Friday.

8am at the north end of the reservoir 

I went on a 7:30am walk all around the park with friend Reghan. It was a spectacular morning! And the few miles we walked felt nice. I'm making it a thrice-weekly routine, I think. Morning walks in the park, especially around the reservoir, especially when I'm trying to get this baby out sooner rather than later. Lovely. 

I was struck this morning with the reality that my little brother is getting married today (!!), which is so, so happy! But I'm not there. Which is so, so sad. It just feels off. All of my siblings are together. My nieces & nephews. My parents. My mom was making fresh huckleberry pies this morning. Boo. I'm actually sort of heartbroken about it all, but almost-37 weeks pregnant + a 3,000 mile cross-country flight do not mix very well, so I'm trying to just not dwell on it. But, of course, I'm currently dwelling, & just a teensy bit sad.

I'm really, really missing taking lots & lots of photos. Maybe it's just being tired, maybe it's the ease & simplicity of the iPhone, but I just haven't had my camera with me as often over the past few weeks, & I'm starting to miss it so very much. I'm taking some portraits for a friend next week & I'm so, so excited to be behind the lens again in a semi-formal setting. Giddy, almost. 

I've made Kelsey's Greek Pita's three times this week (we're not opposed to repeats if we have lots of ingredients to use up, obviously). I'm wanting to make her grandmother's cookies soon, too. I'd love her even if she wasn't a fabulous cook, but still - it's a nice perk to have such a great foodie friend who passes along so many amazing recipes. And her show! It has a premiere date of November 6th on The Cooking Channel. Hooray! It's going to be amazing. So proud of this girl. 

(Side note: Our Throwdown episode re-airs tomorrow night. I still haven't seen it, so I'm excited.)

I bought a new pair of Uggs this week. Winter is coming, winter is coming! It kind of reminds me of the lake when a huge storm is approaching & we have to run around to secure everything on the dock & make sure that the boat is all sealed up. Winter in NYC is sort of like that, except you have to ensure that you have a great supply of down coats, furry boots & other frigid-weather gear, because those days when it's 20 degrees & bitter cold - they're rough.

My beauty editor friend Sarah passed along a truly fabulous bag of cosmetic goodies to me the other week (one of the nicer things anyone has ever done for me), including the new scent from Tocca that just came out. It's heaven. I'm picky about most things, but perfume - I'm especially picky. I'm obsessed with Colette. Perfectly subtle, & as an added perk, the packaging happens to be beautiful. I'm wanting Cleopatra, too. 

30 days until Baby Boy arrives. Or 15 days. Or maybe 35 days. Who knows. Either way, it's coming up. I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday & everything was normal, normal, normal. His head still isn't quite down, but we're working on that this week & they'll check things out next week to make sure he's gearing up for his big exit. My belly has grown a tiny bit (1 cm), I haven't gained any weight in a month & nothing has swelled up yet (thank goodness). No major complaints, except total insomnia at this point. And really, the only major difference since my last appointment 2 weeks ago: I can no longer see the cup that I'm required to pee in every visit, which made for a tricky situation where I was forced to go blind. Oh dear.