Nov 28th-Dec 4th - Being Home & With Friends In NYC

On Wednesday Mike and I ate lunch with Jorge and he gave us presents which was unexpected and not necessary but very sweet. Mike got an elephant carved out of a white and beige Peruvian stone and I got a gorgeous black, grey, cream colored blanket made in Peru!

Later I spent time with my kitty Cookie Dough and then Mike and I met up with my Mom to go shopping. Afterwards we went and got chocolate cake at Friday's mmm!

The next day Mike and I met up with Tony and looked at equipment at Guitar Center. Then I went to dinner with my best friend Liz at Aladdin's Natural Eatery in Pittsford, New York. We had a great dinner catching up and she gave me a gift for signing with FORD Models which I absolutely love!

After dinner we went to St. John Fisher College to watch the Dance Team perform in their Winter Recital and they did a great job! It was Liz's first time watching and not being on stage, and we both miss it a lot!

Friday night was the Scott Miller Salon & Spa annual sale and VIP event so Mike and I stopped by and there were a lot of people there! I ran into photographer Carrie Mateosian and her husband and we caught up which was nice. After the event Mike's family and I went out to eat at Plum Garden Japanese restaurant with a couple from the salon which was nice.

(Me, Helen and Alex at the event)

The next day Mike and I ate lunch together and then I flew back to Manhattan and spent the weekend Christmas shopping. On Monday I packed to leave in a couple of days for my first cruise! At night I went out to eat at Posto with my friend Ritz because it was her birthday on Saturday. We had a good time catching up and eating thin-crust pizza. Glad you had a happy Birthday Ritz!

On Tuesday I met up with my friend Lucy who is a very talented photographer and retoucher. We have done great shoots in the past in Rochester, New York but we had not seen each other since we both moved to Manhattan! It was so nice to meet up and talk about working in the industry. We went to a place called Cafe Orlin and I had amazing pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon frosting!

Later that night my roommates and I watched the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show together. The models, collections and performers were great, as usual!

Nov 19th-Nov 27th - Going Home & Thanksgiving!

On the 19th I packed and flew home to Rochester for Thanksgiving! The next day Mike and I went to go eat at Village Bakery and then went to the salon for him to get a haircut. Wednesday I was home and we went to eat lunch at Natural Oasis and then my Mom and decided to make fall cookies. I found a recipe on Pinterest for caramel apple cookies so we made those and they were delicious!

For dinner Mike's family and I went to Rocco and it was amazing as always! Afterwards Mike and I, his sister and her boyfriend and our friends Maria and Charlie all went to Goodluck to hang out which was nice. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving and it was a beautiful day!

At home I watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and then we went to a friends house for a nice Thanksgiving meal and later we had another great one at Mike's house! They had 19 people over for dinner and his parents and sister made everything! 

I am so thankful for everyone who has been a part of my life. Giving and receiving endless love and support is something I am so blessed to experience. Thank you everyone who is there for me, I am so grateful.

The next morning my Bestie Sarah and I went shopping on Black Friday! We got some cool presents and did not experience the madness that usually occurs, which is good! At night Mike's family and I went to see Life of Pi. I had been so looking forward to it from what I saw in the preview. Some parts were sad which I was not expecting but I thought it was a pretty amazing movie. 

On Saturday we drove to Connecticut to go to my Uncle Austin and Aunt Melissa's house for a family party. We all hung out and played Backgammon and it was so good to see my family! We drove back the next day and then Monday I went running with Mike's Mom and Sister through the park which was cool.

(Instagram effect)

I went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned and then Mike and I enjoyed massages at Scott Miller Salon & Spa which was super nice of his parents to treat us to! For dinner Jon's (Mike's Sister's boyfriend) Mom and boyfriend came over and we had a good time. 

November 27th was seven years since I was crowned Miss New York Teen USA! Not a day goes by that I don't think about that great experience and look forward to competing for Miss New York USA and going on to Miss USA and Miss Universe. 

(Latin Fashion Week 2006 in NYC)

That day for lunch Mike and I met up with our friend Charlie at Village Bakery. Then Mike's parents picked up our friend Jorge from the airport and we met them and Mike's family at Tony D's. The guitarist Chet Catello was sitting at the table behind us which was cool. We all had a great time together eating delicious pizza!

Nov 9th-Nov 18th - Mike's Visit & Leaving Maialino!

Friday night Mike came to the city and the next day we went to Maialino for brunch. I had been wanting to try the ricotta pancakes and they were amazing!

Afterwards we went into some stores to look around and get Christmas presents. The next day was Veteran's Day and I am thankful for my family members and everyone who has served our country. I worked that day and then Mike and I ate at Hane and had yummy fried ice cream for dessert.

Afterwards we went to go see Cloud Atlas starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry who were both very good in it but the movie was a bit confusing overall. It definitely gets you thinking and I think it has a good message but there were so many stories going on and unusual things happening. 

Then we were hungry again so we went to Posto where I had been wanting to try their thin-crust pizza. We ordered a salad that was a really good and a cheese and truffle oil pizza that was amazing. 

(I took from inside the restaurant)

On Monday we went to Pastis for breakfast and then hung out around Soho. Later at night we ate at Yuca bar and got 16 Handles for dessert. The next morning we went to Petite Abeille for a waffle before Mike headed to Atlanta with his music partners. They were going back to Tree Sound Studios to work and go to B.o.B.'s mixtape release party. 

I went back and cleaned the apartment and then headed to work. Wednesday night my roomies and I put up Christmas decorations while playing Christmas music which was fun and it made the apartment look even more cute. Puma and Ernie were also super cute wearing festive attire! 

The next morning I worked and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff came in who is a influential figure in the American fashion industry including being the founding director of Fashion at Lincoln Center who supervises every aspect of New York Fashion Week. On Friday I went to Gilda's Club to do volunteer work. They are such a great organization and I love to help out in any way that I can. 

I went straight from there to work and that night singer and actress Idina Menzel came in with some friends. She is so talented and meeting her in person there was a glow to her and she was very nice! 

On Saturday Top Chef Master Rick Bayless and his wife Deann came into Maialino and on Sunday Andy Cohen walked in but we were so packed he decided to go somewhere else, it was cool to see him though!

Sunday was my last day working at Maialino! During my ten months there I met great people and learned a lot. The environment of Maialino is warm and welcoming and I loved the beautiful view into Gramercy Park. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone but we had a get-together that night which was so nice. 

(Roger, Elizabeth, Lauren, Me, Reni, Dennise, Lindsey, Meghan, James, Kristin)

(Me and Julia)

My roommate Dennise came with me and we met up with several of my co-workers for snacks and desserts at Maialino and then some of us went and met up with some other co-workers at Taproom and had fun there the rest of the night! My Maialino chapter has ended but I will definitely be back to visit! 

Nov 1st-Nov 8th - Grandma's House & Mike's Song Release!

The next morning we got up and had breakfast at my Grandma's and then we all went to stores together, including Ernie!

We got my Grandma some things that she needed and I bought a couple of Christmas presents and then we brought Ernie back to my Grandma's so that we could go out to eat. When we are in Connecticut we almost always go to Christy's and that is where we went for lunch. I ordered my huge dish of eggplant parmesan that is one of the best I've ever had!

The next day my Aunt who lives nearby picked us up and we went to some stores and out to lunch with her. Afterwards we got snacks for my cousin who was home resting after getting a spinal tap and being treated for Lyme disease. I feel bad that Tyler had to go through all of that but it was good to see him. While we were out and about Ernie was at my Grandma's being a country doggie!

We spent the rest of the day with my Dad and Grandma and then my Dad took us back to the city Saturday so that I could work that night. At work the energy was good, the guests were happy to be there and the workers were all making sure that one another was okay from the hurricane. Our apartment got power back that weekend but it was good to be at Maialino with heat and good food!

On Monday I filled out my absentee ballot and mailed it since I would not be home to vote in the Presidential election. Then my friend Lauren and I went to Great Jones Cafe to start filming a video that starred me and a juke box. We filmed the first scene and then the place needed to get ready for dinner service. The next morning we went back and finished filming the whole video! In celebration we went to The Smith and I got vanilla bean french toast that was delicious!

On the way back to the apartment we got bubble tea and then my roommates and I went to look at some apartments. Afterwards we watched the Presidential Election results and obviously some people were thrilled and some were disappointed by the outcome but it is my hope that as Americans we can unite to guide and support our country together, God Bless America!

Also on November 6th Mexican singer Paty Cantu released her new album "Corazon Bipolar" that Mike co-produced the song "Beat Goes On" for, which was exciting! It is in Spanish and English, check it out on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/beat-goes-on-feat.-boy-blue/id574260947?i=574261429

The next couple of days at work celebrity chef Mario Batali stopped in and The King of Queens actor Victor Williams joined us at our bar. Mike was coming to the city Friday night so I was looking forward to the weekend!

Oct 26th-Oct 31st - Hurricane Sandy & Halloween!

This was going to be my first Halloween that I wasn't going to be with my parents and I was sad about that but I got this package from home which was so cute and made me cry!

Friday night I went out to Hotel Chantelle with Sarah and our friends Ryan and Nick who she used to work with at Five Napkin. I was Captain America, Sarah was a scarecrow, Ryan was a 70's cop and Nick was a bloody zombie. The place had three levels and we spent some time on the rooftop and some time in the basement where the Halloween party was and it was fun!

That weekend out of nowhere we heard that hurricane Sandy was heading our way and I went to the grocery store to get non-perishable food incase our power went out. The grocery stores were packed and water and a lot of other things were sold out. At the apartment I locked the windows and cleared everything away from the bedroom windows incase they broke. We cooked some pasta so that we could have that to eat and also made Halloween pancakes!

Let's just say we're not top chefs ;)

We were sitting and finishing eating when the lights started flickering. The wind was howling and we were praying the power wouldn't go out but all of a sudden we were in the dark. Luckily we had some candles and flashlights that we lit and we were just going to read books when there was a knock at the door. It was our friend Danielle from the first floor and her roommate who came to hang out since it was scary in the dark with the storm outside, especially for them being on the first floor where there could be flooding. 

It was actually fun being in the dark and the four of of us played Apples to Apples while listening to a battery operated radio. It was scary listening to people talking about everything going on around us though like a transformer exploding, a building wall collapsing and the streets flooding. My loved ones were really worried and of course our cell phones would hardly work. I did get this picture showing what the street our apartment is on looked like... yikes!

The next morning we went outside to see what happened. This is what we saw...

We went with our friends from the first floor to look for a Starbucks to get something warm to drink and charge our phones but we went to several locations all over and none of them had power. Everything around was closed so we went back to the apartment and we cleaned our closets while it was light out. Then our phone's were running low on battery and Danielle said that she was going to work and had power so we walked to Paychex and she let us charge our phones at the office which was nice.

At night we ate a few things that were still good in the refrigerator but that would go bad soon and Danielle came over to hang out. The next day was Halloween!

We walked Ernie outside in his black kitty costume to look like Puma and we dressed Puma up with my scarf!

 

I had to walk about 15 minutes from the apartment to get cellphone service but I called my Dad who was going to Connecticut to help my Grandma and he said that he would pick me up to go to my Grandma's to have heat and shower and of course to visit with them too! Sarah said she could get out of work for the rest of the week so her and Ernie came with us too!

My Grandma loved meeting Ernie and he was curious being in a new place. 

We all ate dinner together that we got delivered to the house which was nice and then we took showers and I got into my costume and we put Ernie into another one!

Before going to bed we watched tv and there was news on the devastation of hurricane Sandy. We were not aware of how bad some of the areas were that were hit and it was shocking and saddening to see. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who was affected by the hurricane!