summer Cottage (thanks Air Bnb!!), complete with a heated spa pool and an impossible amount of land.  Both my boys have been loving life, and yesterday daddy whipped up the best summer BBQ fit for a five year old (sausages and steak of course!).  We are having the time of our lives, making memories, enjoying the last days of summer, and best of all — my baby had a beautiful birthday that we will always remember! ❤️🌸🎂 

P.S. I got the cake from the Shelter Island Grocer IGA — it was $14.99 and absolutely perfect, I would have wanted it any other way! Sometimes you just gotta go ALL OUT 🤪😜🤩 

#863 The Best of Ritz Carlton Cancun — Summer Getaway

Hello hello! It’s hard to believe that summer is nearly over (okay we still have a few weeks to go)... but that little man only has (gasp!) one more week of summer camp left!!! 

So what this means... is that our little escapade to Cancun was literally seven weeks ago, and it is high-time that we talk all about that.  

For starters, the location and resort was absolutely brilliant (yet another slam dunk by the Ritz Carlton and Ritz Kids), next — let’s talk about beach pool fun! It just got better and better from there.  We did one night at the culinary center (adults only) where our little man went and hung out at the kids center with one-on-one attention from a well-appointed Ritz staff.  When hubs went to pick him up later he didn’t want to leave! A true testament to the spell.  Then there was pool-side ceramics ehrrr he might an awesome soccer ball ⚽️ — how very appropos for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.  

Oh, and did I mention beach pool beach pool? The cabanas were excellent, the spa was off the chain, and those spicy tacos... dragons may not love spicy tacos but this Mamma sure does!!! Not to mention all of the flavors that comes with everything else at the Ritz.  We’ve been long fans of Ritz Carltons all over (see posts here on Washington, San Francisco, and Naples), but this one truly takes the cake! We will definitely be back. 

Little man really enjoyed himself too I have to say... what a way to kick-start his summer camp schedule! Oh, and don’t worry — those were virgin shots he had on the beach (and we drank them out of coconuts! 🌴🥥 

TGIF everybody — thanks for visiting and more to come on our upcoming escapades to Shelter Island!!!! 

 

Related:

Highlights from Mexico City

Mexican Riviera -- Adventures in the Jungle  

Viceroy Riviera Maya -- Inspirational Escapes 

 

#862 Jackson Pollock

Hello hello! One thing that I’ve wanted to do for a long time is to start a Book Club series for little ones.  My four year old (soon-to-be five!) is a voracious reader, and every night, if hubs and I make it home in time for bed time, we pick out three book to read.  

 

What I particularly love, is finding unique books that are outside of your box-standard to enjoy with little man (don’t get me wrong, we’re fans of the classics too).  There’s something particularly exciting about finding slightly off-the-grid, well curated books.

 

Today we start with Jackson Pollock by Fausto Gilberto.  During our four months stint in the Hamptons last year, we got to enjoy some very unique activities, one of which was drip painting right at the Pollock house! Since then, my little man has been all about Jackson Pollock and I love reading this little monochromatic book with him.  It’s simple, fun, and bilingual to boot! Something to cherish for both adults and little ones. I love the creativity of the author’s approach, the way he draws in the audience with easy-to-relate to parallels — was it drip painting? Was it dancing? Perhaps it was a bit of both... perhaps the artist was dancing WHILST painting.  I love it.

 

Little man is a fan too! In fact, I think we’ll need to incorporate this into our top three collection for tonight. 

 

 

Related:

 

Drip painting at the Jackson Pollock House -- East Hampton 

 

 

 

 

#861 World Cup 2018 ⚽️🏆

July is almost at an end but one thing that I definitely want to capture for the month was the FIFA World Cup 2018.  Every four years (see my World Cup post circa 2014), this tremendously exciting thing takes over our lives (okay more accurately MY life) for about a month, causing hubs to always give me the side-eye like “who ARE you?!!!”

 

Whatever it is that takes over... the enthusiasm for the multi-national teams? The politics and the drama? The fact that I live in such a multi-cultural city and the World Cup is simply a great excuse for Manhattan to come alive? (Come on admit it -- there's nothing better than a group of attractive international people day-drinking at local pubs!!!)

 

Whatever the cause... it consumes me, and the fact that I have a more set of diverse colleagues than ever before simply amplifies this very phenomenon (not to mention the fact that it reconnects me with my prior network!) What?! You’re into this TOO?!!! Whoa. 

 

Oh, and the every four years bit does make it seem more momentous.  As in, this is my second baby’s FIRST World Cup! My Nuke baby’s first (I still remember the last World Cup final when Germany won) and so forth....

 

In the end, I was happy that France took home the trophy.  Allez Les Bleus! And it was fun to see Macron’s iconic image pasted front and center all over the internet... I was particularly sad when England didn’t make it to the finals, thanks to Croatia (In fact, I think the whole world missed out on what would have been an EPIC final.... okay the entire world with the exception of Croatia). 

 

That said, every moment of the World Cup was truly something else!! I raise a glass, and can’t wait until the next one.  🥂🍾🏆⚽️

 

 

Related: 

 

World Cup Final -- 2014

 

 

 

 

#860 July 4th Reflections 🎉🇺🇸

Mamma bear and my baby bears #independenceday

Brothers forever #FourthofJuly

He literally did not want to leave the pool... ever

Is there anything better than ice cream right out of the pool? I don't think so!

Soaking up the sun with my loves #Summer2018

My little guy -- he is such a daddy's boy! #RockshicBaby2

This post is basically two weeks late but I felt compelled to write – since July 4^th more or less marks the beginning of summer for our family!

Now hubs isn’t American so he doesn’t get as patriotic, but nevertheless, we all have the day off and there’s nothing like enjoying it as a family… especially now that we’re a family of FOUR!!! (This was us last year).

For many years in a row, we’ve been doing fourth of July sans kids in the city…. And it’s actually a nice time to be in the city (not as tourist heavy, an excuse to day-drink, an really enjoy all of the fireworks in the evening at some friend’s roofdeck BBQ).  This was essentially how we spent Fourth of July circa 2012 and 2013 (with Ms. Big Belly -- 34th week preggo, whoa!)… then came 2014 and everything was different with Rockshic Baby in the mix.  We were in North Fork, staying on the vineyards -- it was raining on Fourth of July, but we still had a blast!  That was our first time at the Long Island Aquarium... fast forward three years later, and baby boy had his fourth birthday at said aquarium.

By 2016 this mamma was (silently) knocked up yet again, and traveling abroad in Germany (we came home just in time to do a little bit of Independence Flair with my Big Boy).  Then 2017 was wild, as we had JUST returned from our six months excursion in Southwest Florida, and was slowly settling into life back in New York (albeit mostly on Long Island).  

This year, mamma kept things pretty low-key yet again.  We were at a friend’s house for a BBQ, and spent most of the day frolicking in the pool, eating BBQ, munching on grilled corn, and fanning back pies (farmstead rhubarb pies to be precise!). 

It was a great way to kick off the summer… and by now summer feels like it’s in full-swing (little man is about to wrap up Week 4 of his Summer camp and we just booked our “end of August” getaway to Shelter Island, whoo!). So much to do… so little time.  Hopefully I can squeeze in a bit more thoughts between now and the end of the month!!

Happy Thursday to all of my lovelies.

 

Related:

Red White and Blue -- Still Channeling July Fourth Spirits (2017)