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...}

And the sun came out today...

What started as a dark, drenched Wednesday has become a beautiful afternoon.

{ image via icanread }

Happy Hump!

Is that all there is?

Just because it's Friday, and it's my favorite episode...

"When it comes to relationships, maybe we're all in glass houses and shouldn't throw stones. Some people are settling down, some people are settling and some people refuse to settle for anything less than BUTTERFLIES..."

Five Senses Friday

(This will be a weekly repeat. Join me?)

hearing:
"Darling, we're everything..."


tasting:
Chilli's. I had a craving. We indulged it.

seeing:
progress in the moving effort!

feeling:
itchy eyes. I think I've developed allergies.

smelling:
Christmas trees! The lots are popping up, and we will go get ours this coming week!

He is real.

Kiddie City bags. Left by the basement door. Found on Christmas morning.
This is how I discovered the truth. You know, the Big One. The Big Truth about the Big Guy.

I can't say I was shocked. I had been poking holes in the Santa theory on my own, silently, as I wanted to keep up the facade for Jenna. But I always wanted to believe. Even though, deep down I knew that it couldn't be possible - somewhere deeper down...I felt the magic.

The magic of going to bed on Christmas Eve and feeling like something really special was about to happen. The magic of waking up with butterflies. The magic of creeping down the stairs and seeing that, somehow, all of exactly what you wished for is right under the tree.

At 28, I almost still want to believe in Santa. Waking up on Christmas morning is vastly different these last few years. I usually sleep on the couch in my Mom's apartment. We sleepily open gifts and then decide who is showering first so that we can make it to breakfast on time. (We never do.) I predict that this coming Christmas morning will be even more different, as I will be waking up at my new home, with H.

Seeing this post brought back some of that magic though. Just a different kind.

Be the Santa in you.

And this is why...

He watches Sex and the City with me, without complaint, whenever it's on. In an attempt to show his interest, he referred to Mr. Big as "Mr. Large". We both really laughed.

He makes me feel safe, taken care of.

We met at a John Mayer concert. Need I say more?

He is the most selfless person I know.

The way his face softens when he talks about his Mom.

He's seen Les Misérables 26 times. He introduced me to Rent and stopped it every 30 seconds to explain something, narrate or point out some quirky, unknown fact. And now I cannot stop listening to the Rent station on Pandora.

He will drop everything to help out anyone in need, at any given time.

He is insanely hard-working.

He still has the same smile that he did when he was little (I've seen pictures).

He knows things...random stuff, important stuff, stuff about money and cars, and credit, and bills. Stuff that I don't know.

I can't think about him without smiling.

Any problem or quandry I am faced with is automatically his issue. And he doesn't stop until it's resolved...from my totaled car to work stuff to finding the perfect Christmas gift for my Mom, he takes it on, figures it out and all while maintaining complete and utter calm.

His love for his family and friends.

We have fun no matter what we do.

When he laughs really hard, he slams his palm down on the surface in front of him. It's childlike and carefree.

He adds to this list every day and doesn't even know it.

{us at Tony's}

I love him. And this is why.

Thanks so much.

"One single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer. " ~ G. E. Lessing

My contribution to project :: thankful by Marta....

So many things to be thankful for this year (and every year)...

my health, waking up every day and feeling good, even when I am exhausted, still feeling physically well

having people around me who love me and support me and stand behind me in my decisions

reruns of Grey's on Lifetime

H, his selflessness, sincerity, and huge huge heart

the quiet car on the train

being able to check in with people I don't get to see too often on Facebook

new adventures and experiences

my college roommates and their little girls

Christmas traditions, new and old

my family, complete with dysfunction

a warm bed (with a heated matress!)

my friends, every single one of them

clarity

Happy Thanksgiving!

Five Senses Friday

(This will be a weekly repeat. Join me?)

hearing:

Well, I can tell you what I'm not hearing these days...my alarm!

tasting:

crab legs, for the first time!

seeing:

John Mayer, live at the Beacon Theatre in NYC!

feeling:

loved. a lot.

smelling:

a new car smell, compliments of my new Jeep Liberty. Her name is Lucky.

{hello, Lucky...I love you}

Five Senses Friday

Sometimes I steal ideas from other blogs...

(This will be a weekly repeat. Join me?)

hearing:

homemade burned CDs, including:
Lost Songs and Walk the Line - David Gray
19 - Adele
Turnstiles - Billy Joel
Trouble - Ray Lamontagne

tasting:
Penne a la Vodka and an after midnight Guinness

seeing:
Fa La La La Lifetime promos. If that isn't a sign of Christmas coming, I don't know what is.

feeling:
unusually warm evening air when getting off the train

smelling:
my new three-wick candle from Pier One

One Last Look...

"I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps."

This morning, I said goodbye to an old friend. A friend who has seen me through four years, two accidents, many many laughs, a hike up to Boston, about 40,000 miles, a few shore trips and a tire blowout on the 42 freeway (read about it here, if you fancy).

Justina named her Adrian last year, after she was rear-ended by a drunk driver and pushed into a Ford Focus, causing her to look like an accordion rendering her undriveable for oh, about seven months due to an unfortunate (lack of) insurance situation. She sat at a body shop in Darby just waiting for me to get enough money to go pick her up. And, when I finally had the money, she wasn't ready. Oh, the bad decisions I've made. I definitely do not have the best luck with cars.

Back to my silver/grey girl. Last Tuesday morning, I decided to stay home from work as I wasn't feeling too hot. I ran out at about 10 am to get some Tylenol Cold and Sinus (aka the wonder drug) and McDonald's breakfast. While heading down Burmont back to my little nest, Adrian and I were hit by a white panel van who was trying to cross over Burmont. While the driver did stop, he essentially didn't obey the Stop Sign Rules as he proceeded through the intersection without checking to make sure it was clear.

My first thought - "thank God I have insurance." What a difference a year makes.

I called 911 (that is a lie. I called my boyfriend, H, first as he is a 911 dispatcher and then he instructed me to call 911. He wasn't working at the time. I guess it was just a reflex. I knew that he would tell me what to do. And calm me down.) and the police came. The driver of the van was very apologetic and nice. We exchanged information and insurance policies. H showed up and called a tow truck to come get the car. We went down to the body shop and got me into a rental car in no time. A week later, she was declared a total loss by the insurance company.

A total loss - this sounds so negative and sad. It is actually the opposite. I am getting reimbursed for the value of Adrian, which is way over what I owe on my loan.

A fortunate misfortune. Props, Jack.

What November means to me...

Remembering the first full break from college...

Crispy brown leaves...

Chilly air...(and refusing to stop wearing flip flops)...

The smell of a chimney...

Early signs of Christmas (and I love it)...

Perhaps the most November-y thing of all is Thanksgiving of course...and nothing is more Thanksgiving-y to me than the Woody Allen flick Hannah and Her Sisters. Caught it last week on cable....divine.

"nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands..."

A taste of the theme song...

Where I'm From

Inspiration via Finn.

I am from paper plates and newspapers, from Turkey Hill Ice Cream and cans of Pepsi.
I am from the white, bright, always smells like a cigarette and perfume.
I am from the eucalyptus, the sun creeping through watery windows, the wreath on the door, all seasons.
I am from Christmas morning hotel breakfasts and wet eyes from Mom and Babe, and the Gormley's and the Bichetti's.
I am from loud, loud laughter and I am from addiction.
From catching a cold with a wet head of hair and catching a cold from wearing coats indoors.
I am from crucifixes over the doorways and Mass on all holidays and some Sundays.
I am from suburban Philadelphia and the 50/50 split between Italy and Ireland, from roasted garlic-y peppers and pizzelles and baked potatoes with A1 sauce and Chicken Divan.
From wiping crumbs from the kitchen table onto the floor and calling it clean.
From locking all the doors, and he slept on the deck.
I am from decorative boxes covered in pretty green ivy that matches the walls in the breakfast room and four thin, discolored albums and one big, white one with gold trim. I am from the frames lined up on the shelves on the porch. I am from the surviving items not destroyed by the flood. I am from everything not destroyed.