Fall Colors.

I may be diving head-first into the Christmas season a little early, but I'm simultaneously enjoying every last bit of autumn. That includes consuming all pumpkin-flavored things - coffee, lattes, muffins, Hersey kisses, and Pop Tarts - and enjoying gorgeous days that bring out the beautiful fall colors.

These pictures are from my most recent trip to northwest New Jersey to visit Erik. I tried to capture the colors, but we were in the car so it was the best I could do.

the unexpected blizzard.

I have lots of lovely stories to share from the holidays, but first I need to address the Almost-White-Christmas Blizzard 2010. Because starting on Sunday and ending at around noon today, the sky literally dumped at least two and a half feet of snow on my neighborhood.

It wasn't forgiving, either. The wind has been whipping around, making drifts and making it extremely cold. Luckily the snow is light, which I'm grateful for, but at the same time there's nothing like throwing a shovelful of snow only to have half of it blow back in your face. Yikes.

My 21-year-old, weight-lifting brother has been an absolute asshole by sitting on his ass and refusing to help unless he's paid, which means most of the work was left to me and my father. My mother even had to help, despite having arthritis in her knees and not being in the best shape. I honestly don't mind shoveling too much - we don't have much to do, since we park all four cars in our double driveway - but it's so incredibly frustrating that he doesn't have the courtesy to help.

Anyway! Enough about that. Now for all the pictures. Hopefully if you're stuck in this mess, you're snug as a bug in your house.

Last night...

My little baby car.


Snow falling.


Around 8pm, we already had about 14 inches.

And today...

Our poor bushes.

Our street.


Our front yard is under there... somewhere.


5-foot pile of snow we shoveled & the wall of shoveled snow around our driveway.


Backyard. Can you see where it drifted to the TOP of the fence in the back?


Up to my knees in a low spot.

all smiles.

The past few days have been incredibly lovely.

Making and sending packages has to be the best thing in the world. On Wednesday I had the inspiration to make up a little care package for my cousin, who has finals in a week or so. I packed away some cute post-its, a box of brownies, a bag of Smarties and a little tube of glow-stick bracelets that I scored at Target for just a dollar. Then on Thursday I finally passed on the shoes I'd gotten for Christmas, which were too small, to Stephany, and I put together a birthday gift for Melissa and mailed it in a much bigger box than necessary. All of it put a smile on my face because I know how fun it is to get a package and I got all excited just thinking about everyone getting their gifts.

Today, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and worked on some outdoor projects. I used the weed whacker on the perimeter of the backyard (awesome arm workout, by the by) and continued work on the stripping and refinishing of my brother's bureau. But in between, I settled down with my magazines and took pictures because the weather was too good not to just sit and enjoy it.

Here's a sampling of the photos I took. If happiness came in colors, it would be the combination of this exact sky blue and the green of the leaves on the trees.

spring has sprung.

Over the weekend, we had a terrible nor'easter that blew through New Jersey and ripped it to shreds from Friday night through Sunday morning. There were downed trees, live electrical wires, black-outs, and flooding. Lots and lots of flooding. We got really lucky - no power outages, just a boil water notice for a few days after the storm. I'm just glad it wasn't snow.

This week the temperatures are expected to hit sixty and I am beyond thrilled. As I write, the sun is shining and the skies are blue. It's still a little chilly, considering it's only 10:30, but I'll take it. Looking out the window and seeing such beautiful weather energizes me and motivates me to be all sorts of productive.

Daylight savings time snuck up on me, and even though I dislike having to lose an hour of sleep, I'm so happy to have more daylight. Even just having an extra hour and eating dinner when the sun's still up is enough to make me start preparing for spring and summer, my two favorite seasons.

One thing I definitely miss, though, is walking around campus on days like this. My college campus was gorgeous; it was the "typical" image of what college looks like. Although I'm sure I would currently be sitting in class, itching to be outdoors, I would gladly take it if it meant being able to walk across campus, lounge on a bench and read, or go for a jog. I miss it so much that I just sent an e-mail out to my girlfriends, hoping that we could have our next meet-up at school so we can get nostalgic and wander campus aimlessly again.

With tomorrow being my brother's birthday and St. Patrick's Day, this week is going to be wonderful. Mostly I'm just excited because I get to make cupcakes, which I plan to decorate adorably even though my brother couldn't care less. Like, I'm more excited to bake than I am to drink. Go figure.

baby it's cold outside.

I'm all snuggled up in my room, looking at the rain-slash-snow falling outside, and I'm just so excited for winter this year. That's probably because I'm not in college anymore, so I don't need to walk the excruciating ten minutes to class in freezing cold weather. Seriously, it got pretty bad.

Example one was in freshmen year during finals for the fall semester. I'd spent three consecutive days completely within the confines of my dorm building. Since we had a small dining hall in the basement, there was no need to leave, even for meals. But on one of the days, I needed to trek all the way across campus (a ten-minute walk) to tend to something in the business building. It was the absolutely FRIGID.

Then there was junior year. For some reason, the cold was unbearable that winter. I remember walking to classes on several occasions with the wind blowing directly in my face. Being a stubborn/forgetful college student, I didn't have anything to cover my head, so my ears and nose completely froze. It was downright painful. The worst part was finally getting to class because my face would start to defrost and it would give me a headache.

But now? I get to cozy up in my house and drive myself whenever I need to leave instead of freezing to death.

My Day 5 photo is just okay, in my opinion. It took me a while to get it the way I wanted and I'm still not totally happy. But I love these little glass candy decorations and I wanted to show them off.

i knew it was coming.

Remember when I said that all the trees around here were going to just suddenly shed their leaves overnight?

It happened.

Last night it rained and was relatively windy, I guess, and all the lovely leaves were ready to fall. So much for that kick ass job I did on Sunday, raking the leaves from the lawn AND clearing the driveway.

They even took over the bushes, which really annoys me because I just put that webbing on there. The leaves kinda ruin the effect. And, there's no getting any of them off of there, because they're all stuck in the webbing.

Even my little ghostie is shocked at the number of leaves that fell.

the one where i talk about trees too much.

The weather this week has been absolutely beautiful, albeit a little out of season (I wore shorts today out of complete necessity). But it's been sunny and warm and delicious. After driving around for work and errands on Monday and Tuesday, I'd really wanted to go out and take a bunch of pictures of my neighborhood.

One block over from my house. I can't remember why I didn't take one of my actual street.

One of the reasons I love autumn is the way it transforms my town. Even though I'm finished with college and have been out of the town's public school system for years now, it's still back-to-school season. Driving or walking through my development reminds me of walking to and from school, and now that the leaves are finally falling, it brings back memories of raking them into a big pile before jumping in them.

Eventually, I'm going to have one hell of a time raking all of these.

My development is your typical idea of suburbia. The houses are cookie cutter in structure, although there are quite a few homes that have grown to ridiculous sizes. Lawns are manicured, basketball hoops litter the driveways and streets, and kids are running up and down the street all the time. But I think my favorite part is the fact that on every lawn, centered and just at the curb, is a tall red oak tree (or at least I think they're red oaks; whatever they are, they're really pretty).

On the main street that connects my development.

On Wednesday, The Boy came to visit and we went for a walk around the neighborhood and I brought my camera along for the trip.

Oh, how I adore them. They seem to go on forever and because they're on both sides, they create an awning over the streets. And it doesn't hurt to have this to look at when you're lounging around in your front yard:

[all photos from my flickr]

RFL countdown: 50 days!

I like this warm weather, I really do. But the wind today is absolutely insane! Of course, better that it's warm wind and not ice cold wind, or else I don't think I'd be here typing right now. Because I'd be busy making sure my face isn't frostbitten.

So somehow I ended up getting only two hours of sleep last night, and not very good ones at that. Luckily the quiz I just took in my Buddhism class was the only thing on the agenda, and it was easy, so I was done in a half hour. I guess this is what it's like to take a 100-level course in senior year, after getting so used to 300 and 400-level courses. Yay!

Anyway, the main reason for this little ol' post is to start giving little nudges about Relay for Life. I absolutely love participating - it'll be my third year. From making team t-shirts to decorating the tents that we don't even end up sleeping in, the event is just so much fun from beginning to end. This year I'm trying to put in a little more effort for fundraising. Usually I just bug my parents and that's the only money I get. Last year I got a few friends to donate, and this year I'm looking to add a few more friends to that list.

Back to reality - time to write a 2-page summary about Richard Hatch and tax evasion. Yay, forensic accounting!

it's just those rainy days

This morning was awful. I was exhausted and it was cloudy and gloomy out, the perfect recipe for skipping class and staying in bed. But as New Cait, I hauled my under-rested body out of bed and went on my way.

On the walk to class I realized I was in a crappy mood for no reason, other than probably the culmination of the tiredness, the interesting convo with The Boy last night, and the poor weather. I was ragging on The Boy, bitching about class not being canceled (because I think cloudy/rainy days should be just as much reason for cancellation as snow days), and just being cranky.

We got out of class relatively early, something that made me happier. Lunch was a riot - who knew making fun of contemplating the complexities of OCD could be so hilarious*? And after all my complaining about The Boy (particularly how he wants to spend more time with me even though I spend 5+ hours with him every night), he was at the student center eating lunch too, came over to say hi, and it made me happy. I guess that's a good thing, right?

Anyway, I'm still exhausted and in dire need of a power nap before my class at two, which is a joke. Attendance isn't mandatory and he ONLY teaches from the slides (that he creates) which are then posted online. Basically that means I'm very tempted not to go. But! As New Cait, instead of telling myself it would be okay to miss it, I'm just going to tell myself I can go to class in my post-nap daze and it won't matter! Sweet.

__________
* I understand OCD is a serious issue and shouldn't be mocked. I have mild OCD tendencies about my body, like my awful nail-biting habit. But in discussing it, it becomes pretty comical and it's hard not to laugh.

it's africa hot

Summer is my favorite season. I love laying out at the beach or going in my pool, and I'm a sucker for bathing suits, sunglasses, and flip flops. However. I do not approve of heat waves. Whenever those pop up, I complain along with everyone else and strongly deny ever liking the summer.

Here in the northeast we're in the middle of a heat wave right now. So what did I do today? Went to the New Jersey-New York High School All-Star football game. And sat in the sun. For three hours. See, Lynds was chosen for the New Jersey cheerleading squad, so I decided it would be really fun to go see her. That was a month ago. When I found out the temperatures would be in the high nineties today.. the word "fun" turned into "torturous."

It really wasn't all that bad. The first hour was rough - the sun was beating down on us from behind, and all of our clothes were drenched with sweat. After the sun moved behind the stadium, though, it was a little more tolerable. I just can't believe how the football players and the cheerleaders got through it. Nobody passed out though, which was surprising.

The frustrating part? I didn't get any color. At all. Damn me and my paleness.

*

Friday night went off without a hitch, by the way. We started our night at Katrina's, where we kicked everything off with a little pre-party toast to her and us. The car ride included a little more pre-party celebrating, which may or may not have been legal. As soon as we got in the club, we unleashed all that energy and hit the dance floor. At midnight the festivities began, and by one thirty, Katrina was on her way home. Of course, she got just what she wanted - midway between officially turning twenty-one and falling asleep in the bathroom, she was dancing on everyone and everything, not having a care in the world. Plus, she looked adorable. I'll have to post a photo blog sometime tomorrow with some from the party and other various things.

*

I have a very long to-do list that I have to start tackling tomorrow. It's time to get my butt in gear and stop sleeping past noon, eating junk food into all hours of the night, and putting off my responsibilities. Yay, motivation!

let the rain fall down

Red flags. I feel like they're only seen either in hindsight or through the eyes of others. Most times it's because you yourself have become blind to all things negative. I can't determine whether I'm just overreacting or if I'm witnessing a red flag in my own life. And I'm wondering.. would I be stupid to ignore it?

But enough about that, my question shrouded in a mysterious analysis.

**

Today, it rained. I was in a terrible mood. I felt sick and was just all around annoyed. It's too soon to be my once-a-month mood swings, so I had no idea what was going on. All I really wanted to do was sit on my bed and sigh loudly, perhaps cry a little bit, then sleep it all off. Instead, I got myself over to Lisa's house for dance practice and from there, the evening unfolded and my mood brightened. I find it so amazing how dancing can seriously turn my day around.

So as I mentioned, it rained. Pretty impressively, actually, and usually when it rains at a good pace, I don't like leaving the house. But I donned my sweatshirt and dealt with the rain college-student-style. See, as a college student, you know taking your umbrella with you is a hassle: you have to shake off the rain when you get to your building (which never really works), then carry it, dripping wet, to your class. Then you've actually got to remember to take it with you when you leave. Usually the protocol is to stash your umbrella in your bag, throw on a hooded sweatshirt or jacket, and walk out the door. I'd say about 90% of the time, that umbrella stays in the bag. Only if it is "SERIOUSLY" raining do you take it out and use it. My EconStat professor from this past semester said, "it never rains on college campuses," meaning, you would never know it was raining because kids don't use umbrellas unless absolutely necessary.

**

I have been neglecting my TV shows so much these past couple of weeks. I've totally abandoned Dancing with the Stars and pretty much ignored the fact that tonight was the last performance show for American Idol. I'll definitely have to remember to see who wins AI, and catch myself up on who won DWTS Of course, I've made sure to get caught up on Grey's and LOST, and I'll be recording the Grey's finale this week because I'll be busy having a ball over at Lisa's SYTYCD Premiere Party. Needless to say, I'm pretty freaking excited.

And now you know my ridiculous obsession with watching TV.

beautiful day

The weather is a very strange thing. When I rushed out of my townhouse around noon, it was cloudy and cold, which didn't add to my horrible mood. I'd woken up late, and on top of that, I was having a bad stomach episode. Anyway, class was over in an hour and upon walking outside, I realized that all the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining. It's a little chillier than I would've liked, but it is gorgeous outside.





(some shots taken very lazily from my bedroom window)

I'm taking it as a sign. I tend to do that a lot, because it inspires me to find mundane things and pretend they mean something. See, I was ready for today to be crappy because of my unfortunate morning. Had I not had a presentation in class, I would've definitely stayed in bed. I was ready to crash into my bed as soon as I returned from class. The weather totally changed my mind. Sunny, blue skies are apparently medicinal.

Now I just have this positive vibe about today. That project I've been dreading forever seems like the easiest thing in the world. All those questions I had for RHA or for other classes are getting answered and stressing me out less and less. I have productivity running through my body. It's pretty crazy for someone who rarely gets that motivated to work.

Yesterday's weather was also indicative of my mood, I suppose. When I stepped out of my house on my way to meet my friend for dinner, the drizzling rain turned into a sudden downpour. It was strangely warm outside despite the rain, and I smiled at all of it. I have a very picky attitude when it comes to rain. At night, I adore it. During the day, not so much. Cold, rainy days make me really depressed and lazy. But if it's warm out, and the skies aren't too dark.. there's this strange appeal to it.

I better take advantage of this productive mood I'm in before it goes away, which could be in five days or five minutes. Let's hope it's the former.

Oh! And a quick Happy 3rd Anniversary! to my roommate Natalie and her boyfriend.