Jamila & Kevin, Flag Hill Winery, Aug 15, 2009
This Sunday will be my one-year anniversary with my husband and best friend. He is tall, dark and handsome, a total goofball who lets me shop whenever I want and secretly loves to watch The City and ANTM just as much as I do. Today, I want to dedicate my blog to him, because he took me to NYC on our honeymoon and I fell in love.
We were supposed to go on an all-expenses paid, romantic honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta after our wedding. We had the honeymoon suite. We were going to golf, snorkel, horseback ride and zip line through the jungle. I had bought a floppy sun hat, he had bought a Cuban fedora, I stocked up on sun dresses, he stocked up on new shorts. But, everything changed one afternoon when my husband’s doctor called him and told him to get to a hospital as soon as possible.
Let me back up. On a normal Saturday afternoon my soon-to-be husband Kevin had chest pains and tightness in his chest that led him to leave his niece’s birthday party and head to the hospital. After a complete exam, doctors told him he was fine and sent him home. They said they’d call with results from the chest x-ray. On Monday morning, we were both relieved when they called to say everything was fine. But, it was a second phone call later that afternoon that changed our lives; Kevin’s doctor called back and told him to head to the hospital as soon as possible. As soon as possible. He was admitted because they had discovered multiple blood clots, along with an unknown mass in his lungs. We were all in shock; Kevin was a healthy 31 year old male.
Kevin stayed in the hospital for five days. And although it was a scary time, he and I probably had one of our most amazing days together, as a couple, while he was there.
I took one whole day off because he was getting a biopsy. I stayed in his hospital bed with him for the entire day. We watched bad TV, the nurses brought us bad hospital food, friends visited, we cracked bad health jokes. I didn’t leave his side and I think we both realized that day what the words “in sickness and in health” really meant. I know we both will never forget that day.
While we were there we also had time to come up with our plan B honeymoon since the doctors had ordered him not to fly. We chose NYC. I had never been.
Our wedding was truly a fairy tale day for me. We both got a little teary-eyed and then partied with friends and family all night long. Two days later, we drove to NYC and stayed at the luxurious New York Palace. We wined, dined, saw shows and best of all, he let me SHOP. Cash in hand, I got to shop. I walked into stores that I had only visited online. We found hilarious tranny stores with fabulous dresses. Gladiator sandals ruled the streets. I shopped 5th, 6th and 7th avenues. Soho is where I entered my first Anthropologie. Macys was the best though: I sent Kevin to the bar, he let me shop for three hours on one floor. (See attached pic of my Macy’s bill.)
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- Jamila & Kevin, Flag Hill Winery, Aug 15, 2009
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- The New York Palace
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- In the heart of the City
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- Kevin and a wax Morgan Freeman
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- Statue of Liberty
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- Dinner cruise & tour on the Hudson Rv.
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- My Macy’s receipt
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- Our wedding cupcakes
That experience is when I absolutely fell in love with everything NYC had to offer. And as far as fashion goes, I was head over heels. I had always been into fashion, but being right in the heart of NYC took my passion to a whole new level- and one that would eventually catapult me into the social media world as the ultimate oxymoron of slouch versus sexy @sweatsandheels, where I get to hear from industry experts like @dkny, @Bergdorfs and @CutBlog, virtual friends like @CT_Chic_Chick, @MsSummerCeleste and @shoevagirl, and admirable people like @IvankaTrump and @JuneAmbrose! My eyes have been opened to the likes of Net-A-Porter, the OutNet.com and Polyvore (thanks @rozfashionista), and my closet is slowly transforming.
So it was one year ago that my husband was just being released from the hospital and it was a few days before our wedding and honeymoon to NYC. If there is anything that can make a wedding an even more special day, it’s the threat of losing your husband before you are even married. I will never forget those tense days before our wedding or how it hit me that this man really and truly was the love of my life.
So, I dedicate this blog to my amazing husband Kevin, for giving me Love- and the City- all at once.
Sweatpants Or Heels 