2010 Wishes

I don't do resolutions, instead I have wishes and adventures. Adam and I do our adventures together...it's fun and every now and then we pull them out and see what we have or haven't yet accomplished. I am sharing my 2010 wishes with all of you...what do you wish for in this new year?

I wish....

that someone will find a cure for cancer...

for stronger laws against cruelty to animals...

for an end to the wars we are engaging in....

and that the troops currently serving will come home...

for an unlimited J.Crew gift card...

to be accepted to a master's program...

and for insight into which program to choose...

for an end to the recession and vast unemployment...

for lots of sun this summer...

for the Boston Red Sox to win the World Series...

and for free tickets to every game...

for the chance to own a home...

and for continued health and happiness. 

I hope all of your wishes come true this holiday season...

Happy New Year!

I...

I am: a wife, friend, daughter, teacher, dog-mom, lover of nature

I think: therfore I am.

I know: how to have fun.

I have: an amazing husband.

I wish: on a star, at a wishing well, and when I blow out candles.

I hate: people who litter!

I miss: my friends and family all over the world right now!

I fear: heights and falling.

I hear: the sound of children.

I smell: my delicious lunch.

I crave: chocolate on a regular basis.

I search: for what to do next with my life.

I wonder: what Adam is doing right now.

I regret: nothing...or at least I try not to!

I love: my dogs, and really, all animals.

I ache: from my new workouts.

I am not: always a good friend...but

I try: to be the best I can be.

I believe: in karma, and Santa.

I dance: to the beat of my own drum.

I sing: at school, in the rain, in the shower, all of the time!

I cry: while watching Extreme Makeover the Home Edition.

I fight: for the right....to party!!!

I lose: myself in books.

I never: give up.

I always: have Burt's Bees with me.

I confuse: Maynard and Wayland MA...it's the Y in the middle I think.

I listen: to music.

I can usually be found: drinking coffee.

I need: my space.

I am happy: living in Massachusetts.

I imagine: all the people, living for today!

Play along, won't you?

Quarter Life Crisis

I was just catching up on reading some blogs and I came across this article shared by Perfectly Pleasant. The ideas are so very true for many I'm sure, and the best part is that the article ends much like a Quarter Life Crisis should...there's not really a conclusion or a fix, just a statement letting us all know that we're not alone...and really, that's all most of us need right now. Enjoy.

(original article found here.)

Quarter Life Crisis
(author unknown)

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

Long time and a recipe

Wow, I haven't blogged in almost a month!  That's so unlike me!  Actually, I was considering deleting this, I've been fighting an internal battle lately when dealing with overexposure.  I feel like we're all putting too much of ourselves out there, nothing is private anymore.  Then again I have so much that I want to say and share sometimes that this is the best/only way to get it out.  I don't even care who reads it half the time (though I'm so glad that ppl do:) I just need to get it out there.  And that's ok...I'm not sharing my deepest, darkest secrets (though some are on other websites I've heard) and I'm not saying anything that would allow myself or others to be hurt....so I'm back again:)

Speaking of sharing, it's the holidays...the season of sharing and giving!  I love giving to others, just about as much as I love getting!  I've already gotten some wonderful gifts and have given just as many.  My favorite giving thus far was for Adam's work.  He and his co-workers had a holiday party this past Friday complete with a Yankee gift swap and a dish to pass. I decided to make monkey bread.  It's so easy, I made it that morning, and it's perfect for a large group, which his office is.  I don't cook, but I love to bake...especially this time of year.  I however don't usually like to bake for people I don't know well because I'm so afraid they'll hate it and make fun of Adam.  I was sure it wouldn't be that big of a hit, I mean it's a potluck, there was sure to be much tastier stuff.  Boy was I wrong!  After work we went to a party with his co-workers and as soon as I walked in the door Monkey Bread was the magic word!  Everyone came up telling me how great it was, putting a huge smile on my face.  They liked it so much they asked me to make it for them on Thursday...I have the day off, but they have a half day.

I have made it many times, but I did find a good one on www.momswhothink.com and I just made my own changes to it. Check out the website for lots of great recipes, and below is mine!  Happy Holidays and Happy Baking:)

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-10 inch pan (you can use a tube pan, bundt pan, or regular cake pan, square or round)

2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. Cut the biscuits into quarters and coat them with the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

3. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan.

 4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.

5. Bake for 35 minutes. (If you are using a pan other than a tube or bundt pan, it is best to place it on a cookie sheet while baking as the biscuits will rise and the heated sugar will start to drip)  Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a plate. Pull apart and enjoy!

    

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It's true, I love Christmas, and I'm an after-Thanksgiving decorator!   Adam and I have spent the last 2 years with a little 3 foot, artificial tree...just big enough for our tiny NYC apartment.  Thanks to our bigger apartment we were able to get a real tree.  We even went to a Christmas tree farm and cut our own.  I really didn't think it would be a big deal...we'd go there, pick out a tree, cut it down and call it a day.  Boy was I wrong!!  There were so many trees to choose from!  Some were too fat, some were too skinny, and each time I thought I had found the one, another from across the field would catch my eye!  And each time I would find another one, and then another, and another...and that's how it went for 2 hours!  Finally Adam and I were tired of walking around, and every tree started to look the same, so we narrowed it down to 2 and made our choice; a 7ft Douglas Fir.  Once we got it home we cut and trimmed it up (it's great having an arborist for a husband:), and now it's all decorated!  Hooray for the holidays!!

Adam bringing the tree in the house

It's ready for the decorating

Trimming the tree (I'm pretty sure I was doing a little dance at this point!)

The girls were trying to help

The decorated tree (just missing a star) and the wreaths I made

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Thankful for...

not going shopping today!  The folks doing it are CRAZY...and really, do our kids need all of the crap we end up getting them for Xmas?  Maybe we should let the kids be creative and explore with their minds...just a thought (albeit a hippy one:)

I will be decorating, or beginning the process anyway, for Christmas.  There are a few things I would like to get new this year.  I found some fantastic stockings at Target, and of course I love the Pottery Barn ones, but I'm torn between getting some handmade from Etsy.  Oh the choices!!!  I'll be sure to take pics of my handy work!  Have a great day everyone!!!

Inspiration

"So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!"    

~Dr. Seuss

Football's Best Rivalry

It's a good day to be from OHIO!!! 

UofM Sucks!!!

Thankful

It's November, it's half over (where the hell does the time go?!), and the closer we get to Thanksgiving, the more we start thinking about the things we are thankful for.  People on Facebook are even telling us daily via their status what they're thankful for.  I love it...thinking about all of the good in our lives, especially at this time when the only things we hear are negatives.  I am just not the type of person to commit to doing anything daily...except for eating and sleeping...which is why I didn't participate in the blog post a day challenge.  However, I am quite thankful for many, many things, some of which I'd like to share.

*Adam *Maggie and Libbey *Sam *my sister *my parents *my brother *my in-laws *my ENTIRE family *children *friends *trees *flowers *my job *teachers *my home *farmers *police and firefighters *President Obama *sports *music *art *animals *science *love *life *US Soldiers *wine *good beer *good food

What are you thankful for??

New lifestyle center is a mall of confusion - The Boston Globe

 New lifestyle center is a mall of confusion - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

The above link is a great article from the Boston Globe about the newest craze in shopping experiences, "Lifestyle Centers" or as I call them, outdoor malls.  I guess it's not really a new craze, but it is a fairly new craze.  I used to love the idea....instead of being confined by fake plants, escalators, and wall to wall stores, one gets to enjoy the outdoors, the sky, real plants, all surrounded by your favorite chain stores.  And that's where it gets uneasy for me. 

Now, don't get me wrong...I love shopping.  I do not hide the fact that I love J.Crew, but just this past Saturday, while shopping at the Wrentham Outlet Village, I began to question my love for J.Crew and chain shopping in general.  The outlets were MOBBED with people...and it's not even close to peak shopping season yet.  Stores like J.Crew, Gap, Banana Republic, Guess, were so over run with people and so disheveled  that it made me ill.  And as I shopped around, taking it all in, I started to wonder...where were these items made, with what kind of care and craftsmanship, and why do they always look so much better on the model than on the racks at the store? 

It's hard to not be sucked in though, especially when you can walk out of a store with a $150 winter coat for only $70, which I did.  A few years ago I would have dove right in, spent hundreds, and shopped til I dropped...but this time I just couldn't.  Every item that I picked up was already in the hands of 20 people around me, making me feel like a drone.  And when Adam and I walked up to the line of people that wrapped around the store, I just lost all interest in following the masses, and left my "great deals" on the racks.  Really, did I need another poorly made, ill-fitting garment selling for the "sale price" that it should be anyway? 

Out and About in the World

Adam and I both had today off of work, (thank you Veterans!!) and it was much needed...Monday and Tuesday were stressful and LONG.  We had planned to visit New Hampshire and hike Mount Manadnok...but no dogs...stupid rules.  So instead, we headed west to Charlemont, MA and hiked the trails of Mohawk Trail State Park.  It's a good size park and campground with a huge trout river (Deerfield River), tent sites from October to April, and cabins year round...no dogs in the cabins though...story of our lives!  There are a few trails up to mountains/look outs, but not all of them were marked well on the map we had.  After some of our own exploring, we found the Indian Trail which leads to the summit of Todd Mountain, 1, 594 feet.  It said 1.25 miles, but what we didn't know was that the trail was pretty much straight up!  It was tough, partially because of the incline, but more because of the fallen leaves making every step slippery...especially on the way down!  It was a great hike, there were only a few spots where the tree cover was slim and I could see the drop down.  It was such a good feeling to make it to the top, though it was cold once we got there!

I made it!!

 

Our little family and some very large trees

Sesame Street and sweet, sweet disasters

Can you believe Sesame Street is turning 40?!  I grew up a Sesame Street kid and I know I'm better because of it.  If you love Sesame Street and Cake (really, who doesn't love cake?!) hop on over to Cake Wrecks and check out the gorgeous cakes in honor of their anniversary.

If you don't know much about Cake Wrecks, you should change that.  Cake Wrecks is a blog site devoted to documenting what happens "when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong."  Each day they bring you cakes that are horribly decorated, hilariously misspelled, or just plain wrong!!!  And to balance out the terrible with the fantastic, "Sunday Sweets" brings you the most gorgeous professional cakes you will ever see! 

Today, I was fortunate enough to meet the creator of Cake Wrecks, Jen Yates, and her hilarious husband John at the Barnes and Noble in Framingham, MA.  They have just written their first book and are holding a "world" tour...and by world, they mean US:)  The book gives you a background on where Cake Wrecks came from and show you some of the best, and never published wrecks.  The reading was complete with a slide show, plenty of laughter, book signing, a cupcake "wreck-plica" contest, and of course, CAKE.  Two local bakers (one from Vermont!!) brought some of the most beautiful, and creative cakes!  My favorite was a Fenway Replica made by Erin of Cakes by Erin.  (such a great name!!!:)

Have a great week everyone....and don't forget to laugh!!

Wish List Wednesday - Luxury

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  My Wish List this week is all about Luxury!  We all have things that we secretly would love to have, but would never really spend the money on, or have a reason to...unless money was growing on trees in our backyard!  Here are my Top 5 luxurious wants!!

Rutledge Avenue Red Petal Dress

By Carol Hannah, a Brooklyn based designer

Silk Duponi Rosette Dress

Currently available from the J.Crew Collection.

This delicious Burberry bag can be found here.

Photo credit: http://www.polyvore.com/

Christian Louboutin Peep Toe Pump

...nothing more needs to be said.

A Diva Divided

This statement piece made by:  BellaBeadjeweled

My profile, myself - The Boston Globe

My profile, myself - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

This is such a great story....it deals with the love/hate feelings some of us (including me!) have with Facebook!  Every now and then I go through a "friend" deleting stage, and then about half way through I start to feel bad and worry what people will think when they find that I've deleted them.  Question, why should I care what they think if I don't EVER connect with them, through Facebook of otherwise!?!

And I am guilty of posting overly happy status updates to "one up" people that, as listed above, are not really my "friends" but I want them to think I'm fabulous.  Does that make me a bad person, not really, does it make me feel bad, no....because I know I'm not the only one guilty of it:)

It has been nice to reconnect with people, find people that I've been out of touch with....but then again I feel like I'm back in High School again...caring too much about what people think about me, and judging people I don't really know.  And besides...do you all really want to know what I'm doing every moment, good or bad?!? 

Monday Memories

I'd like to tell you a story today.  The story of Maggie Mae and Libbey Lou, our 2 wonderful, and very different pups.  Maggie, a Black Lab-Golden (read MUTT) mix, and Libbey, an English Springer Spaniel.  Maggie...very smart, and obsessive.  Libbey....not as smart, and very funny.  Both loyal and loved...the best dogs in the world (to us at least:)  Enjoy!

We got Maggie from a friend of my mother in law.  Her son was in the military and so she wanted a puppy to take care of.  The problem was that she worked a lot and just couldn't take care of her.  She mentioned to Kelly that she was going to give her away and Kelly told her to bring the puppy over.  Maggie jumped out of the car and ran right over to me, sat down, and wagged her tail...as if to say: Hi..you're my new mom! 

Maggie lived with me in Ohio until we moved in with Adam in MI.  When we finally moved in together Maggie was so happy.  But Adam used to travel a lot for work, so Maggie would find things that smelled like him and cuddle with it.

Then while traveling home from our good friends, Mel and Andy, wedding we stopped at an outdoor store where they were having a breeders market.  Adam found someone selling Springer Spaniels and right then and there we fell in love with Libbey Lou.  She was sleeping, all of her brothers piled on top of her, and when we took her out of the box, she just smiled at us.  We took her home and gave her a bath.  This is their first night together.  All little Libbey wanted to do was cuddle and Maggie wanted nothing to do with her.

 Here they are in Michigan for Libbey's first snow.  Sometimes they would play, most of the time they would ignore each other, but slowly they became friends.  They were very opposite.  Maggie was easily trained, Libbey...not so much.  Maggie liked to play with toys, Libbey...again, not so much.  I worried that they would never get along.

Eventually one day though...it happened.  Maggie warmed up to her and began to love her.  They started taking care of eachother, cuddling, and playing...no more fighting or ignoring.

 

And we've never been the same since.  We like to think they're pretty happy...I know we are! 

The End.

Project Wedding Photos 4

I'm slacking A LOT with this project *story of my life* but I'm determined to get it done and soon!  I now have 127 photos scanned.  That's a little more than half way...123 left to go!!!  Adam hung out with me while I did this last batch...he's glad I'm doing it, but will also be happy when it's over.  I let him pick a favorite from this batch, though I knew what he would choose.  And then I also picked a favorite.  Happy Saturday:)

We did a "noggin" from Finding Nemo (the little turtle and his dad)

These are my mother's parents, married for 66 years and still going strong.  Such inspirations!

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

I'm a terrible daughter/blogger and have not posted much of anything about my parent's visit earlier this month!  We had a great time! I picked them up from Logan on Thursday and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get in and out of the airport. What follows are pictures from each of our days and the adventures we had!  Enjoy!!

Mom and I at the airpot

Day 1: Tower Hill Botanical Garden 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2: Boston - Public Garden, Common, Freedom Trail

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3: Mount Wachusett and Wayside Inn and Mill

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wish List Wednesday

Kid germs have landed me home with a nasty cough so I can participate in this weeks
"Wish List Wednesday."
My list this week is every girls favorite: Shoes!!


Amazing can be found here


Classic and functional...love them


I want my feet warm in these