Monday, December 30, 2013

good bye to you


Well, 2013 comes to an end in another day, I am on my last official work day of 2013 as well so it seems fitting to wish the past year a fond farewell. I never have been one of those people who looks at years as ones to move on from - every year I experience things as they are. 2013 certainly had some adventures, including my first trip to the Grand Canyon, some beach time with the family, and a trip to London that was fantastic. I also enjoyed plays, concerts and museums and took some time to explore New York City more. I am looking forward to a 2014 is full of greatness, some travel and fun.

See you in the New Year!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

merry christmas


Wishing you and all who you love a Merry Christmas this year! Hope that Santa was sweet to you and that all your dreams came true.

Monday, December 23, 2013

holiday ornament swap


For the second year in a row, I've participated in Meg's Ornament Swap . It's a great way to spread some holiday cheer and meet other bloggers. I was lucky to be paired up with Kate over at Green Fashionista, who sent over a lovely sea themed ornament, with a cheeky tag (completely made me smile). I haven't had a chance to hang this on my tree as I headed up to New England very early the next morning, so I apologize for the quick snaps. I've really enjoyed getting to know Kate, and her blog is becoming one of my favorites to catch up on through out the weeks.

I am definitely starting to get in the holiday spirit this week. Hope you are also enjoying some fun and relaxing a bit.


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

happiness list





Happy middle of the month friends, I cannot believe that in a few days I’ll be getting ready to head up north for the holidays. 'Tis the season to feel like you want about 4 more waking hours in each day.

The album Heatwave by Matt Wertz being added to Spotify fairly recently. I can listen to this all the time at work which makes me super happy – I just have to make sure I don’t sing out loud to annoy my neighbors at work.

Getting the plans in order for my birthday early for once, I usually figure out what I want to do around Christmas and then people already have plans, this year, well I planned about a month in advance.  This year I am hoping planning gets me in gear – I am looking forward to celebrating another year.

It snowed over the weekend and yesterday, I love the stillness snow creates in the world.

New Year’s Eve plans starting to take shape – I really didn’t give it much thought until some friends got the ball rolling, so very excited I don’t have to think about this too hard, merely show up with some champagne and possibly a snack or two.

Getting very excited for some quality time playing with Norbs, just praying that he doesn’t pull his I am going to cry unless you hold me while standing up move again, that was a classic. Poor boo boo though was missing mommy.

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season with your friends and family.

Monday, December 16, 2013

holiday homework




I am actually officially on vacation the entire Christmas week, which I usually don’t do – that’s what I get for not taking more days earlier in the year (2014 – will I take the two weeks of vacation back to back?). I know it’s nothing to complain about having a real school like vacation week here at the end of the year, but I’ll probably still check emails and keep a few things moving along, but for the most part, I am going to enjoy a little R&R.

I did, however, end up with some homework for the week – yes, ten years after college, I have homework over the break. Two friends asked me to complete two things while I plan on hanging around with the family. I wish someone told me the plan was just to play with Norbs the whole week. Anyway, I am supposed to watch all of Downton Abbey before the next season starts, which I have never watched but apparently this is a must watch show (I am usually late to the party, except when it comes to The Blacklist, that’s one I started the week it started), and I am to read the first book of Game of Thrones.  So, in a week that’s supposed to be 24 episodes of television and an 800 page novel…  somehow my vacation feels like exam prep. Game of Thrones though is amazing, as I started this a few weeks ago since it’s so long and I read every day on the train and before bed (book nerd here), so I am feeling like I might be ready for book two before the end of the year. 

Do you have any holiday week homework?

Friday, December 13, 2013

intsa-crazy



my own recent #tbt m&d halloween 1990


Instagram is one of my favorite ways to stalk people. I cannot tell you how many celebrity non-famous family members feeds I’ve poured through looking for some random photo of said famous person in a completely natural picture. Yep, I am that girl – but it’s fun for a bit to just see someone’s regular family maybe posting a photo of them at Christmas, also some of those precious throwbackthursday photos – love it.  I don’t usually proclaim my crazy girl tendencies out loud but this one just seems fun to me. How to do this? Well if you happen to catch someone’s photo early on in the “like” stage, sometimes someone with the same last night likes the photo and well, they might be the relative.  Also, sometimes said celebrity likes a photo of their sibling and you can be a creepier that way too. As long as this person isn’t into privacy settings, you can randomly look at their photo feed for a bit and just see what you find. I’ve never followed any of these people only because that’s crossing some creepier line even I am not quite ready to go down.

Anyone else up for confessing some creepy instagram behaviors?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

sweetness in starlight


Every once in a while, I still like to share some of my kitchen creations. I don't cook or bake as often as I would like to, but sometimes I can be clever. During the holiday season, it's always nice to be able to bring some treats over to friends hosting holiday gatherings. I whipped up mini-cheesecakes for a friends 'Thanksgivukkah'  party, decorated in Christmas sprinkles (what can I say, I march to my own drum some times). These were ridiculously easy to make because I cheated and bought pre-made cheesecake filling, but really who's judging? Definitely a hit, and delightfully delicious.

Ingredients:

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Joe Joes (Oreo like cookies)
Philadelphia Cheesecake Filling
Sprinkles

Directions:

Cut 6 Joe Joes in half and place a half in the bottom of each cupcake tin
Mash approximately 10 Joe Joe's and mix into the cheesecake filling
Scoop cheesecake filling into the cupcake tins, smooth with a knife for a nice finish
Decorate with sprinkles and half a Joe Joe each for flare

Monday, December 9, 2013

vacation, all I ever wanted


Before the Thanksgiving holiday week, I took a staycation day and enjoyed a very relaxing New York City day. My major goal of taking a local vacation day (not my norm, most of the time I head somewhere even if it's just a weekend adventure) was to make sure I didn't spend the day doing anything at home like cleaning, laundry, television watching, etc. I wanted to make sure I made the most of my day away from work.  I started my day at Flywheel taking a late morning class, one of the truest luxuries, of not working, not battling a class full other worker bees. I really enjoyed going to workout during when I'd normally start checking emails at work. 

Friday, December 6, 2013

reindeer games


Oh hello Friday, so happy to see you again. As you all know from many posts, Fridays are pretty much one my favorite days of the week. Tonight is my office holiday outing in which I totally feel is WAY too early - I mean it was just Thanksgiving last week. December already feels like it's on overdrive and January will be peaking out soon enough (I am not ready for 2014).

Anyway, I am looking forward to sipping champagne and hopefully taking pictures in the photo booth - seems that every year those are my two staples for enjoying myself at the office party. I also really enjoy seeing the office dressed up - seeing everyone in their holiday best really makes you appreciate that most people wear jeans most days.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

resolutions








Since I only blog three times a week now, I think my little resolution series will have to be biweekly-ish, otherwise, I’ll be bored, you’ll be bored, and well that’s not really the point.  For the first resolution, I vowed to be a better member of the blog community by commenting on posts by other bloggers. I will say I am not quite at the level I vowed to be, but I’ve been definitely putting in more effort of saying hello and offering some encouragement to others out here on the internet.  Baby steps are still steps in the resolution department here, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was I- so progress is still coming.

Now for the next resolution. The goal is to make something in the Crock Pot once a week all winter long. Not too long ago I made delicious chicken chili and it was so good. I just took the last bit from the freezer and enjoyed it for dinner. Since I want to eat healthier and smarter, and stop eating super lazy every week night, this feels like a great way to stock up the freezer with better grab and heat meals. I think I am going to start with Katharine’s Minestrone soup – mmmm looks amazing and looks freezable (minus the pasta, which can be added or substituted with rice).

Monday, December 2, 2013

december, time to remember


Well, how did we get to December again (I really feel like I just welcomed in 2013)? I swear the older I get the faster time seems to fly. I am very excited that in three weeks I'll be back to my family celebrating the holidays for a full week away from work, clearly the countdown is on. I hope everyone enjoyed the November holidays and are excited to wrap up the year with me over here.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

battle of the matts – round 2



Are you ready for the second installment of my “Battle of the Matts”? As you may recall, from this post, I had a week of concert ticket purchasing, which resulted in me with tickets to see both Matt Nathanson and Matt Wertz in concert within about a week of each other. I was lucky enough to have a friend willing to join me on my concert going adventures throughout the two weeks, and it was really fun to see to singers I really enjoy listening to.

Matt Wertz  was definitely a Pandora discovery a few years back, and now he’s one of my go to happy place music people.  Naturally, some of his songs have a breakup theme (something I realized I am drawn to, which is probably bad in a way, oh well), as well as some really happy songs that make me sing along (which I hope my neighbors enjoy). First off the venue for this show was much more intimate then the prior one, being at the Highline Ballroom. My friend and I were able to sit at a table right up front and have dinner and drinks before and during the show, I pretty much felt like I could almost touch the stage – or that at least the band could probably see me.  I really enjoyed being so close to the band and getting to hear so many of my favorite songs. I was sadly unaware of the latest album so I had not done my own due diligence in prepping for the show by spending the week prior just listening to the new stuff, however Matt played all my old favorites too. I was a happy camper based on the fact that I could sing along and annoy the man in front of me (sir – it’s a concert, you are supposed to sing along, not shoot dirty looks at those of us singing).


Highlights:
Favorite Songs: 5:19 as the original closer, Get to You, Someone Like You
Philanthropy: Finding out about the Mocha Club, a great charity helping out in Africa to provide clean water, among other things to those in need
Bonus: For the encore playing snippets of favorite songs, often after an audience member shouted it out, before bringing back the band and the opening act to finish the show


So, you may be asking, who won my battle? Well, I’ve been listening to Matt Wertz for two weeks solid since the end of his show, and trying to see when he’s coming back to town again, so I think he’s the winner from that alone. Both shows were so different, but I truly enjoyed the smaller venue and feeling more a part of the experience.