The High Line: NYC

One of the highlights of our trip to NYC last weekend was a visit the new High Line Park in the lower west side with our friends Amber and Brendan (& baby Amelia!). We lucked out with a gorgeous brisk sunny Sunday and spent over an hour meandering this wonderful park in the sky. The one mile walking promenade was formerly elevated tracks of the New York Central Railroad until it was re-purposed in 2011. The whole path has lovely views of the river and Chelsea neighborhood and is full of local plant varieties and great places to sit and observe. Will definitely be returning to the High Line next time we are in the city!

Choosing the best name for baby?

Patrick and I have been going around and around the past few months talking about what we should name our baby boy. I had no idea that this would be such a long and intense process. We are feeling a lot of pressure to make sure not to mess this up, a person's name is pretty important!

We both like Irish names but a lot of them are really difficult to pronounce/spell. If we were having a girl we love the name Aoife (pronounced Eef-ah) but I would probably never actually use it because it's not common in the states and nearly impossible to pronounce. I gravitate toward more traditional names whereas Patrick is more apt to find something unusual. I like the idea of a name that is uncommon but definitely a known name, which is not as easy as it sounds! 

I was telling my friend Gabi about our dilemma and she sent me over this hilarious clip from an old Friends episode. So funny and true-- we've even tossed around some of those same names!

Do you like your name? For those who have been there, how did you narrow down your list of names and come to agreement? What are your favorite names?

Stitch Fix: Online Personal Shopper?

My friend Michelle sent me this new website the other day that I'm tempted to join (especially once I shed the maternity wear). It's called Stitch Fix and it seems like a combination of Birchbox and a Nordstrom personal shopper.

Essentially, you fill out a "style profile" with all the details of your sizes, taste preferences, and region and every month they send you five items of clothing/accessories that they think you will love. There is a $20 "styling fee" but it can be put toward any of the items that you choose to keep. Whatever you don't like you just send back with free shipping. If you keep all five items you get 25% off.

The only thing that makes me hesitate is the price of the clothes, which are on average $75 a piece (although they say they try to stay in your price range.)

What do you think? Sounds pretty awesome for those of us who hate shopping. :)

Whirlwind Weekend in NYC!

Patrick and I spent 48 hours in NYC with my family to see my little brother Ryan play on Saturday Night Live last weekend! It was a short trip but we had a blast and made the most of every minute. It was my sister Laura's first trip to NY so it was really fun to see her experience the city for the first time. And on Saturday we had the once in a lifetime experience of being backstage at SNL, something none of us will ever forget. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves-- so proud of Ryan!

You're Going Where?

Today, Jason and I are flying to Honiara,  the capitol of Solomon Islands,  and then taking a boat to Tulagi Island.

There, we will spend the week photographing the community and the beginning stages of a school being built by Construction for Change.

Until last year, I hadn't herd of Solomon Islands either. So here's a map for reference.

That's probably all you need to know, but because I'm a dork and love history and geography and things...

Things to know about Solomon Islands:
-The official name is "Solomon Islands" not "The Solomon Islands" which sounds weird to me, but I'm trying to go with it.

-Will and Kate visited on their tour of the South Pacific.

-JFK became a war hero while stationed here during WWII. In fact, Solomon Islands was a very important post during the war in general.

-Recently, there was an 8.0 earthquake and tsunami and the islands are still recovering from the damage and aftershocks.

-Check out Solomon Islands on Wikipedia or The CIA World Factbook for more info.

Monday Motivation

(Image)

Friday Roundup

Teresa's busy packing for New York and I'm on the other side of the world taking a much needed day off! Anyone know of fun things to do in Brisbane? I think we might go hug koalas. 

Also, did you see Jason's hair on Instagram (here, here and here)? Please leave advice on how to style a bowl cut in the comments. 

And now, some fun from around the web...

I want to try these blueberry banana pancakes. No flour! Just banana, blueberry and egg. 

Crochet bike guard. Too cute. 

I'll be bringing some manuka honey back from New Zealand. Did you know about all of it's wonderful uses? 

Most popular google searches

Creeper photobombs

Turn a mason jar into a to go cup

Cute! And something I can relate to.

Naps

Teresa and I are both the planners in the relationship, how about you?

Cocktail advice

Photo: Jason & friends taking a break in New Zealand the other day. The southern hemisphere has me dreaming of summer in Seattle! It's March 1st, we've almost made it out of winter!