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Sunday, December 15, 2013

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME IN THE CITY

It's Christmas time in the city and I'm loving it.  This place grows more and more beautiful with each passing season, but winter time has by far been the best.  People travel from all over the world just to see the GIANT Christmas tree at Rockafeller Center and all of the incredible window displays on 5th ave.  I can see why.  Did you know that the tree is real?  It is!  And it's the biggest tree I've ever seen.  Other than the tree you've got Saks Fifth Ave with its story of the yeti display that has a different scene in each window and silvery trees dangling from the ceiling on the inside.  Then there's Bloomingdale's with Christmas lights covering the whole building making it impossible to miss (as if it wasn't already),  the classic stacked, red ornaments outside of the Radio City Music Hall, and the awesome light display glowing from the windows in Grand Central.  Magical right?  That's sure what it looks like from the pictures, but secretly this whole time it was ten thousand degrees below zero and the wind was whipping snow into our faces and I was almost positive that I had lost all outer extremities to frost bite.  But there was a (Christmas) light at the end of the tunnel.  We just popped on in to the Plaza Hotel and got a cup of hot chocolate.  It was the perfect thing to help us muster up the courage to go back out into the storm and walk to five blocks to the subway.  In all honesty though it was an awesome day and I am so grateful to live in this beautiful city especially around the holidays.  















 Happy Holidays!!

xoxo
Kylie


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

SOUNDTRACK TO THE SNOWSTORM




Now that the snow has officially made its presence known, it's bound to happen again.  Right?  Well hopefully at least one more solid storm before Christmas.  So if and when that happens, here's what you should do.  Go grab a hot date, find the perfect place to snuggle up, then watch what's happening outside.  Romantic much?  And if you really want things to go well.. set this playlist as the background music.  It's the cherry on top of a beautiful night watching the snowflakes fall.  I promise you won't be disappointed.  So next snowfall, turn it up and enjoy.

1. Don't Be Afraid, You're Already Dead - Akron/Family
2. Towers - Bon Iver
3. A Real Hero - College & Electric Youth
4. Teardrop - Jose Gonzalez
5. All I Want - Kodaline
6. Tomorrow Will Be Kinder - The Secret Sisters
7. Love Will Take You - Angus & Julia Stone
8. Youth - Daughter
9. Beautiful Girl - William Fitzsimmons
10. Los Angeles - Peter Bradley Adams
11. Old Pine - Ben Howard
12. Holocene - Bon Iver
13. Shine - Benjamin Francis Leftwich
14. This Won't End Quietly - We The Committee
15. Higher Love - James Vincent McMorrow

xoxo
Kylie

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

GOOD READS TO INSPIRE

According to my blog, my life is this constant adventure right?  Wrongo.  I work all day Monday through Friday.  So we save the adventuring for Saturdays.  I'm lucky enough that I have a solid chunk of time during the day to myself while the kids are at school.  So what do I do after I'm done with errands?  I like to cozy up to a good book.  I've always loved to read but it really is hard to find time when you get older and busier and boring (er?).  In the seven months I've been here, I think I've read around fifteen books.  No they don't have pictures.  Proud?  Because I am just a little bit!

My favorite kind of books are the ones that make you think or give you a new perspective.  You always finish with the feeling that you can and actually will change the world.  No matter how fleeting that feeling is,  it truly is a good one.  Then there are those teen fictions that are quite the guilty pleasure to us all.  Come on..  Hunger Games?  Do I dare say it? Twilight?  Those were brilliant.  Anyways I want to share my top 5 reads that have kept me going during the lonely days away from home.  So here it goes:



The Screwtape Letters
C.S. Lewis

I think that we can all agree that C.S. Lewis was an absolutely brilliant man and inspired many people with the things he wrote.  This is just another to add to that inspirational list.  This book is written in the format of a bunch of letters written to a young demon from his devil uncle.  It shows how the adversary is constantly trying to tempt us and bring us closer to destruction.  This book will bring you to the top of your game spiritually and open your eyes to how hard the enemy tries each day to persuade you to the path of unrighteousness.


1984
George Orwell

Most people read this one by force sometime in high school.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case with me, so I was curious what it was all about.  I'll just put this out there.. This is not a happy book.  At all.  It does make you think though, and that's what counts.  This is George Orwell's prediction of what the year 1984 would be like.  Although very dreary, it inspired me to try to go against the norm and stand up for what I believe in.  Maybe you will get something else out of it, but it's definitely worth the read.


Little Bee
Chris Cleave

If you have a tender heart, this will get to you.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry a few times throughout the book.   Little Bee is about a young african refugee and all of her struggles along her journey and once she makes it to the United Kingdom.  This is truly an inspiring story and shows the good and bad of humanity.


Looking For Alaska
John Green

This is the tale of a boy searching for the "great perhaps".  Meaning, it's a story about a bunch of kids just trying to figure life out.  Do I agree with how they do that?  Not necessarily.  But I think that we are all trying to figure out what this life is all about and how to really live.  This was a page turner and full of surprises!  Check it out.


The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Mitch Albom

Maybe I just have a thing for inspiring, beautiful stories, because I'm sensing a pattern.  This book is just that.  Like the title entails, this tells of the five people you will meet in heaven that tell you why things happened in your life and what they meant.  This is a must read.  I promise it will make you think and give you the warm fuzzies you're looking for.


Finals are ending, Christmas break is coming up.  You have no excuse not to pick one of these up and be inspired.  Happy reading!

xoxo
Kylie



Sunday, December 1, 2013

NYC THANKSGIVING

After months of technical difficulties, The Blonde Vagabond is back in action!!

So let's talk Thanksgiving.  This year was unlike any other.  The family I nanny for went out of town on Tuesday so I had the whole house to myself for the week.  PARTY.  Except there wasn't one.  It mostly consisted of me cleaning out the pantry and watching too many hours of Modern Family.  I'm not complaining though, it was just the break I needed.  The day before Thanksgiving I went into the city with two of my friends just to do something fun.  We ended up going to Maison Laudurée to get the best macaroons in the world.  Literally they're from France and they are the best.  If you're ever on the upper east side, you've got to go.  It's on the corner of Madison and 71st.  Get the raspberry, vanilla, or coffee flavors.  They're to die for.  That was the only thing worth mentioning that we did that day because it was absolutely freeeeeeezing outside and we didn't last too long.

After getting two hours of sleep that night, Corinne, Sarah, Chase, and I woke up at 5 in the morning to catch our 6 o'clock train and headed back into the city for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Once again, if you ever happen to be in NYC during Thanksgiving, no matter how cold it is, you have to go to the parade.  Waiting for two hours in the bitter cold that somehow gets even colder when the sun finally comes up is totally worth it.  Even though we only stayed for an hour, we had a great view from Columbus circle and saw my man Jimmy Fallon and then heard Florida Georgia Line.  It's much better actually being there rather than watching it on tv.  The wait before the parade isn't half bad.  We made some friends from England and our dear friend Billy filmed quite the music video featuring Sarah and I.

Later that night we got to eat the most delicious meal at Chase's parents house.  It was so much fun and I am so grateful for the invite.  Even though I didn't get to spend this Thanksgiving with my family, I was okay with it.  I got to be with the best friends in the entire world who practically are my family.  I don't know what I would do out here without them.  So I guess this year I'd have to say I am grateful for the amazing friends I have made in  New York and I know that the friendships will be life long.  Thank you guys so much!  I love you all!








 Happy Holidays!

xoxo
Kylie



 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

APPLE PICKING

October is my absolute favorite month out of the year.  Here's why.  The leaves start changing, you can wear grungy, oversized clothes and not be chastised, you get all the candy you could ever want and more in a single night, anything pumpkin flavored you'd like, they have it, and we celebrate the day of my birth.  What's not to love about October really?

Being a nanny, you've got to be at the top of your game during any holiday to make it extra fun for your kids.  And also prove that you're better than all the other nannies.  But let's be honest.. I don't have a creative bone in my body.  So naturally I'm thinking carve pumpkins, do something crafty with leaves, and maybe go to a corn maze or something.  Sounds like classic, seasonal activities for fall right?  Wrong.  I bring up these ideas to my kids and they say "What about apple picking?!"  like I'm the biggest idiot for not suggesting that in the first place.  I'm sorry I'm not practically perfect in every way children.  I'll try harder next time.  I didn't know that apple picking was a thing here.  You don't really think of upstate New York with it's fields and orchards when you live so close to the city.  So when I asked my kids if they would like to go apple picking one day and they said they were already going with their mom, I decided I was going to take a trip of my own.

We got a group of friends and road tripped it out to the middle of nowhere.  It was definitely worth the drive.  The orchard stretched on forever and it was surrounded by these beautiful fields.  I didn't realize how much I missed the country.

Once we got there, we had some struggles.  We practically starved to death waiting in the mile long line for apple cider donuts, I had quite the experience with a port o potty tipping this way and that while trying to do my thing, and I pulled a Hulk and ripped my shirt while reaching my arms up to climb a tree.  It was struggle city.  But amid the pain and affliction, we were able to look past it and have a great time.

 






 This picture just goes to show that life is like picking a good apple instead of the bad.  When the good is in your hand, you will be of high spirits.
Feel free to quote me in any papers or books you may be writing.

xoxo
Kylie



Friday, October 11, 2013

PHOTO FRIDAY

This summer was a doozy.  Every weekend we would just get in the car and drive to some foreign (to us) place.  I fell in love with city after city, tried amazing foods, and took some freaking awesome pictures.  I miss it all.  So instead of doing a post for every adventure I've had in the past 5 months, I decided to just do one with all of my favorite pictures from my travels thus far.  A montage if you will.  

Mamaroneck Main St
View from the Shmorgasburg in Brooklyn.  Food vendors with cuisine from all over the world gather to make one giant bunch of tents with the most amazing food you will ever eat.  Including, watermelon jalepeno lemonade, truffle fries, and lamb pot stickers.  Food coma to say the least.

One of the incredible murals in Brooklyn.

Atop the Empire State Building.

Empire State Building haze.

A Pond in The Hamptons

Montauk Beach Friend

At the very northern tip of Long Island, there is a town called Montauk.  It has the very first lighthouse to ever be built in the state of New York.  And it is beautiful.

Montauk Light House

Whimsical Me

NYC Surrogate Court

Artist Showcase in SoHo

Beautiful Boston

Boston Harbor

Boston Cemetery

Boston Cemetery

New York City Skyline
Mamaroneck Harbor Crabbies

The Most Beautiful Sunset I have ever seen.  

Cooper's Beach in Southampton, NY



 This is my summer in a nutshell.  So incredibly blessed to live where I do and be able to explore.

xoxo
Kylie

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

MANHATTAN FERRY RIDE

This past weekend my friend Sarah and I went into the city and decided we wanted to go on a sunset ferry ride.  Romantic right?  We started out on the Hudson River and circled around the bottom half of Manhattan toward the east side.  If you are ever in NYC, I would definitely recommend going on this tour.  It's so incredibly beautiful and you learn so many things!  At one point we were right by the statue of liberty and all heck broke loose while people were scrambling to take pictures (including us) because you really can't pass a photo op like that up.  If that wasn't my favorite part, I would have to say it was going past Brooklyn.  Brooklyn is one of my favorite places because it is the artsy, hipster district.  So naturally, it reminds me of my hometown in Utah.  Minus the ghetto feel.  Anyways, seeing it from the river was so amazing.  All of the buildings, architecture and artwork that you could see made it look even more beautiful and unique.  Plus the sun was setting and all of the city lights were starting to come on.  It's something you just have to see for yourself.  I learned so many cool things and left feeling so inspired.  The tour guide kept saying "You see all these buildings?  The people that made this were just like you.  They had a dream, and they accomplished it.".  New York was built by a bunch of dreamers.  I love that.  

Statue of Liberty

 Brooklyn Bridge
 Manhattan Skyline
 Empire State Building
 Brooklyn
 Brooklyn


I truly do love New York.

xoxo
Kylie