"a royal wedding on a friday, a Noble wedding on a saturday"

My friends Kyo and Tim (Noble) are getting married today! I've known them both almost as long as I've been living in New York and they have been two great friends over the last few years. They're getting married in the beautiful Alder Manor in Yonkers, NY, and I can't wait to watch them say I Do! The wedding is sure to be a blast, everything always is with these two!

royal wedding fun

Katherine and I set our alarms for just before 6 am this morning so we could catch the royal wedding ceremony! It was tough to drag myself out of bed at that hour...but it helped that I was going straight to the couch. Then Kat found this video to watch while we were passing time during the "Royal Kiss" countdown. I laugh every time!

chameleon kat

This picture speaks for itself.

prayers and devastation

Thanks for all of the prayers and thoughts for my hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and especially the many friends who have reached out to me about my family. They are all ok and safe, but entirely by the grace of God. The heart of the devastation was very close (and I mean, VERY) to my grandmother's house, and it was miraculously untouched.

I can hardly bear to watch the news and look at the pictures of the rubble. The entire community... gone. Everything that I remembered about T-town is nonexistent now. It's so sad to think that I was just there a month ago, and I had no idea that I would never see it the same again. Your prayers are much needed.

If you're looking for a way to donate, here's one way: American Red Cross Disaster Relief. I'm looking for more ways to donate (there doesn't seem to be a sure way to designate what disaster you're donating too at this site) and will post anything I find. Tuscaloosa needs love, help and prayers!

10 years ago today

This little one was born! I was holding my very first niece for the very first time. It seems like yesterday... Where have those years gone?!

I called Mayce today to tell her Happy Birthday! We chatted for a nice 25 minutes or so and caught up on 3rd grade and birthday parties and stuff. I reminisced about the day she was born and how her dad brought her into the waiting room to say "It's a Girl!" and how I was the only girl in the ninth grade that had a niece. Then she sighed and said, "I can't believe it's only 3 three years until I'm a teenager. I better enjoy these last years, while I can, of being a child."

Did I mention she's 10 but going on 25?! Happy happy birthday Mayce!!

good news & bad news

I'll start with the bad news first. I used to have a list of the blogs I follow on the right-hand side of my blog. Then they disappeared. And, unfortunately, I didn't keep a mental checklist of what those blogs were...so, some of them are most likely gone forever. There are a few blogs that I really loved and I followed and...now I don't. If you happen to remember what any of the missing blog links are (because, perhaps, you liked following them too?), feel free to leave a comment and help me out! And (even sadder) there are a few friends' blogs I followed, that I also can't remember...Let me know if you remember those too.

The good news! The reason they all disappeared is because I updated my blog with a new url address! You will still be able to access this site from typing in the old url (perrynpettus.blogspot.com) or you can type in the brand-new, simpler address: bigapplepear.com

Happy blog surfing!

happy (belated) earth day!

Happy Earth Day (last Friday) from the Chi Omegas at Auburn University...and from the 1970 Alpha Beta chapter in the background. So brilliant.

dreaming of someplace tropical

Spring weather finally showed up in the Big Apple (a little late to the party, I must say), and I can't help but think of beautiful beaches and tropical weather now. A friend from my old job sent me this picture this morning of her travels abroad. I've left it open on my computer all day for quick viewing access...

an easter brunch

I'm currently running around my apartment like a chicken with my head cut off (which seems to have been the trend all weekend...)! Katherine and I are getting our food prepared to have our fellowship groups over for an Easter brunch. I can smell the cinnamon rolls cooking now...more pictures to come later!

happy birthday to this girl

Rose Lynn is turning the big 2-5 today. A quarter of a century. But even more exciting than that, she just wrapped up a seven year stint of college on the plains! RL is the smartest chem student I know, and she's putting that brain to good use. In fact, in a few weeks I'm going to have to start calling her Dr. Farmer. Rose finished up her last rotation of pharmacy school today, and I couldn't be more excited for her!! And now, because of it, she gets the pleasure of answering my medical questions at least once a week when I'm trying to avoid going to see a doctor. Thanks for all your help, RL! Happy birthday. Happy graduation. And be thankful that you won't be the newest pharmacist at CVS in NYC, for your own sake (and my detriment...)!

hmph.

...my own worst enemy!

[here.]

4.23: d-day

And I don't mean the day we stormed Normandy. Katherine and I put an official meeting on our calendars for a decorating day on Saturday for 3E. (The "work in progress" post is part of that too, I just got a head start!) The truth is, I can't hardly wait until Saturday to start. I'm so excited about the revamp our little home is about to undergo. We're going with corals and light greens. New pillows are on their way as I type. Some of this may have to be done in phases, but I'm expecting a big change from just a few small items. Did I mention I'm excited? I'll be sure to post some photos after we storm the living room on Saturday!

i saw the sign!

I saw the Easter Subway poster that I designed for the Women's Bible Society! And, I saw it 2 days in a row. The people on the train next to me, I'm sure, thought I was nuts for taking so many photos of this sign; but, nonetheless, I was undeterred and snapped away. You may remember when I did the Christmas poster for the WBS in December. They asked me to recreate the same design with a few directives to make it more appropriate for Easter.  They changed a few things from the original design after I submitted it, but I was happy they commissioned me to do the work again. And, I'm hoping to see the poster a few more times before it comes down!

the way i see it

Yep, this is the way I look at colors. And I'm pretty sure the other is the way most guys I know look at colors. I guess it is sufficient on getting them through life with the basics & most important colors, but isn't the girl's way so much more fun?! It also might have something to do with the fact that only men can be color blind. Women are often carriers, but the mutations generally only show up in males.

[I've seen this on image on a few friends' blogs (here & here, and on pinterest here) and have been meaning to put it up also!]

work in progress

Can you tell what's next? I ran out of blue tape, so don't be fooled by the amount (or lack thereof) covering the walls. Updates soon...when - and if - it's completed!

goodnight moon

You can't see it as perfectly in this picture as I could see it in person, but there was a beautiful moon out tonight when I was uptown at the 96th Street subway stop and Broadway. It looked stunning when contrasted against the red tail lights. 

 

goodnight stars, goodnight air.

goodnight noises everywhere.

happy 4th birthday abbey!!

I can't believe my little Abigail is turning FOUR today! It seems like just yesterday we were waiting for her to be born, and then holding her and swooning over her in the hospital all weekend. For her special day (since I can't see her), I took this picture for her to have especially on her 4th birthday. Afterall, I am her "favorite aunt"...and if you don't believe me, just revert back to this picture last summer at the beach. Nonetheless, I know that she loves rainbows and "poke quats", so I hope this birthday post makes her day just a little bit happier!

(outtakes)

I guess this is why I was satisfied with one successful picture as I mentioned below...

the wedding

As I mentioned earlier, Brendan and I had a wedding to attend last weekend! It was loads of fun: a small wedding filled with good friends, getting to be a part of Mon & Kev's special day, and dinner and dancing afterwards (er, just dinner for me). We didn't take many pictures, so I'm hoping Monica will share once she gets back from St Lucia or sometime in the future. But, at least Brendan and I managed to get at least one picture, which is sometimes rare!

true words

I think we need to hang this in my office.

[via pinterest]

mckay on grandparent's day

Look at this cute little girl! My mom sent me this picture from Grandparent's Day at McKay's school, and McKay wanted me to see this because of the rainbow colored egg tree. Thanks McKay!!!

brunch is my fave

Before I moved to New York, I didn't do brunch very often. But here, it's a must. And I've come to really love the in-between-ness of the meal, where you can get the best of both worlds. Friday afternoon, LA and I set a place for our brunch date this morning: Tipsy Parson.

I've been meaning to try this place out for a while. I just did a refresher on the menu to see what I wanted to have, and I quite literally can't hold in my excitement! Everything looks so delicious, though, I'm not sure how I'll ever choose...I better start thinking now.

weekend, weekend

This weekend is an exciting one! I have so many fun things going on that I'm counting down the minutes now... Tomorrow my friends Kevin and Monica are tying the knot! It should be a blast. The wedding is at a beautiful church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. And then on Sunday I have plans to meet up and catch up with friends I haven't seen in a while. If only the weather were nice and beautiful to complete this wonderful weekend!

[happy elephant found via pinterest]

i could look at this alllll day long...

Balloons! I saw this picture on my friend Kyo's blog and immediately fell in love with it. THEN! I found a birthday card that LA, Pamela and V gave me for my birthday 2 years ago (as I was going through drawers and drawers of old stuff looking for an important document, which unfortunately was never found... but at least I came out with this jewel!). Now, I really can't stop looking at it. And to top it off, I put it as the background screen on my blackberry. I wasn't kidding when I said I could, quite literally, look at this all day long.

happy april fools!

April Fools Day is one of my most favorite days of the whole year! Maybe that's because I grew up in a household where my oldest brother didn't let a single April 1st go by without either putting a snake in the sink or arranging for some sort of faucet to spray out in my mom's face unexpectedly. I guess I feel it's just in my genes to carry on the joke each year. It's hard being away from family (since not everyone shares the same affinity for the day), so I sometimes have to settle with indulging in other people's jokes on this day. I really loved this one: