Shana Tovah!!! That is Hebrew for Happy New Year. My friend Hana and I have Tuesday and Wednesday off of school for Rosh Shanah, the Jewish New Year. Hana brought me home with her to Scotch Plains, NJ to celebrate the holiday. The food was fantastic. We ate Matzo ball soup, brisket and plum pie. What was even better than the food was the home. It felt nice to be in a house outside the city. We ate lunch out back on the patio, Hana drove me around town to show me where she grew up and that evening, we sat around the table with her family and talked for hours. It was great. I will try update the blog more frequently.

Shalom,

Callie

Callie Luise Sullivan

I have decided to make an honest effort to keep up the blog and I apologize for leaving all of you hanging for so long. I am not going to play catch up on the last 9 months that I have not been writing but I will talk a little about the wedding.

As many of you know, it was AWESOME!!! Ryan and I worked very hard with a lot of help from our friends. Everything turned out exactly how I wanted it and we had a blast. We owe a HUGE thank you to Mary and Randy of the Meeting House Grand Ballroom. They helped me plan the big day and they were there to see it through and make sure the day was perfect. They made me feel like I was the only bride they had been working with all year.

I don't think I have ever danced so much and I owe a lot of the success to Ralph the DJ. I am not a fan of the Conga Line, YMCA or the Chicken Dance, but he made them so much better with his party props.

I also want to thank our Photographer Kathleen Voss. She was so kind and managed group shots very well. The above photo is one of hers. If you want to see all of our photos, visit Kathleen's website. Click on 'Client Proofing' choose 'Callie and Ryan's Wedding' and then type in the password (there is a hint above that you should all be able to get.)

Last, but certainly not least, thank you to Jessie. Our plans changed last minute and I needed to have my hair and makeup finished by 10:30 am. This meant canceling my hair appointment and asking Jessie if she could take on the job. She came over immediately to give me a trail up do. She helped me to decide upon the perfect look for the wedding and the end results were better than I could have imagined. I felt like a beautiful bride. Thanks Jessie.

Ryan and I are incredibly fortunate to have such amazing family and friends. Thank you to everyone who came to our wedding. The day would not have been as special without you there.
We love you.

All the best,
Callie

My Apologies

Ashley came to visit me!!!! She came on Halloween and met me at my school. She was able to see where I work and she is my first outsider witness as to how crazy it really is. The day of Halloween we were forced to leave school immediately after the children were dismissed. I found out earlier in the day that it was because the Bloods (a nationally recognized gang) was having initiation and would be looking for victims in their "turf" (aka my school neighborhood.)

While Ashley and I walked around the neighborhood where I live, we saw children and parents trick-or-treating. It was strange to think that 1 mile away, my students were locked in their homes because it was too dangerous for them to be out on the streets enjoying this holiday.

Halloween night Ashley, Ryan and I went to Mama Mia, a favorite Italian restaurant of ours. The next day, I went to work and Ashley went out with her brother Dustin (he is living in Brooklyn.) When Ryan got home we all went down to Mustangs for Mexican food and Margaritas. Two of Ryan's buddies from work met up with us and everyone was ready for the after party. I had to teach in the morning, so I went home. I was in bed my 10:45 and I thought "Oh, they should be home soon." However, I woke up at 4:38 am to the sounds of two loud, boisterous and inebriated individuals entering the apartment. 4:38!!! They were playing beer pong all night at the bar. Needless to say, the next morning was rough on both of them. I was surprised when Ashley was game for another round on Friday night.

So the real reason Ashley came was to help me find my wedding dress. :) We went to Macy's on Saturday and I found a pretty dress. I liked the dress and thought it was the dress for me until... we went to Kleinfeld's Bridal on Sunday. We looked at dress after dress after dress. I saw one that was nice but Carmel, our sales specialist, knew it was not for me. Carmel, Ashley and I went into this tiny closet and Ashley found one more dress for me to try on. I was kinda done by this point but I agreed to put it on. I am so happy I did. As soon as I put it on I envisioned Ryan watching me come down the isle. This last Thursday, I went back to Kleinfeld's to have my dress fitted and to purchase my dress, my veil and a beautiful headpiece. Now I feel like a real bride :)

Update

I have a headache. Peter, the landlord, is fixing a leak in a ceiling downstairs. This meant that Peter had to take down the entire ceiling and will replace it tomorrow. This building in hella old. The dust that was caused from the removal of the ceiling is making it hard for me to breath. But Peter says it is normal, so I guess I will just have to deal.

Today was the latest I have stayed at school EVER!!! The other first year teachers and I planned our entire week. Basically, we are assessing, assessing, assessing and training, training, training. It is a lot of work but I am lucky because I really love the other first years. One of them is Hana. Hana and I hang out a lot. In fact, last Weds. we went to an Aerosmith concert. We took an hour train ride into Long Island to see them play at the Jones Beach amphitheater. It was spur of the moment and I needed it :)

This weekend Ryan's parents came into town. Yesterday was my favorite day with them. We bought nice meats and cheeses and breads and had a picnic in Central Park. We watched a bathing suit photo shoot, played Euchre and saw a man get naked behind a tree (only in NYC). Afterwards, we walked around the park and relaxed. While we were walking around, Ryan and I looked for places to take our engagement photos. We are taking the engagement photos on Sat. and they will be placed around our reception.

So, nothing too interesting happening at the moment. But, I will write again soon and hopefully it will be more entertaining.

Ciao,
Callie

Update :)

I am teaching first grade and I am engaged.
Love,
Callie

Just kidding. My mom told me that was all I had to write, but I will write more. I am teaching first grade in Harlem. My kids are great but a little difficult to manage. That is what I have been working on during my first week of school. Today they started off great. They were on task, working independently and I was STUNNED. I was thinking to myself, "Holy Crap, what did I do right?"

My second bit of news is that Ryan and I are engaged. It has been 5.5 years of boyfriend/girlfriend and now he's my fiance. Ooh la la. Ryan and I went to watch the MSU football game at an MSU themed bar. That bar is on the west side. When we were walking back we walked through Central Park. We got to a bench and I started talking. Ryan got up from the bench and onto a knee. I am not sure what he said, but I said yes. We are very excited and we look forward to our July 12 wedding.

Thank you for all your congratulatory emails, letters and calls.

Love you,

Callie

Back to School

I am going tomorrow to begin setting up my classroom. As it stands now, I am going to teach a pre-kindergarten classroom. However, there still may be a chance that I am switched to first grade. I just hope to get a concrete answer soon.

Today I went to a teacher store in Brooklyn with a new friend of mine. I bought my welcome back to school poster, my grade book, a calender, a dress the bear weather chart and more. My new friend is another teacher at my school. Her name is Hana and this is her first year of teaching too. We met when we went to an orientation for our school last month.

I will tell you more as I know more. I apologize for not sounding more excited. However, this time of year for a new teacher is filled with paperwork, pressure, reading , preparation and anxiety. Once school begins and the students are in I know I will have a million stories and I am sure you will all be tired of me telling you about my classroom.

Love you all,

Callie

Too Much

As many of you know, I have been offered a job teaching at PS 185. The school houses grades from Pre Kindergarten to Second Grade. I am not sure which grade I will be teaching yet but I am thrilled to be a part of this school.

On Saturday I had my last night out with Stefanie. Stef has lived with Ryan and I since the end of May. I will be sad to see her leave on Sunday, but Ryan and I will enjoy having the space back (finally, I can get him out of my closet.) Below are the pictures of Ryan, Stef and I saying goodbye in style. It was not my proudest night in NYC, but man did I have fun.


I was so excited that the cab had an interactive tv in the backseat. Apparently, this is an ancient development, I just haven't been getting in the right cabs.


We were feeling pretty good at this point.


Stef referred to Ryan and I as Dad and Mom. So this is our Mother Daughter photo :)


Ryan and his friends Kevin Brady (Brady) and Kevin Smith.