I Am Thankful

I am thankful that while hurriedly running errands on Monday, I took a moment to look up at the sky and see this beautiful tree. Hurricane Sandy pretty much stole our fall here in New York City and the vibrant colors were just what I needed to see.

I am thankful this year has been filled with so many joyous moments.

I am thankful to be in the very beginning stages of making a long-time dream into a reality. I am thankful for the days I feel energized about making progress; I am more thankful for the people in my life who encourage me when I begin to doubt myself.

I am thankful for what the new ring on my left hand represents: our relationship, our dreams, our impending adventure, our love. I am thankful every single day that I am lucky enough to share my life with my very best friend. For the failed relationships, rivers of tears, and moments I was sure I would never find someone, I am thankful. Without them, I never would have found him.

I am thankful for our families coming together and sharing in this exciting time in our lives. It is sometimes crazy, chaotic, and overwhelming, but that’s family. I am thankful for so much love in our lives.

I am thankful for a mother who taught me by example how to be a good person, woman, and wife. I’m thankful she was on the other end of the phone when I reached my breaking point. I’m thankful she encouraged me to follow my heart to Manhattan and talked me into staying when I wanted to move home. I still don’t have her patience, but I’m working on it.

I am thankful for a father who stepped into the role whole-heartedly. I’m thankful that he believes I will succeed in anything life throws my way. I’m thankful he never let me settle for anything less than I could achieve or deserve. I’m thankful that in a moment of weakness, he assured me my future had nothing to do with my past. I’m thankful he loves Mike like a son.

I am thankful life has been so kind to my sister this year. I am thankful she has a loving husband, a new job, a cozy furball, and a safe apartment. I am thankful she takes time to enjoy the outdoors.

I am thankful for my entire family that keeps me strong and grounded.

I am thankful that I am (finally) starting to fall in love with New York City. I still have my moments and this place still has it quirks, but it is getting harder each day to imagine living anywhere else.

I am thankful for my gym – for the workouts and the people. I am thankful Mike encouraged me to join because he saw that I needed a push. I am thankful that it has completely changed my view of what it means to be healthy. I am thankful that it makes me feel strong, peaceful, and beautiful.

I am thankful to be on this winding road of life. I am thankful for the people in my life who make it bright and worthwhile. I am thankful for the unknown opportunities and joys that await me and thankful for the disappointments that will make me that much stronger. I am thankful for today.

Never forget.

Happy 20 Years Mom & Dad!

Today my parents celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary. Twenty years! It doesn't seem so long ago that I was standing with my sister, in our pink floral dresses and braided hair, listening as they took their vows on a beautiful summer day; taking our own vows to accept our new family as a whole.

Shortly after their wedding, our family of four plus Missy, our sweet golden retriever, piled into a moving van, and drove south towards the life we would all make together in Virginia. Despite being sleepy and hungry, I remember insisting on returning the moving van with my new stepfather. It was dark and quiet, one of those perfectly still Virgina summer nights I would soon grow to love. Despite not having slept in days, he already knew the ride was entirely too quiet for the usual chatterbox of a six year old that I was, hungry or not. He said very quietly, "You know, you don't have to call me Dad until you are ready. And if you are never ready, that's okay too."

He may have been expecting a simple "Thanks" but he soon found me sobbing - long, exasperated wails - as all the anger and fear I could possibly contain in my tiny body escaped as thick, hot tears running down my face and neck.  He did his best to soothingly ask what was the matter - let’s not forget the man had been a bachelor less than a year ago and now found himself living with three females - probably desperately trying to figure out how to deal with a little girl's breakdown with no Mom around. “I just don’t want you to leave us too,” I managed to say between sobs, so calmly it still surprises me to this day.

“Look at me,” he said comfortingly, but in a tone I already knew not to ignore. “I will never leave you. We are a family. I need you to know that if your mother and I disagree, no one is walking away. There might be times when we don’t get along, but I’m not leaving.” I started calling him “Daddy” that very same night as he tucked me into bed.

That promise has stayed very close to my heart these last twenty years. There have been highs and lows, milestones and disagreements. But together, my mom and dad have set the example for my sister and me of a solid marriage, incredible parenting, and what it truly means to be a family. They have celebrated our accomplishments, encouraged us when we needed it, and comforted us in moments of sadness and desparation.

I wish you both bundles of happiness in the years ahead. I know you sometimes still wish Val and I were young again, racing outside to catch lightning bugs after dinner, but I hope you also enjoy the time together, making up for the moments you sacrificed to ensure we started life on the right path. I love you Mommy and Daddy.

Lunch In Carl Schurz Park

Happy Birthday Mike!

Happy Birthday Mike! You have an incredible year ahead of you; I am so lucky to know and love someone as amazing as you!

Happy Mother's Day!

To the woman who raised me, loves me, continually encourages me to follow my ever evolving dreams: thank you for teaching me to be a lady, to love unconditionally, to always remember family is the most important thing in the world. I never could have come this far without your guidance and support. You are one amazing woman.

My Portfolio

In my reading and research on photography, one piece of adivce I see repeatedly is to start your professional portfolio as soon as possible. It's not that I ignored this advice, but rather felt I was only in the beginning stages of piecing my portfolio together. And then I received three requests for my portfolio in two weeks. Yikes!

After some intense selecting, sorting, and flipping through old magazines, I am happy to announce the launch of www.allisonveinote.com, which will serve a my photography and food styling portfolio. I hope you will stop by and find something inspiring!

"Talking With My Mouth Full" Book Party

This past Tuesday was rather exciting as my amazing boss, Gail Simmons, published her very first book, “Talking With My Mouth Full”! Only a year ago, she was in the very beginning stages of writing; since then there were many more hours of writing, tons of editing, recipe testing, shooting the book cover, selecting the jacket design, and planning a book tour. It was an incredible process to observe and I feel fortunate to have played a very small part in it all.

Tuesday night, FOOD & WINE and Essie threw Gail a book party at Beauty & Essex. It was the party every girl dreams of hosting just once in her life and nothing short of fabulous. The cozy space at Beauty & Essex featured accents inspired by the Essie Spring 2012 colors. Even the cocktails were mixed, muddled, shaken, and stirred with these colors in mind!

The evening would not have been complete without a fantastic guest list, including Andy Cohen, Padma Laksmi, Dannielle Kyrillos, Nigel Parry, Melanie Dunea, Dorie Greenspan, Marcy Blum, Mindy Fox, and Amy Atlas (I was SO excited to meet her!), among many others. We all spent the evening toasting to Gail’s success – present and future – and she could not have been a more gracious hostess. Be sure to order your copy of Gail’s book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble!

Check out more photos from the party here.

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Six Years Together

I love this photo of Mike and me. Technically, the photo is not perfect – rather it is out of focus and blurry. But it captures a moment of silliness, with me likely trying to steal a kiss and him trying to not smile. And while better photos of us exist – posed, smiling, beautiful backgrounds – this one especially reminds me how special our relationship really is.

Much like this photo, life itself can get blurry or a bit out of focus from time to time, but Mike always makes me smile and makes me stronger than I could ever be on my own. And I will forever be trying to steal one extra kiss.

Mike, I am so glad I met you six years ago. I love you.

Farewell 2011

Here we are again - watching the last hours of another year tick away. Is it just me or are the years passing faster than the bubbles rise to the top of champagne glass? I feel helpless to stop them, so I just have to admire their beauty and take another generous gulp.

Beautiful, exciting moments filled the past year, though 2011 did it’s best to try to bring me to my knees in some of it’s darkest moments. I experienced both pure happiness and heartache to levels I previously never knew existed. There were moments I felt a world away from my family, even as I finally, finally fell completely in love with my Manhattan-ite life. If I did not already know it, this year set out to remind me that my family is my whole world.

Surprisingly enough, I am leaving 2011 feeling quite balanced - maybe more so than I can ever remember. I guess that’s what happens when you start cutting yourself a little bit of slack. When you remove your concentration from the material things you don’t have to realizing just how rich you already are - shelter, food, clothing, health, family, and friends are luxuries never to be discounted.

Looking ahead, 2012 already seems to offer so much excitement and the notion of starting a new year with a clean slate is nothing short of inspiring.  There will be highs and lows, but this past year taught me that, with the support of my family and friends, every moment can be significant and meaningful in ways we might not be able to see on the surface.

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Our Christmas Card 2011

Happy Birthday Valerie!

A Brooklyn Goodbye

My very closest girlfriend is moving today – not to another borough, not to the city’s suburbs, but to another country. Let me begin by saying I have very few close girlfriends in my life and, perhaps, as I have grown older, this has been a more conscious decision than not. I quickly tire of gossip and drama; for most of my life I have been looking ahead to the future, knowing I would someday leave for college, a job, a new city.

Maybe this is part of the reason she and I became such good friends, especially considering we initially despised each other. But when I moved to New York City after graduation, when I was feeling unbelievably lost and lonely, she was one of the only people I knew in the city. Afternoons of cupcake tasting, farmers market trips, running in Central Park, or conversations about food (always with wine) ensued. Her no-nonsense, tough love was exactly what I needed and against all odds of our personalities, we quickly became close friends. Without her support, I would not have found the willpower to stay in NYC, so you might imagine how indebted I feel to her now.

We spent last Saturday in Brooklyn, pretending most of the day that it was like any other weekend, enjoying a few drinks while catching-up on everyone’s increasingly busy lives. But all too quickly, we found ourselves huddled in a dirty subway station, where the L train splits between Manhattan and Brooklyn. A tear-filled goodbye ensued and I could suddenly no longer harbor any anger at her for leaving. I could only wish her the best of luck and sincerely hope she finds everything she is seeking.

Food52 Cookbook

Last week I returned home from work and while fumbling for my keys, I noticed a big, thick yellow envelope on my doormat.  It is not uncommon for packages to be waiting, but this one touted a large label from a publishing house – like the ones I am used to receiving at work, but never at home.  Without removing my jacket or boots, I tore into the envelope and carefully removed the long-awaited, physical copy of the Food52 Cookbook. 

 

My winning recipe happily begins on page 324.  I know this for certain, as each day since receiving the book, I have flipped open to this page, just to affirm the recipe, my blog, and my name have not disappeared into thin air.  What an amazing feeling it is to see your work in print!

The Food52 Cookbook is a bible written by an incredible collection of inspirational home cooks from around the country; I am humbled to be considered one of them.  I absolutely cannot wait to spend more time perusing the pages and urge you to do the same – either by securing your own copy of the book or exploring the Food52 website!

Happy Halloween!

Duke

In my family, dogs are not pets at all and are rather considered to be members of the family. They become our children, siblings, and grand-puppies. Up until two weeks ago, I had not yet met the newest member of our family, my cousin Duke, although I received all of his puppy photos and email accounts of him growing into a full-sized golden retriever (as with toddlers, I am happy to have missed the biting/chewing stage). Quite the ham, right?

Preparing for Hurricane Irene

Okay folks. Let's everyone just take a deep breath and stop throwing this city into a panic. The first rain clouds have just started rolling over Manhattan, all the stores are closed, and our transportation system is completely shut-down. My sweet mother, bless her heart, tried to convince Mike and me to evacuate to southwestern Virginia. This is the same woman who outright refused to evacuate our below-sea level house on the coast of Virginia where I grew up for ANY hurricane. Exhibiting her same stubbornness, I was quick to remind her I live on the sixth floor of a pre-war brick building above sea level. And I happen to think we will be just fine.

Despite my confidence, the grocery store shelves have been barren of bread, water, flashlights, and batteries for days. The grocery order I expected to be delivered this morning was cancelled at the last minute last night. But it is okay. We have eighteen bottles of wine, six bottles of bourbon, and way too much of Mike's homebrew to count.

And since I haven't been able to buy bread for days, I woke up this morning and made up two loaves of my favorite homemade white bread. And, if do end up losing electricity and I can't make pancakes, I made a double-batch of my favorite granola, adding in some sweetened, shredded, coconut and pumpkin seeds.

Everyone stay safe. I'll see you on the other side of Irene. I need to go refill my wine glass.

A Cape Cod Weekend

We spent the long weekend of Fourth of July enjoying one of my favorite places - Cape Cod. And despite a few injuries and discovering my previously unknown allergy to sunscreen, the weekend was relaxing and peaceful. It has taken me several weeks to edit the photos, as I have fallen quite behind in editing photos composing thoughtful posts.

As life went from hectic to sullen to impossibly cruel over these past few days, I curled up under my down comforter and bawled my eyes out more times than I care to admit. Then yesterday, I suddenly needed a visual reminder of a quiet, peaceful moment in my own life, not so long ago when life seemed easy, joyous, and finally on track. So I pushed aside the tissues stained with mascara and containing the last tears my body will physically be able to produce for awhile and took myself back to Cape Cod.

As it turns out, I took hundreds of photos that weekend - so many that I need to break them into separate posts in order to share them all with you. I hope you are able to visualize the peace and serenity and all the reasons I so love this tiny island. And if you might also need some comfort in your life, I hope the photos here and to come will remind you, as they did me, that life will at some point in the future once again seem beautiful, simple, and free.