An Engagement Party to Remember

A party makes our engagement official!

Our engagement party was a huge success! Anthony and I started our Saturday in Flatiron for my Drybar appointment. Since blow outs seem like a pretty New York thing to do, and our engagement party would be one of the more important events we'd celebrate in New York, I figured an appointment at the lavish salon was worth it. When we entered the bright white-and-yellow room, we were given cookies and champagne. Not a bad way to start my weekend! Anthony did some reading on one of the plush chairs in the lounge area, while I was taken to the back to get my hair rinsed. Even Drybar's sinks are fancy! Their sinks tilt so that you don't have to strain your neck. After, I was seated facing a huge TV that was screening "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." It's a pretty awful movie, but I guess there's not really enough time for Ang Lee. My very sweet stylist gave me a "Mai Tai," which consists of loose, beachy waves. My hair turned out bigger than I expected, but I guess it's better to start out that way so it can flatten throughout the day. The whole appointment took about an hour - longer than I expected, so Anthony and I had to rush to Dominique Ansel to pick up our cannelés. Each cannelé was individually-wrapped and sealed with a bright orange sticker. Next, we did our last errand: picking up some balloons. We power-walked through Soho up to Greenwich Village and bought two teal and two cream balloons at Village Party Store. And then that was it - time to party!

Engagement party errands: Blow out from Drybar, cannelés from Dominique Ansel, and balloons from Village Party Store

When we finally arrived at Milk + Honey, the owner had been anxiously waiting for us. I gasped when I saw the place - it was perfect. Originally, I had assumed we would have a few tables in the back, while the front half of the space would be open to the public. Instead, the owner had cleared out the entire coffee shop and even purchased flowers, table cloth, and balloons for us. Milk + Honey is naturally stunning, so we didn't need much decoration. Since it was a mild, breezy day, we were able to open the entire wall of doors instead of using air condition. I tied our four balloons outside by the door. About twenty minutes later,  I heard our two teal balloons pop, so it's a good thing we still had the owner's balloons, which were safely tied to our vase of white roses.

This place is already gorgeous, but I think my balloons helped a little!

Perfect backdrop to our party

Two tall tables with white table cloths were placed in the back corner. They held gifts, our photo caption game, flowers, and cannelés. We moved some smaller tables to the center, creating four clusters. I'm really glad Milk + Honey recently got new chairs. They used to have bar stools that were way too tall for the tables, but now the bar stools have been placed where they should be - at the bar - and the new chairs fit perfectly.

Setting up the games

All of our guests arrived late, but I guess we should have expected that since our invitation said "5:00-8:00 pm" instead of just "5:00 pm." I'll have to remember for any future parties. As each guest arrived, we told them about our photo caption game. We had printed out four goofy photos of us and put them in black and white frames. Guests could come up with their own captions and write them on a piece of paper below each frame.Guests were also greeted with a quiz. They had to match Anthony and me to twenty different items, such as favorite food, dad's name, past pet, and college major.

"Champagne brings out our wild side."

Two types of drinks were presented in punch bowls: watermelon juice and ginger mint iced tea. We were also able to order coffee beverages from the barista. Once my friends learned that Milk + Honey serves Counter Culture, half our guests ordered a cappuccino or americano. I love how many coffee snobs I know.

Once our final guest arrived, we handed out our last game: a 4x4 grid containing a unique fact about each guest. Unfortunately, one of our friends canceled at the last minute, so his unique fact was still on the grid. It turned out alright because another last minute friend took his place. Unsurprisingly, my incredibly sociable friend was the first to complete the grid, so she had first dibs on the prizes. The previous week, I had purchased $10 gift cards at three of my favorite places in the city: The Strand, Fishs Eddy, and Eataly.

Our guests completing our quiz

By then, the food was ready. Staff sliced and placed our flatbreads and sandwiches on adorable pizza boards. I had printed out a menu of the food, so I placed that in an extra photo frame and put it at the beginning of our buffet. We had ordered two grilled flank steak panini, two grilled veggie sandwiches, two zesty chicken sandwiches, two baked salmon flatbreads, two asparagus and artichoke flatbreads, two roast vegetable and pesto flatbreads, arugula salad, and kale salad. Our guests told us that they loved the food.

Our menu

Flatbreads and sandwiches

As dinner winded down, we continued with our games. We went over the correct answers for the matching quiz. My friend got an impressive 19 out of 20 correct, so she chose the Eataly gift card. Anthony and I voted for our favorite caption to our goofy photos. One of Anthony's friend won that one.

Mingling

Our party ended a little late, which was to be expected since it began late, but everyone seemed to have a great time. Each guest was given a cannelé before they left. Despite coinciding with the second-to-last World Cup game, I'm glad our friends could join us to celebrate our engagement. It was a lovely, low-key night with good food and some of our favorite New Yorkers.

Two of my favorite people in the world

Message from the owner

Hosting a Party in New York

An engagement party would be the perfect way to show off my black Tahitian pearl ring

I'm pretty sure engagement parties are more of an East Coast thing. I had never heard of them growing up in Hawaii, and neither has my Californian fiancé. When some of our New York friends found out that we got engaged, they asked if we were having an engagement party. (New Yorkers sure love their parties!) After flirting with the concept for a few days, I decided that - hey, we're semi-New Yorkers; let's have an engagement party. Anthony, always a good sport about my whims, agreed that it would be nice to announce and celebrate our engagement to our few New York friends, especially since our wedding is so far from now and on the other side of the country.

Anthony and I racked our brains for all possible venues around the city. We sent out emails to our favorite restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. Our budget, though, seemed too small for the types of places we desired. I know this shouldn't have been a surprise, but we quickly learned that renting space in New York is obscenely expensive.

Finally, one surprising bakery fit our budget: Dominique Ansel. Anthony and I were both shocked, as Dominique Ansel is easily the hippest pastry chef around, and his bakery is located in the pricey West Village. However, a gracious contact at the bakery said their Greenhouse would be perfect for a party of our size, and would fit our budget. We were ecstatic. The Greenhouse is an enclosed, air-conditioned room in the back of the main bakery, with seating for up to 20 people. The next weekend, we met with our contact at the bakery, which gave us the perfect excuse to eat some Dominique Ansel goodies. The Greenhouse is very sleek, with metal furniture, a glass ceiling that fills the room with light, and hints of bright orange.

The Dominique Ansel Greenhouse

After eagerly pre-ordering enough pastries for our menu, we were given an updated invoice. I finally understand what "sticker shock" is. While the initial price of renting out the Greenhouse fit our budget, the pastries and beverages added up quickly. Plus, I had forgotten about gratuity and tax. In the end, the final total was twice as much as what we had planned to pay. We woefully had to decline Dominique Ansel and look elsewhere.

Fortunately, I received an email from the owner of one of our neighborhood coffee shops. Max apologized for taking long to respond and said we could host our party at Milk + Honey. The following weekend, we walked down to Newkirk Avenue to discuss the details. Milk + Honey is a beautiful coffee shop that I've been to a few times before. It feels very Brooklyn, with exposed brick walls, a vertical plant growing on one side, a row of doors that can open up to a view of the bustling neighborhood, and fantastic Counter Culture coffee. When I had first emailed Milk + Honey about hosting our party there, I immediately wrote the place off because it was so spacious that I assumed it would easily be out of our price range. However, when we visited, Max said he could work with our budget - which would include the cost of food and drinks - even though he usually charges three times as much for the space. I'm still not sure if it was because he pitied us, or because he found us charming, but we were eager to work with him.

Milk + Honey

What a cheerful entrance!

With the venue finally set, I could go forward with the rest of the planning. I ordered our invitations from Paper Source, which has stationary shops all over the country. We chose a simple design called "Ampersand" in the color "Peacock." I appreciated that our names were the focus of the invitation - not flowers or diamonds or birds. And while we weren't really thinking of what our wedding colors might be, Peacock sure is pretty...

The rest of the party planning was easy, thanks to years of practice hosting Christmas parties for my dad's office at my house in Hawaii. Back then, I was always in charge of entertainment. I would create Christmas-themed games and play Christmas carols on our grand piano to which our guests could sing along. For our engagement party, Anthony and I came up with three games: one to play in the beginning so our friends could finally get to know each other; a matching game called "Jenn or Anthony?"; and one that involves creating captions for goofy photos of us. While we couldn't host our actual party at Dominique Ansel, we did return to the famous chef for individually-wrapped cannelés as takeaway (which is just a fancy word for "party favors").

What's an engagement party without white roses?

The days leading up to our party have been a whirlwind of last-minute decorations, such as flowers, photos, and balloons. In the end, I've learned that everything will usually work out, even for a somewhat naïve, hopelessly-in-love couple trying to plan a party in an overpriced city. We're excited, and we hope this Saturday is a success!

*Photos of Dominique Ansel Bakery and Milk + Honey do not belong to me.

Is the Grass Greener Across the River?

Enjoying a mint chip gelato cone from Eataly

As hip as Brooklyn is, if I could afford to live anywhere in New York, I'd probably choose the Flatiron District. I'm obsessed with this neighborhood. It's easy to navigate, near multiple subway lines, and has some of my favorite places (e.g., Fishs Eddy, Maison Kayser, Whisk, 305 Fitness). The architecture in Flatiron is stunning,  with a healthy mix of cast-iron, glass, and red brick.

One of the gorgeous cast-iron buildings of Flatiron

Most importantly, Flatiron has Madison Square Park, one of my favorite parks on Manhattan. Anyone who loves French bulldogs as much as I do could easily spend hours sitting here, as this park is extremely popular with [the owners of] Frenchies. One time, Anthony and I were lounging on some benches in the park and found ourselves surrounded by three Frenchies, each a different color: white, tan, and dark brown. As I came up with a name for each one (Béchamel, Caramel, and Chocolate?), Brandon Stanton, the photographer of Humans of New York, suddenly appeared and chatted with the lucky dog owners. Anthony was a little sad that Brandon didn't photograph us, but it's hard to compete with a trio of Frenchies.

Lucky legs

Madison Square Park happens to be right across the street from Eataly, a monstrous upscale market from Italy that offers everything from gourmet pasta, to colorful tupperware, to a rooftop beer garden. My go-to places in Eataly are the Gelateria and the Nutella Bar. Yes, a Nutella Bar. The nutella crêpes are unbelievable. The gelato here isn't as good as at Grom, another Italian chain that's recently expanded to New York, but Eataly definitely isn't a bad substitute.

For a few months every year, Flatiron hosts an outdoor culinary pop-up market called Madison Square Eats. Some of the city's most popular restaurants bring food to the public, and diners can either sit on one of the bright blue chairs in front of the Flatiron Building, or right in the park while enjoying the many rotating art installations.

Anthony drinks coconut juice from Pig & Khao's pop-up shop at Madison Square Eats

Ivan Navarro's "This Land is Your Land," a site- specific installation of three water towers that reference immigration experiences through neon reflections on mirrored walls inside the water towers

With all the Frenchies and dining options, it only made sense that Anthony decided to propose to me at Madison Square Park. The proposal happened on Memorial Day, after a luau-themed brunch at The Dutch in Soho. We sat down on one of the grassy lawns in the park, surrounded by dozens of people who also wanted to both cool off and soak up the much-needed sun after four months of winter. We people-watched, laughed at the ridiculous children ruining around, and took selfies with my phone. Eventually, Anthony convinced me to switch from snapping photos to capturing video. After I switched the setting on my phone, Anthony took out a small white box containing a gorgeous black Tahitian pearl engagement ring and proposed, just as I started recording us.

I'm engaged!

Flatiron feels like home to me, even though I've never lived there and probably never will. Yet, when such personal events - both significant and insignificant - have occurred in this beautiful neighborhood, it's hard not to have a soft spot for the place and feel some claim over it.

Fourth of July in an Ever-Changing City

A summer dress...and an umbrella under the Manhattan Bridge

I've only been living in New York for a little over two years, but I've already witnessed vast changes. The most recent change I've noticed is the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks show.

Two weeks after my fiancé - then, boyfriend - and I moved to New York in the summer of 2012, we did what any other recent transplant would probably do for Fourth of July: watch the show from Chelsea Piers. Back then, the fireworks were over the Hudson River, so all of us crammed onto the pier like cranky sardines. It was hell. We had to stand the entire time, and that particular July 4th was extremely humid. When the show was over, Anthony and I sought refuge in a mediocre diner and agreed that we probably wouldn't be doing this again.

The crowd behind us at the Brooklyn Bridge Park

This year, the fireworks show moved to the East River and Brooklyn Bridge (thank you, Mayor de Blasio for caring about actual New Yorkers!). This gave me the perfect excuse to spend the entire day in Dumbo, my favorite neighborhood in Brooklyn. Anthony and I were nervous that morning, as it was windy and quite drizzly. We hung out at random places in the neighborhood, such as Brooklyn Roasting Company, Powerhouse Arena, and One Girl Cookies. We even went to the new Shake Shack in Dumbo twice that day - because, America. Since it was much cooler than a typical July day on the East Coast, we ended up buying matching grey hoodies from Brooklyn Industries. My first hoodie in years!

A rainy morning gave us the perfect opportunity for a latte

Eventually, the sky cleared up, so we headed over to Brooklyn Bridge Park. We set up our huge blue blanket on the grass and leisurely waited for 9 pm. Brooklyn Bridge Park is one of the most beautiful parks in the city, with stunning views of the Manhattan skyline and brand new recreational facilities. Children were running around the spacious lawns, while young people carried stacks of pizza boxes to their groups of friends. We had a near-perfect view, and the fireworks exploding from the Brooklyn Bridge were mesmerizing.

Looks like a trashy concert

Fourth of July in New York, sorry we almost gave up on you.

Brooklyn's Version of Diner en Blanc

Peonies and pancit

When I told my dad that Anthony and I were attending a flash picnic at which everyone wears white and brings their own food and decorations, he said, "Jenny, that's so...bourgeois." I was relieved he said it. The statement was exactly what I expected from the hyper-aware, progressive man that raised me. I quickly explained, "I know. But it's very New York! And we'll be bringing Filipino food." I knew he'd understand then.

Ever since Anthony and I decided that we'll probably move back to Hawaii in about three years, I've made a conscientious effort to appreciate New York to the fullest. At least, to the fullest that our budget allows. A "Diner en Blanc" in Prospect Park seemed very New York, and the fact that it had a quintessential Brooklyn spin on it - less exclusivity; proceeds go to a public park - was perfect.

To prepare for the day, we had to buy white outfits, Filipino food, a picnic basket, white plastic dishes, champagne, white cloth napkins, and peonies. I didn't mind, as I really only enjoy shopping for specific events.

I somehow always luck out when it comes to outfits for specific events. For the last three weddings I've been to, a beautiful dress that fits me perfectly happens to be in the sale section or a cheap store that I had previously written off. This time was no different. I usually avoid places like H&M, but when I decided to skip my dance class at Alvin Ailey to check out the shops at Columbus Circle, it was there that I found it: a simple white sleeveless dress that flared slightly at the waist. I'm really short with a Coke bottle-shaped body, so these types of dresses look great on me and kind of odd on any other type of frame. I knew I had to get it. I paired it with my floppy black hat, tan-and-white heels from Free People, and a sparkly necklace from Banana Republic.

We got our Filipino feast during a trip to Woodside, Queens, the weekend before. It consisted of lumpia shanghai with sweet chili dipping sauce, pork adobo, and pancit bihon. We fried the frozen lumpia shanghai a few hours before the picnic, and we ordered some champorado from my favorite Filipino restaurant in the city, Pig & Khao. Their chocolate rice pudding is doused in condensed milk and topped with crispy bacon bits. We paired our meal with some Trader Joe's-recommended prosecco, and it turned out to be fantastic, which is surprising because I know very little about choosing wine.

Pig & Khao's champorado

We got to the secret location right on time and set up fairly quickly. We spread out our thin white tablecloth, placed two peonies into a tall plastic Perrier bottle, and laid out our new dishes from Target. Much to our relief, instead of sharing the eight-person table with a large obnoxious group, a laid-back couple asked to sit with us. We actually had quite a lot in common with them; the man had completed the same grad school program as Anthony, and the woman often partners with my city agency for her job at REI.

It was great bringing Filipino food, a cuisine that Anthony and I share. Compared to everyone's sandwiches, fried chicken, raw vegetables, and pasta salads, it was refreshing to see warm rice and meat-heavy dishes. The weather was perfect, the guest musician (Ben Folds!) was entertaining, and the night with my love surrounded by all these strangers in white felt as magical as I had hoped.