Flower class flavor

I was too busy getting engaged over the weekend (forgive me) to know that last Saturday was the first day of Fall.  I heard it on the news earlier this week and took it as inspiration for this week's flower class desserts.

I made a simple butter cookie in the shapes of leaves and apples and decorated them with fall-colored sprinkles to celebrate the first week of Fall.

Then I placed the cookies into little clear bags and tied with a gold and red bow!

I hope the attendees enjoy the cookies and think of Good Afternoonan the next time they need food "made with a little bit of love."

In case you were wondering

This is what cloud 9 looks like...

I am still on cloud 9.  I often look down at my left hand and think - I can't believe this is happening!  And with all of the calls, text messages, emails and well wishes on Facebook, it seems that not a minute has gone by that I do not think about all of the excitement that is to come!  I am overwhelmed at how many people are truly happy for Tom and me - it sincerely warms my heart to know just how many people love us!

Even though I've only been engaged for a few days, I am looking forward to all of the planning and seem to have already gotten a head start!  My friend Alicia from work got me the Martha Stewart Fall Weddings magazine to look through and we have been having fun looking at Pinterest for ideas as well!  Another friend from work Ryoko passed along her wedding guest spreadsheet template that will surely be helpful as we develop our guest list!

Luckily, there are plenty of checklists to follow and websites for wedding planning so I know we will remain on track for a perfect wedding day!  And I am lucky enough to have Karen, my sister-in-law and Jackie, my sister-in-law-to-be, who both planned beautiful weddings in the past few years and will surely be able to pass along their advice as well!

My first priority of planning is to simply enjoy each part of it and I know the rest will fall into place!

I will always...

Remember the 21st night of September.

The day began with me thinking of my Dad and being happy that it was an annual Earth, Wind and Fire celebration.  I was playing his song over and over again at work and so excited for what I thought was going to be a great dinner in the city and going out to celebrate a friend's great news.

What I did not know was that this dinner in the city with Tom was just the beginning of a weekend of wonderful surprises!

Tom and I went to Ayza in Midtown for dinner.  They are known for their wines and chocolate so after dinner we decided to taste three dessert wines and 6 truffles.  They were outstanding!

Then we headed to Hoboken to go to the bar to hear what our friend, Manny's, great news was.  I thought he got promoted and was prepared to wish him the best of luck in his new role when we got to the bar.  Tom called Manny when we got off the PATH to see if everyone was there and he said not yet and to take our time.  So Tom asked me if I wanted to go for a walk by the Hudson River.  I love to do that so I jumped at the chance!

We walked for a little and then stopped to look at the Freedom Towers being built and were talking about how it must have been for those who lived in Hoboken on that day to see what had occurred.  Then we continued with regular talking and then all of the sudden Tom said, "Ok, so I have a confession to make."  Now, usually when he starts off saying something like that, it usually means he bought something - like more things on eBay or Amazon.  So I was getting myself ready for something like "oh, how much did you spend?"

He continued on, "So when I told you last week that I went to Philadelphia for work, I didn't.  I went to go see someone."  I was in like shock, thinking to myself - we just had this wonderful dinner and he is telling me he went to go see someone!?!

Then he said, "Yeah, so I went to see your Mom and Patrick."  And in that moment, I knew exactly what he meant.  I think I screamed "Oh my God" about 5 times and he was on one knee with a ring box in hand, opened to display the most beautiful diamond engagement ring.  He said, "Okay, my knees are still hurting from our dodgeball game, is that a yes? And can I get up now?"

Of course it was a yes!  We walked a little further and went to the gazebo where Manny had left 21 roses and a bottle of champagne from Patrick with two glasses.

The night of celebration was just beginning as we called our families to tell them the wonderful news and then went to meet our friends at the bar who were waiting for us.  I was just on cloud 9 and could not believe all of the love and happiness around us.  We were met with balloons and champagne and a cake along with about 15 friends!  It was just the most exciting night!

 Then on Saturday, I had already planned to meet my Aunt Nancy and cousin, Colleen at Penn Station for lunch about a week ago.  I was so excited to tell them our wonderful news. We got to the restaurant and to our surprise, our Moms were there!  I thought I was going to have a heart attack!

We celebrated this amazing event with another champagne toast and delicious lunch! "How can I be so lucky?!" was all I kept thinking!


Then we headed to Long Island to wish Tom's cousin, Robbie, good luck as he is getting deployed next month and to share our good news with his side of the family.  This upcoming weekend, we will go to my house to see my family and potentially even look at some venues!

I cannot believe this happened - on my most favorite day of the year - and I am so happy that I will be spending the rest of my life with my best friend!

Thank you to everyone for all of your well wishes, smiles, love and support.  We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends!

Love,
The Soon-to-Be Mrs. Tom Gervasio (AH!!!)

Do you remember...

The 21st night of September?

This song by Earth, Wind and Fire was my Dad's favorite song and used to blast it every weekend, especially on Sundays before Church.  I am constantly reminded of him when I go to weddings and when we are out at a bar and here this song.  It brings back so many wonderful memories of him.

I miss everyday but many things allow me to know that he is still with us - and this song is at the top of the list.

Not in the Face

Last night we played our first dodgeball game for the Hoboken Rec league. Well, it actually was a scrimmage because the organizers of the league had some scheduling issues so last night's series of games did not count against our record.

We have about 15 people on our team which comprises of both Loyola friends and Jets friends. But together, we are known as team Not in the Face.

The rules are pretty simple - try to hit people on the other team and try not to let the ball hit the ground - or you - for your team. You can use a ball to block a ball and if you catch a ball thrown at you, the person who threw it is out and a person who got out on your team is able to come back in. There can be a max of 6 players on each side playing at once and for this league, there must be at least 2 girls at the start of the round.

Let's just say we are glad last night was only a scrimmage - we played a team who has played over the last four seasons so they were quite good and seemed to be very strategic. We took some notes and are ready for our next game in a week or so.

Walking to the bar after our defeat...

It will be a fun way to spend some fall nights and hopefully we will do well and even win - which will help our charity of choice, iMentor.

So maybe my mantra over the next fews should be "dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge."

PATH praises and problems

Riding the PATH pretty much everyday for the last two years certainly has its ups and downs. It's a relatively short ride making getting into the city pretty easy and the time on the train allows for ample book-reading (or blogging!).

But there are a few things I would change if I could:

1. The amount of seats - I wish there were about 4 times the amount of seats than what the trains currently have. I am not a particularly pushy person so getting a seat is not always in my cards on my morning commute. Luckily, Tom is better at getting to the front of the doors and usually holds a seat for me if I get lost in the shuffle. On the rare occasion that I commute alone, I usually accept the fact that finding a seat will be less than likely.
2. From the lack of seats, there is a cut throat mentality of the passengers and that is something I wish would change. I mean pushing past people and nearly fighting for a seat can really change your mood for your day. It is surprising to me how many pregnant ladies are standing before someone will offer their seat to them. Recently on the PATH, they put up a poster that no joke I think was taken from a kindergarten classroom about the etiquette of riding the train. Lessons like "offer your seat to those who need it - with pictures of an elderly person, pregnant lady and person who is on crutches" as well as "speak in conversational tones" so that everyone and their brother doesn't hear about your raging weekend. There are about 4-5 other lessons to be learned and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the poster. Really - adults need to be reminded of how to show common courtesy?

All-in-all, I enjoy my time on the train because it is a solid 30-40 minutes of the day where you do not have the ability to connect to the internet (though it seems like more and more platforms are becoming cell-phone friendly), check email and social sites.  I have enjoyed many books in my 2 years of living in Hoboken and know I owe a lot of that to the good ole' PATH train.

Do you have any book recommendations for my rides?

A bag of thanks

After Debby, I mean Fort Lauderdale, Regina and I have a ton of laughs and memories despite the terrible weather. A few months following our trip, my Mom, Victoria and Sean came to Hoboken for the weekend and brought a present for me from Regina with them.

Regina bought me a "thanks for the trip" present that came with the most hilarious card that featured a recap of our trip via stickers that we used to use when we had school projects or while we did scrapbooks. From a palm tree with countless water droplets to represent that tropical storm to a hippo laying on its side, holding its stomach with a talk bubble that said "too much margaritas!" the card was certainly enough of a thanks.

I opened the present and inside was an awesome fall bag that I have already used three times! The colors are perfect for this season and I even love the inside pattern!

Thanks Regina - I love it!

I am really looking forward to the next sister trip we go on and am sure that more fun and memories will happen, rain (God willing not) or shine!