Hotel staycation.

Over the weekend, Erik and I celebrated our anniversary by staying at a local hotel. Sounds a little strange, yes, but it was actually the best thing ever.

The past few weeks at work have been rough - I've been playing catch-up because of the holidays and my boss has a bad habit of complaining, which is incredibly annoying to listen to all day, every day. It was perfect timing, then, to take this mini vacation with Erik.

As I said to him later, it was really the perfect anniversary-slash-birthday gift he could've given me. I left it up to him to plan, as I spent the entire holiday season filling my calendar and juggling schedules. When I arrived, I collapsed happily into bed and all of my stress melted away. We ordered room service and went down to the pool - my only two requirements because I had never done the former and the latter was my favorite part of staying in hotels as a kid. When we came back, we showered and got in pajamas at 9pm, cuddled into bed, and watched TV and talked about the future.

The rest of the weekend was really great, too, especially when Erik called out of work and stayed at my house all through Sunday. It was a ton of quality time with him, something I feel like I never get enough of. Usually we're being social with our families or, at his house, with all of his friends. Even though we'll have an afternoon or night alone, it's just not the same as an entire weekend together. It was magical. It was relaxing. It was exactly what I needed.

Going back to work yesterday sucked, but I felt a little more refreshed than normal. My heart still feels like it's going to explode from all the feelings. It was a brief (but obviously not a complete) taste of what it's going to be like to live together and it made me super excited for our plans to move in together at the end of this year.

Sunday Night Blues.

I've talked about this before, but I have a really tough time with Sundays.

It all began when I started my new job. I dreaded Monday, and Erik and I would part ways for the weekend, so Sunday became this huge suck-fest. Usually I cried myself to sleep, be it for five minutes or a half hour, because feeling crappy triggered all my negative thoughts and... well, you get the picture. It wasn't a good time.

Eventually I got used to my job and coped better with saying goodbye to Erik. I settled into my schedule and things were good for a while. Then Erik got a job where he works Sunday through Thursday and I found myself thrown back into the cycle of hating Sundays.

It's not as drastic as it used to be; I don't cry about it anymore. But it's almost like I have Saturday and Sunday blues. On Saturday, when we're getting ready for bed, I realize our time together is over, even though I have a whole day left of my own personal weekend. Then I experience normal weekend-ending Sunday blues.

I try to balance it out by embracing my Sundays, whether that means running errands, doing chores, completing work for my second job, or allowing myself to have a mope-fest and laying in bed all day. If I'm at Erik's house, I usually get out of bed at a decent hour to drive home and am forced to start my day, which is good. Now that it's football season, I'm trying to become a serious Giants fan (yeah, I know, I picked the wrong year for that) and watch the games, either alone or with Lyndsay and her family. It prevents me from hating my life all the way through Sunday, but the nights are still not fun.

Once I'm living with Erik – which, mind you, is still a long ways away – I think I'll handle it better. By that point I should have a new job and a shorter commute anyway, but the worst part of my blues is feeling the absence of Erik after spending such a short amount of time with him. At least having company on Sunday nights will make me feel less dread-y about the week ahead. I just need to have a little patience and know that things will get better soon.

Do you get the Sunday night blues? What do you do to compete with them? Or, if you don't have them, what's your secret?!

St. Patty's Day and Unrelated Pictures of Crafting.

This weekend, for St. Patrick's Day, I attended a party at Erik's friend's house. It began with our late arrival and something his circle of friends calls "Feats of Drinking," which entails consuming alcoholic beverages - sometimes via a specific challenge - before you're allowed inside. Ours included a cute poem (which I meant to save, but forgot to bring home!), a shot of whiskey for my beloved, and a Jell-O shot for me. Because they love me. And pick on him. And because I had cupcakes.

The party itself was, well, a typical house party. By which I mean, complete drunken debauchery. There were car bombs, drinking games, poor score keeping, loud singing, and weird-but-amusing male bonding between Erik and his friends. I was the designated driver, so in my family's tradition... I got completely tipsy in the first two hours and then sobered up by the end of the night. True story.

Our night ended with some of our friends going from "okay" to "really not okay get me to the bathroom" in record time, four people in the bathroom at the same time (for bonding, not puking, apparently), and my first legitimate beer pong win. It took three times to get Erik to leave - he gets very chatty and forgetful after a night like this, which meant he kept forgetting my requests to leave and talked the ear off of one of his friends.

Overall, I had a total blast. Considering I once hated the thought of crazy drunken house parties, I'd say I'm becoming comfortable with them (and learning the warning signs of when someone may or may not puke). Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show for my fun Saturday night. I was wearing a cute green garter, too! (I gave the other one to Erik's BFF, who I now want to claim as my BFF.)

Instead, I'll show you the (terrible, taken-with-my-crappy-phone) pictures of the crafts I made with Lyndsay last weekend for her new Little - she was officially revealed on Friday night, so I'm free to share!

A few of my personal bests: off-set purple-and-yellow KD; bright green over-sized clothespin; hand-painted polka-dot E for their family name. I'm particularly proud of the polka dots, it's probably my best work ever.

How was your weekend, friends? Do anything fun for St. Patty's Day?

mixed shots, harry potter, and bocce ball.

This past weekend was an absolute whirlwind, and since I haven't really talked much about what I've been up to lately, I decided I'd post a pretty little recap of the weekend's festivities.

During the week, E told me his friends were having a party on Friday night and I decided there'd be no harm in going, since I didn't have any other plans and the hostess lived close by. About a half hour after I arrived, the drinking games began and by the end of the night, I was borderline-drunk (which is as drunk as I allow myself to get). I blame E's friends for being mightily persuasive, but I think I was also trying to show E that I could loosen up and have a good time. (Not that I believe I have to drink to have a good time, it's just that I usually want to drink but tend to worry so much about how much I'm drinking, how I feel, how I'm going to feel, etc., that I don't relax and enjoy myself.)

The party was a lot of fun and I actually enjoyed being almost-drunk -- it really did release the firm grip that my inhibitions and worries have on me. However, when it was time for bed, I started feeling gross. Thankfully laying down and closing my eyes made me feel better, but I couldn't actually fall asleep. First it was because E and I were trying (and completely failing) to share a sofa, then it was because I kept having to pee, and finally it was because I relocated to the loveseat and couldn't stretch my legs. I managed about two hours of sleep overall.

Getting up on Saturday was not fun. At first I thought I was alright, but the combination of not sleeping and having a slight hangover made the drive home unbearable. Luckily a shower and some breakfast helped, then it was off to meet up with Natalie and her friends to see Deathly Hallows Part II. We waited in line for about an hour before they let us in the theater, which wasn't bad at all. The movie was FANTASTIC. I could go on for days, but I'll just say I loved the kiss, I fucking loved Neville, and I cried for the entire second half of the film, especially during the part about Snape. After the movie we went out for dinner then back to Natalie's apartment for a bit before heading home.

On Sunday I drove up to E's town to hang out at his friend's house with his group of friends. I arrived just as the women's World Cup was ending, after which we headed out into the backyard. E and his friends are all about playing yard games, so first they played a few rounds of Kan Jam, then we all played bocce ball before dinner was served. After dinner, a few people had left and it was down to E's core friends, me, and another of the girlfriends. The boys played a short game of Ultimate Frisbee while us girls sat on the sidelines -- I actually brought The Hunger Games to start reading, but I barely got half a chapter in before the boys were done. E and I left soon after, hung out at his place for a few hours, and then it was time for me to go.

It was the first time in a long time that I had so many plans back-to-back, and it was absolutely exhausting. Still, it was completely worth it.

father's day weekend.

Happy Monday!

Okay, no, I'm not actually this cheerful on a Monday. I did have a fantabulous weekend, but this morning I woke up early and left E's house when he left for work instead of sleeping in, got stuck in horrendous traffic for a little while, and generally felt like crap.

Now that I've arrived home, devoured a hazelnut coffee coolatta and cheddar bagel twist from Dunkin Donuts, and showered, I wanted to share a few bits of my weekend with you.

Saturday was my friend Danielle's bridal shower, something I have been looking forward to for a while because it was my very first one. We held a low-key brunch for about thirty people in her backyard, renting a tent and bringing in a wonderful caterer. There was a Belgium waffle station, an omelette station, a variety of fruits and scones, and of course, mimosas. We played a few games, met the rest of our fellow bridesmaids, and made plans for the bachelorette party. It was a really wonderful afternoon, and we were sent home with tons of leftovers.

Also? That semi-unexpected gift I talked about last Thursday? It was for Danielle, put together by Natalie and me. Since her registry is for her honeymoon and you purchase the gifts online, we decided we also wanted to get her a little something to open at the shower. Our idea was for a "Honeymoon Kit" and, not to toot my own horn, but I think we did a good job - bath stuff, candles, bridal-shower-appropriate lingerie, tics tacs, lip gloss, a homemade door tag, and a tote to put it all in.

On Sunday, I headed out to spend the day with E. This might seem surprising since it was Father's Day, but it isn't really a big to-do in my family. In fact, my dad likes having the house to himself, so I'm sure he actually preferred having one less person running around. I did, however, celebrate with E's family. We (E and I, Natalie and her fiance, and their parents) went to a small out-of-the-way Spanish restaurant where we sipped on sangria and had some really, really good food. As usual, I had a really fabulous time chatting and joking around with their family.

After dinner, E and I started watching Modern Family as per Natalie's recommendation and now we're hooked. We blew through six episodes and really enjoyed the show - I can't wait to watch the rest. I made a last-minute decision to stay over because I was incredibly sleepy from my busy weekend.

Like I said, it was a pretty wonderful weekend. Plus, I have leftover cake and arroz con pollo in the fridge, so I'm a happy camper.

perfect MDW.

On Friday, I promised myself I would take it easy for Memorial Day weekend. My health was just starting to get back on track, so instead of rushing off to make plans, I settled in for a few days of "staycation."

I made the decision to unplug from the internet for the weekend, so aside from checking my e-mail and Facebook once or twice per day, I stayed away from my computer. Instead, I grabbed a book (Eat Pray Love, and yes, I realize I'm really late in reading it), some fresh watermelon, and a lounge chair and planted myself in the backyard. Thankfully both Saturday and Sunday were gorgeous and I actually got some color. (Of course, that color is still pink and not tan, so we'll see about my goal to be a little bronzed by the end of the summer.)

Even after I came back in for dinner each night, my evenings were spent chatting with my mom, curling up in my room and reading more, or doing some journaling. I made it my mission to completely relax and not worry about anything except making sure I was eating better and drinking more water. By Sunday, I was feeling much better and back to my "normal" self, which was a huge mood booster.

It was also fortunate because E wanted to see me despite driving ten hours back from his week-long vacation with his friends that day. We had discussed that he'd likely be tired so I didn't count on seeing him, but when he asked, I only thought about it for a little while before agreeing. That night I was on my way.

It was a short visit, but a good one. I met him at his friends' house for a graduation/Memorial Day party for a few hours, then we headed back to his house where we promptly fell asleep because he was exhausted. We slept in pretty late on Monday for the same reason, but I wasn't complaining because one, I love sleep and two, more cuddle time. It was my favorite part of the weekend, especially when I was mostly awake and he was still half-asleep, so I could really savor it.

I already had plans with Danielle and Natalie for Monday night, so I was figuring out the specifics when E's friends invited him to the movies. Unfortunately it meant we had to part ways, so I headed home and had dinner before meeting the girls to see Bridesmaids. It was really good - just the right mix of funny, crude, and girly. I laughed really hard and even cried a bit... but I could've done without the whole bathroom scene. My hands were covering my face the entire time. Still, it was the perfect movie to see with the two girls who are getting married in the next year - we kept pointing out crazy things in the movie that we promised we were planning for each of their bridal showers/bachelorette parties/weddings.

At the outset of this weekend, I was slightly bummed out because I didn't have plans to be on a beach or at a barbecue. But you know what? It turned out to be perfect anyway. I had an entire day and a half to myself, an unexpected visit to see my boyfriend, and a fun night out with my friends. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it, but it was the good kind of tired, where you fall into bed and know you'll sleep well because you've been busy enjoying life.

lovely weekend.

{♥}
This weekend was one of those weekends when all of the separate pieces fall together seamlessly, creating an awesome couple of days.

It started out with a quiet night at home noshing on cheese and crackers, drinking wine, and watching ridiculous television with mama on Friday night. On Saturday, I had my first official wedding outing as a bridesmaid. I got to try on and order the dress I’ll be wearing for Danielle’s wedding, spent time gushing about wedding stuff with two of my best friends, met one of my fellow (junior) bridesmaids, and was treated to a yummy lunch by Danielle’s mom.

I stopped on the way home to pick up the new Britney album, went out to dinner with my family, and even snuck in a nap. Then E came over and we watched the UK vs. UCONN game, took turns playing games on his iTouch during commercials (okay, so I kept playing through the game, since I hate basketball), and E won the March Madness pool he had taken part in. We watched part of Euro Trip before falling asleep and I actually slept through the night, which is a rarity when I don’t have my bed to myself.

Sunday was spent sleeping in, lounging around, and having more wedding discussions over Facebook. It was a relaxing end to what was really a perfect weekend. I wish they could all be this lovely.

belated long weekend recap.

Is it really Wednesday already? Yikes. I really got knocked on my ass by a cold I woke up with on Sunday until right now. Anyway, here's my belated recap of my long weekend, because it was just too fun to not talk about.

My Thanksgiving was calm and casual. I woke up early to watch the Macy’s Parade on TV (the beginning of my demise, I’m sure, considering I got only five hours of sleep) while perusing the Black Friday ads and drinking tea to settle my stomach. We headed over to my aunt and grandparents’ two-family house in North Jersey and had a relaxing afternoon of chatting, looking at old family photographs, drinking wine, and of course, eating. There were too many biscuits and the typical myriad of desserts from our favorite bakery, which meant lots of yummy leftovers to take home.

The cousins with Grandma & Grandpa on Thanksgiving.

On Friday I had plans with Lynds for a food coma recovery day, which entailed salads from Quiznos for lunch and lying around in sweats. After catching up on family drama – and boy, was there plenty – we settled in with my aunt to watch A Christmas Story. This movie was chosen specifically because my dad and aunt both love and quote it, but Lynds and I had yet to see the entire thing.

For about the past four years, we swore to watch it on Christmas Eve when it’s played for twenty-four hours on TBS, but we never got around to it. It was wonderful to finally watch it from start to finish, and we joked that we no longer had any more life goals because this was the ultimate accomplishment. I guess we just peaked at ages nineteen and twenty-three.

Saturday was Natalie and her fiancé, Kyle’s engagement party, which I arrived at much later than intended. But, the party was still a blast. I got to catch up not only with Danielle and her boyfriend, but also a few people from our college crew I hadn’t seen in a while and the couple’s hometown friends. We talked about our careers as a slideshow of college pictures played in the background, occasionally causing us to pause, laugh, and reminisce. And, most exciting of all, Danielle and I were asked to be bridesmaids! I almost cried and honestly, I haven't stopped gushing about it since. I'm going to drive my family mad.

The gaggle of "kids" - the couple, their siblings and friends - posing before the cake was cut.

During the cake-cutting, there were jokes about how this was really a baby shower (to which Kyle responded, not for ten more years), criticisms of Natalie’s cake-cutting abilities, and a short-lived icing war between Nat and her brother. We then retreated to the basement for intense games of Foosball and more chatting. I ended up talking to Nat’s brother and ultimately giving him my number (mostly because he asked in a way in which I couldn’t really say no, but also because a small part of me wanted to), so we’ll see what happens with that.

I had grand plans to figure out my life on Sunday – I was going to settle in and make meal plans and daily schedules for myself, but then I woke up and found out that the three days’ worth of sleeping and eating poorly had caught up with me. I was completely out-of-service from Sunday through Tuesday, only feeling better towards Tuesday night as I tuned in to watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

My love of fresh starts will most likely cause me to spend most of today making up lists, completing some easier chores, and getting on track. Seeing how much damage I did to myself this weekend by having to cater to my anxiety (especially how out of it I felt at Saturday's party) served as the final impetus to really start making changes now. 2011 is going to be my year.

a quiet weekend.

This weekend was a relaxing one for me, considering I had a busy end to my week last week and I know the upcoming week and weekend will be just as busy. Still, the weekend flew by and now there are just three days until Thanksgiving and the beginning of the weekends’ festivities.

On Thursday, I took my first holiday-season trip to the mall and Target. There’s something about the mall I love – I guess that’s a Jersey thing – and it’s even better during the Christmas season, especially when it’s not super crowded. I had a few stores I needed to stop in, the most important of which was The Gap to use my Groupon. I picked up some new tops to wear with leggings, then bought a bunch of gifts from The Body Shop and a few things at Victoria’s Secret.

Friday was, of course, the premiere of Deathly Hallows. I made last-minute plans with Natalie to see it at 5:30pm, which was the best decision ever. Even though we got there ten minutes before it started, we still got our (reserved) tickets and there were plenty of seats available. I found this was much better than reserving tickets for a later show only to have to get there early and wait in line for good seats, which is what a large number of teenagers had done.

The movie was amaze-balls. I could go on and on – mostly about all the little swoony moments between Ron and Hermione (one ship!) and the best-friend-y dance between Harry and Hermione – but I’ll refrain. Honestly, though, I’m dying to see it again. Also, I’ve decided that no matter what, I’m going to the midnight premiere of Part II. SO EXCITED.

After the movie, we stopped at Dunkin on the way back to Natalie’s apartment, where we proceed to watch trashy television with her fiancé (OMG I LOVE SAYING THAT). Of course, I could’ve done without the extra hour I spent stuck in the biggest clusterfuck of traffic I've ever seen on the way home. The construction geniuses of New Jersey decided it was perfectly fine to do roadwork directly behind a toll plaza, diverting eleven lanes of traffic into one. So much rage. The only plus is that a few radio stations are already playing Christmas music, so that helped.

My weekend was calm and cozy, just as I’d planned. I slept late both days, organized some things in my room on Saturday night, and on Sunday I watched football (last-seconds awesome win for the Jets, loss for the Giants), the AMAs, and did a bunch of random chores. It flew by just the same, but I feel prepared for the hustle and bustle of the upcoming week.

parental-free weekend, in photos.

Friday.

Best. Packaging. EVER.

Free gift for reaching some kind of status level at Club Nintendo.

Saturday.

Painting (part of) the kitchen to see if we like the color.
(You can see the old color at the top left in the picture; the peach is the new color.)


My brother's one-man party.


Beverage storage solution. Ingenious, or just lazy?

Sunday.

Cupcakes for my dad's birthday!

Not pictured: delicious sub sandwiches and movie night with my brother; cleaning spree; hang-out with Ash and Cort; football; brainstorming and shopping for Christmas gifts.

So, how was your weekend?

life choices, weekend edition.

Occasionally I like to define certain things I do as either Poor or Amazing Life Choices. This weekend was filled to the brim with them, which is to say, it was equal parts fabulously awesome and horrifyingly irresponsible.

Poor Life Choices:

• Eating too much candy Friday night
• Staying up after being woken up too early on Saturday morning
• Taking a death nap Saturday afternoon
• Taking too many meds for my stomach in prep for going out
• Not eating anything all day until I came home at 3am
  
• Getting only five hours of sleep Saturday night (despite DST!)
• Having a mozzarella-and-salami sandwich at 1am when I should've been in bed last night
• Staying up until 4am reading through e-mails/gchats between me and my ex

Amazing Life Choices:

• Creating a Disney-centric Pandora station
  
• Spending Friday night in my p'jams with my mom, watching (and mocking) Home Shopping Network
• Attending Hot Mess House (albeit for far too short of a stay) at Melissa's on Saturday night, despite feeling like, well, a hot mess (and not in the good way)
• Getting the chance to hang out with Melissa's hometown besties and thoroughly enjoying myself
  
• Giving in a little bit and having a convo with my cousin via text for the first time in months
• Making plans for the holidays
  
• Watching the Jets and Giants win their games on Sunday
• Planning a last-minute party for next weekend, even though compulsively checking the RSVPs to make sure enough people are coming will give me an ulcer by the end of the week
• Finally de-tagging and deleting the majority of e-mails/gchats between me and my ex

So, there's my weekend for you. I feel like bloated, sinus-headache-y death, but I had fun! And having fun is all that matters. Right? Right.

you know we're superstars.

I have a confession: I love Ke$ha. Well, I don't care one way or another about her as a person, but damn, her songs are super catchy.

Her newest song came out last week and I haven't stopped listening to it since. It was on the radio for the first time yesterday as I was driving home from work, and to be quite honest, I think I deafened myself temporarily from turning the volume up too high in my car.

Anyway, please have a listen and realize that I appreciate the song for what it is - a completely manipulated, auto-tuned piece of non-artistry that serves no other purpose than to pump you up for, well, just about anything.

So here's your anthem for weekend-type activities. You're welcome.

musicfest weekend.

After being sick for the past week and not being able to get out and enjoy the weather, I was looking forward to my weekend at Music Fest. It's a county-run event that includes musical performances, a carnival, vendors, and tons of other activities and is held annually on a weekend in September, just at the end of summer. Every year they host a ton of artists, many that are lesser known with a few big names mixed in. This year, those big artists were OK Go and Train.

Considering I live in a tiny town with the closest concert venue being at least a half hour away, having a series of free concerts being held at a park that is a ten-minute walk from my house is kind of amazing. When I woke up late Saturday morning, I could hear the music from the festival pretty clearly from my bedroom. The weather was perfect and I was feeling much better, so I knew it was going to be a good day.

My brother and dad headed out before I woke up and I went over on my own in the early afternoon, mostly to check out the vendors. There weren’t any artists I particularly wanted to see, but it was nice to have live music playing for most of the time I was there. It was great being so close to home because after a couple of hours (or more, for my brother and dad), we were able to simply walk home to eat dinner instead of shelling out money for greasy carnival food. Plus, I was able to change into something warmer since I knew it would be cooler at night.

Blog, meet my brother! Just FYI, the hat is not a typical everyday look, just a purchase from one of the vendors.

After dinner I went back over with my brother, who ended up leaving early because he’s a music snob and doesn’t like mainstream music he was tired from being there all day. I met up with my friends and we settled in to watch OK Go, who were slightly disappointing. It may have been because we weren’t close to the stage or in the crowd, but they just weren’t as good as I was expecting. Still, the show was decent and I had fun hanging out with my friends.

OK Go


Ashley and me

Train more than made up for the previous mediocre performance. I had a total blast. They were energetic and fun, always engaging the audience to sing along and at one point bringing a bunch of younger girls on stage to sing with them. On the set list were all my favorites: Save Me, San Francisco; Marry Me; Hey, Soul Sister; and of course, Drops of Jupiter.

Our original view of the stage


Pat climbing the set (snagged this from their Facebook group)


The "Trainettes" (also snagged from the FB group) - the girl with the long black sleeves was TOTALLY into it and excited to be on stage

My favorite moment had to be when they played Drops of Jupiter. After they finished Hey, Soul Sister, they left the stage, but we knew they’d play an encore (especially since Drops of Jupiter is their most recognized song and they hadn’t played it yet). The crowd had thinned out a bit – families with younger kids or those wanting to beat traffic started leaving – so my friend Ashley and I were able to make our way up towards the stage a bit. When they came back on, the entire crowd belted out the lyrics from start to finish. It was completely awesome.

Closer to the stage now

Once they finished for good, the huge crowd started making their way out. I got in line for a funnel cake to bring home to my mom when some fireworks started going off; after I got my funnel cake, Ashley and I stuck around until they finished before walking home. Of course, I was totally exhausted when I got home - my feet hurt, my throat was sore, and I had to wait for my hearing to get back to normal - but it was completely worth it.

And just for fun, I put together a video of all the performances I recorded. It's just a bunch of snippets, with shaky camerawork and me singing terribly in the background, but I figured it was worth putting up here.



(If you're interested, you can also go click the following links to see a better version of the Hey, Soul Sister performance and also their encore, Drops of Jupiter.)

On Sunday I went back only for a short while, to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band and pick up some swag, which I'd forgotten to do the night before.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band

Overall it was a fantastic weekend. I got plenty of exercise from walking to and from the park and it was so much fun to be able to attend these great concerts completely for free. I can't wait to find out who'll they'll get for next year!

my weekend that wasn't.

This weekend was full of promise: beautiful weather, my favorite annual block party, and the potential to hang out with a bunch of friends. Too bad I caught the Summer Cold and most of those things were can canceled out by copious amounts of groaning, honey lemon tea, and bed rest.

On Friday night, I felt it coming. I was really drowsy hours before bedtime and, when I finally tried falling asleep, I couldn’t because I had a scratchy throat. After sleeping for maybe four hours, I woke up and felt okay, but not amazing. (I won’t even talk about how I then started getting cramps, at which point I almost cancelled my whole trip.)

Saturday was a mixed bag. The two-hour drive down to the shore was actually tolerable and I felt good when I got there. I chatted with my aunt and her friends, had a drink, and was feeling positive about things. Since I was spending my time mostly with the “adults” for the day, I was glad that I felt comfortable talking to them instead of being the odd one out. We changed into our pirate costumes and were ready to go.

L-R: Uncle Russ, me, Mike, Aunt Laura, Kimmy & Cheryl (my aunt's friends)

The beginning of the party was great – we watched as all the neighbors made their way down the street in various costumes. We posed for pictures, had food and drinks, and it was pretty enjoyable. After dinner, though, I started feeling not-so-hot, to the point where I actually considered going home. I’m glad I stuck it out, though, because I eventually regained my energy and ended up dancing a bit with my aunt and her friends.

My fishy cupcakes!

Even though I felt better physically, I was becoming increasingly annoyed with my cousin. She arrived late with her friends from college and spent the evening playing beer pong, barely offering me an invite to join them. (Looking back, it seems as though it was assumed I would just join the “kids” once they arrived, therefore not needing an explicit invite; hindsight’s twenty-twenty, I guess.)

Once the sun went down, I was having less and less fun. The adults were all chatting amongst themselves, nobody was dancing, and my cousin was nowhere to be found. I sat texting friends on my dying phone when my cousin finally showed up, twenty minutes before the party ended, and went to dance with her friends with nary an invite for me to join them.

At that point, I knew I was being stubborn and could have easily joined them, but I also didn’t want to awkwardly jump in. In a moment of extreme hormonal emo-ness, I walked up the street alone, got changed and packed up in the empty house, and even considered leaving without saying goodbye to anyone. Everyone returned to the house a few minutes later, the kids setting up to play more beer pong and the adults pouring glasses of wine; I made a swift exit before I stewed in my bitterness any longer.

I collapsed into bed Saturday night and on Sunday, I woke up with the horrible cold that my brother passed to me. Instead of enjoying the gorgeous weather, I spent all of Sunday and Monday in bed, playing video games and moaning about how stuffed up my head was. Today I’m feeling a little better, but I think it’ll take another day or two to knock it out of my system.

Hopefully everyone else had a better Labor Day weekend than I did!

sometimes, i'm responsible.

This weekend, I had to battle it out between my Rational Side and Impulsive Side. You’re probably familiar with these two – Impulsive sounds like the bubbly friend who tells you to throw caution to the wind and do whatever you wish; Rational sounds like your mother.

After weeks of unsuccessfully being able to get on a regular schedule, on Thursday I committed to fixing it no matter what it took. I had no plans for the weekend and had off from work this week, so it was perfect timing. But after updating my Facebook status to say I was overdue for a beach trip, I was presented with an invitation to spend the weekend at a friend’s shore house.

I woke up Saturday morning debating for a good hour and a half. That’s when Rational and Impulsive showed up. Impulsive was jumping up and down, pointing out the window and saying, “look how gorgeous it is outside! You get to go to the shore, and the beach, and see your friends! Who cares if it wrecks your schedule again, you can just start again on Monday. Go, go, go!” And, to be honest, I listen to that side of my mind a whole lot – Impulsive is a persuasive little thing.

Except, Rational was there, calmly repeating itself over and over again. If I went, I would definitely not eat properly and I might not sleep well in a bed that wasn’t my own. I would have to take my meds, deal with my anxiousness, and probably not be able to enjoy it as much as I’d like. Still, Impulsive tried to coax me. Maybe I wouldn’t be as anxious as I was predicted and the trip would be relaxing (and still fun, it never forgot to bring up the fun part).

Despite my tendency to listen to my impulsive side, I ended up choosing the responsible and rational option, which was to stay home. I could enjoy the sunny weather from my house while still working on my schedule, and to assuage the nagging sadness of turning down another invite, I reminded myself that this is the first big hurdle to feeling better. Once I’m well, I can accept every invite that comes my way.

That being said, I had a pretty enjoyable weekend nonetheless, if only because I felt like a normal, functioning human being again. I woke up before noon, went to bed before midnight, and had three balanced meals each day. It was rounded out with doing yoga each morning, getting some sun (and sunburn) while doing yard work, and playing video games.

Being responsible isn’t always fun – I would definitely have enjoyed my trip to the shore this weekend – but if this is step one to getting my life back on track, I will definitely appreciate it in the future.

my weekend.

Pardon me for being a little slow on reporting back from my busy weekend, but I think the sun physically moved next door. It’s been about, oh, one hundred degrees around these parts, so I’m a little lethargic. I’ve even taken to wandering around the house in tank tops and my dancer booty shorts and making everyone thoroughly uncomfortable, but only because my body temperature seems to be higher than everyone else’s while my tolerance for such heat is much lower.

Aside from the heat, I had a very awesome Fourth of July weekend. On Friday night, I braved rush hour traffic and spent about an hour with my two best friends before they headed out into the city. We watched some Cash Cab, discussed Harry Potter and half-birthdays, and Nat and I figured out a tattoo we both want to get. I really hope we actually go through with it and will be thrilled if we can get Dani to agree to it, too.

On Saturday I went to a barbecue with Mark’s friends, which wasn’t at all awkward (a concern several of my friends had). They are a lovely group of people who are friendly and laid-back. The host had a beautiful house with an in-ground pool, hot tub, and even a small television out on the back deck. All of that plus a glass of sangria in my hand and I was in heaven.

The whole gang, minus Mark because he's the camera man.

Me, laughing? What a surprise! Not.

We started out watching the end of the World Cup game before taking a brief dip in the pool and hot tub. Most of our afternoon was spent either lounging on the deck or inside watching UFC. I served my triple-berry trifle and everyone loved it, so I was pretty stoked. Unfortunately I had to leave pretty early, before the main event UFC fight (oh darn…), because I was exhausted and busy the next day.

Watching UFC.

All the fighters look super tough and kind of scary.


Proof that Mark was actually there.

My berry trifle, before and after. Completely demolished.

Sunday was my grandmother’s eightieth birthday party, which was really chill. It was the usual suspects from my mom’s side of the family hanging out at my aunt’s place. The highlight of the day was my grandma opening the scrapbook that the family put together for her. And by “the family,” I mean me. My mom and aunt collected some pictures, but I put the whole thing together because apparently, I’m some kind of scrapbooking genius.

Looking at the scrapbook.

The family!

Grandma and Grandpa.

We have a bit of a dessert problem in our family - we always buy (and eat!) too much.

We got home pretty early on Sunday, so I settled in with some leftovers from the party and watched the fireworks on TV. It was a nice, relaxing way to end my super busy weekend.

a busy extended weekend.

{via}

I have been outrageously busy the past few days, at least for me. Typically I do very little in a week – I trudge off to work for a few days and every other week, I usually have plans with friends. But for the most part, I spend my time cleaning and doing random home projects for my parents. Last week, though, my ‘weekend’ started on Wednesday and didn’t let up until Saturday.

As I mentioned briefly in Friday’s post, I was visiting Mark’s family for his brother’s high school graduation party on Wednesday. It was a lot of fun – his family is so lovely. We ate lots of yummy food, including his sister’s penne vodka which was some of the best I’ve had. Once dinner was over I slipped into party hostess mode and ended up helping clean up and serve cake. I guess I’m just destined to be the Martha Stewart for every family I know.

Thursday was date night with my fantabulous cousin, Lyndsay. We started by catching up with each others’ lives, considering we hadn’t really hung out in six months. Then we picked up some Chinese food and watched Zoolander, which she’d never seen before. After that we watched TV and chatted a bit about friend and boy drama before she headed out. Every time I go for a long time without seeing her, I start feeling like we’re growing distant, but that feeling always goes away as soon as we sit down and talk again.

My Friday wasn’t as busy as the rest of the days – I just had a late shift at work. It was pretty awesome, though, since I was able to put on music I liked (constant Michael Jackson on KTU) and chat with some friends online. Saturday, though, kicked my ass. I didn’t get much sleep the night before and I had my dance friend Dawn’s recital at 1pm. Luckily the show went pretty quickly and was really good. Dawn was fabulous, even at her solo, about which she was extremely nervous. It was so great to see how much she’d grown in just the past two years since we danced together and she moved on to a new school.

When I got home Saturday night, I played some video games, ordered some really unhealthy takeout for dinner, and ended up crashing at around 8. It was an intense few days that definitely took a toll on my body. On busy days, I usually forgo eating too much and hop myself up on meds because I have such a nervous stomach. I’m hoping to have a bit of a detox week this week, drinking a lot of water and peppermint tea and eating only really healthy stuff.

I also have a bunch of projects lined up for this week, including finishing my grandmother’s scrapbook and my brother’s dresser. It’s going to be a very productive week, I’m sure.

weekend review.

Before I get started on my weekend, I want to say that I tried to stay off the internet until Sunday like I said I would, but that simply didn’t happen. It wasn’t a result of boredom or the need to stay up-to-date on everything, but mostly because the computer is my main source of communication. Yes, I waste a lot of time on the internet, but I also spend time IMing friends, sending Facebook messages, and keeping in touch. So, by Friday, I was feeling extremely disconnected from my IRL friends and found myself logging on AIM around dinner time.

That being said, had I not decided to go back online, Saturday night probably wouldn’t have happened. After months of talking about hanging out and trying to plan something, I was finally able to go visit my friends John and Kyle for a game night along with Kyle’s friend Ray. I haven’t seen either John or Kyle for a long time (one year and … three years? respectively) so it was really good to see them again. Hopefully we’ll be able to make a better habit of seeing each other – I never fail to laugh my ass off whenever we’re all together.

We played a board game called Pandemic which was completely confusing at first, but as we played, it made more sense. Instead of being against each other, all the players are on a team, and we managed to win twice. It was the first time since he got the game that Kyle had won (it’s relatively new), so I’ll just go ahead and say that clearly, I was the good luck charm. Which might’ve be true, except for the fact that I kept pulling the epidemic card (which is epically bad), so … never mind.

And! Kyle’s mom had leftover flowers from a wedding she helped set up, and because I was the only girl in attendance at game night, I got the biggest goody bag of flowers. Yay!

Sunday was my BFF Natalie’s graduation party because she’s crazy-smart and is already done with graduate school! She threw a luau in her backyard and the weather was just perfect. It was a bit of a trip – about an hour and fifteen minutes – but totally worth it. Since she’s been so busy with school, I haven’t seen her in a while, and we gave each other the biggest hug when I got there. We ate, played a bit of Cornhole (which I completely sucked at), and chatted. There was a chocolate fountain and a group decision to watch Family Guy - totally my kind of party.

The graduate and me!

After the party, I hung around and caught up with Nat, and we made plans for a Lady Lumps (what my two best friends and I refer to ourselves as, because we're that cool) reunion later this week. Then I headed out and, after the hour-plus drive home, I got home and crashed. I barely had enough energy to take a shower, but it was totally worth it.

It’s actually a pretty awesome feeling to be exhausted after a fun-filled weekend. Here’s hoping for more of those this summer!

jam packed weekend.

For the first time in a long time, I had an entirely busy weekend, from Thursday night through Sunday, and it was wonderful.

On Thursday night, I stopped by to see my aunt and catch up while watching Project Runway. I hadn't seen her since Christmas! She and I are pretty close - she does a good job of keeping in touch with all her nieces and nephews because she's all about family. Plus, she's Lyndsay's mom, so I spent quite a lot of time at her house when I was in high school.

Friday was meant to be a quiet day, but then I got a call from Natalie that she and Danielle, along with a bunch of other people I hadn't seen since college, were going to meet for dinner. I debated for a little while because I knew I had a packed weekend, but since I was feeling pretty good, I said yes. We met up at Olive Garden and chatted for a few hours and it felt just like junior year all over again.

I spent my entire Saturday with Katie and Melissa. We talked about how we had unusually-timed wedding fever and all the things we wanted to do for our weddings, got Chili's To-Go and decided it was the best idea ever, and had some more therapeutic discussions. There was also a little bit of blog entry rehashing - I looked over my entries from freshman and sophomore year - and it really fun to go back.

Then Sunday was a little more laid back - we headed out to visit my aunt and grandparents for my mama's birthday. They share a two-family home in Bayonne that my mama grew up in, with my aunt and cousins living on the top floor and my grandparents living on the first. It's a really lovely little house that I absolutely adore, and it always comforts me because it's such a familiar place. We had pizza and, of course, two kinds of cake for the birthday celebration, and talked about everything from the Olympics to family drama.

I was definitely ready to have a "recovery" day today, and in true Monday fashion, I woke up feeling exhausted and had awful cramps. So I have every excuse to lay around being lazy. It's days like today I'm so grateful I don't have a full-time, 9-to-5 job yet.

So, how was your weekend?

i can swing higher than you.

Sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes on a park swing set to make everything in life okay again.











What's something in life that ALWAYS makes you feel better?