11 inches...

I'm talking about the amount of hair I'm donating!

I love Lifebooker! It's a deal website that features beauty, health, fitness and lifestyle - with that, haircuts, etc.

Several months back, I had a terrible hair accident, where a section of my hair got either burnt/chopped/eaten off. I honestly don't know what happened, but I was missing a chunk of the length of my hair

Anyway, I was glad that it was hidden enough and nobody noticed it. You would see it if I pulled my hair up in a high ponytail, so I just avoided that for months. After I felt like it grew enough, I hopped on Lifebooker to check out the deals. I went through the hair category and noticed a conditioning treatment + haircut + style deal for $39 dollars at a salon that was walking distance to my job! Score!

I purchased the deal and scheduled my appointment for a week later! When I told and showed the stylist my problem, we evaluated that at least 11 inches would have to come off to even it all out. She could have worked around the "hair accident," but I immediately thought I would donate and go all-in, especially that I qualify!

Even with missing a portion, I still have a good ponytail to donate!

I've donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths program in the past and decided I would donate to them again. It's easy to donate!

• Hair needs to be at least 8 inches
• No dyes, bleaches or chemicals on your hair
• You can't have more than 5% gray hair

That's it! Here are more instructions.

Anyway, hope everyone out there is having a happy halloween - and also staying safe! I celebrated last weekend and am staying indoors tonight, snuggled in bed. :)

NBA Opening Night at Madison Square Park

When I talked to my dad over the weekend, he asked me what happened to my Wednesday post. It was a pretty busy (and extremely boring) week to share last week. I was just working so much that I didn't have any time to think about anything else in life.

Also, it was a nice surprise that my parents read my blog!

Anyway, I've been having this weird face situation going on, so I scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist yesterday. (Don't worry folks, it seems like I just had an allergic reaction.) Because of my morning appointment, I went to work an hour later than usual - and stumbled on a big NBA promo thing going on in Madison Square Park.

As I was crossing the street, a large drumline began to play. It was so wacky! They built a basketball court and had lots of NBA stuff going on. I really had to rush to work, but I managed to sneakily take these photos while crossing the street!

The drumline was pretty cool! I found a little video of them here:

My Special Force: The warrior who taught me he meaning of life and love

When I was initially approached with the opportunity to review My Special Force by Heather Means, I was hesitant. To be honest, I didn't want to deal with the harsh reality of a soldier's death, let along your own husband. I've actually been avoiding anything that has to deal with the death of a military loved one.

Although my husband isn't deployed to an area of current combat, I can't help but worry. The odds of him getting hurt aren't high, but the fact I haven't seen him in a long while still puts me on edge. I can admit to you that I'm a baby sometimes.

What really resonated with me is that Heather's husband wasn't injured or attacked by insurgents and suffered from a battle wound, he was affected by something unrelated and something you can't really plan on dealing with as a military spouse.

As I read about Heather's determination and resilience despite all the difficult challenges, I had to read on. I felt like it was important for me, especially, as a new military spouse to understand. At the beginning, their relationship mirrored countless other military relationships, including my own. My husband and I spent a majority of our courtship traveling visiting each other and keeping in touch with phone calls etc. I was inspired by their love and devotion to each other through their written words. I enjoyed reading the dialogue between Heather and her husband, Ryan with the letters that were shared in the book. It gave me the opportunity to take a sneak peek at their relationship.

When Ryan began to struggle with his illness, my reading slowed down a bit. I can't even describe how I felt getting through the pages, but I really commend Heather for her spirit and strength. Ryan was also amazing because he remained a devoted and loving husband, while battling through a grueling disease.

This book definitely shows the power of love and the importance of remembering the legacy of a loved one. Not only will Ryan's family have something to read that carries his story, but countless other families will have the opportunity to learn from him too.

Here is Heather's book on Amazon.com.

NMSN Summit + everything else from the weekend

I had such an action-packed busy weekend!

After work on Friday, I went to the rental car place to pick-up my car and drove from NYC to Alexandria, Virginia. I left close to 8pm and walked into the hotel at around midnight. In my opinion, the drive to the DC-area was pretty quick! It took about four hours and I hardly hit any traffic. I only experienced a little congestion as I was leaving the city, but that was it!

As soon as I got myself into my hotel room, I went to sleep that way I can get up early enough for the start of the summit. The National Military Spouse Network summit started at 8am on Saturday. [Yikes!]

Luckily, the summit location was just walking distance from my hotel. It was easy enough for me to make it there with time to spare. I have to admit that I was extremely nervous on the walk over. I didn't know what to expect. I did have a goal in mind - and that was to meet and interact with military spouses. Also, I was eager to learn from the other spouses and looked forward to hearing their stories.
 
After I entered the door, all my nerves went away. Everybody welcomed me with open arms and were so kind. I listened intently and shared my thoughts too. I have to say that it was such a motivating and inspiring summit to me. It showed me that anything is possible, even with the transient and ever-changing life of a military spouse.

The biggest thing I've learned at the summit is that I'm not alone - and spouses are my greatest resource. I have so much to learn from my peers and look forward to building the friendships I've formed during the summit! I met some incredibly awesome women!! I'm sure I'll elaborate on more in blog posts to come! :)

The National Military Spouse Network is amazing. It is definitely a great network for military spouses that are looking to network and educate themselves to achieve personal gains. Whether you're looking to start a career or a mentor in a particular field, the NMSN is there to help! My next step with the organization is membership. I really think participating will help with my professional development, especially with my new life as a military spouse.

On Sunday, I woke up and headed to Fort Belvoir! I planned on seeing apartments in the area too. Overall, it was a very productive weekend! I'm more and more excited to move to Virginia now that I've had a taste of what it's like in the area! Bring it on!

The Boys Behind the Blog: Halloween edition!

Thanks to Mal Smiles and Never The Same Spice Twice for giving us a pretty fun link-up called "Boys Behind The Blog!" I participated last month and it's become a really fun activity for my husband and I do together!

Here are this month's questions from the man:

1. Describe yourself in 5 words.
Anxious, excited, smart, strong koala

Ok, if I answered it would be: faithful, handsome, smart (he got me there), buff ;) and adventurous

2. What is your biggest fear?
Being attached by John Carpenter's The Thing. The Thing is scary as *h*t.

Picture from here

(Didn't want my blog to be rated R haha)

3. What is your favorite candy?
Starburst jelly beans

4. What was the best Halloween costume you've ever worn? (include pictures if you have them)
It was either when I was a Ninja Turtle (Leonardo) complete with paper masche shell or when I was Raiden from Mortal Kombat.

Picture from here

Picture from here

Sadly, no pictures of him wearing it because he was a child in both instances! It's a bummer because I would have liked to see them myself!

5. Who is your favorite football team?
Not really a fan of team sports.

I know, SHOCKING! It's ok though because I'm a team sports fan enough for the both of us.

Just Because Flowers

It's really been a whirlwind week for me. A week ago today, my husband's mom had a heart attack. A flood of emotions immediately came to me when I listened to the message from my husband's sister. I was shocked at first and then worried. I wanted to just rush over to Boston to help and I wished my husband wasn't in Korea so he could come with me.

I can't ever begin to explain how I felt. Now, flash forward a week, his mom is recovering and needs to go in for another surgery.

What worried me at the beginning is what would happen if something worse happened. My husband is all the way on the other side of the world. We talked about what we would do and how to go about it. If any tragedy happens in your family, you should know to contact the Red Cross. Luckily for us, we didn't have to go that far, but I didn't know what to do before this happened.

I wanted to go to Boston to visit, but that didn't end up happening. With everything going on, it was too much.

Outside of the family emergency, my husband and I have been really anxious lately. We're reaching our breaking point on every side and just cannot wait for the tour to end. Sometimes, I can't help but get frustrated by the distance and the amount of time we've spend apart. So far, in the last 280 days, I've only spent 10 of them with him. By the time the year is out, we would have spent 355 days apart. I definitely understand that lots others have endured longer tours and deployments, but a year is a REALLY long time and I'm just SO ready for it to be over.

Today, my husband surprised me. I was sent a dozen roses just because. In my opinion, he sent them because of everything going on, but I'll still give him credit for being a great husband!

Sliver lining: we are at the homestretch!

Our dining room table.

National Military Spouse Network's Career Summit

The National Military Spouse Network will hold their third annual Military Spouse Career Summit and first annual Military Spouse Small Works Exhibition this weekend - and I'll be attending!

I'm always searching for different networking groups and ways to connect with other military spouses. With the upcoming move to Fort Belvoir, I realized that I need to be strategic and figure out what would be my best for my career. I started by searching for organizations that help military spouses with careers. And that's when I found National Military Spouse Network.

Their mission: "We are the National Military Spouse Network (NMSN) - the pre-eminent networking, mentoring and professional development organization committed to the education, empowerment and advancement of military spouses."

The feel like the best way for me to really understand what's ahead is to meet, listen and start a conversation with other military spouses in similar situations. When I saw that NMSN's annual networking and empowering summit is taking place in October in Alexandria, Virginia, I jumped at the chance!

This couldn't have come at a better time! First, Virginia is really not that far away. Second, Alexandria is the nearest town to Fort Belvoir!

I talked to the soldier and told him my thoughts on the event, especially all the benefits. The event is going to be taking place in the area we're moving to in a handful of months. It would help me get mentally prepared for my career shift. Also, I could start scoping out the possible living situations! Overall, good stuff!

A couple weeks ago, I ordered networking cards - and they came in the mail today! I leave after work on Friday and will be driving in. Very much looking forward to sharing with everybody my experience! Woohoo!

My Mellow Monday at Central Park

I made it a goal this weekend to be productive. I've been doing more wedding stuff like address envelopes, etc. Today, I decided to make an effort to enjoy the delightful day. I dragged a friend and we went over to New York City's most well-known park, Central Park!

After brunch, we walked through Central Park for a couple of hours encountering a whole lot of interesting things. First, we saw a woman walking a domestic cat on a leash. Yes, that's right...a cat on a leash! We were too slow to get our phones out to take a picture. Then, we watched several street performers from violinists to break dancers and jazz saxophonists to an acapella children's choir.

It's been SO long since I've been to the park. I realized that I haven't been to the park at all during the summer!

I want to make more of an effort to do more "New Yorky" things before I leave. From now on, I''ll be more proactive!!

 

It's BAAAAACK! Madison Square Park Eats - Fall Edition

The first time I talked about Madison Square Park Eats was earlier this year HERE.

I'm so happy to report that on September 27, Madison Square Park Eats opened up again for their Fall installment! I discovered the deliciousness of Seoul Lee Korean Barbecue in the Spring Madison Square Park Eats and at that time also realized that they don't have a store front yet - and actually didn't have any solid plans for a restaurant! I was very sad that I wouldn't be able to enjoy tasty Korean tacos after it ended, but they did say that they were bringing it back for the Fall session! 

So, when this season's eats came around, I immediately jumped at the chance to have
Seoul Lee Korean Barbecue's bulgogi tacos!YUM!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will open a restaurant soon, especially before I leave NYC!

The front of the booth.

The view as I waited in line.

I had to wait in a LONG line.

Prepping my delicious lunch.

The final product, which was worth the wait!

 

My Current Obsession - PCSing!

Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

The photo above is from Fort Belvoir's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/fortbelvoir

I can't help but obsess over the idea of moving to Fort Belvoir. It's real. It's going to happen (as of right now). It's unbelievable at the same time.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret...

I'm freaking out!

And, at the same time, I'm pumped that my husband and I will finally have a place together. Yippee!

Before we got married, we set-up a joint fiancee account and started to save up. For the last year now, we've been working on our joint savings and are pretty ready for all the necessary home purchases. I've been living with roommates practically my whole time in NYC - and we all have our own furniture that makes up the apartment. My contribution is the dining room table besides all my room stuff. So everything else, I don't have - that includes, a couch and other living room items as well as practically all the kitchen appliances and gear. My husband is coming from barracks living, so he's got nothin'.

It's funny because a couple months ago we made our first huge purchase - a car! We bought it even before we he got notification of his new location. In Korea, they have overseas car buying programs, so we were able to get a 2014 Jeep Patriot for dirt cheap. I've been eying the Patriot for awhile and we got it fully equipped. Now that we know where we're going, the car will be waiting for us in Virginia.

My type-a personality is in full swing and I'm researching like crazy. Once I wrap my head around all this madness, I would like to put together a more formal list (rather than thousands of post-it notes around my room as I think of another thing). The last couple of weeks, I've just let my mind run wild with thoughts and plans. We're also lucky with Fort Belvoir because it's just about four hours away from NYC. I can easily scope out the place on a weekend. It's actually closer to me than Fort Drum - and I used to take the bus up there every other week for about a year!!!

Yes, I was crazy...crazy in love (couldn't help it!). 

I've already experienced one PCS with my husband, but I hardly count it because it was his PCS En Route to Korea (he went from Fort Drum to Fort Huachuca (for four months!) to Korea) and I didn't move.

So, what's the best advice you've received when you were a first-time PCSer that really helped you?

New York City Transit

Along with millions of other New Yorkers, I take the subway to work. I just hope on one train from my apartment to the office. It takes me about thirty minutes to get to Flatiron/Gramercy area.

For this week, I decided to snap a couple photos of me waiting on the platform. Throughout the Broadway line (the subway line I take - N or Q trains), they have title art on the walls. At the 23rd Street stop, they have, what I call, floating hats. I sometimes see tourists pose under them and take pictures.

When I looked straight ahead at the other platform going downtown, I caught the perfect picture!

Doesn't it look like the two fellows are wearing the hats? I had a good laugh to myself.