House Beautiful Hunting!!

On my way to the post office yesterday, I walked by Totto Ramen in Hell's Kitchen and immediately thought of Alan. He absolutely loves ramen, and on a cold, rainy day in NYC I knew it was the perfect surprise. As soon as he walked in the door from work, I grabbed his shoulders, spun him right around and we were off for noodles, rather to wait for an hour in the rain for noodles, and a most important hunt!

My House Beautiful subscription goes to the NC HQ as well as the issue they were so kind to send. You would think in the city of Hearst itself, it would've been on every corner newsstand! But this was far from the case, and of course it would be raining, and of course it was nowhere to be found.

I know it's only been 3 months since Society Social's launch and to even be considered for the issue was beyond belief, but there I was hoping for just an inch more, and I set a thought that the issue might drop on my birthday. A girl can dream, right? :) You see, 26 was a hard year for me, all of it spent unemployed and anxiety-ridden about my life goals and a handful of personal struggles- sticking it to the man loses its glimmer after 50 some rejected resumes! I nearly decided to talk to a doctor about it, to try and sort through so much that I felt like I couldn't control. Even though 27 started the same, thankfully hard work and high hopes paid off, exceeding my expectations for what can happen in just a short time, the expectations I set for myself, and the ones I never dreamt of.  All of this makes 28 a very hopeful and special year where I find myself counting my lucky stars everyday to be in a much better place!

Alan is a saint because it has steadily poured for the past two days and with just as much determination and enthusiasm as me, we hit newsstand after newsstand, searching along 8th Avenue for the elusive House Beautiful December/January 2012, our flimsy umbrella rendered useless against the relentless downpour. Finally after looking behind every magazine, some I didn't even know existed, and too many stops to count, soaked from head to toe, we found it! The lone issue!!

I shrieked so loud that the store owner stood up wondering about the commotion. Of course it was on the top shelf just out of my reach. If I had been casually perusing, I'm sure it would be staring right at me, eye level most definitely!

After recovering from my ear-splitting excitement and realizing the circumstance, the store owner was so cute and supportive, encouraging me to take as many pictures as I wanted.  I swear I blacked out because even though I knew exactly what page I was on thanks to a dear friend and fellow blogger who shared pictures last week, I furiously flipped through the whole issue multiple times.

After what seemed like ages, in a little bodega so aptly named "The Big Apple" (where big dreams happen?)...

...there it was- my little baby Society Social as House Beautiful's "The Best Cocktail Table!" EEEK! I know that I have a long, long way to go with much to learn and there isn't a guarantee that this will all work out, but all I know is that I've finally found something that doesn't feel like work, something that makes me insanely happy, and sometimes you've just got to take it moment by moment. I'll take it :)