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Deciding to get married abroad need not be the hassle many imagine. Paula Burns tells how she planned her upcoming wedding in Spain On September 2, 2017 I will be saying ‘I do’ to the love of my life. As clichéd as it sounds, it’s the truth. He is my love, best friend and partner in crime. The backdrop to this momentous occasion will be the breath- taking Parque Torre Leonera , a flower filled haven nestled in the Spanish village of Benahavís. This is the whitewashed village where we celebrated our engagement last year and so holds a special place in our hearts. With beautiful views and almost guaranteed sunshine (I’m so afraid of jinxing the weather despite the South of Spain boasting 320 days of sunshine a year!) it felt right that this should be the place where we will begin the next chapter in our lives. When we decided to get married in Spain my initial reaction was ‘We NEED a wedding planner!’ The thought of going it alone to create a magical day for THE biggest day of our liv...

Do you remember the first friend you made? The first person I consciously remember calling my “friend” (and later, “best friend”) was someone I met in preschool. I was probably four years old. We had similar interests, and complementary personalities (he was the big picture idea guy , I was the detail-oriented do-er). As I’ve continued through life, my friendships have shifted . I’ve made new friends along the way, deepened my relationship with existing friend s, and fallen out of touch with others. When you look at it this way, it seems like friendship is something that just “happens. ” You can’t control it, it would seem, and maybe it’s better not to. After all, you can’t force friendship. Yet, what I’ve come to realize in the past couple years is that while you can’t force or manufacture friendship, you can   seek and cultivate it . It isn’t completely out of your control. In fact, since it’s such an important part of living a happy life, it’s something that you put on autopilot a...

August 16, 2017 Think you’re ready to own a dog? They make great pets . They’re adorable. They love to spend time with their humans, and they show affection in numerous ways. You can find a small dog if you live in the city or a big dog if you have more room to roam. Clearly, dogs are great. But what about you? Are you the kind of person who’s going to be a good dog owner ? Surprisingly enough, there are many types of people who really shouldn’t own a dog. Worried you’re one of them? Read on to learn about the kinds of people who don’t usually make good dog owners — and make sure you’re really ready to bring a puppy or an older dog into your home. ")}; 1. People who won’t take the time to properly train a dog Don’t have time for obedience training? Then, you probably shouldn’t own a dog. | iStock.com Dog training is difficult. It takes time. And it requires research into the methods that work best for different dogs in different settings. People who won’t take the time to proper...

When you’re moving out of your apartment to let your subtenants take over, it’s easy to get so caught up in the actual packing and moving process that you forget one very important task : cleaning. Even if your apartment is relatively tidy, you’ll want to go through and complete a more thorough cleaning once you have everything moved out. Remember that the better the condition you leave your apartment in, the more motivated and responsible your subtenants will (hopefully) feel to take good care of it — and the more likely they’ll be to clean it up for you before you move back in. To ensure that this happens, try to complete the following tasks. Image via https://pixabay.com Wipe down all of your furniture Furniture tends to gather a lot of dust, especially on the tops of dressers where students often leave items lying around for long periods of time. Even just using wet paper towels to wipe down all of your furniture will help clear off the dust and make everything look like new. In ...

I don’t really like staying in hotels. I generally avoid them because of how much they cost. I just don’t see the point of paying $100+ per night for a room I will barely be in most of the day. It seems like a waste of money — no matter how nice a hotel can be. So I stick to the other end of the spectrum: I stay in hostels, with their dorm beds and cheap prices. I love hostels, even if my roommates tend to shit in the room. But what about other types of places to stay? What are some forms of accommodation that don’t rely on you sharing a room with eight snoring strangers? What can you do if you don’t want that but also don’t want to pay the money for a hotel room? Continuing what seems to be my “think outside the box” theme of the last few months, here’s a list of all the different types of accommodation that are easy on your wallet you can choose from: Staying with Locals I’ve talked about this many times before, but since this method is always good to know, it goes on this list too. ...

Late on a humid Sunday afternoon , July 30, at Twin Oaks apartments on East 36th Street , about a dozen residents mingle under a large oak tree . Some sit on stoops, others pace. Some sit quietly, others discuss the conundrum they've found themselves in through no fault of their own. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do," one woman stammers between sobs. The residents are young, old and in between. Some have lived here for nearly a decade, some moved in this year. One thing all of the neighbors share in common: they don't know where they'll be living on September 17. Each resident living in the 18 remaining units in the complex — two other units were heavily damaged by fire in February — received a letter on July 13 stating the company they were leasing from, Beatty Investment Homes LLC (BIH), had sold the property and would be knocking it down. Local development firm The Drakeford Company (TDC) and builders Shea Homes plan to build more than 30...

Samira Samii attended high school in the Rockaways, but she never thought she’d return to the seaside neighborhood to live. Then circumstances—and a love of all things surf and sand—propelled her back there this month. At the time she signed the lease on her rental in Rockaway Park, she knew that her commute to her job on the Upper West Side would be long, but nothing could prepare her for what that meant in practice. The route she settled on involves taking a shuttle bus to a ferry, then walking to the subway, and making one last transfer before arriving at her work. Read on for Samira's walkthrough of the gorgeous but extreme trip. Living in Rockaway is a little bit like coming back home . See, I heard about the apartment I’m renting—it’s the upstairs apartment in a two-family house—through my high school friend who has lived here all of her life. It’s a block and a half from the ocean. I’m a little bit of a sun worshipper and love the ocean, so I knew I’d love it here. Then th...