Keeping it Light...

Thanks, Snoop.

{photo props to Me Against Them}

Loving a person just the way they are, it's no small thing
It takes some time to see things through
Sometimes things change, sometimes we're waiting
We need grace either way

Hold on to me
I'll hold on to you
Let's find out the beauty of seeing things through

There's a lot of pain in reaching out and trying
It's a vulnerable place to be
Love and pride can't occupy the same spaces baby
Only one makes you free

Hold on to me
I'll hold on to you
Let's find out the beauty of seeing things through

If we go looking for offense
We're going to find it
If we go looking for real love
We're going to find it

~Sara Groves "Loving a Person"

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, love you Mom xoxo

{image via those clever Truffle gals}

Friday-itis

Senioritis, from the word senior plus the suffix -itis (which refers to inflammation but in colloquial speech is assumed to mean an illness), is a colloquial term used in the United States to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college and graduate school careers.

Thank you my friend Wiki.

Every Friday afternoon, everyone gets a touch of this. This Friday, however, with the gorgeous sun and perfectly cool temperatures, it's absolutely brutal.

Happy Weekend!

Birfday fun

This blog has been sorely neglected. I guess I've been busy. Happy busy, for sure.

Since my birthday is this Sunday, I thought a birthday meme would work.

Courtesy of fellow Aries, Katie!

How many birthdays have you celebrated so far?: This will be my 29th birthday. Wow, that sounds like a lot.

When is your next one coming up?: Sunday! Easter Sunday, to be exact. The last time my birthday fell on Easter, I don't necessarily remember it, but I am not sure how I feel about sharing my birthday with a holiday. Is that selfish?

If you could get anything, realistically speaking, what would you ask for?: Um, money? But who doesn't want that? And if I could be really cheesy for a second, I really wanted H to have off all weekend, and he does! So, I guess I got what I asked for :)

If you could ask for something magic or like superpowers, which kind?: Easy. A remote control for time.

Who do you want to be with during your birthdays?: Everyone I love!

How do you plan to celebrate your upcoming birthday?: We have the whole weekend! Starting with, well...last night actually. I mean, H was off last night and we went up to have dinner with my Mom. Tonight, he is off again and who knows what we will do! Tomorrow night, dinner with Jackie and my Mom and the delicious Clam Tavern. Then Saturday and Sunday are completely open! The only plans we've really talked about are going up to Ridley Creek State Park on Saturday morning and then a nice dinner on Saturday night. I almost feel a bit overwhelmed with possibilities of what to do, especially with such nice weather! Whatever we do, it will be great.

What was the worst present you ever got on a birthday?: Oh, I cannot even think of one, actually.

What was the worst birthday fiasco you ever had: Two years ago, I had a tough birthday week. A string of bad luck and unfortunate events made for an uneasy feeling on April 4th, but I made it through.

Did you ever purposely give someone a crappy gift?: Never!

Who would you never ever ever want to attend your birthday?: Oh again, I don't know. Isn't this supposed to be a happy time?!?!

What was the best birthday present you’ve ever received?: A surprise party and a book of letteres written to me by all of my friends and family. I think that was for my 25th.

What was the best birthday you’ve ever had?: Besides my 25th with the suprise party and book, my 21st was great too.

Why was it so great?: I was living in DC for school with five of my favorite girls and my Mom surprised me and came to visit! We had a cake, drinks and then she came out to the bars with us. It was so fun.

What is your fave birthday activity, even if you havent done it (yet)?: I love just allowing myself to be a little self-indulgent and selfish with attention.

Who would you love to come to your birthday to celebrate with you?: Easy, my Dad.

What did your family do to celebrate your birth?: When I was in grade school, my Mom would send me into school with Dunkin Donuts munchkins for the class and then bring me a Happy Meal from McDonald's for lunch. Parties and sleepovers with my friends...parties at the skating rink.

What happened for your sweet 16th birthday?: My Mom bought me a car! A powder blue Chevy Cavalier station wagon. She even put the big red bow on it!

Would you be okay with dying on your birthday?: I think I would...I feel like it would be strangely fitting.

{my 21st in DC!}

Channeling my inner beach...

More snow?

Mother Nature, you've got to be kidding.

I'd rather be here...

Or here...

{the above two photos from my fantastic Cali trip in '08}

I'd rather be here...doing this...

{above, courtesy of a friend's Facebook Album...she wouldn't mind}

Think Spring!

Cork it.

New. Blog. Obsession. Can't. Stop. Reading.

Head is swimming with ideas, ideals, tips, tricks...

What we need...

What we want...

What I want...

And here's the first. I know just the place for you. More to come.

{image via Art.com}

Hunkered Down.

Oh, snow.

Philly was hammered this weekend with about two feet of the white stuff. It was beautiful (to me), as I had not one place to go. I was scheduled to work at Sam's on Saturday, but the restaurant was closed. I made a pot roast and mashed potatoes, had some fresh veggies and Trader Joe's hummus. Watched movies, did a little cleaning, napped...it was great.

And here we are, on Tuesday, and we are bracing for another foot tonight into tomorrow. Preemptive actions are being taken around the office for a possible closing tomorrow and, I have to admit, I am as excited as a kid in grade school...listening to that fuzzy KYW1060 broadcast...waiting, praying, WISHING, for that magic number to be called...

Ready to be snowed in again...got BBQ pulled pork in the crock pot, some whole wheat rolls, leftover pizza, a book to finish and another to start, more veggies, the lovely convenience of modern technology and NetFlix on Demmand. A wonderful thing.

So I can kiss you anytime I want.

Watched Sweet Home Alabama last night...

Reece is so young in that flick...

and Josh Lucas is just too cute for words...

It made me want to live in a small town...

no big buildings...

no public transportation...

county fairs and dive bars...

home cooking...

so simple...

Happy Birthday Aunt Mar!

{photo, circa 1981}

I love you and I hope you have a great day! xo

“Only an Aunt can give hugs like a mother, can keep secrets like a sister, and share love like a friend.”
~ Spanish Proverb

animal love.

Even if you are not a true animal lover (which, admittedly, I am not) - you will absolutely love Interspecies Friends, a new addition to my daily reads. Although the posts don't appear to have many words, just more ooh and ahh-worthy pics.

It's complete cuteness overload.

{serious spoonage}

{this guy reminds me of Puff}

{not sure it could be any more adorable}

We have much to learn from these guys...

Confession.

{image via PostSecret}

I always cheated.

Happy Monday, all.

So far, so good.

How adorable is this little girl?

"Dont' worry Dad!"

"That ain't no Etch-A-Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, Homeskillet."

{image via i can read}

"Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with."

Best. Movie. Ever. (Well, one of them.)

Happy Weekend!

100 Days of 100 Things

Embarking on a new project for myself, and I thought I'd share...for accountability, mainly.

I stumbled across an interesting article and was drawn to it....thought I'd make a little project out of it.

"The List of 100 is a powerful technique you can use to generate ideas, clarify your thoughts, uncover hidden problems or get solutions to any specific questions you’re interested in."

So, in an effort to just write...to just put pen to paper, to create SOMETHING...

My first creative project...100 Days of 100 Things. I printed out the list at the bottom of the article and, before bed every night, I am going to chose an item at random and create a list.

Away we go...Day 1 is January 21, 2010. Day 100 should will be April 30, 2010.

"You've got a lot of cool pics here..."

{Dedicated to Jacks...she'll miss 14-21 just as much as I will and only she will understand this...}

The only things left at the end of the move out...

Five bottles of Molson Canadian in the fridge and a (hysterical) maintenance receipt for a broken shower curtain.

{found in fridge, found in drawer}

Rain all day, and I don't mind.

My (now, our) couch is big. It's over sized. You could get lost in it, or lose hours while laying there. It's huge. Good thing too...because yesterday, the whole world fit on it.

Our rainy Sunday was spent as Sundays should go...

...starting with a lazy morning in no rush to get up and do anything...next was errands, but I don't think running errands with your favorite person really qualifies as errands in the typical sense...we went to the grocery store and then to pick up laundry...then stopped for fast food since dinner wouldn't be for a few hours...the rain continued to beat the windows, we put the groceries away and started dinner...I was determined to make this Pot Roast...I watched it on the Food Network on Saturday...it looked so easy! And it was, not to mention delicious...the roast simmered and made the house smell awesome, we drank some Guinness and watched Man vs. Wild...Bear Grylls does things like willingly jumping into a freezing lake in the French Alps (to demonstrate how to get out, of course)...football...more beer...he made me a sandwich with leftovers for my lunch today...when I tried to get up around 7 pm to put the laundry away, I was summoned back to the couch, where I stayed for the rest of the night until going to bed at 10...

I can't wait to do it again next week.

"Can't you see that it's just rainin...
...Ain't no need to go outside..."

This is how I'd like to spend my weekend...

{image via the pursuit of happyness)

Happy Weekend!

Pane

I said goodbye to my first apartment this weekend. The first place that I could call my own. Not shared with a roommate, or five of them. Not squeezed into a tiny room in someone else's house. Not still at home, but let's face it...I'd give anything to live there again.

Although it was somewhat uncerimonious (I'd been essentially in the process of moving out for about two months now), with each box, bag or crate that went out the door and into the truck, I felt a little tug on the inside.

I kind of wandered in and out of each room, packing and organizing but paying close attention to every detail of the empty space.

Every little corner has some significance.
Every patch of carpet holds tons of memories.
Every piece of furniture has a story.

Time for new signficance, new memories and new stories.

As I waited for H to arrive in the morning with the rental truck, I started taking down my curtains from my living room windows. He pulled up in the truck and got out, approaching my apartment. I was instantly taken back six or seven months back when we were going on our first official date. As I sat there waiting for him, I had peeked out the same window, and watched him walk up the path.

So, here we are.

Goodbye 14-21 Valley Road!

In Vegas, we got...

{We got silly drunk at The Wine Cellar in the our hotel, The Rio...}

{We got just plain silly at Madame Tussaud's...}

{We got fancy at Wolfgang Puck's Lupo in the Mandalay Bay...}

{And we got cozy on the Eiffel Tower at the Paris...}