Congratulations Ivanka!

They say she is in the gym before 6am every morning, she is the very first person in her office everyday and she's terribly nice.  Plus, she just got married ans she's already back at work!  Lord knows she doesn't have to do any of that...

She looked gorgeous in her sleeves and I think it's particularly sweet that she converted to Judaism for Jared.

Halloween!

I freaking love a costume, so it should come as no surprise that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year.  Last year was deathly ill on Halloween and I missed out on all the fun.  This year will be different.

I've given quite a bit of thought to this year's costume and I narrowed it down to two perfect possibilities.

A) Little Edie Beale from Grey Gardens (Have you seen it?  Despite Drew Barrymore's awful and terrible acting, the story's got it all.  The NY setting, the eccentric characters, the fabulous costumes.  I adored it)

OR

B) Rosie the Riveter.  Universally recognized and totally cute hairdo.

In the end I decided on Rosie.  Frankly, her costume is cuter and I think she's more recognizable than Little Edie.  If you still haven't decided, check out Jessica's amazing and inspiring designs on What I Wore.  That girl is a genius.  Stayed tuned for my Halloween photos!

Because Mondays are for weekend recaps.

There was some of this:

and some of these (obviously):

and Mr. DD and I swam lots and lots of laps at the pool in our apartment, our "newlywed activity."

But mostly, I did alot of this:

My work schedule is fairly light, but I bring a lot of it home with me.  I guess it works well when your husband works obscene hours/plays a tremendous amount of golf/is addicted to football.
I'm also preparing for the licensing exam in my field.  I took a practice exam on Sunday and I've got a lot of work to do.

Happy anniversary to me!

His and Hers thumbprints.  From here.

If it weren't for the email from Mr. DD on Thursday morning, I would have completely forgotten that 2 months ago that day, we were married.  Times flies when you're having fun.

Color... maybe it's overrated.  I'm a stickler about all white bed linens.  No color on the bed at any time.   Makes me feel like I'm at a hotel that way.  But lately I'm beginning to think that maybe an entirely white home is the way to go.

From here.

From here.

 

 

From here.

Honestly.  I die.

Literary Society

I hosted last week.  I literally took a half-day off work to prepare the Fall inspired menu.  We briefly discussed The Time Traveler's Wife.  Then we ate and chatted and drank lots of wine.
I voted for a biography for next month; perhaps Jackie O, or Eleanor Roosevelt.  Those didn't go over well.  Apparently we're reading Are you there Vodka? It's me, Chelsea.  I'm ok with that though, Literary Society is all about being flexible...

Pumpkin ice cream.  So easy to make that I almost regret having registered for an ice cream maker.  It may  be the death of my skinny jeans.

Chicken chili, a baked potato bar, cornbread and chocolate cookies as well. 

Rehearsal Dinner in Detail

We hosted almost 125 people at a fabulous restaurant in the heart of Little Italy on August 21, the night before we were married.  It truly was a mini-wedding.  Outside, the streets were being decorated for The Feast of San Gennaro.  The night was cool and clear.  We had a private room upstairs.  The food was amazing, at least that's what they tell me.  There were many wonderful, hilarious, sweet stories shared by the people we love the most.
It was the perfect kickoff to our wedding weekend.

 

I have no idea what my father in law had just told me, but apparently, I could not believe it.

There were definitely some stories that would have been better untold... Mr. DD spoke at his rehearsal dinner 2 months after our's and let's just say.. payback's a bitch.

 

Compliments of our fabulous invitation goddess.

 

Junior Bridesmaid extraordinaire or the other love of my life.

  

 

We were so, so lucky to have our photographer at our rehearsal dinner to capture so many awesome moments.

I hope you stayed warm and dry this weekend.  All the gray and rain made me a little sad.  I wanted to spend all of my time in here.

From here.

Instead, Mr. DD and I decided to torture ourselves and head to the Javits Center for "Meet the Breeds."  160 breeds of dogs were represented and it was an explosion of adorableness.  We fell in love over and over and over again... and with breeds we never expected to love.  But of course, I heart these guys the most.

From here.

Happy Friday!

Fabulous barware makes alcohol even more fun, doesn't it?  It's freezing in New York and Mr. DD won't be home until the wee hours.  Thank God for Bailey's.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Favorite Couple of 2009?!

Wow.  People are saying such kind things about us.  We are so very flattered.

The single life

I'm no economist, but apparently the economy has gone to shit.  I don't know... something about mortgages and some guy named Bernie Madoff.

Anyway- Mr. Diagnosis Deferred works in finance.  This means that I don't see much of him these days.  In fact, over the last year his appearances have been pretty spotty.  He's in his cuff links and his suit (he's totally adorable...) and off to work early-early and often home after I've fallen asleep.  Not that I'm complaining.  The truth is, we're just thrilled that he still has a job (knocking enthusiastically on wood).

Here is my little list of things to do when you are married, but you may as well be single.

1.  Read.  A lot.  I joined one of those book swapping sites because paying $3 to ship a book and receive a new one beats the hell out of paying retail.  Relatedly, I've joined a book club.  It's really more of a "chatting/eating/drinking wine whilst briefly mentioning the book with ten girlfriends" club, but I think it still counts as an intellectual endeavor.

2.  Volunteer.  Every Wednesday night I trek to Harlem to mentor a phenomenal group of 7-12 year old girls.  They are fantastically funny and they love every second that we spend with them.

3.  Create.  Mr. DD treated me to a six week pottery class for my dirty thirty.  I start in a few weeks and I'm beyond excited.  I'll keep you posted.  When my mother-in-law was newly married and living abroad, she took a flower arranging class.  To this day, she can do amazing things with even the most meager of  bodega bouquets.  I am terribly jealous impressed.  Next stop, flower school.

Also, a brief list of Don'ts:
-Call too often to "check in"
-Over-feed the fish
-Get carried away with the self-tanning and teeth-whitening and exfoliation and at-home hair dying
-Spend too much time on Facebook
-Waste endless hours watching YouTube hair and makeup tutorials

A teaser...

I'm the first to admit that I've been negligent in the posting of my wedding photos.  I promise that a full recap of the amazing and wonderful day is coming... sometime before my one year anniversary.  And of course, I can't forget the glorious honeymoon.  Those will be up shortly as well. In the meantime, accept my apologies.

Yep, I've neglected to post our rehearsal dinner photos...

and our preparation photos...

our ceremony photos...

as well as the beloved balloon session...

I've posted none of our reception photos...

or the wildly popular photobooth photos....

More to follow, I promise.
What a day!  I'd do it all over again every weekend if I could.
*Every last photo by the amazing and talented Agaton Strom.