Another Update

Wow. I am REALLY terrible. It's been over a month since my last post. I'd like to say that I'm going to be more than a once-a-month blogger, but... I'm not going to make any promises. With such long breaks in between posts it's hard to know where to start, but since I just celebrated my birthday (26! WHOA!) yesterday, I think I'll start there.

And that? Begins with me saying that I have the best. boyfriend. ever. He is seriously amazing. He gets me COMPLETELY and totally loves that I'm NUTS 98% of the time. He is optimistic and life-loving and totally lights up a room when he walks in. He loves my family, he is kind and supportive and I could not be happier.

I know what you're thinking, it won't always be sunshine and rainbows but... I think it will.

So THERE. ;)

My birthday weekend started with the two of us getting some stuff done around his house in preparation for the party we were hosting there Sunday evening. We went to the gym, then headed home to shower and get ready for my birthday weekend getaway. He planned an entire weekend away for my birthday and I had no idea.

We had some errands to run before we left town (we bought a bedroom set and a living room set...

I KNOW!), so after we finished that we headed south on 89 and that was when he told me our destination: Topnotch in Stowe, VT. He got a room for the entire weekend and signed me up for a day at the spa on Saturday. It was, in one word, AMAZING. I relaxed, we went out to dinner, I slept in, read the paper in bed, and just enjoyed every minute of my birthday weekend.

It was incredible.

Sunday we came home and hosted a small birthday gathering at his house.

I am so loving my life right now it's amazing.

Ouch

It's been a long almost-week. I knew that things were a little off with Jax and I but I figured two solid weeks at home, hanging out and spending time together would be good.

Apparently not.

It's just been so weird and awkward and honestly, really disappointing. It's not that I thought he and I were necessarily meant to be TOGETHER. FOREVER. But it was really nice to have someone to make plans with and hang out with whenever I was home. To have someone who cared (well, who I THOUGHT cared) about me, my well being, and my plans.

I was totally blindsided and really hurt by the way things turned out. Initially I held off with him because I didn't want to do a long-distance relationship (remember? BEEN THERE. DONE THAT.) but he spent four months convincing me and showing me that he would be the best boyfriend ever. I don't take having a boyfriend lightly. I finally said yes, and it lasted 10 weeks. I could die over that. It's so embarrassing.

Not only that but we hang out at the SAME BAR. Now? He completely ignores me. It is so strange. I could see if I totally hurt him and he hated me, but he really doesn't have any reason to make things awkward. I just hate that he (obviously) didn't care enough about me or my feelings to handle things differently.

I'm not perfect, I know that, but it is so frustrating to be continuously disappointed by people.

Not only that but we had some long-term plans that I was looking forward to... ayyyyiyii. This blows.

Of course, I know- I'll better off, it wasn't meant to be, etc, etc, etc. Still. For the time being? This sucks.

I love having three sisters and I love being the oldest, but it's times like these that make me wish I had an older brother. I know if I did, they would throw down and at least make a statement. Somehow it's just not the same if your parents or a younger sister does it...

In the meantime I'm working on keeping busy...

Saw it Coming...

Jax broke up with me last night.

At the bar.

That's all I have to say about that.

Beantown

Before I headed home for Christmas vacation Jax told me that he had tickets for a Celtics game for a weekend in January and asked if I would like to go with him. Like it was even a question- - now that I don’t have grad school and I live in my own apartment I can TOTALLY plan weekends like this. I obviously said yes!

Jax, being the super-considerate guy that he is, planned the weekend and it included driving to CT to pick me up and driving me back to CT at the end of the weekend. I told him that while I appreciated the sentiment- - that was TOTALLY unnecessary. I decided to take the train from CT to Boston instead of driving to meet him. I don’t know how many of you have had the opportunity to take a train before, but it was my first time and I absolutely loved it. It was about the same travel time as driving BUT it was SO EASY. There are comfortable seats, a bar/snack car, electrical outlets, plenty of storage room and NO LINES. NO SECURITY. NO WAITING. NO DELAYS OR CANCELLATIONS!

Seriously, I’m a walking advertisement for Amtrak now.

When I stepped off the train Jax was waiting for me at the end of the track. He had arrived early to check in and make sure he knew how to get to/from the station and the hotel. He took my bags and we started the two-block walk to our hotel. We stayed at the InterContinental, which was, in one word, amazing. I’m about as low-maintenance as a girl can get, really, I’d be fine at a Motel 6 or a Holiday Inn, but there IS something to say for staying in a really nice hotel. The room was gorgeous, the hotel bar was a hopping nightspot, and the concierge service was incredible.

I walked into the room to find a bouquet of flowers, a bottle of wine chilling in an ice bucket, two wine glasses on the table, a box of chocolate covered strawberries and three wrapped presents.

Really.

It was a little cliché and like a scene out of a movie, but for right now… this movie is my life and I am loving every second of it.

The three wrapped presents were a wooden box of wine opener accessories (which came in handy for our bottle of wine), and two cashmere sweaters.

I know.

I do not own, nor have I ever owned anything cashmere and Jax just cannot fathom that. So… he decided to pick out a couple to get me started.

We relaxed for a bit and then got ready to head to the Celtics game. I’ve never been to the Garden (is it still called that?!?) before so that was quite an experience and we caught an awesome game. After the game we met up with one of my best friends from college and spent the night on the town!

Saturday morning we were up surprisingly early. I had a 6-mile run to get to so while I was getting ready for that Jax asked the concierge where I should run. We got it mapped out and headed down to Boston Harbor so I could run along the Harbor Walk. It was nice to be by the water, but I think it’s called the Harbor WALK for a reason, it wasn’t the BEST for running, but it was close to the hotel, didn’t have any stop lights, and Jax could go to the aquarium while he waited for me.

It was almost noon by the time I was showered and dressed so we headed straight to Faneuil Hall for lunch. We stopped at Durgin Park- Jax had the ribs, I got the Thanksgiving sandwich then set out for an afternoon of shopping. We did WAY more shopping that I thought we would. We started around Faneuil Hall and cleaned out Gap, then headed up towards Downtown Crossing. My friend from Friday night had a new perfume that I FELL IN LOVE WITH. And… you know me… I needed it immediately.

Four hours later we walked back to the hotel saddled with shopping bags. (I momentarily forgot that I was taking a train back to CT and didn’t have ROOM for all of this STUFF! It was so much fun though, shopping in Boston, totally worth it. )

We relaxed again for a bit, Jax may or may not have passed out watching tv while I tried on all of my new purchases and then we got ready to head out- - again. We started at the bar at the InterContinental, headed to Faneuil Hall AGAIN (it was walking distance) for dinner. We went to an awesome seafood restaurant whose name escapes me now, then met up with my cousin and her best friend for another night out on the town.

Overall? It was one of the BEST weekends I’ve had in a while. Completely fun and relaxing.

Still in Spain

Hi all,

I hope your new year is off to an amazing start. Mine should be as I'm in Spain, but... well... it's not. I will share when I get back and I'll be needing a little extra support from my blogland buddies...

Adios.

A Birthday Celebration

The mini-vacation was wonderful. I didn't not get nearly enough sleep so I'm still exhausted, but we were (finally!) able to celebrate our birthdays and I was gifted:



and...

a new ipod! Wooo! He bought me my first ipod (a nano) but decided that with all of my Jazzercising I needed something with more memory. Also, this way I am able to keep the Nano with all of my workout songs and for running (love the Nike+ still, LOVE IT). I couldn't be more excited I was completely NOT expecting it!

My boyfriend is really into music, really into it. He's not that great (he played the drums in high school and still tries to play the guitar) but he's always finding the "backbeat" in songs and loves that sort of thing so anyway, I did a little research and there is a recording studio not far from his house in MI. I called over there and talked with the owner, explained my idea, and I ended up getting him two sessions of "mixing" lessons. I'm not exactly sure what it entails, but he'll get a cd at the end with the "song" that he produced so I'll find out!

Happy (Early) Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all enjoy your day and think about all that you have to be grateful for.

I'm heading to Bethlehem, PA tonight for Thanksgiving with my boyfriend and his family. Should be fun (even though smoking is PERMITTED in restaurants and bars there and I REALLY can't take it oh and there's chunky cranberry sauce and well, I hate that. Give me some Ocean Spray with can-marks please) and I'm looking forward to four days of eating and drinking. :) I'm running in a "Turkey Trot" Saturday morning, still trying to convince the bf to run too, not sure I'm going to have any luck with that.

We had a meeting last night about our recent pay cut and, well, it didn't go so well. You ever get the feeling like you're on a sinking ship? And you're frantically bailing water but the reality is... YOU'RE GOING DOWN?!?!? That's how I'm feeling. I'm hoping these next couple of days inspire a new attitude, outlook and solution.

AND I hope these next couple of days serve as some reminder of WHY I'm in this relationship. This long distance thing is really getting on my nerves.

Happy THANKSGIVING to YOU though!

Hypothetically Speaking...

Okay. Let's say you have a job that's not your "real" job. It's a second/part time thing that you enjoy. Currently at this job, you make $x. Now, your employer is readjusting their budget and they would like to pay you anywhere from 39-93% LESS than you're currently being paid depending on their revenue for the month.

What would YOU do?

(if this is too vague I'd be happy to be a little more detailed.)

P.S. Happy Birthday to my wonderful boyfriend. :)

Birthdays...

I think I thought of the PERFECT birthday present for my boyfriend. I'm still working out the details and I don't want to say anything too specifc on here just IN CASE (I know he doesn't, but) JUST IN CASE he reads this. His birthday is Nov. 13, if everything works out, I'll let you know then what I got him! :)

Friday

I feel like I'm in middle school and it's the Friday before Thanksgiving vacation. You know that feeling? You don't really have anything HUGE to look forward to, but it's a whole week off, the weather isn't TOO cold and but it's cool... it's perfect. But, hello? This is NOT the Friday before the week of Thanksgiving it's not even the WEDESDAY (hello, job) before Thanksgiving and I'm not looking forward to anything particular in the next 48 hours. I have not been able to concentrate at all lately. Ugh.

My sister is home from school for mid-semester break (remember those?) so last night the four of us went out to dinner and shopping. Fun, yes but I didn't even BUY anything. I did find a couple of things to add to my ever-expanding birthday/Christmas list though. My boyfriend has mid-semester break this weekend too, with Monday/Tuesday off, and I thought that he was going to finagle SOME way to come see me but that did. not. work. out. I'm more than disapointed. How I loathe thee, long distance relationship.

Speaking of him... his birthday is in mid-November and I have NO clue as to what to get him. Last year I got him a luggage set because what he used to travel with, well, was embarrassing. He always gets me the BEST presents (ipod? check. Tiffany necklace? check. nike+shoes/ accessories? CHECK.) He's a tough act to follow. I could buy him a plane ticket to come see me, or one for me to see him but that seems a little selfish... :) I just want to find something PERFECT. Suggestions?

Long Weekend

I'm leaving tomorrow morning (at 4 am...) to go to MI for a nice long weekend! I haven't seen my boyfriend since he left VT in the middle of August so it's about time! If you recall, I have family (cousin and her family) who live in MI, and my aunt and uncle (cousin's parents) were driving out to visit her for the weekend and invited me along for the ride! I know some of you are probably ready to throw up at the thought of 10 hours in the car (20 hours total in 4 days) but the car does NOT bother me at all and I'm not driving so I'm actually- - get this- - looking forward to it. (I'm crazy, I know). I figure 10 hours with NOTHING to do but catch up on my reading and put some serious time into some pieces I've been working on at work is 10 hours that I have not had in a WHILE.

My boyfriend is picking me up at my cousin's house Thursday afternoon when we arrive and we're heading to pick up his men's team because they have a tourament ALL DAY FRIDAY. It never fails, whenever I go visit, one of his teams has some big tournament and we end up spending an entire weekend at collegiate tennis facilities... as if I didn't get enough of THAT when I was in college. Oh well, it'll be better than spending the entire weekend in the hotel he's been living at. Oh? Did I not tell you about that? Well, let's just say that the plumbing failed in his apartment building and 4" of raw sewage backed up into two of the apartments (his of course, being one of them) so he's had to move into a hotel while renovations are done to his apartment. (Gag, really, it's okay.) I'm not terribly upset about it, this means that he won't want me to make elaborate dinners and I can get him to take me out to eat! Aside from the TENNIS, plans for the weekend include a whole bunch of nothing and going to a Sangria Bar. I have never been to one before but something tells me that I'll feel RIGHT AT HOME. In fact, I may even make it my home.

I won't be updating/checking blogs while I'm away so enjoy your weekends!

Coming soon:
What I've learned working at a Scoop Shoppe
Craziest Wedding Invite Ever? (I need some feedback on this one)
The Tale of Two Jazz Owners

Oh, I Got My New Shoes On

Has anyone heard that song by Pauolo Nutini? New Shoes? It's one of our Jazz songs. Anyway- - found these shoes this weekend at TJMaxx:

mine are in black though, couldn't find a picture. I'll only be able to wear them for about a week until all of my summer shoes are put to rest but for $10 I don't really care. They're super-cute.

The Polo Outlet is having a great sale right now, everything is 15% off and I had an extra 20% coupon so I did some serious damage there over the weekend, nothing too crazy, but a couple of needed additions to my wardrobe. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea though, I'm in the process of "simplifying' my life- - HA. I'm trying to get it in my head that less in indeed more but I just can't seem to apply that to clothes, shoes, belts, stationary, or jewelry. Oops. So much for purging my closet of things I no longer wear...

I had the worst week last week at work so I've been trying to forget about a slightly devasting decision that was made (nothing huge, don't worry, just ANNOYING), but last night it got a lot better when my aunt called and said that she and my uncle are driving to MI to visit their daughter and her kids for the last weekend in September and asked if I wanted to ride along to see my boyfriend... um, sure. :) It will be a lot of time in the car, but at least I won't have to spend $500 on airfare.

The joys of a (once-again) long-distance relationship. ((sigh)).

Summer Lovin'

"The party's oooooooover!" My mom always used to say that to us in a sing-songy voice once the last guest had departed or at the end of a vacation- - it still makes me shudder. But my summer-long "party" is over. My youngest sister's boyfriend headed off to college (in Florida no less) on Tuesday, my boyfriend headed back home on Wednesday then it's off to MI for him on Saturday and back to his "real" job. Our friend who stays with us in the summer headed out this morning for his job in Spain, and my sister heads back to school on Sunday. Talk about a change of pace.

What a summer though... now we'll see how patient my boyfriend can be until he starts requesting my presence in MI again. :)

Quarters

This is going to seem like such a small thing...

I "collect" quarters. What I mean is that whenever someone at home leaves change around the house, in the washing machine/dryer, or discards it, I take the quarters. Nobody minds and if anyone is thinking about it, they put their leftover quarters in a jar for me. It's not that particularly like quarters or even that have one's from all 50 states it's just that I buy my daily fountain diet coke with 3 quarters (a deal, I know) and get my afternoon snack from the M&M machine with qaurter so quarters have become *very* important to my daily life.

Knowing my affinity for quarters my boyfriend has been saving all of his (without telling me) and when he was at my house yesterday filled my change holders with all of his quarters which means I'm good to go with the M&M's and diet coke for (at least) the week.

Sometimes it really is the small things....

Just Floating By

Happy first official day of summer everyone! I haven't been a very exciting blogger lately! (Ha, am I ever?!?!) I went to my boyfriend's Tuesday night which was nice, it's good to hang out just the two of us sometimes and he came back here last night to come to my jazzercise class because I was getting monitored (totally stressful, but I think I did okay... I'll let you know when I get my "score".) It was nice, he came and my other good friend came. It was a larger class than usual which kept my adrenaline going. We've talked about everything and I think we're working towards a better place, we'll see. :)

I finally have time now tonight/tomorrow night to finalize everything for my parents 25th Anniversary party. I'm getting really excited for it and excited for the day just to be HERE so I can stop stressing about it!

Very much looking forward to Friday at 5... I'm so ready for the weekend!

In honor of the first day of summer, I say this evening at 7pm we all have a nice (HUGE) gin and tonic and toast our blogging friends. :)

A little better

So, I won't bore you every detail of the bad weekend but the climactic event was when, at 1am on Church Street in downtown Burlington, my boyfriend decides he has had enough of my craziness (I admit, I am slightly crazy, but not in a bad way...) and walks away from me saying, "I'm so done. I'm done. I'm not coming home tonight." And then he walked away. And left me there. Alone. At 1am. In Burlington.

I am by no means incapable of independance or finding my own way home ( I did, just fine) and I can't walk anywhere downtown without running into someone I know, but it *really* irritates me that after more than two years of dating he can get so angry that he doesn't think we should be ending the night together and left me to take a cab by myself, to my car parked on a dark street, then home. And it's embarrassing when my family and friends are like... "Ummm... what happened?" Then he didn't answer any of my calls or texts and didn't come home until 4 am. I was more than annoyed, obviously. And I can't help that feel regardless of how mad he is, his first concern should be ME, right? I mean, I was pretty mad too, but I called and texted him to make sure that he had a ride home and money for a cab, etc. He didn't even WONDER where I went or what I did.

It was just one of those weekends where I found myself wondering..."what the hell am I doing with all of this?" and it really doesn't feel good to be questioning that.

We are still sorting everything out but he started his job officially this week so he's moved to his house close to his work which will be good to give us some perspective. I haven't seen the house yet so I'm heading up there after work today to make dinner and so we can try to work everything out. We'll see how it goes...

I'm heading to Boston next weekend for a Red Sox game... can't wait! :)

Goodbye, Goodbye Now

I met my boyfriend's parents at their campground at 6:30 this morning to give them a lunch I had packed and to say goodbye. They were hoping to leave early but something tells me that it may take them a while to motivate. (On their way here they left Bethlehem, PA at 11am on a Friday and didn't arrive at my house, 364miles away, until Saturday afternoon.) It was a crazy weekend but his parents finally met my sisters and saw VT for the first time.

I think it was fairly overwhelming for them, my boyfriend is an only child and his parents are both 65+. Their house is quiet, everyone is extremely stubborn, I mean, INDEPENDANT, soft spoken and takes a long time to motivate. My house is, pretty much, the complete opposite. We're loud (from years of trying to be heard over 5 other loud people at the dinner table), flexible, and cooperative- - you have to be when you all shared bedrooms and one bathroom growing up. If nothing else, I think his parents have a better understanding of where I'm coming from and why I act the way I do (I swear, they think I'm crazy sometimes). :)

I'm hoping for a quiet rest of the week.

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. :)

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?!?!?! :)