I have news.

According to my dad, July 4th is America's birthday. 

Why not celebrate with a shiny, shiny ring?

I'm engaged!!!

On July 4th, two years ago, James and I packed a picnic and headed to Central Park.  

We laid around, ate food, watched people pass by. The weather was warm and sunny.

He turned to me and said, "I love you" for the first time.

It was a nice moment.

We left to meet up with friends and watch the fireworks over the Hudson River, holding hands.

This July 4th was particularly hot, but James insisted on a picnic.  We woke up, drank our iced coffee and prepared a tortellini salad and baguette sandwiches.

We talked about our favorite memories, traveling through Ecuador, visiting Asheville, North Carolina, lazy beach days, cooking new foods, seeing amazing concerts, and all the great things we have done together.

Then a ring box appeared and I freaked out.

I said, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?" 

And then said yes.

We swiftly got some macarons at Bouchon Bakery and hopped a cab downtown.  I thought we were going to dinner but instead James booked an amazing corner suite in the Standard Hotel  right on the HighLine in the meatpacking district overlooking the Hudson River.  We had fancy drinks in the hotel roof restaurant, listened to live jazz music, and ate some chocolate covered strawberries (sneakily sent to us from Nasir).

We drank bubbly (brought over by Rachel!) while the fireworks went off.  We could see and hear the fireworks perfectly from our room, in air conditioning. Thank god because was crazy hot outside and I get really irritated when I'm hot. 

The next day we slept in and ordered room service (brioche french toast with candied walnuts and bananas and a pot of coffee). 

We met my cousin Christina the next day in the west village at Davids Tea and we started talking about the ring.

Me: "I would have been okay if you didn't get me a diamond. A sapphire would have been fine.  I don't want anyone to die for a diamond."

James: "Someone probably died for the sapphires too"

Christina: "Well in that case, I'll take TWO diamonds"

Luckily, James bought an eco-friendly, conflict-free diamond with recycled gold from a wonderful NYC based jeweler, Ken & Dana Design. They even donate to non-profit organizations from every engagement ring sold!

They were extremely accommodating when James busted through their door and wanted a ring in a week. Their style is unique and you can even choose the diamond/gemstone you want.  Some of the designs remind me of fairly tales and look like tree roots wrapping around the diamond.  So pretty!  We cannot recommend them enough!

Thanks to everyone to sent us good wishes.  It means a lot.

The Color Run: Cornstarch at its Best

James, Rachel and I decided to wake up on a Sunday before 6 am to trek to Brooklyn and run a 5K.
Totally worth it!

The Before!

The Color Run is quite possibly the easiest 5K to run! Hence, the slogan "Happiest 5K on the planet!" People of all ages (even kids in strollers!)  participate!  No one is timing you!
You know what that means?

 #IM TOTALLY WINNING

Here are some Color Run Tips

1. Wear sunglasses. The volunteers throwing cornstarch at you have no training and will throw it in your face.

2. Run through the color stations TWICE, Rachel ran through the orange station with not a drop of orange on her.  I guess thats what free labor will get you. Which brings me to the next tip.

3. Slow down and tell the color volunteers, "HIT ME!" and they will. Maybe in your face.

4. Don't bother wearing earphones. Don't carry too much, there's no where to hold your stuff unless your VIP.  I know its not the 80's, but a fanny pack would have been nice. Ask your grandma if she has one.  Put everything in a ziploc!

5. We ran during a heat wave.  It WAS HOT HOT HOT.
 SWEAT + BLUE cornstarch= you need to scrub your skin off to get back to regular human color. Your loofah will be your best friend.

6. The Color Run says to save your color packet until the end. But at the end, we were like, "OK, now what?"  The DJ will tell you when to throw the color.  We figured that out three minutes too late.

7. We took the shuttle and the bus but if someone drives bring something to sit on so you don't leave a rainbow butt stain in their car like we did on the subway. FYI, there was lots of parking available in the Brooklyn site.

There some some freebies at the end of the run. Some yogurt ice pops, HonestTea, drink samples, Kind granola bars, etc.  There were tons of runners dancing near the music stage (thats where you wait to throw the color packet).  If you're running with friends, make sure you get different color packets when you pick up your T-shirt and bib.  We got a lot of blue/teal.  We wanted purple! We should've switched them out!

The AFTER!

Lastly, remember to blow your nose when your done. 
...It's not going to look like a rainbow.

Summer. Finally.

Summer finally arrived and school finally ended. 

GAH. FINALLY.

The last few days are kind of depressing.
I proctor exams (BORING) and I clean my classroom (also boring).  My students did well on the regents exams. Even if they do well, I always tell them that they can do better.  My mother always told me, "You can never be number one.  The best you can do is come in second place.  There will always be someone who can beat you." Good advice, I think.  Why bother being number one when someone is always trying to take you down?  I will gladly take second place.

I started my summer seeing some awesome shows. James got us tickets to see a French band called Caravan Palace at Irving Plaza. Think of gypsy music meets electronica/ techno.  The band jumps around the stage while they play music.  And the audience follows.  Lots of sweaty dancing!
James got some good photos of the band in between the jumping. 

   James' dad was in town this week and since he is apart of a gypsy jazz band, the Hot Club of Saratoga, he of course wanted to check out the Django Reinhardt Festival at Birdland. The show was AMAZING. The band was ridiculously talented!  Each player in the band was flown in just to play in the festival and I can see why. They were great!  Check out Anat Cohen, killing it on the clarinet. I now have new respect for the clarinet.  

    I have a busy summer ahead.  A summer program called Siemens STEM STARs in Washington State, then a trip to Portland (Amy!) and Seattle (Fauna!), and a wedding in New Hampshire with stops in Saratoga Springs and Boston.  I want to get some camping in too.  James and I got to camp for one night this summer at Little Pond campground.  It was nice to sit by a fire and eat perfectly melty smores. It was pretty cold at night but hopefully, the next time we camp, it will be warm and we will get to kayak!