Thursday, May 31, 2007

Game, Set, Match

We won! :) (I didn't think it was possible...) We are the 11th seed, out of 13- - bad, I know- - but we beat the 6 seed yesterday 6-1! The girls are so excited, this is the first time they've made it past the first round in over 11 years! The score doesn't exactly reflect how close the match was, for those of you familiar with tennis, here are the scores:

2-6/ 6-4/ 7-5
6-1/ 6-2
6-2/ 6-1
6-4/ 6-3
7-6/ 6-7/ 2-6
6-2/3-6/ 6-3
2-6/ 7-5/ 7-5

Four three-set matches. Now, we have to play the #3 seed tomorrow, but they're a southern, VT school with a weaker schedule so, I'm hoping that we can beat them! :)


*Totally in a funk the past couple days... I need something new.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Causeway

We have this great running trail near my house, the Causeway. Originally, it was built to connect the Champlain Islands with the "mainland" of Vermont by rail to import/export between NYC and Canada. The trail sweeps through a local park, bog, natural/preserved land, then extends into Lake Champlain with Malletts Bay on one side and the broad lake on the other. For 2.5 miles you can run straight out into the lake until "The Cut" which allows large boats to pass through into the bay. We ran here yesterday for the first time this season. I always forget how this is my favorite place to run.

Check it out:

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Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Detoxing

What a great weekend! I had no scheduled plans, which was *so* great and got to do everything that I wanted! On Friday, my boyfriend ran our tennis practice which was really great for the girls. I think they appreciated hearing from someone other than myself! We ran home from practice too, we have a beautiful bike path on the lake that goes directly from our practice courts to my house, and I haven't been able to run on it yet this year which is probably why those 5 miles home hurt so much the next day. :)

Yesterday we got out the tandem bike (yes, I have one...) and got it ready for the summer! I couldn't find my helmets so I didn't want to take a "real" ride but we did take a quick trip up to see my sisters working at the ice cream shoppe and took it again later when I went to Jazzercise.

And I consumed entirely too much alcohol...

Tomorrow we have our first playoff match for tennis, we'll see how this goes!

Hope everyone's weekends were great!

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Friday, May 25, 2007

Memorial Day!

It's Friday, it's beautiful, it's the start to a long weekend. Enough said.

Here's to a gorgeous three-day weekend; white shoes, pants, skirts, and bags; and the beginning of summer!

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Thursday, May 24, 2007

1 year

It has been one full year since I graduated from college and started working full-time. Time flies. It is still hard to believe that, if i continue with this line of employment, I will never again be on a "school" schedule. (A schedule that I'm very much attached to, I should add.) I really enjoy my job and I have learned a *lot* and I love to learn, but it begs the question, (when) should I go back to school? I do want to go to grad school, but I'm not sure what I want to go back to school for and I feel like I can't make that investment until I'm certain of what I'd like to be doing. I do know though, that the summer season in VT is much to short to be spent in an office 8 hours/day 5 days/week.

In the weeks before graduation I made a list (type A anyone?) of my "Dreams", big and small. While I've been working steadily to achieve them, and some I have, what I'd really like to be doing with my life is not on a 9-5 schedule, not even remotely. I feel like a part of me is un-tapped and I have all of this (energy/emotion/vibrance/kindness) to share with the world and no outlet to do so. I'm working on it.

In one short year I have accomplished a lot and I am actually pretty proud of myself. Some things I'm most proud of?

-buying my first car
-becoming a Jazzercise Instructor
-being promoted after 7 months
-coaching my old high school tennis team
-understanding and controlling my finances
-learning how to quilt
-putting a (hefty) percentage of my paycheck into savings each week
-starting to save early for a house/wedding

not bad for 22, right? :)

Today a few of my girls have the State individual tennis tournament so I'm only working 1/2 day then taking them to Stowe and with the temperatures forcasted for 90+, it's a great day to leave early!

Having my boyfriend here is wonderful (so far... :)) yesterday he picked up a case of tennis balls for me and brought them to my match AND remembered to make his bed- - something he NEVER does, today he is taking my car to get the oil changed then picking me up for tennis, tomorrow he is taking some pictures of Jazzercise staff that I have been meaning to do but haven't found the time to. We'll see how long this lasts. :)

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

...

he's here... :)

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Grace (Potter) on Grey's

Okay, I'm super-late with this post but I didn't want to forget to mention it to all of you Grey's fans!

If you watched Grey's last Thursday you may remember a song that was played during the show called, "Falling or Flying." It's by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Grace and her group are from Vermont (!!!!!!) and she actually went to the same college that I did but left early to pursue her dream of singing and songwriting. The song, which has been a staple in the band's live shows, will be included on their first album for Hollywood Records, "This Is Somewhere," which will be released Aug. 7. If you don't remember it... check it out!

I fell asleep early on Sunday night so I missed Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters but I caught up with them last night. Can I just say, even if you haven't EVER seen Brothers & Sisters you should watch the season finale. It accomplishes the exact "feeling" that many other finales are lacking this season- - trust me, you'll love it. :)

Complaint of the Day: High School Girls.

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Monday, May 21, 2007

Whatta Weekend!

I hate to bore you with a run-down of the weekend, but here I go! :)

Friday I received a phone call from my aunt saying that my uncle had suffered a heart attack. He is only 54 years old and leads an active life. Luckily he got to the hospital in time and they admitted him for (I'm forgetting the name...)the "balloon treatment" immediately. Out of 4 arteries, 1 was 100% blocked, 1 was 80% blocked, 1 was 70% blocked and 1 was completely clear. He hadn't been feeling "right" all week but thought that he had walking pneumonia. Let this serve as a reminder to GO TO YOUR ANNUAL DOCTOR'S VISITS. He hadn't been to the doctor's in a *very* long time. He is doing well though and coming home today, unforunately he'll be out of work for a month recovering, here's to a speedy recovery!

Saturday morning I was up early for my all-day quilt class! The woman who was hosting it lives on Lake Champlain in the Islands and her home is beautiful. She lived next door to my mother's family when they were growing up and was good friends with my Grandmother (my mom's mother) whom I never met. I love visiting with her because she always tells stories about "Margaret" (my grandma) and it's so nice to learn about my grandmother/family from an oustide perspective. (And a neighbor at that! :)). I *love* my quilt! I don't have pictures to post yet, and it's not done but it was so much fun! The pattern is Color Splash and after working on a Stack & Whack and star patterns, this pattern offered a MUCH NEEDED break! I've completed about 1/4 of it but finishing the rest shouldn't be too difficult.

When we arrived, there were gift baskets at each person's sewing area- - what a great idea! In the baskets were: small hand lotion, wooden dowel for pressing seams as you sewed, fabric chalk, pen, three pieces of coordinating fabric tied with bow, and an embroidered handkerchief! This woman is a hostess extraordinaire...I wish you could have seen the lunch she prepared. I'm not going to post on it now because it warrants it's own post-- yes, it was that good! :)

She has an entire room dedicated to sewing and it's incredible, lots of light, huge windows, triple sized ironing boards, industrial irons... many of you would be in heaven there.

Here is an example of a Color Splash Quilt

Saturday night I headed over to my cousin's (remember that trip I was taking on Sunday?) and walked in to 25 high school kids partying. Great... my cousin knew that I was coming over but didn't think I would be there so early so she threw a pre-prom party instead of a post-prom party. After getting them all to the prom I headed back to clean up the MESS they had made. It was a disaster but by the time I was finished the house looked spotless. I tried to go to bed early because we were leaving early in the morning, but I was woken up numerous times by phone calls. Finally, at 4:15am I got up and headed downstairs to get ready when my cousin walked in the front door... she was just getting home. Kids... ;) She slept the whole ride down so I just hooked up my ipod. It actually didn't end up taking me too long and I was home by 11:20am.

I did a few errands yesterday afternoon for today and taught Jazz at 4:15. I finally got in bed at 9:00pm to watch Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters but I fell asleep and missed them both- - damn it. I've gotta catch them somehow.



I've got a super-busy week, two tennis matches, the individual state tournament, work stuff AND my boyfriend is coming- - tomorrow. :)



Does anyone else get antsy waiting for Memorial Day weekend? I *love* this weekend- - it makes summer official! :)



Happy Birthday to my youngest sister... 16 candles... whoa. :)

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Friday, May 18, 2007

Friday, Friday

Now that I am an "adult" and working an ordinary 9-5 I look forward to Fridays more than I ever have before! We're supposed to have a make-up tennis match today but it looks like it's going to rain again... have I mentioned that I hate the rain before? Well, I hate it.

Tomorrow I am taking a full-day quilt class. I'm really excited about it and the pattern is *very* easy to follow (read: fabric strip blocks) no fancy patterns this time! By the end of the day I should have the "top" of the quilt ready to go, I'll only need to add a border/s and the backing. I have my quilts machine quilted though, so someone else puts it all together for me! My color scheme is bright pink/green (obvi...) and while I would love to keep it for myself it's going to be a birthday gift for my youngest sister, she's turning 16 on Monday- - Big Day. :)

Sunday I am driving my cousin to her older sister's college graduation in Providence, RI. Her family is leaving for the weekend today but she has the prom on Saturday night and really doesn't want to miss it. I don't blame her, but driving the morning after prom at 4:30am hardly seemed like a great idea for a 17 year old so I offered to make the trip. I don't think it'll be too bad, and I may swing up to York, ME for lunch if I have time.

My boyfriend and I were discussing last night when he was coming to VT... his answer?

"Well, I think I'll be there on Tuesday, but Tuesday night is Wing Night and I kind of want to go, so maybe Wednesday."

Ummm... I'm second to WING NIGHT?!?!?! :)

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Thursday, May 17, 2007

One of Those Days

Do you ever just have "one of those days". You know, where nothing is quite going right? It's not as if the day is HORRIBLY, TERRIBLY BAD it's just that little things are very annoying and extremely unimpressing. Well, yesterday was ONE OF THOSE DAYS and I'm having a little bit of a difficult time snapping out of it! Sometimes it just seems that people (i.e. coworkers/bosses) could be kinder but instead choose to be snippit-y and condescending. It's frustrating at times and makes me weary. I would just like to put a sign in my office saying, "I'm TRYNG, alright?". And (although I do this to myself...) having three jobs ("REAL JOB", tennis, Jazzercise) means three bosses, means the occassional inability to please three people at once. Okay, I'm done. :)

On another (MUCH BIGGER AND BETTER AND HAPPIER) note, my boyfriend is leaving MI today, heading home to PA, spending a couple days in Philly with his best friend, then coming to VT for the summer at the end of next week.

Mix me up some Sangria, summer is here at last.

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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Made the Paper


One of the girls on my team made the newspaper this week... it just happens to be my sister. :)

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Pro Tennis + VT = A VERY HAPPY PREPPYINVT

Check this out...

Several of the world's finest women's tennis players will put their skills on display in Vermont when the United States and Russia compete in a Federation Cup semifinal at Topnotch Resort and Spa in Stowe on July 14-15.

The United States Tennis Association made the announcement Tuesday, marking the return of elite tennis to Stowe for the first time since the 1980s, when the Head Classic men's tournament brought such stars as Jimmy Connors, Ille Nastase and Ivan Lendl to the Green Mountains. The competition's rosters could include Venus and Serena Williams and reigning U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova.

"I can't believe we got that," exclaimed Barry Stone of South Burlington, a tennis devotee who conducts the Jeff Stone Memorial Tournament each year. "That is so great," Stone said. "It's huge. The Federation Cup is the most important competition in women's tennis. You can get some of the best players, and what a boost for tennis, not only in Stowe, but throughout the state of Vermont. "I will be one of the first in line for tickets."

In a news release from the USTA, U.S. Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison said, "Stowe, Vermont, is such a beautiful region of our country and we look forward to returning tennis to an area that has a proven commitment to the game. Our goal is to win the Fed Cup and we look forward to facing a competitive Russian team."

The Fed Cup is the women's version of the Davis Cup, pitting national teams against each other in elimination matches that feature four singles and one doubles matches. The concept was first proposed in 1919 but was not adopted until 1963, when it was sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation. This year's field included teams from 82 nations. The rosters for the U.S. and Russian teams have not been announced, although both had some of their premier players competing in their quarterfinal series.

The Williams sisters were among those playing for the U.S. in the 5-0 win over Belgium, along with the doubles team of Vania King and Lisa Raymond. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova led the Russians to a 5-0 quarterfinal win over Spain. Sharapova missed the event due to injury.

"I'm so excited. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time," said Andrew Chmura, the event's promoter and the president of Grand Slam Tennis Tours. "This was a process a long time coming with three major entities coming together to make this happen: the USTA, Topnotch and Grand Slam," said Chmura, who organizes trips to the world's major tennis events. "To be able to bring a world-wide event of this size to a town like Stowe is pretty phenomenal. We're talking about world-wide competition." Chmura said he received word of the decision Monday.

"It puts Topnotch in the ranks of the other resorts that have been in the same pool of hosting international events," Topnotch director of tennis Milan Kubala. "I'm sure, if they're healthy, the Williams sisters will play, and the Russians the last two or three years have been such a force with all their players, whether or not Sharapova is healthy," Kubala said. "I don't think it matters who plays; it will be the highest level of women's tennis."

According to Chmura, the USTA will build a 3,000- 5,000-seat facility on the site of the former Head Classic stadium. He said the specifications of the hard-court surface will be decided by the U.S. team, which, as host, has the right to have the surface built to its liking.

We've (the company I work for) been asked to sponsor this event and I want it to happen *so* badly! I just have to show how we're going to generate enough additional revenue to make it worthwhile... Wish me luck!

If it doesn't work out I'll just buy tickets, get myself a room at Topnotch, and celebrity-watch. ;)

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

25 Years

I've been thinking about my parent's anniversary as it's approaching quickly and I think we've decided to go with the small happy hour/party at our house because it's the easiest and they *really* don't want anything big. (They're not just saying that either- - I don't think :)). Now, we have to decide what to get them for a gift. The 25th is usually silver so we'll probably do something small along those lines, but I think our big gift to them is going to be a new digital camera. Now I know many of you have purchased new cameras recently and I would really love your input here! They mostly use the camera to take photos of family stuff, nothing too fancy, but my father is really into picture dvd's of all of our family vacations, etc so I want it to work well with that.

If you have any suggestions, that would be great!

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Friday, May 11, 2007

Who Will Get It?

abc.com/bachelor

I heard a rumor yesterday that Page 6 reported they knew who was getting the final rose. I looked, but I can't find the story ANYWHERE! Does anyone out there know if this is true?

All Booted Up with No Place to Go

Well, that's not entirely true, I still have plenty of all-access blogs to read but...

Can I come?!?

Here too?

Thanks. :)

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Winding Down

Mother's Day Gift Ideas:


Let her relax with a gift from PajamaGram. www.PajamaGram.com


www.VermontTeddyBear.com

I saved the best for last...
Pink and Green Polka dotted candles delivered in a pink and green satin hatbox. What more could a preppy mother ask for?!? www.CalyxFlowers.com

The week is (slowly) coming to an end. I woke up this morning and felt like it was Friday... darn it. The weather here in VT is crazy. It was snowing 2 1/2 weeks ago and now it's so hot and humid I'm back to my summer "styling" of my hair. (Note: summer styling consists of getting out of the shower, brushing it, and pulling it back immediately). I can't handle blowdrying my hair in the summer because it's TOO HOT and by the time I'm done I'm sweating so much my hair is sticking to my head/neck anyway.


I know I'm really late with this, but did anyone watch Desperate Housewives/Brothers&Sisters on Sunday? First, I totally hated it that the Mayor had that officer beat up. I really thought that was mean. Secondly, Calista Flockhart (Kitty) can act drunk SO well. I thought she was so funny and so *real* during that scene!


Tonight it's Greys/ER. Woooo!


My boyfriend had surgery yesterday and I was really hoping that I would be able to go see him this weekend but it doesn't look like it's going to work out. These are the times that I wish we were closer together. He's coming up here for the summer though, in a few weeks, so hopefully that will be better!

Monday, May 07, 2007

College Days

What a gorgeous weekend! It was a little cooler but sunny, sunny, sunny! I *love* this weather. It is the reason I survive between December and May.

My trip to MA was wonderful. I arrived in Amherst just in time to meet the team for dinner. It's always so nice to catch up with the girls and when they're not on campus they don't have to worry about school and other things so we can really just visit and hang out. There were 26 of us at dinner so, needless to say, it took a long time. It was relaxing though and fun (despite some terrible service), many of their parents had little speeches about how proud they were of the girls for making it to NCAA's.

Friday night the girls had to get to bed fairly early because they had a match the next day so the other tennis team alum (and my co-captain) and I caught up with our old coach. It was great, much like when we were back in school, except this time the conversation was far less censored. In fact, my coach grilled me about my boyfriend for about 2 hours. (If you remember, he was my assistant coach in college...) Yea. That conversation was more than akward at times. I think we made some progress on that front though and he's not as angry as he was. Time heals...

Being back with the team reminds me that although I don't see or talk to everyone as much I as would like, they really are my best friends. It's an easy conversation and existance. They know me, and "get" me. More so than a lot of my close friends even. I guess sharing long van-rides, hotel rooms, and spring breaks can do that.

This week is going to be hell. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous but I'll be stuck working 12-14 hour days. Mother's Day in upon us and I'm her slave until the 12th. :)

Friday, May 04, 2007

Woooooo!

Congratulations to my college tennis team, they've qualified to NCAA's this year for the first time in program history! They'll be playing at Amherst today and (hopefully) tomorrow so I'm planning a last-minute trip to MA for the weekend and we're having a tennis team reunion of sorts! I'm so excited!

I still need to tell everyone about my trip to Michigan... oh, the drama. :)

Thursday, May 03, 2007

I've Got My New Shoes On

Okay, not really but I have a great new shoe site! I don't have a pair of these, and I don't know anyone that does but we received a call yesterday from the lady who owns this little shop and in checking out her website I thought I should share with all of you! What a great idea!

Check them out HERE!

Also, I received my two new Preppy Potato belts while I was traveling! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! I'll post pictures soon!

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Home Again, Home Again

Hi, I'm back! It was a wonderful week but work is crazy and I'm dealing with a lot of chaos right now. Hopefully I'll be back before the end of the day!

It's finally starting to feel like spring here in Vermont, I hope the rest of you can say the same!