5/500

5 years ago today I moved from Alabama to New York City. Coincidentally, this is my 500th blog post. While semi-unrelated (I lived in the city a couple years before starting my blog) they are pretty exciting milestones for me.

While looking through some photos of the last five years, I came across some images taken from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade when I lived in my first apartment in the neighborhood. (Another noteworthy 5 is how many apartments I've lived in! Ha!) Brooklyn Bridge Park was just in its infancy at the time, so the waterfront looks pretty bleak.

Fast forward several years and it's a gorgeous park (though still under construction) where I spend many a summer weekend (even though I live quite a few neighborhoods away now). This city changes daily and I do my best to keep up, evolving and hopefully improving along with it.

I'm not sure how much longer I will live here (2-3 years? 10? Forever?!?!??) but the adventure has been outstanding and I am so happy I have his platform to record and share it. 500 more posts? I sure hope so! As always, thanks for reading!!!

[The last couple photos are from the BBP Pop-Up Pool where Kurt and I had a drink a couple weekends ago. Five years ago I could have not even fathomed sitting in that spot with my toes in the sand having a beer. How times change!]

five random things

It's March and snowing right now, so while the world is already a little crazy, I thought I would have it make sense even less with a random weekend post. I tend to avoid internet trends like a list of "things you might not know about me". They seem like the chain letters of the blog world, and I can honestly never think of anything good to write about. Several weeks ago, my friend Elizabeth tagged me in such a list. There were multiples of eleven and a complicated process and I got overwhelmed and couldn't do it. Then recently, Anna tagged me in a decidedly simpler post requiring only five items. It was still a struggle, I can't guarantee it will be interesting, and I'm counting this as credit for both "tags".

kendi everyday in nyc

Jenn and I recently headed up to the Lincoln Square Gap for an event featuring the fashion blog Kendi Everyday. I'm a relatively new follower to her blog but really appreciate her funny, sweet commentary with each outfit she posts. I'm hoping to incorporate some of her fashion ideas into my own daily wardrobe. We'll see how that goes :) 

happy 2013! farewell 2012

bull riding / ohio string art / boy scout bathroom / meeting the pioneer woman

washington d.c. / north fork wine tour / glass house

fishing trip / raleigh

lots and lots of brooklyn bridge park / ohio (including pittsburgh and cleveland) / alabama / outdoor movie

storm king / fashion's night out / party@thecenter

bham wedding / west point

hurricane sandy / obama for the win / wisconsin / the holidays!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have had a great start to 2013. I love keeping this blog as a record of things I've done throughout the year and especially enjoy going back through the past 12 months, picking out some of favorite moments. I thought this year would be pretty lame because I have been studying for my architecture licensing exam, but I was blown away by all the fun that was had! Either I'm not a very good student or I'm extremely fortunate to have countless activities at my fingertips and wonderful people to share those moments with! Probably a little of both :) 2012, you weren't all that bad.

Now onto those resolutions...

giveaway winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway in honor of my 400th post! And the winner is (drum roll, please)....

Commenter #1, Jack Forinash! 

He's the lucky recipient of the gorgeous Wintergreen Christmas Card from Rifle Paper Co. I better be seeing one of these in my mailbox come December! :)

Thanks to everyone who entered. Better luck next time to the rest of you! Have a great weekend!

400 and a {giveaway}!

Before we get down to business, I want to announce that I got word I passed my Structures ARE! This is big news because I was very worried about this test and it stressed me out for a long time. Apparently you can miss lots of questions and still pass! :) Five down, two more to go! It's been a long year of studying and I cannot tell you how ready I am to be done and be a real architect.

4 / 0 / 0

In other news, this is my 400th post!! Doesn't that seem crazy?! I've had four hundred things to write about on the internet?! Thanks for sticking with me. In honor of the momentous occasion, I have a little present for one lucky reader...

oh joy! book party

Jenn and I hopped over to the Columbus Circle west elm after work yesterday for the much anticipated Blog Inc. book party. I was so excited to meet Joy Deangdeelert Cho of the blog Oh Joy! and have her sign our copies of the new book. She was even more cute and lovely than I had imagined. (I don't know how these authors do it! I would be spent after signing 10 books!) Plus, her adorable husband and baby were running around the store mingling with guests. Too cute!

and the winner is...

The winner of my very special blogiversary giveaway is...

Erin from Bourbon Trails! Erin is a dear Brooklyn friend who found her way here via Kentucky. Sadly, she is leaving NYC soon to see where the wind will blow her. I hope she enjoys the tea towel and has fond memories of the Big Apple when she uses it. I was planning on shipping the prize to whoever won, but now I am holding it hostage to ensure that I see Erin before she leaves us (sniff, sniff).

Thanks to everyone who entered and anyone who reads. I wish I could give you all prizes! :)

happy 2 years!

Two years (and 352 posts!) ago I started On Board the Gravytrain to record all the ins and outs of life in NYC. It sprung out of the desire to stay connected to all my friends and family in far flung places and has been a constant reminder of how incredibly lucky I am to live in this phenomenal city, enjoying my twenties. One of my first posts was about my new bicycle. That trusty Schwinn and this blog have definitely covered many miles with me! It boggles my mind to go back through the archives and re-read all those moments. Whether you are a veteran or a new reader, thanks for stopping by! I hope to keep up the posting and look forward to seeing where this Gravytrain takes me!

In honor of this special blog-iversary, I'm going to pretend like I'm a real serious blogger and do a GIVEAWAY! Surely you all know that I have no sponsors. No businesses are sending swag my way (although I will graciously accept if they want to start! :) ), so I just popped out after work to get something small to say thanks! to anyone who takes the time to read the nonsense I put out there. Without further ado.......

New York City tea towel from Fishs Eddy! This place always has such cute, quirky kitchen things. I've had my eye on this towel for a while...although the Brooklyn one is really my favorite :)

How to enter: Leave a comment on this post by Friday, June 22nd, at 12pm EST and I will choose a winner at random. (Make sure I can access your email address to get your shipping info etc!) Good luck!

blog hiatus

Architect Barbie (I want to be her!)

Dear Loyal Reader(s),

I hate to inform you that I am going to be scaling back the blog a bit for a while . I've really enjoyed getting in a routine of posting regularly and have been thrilled with all the lovely comments. However, it has come time that I start diving into my Architectural Licensing Exam. I've dreaded this for a while but it is a necessary step for me to become a fancy pants Architect (and justify those five years of college...thanks, Mom and Dad!). Even though I love the blog, it is going to have to take a back seat to some study time. Plus, my usual blog worthy travelling and bar hopping will most likely be replaced with cram sessions and pre-exam freak outs. (Honestly, you're better off without me.) I hope to stop back in occasionally with some posts but with less frequency and intensity. I'm sure I will be looking for every possible distraction but will try to keep it to a minimum.

Wish me luck on my tests and let's keep our fingers crossed I can get this thing over with soon! Then it is back to carefree, fun times! :)

Sincerely,

Melissa

2011: a year in review

Happy New Year! As we welcome in 2012 with open arms (and I begrudgingly accept turning 26 yesterday), it's fun to look back at the past year and remember all the fun things that happened in 2011.

In January, I turned 25, my beloved Auburn Tigers won the National Championship, I moved into a new room in my old apartment, and it snowed relentlessly.

In February, the snow continued, I saw the Pioneer Woman, we held a spaghetti fundraiser, and changed my life by getting an iPhone.

In March, we had a visit from an old friend which led to three days of partying, I had jury duty, Kurt and I saw Steve Martin, and oh yeah, it kept snowing.

In April, Kurt and I visited Alabama for a wedding (where Kurt learned to eat crawfish), saw Explosions in the Sky play at Radio City, I stalked Stacy London, and we took part in the Lemon Off.

In May, I moved into my very own teeny studio apartment which proceeded to occupy my entire month...well, until we were finally blessed with some nice weather and I got my first taste for Rockaway Beach.

In June, I went to town decorating my apartment, my mom and sister visited, I saw a polo match, attended a sweet wedding, and helped plan the Beer Can Party.

In July, we took a trip to Boston, caught a glimpse of Manhattanhenge, and survived a night of camping.

In August, we survived a hurricane, Kurt and I went to Chicago and Ohio, and we had some fabulous visitors here in Brooklyn.

In September, my parents visited NYC, Kurt turned 30, and we took a trip to Utah.

In October, we took a trip to Montreal, ate lots of beets, took a peek inside the TWA Terminal, I spent some time in Alabama, and it snowed on Halloween.

In November, we watched the marathon, I attended a fun blogger party, and we traveled to West Virginia for Thanksgiving.

In December, Kurt and I took a cooking class, I attended countless holiday parties, and we made a valiant effort to use all our beer book coupons.

Phew! What a year!! Thanks for reading. I hope 2012 is even better!

winning!

I recently won this awesome perpetual calendar from West Elm by entering a giveaway from Benign Objects. Rachel has a really great blog which focuses on graphics and typography. I really enjoy following her and don't mind when she wants to give me free stuff! This baby is going to sit proudly on my desk at work :) Thanks, Rachel!

Remember this last time I won something? Yeah, those recipe cards haven't seen any action in almost a year! They are just too pretty to mess up! None of my recipes seem worthy. Maybe I will regift them this holiday season...or maybe On Board the Gravytrain will host a giveaway! :) 

blog party

Lately I have been feeling the need to shake things up. I wouldn't call it a rut, but I've been feeling a little too comfortable and following the same routine. While many people may think this is a good point to reach, I feel the need for change and excitement and unexpectedness that comes from branching out, doing new things, and meeting new people. That's why I was so excited when I saw Natalie from The SoHo was hosting a party for bloggers who live in NYC. Meeting new people is intimidating, but I sucked it up and decided to put myself outside my comfort zone.

The hostesses asked that everyone bring a fall themed dessert. Of course, I planned my time poorly and was running around like a madwoman to make something the morning before the party. These started as Pear and Apple Mini-Pies but soon evolved into Pears and Apples Cuddling in a Blanket (a la their Pig cousins). I made a cream cheese and pumpkin dip which was totally unnecessary but came along for the ride anyway.

I wish I hadn't been late and rushing to the party because I really love the West Village. I'm a Brooklyn girl at heart but if I had to be in Manhattan, this would definitely be a preferred zip code. In order to afford it, I would probably have to sell my eggs and sleep in a windowless closet but I would live in an awesome neighborhood :)

Our lovely hostesses Amy of Old Sweet Song and Natalie of The SoHo. (Pardon my awful iPhone pictures. I was too ashamed to take out my point and click.)

Amy has the most adorable and put together apartment. (Her closet is to die for!) After taking in the initial cuteness of her home, I realized I was surrounded by some blogging celebrities! Joanna from A Cup of Jo, Jenny from Little Green Notebook, and Jordan from Oh Happy Day! were all there! Plus, I was surrounded by a roomful of stylish ladies and a table full of enticing desserts. Talk about terrifying!

I was definitely out of my league but tried to be as talkative as possible. Everyone was so incredibly sweet and down to earth. It's funny to read someone's blog and then meet them. I know so much about their lives but we've never spoken. Twenty first century problems :) I had such a blast chatting with some really smart and fascinating women with different backgrounds. Everyone is interested in design and food and fashion but also have "real" lives outside of blogging. 

There were tons of delicious desserts and we ate ourselves into a sugar coma before voting on our favorite sweet. Sadly my fruit blankets didn't win anything :( but I still got an awesome goody bag (you can win one too)! These ladies sure know how to throw a party! Thank you so much!

Check out Amy and Natalie's recaps of the party! And here is the recipe for the winning pie! Also, check out Kelly of Design Crush's recap of the party here. She calls my mini pies "inventive"! I'm pretty sure that is like Miss Congeniality, but I'll take it! :)

i think i've lost my mind

I mean, who picks colors like that?! Crazy people. That's who.

I promise there are some fun projects to go along with them though. I've been a busy little bee and the blog has been neglected. Time seems to evaporate in the summer. I promise some good posts soon. 

Yesterday was my one year blog anniversary and this will be my 199th post. Crazy right?! It's been a fun year and I've really enjoyed documenting it here. Thanks for reading!!