Allison and Matt Robicelli. Photo by Amber Marlow Photography.

When I was a little girl playing with dolls, dreaming about my wedding and thinking of what my future husband would be like, I did not take into account how different reality would be from fantasy. For one thing, we don’t have a hot pink dune buggy. I managed to fall in love about 10 years before I had “planned to,” so I didn’t already have a successful chain of restaurants under my belt by the time I got engaged at 24. (I still don’t.) Most of all, I didn’t plan that one day Brooklyn would get trendy and I’d be priced out of Bay Ridge, the neighborhood my family has lived in since the 1920s, that we’d be in a massive recession, and our American dream would be less about owning mansions on either coast and more about keeping our family together and heads above water in our hometown. (more…)

World ending? World saved? Party on!

The world is maybe ending on May 21, and it’s tragic, since it means this is your last weekend to explore Brooklyn and the great views we all take for granted. On the other hand, there won’t be any more rape or New York Post or Yankees, so, you take your tiny victories where you can find them. Are there any parties? This is Brooklyn, so of course. But if you just want to relax and watch it all go down, Brooklyn’s got some more reflective places to greet The End. And if the world doesn’t end, they all happen to also be scenic spots you can use for a romantic outing, and continue your heathen ways. (more…)

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I am a stay-at-home girlfriend. When my boyfriend goes off to work, I spend my days cooking, cleaning our two-bedroom Greenpoint apartment and trying to look good for him when he comes home. I never planned on this lifestyle; my corporate job of four years was outsourced in October when we were already living together. What was a matter of convenience before is now a matter of financial survival — while I’ve always been someone who’s really into keeping her boyfriend happy (that’s how I was raised), it’s now my primary occupation after job-seeking. I’m not alone. I was actually the third of my female friends living with her boyfriend to wind up out of work, and all of us, to some degree, adhere to stereotypically Stepfordish rules to keep our relationships afloat and ourselves sane. Here are mine: (more…)