Living in a dream world

I wish I could blog as often as my friend courtney. She is SO good about it. I'm talking multiple posts a day! There's always so much news and so many pictures of the kids, and stories about the kids and funny things the kids say. Maybe someday I will also have the time to blog and write many interesting things.
Let us have hope.

What Sundays should be

Three hour brunches with friends. That's basically all I need in a Sunday. Some nice spring weather maybe. Lots of dogs out and about to love on from afar (or near). Coffee. Mimosas. Good conversation. Goat cheese omelettes. Preferably all at my favorite little brunch spot around the corner appropriately called QUAINT. Even though it was just a tad chilly still to eat on the patio (we did brave it for about 10 minutes), we enjoyed a LOVELY brunch there on Sunday with my dearest friend Alison and the incomparable John Rand (also known as the man who got me published and made me fancy). We had SUCH a nice time in fact, that i was somehow even excited to go home and organize geoff's closet, run errands and clean the apartment. Time with friends is so rare for us these days (what with the wedding madness) that the good it did for my soul was powerful indeed.

Again please.

Secret Surprise engagement video!!

Click to Play

This is the video that I surprised Kate with last year at her 30th birthday party in order to "set the mood" for an even better second surprise-

A wedding proposal!

"Dude, I totally just got married!"

Just having a laugh at some sad realities of modern high-tech life. Don't worry, there won't be a loveless, workaholic, isolated lives theme to our wedding. Just wanted to share some of the options available to us for wedding cake toppers.

Meet the neighbors.

This is Butch. He lives down the street. It makes my heart hurt how cute he is.

A Growing Family

No, don't worry we're not pregnant. But Geoff's sister-in-law Liz was, until yesterday when she gave birth to her third child, Kayla Diana Bashawaty. We got to meet her today and MAN is she adorable. She was 9 lbs 2 oz and super tall - 21 or 22 inches I think. She also has a full head of hair that she has styled in a cute pixie cut. It truly looks like she had it cut that way, its so perfect. We got to hold her and bond a little before heading back to the city. She was sleeping for most of the time but she did open her eyes at the end just before her dinner time and she made some Awesome faces, to show us how she really feels about us. Well, hopefully she'll come around....

Paparazzi Magnets

So you know how we are so old and lame? Normally this is 100% true. This past Saturday, however, we were total rock stars. We had our engagement photo session with our 2 AWESOME photographers who are shooting our wedding and who are Geoff's (and now my) great friends. Carla Ten Eyck and Matt Wagner are completely awesome and totally talented and even managed to make us look like we are the Pretty People.

We had an awesome day, starting at the Met and taking all kinds of pictures, then working our way down to the Village - no, Soho, no, the Meatpacking District, no Soho - (we changed our minds about 7 times in the cab on the way down there). We finally settled on the Meatpacking District (EXCELLENT idea, Mr. Wagner) cause the light was gorgeous on those cobblestone streets. After changing outfits in the cab (go ahead, you may be impressed/horrified), dumping our stuff at Starbucks, discovering Geoff had lost his iPhone, realizing he left it in the cab, locating the iPhone - still in the cab - and with the iPhone on it's way back to us in the self same cab from the Upper East Side (no idea how it got there so fast), we finally headed out to make the best of the light that was left. It was fairly cold, but we enjoyed it anyway.

I realized its a lot harder to be a model than I thought. And Geoff and I realized we need to do something besides stare at each other and kiss all day. We've only seen Carla's shots so far, but they are awesome and we can't wait to see Matt's too. Also, it gives us lots to think about and practice for pictures on our wedding day.

And on a School Night!

Don't let it be said that I'm not dedicated to my job. Or my friends. Especially not when they coincide. Geoff and I took a road trip up to Hartford last night to see a performance of the 12 Angry Men Tour. It's a show I help cast and it's in its 2nd year of touring, and I had yet to see this cast perform it. It's an incredible play that the Roundabout Theatre produced on Broadway a few seasons ago and every single cast I've seen is exceptional (if I do say so myself, for my humble part in it). It just so happens that one of my friends from college, Mike DiSalvo, is in the cast this year. He was our reader for auditions and was so damn good that the director just up and offered him a part. So we made the trek up to Hartford to see Mike and the Angry Men and even were wild and crazy enough to go out for a drink afterwards. The show was fantastic. its just one of those plays that everyone loves. The Men played Toronto earlier this year and after they left, the theatre up there called and asked to have them back because it was the best play they'd ever had. So the actors were great, Mike was awesome, and Juror #2, Todd Cerveris has THE CUTEST pit bull that we met after the show (which was really just the icing on the cake for me). We had a great time and even though it meant not getting home until 2am (keep in mind I usually fall asleep before 11pm) and being super tired this morning, it was well worth it. Check out their touring schedule (playing through mid-June) and if they come to a city near you, go see it. Truly one of my favorite nights at the theatre. And I promise that's not just because I cast it, or because Mike was in it, or even because of the pit bull. It's just that good.

The Meeting

On a VERY COLD (frigid, even) Good Friday, our families finally met. After a snow storm foiled our first attempt last month, we finally got everyone together in the same place. My Mom and Dad popped down to CT for a day of wedding planning, and after discussing flowers and centerpieces at the Woodbury nursery, we convened at Al & Liz's house for a walk around the wedding site so mom could "eyeball" everything. After all the wedding work was out of the way, the families had lunch together. My dad and Al discussed wind power while Geoff's mom and mine made fast friends. We spent most of the meal being entertained by our amazing ring bearer and flower girl, Khal and Maya. Maya marveled over the stuffed lamb that my mom gave her for Easter, while Khal just generally displayed his genius math and verbal skills. I can't tell you how cute it was when he turned to my dad and said, "And what is your favorite number, Ed?" Gosh, they are both so stinkin' cute. They will totally steal the show at the wedding and I'm totally fine with it. And to think, there's a third future niece or nephew on the way. Don't know if I will actually be able to stand it.

The Schwabes at the tent site (this kind of looks like it could be our album cover)


Haley (my brother's dog) checks out the tent site


Mom meets Khal and Maya

Check us out, we're all growns up! (Thanks IKEA!)

Sometimes you have a car. And sometimes you have to take that car to the Ikea in Queens. And buy things. And then sometimes you have to go across the parking lot to On The Border and have the world's biggest margarita, cause Ikea is wonderful but exhausting.