Thursday, November 30, 2006

Coffee Complaint

Okay, while this is not the *great* post I was aiming for... this is really bugging me today! I stop at the same gas station every morning, not for the typical coffee like many of my friends but instead, for a fountain diet coke. Nothing wakes me up more than a little carbonation on my way to work. HOWEVER many coffee drinkers think that the gas station parking lot- - right outside of their doors- - is the perfect place to dump the remnants of YESTERDAY'S coffee so they can start fresh. I fully support fresh coffee everyday but really, is it so hard to dump the leftover liquid in a trashcan or BEHIND the vehicle so innocent diet coke addicts like myself don't need to step out of their cars smack into a puddle of hazelnut smelling, milky-brown liquid? I beg of you coffee drinkers all over the world... deal with your coffee in some other way. Thank you. :)

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

I'm not a total Loser

Hi All! I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving! I haven't completely fallen off the face of the (blogging) world, I'll have something much more exciting than this hopefully by the end of the day!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Holiday Blues

Well, today is my boyfriend’s birthday and I am *so* wishing that I could be with him to celebrate! I did send a few packages which he should enjoy, but its days like today that make me seriously reconsider this whole long-distance thing. (Not that we’re doing it on purpose… it just worked out this way.) It really isn't very much fun and maybe I should just bite the proverbial bullet and move to Michigan????????? …Moving on!

I am really stressing out with the holidays upon us! I’ve worked really hard the past 8 months or so to lose weight. I wasn’t ever really overweight and I have always been extremely athletic, but enough that I was unhappy with myself. I get nervous though, for my first holiday season really trying to continue to lose weight, that Halloween will run into Thanksgiving, will run into Christmas, will run into New Year’s and then, all of the sudden, I’m bathing suit shopping with my pasty-white, cellulite skin hanging out having an I’m-waaaaaay-too-fat-to-go-on-vacation meltdown in a dressing room. The horror. I wake up every morning M-F and do my sit-up routine and run 3 miles, then I go to work. M-Th and Sat and Sun mornings I go to Jazzercise (if you haven’t heard of it, check it out, it’s awesome) which really should be enough physical activity for a week, but I can’t help thinking that it’s never enough. I also try to be careful what I eat but lately I’ve been so gluttonous. I don’t know what’s come over me. Has that happened to anyone else out there? I’ve done really great for the past 3 months with maintaining a healthy diet and all of the sudden I can’t seem to stop eating candy, cookies, and pizza! I also have found myself becoming mirror-obsessed and analyzing every inch of my body every chance I get. Now, don’t worry, I *do NOT* have an eating disorder but I wonder if my habits, or the way I judge myself, are becoming too harsh? It’s hard to say because when I ask my close friends and family they always say that I look great when really I’m looking for someone to say, “You know what? You’re right. You’ve gained a little weight around your mid-section and your thighs are getting dangerously closer.” : ).

Does anyone have any recommendations for beating these Holiday Blues I’ve gotten myself into?

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Christmas is Here!


Check out this *awesome* gift idea from Land's End. Personally, I've always liked LLBean Totes better than Land's End but I am definately going to be creating/finding some artwork that I can have put on a tote! What a great way to preserve kid's artwork when the fridge and walls are full! This is a definate must-have for the Mother's of young children crowd! You can check it out HERE.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Pittsburgh

What a weekend. First, it was so nice to (finally) see my boyfriend again! We hadn’t seen each other since Labor Day which turned out to be entirely TOO long! I wasn’t sure what to expect from Pittsburgh (I’m not a huge fan of Pennsylvania in general but my boyfriend is from Eastern PA so I try to have a better attitude) it was lovely! My boyfriend (is this the point in the blogging world where I need to come up with some nickname or abbreviation for him?!?!) had to work so we stayed slightly outside of the city Friday night in Monroeville which is a shop-oholic’s DREAM! There was an awesome mall and every store you can possibly imagine.

My birthday was a few weeks ago and my boyfriend sent me a birthday present in the mail which arrived on my birthday but hinted that there was more to come. I wasn’t really expecting anything too great because the gift he sent already was fantastic and just what I wanted so… imagine my surprise when I came back from getting a drink and there was a little blue box waiting on my pillow… : ) He is just awesome and I am so spoiled.

Friday night we went out to dinner and just caught up in person. Saturday we went out for breakfast, did a little shopping, went to a conference and then hit up downtown Pittsburgh for the afternoon. They have this neat tourist attraction called the Incline which takes you up the side of a hill (Pittsburgh was *much* hillier than I expected. It seems that you can always see where you want to go but aren’t quite sure how to get down to the next level) and gives you views of the entire city and the “entry point.” It was really neat because you could see all of the major attractions and sports complexes. At the top there were many bars and restaurants so, of course, we stopped at the top for a drink or two. I had my favorite- - vanilla vodka and diet coke and he tried the local IC Lite. It was really good and it’s always fun to find local beer when you’re visiting a new place!

Saturday night we grabbed dinner at this great local bar, Rhythm, near our hotel which was great! They had separate martini bar and I made my way through 3 of them before we had to leave. My boyfriend’s friend from college was in town for the Pittsburgh/Denver game (Side note: I’ve never seen football take over a city like it did in Pittsburgh) so we met him and his friend at The Strip for a night out on the town. I always forget how wild male college friends can be when they get together after not seeing each other for a while. It was a great night and I really enjoyed meeting his friend.

Sunday we slept in, grabbed lunch (I was *seriously* craving a diet coke by then) and did some more browsing/shopping before I had to fly and he had to drive home. Only three weeks until Thanksgiving…


More to come, but something is wrong with my picture format and I can't remember everything I want to say!

Friday, November 03, 2006

New Baby!


My cousin had her first baby yesterday, a boy, Charles Dexter. (They'll call him Charlie.) This is what I've sent as a welcome baby gift!

Of course, if it were a girl, I could send the wonderful pink and green color combination which I am such a fan of. :)

Vineyard Vines!


Okay, I know it's a Preppy staple- - a must have. However, I have never had one before, until now. And I must say, I cannot wait to wear it. In fact, I might wear it every day. :) Happy Vineyard Vines to me!

A Week!

Ah! I'm just realizing that I haven't posted in over a week! I'm sorry to all of you (any of you?) who may read or check this on a semi-regular basis. I don't know where the time has gone! I've been trying to get everything done at work for the week so I can take off early today as I'm spending the weekend in Pittsburgh, PA. (Not my first choice for a weekend excursion with my boyfriend, but...) I meant to post at the beginning of the week my pictures from Halloween. My sisters and I all went to a party together with my sister's boyfriend so we decided to wear a joint costume. It is *much* more scandalous than I tend to be- - EVER- - but I was talked into getting crazy this year. (The joys of being the oldest sister- - my younger, much "cooler" sisters are always talking me into trying crazy and trendy things!) All things aside, we had a great time and I think we definately had the best costume at the party!







On a totally different note, what is the rule regarding skirts in the fall? Do you *have* to wear tights or nylons? Today I wanted to wear my new knee-high boots with a knee-length skirt which only leaves about 1/2 inch of my knee showing when I walk but I couldn't decide if and what to wear with it, so I ended up in pants instead. Let me know what you think!