Alaska Cruise - Photo Recap

Most of my non-work-related energy has been 100% focused on wedding planning over the last few weeks. I have an hour to myself this evening where I've decided to abandon the final touches and look back at some photos from the Alaskan Cruise I took this September:

The view from our balcony. After a choppy day/night on the Pacific after leaving Seattle, we awoke to this stunning view as the fog cleared with the morning sun.



In Juneau, we took an excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier.


Juneau, my first experience on mainland Alaska wreaked of "tourist trap". It was filled with souvenir and jewelry shops. I desperately searched for an authentic experience, and after getting turned around a few times, I dined at the amazing Tracy's King Crab Shack. The king crab legs and crab cakes were INCREDIBLE and the employees were fun to talk with:



We stopped in a little town called Ketchikan, the salmon capital of Alaska. There were tons and tons of salmon in the streams, but not all of them were faring well in their journey towards mating areas. Lots must have accidentally jumped out of the water during their journey, because there were dead salmon everywhere:




The most beautiful scenery of the trip was our sail through Tracy Arm Fjord. The water was pristine, the air crisp, and the icebergs abundant. Check out this glacier! Funny story: As we approached glacier and got as close as we could, a huge piece of it cracked off and crashed into the water. This is called calving. Everyone on deck started cheering. I was near a member of the crew and mocked the crowd, "Woohoo! Global climate change at work!!" The dude got a kick out of me:



What's up with the telephone booth usage at the Victoria, BC port?


Mr. Blogsky has already deemed this post "boring" so I will end with that ;) I'll return to my regularly scheduled blogging with lots of wedding recaps and planning stories soon!

p.s. This post is in no way an endorsement of Alaskan cruises. I enjoyed the people I was with and the sights were beautiful, but did not like the inauthenticiy of the ports towns, the claustrophobia that accompanied being stuck on a ship for days, the rough Pacific seas, and the cheesy ship activities, etc.

In fact, I think this image belongs on AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com. It sums up the on-ship experience:

Haha: No flowers?

Just received this email from Mr. Blogsky, who is clearly worried about the fact that I haven't selected a florist yet:

"NO FLOWERS! The answer! We don’t need no stinking flowers. The centerpieces for the tables can be pictures of us. Pictures of us can be on the walls. The gifts to people can be pictures of us. Instead of throwing a bouquet, you can toss a picture of us. Basically, if anyone leaves the wedding thinking we are not narcissistic a-holes, they weren’t at the right wedding."

Commemorating 27: Things I did this year for the first time in my life

Today is my birthday. Turning the big 2-8...Unarguably my late twenties...Granny territory is approaching. Like I honored the experiences I had while 26 yrs old, I'd like to celebrate the past year by listing out some experiences I recall doing for the very first time in my life.

[I wrote this post in advance. When you see it, I'll likely be on a plane to Seattle, my first trip to the west coast, for an Alaskan cruise with a friend and her parents. This will mark my first cruise, first vacation with a friend's family, first glacier-siting, and lots of other stuff...but I'll have to save that for my 29th birthday recap.]

Here's the list:

____________

Let me start with a bang so you don't get bored. The most random experience I had this year was attending a nude figure drawing workshop around Christmastime with my bf, called something like "Santa's Naked Sex Slave Workshop". We found the event listing in Time Out, and thought we'd check it out, haha. It wasn't pornographic--We drew geriatric naked men wearing wrapped gifts on their heads, lots of santa hats, and a girl hoola-hooping.

Now for the other stuff...

Stating the obvious:
First (and hopefully only) time getting engaged, planning a wedding & having a bachelorette party.

Aside from the first time feeling all the emotions related to wedding planning and building a future with the person I love, what this process boils down to is that it’s my first time hiring other people to do things for me: Hiring a photographer for our engagement shoot, wedding day and my bachelorette party, hiring a DJ and wedding officiant, choosing a venue that will coordinate the whole event and handle the catering. Interviewing florists, having make-up trials, and getting advice from the blogosphere…Trusting other people to execute my vision for the party hasn’t always been easy for this control freak!

Staycations & Vacations:
First tasting at a Long Island winery, first time visiting Fire Island.

First time staying at hotel in the city I live in just to escape daily life (We celebrated our 10 year anniversary—and surprise engagement—at the Soho Grand). I also skiied for the very first time in my life (for 5 minutes), during an impromptu trip to Vermont with the boys.

Cool experiences because we’re lucky and strategic:
Rob won the opportunity for us to play football at Giants Stadium.

I won a contest at work after coming up with the best ideas for improving a product critical to our company’s future success—resulting in an all-expenses paid meal at any Manhattan restaurant. I chose Le Bernardin, and it was my first 3 Michelin Star dining experience. (This year was a good year for my palate—also dined at Sushi of Gari, Nobu & Aureole, each with a Michelin star of their own.)

Speaking of food, I ate Kobe beef, beef Carpaccio, crosnes & venison for the first time in my life (all during my anniversary meal at Aureole).

First time my wardrobe has been upgraded thanks to my fiancé's and my own investments:
Being a Manhattanite has finally rubbed off on me and I’ve succumbed to labels like Christian Louboutin, Diane von Furstenberg, and BCBG Max Azria: The Queen of Cheap is now the Queen of Chic ;)

First time my blog writing has gotten me into interesting circumstances:
I was quoted in USA Today because a reporter read my post and about Madison Avenue’s store closure epidemic. The PR firm, Intencity Global provided me free services at the Stuart Hirsch Salon in exchange for a review on my blog—I'm still getting good SEO from it.

There’s lots to do in NYC, but I don’t always take advantage of everything this city has to offer. I’m able to muster up the following “firsts” this past year: First time buying the latest gadget the day it came out at the Soho Apple store, first visit to Williamsburg (yeah, I realize how crazy that sounds, being from Long Island and all…), first trip to the Cloisters and the Central Park Conservatory Garden.

First time being personally affected by the recession—losing mentors due to layoffs, surviving several rounds of layoffs, re-prioritizing my budget after a pay cut, seeing the changing streets of Manhattan. For the very first time in my life, around the time when I wrote the Madison Avenue piece, I thought New York was totally over. What I once thought was the infallible “best city in the world” lost its vibrancy and all the great things about it that make it the only place on earth I want to live. I now think/hope its slowly coming back.

Oh, and for better or for worse, I’ve taken up Twittering.

Spotted: Gossip Girl Photo Shoot

Hello Upper East Siders. Gossip Girl here with the latest from Missa Victoria's bachelorette party weekend in prim and proper Washington, DC. Did the bride and her maids stay buttoned up during a weekend in our Nation's capital? Or did they let loose and bring Manhattan style and decadence to the 'Hollywood for the Ugly'? And who are those boys up above with our bride-to-be? That's a secret I'll never tell. XOXO, Gossip Girl.


...cue intro music...yes, I realize how lame this is...that's why this part is in italics...


I fully indulged my Gossip Girl fantasy during my bachelorette weekend earlier this month. I played the bossy Blair in advance, demanding that my ladies bring a fabulous and fun outfit with them for Saturday night to help me live out my heiress fantasy. While they were shopping, little did they know, I went on a shopping spree as well...for headbands for each of the girls and a photographer.

What could be more perfect than getting some of your closest friends together to play dress-up then get the Mario Testino treatment, a photo shoot inspiring confidence and sexiness? (As if we really needed any additional inspiration.)

I found photographer Julie Massie (Jewels) on Craigslist after reviewing over 50 responses to my job listing, and her photos turned out amazing! She worked like crazy for three hours with us to capture our individuality, fabulosity, friendship and unique beauty. Neither the homeless drug dealer, nor our touchy-feely friend from Kazakhstan broke her concentration, and some of her best shooting came from a vantage point sitting inside a Donovan House bathtub! She even embraced the Gossip Girl theme and wore a black outfit accessorized with a fabric flower brooch. So cute.

Jewels did great work and so did we! It was WORK. We exhausted ourselves, and it was so worth it. But enough talking, the images speak for themselves. See below for images that will forever remind me of how fabulous my friends and I were in our 20's.

First we took over the lobby lounge at the Donovan House Hotel:

The cast of characters from L-R: Carrie, Stephanie, Me, Melinda, Melissa

There was no music playing...


I'm being groped and chided for my stubbly legs ;)

We left the lounge for some place more comfortable; my suite. Wow, I had a suite. How Chuck Bass of me:

In my fantasy world, this would be our DVD cover art. We were making "Tyra eyes".

I wanted each of my friends to have their own model moment and they were ready for their close-ups. Get a load of us:


Carrie. Or Little J?

Melinda. Or Vanessa?

Melissa. Or Chuck?

Stephanie. Or Penelope?

Me. Or Blair?

I had some alone time with each lady and got some great shots!

It wouldn't be a fab photo shoot with a bunch of girls in a hotel without a pillow fight scene.



And the night wouldn't be complete without a shot on the steps of a church at midnight with a spray of confetti. Gotta end my life as a bachelorette with a bang!



Thanks for indulging my narcissism, ladies! Is it contagious?

XOXO,
Missa


(p.s. All photo credits go to the lovely Julie Massie, a DC/VA-based lifestyle photographer.)

Seven Deadly Sins Game: Bachelorette Party Fun

My Bachelorette Party weekend was so amazing that I can probably fill several posts with stories and now feel qualified to write a “how-to” guide on throwing a classy Bachelorette weekend because mine included so many clever games and activities and zero lameness!

I’ll start by explaining our overarching theme for the weekend: The Seven Deadly Sins

Ever since the movie Se7en, I’ve loved thinking and talking about The Seven Deadly Sins, and recall in high school that our big theory was that the sins are only deadly if you commit ALL of them, so we were fine because we weren’t guilty of extreme Wrath. After college, my friend (and now bridesmaid) Melissa and I would sit at happy hour and list our sins in order of which we commit the most to the least, exploring the deep recesses of our personality flaws and fabulosity.

In a conversation about possible “themes” for my bachelorette party weekend, while I was gagging thinking about how lame themes are, the idea of the Seven Deadly Sins came to me since there were 7 bridesmaids. We talked about having each Bridesmaid assigned to a sin, but that would stink for whoever got stuck with something derogatory like Gluttony or Wrath.

Eventually, I came up with the idea of a game where you earn points for committing “good” sins and lose points for committing “bad” sins. Each sin would have good and bad qualities. For example, a positive Envy point would be earned if someone “envied” you by giving an unsolicited compliment, but you would lose a point for Envy if you compared yourself to someone else or coveted something you didn’t have.

Melissa brainstormed with me on the list of good and bad sins and styled a fabulous scorecard for us complete with rhymes and witticisms:

Seven Deadly Sins Game & Scorecard: Bachelorette Party -

Using the example sins on the scorecard and my discretionary point rewarding and reprimanding as the bridezilla, it became such a fun way for us all to be friendly and nice to one another (lots of compliments were given, helping us feel fabulous) and gave me a reason to speak out against behavior that annoyed me (complaining, arguing, etc).

To top off the theme, my Maid of Honor, Carrie put together the cutest goodie bags filled with items that depicted the sins. Let's see if I remember these correctly...there's lots of overlap.

Gluttony: Lindt Truffles & Penis Lollipops

Envy: Green M&Ms

Wrath: Water guns

Greed: Fab coin purses

Sloth: A Kazoo (for calling out to someone for assistance)

Lust: Flavored condoms

Vanity: A pocket mirror

This game was a great way to add cohesion to the weekend and amp up some friendly competition. Feel free to steal the idea ;) Just give us credit, haha. And let me know how it goes!