Happy Birthday - Kate McNeil

in the second annual installment of cameron hijacking this blog, i again want to remind all to wish my beautiful wife a very special birthday.

katie,

happy 25th birthday! i hope that this birthday represents the coming of another full, eventful and happy year.ou have had ups and downs this year, and have weathered them will class.

you have been a constant supporter of mine through school, work and play, and i hope that i have been half as good to you.

you are a beautiful, funny, and loving woman. your sense of humor keeps me laughing and there isn't a day that we don't share a laugh. thank you for marrying me, and thank you for putting up with me.

i am the luckiest man alive. happy birthday!

and so again, as i said last year, i want you to know that i love you and am grateful for every minute i have with you, and look forward to the future and the roller coaster ahead.

loves,

cameron

scenes from a birthday morning

Cameron left me notes around the apartment this morning. This one was my favorite.

27th Heaven

There are few times I'm happy to hear honking as I fall asleep at midnight. Winning the World Series is one of them!

Cameron and I are like zombies after staying up late to watch every single game of the series.

to be an aunt

I'm not much of a crier. Yes, my heart swells when I watch Extreme Home Makeover or an ESPN against-the-odds montage, but rarely do I tear up. (My dad, on the other hand, is a sobfest — he cried in Mulan for goodness sakes!)

It's weird. Because whenever I look at a picture of my nephews, all I want to do is cry. I love them that much. Pathetic, I know. But if you are an aunt/uncle, you understand.

I think about my nephews and my heart literally hurts. You know when people say to kids, "You're so cute I could just squeeze you to death?" They are being serious. That is a real feeling. Trust me, I know.

When I saw this photo of my brother with his three boys, it was all I could do to not reach my hands out and squeeze each of those little faces.

Left to right: Joel, Luke, Tyler... loves of my life

(Tyler frequently tells me to "ride my bike" over to his house — in Houston.

Again, cue the I want to cry feeling.)

Happy Halloween

Some couples costume ideas, courtesy of the Inwood 1st Ward.

KISS

 Where's Waldo? (and his decoy)

Kanye and Taylor Swift

Sid & Nancy

Facebook Profiles

Others I didn't catch on camera: Flo the annoying Progressive saleslady and the Geico Caveman; Mario, Princess and Toad baby; Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera; Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez from High School Musical; Daniel and Johnny from Karate Kid.

my trivial pursuit

Some jobs are trivial. My job is trivia.

I've been working as an editor at Answers.com for two months now and I love it. I answer, edit, and categorize hundreds of questions every day. Here are some that made me laugh/think in the past week:

What is the chemical name for Titin?
Can you sue Dairy Queen if they don't put a loop on the top of their ice cream? 
What bird says cheeseburger?
What is Donald Duck's middle name?

Let me tell you, people ask questions about everything. (see: Is a 1996 Pizza Hut menu worth anything?)

And yes, because this is the Internet, there are tons and tons of  penile and "Can I be pregnant if...?" questions. Trust me, I get the Google Analytics (which, as a sidenote, serve as a litmus test for the American psyche... this week we are worried about swine flu, daylight savings, Farmville and penis size).

But for the most part, I leave my desk having learned about 5-10 new things a day. (Today it was about the origin of the Jack O'Lantern and a disorder called pica). Considering that my favorite aspect of being a journalist was learning something new every day, I'd say taking this job has been a successful decision.

p.s. Yes, Yahoo Answers is our main competitor. But, as you may have seen on my Facebook, TechCrunch reported we surpassed them in traffic last month. Woo!
p.p.s. Yes, I just blogged about work. 

parenting in the digital age

This week's New Yorker cover is one of the best I've seen in awhile. Think about it.

the grown up's halloween dilemma

Every year it's the same...

Three weeks before Halloween: Halloween is only fun for kids. I don't need to dress up this year. 
Two weeks before Halloween: Crap. I guess there are a couple parties and I have to dress up. 
One week before Halloween: Decide on costume. Get excited about costume. 
Few days before Halloween: A fear sets in. Is it one of those costumes you have to explain? Will I look lame? Will someone come dressed as the same thing? How much money am I wasting on this?
Halloween: What are you? Who are you? Ha ha. That's funny/cool/some other filler word. *Click* go the cameras. 


Halloween is always a dilemma: I'm socially awkward even when dressed in normal clothing, so add costumes and I'm a stress ball. On the other hand... CANDY!!! 

world series baby

I love living in a great sports town.

drive by, miami style... yeeeeaaaah!

During the summer when we didn't have cable, Cameron and I would watch a lot of CSI: Miami. I swear, there was a marathon on A&E at least three times a week. You only need to watch it once to figure out the formula: busty forensic lab assistants on the crime scene with full makeup + crimes involving sex and money + ambient lighting (I swear, it's always sunset on that show) + Horatio. That show would be nothing without Horatio.

If you've ever seen the ridiculousness that is that show, you'll understand why this made me crack up.

And this.



And this. 

things that need to stop

• Facebook quizzes. Please, for the love. Despite what you think, people do NOT care what 80s band you are most like. 
• NFL throwback jerseys. Just stop confusing us already. 
• Design bloggers continuing to dumb down the word love. Love love loving this! Love love loving that!
• TSA's ban on liquids. My Colgate and Dasani are not a threat to this nation thankyouverymuch.
• People saying "I could care less." It's "I couldn't care less." If you could care less, that means you care a little bit, right? Right. 

Robbie came! Robbie came!

My brother came down from Boston for the weekend and despite the frigid temps, we had a great time. We hit most of the main tourist stops, ate burgers for lunch and sushi for dinner and even caught Where the Wild Things Are (and stayed up late watching the Yankees) in between. Fun, fun weekend.

Central Park

What is that? Cam in a wool jacket you say? Yes, yes indeed.

We found this cool graffiti wall... and tried to look tough...

... we really did try to look bad-a.

...but in the end we're just boring white folk that want to smile in pictures, ok?

foliage is this girl's best friend

I had to repost this cartoon from Becca's shared links. This is Cameron and I in a nutshell.

The foliage seems a little late this year but it will come and we will take a roadtrip and I will gasp, ooh and ahh and Cameron will roll his eyes. Forget what you see in the movies. This is the true picture of marriage.

I have succumbed to etsy

I used to avoid etsy. Unless a blogger had handpicked items from the site, I didn't know where to start. I was drowning in a blackhole of handmade and terrified of regretsy.

I think I've finally seen the light this past week. I'm going to be a maid of honor at my best friend's wedding in T-minus one month and I've been searching high and low for a necklace to go with this J.Crew dress. In about 30 minutes on the site I found these gems...

the bridesmaid dress

from petalpushers

from ten six twenty

 

from Moda Kultura

from JuneBug

Ok, I'm not getting this necklace but I had to post this pic for humor sake.

I think Tyra's lesson on "smize-ing" has officially backfired. What happened to this poor girl? And why is she in a storage unit lot?

 

p.s. advice please: should I go gold or grey shoes for that dress?

happy weekend

I cannot get enough of the kid in this Ally bank commercial.

widow week

Cam is across the pond this week for work. He went to Jamie Oliver's new restaurant in Brighton last night. Jealous. 

Luckily I'm busy this week: two volleyball games (I joined a city league, it's so fun) and a full DVR. 

I never thought I'd say this but I miss his sharp elbows and comforter hogging. I can't sleep!

happy sukkot

This week our Jewish neighbors have been celebrated Sukkot. It's been fun to peek out our bedroom window and see them gathering in the courtyard in their sukkahs, singing songs and eating. The tent like structures symbolize the temporary shelter the Israelites lived in during their 40 years of exodus:

“On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook” (Lev. 23:40), and “You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lev. 23:42-43).

Here is a photo I snapped of the sukkah village outside our building. The roofs must be made of natural material (reeds, bamboo, palm fronds). They eat all their meals for seven days in these booths.

So, what happens if you are an observant Jew but you have to work and can't eat in your sukkah? NYC provides a mobile sukkah outside Kosher Delight in midtown on Broadway... naturally! Today for lunch my Jewish co-workers took some of us to experience sukkah eating on a semi-truck bed...

 

 

Our head tech guy saying the blessing and waving the palm branches in all directions to symbolize God is everywhere.

 Ordering our food...

 

Inside the sukkah

Have I told you how much I love learning about Judaism?

This swine flu thing has gone too far

A woman in my office has started saying "Uh oh!" when people sneeze instead of the usual "bless you."

move over McDreamy

Our office got tickets to the Letterman taping yesterday afternoon.

Playing hooky from work? Awesome.

Letterman? Not really funny.

Jon Hamm (aka Don Draper) as a guest? YUMMY.

pajama church

Conference weekend was good. And as much as I make fun of Twitter, it was fun to watch #ldsconf become a trending topic. I especially loved when one girl tweeted that conference is like "the TED talks for Mormons."

Although, don't take this the wrong way, but I swear sometimes the talks feel laced with codeine. It is THAT easy to fall asleep. I think I dozed off for at least 20 minutes of each session. Geeze, good thing they print them after.

mad about it

Over the summer, I dreaded the start of Cameron's Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday fall class schedule. It was going to be a lot of alone time at home. Then I started netflixing Mad Men. One word: addicted. There was a point where my brother would call and ask if I was "with Don Draper." I love everything about it: the fashion, the dialogue, the complexity of every single character. Are you a fan?

Also, if you have a few free minutes, it's pretty fun to Mad Men yourself. Here I am, just hanging with Joanie, Pete, Don and Roger.

bullet point friday

•  Our office has tickets to a David Letterman taping Monday. This should make it much, much more interesting. I love a good sex scandal!

•  I think I'm done with Grey's Anatomy. The premiere was so weepy and pathetic I didn't want to watch last night. The whole Post-it marriage thing? LAME. My replacement? Modern Family. Hilarious! Watch the pilot now.

• The Manhattan stake was featured on Good Morning America yesterday for its efforts to find members employment. I'm glad they got good press, I wouldn't have a job right now if it weren't for their networking efforts.

• Cam and I have a shopping date tonight. He has a business trip to London next week and I'm determined to get him out of his circa 2004 khakis. Wish me luck. 

but mama, that's where the fun is

After, what, like a decade of singing "Blinded by the Light" I finally googled the lyrics and realized Manfred Mann actually says, "Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night."

Cam and I still plan on belting "Wrapped up like a douche another roller in the night" from here on out anyhow.

oy gevalt!

It's Yom Kippur. The office is empty. Us Gentiles are watching Yiddish with Dick and Jane. You should too.

weekend report

Fun weekend!

We joined some fellow cheapskates and enjoyed the Passion Pit/Phoenix concert on the lawn just outside Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. Let me tell you, it was the best concert I've never seen. Much preferred picnicking and enjoying the tunes under the trees than spending $200 to be pushed around by hipsters inside. Passion Pit's "Little Secrets" and Phoenix's "1901" were my favorites.

On Saturday we went to Cameron's co-worker's wedding in Queens. It was a traditional Chinese wedding and absolutely amazing. I'm talking 360 people, TEN course meal, three dress changes for the bride, all around extravagance. It was a fun day and it's always nice to get to know the people Cameron spends most of his waking hours with.

Cam and his working buddies

Party hardy. This was before the pork, scallops, lobster, conch, abalone, sea cucumber, chicken, shrimp, fish, rice and noodles stuffed in our face. Unreal!

 

I think the traditional tea ceremony was my favorite. The bride and groom kneeled on pillows and offered tea to their parents, grandparents, relatives, etc. and they gave them jewelry and red envelopes in return. This was dress #2 for the bride. She changed into a red ballgown for dancing. 

 

not-so-spare change

I'm a quarter hoarder. I frisk Cameron's pockets for them and pay the grocer $20.04 for a $19.29 bill just to get three shiny ones. Several months ago, I had Cameron doing my dirty work, putting a $5 bill in his office's vending machine, only to press the "return change" button. (Co-workers caught on and came over to his desk with handfuls of nickels and dimes, yelling, "What is THIS all about McNeil?!")

I'll tell you what it's all about -- I have to do the laundry. Our basement washers and dryers cost $2 in quarters! That's 16 quarters just for one wash/dry load.

I know, I know, banks will gladly give you a roll of quarters for $10. But our online bank doesn't offer the brick and mortar option. When I was at my parents this summer, I made it a point to go to the bank with my mom to get four rolls of quarters. Naturally, the TSA pulled me aside at the Little Rock Airport when they saw several metal, shotgun shell-shaped items in my Vera Bradley. The insanity.

And don't even start me about asking the local deli guy for a mere $2 of quarters. It's UNREAL. You would think you just tried to haggle a lower price for your Doritos. They always act put off. And yes, there is the "sending out the laundry" option but I'm so stubborn about saving money I stopped that practice.

This week I've reached new lows. Our laundry pile is growing by the day and I only have seven quarters to my name. I actually called Dave & Buster's on 42nd Street today on my lunch break and asked if they have a change machine in their arcade. (Don't worry, left the cubicle for that embarrassing call, geeze.) And no, they have fancy schmancy "reloadable cards" for their games.

Last night I bid on quarters on eBay (jokingly, but not really), googled to see if Coinstar offers a reverse cash-to-coin service and I'm thinking about taking a trip to Westchester or Jersey to raid the drive-thru car wash change machines.

Am I being overly dramatic? Is this an issue for anyone else?

my a-list

This is a celeb wedding I would have died to be at. Zooey married the frontman of my favorite band this weekend! Love sweet hipster love.

xoxoNYxoxo

This week I really, really liked New York. Maybe it's the whole having a job, a routine, a life thing. Maybe it's the nip in the air that signals my favorite season. Whatever it is, I felt completely alive.

My brother makes fun of the elitism here ("The city?" he says, "As if there are no other cities in the world?") and I can see his eyes rolling as he reads this.


All I know is, it only takes a walk around the block to feel the energy here. Our boss took us out to lunch today and we walked 14 blocks and two avenues to get there. At first I was annoyed we had to hoof it. But then I started to look around. A woman walking a cat on a leash (no joke). A Jewish boy practicing his shofar skills. A leggy model in leather pants with thigh slits.

At the kosher steakhouse, there was no butter served with our bread and our waiter wished us all a Happy New Year. And no one batted an eye.

On the way home, bagpipes droned through the subway station. A woman, clutching headshots and resume, practiced a script, tapping her foot. And a man, wearing a New York Post vest, hawked the late city final, the lab technician arrested in the Yale murder splashed on the front cover under the headline: "Devilish."

I may not live here forever but one thing's for sure —I'll never live in a place quite as stimulating again.

bigger (not literally) and better

Well, after a weekend of double takes in the mirror, I'm chalking up her rudeness as a difference in cultures. I'll just leave it at that and move on.

Besides, chubby isn't always derogatory in my mind...

via fffound!

This is exactly why I find it hard to make friends with women.

Today, an acquaintance of mine asked me point blank, "You're not pregnant, are you?"
Mortified, I said no.

Then. THEN. She reached out, patted my belly and said, "Just chubby, huh? Suck it in, girl!"

I am seething with anger just typing it out and reliving the moment. How is it possible for women to be so nice, yet so mean?

And so my question is this. What in the world would you have said in that situation? I myself was speechless.

One in 8 Million

My favorite type of journalism has always been the profile. The Times has a really cool series called One in 8 Million where they profile a different New Yorker each week with interviews dubbed over black and white photo slideshows.

This week Cam and I were so excited to see Naisi Zhao, a Mormon missionary we know from the Chinatown Branch of our church where Cameron serves. She is truly the nicest person and always offers to help translate for me when I come visit. They captured her perfectly in these photos. Watch the full slideshow here.

so I married a mountain man

We headed north for Labor Day, six hours to be exact, to the St. Regis Canoe Area in the Adirondacks. We borrowed some kayaks from a friend and paddled and portaged our way for two hours through two lakes to get our camping spot. It was just us, the loons and a bald eagle or two... heaven!

Gearing up in the concrete jungle

This lakeside motel was part kitschy, part cheesy and so stuck in the 70s! Loved it.

Our little cabin for a night. They don't call it an Adirondack chair for nothing.

Gear in the boats, paddling to our camping spot.

So pretty. These are straight-out-of-camera colors.

Our lake for a weekend.

 

A piece of paradise. I don't think I've ever been in a place more quiet.

 

Best hammock in the world.

 Cameron fly fishing his life away

 

 

These loons let me get so close!

 

Our little peninsula

 

 

 

Good times. 

Oh, and when I turned on my phone after three days I got a text from my brother announcing BYU's win over Oklahoma. Being a good sports fan's wife, I KEPT IT A SECRET for the six hour drive home so Cameron could enjoy the victory himself when he watched it on dvr. One of the harder things I've done in my life.

U.S. Open

After two summers here, we finally made it to the U.S. Open. The seats were cheap and bad, just like I like it. 

I've been to dozens of baseball and football games and I was amazed at how different a tennis match is from other sporting events. First of all, it's QUIET. That kind of bugged me, I love the yelling aspect of being a fan. Secondly, it's FANCY. People get dressed up, they drink champagne. I think I prefer pointing and laughing at beer bellies instead, sorry. Either way, I think this will become a yearly tradition. 

Arthur Ashe Stadium

Row Z represent!!

 

Manhattan skyline at sunset

It's Labor Day weekend, ya'll! We are heading up to the Adirondacks for our last camping/fishing trip of the season. Have a good one.

big brother

I wish I could write about work. (My short gig at a private school alone could fill a novel.) But it's just smarter not to. You know how it goes on this here public internet.

I'll say this though... I love my new job.

Also. Two words: free soda.