This may be a broad statement to make, but I may be the biggest Christmas fan there is.
My holiday socks come out in early November.
The menu for my family's annual Christmas Fiesta is in the works by at least the first of December. We have Christmas dinner too, obviously, but what's a celebration in Texas at the holidays without tamales, enchiladas, queso, and margaritas?
I spend WAY too much time making my lists of things to do: Christmas card recipients, gift lists, my own birthday and gift lists (love that December 11th birthday!), Pinterest projects to attempt, decorations I need/want, things to do while home in Texas... it's obsessive, it's a little insane... it's ME!
This brings me to my temptation to begin decorating as soon as the temperatures drop. Growing up, we always bought our tree right around my birthday, as part of my birthday weekend (seriously-- I milk the December birthday as much as possible). We would buy it as a family, bring it home so little brother and Daddy could shove it through the door, then Mama and I would decorate.
Sorry I'm not sorry about the blur. I took this in the middle of the night when I woke up to see if Santa had come. I have no shame.
Once Brian and I moved in together, it was the first time I'd been able to decorate my own tree and I WAS EXCITED. Bring out the ribbons and bows, people-- this southerner is decking the halls!
And now... it's November 27th. While I tried to convince Brian that we NEEDED our tree this past Saturday, HE convinced ME that it would be long-dead by the time New Year's rolls around. Which, you know... truth. So we're planning to buy it this weekend and spend all of Saturday morning decorating, and then heading to shop Saturday afternoon. Brian is just THRILLED with Saturday's plans, lemme tell you.
I can't lie-- the barrage of pictures on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram of people with fully decorated homes, lit and ornamented trees, wrapped gifts, etc. stressed me out for a whole hot second. "We FINALLY have our tree up!" said at least six people I graduated with from high school. Finally? You "FINALLY" have the tree up? I'm still digesting turkey! My fall wreath is still on the door! For the love of cornbread dressing, let Thanksgiving linger just a bit.
After having a come to Jesus talk with myself, I realized that there's a week between Thanksgiving and the first of December-- to regain and enjoy your sanity before the whirlwind holiday season kicks off. So, I feel like this gives me a little extra time to deep clean the apartment, rearrange closets and storage, and do inventory on what we have and need.
However, once Saturday morning hits, all bets are off and this Christmas elf will be out in FULL FORCE.
As many of you probably know by now, the New York City marathon was cancelled last weekend. Actually, it was cancelled at about 5:30pm on Friday evening, as Brian and I were driving our packed car to meet my family in Connecticut for my pre-marathon celebration dinner. Without getting too entirely into it, I had felt very conflicted about what was going on with the race. Early in the week, Mayor Bloomberg said that the race was on and would serve as a "Come Together" sentiment for New Yorkers. As excited as I was, I couldn't shake an incredibly guilty feeling in the back of my mind: How can I run this race and truly enjoy the experience while knowing that there are people five minutes away from Runners Village who have lost everything and have nowhere to go? As the week went on and the severity of the disaster became so much more apparent, I grew more and more unsure of what was going to happen. My family flew in Thursday afternoon and when I started packing my bag that evening, I let myself believe we were going to run, that I was going to finish my first marathon. Fast forward to Friday. We have the car loaded down for The Big Race Weekend and are about halfway to my uncle's house in Greenwich to meet up with my parents and have a big pasta dinner. And then the news breaks. As much as I had tried to prepare myself in the days before that this might happen, there was no way to hear the news and not be devastated. I cried, a lot. When you dedicate so much of your time and focus to something and then have absolutely no control of not finishing what you started... it just felt like the rug was pulled out from under me. We drove and I cried and called my parents and my friend who was also running and we all gradually realized that it wasn't going to happen. Later that evening, after a glass (or three) of wine, I realized that the cancellation was for the best and that holding the race wouldn't have been fair. It wasn't fair to the people who were still struggling so deeply to recover from the disaster. It wasn't fair to the runners safety and well-being. The most frustrating and infuriating part of the entire situation was that the race wasn't cancelled earlier in the week. Had that been the case, I would have been able to cancel hotel rooms in the allotted amount of time to get a full refund on the room hold. Had that been the case, I wouldn't have had to miss two days of work to get everything done and to get us where we needed to be on time. I'm definitely still battling the marathon demon. I trained for 18 weeks to run a marathon, and I want to run my marathon. I'm going to run my marathon. But in all honesty, I was so excited to run because afterwards I could just RELAX. I could workout however I wanted, for however long I wanted, whenever I wanted. I wouldn't have to follow a training schedule until my next race was on the calendar... and the thought of that was blissful. And now I'm stuck. If I don't keep up my mileage, I'll lose my readiness quickly. If I do keep up my mileage but don't have a race picked out... I'll lose my mind. I'm on the lookout for a marathon in Texas in February/March because I am BOUND and DETERMINED for my parents to see me run my first. It's getting chilly here but I'm also on the hunt for a half marathon somewhere in New England to do in the next couple of weeks. The marathon craziness got me to a mental running point of knowing that as long as I get a few long runs back in, I can definitely complete a half, and ASAP. So there's that. It puts my heart at ease that so much money wasn't spent on putting the race on literally in front of the people who lost everything... but it's a catch-22 to know that so many runners had to sacrifice so much as well. It's a hard thing to discuss. Lots of people have lots of opinions, and now that it's in the past, it is what it is. Don't think the marathon madness has worn off though. I've been bitten by the distance running bug. Just give me a few days to fall back in love with training and we'll all be good.
I have officially spent the last two days horizontal on my couch. All of the running and not sleeping and running and cooking/cleaning and not sleeping because of running has apparently caught up with me-- my first bad cold of the year has me completely sidelined. Everyone has that point when they know they've crossed over from "not feeling well" to "Oh Lord, put me in the bed" and for me, that point comes when I look down and am wearing blue fleece pajama pants, my hair is in a ratty bun, and all I want to eat is rice with butter and salt. Truly, rice + Sudafed + Gatorade has been my diet the last couple of days-- perhaps this will be of assistance to the scale this week. On the brightside, I've watched the Sex and the City movie today... twice. You can only process so much when you're sneezing every few minutes. However, it's made me somewhat obsessed with the idea of living in NYC. Is it completely insane to want to live in a completely different city at the age of 26 (almost 27-- eek)? Yes, to an extent I believe it is because when I picture Manhattan, I imagine it the way that I imagined Boston before moving here-- completely perfect, like a page out of... Gilmore Girls. Or in this case, Gossip Girl or SATC, except now I've wizened up and know that just living in a new zip code doesn't mean that Burberry trench is going to show up in my closet, that I'll be able to sprint down the sidewalks in Manolos like Ms. Bradshaw, or that I'll have an apartment anywhere as close to as cute as to what I imagine. This is what happens when I take Sudafed? From running to rice to relocating, follow my tangent!' As for the marathon, I'm still just a-training away. 25 days and counting. For the most part, I feel ready and excited. On the other hand, I'm completely terrified. I still have to figure out lots of little details but am trying to just stay in the excitement of the trip and the experience and just enjoy it all. Plus I'm so ready to see my family-- I can't wait to spend 10 days with them here in Boston. This Saturday will mark my 20 mile long run and I feel like once I get through that, I can face anything. This unexpected cold has been a positive for the exercise-- it may be wreaking havoc on my immune system, but it's given me a few days to rest my achey feet-- bonus! So here's to hoping this cold passes quickly and that I don't OD on Vitamin C.
pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting - perfection!
If today's Pins indicate anything about me over the next few months, I'll be a very well-dressed lady on a sugar high with cute pumpkins on my porch and a buzz from my bourbon pumpkin milkshake.
Is anyone else needing this long weekend as badly as I am? It has been beyond cray-cray at my office this week and I'm just plum worn out. This was not made any better when I woke up at 3am this morning, sat straight up and bed and proceeded to the bathroom as if to get ready for the day. As I passed through I saw that the clock on the stove read "3:02" and promptly headed back to the bed. I don't know what's up but I just can't seem to get enough rest! Oh, and when people tell you that training for a marathon is exhausting and time consuming and "Have you lost your mind?!"... yea, they're being honest. Running 20+ miles every week sure will suck the fun-life outta you, let me tell ya. I feel like all of the movement should be giving more energy but as of now, I've yet to have that happen. I have 13 miles on the schedule for tomorrow morning. In case you're unfamiliar with the running world... that's a half marathon. I'm running a half marathon tomorrow morning, just for kicks. If you never hear from me again, it's been nice knowing y'all. If I survive the fake-half, Brian and I have a day date to head to the Deutsche Bank Championship for the day! He gets volunteer days through his job that he has to use that don't count against his vacation time, so basically boyfriend has spent the last two days at a golf course wearing a really big bucket hat that he is EXTREMELY excited about and watching pro golfers play golf all day. I think the extent of his duties is to tell people to be quiet and not go past the rope barriers on the course.
Basically, he's in heaven. Since the majority of our dates are planned by me, I've gone full-force-excited into this whole thing. It doesn't hurt that I get to wear a VIP badge for the day and eat and drink as much as I want. Hey, running 13 miles DOES have its benefits. The gates open at 7am but since I'll be trucking my caboose along at that point, I'd imagine (hope) we're going later in the morning. If you'd like to spend your morning watching the Golf Channel, keep an eye out for me! I'll be the girl hobbling around with a beverage in her hand...s. I only REALLY love Sundays on long weekends because it's like you have a mid-weekend! And it's a lot easier to justify Sunday Funday when you don't have to be up before motherlovin' dawn the next morning. But THIS Sunday... I am excited to announce... that my evening will be spent with the most wonderful man.
He's great too, and he'll totally be there as well. This guy is gonna steal the evening though:
Oh, Darius. I am SO excited, my friend! For the third summer in a row, we get to see him in concert! Two years ago we saw Hootie and the Blowfish (awesome, amazing, hoarse the next day from scream-singing "Hold My Hand" and "Let Her Cry" at the top of my voice) and then last summer we saw Darius by himself (hello tears EVERY SINGLE TIME I hear "Southern State of Mind") and it was even more amazing. I don't know how the show could get any better, so let's just say that my expectations for Sunday night are mucho-high. The best part is that the venue he's been at these last three years is called the "Music Circus" so there are tons of people there, it's circular seating so there's literally not a bad seat anywhere, and the stage very slowly revolves the entire show so everyone gets to see DR's bum! I mean... face. And awesome School House Rock tshirts. Truly though, I'm so pumped.
I may have tried to justify purchasing and having these lovelies shipped overnight to get here by tomorrow but, alas, I must eat and pay rent.
I mean really-- what's a $600 pair of boots for a Texas gal?
So between 13 miles plus golf all day tomorrow, Sunday Funday + Darius, and a Monday which I'm sure will include some sort of Brian-family-get-together where I must present myself nicely and put on non-yoga pants and prepare a wonderful dish from scratch... I've got a packed few days ahead of me.
I'll be back Monday with pictures from the festivities, don't you worry your pretty little heads. Here's to a fake half marathon!
It has been a sweet forever since I've blogged but I kind of have a really good reason this time. For serious.
I'M RUNNING THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON.
NOVEMBER 4, 2012, I will line up with 40,000 other nutjobs and will voluntarily run 26.2 miles through FIVE boroughs and cross the finish line in Central Park.
I've been training since July but hit a snafu with the blogging aspect of my life. Knowing that I wanted to document my training experience, I started a separate blog for that purpose (mainly because I sometimes share things on THIS blog that I'd rather not be broadcast to everyone and their mother back home). When I created the second blog I did so under the same email address that I use for this one, so they were linked, as in if I didn't but some sort of privacy block up on one of them, EVERYONE was gonna see/read EVERYTHING.
So I blocked this blog... my baby. And I have MISSED IT. I've still been following along with everyone and faithfully reading YOUR blogs but since the other blog is solely dedicated to running and fundraising, I couldn't really chat about things there like how adorable Kate and Wills looked at the Olympics:
To send to Mama and Daddy in Texas. If that works out, I'm contemplating a "house divided" wreath for our apartment, featuring the Cowboys and Patriots.
Just as soon as it's chilly outside and I can dedicate an entire Saturday, with football on in the background, to make this, I'm getting started. And wine. I'd imagine I'm going to need a lot of white wine to fuel me through this because can you imagine getting all the way through to the very last ruffle and spilling a glass of Merlot across it? I would tell them to wrap me in the skirt and put me in my coffin because I'D BE DONE.
Word of Wisdom, Learned from Many Pinterest Projects: When having a craft attack, I'm trying to space out buying the supplies so I don't go for broke once I'm ready to actually start... because that's usually what happens. I decide on Friday night that Saturday is going to be Craft Day and end up leaving Michael's $50 poorer. So knowing that these will be used in the fall/winter, I'm starting to buy now. As for the gallery wall that I've decided needs to be put together this weekend and will be buying frames for on Saturday... well, we can't win them all.
So, that's my update. If y'all would like to stop in to my running blog, knock yourselves out! Any encouragement or support that you have to offer is soaked up, believe me. It's been quite the experience up to now. Going into the training, I knew that it would be intense and take up time, but now that I'm deep in the middle of it all, it has definitely had its overwhelming moments. If I'm going to stretch well, run 4-5 miles or put in 60 minutes of cross training, plus my strength training routine, I'm at the gym for at least an hour and a half EVERY. DAY. It is insane. I know it will be worth it on race day, but right now it's a big adjustment. I'm exhausted and the Olympics did me in. Staying up until midnight every night does not an early morning runner make.
In an effort to truly put 100% into this training, I'm back to focusing on getting good, clean food into my diet and not refueling after 9 mile runs with Taco Bell (adios, you deliciously processed bean burrito, you). And Points... I'm back to tracking PointsPlus, even though I'm not paying for WW right now. I've never been a big stretcher and have also realized that if I'm going to make my body endure miles and miles of constant motion, I've gotta reward it with a good cooldown afterwards, so I'm trying to get better at that. There may even be a little "Yoga for Runners" going down in our living room on the nights that Brian has softball. It's good-- I'm fancy and SO LIMBER. But not really. Not at all. It's been a loooong time since the days of jump splits on the football field. Like 10 years long time.
It feels good to be back, my friends!
The Running Blog
(Because I totally have more than enough time to keep up with two blogs plus train, work, eat, shower, sleep, and not forget my family/boyfriend friends. Jump on the crazy train!)
You know you've had a good first part of your weekend when Sunday consists of waking up, showering, perhaps eating a McDonald's Sausage Biscuit with a Diet Coke and curling up on the couch to watch Bravo TV all day long. Not that I did that today or anything...
Brian's cousin is getting married in July, and his fiancee and I are good friends and he's basically brothers with his cousin, so we're both in the wedding (yay!). Both in the wedding = co-bachelor/bachelorette parties this weekend! They landed at the airport at 9am Friday morning, and while the boys picked the cousin up and headed straight to Atlantic City, the girls picked up the bride-to-be and headed off to do our own thing!
We went to her final dress fitting (obviously I won't be posting pictures but the dress is gorgeous!) and then took the bride to lunch. After a few errands, we headed back to my apartment where we set up shop at the pool. It was the most perfect pool day, and since it was just the bridesmaids (the day before the big party), it was the kind of low-key day that was definitely needed.
The bridesmaids at the pool! And the bride-to-be (center in aviators).
me and bridey!
The next morning we had plans to head to the beach but were greeted with a 60 degree, cloudy, VERY windy day. We decided not to risk it and headed into Boston early to decorate the suite and just have everyone come and hang out in the room pre-shenanigans.
standard "pin the co*k on the jock"
what's a bachelorette party without snacks and plenty of drinks!?
bridey opening some lingerie
congratulations candice!
the bride and her future sister-in-law
the bridesmaids!
on the way to dinner!
so excited to be a bridesmaid and a part of her big day!
Not documented for the blog are all of the shenanigans that took place post-dinner. Lots of drinks and dancing, followed by a little pizza delivery to the hotel room at 2am. Also, when did dancing at a bar become like an exhibition of ladies for the men? There were about 12 of us together so we had our own little dance circle going on, but the guys were lined up around the entire perimeter of the floor, just staring at their... prey? When the guys got too close to one of the girls, one of us would grab the other and pull her into the group-- definitely the best way to dance (unless boyfriends are there, obviously).
Also, I didn't know a single song that they played that we danced to. It was still fun to dance, but I for sure felt like the awkward old lady on the dance floor when the big hit songs of the moment came on and everyone went nuts and knew every word... and I just kind of smiled and bobbed along.
#OLD
The boys are currently driving home from Atlantic City... eight hours. Considering I heard from Brian at 4:45 this morning saying he was heading to bed... I am NOT envying their car ride home today. I also have to get it together enough to show up for a BBQ for Brian's family's Father's Day... thing.
On that note, Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful, amazing, supportive Daddy that I could ever even imagine having. Through all of my ups and downs, my good decisions and bad, from living at home to moving across the country to Boston, he has been right there by my side, encouraging me through it all, knowing that as much as he wants to always protect me and keep me right by his side, that the best thing that he could do was to let me make my own decisions, grow up and become my own adult.
There isn't a doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be the person that I am today without the support of my Dad. He's the hardest working person that I know and he's been through so much these last few years with his leg injury. I admire him so much for working so tirelessly for our family, for always doing whatever he had to do for our family. He is my hero and I hope that he knows that every single day.
This was for sure one of those mornings where I turned my alarm off four times before getting out of bed.
4:50am: the time where my big ambitions last night to hit the gym by 5 were immediately squashed 5:45am: the time i typically wake up to get ready and make lunches and not be rushed 6am: the time that i wake up to do the aforementioned stuff but am tight on time 6:15am: the time when i rush to the shower, rock a twisty-bang hairdo because i did NOT have time to mess with my hair, and throw whatever i can find into our lunchboxes.
Today, of course, was the 6:15 option. I just could NOT get OUT of BED. You'd think I had some wild and crazy weekend but no... no, it was pretty low-key.
Friday night we were super sassy and made BLTs. Well, I made a BLT-- Brian went to "take a quick nap" and ended up conking out at 7 and sleeping until about 10. So I did what any girl would do-- I ate my BLT while catching up on Bethenny and Giuliana, obviously. So basically when he woke up at 10, I was heading to bed. I would also like to note that we love our casual Friday nights. After a week of working plus my crazy commute every day, the last thing that we want to do is go out and battle the bars. We like to instead opt for evenings on the couch in our PJs with pizza, Blue Moon/wine and Dateline. I haz no complaints!
My weekend routine is typically to be up and running (like literally pounding the pavement for miles) by 6:30, then I come home to shower, grab my lists and such, and head off for my Morning of Me time. It's lovely. My first stop is Weight Watchers, where I stay for the meeting, then head to Target (they share a parking lot-- score for me, eek! for my bank account) and proceed to inevitably spend $75-100 on things that I didn't know I needed until I saw them. After that, I swing by Trader Joe's to grocery shop, Panera to pick up breakfast, DD for our coffees, then it's home to lounge on the couch with the boy for a bit. Sometimes we run errands, sometimes Bri does his thing and I hang out and clean and catch up on my shows. Regardless of what we do during the day, together or apart, Saturday night is ALWAYS our date night... and I love that. Whether we get dressed up to go out or stay in and cook together, it's nice to have that one night to look forward to where you get to relax and reconnect.
... Unless I'm babysitting. If that's the case, then I throw pasta together for him while I'm running out the door, which was very much the case this week. On occasion I babysit for a sweet family with three redheaded little boys, ages 8, 6 and 4. A positive this week was they were already bathed and fed and in pajamas, so we spent the evening leading up to bed watching this little gem:
Does anyone else remember this movie? It was painful to watch-- Rocky, Colt and Tum-Tum. Ah, yes. After this cinematic treasure, they were off to bed and I had several hours to relax with a book. Who says babysitting doesn't have its perks? Luckily I wasn't out TOO terribly late because I knew I needed to be nice and rest for...
... MY FIRST 10K!
Oh yes. It happened. I was up bright and early yesterday morning getting ready, stretching, making sure I had all of my race necessities together, and then we were off!
Brian snapped the obligatory pre-race picture, wished me luck, and headed back to his spot to watch for me. Honestly, going into this race, I was not in a great mental place. With having been sick the past three weeks with a chest cold, a bump in my training road for a good week, I was worried how much endurance I might have lost-- I've felt rundown and just so tired lately.
Once I started running, I was able to find a good pace, and was pushing enough to be running fast-ish, but not so fast that I was going to tire out. My game plan had been to take into account my having been sick and take a small walk break at mile 2, if I needed to, with water, then keep coming. Well, here came mile 2-- no water. I pushed through to 3 and just felt very out of it-- it was like my legs were completely detached from what my mind was telling them to do. At 3 1/2 miles, I finally found water and slowed down to take a quick breather. After I'd started running again I immediately felt tired and started to get a little worried if I was mentally enough in the race to actually finish, which is crazy now that I look back. To distract myself, I started dedicating every song that came on my iPod to my family and friends-- "Alright, I'm running 'Where You Lead' for Mama. 'Glory Days' goes out to Daddy!"
My saving grace came at mile 4-- I'd told Brian before the race that I thought this might be the kind of thing where I could REALLY use some support somewhere between the start and finish but he was worried if he'd be able to get through the streets or not. Lo and behold, his dad found a way and they were waiting at the mile 4 marker. A big inside joke with me and Brian is the Wilson Phillips song "Hold On," which he knows every. single. word to.
Wouldn't you know it that as soon as I saw him standing at the mile 4 sign this song came up in my shuffle? I cannot lie-- the tears started. He was taking pictures and all I could think was "I'm crying! I'm running and I'm crying! I'm crying because I have to keep running!" so I put on my brave face and pushed through. As I went down a hill and started to come up... there he was again. I'm not kidding, it got me through the race to see him there cheering for me. As I passed him I yelled "It's 'Hold On'... I'm crying!" and kept running.
Typical.
After a steady mile incline on a road and the biggest hill of my life, I finished in 1:06:31. I was hoping for better, but I guess that gives me something to beat next time! I'm happy to say that I finished my first 10k though. As miserable as I was immediately after, by last night I was already looking at more upcoming races. Without a cold and missed training, I'm excited to see what my next time will be! Love that running feeling!
Once I got home and showered, I put on my favorite PJ pants and retired to the couch for the rest of the day. We watched Mad Men all afternoon and dinner was ready in the CrockPot. All in all, a lovely Sunday afternoon.
And just a tad bit more of REALLY exciting news-- I'm going home to Texas next weekend!! I'm SO EXCITED. I'm needing to rest and recharge and have meals cooked by Mama. And a haircut.
It's the little things.
To wrap up this (way longer than intended) blog post, do yourself a favor and swing by
It is the most beautiful, perfect day outside here in Boston today! Sadly, I only experienced a brief half hour of this as I made it a point to get out and walk around at lunchtime. The wind is also blowing so extremely hard that a watched a tiny little thing who was definitely close to my age hold on to a light pole as she waited to cross the street.
Moral of the story? Some days it pays to have a li'l junk in the trunk, as this bod was blowin' NOWHERE.
I think I'm having spring fever because I have been extremely productive today and contemplated approximately 72 things I'd rather be doing than sitting at my desk. They include
*sitting on a patio while partaking in a Blue Moon (3pm is a totally acceptable start time for Happy Hour) and... nachos. Or queso. Or something else my PMS-ridden self is craving
*enjoying a cup of PinkBerry (regular tart with berries and coconut!) outside
*sitting on a porch with a good book... and a pillow... and a glass of iced tea
*sitting at the beach with a good book... and a blanket... it's still chilly here
*going for a long, luxurious run all around downtown (totally killing two birds with one stone: the wind = resistance training, right?)
This week has felt exceptionally long, so our plans for the evening consist of BLTs and soup + wine + Mad Men. Although I'm fairly confident we're two of the last people in the world to jump on the MM bandwagon... I'm now riding comfortably and never want to get off! Obsessed, to put it lightly. Obsessed to the point that I've planned Sunday's dinner to cook in the Crockpot all day so we can have an uninterrupted Season 1 marathon-- whoop! I'm babysitting for little ones tomorrow night and have my first 10k race on Sunday morning.
MY FIRST 10K, PEOPLE.
My mind? Is a little freaked out. I had an awful chest cold for a solid two weeks which definitely derailed my training, though I've never stopped running altogether... I'm just worried my endurance has run down a bit. And the top of my right foot is feeling extremely tight and catch-y (not catch-y flashy, catch-y "Oh! That's not good...") so I'm just trying to stretch and stretch and do lots of warming up before exercise. As much as I'm craving a good run outside tonight in this gorgeous weather, I think I'm limiting myself to the elliptical for my workout, and then attempting an easy run tomorrow morning. 6.2 miles-- holy moly. On that note, I'm outta here.
(pardon the f-bomb, but this little card is what got me through today!)
This past Saturday we attended the wedding of Brian's mom's best friend's daughter... whom I've met twice. Ever. We weren't expecting to have a fabulous time (someone was mad about missing the Bruins game) but it ended up being a really fun night. There might have been a Table 1 Chant, commentary on the happenings on the dance floor (we were seated on the second floor), poof comparisons (my real vs a bump-it) and a lot of dancing... eventually barefoot... in a little spilled wine. I am nothing if not classy! Ending the night with cold pizza, it was a fun time all around.
Off to the wedding! The Bruins were on, moving left to right across the radio, NOT on the TV. Oh well...
Photo shoot in the car! Always have to send a pic to The Mom when I'm all dressed up.
Delish sliders. Tinier than my palm. I heart them.
Boyfran. I don't know why this is blurry.
Bridgie, one of Brian's older sisters.
A girl's gotta have her options.
Jana!
All in all, we had a fabulous night. I can't lie-- I definitely get wedding fever at times, especially when we're guests to one and I leave at the end of the night thinking "That was kind of perfect-- mental note for this and that and that and this." It was the perfect wedding for such a laidback and fun couple... whom I do not have a picture of. Whoops! I told you, I've met the bride twice-- I'd have awk flouncing up and asking for a pic, particularly after beverages were consumed (note: see "options" photo above). Makes me excited to plan the big day someday myself! Weddings are the best!
Oh, and I thought I would be just... down for the count on Sunday. Somewhere between the late night slice of cold pizza and two glasses of water at 2am, my body said "You're a champ!" and while I lazed around and did nothing on Sunday... I felt fab. Win!
It has been a Monday and a half, y'all. It just seemed like the day was never ending, every time I would catch up on emails and ran to the bathroom or to refill my water, I'd come back and would have 10 new emails waiting. People were a lil cray-cray today and I so wanted to just propose a midday happy hour and we could all throw in the towel.
Alas, we did not hit up the bars and the day wrapped up. Today was supposed to start my 10k training (first 10k on April 29-- woo!) but my right knee did this catchy thing all day and I thought it'd be better to start off on fresh legs than, you know, bust my knee on Day 1 of the program. So I did what any gal would do-- came home, put on my PJs, dozed off for a half hour, and made a dinner of a sweet potato and Morningstar Farms Buffalo Chicken strips. They may not be the best thing for you, but on a night when you're just cooking for yourself, it's ideal/easy/quick.
I haven't posted pictures in FOREVER... so here's a big ole picture post. Because it's truly been so long, I'm gonna separate by month. Yes, I have THAT many pictures. With commentary, of course. If you don't care, I'll see ya soon. If you do, stick around-- catch up with me, won't you?
DECEMBER
the month of my birthday (26, holy cow) and home to texas for christmas!
boyfran and me out for my birthday with friends! love him.
birthday cake! they sang to me! i hated it... but loved it.
birthday drinks with the ladies.
my first night home, mama and i had wine. LOTS of wine.
my sweet (second) cousin jack.
i just love him to pieces-- my little guy starts kindergarten this august!
carter, jack's little brother and my birthday buddy. love that sweet face.
oh, just some melted snowman cookies.
someone was LOVING the snowman cookies. "marshmallows! and sugar cookies! those are my favoritest things in the world!"... and then he bounced off of the walls.
our sweet lucy... with the donkey across the fence from our backyard. my parents have named him jack. he hollers when he doesn't get attention. they feed him carrots. lucy is jealous. i swear they could have their own tv show... i have no words.
girls night at carol's = snacks and sweets and wine... so much wine.
amanda marie, my absolute most bestest friend.
mid-evening photo shoot. we're fun.
yvonne, carol and amanda-- they've been my girls since SIXTH GRADE. do that math-- sixteen years. that's what you can call "in it through it all" friendships.
it makes sense that this picture is blurry.
the next day was christmas eve. i was in a bad, bad place.
lucille was beat. love her.
FEBRUARY
friends come to visit and little man turns ONE!
another one of my bffs came to visit me in boston while here interviewing for residency programs. yep, she's a smarty-- SHIVANI!
we trekked all over boston and back and took lots of touristy pictures.
out to dinner in the north end-- lots of wine. as you can see, the place was hoppin'!
brian tagged along-- love him... again.
ending the night the best way possible-- at mike's pastry. love her and so glad she came!
And then... this guy, who is pretty much the highlight of our lives...
turned ONE YEAR OLD!
We drove from Boston to Baltimore on a Friday night... seven hours later, we made it. That was with no traffic, my friends. It was brutal. Saturday we spent the day with Little Man and then that night... the cookie workshop set-up:
(me with brian's older sisters, colin's mama is in the middle)
which would lead to this (times five trays)
Sunday morning, his actual birthday, I was up bright and early:
He was a busy little bee, helping mama and Uncle Bri put the sprinkles on his smash cake.
These two melt my heart. They had a little uncle/nephew time.
Once he was dressed, the birthday balloons arrived!
my little guy and his birthday balloon wreath! such a fun little project to do for him...
and he LOVED IT. He kept sticking one single finger in the open ends of the balloons-- adorbs.
uncle bri, aunt katie and little man colin!
he is his uncle's favorite.
walking with uncle bri-- one of my favorite pictures ever. love that toothy smile!
close up of my birthday wreath :)
MARCH PW, runs and leprechauns
I met Pioneer Woman. No big deal. I might have gotten teary-- I can't help it.
I ran my first race of 2012, a 4 miler on St. Patrick's Day morning.
Much less peppy at the end than at the start of the race.
ANNNNND done.
After a healthy lunch of Taco Bell and lots of day drinking, we got ready to go out for the evening-- St. Paddy's Day!!
Please ignore the beer boxes and golf clubs in the background. I live with a boy. He golfs and bottles his own beer. I look the other way.
I'm wife to BGK, new mama to CFK, and dog-mom to Molly, working to hold on to my Southern roots while living in Boston. I love a good pair of yoga pants but never pass up a chance to get all prettied up in heels and curl my hair while sipping a glass of wine. I love laughing 'til it hurts. I am terrified of whales, deep water, and the dark. TV commercials often make me cry. I don’t do well with decision-making. I have a special place in my heart for all things Southern. I love life and am learning to live it without regret while slowing down to smell the roses and soak up every second with my people. I am a hopeless romantic and believe in fate. I have a thing for Bono and Bruce.
