{ us open }

I've wanted to go to the US Open since I first moved out here. 

 This year, I finally made that happen. I think tennis is my sport. It's a good workout and the outfits are cute. :) Enough said. I'll probably never play like Jankovic or Roddick 

but I'll try my best and I'm glad I finally got to just sit back and watch them rule on the court.

{ bonfires & beaches }

I miss the beach.

This weekend I got a bit nostalgic for my hawaii days when I went out to Montauk for the weekend. I can't believe I've never been out that way before. I get why everyone in NYC heads out to Long Island for the weekend. Montauk is definitely more my scene...a little less flashy than the ever so popular Hamptons but no less beautiful & perfect for a weekend getaway.

{ hot august nights }

...actually it's more like perfect august nights.

Seriously, could this city be any more perfect right now?

I've always had a love/hate relationship with NYC. There are days when it's muggy & smelly or bitter cold when I want to escape but then I have the perfect NYC day and it erases all the bad days from my memory. Alas, the reason I'm still here. :) I miss the stars most nights and the sky (I really do live in a sea of buildings) but there are too many other great things about this great city of mine.

For example, TONIGHT:

Ashley's last night in the city and an impromptu takeout dinner on my roof. 

 Great food...amazing company...the perfect summer breeze & 

a last minute visit from miss Caroline Jacobs made the night one for the records.

Seriously, how did I get so lucky to have the most amazing friends ever?

{ uhaul in the city }

note to self: don't try to park a huge truck in the city.

what was I thinking?

I had my first big solo event for work last night, the annual Pzena Challenge.

...a lot of work but I loved it.

There were a few hiccups and I ended up with a Uhaul truck at the end of the night and unable to return it until the next day.

I felt kinda big a powerful driving that thing through the city. Driving down Broadway through Times Square was nuts. I looked at my friend in the car with me and couldn't contain my laughter. I had one of those funny, "is this what my life has become moments." I drove around forever trying to find a spot to park the beast and gave up after awhile to find a parking garage. Not easy. The parking garages didn't want the beast either. Luckily I finally found a spot that I smiled my way into {insert smile here}. Gotta love girl power. kidding.

The Uhaul is back and I learned my lesson...it was a pain but definitely another good memory from life in nyc.

{ nyc half }

I finished my second half marathon last Sunday! Honestly, I did get that serious about it until a few weeks ago and when the time came, I honestly thought I was going to wimp out and walk when I needed to. Not this time. I don't know how but I ran the whole thing...felt amazing (well besides a few to-be-expected aches & pains)...and I cut 25 minutes off my time from my first half. Not bad for a "social runner" as I like to refer to myself as. I was worried about the weather being too hot & too muggy but it really was quite perfect. My favorite moment of the race was coming out of the park after 7 + miles and running straight down 7th ave. It couldn't have been more perfect! I'm usually not a fan of 7th in Midtown but the streets were clear and filled with nothing but runners and the bright colored blue & yellow sponges they gave us to cool off! I wish I could have taken a picture but that moment will just have to remain in my memory for now. It was the perfect day & I was quite proud of myself. Now on to the next race...

{ the bucket list }

so...I finally watched "The Bucket List" the other night. You can't go wrong with Nicholson and Freeman although the movie wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. There was some laughter of course but it was much more sad than I thought it would be.

Instead of waiting until I'm 70+ to write my bucket list, I thought it was time I start writing. I feel like I'm going to be around for awhile so I think I've got a few good years left to get to all these things! When I started writing, I began with goals of mine - things I want to accomplish in life but the more I thought about it...I don't want to make a bucket list. I have no doubt that I will accomplish the things on my list because I like to believe that's what I am here for. I believe we all have a purpose in life and things we will accomplish before it's our time to move on. As I think about the movie and reflect on my own life, I truly have experienced many of the things on Freeman's list.

here's { the list } for those who haven't seen the move:

Witness something truly majestic

Help a complete stranger for a common good

Laugh till I cry

Drive a Shelby Mustang

Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world

Get a tattoo

Skydiving

See the pyramids

Get back in touch (previously "Hunt the big cat")

See Rome

although I have no desire to drive a Shelby Mustang (nor did I know what one looked like before seeing the film), or kiss the most beautiful girl in the world (hah!) I have experienced many truly majestic moments in my life and I have no doubt that there will be many more.

How did I get so lucky?

{ image found at we heart it }

{ man on wire }

I decided to accept a last minute offer last night to see Man on Wire. I didn't know anything about the film before last night...wow. The film was about Phillippe Petit, a wirewalker, whose dream in life was to walk on a wire strung between the twin towers (the tallest building at that time). Are you kidding me? He started off with Notre Dame...a bridge in Sidney and then pulled off the Twin Towers...and yes, he's still alive. I wasn't fortunate enough to be in New York before September 11th so I never got the change to see the Twin Towers but there is some good footage in the film. It was hard watching the film when they were talking about the building of the towers, how magnificent it was...then seeing Phillippe do his thing and knowing that they are no longer.