Friday Happiness

Happy Friday! HAPPY FRIDAY! Whew! OK, I've calmed down now. This felt like the longest week ever, I think because last week was so short. It's was a good week, even though I had a commitment ever night after work and my weekend will most likely be jam-packed too. But busy is the way I prefer to live my life.
I've got to finish up a project for class (next week is the last week of classes already) so I'll probably spend a good portion of the weekend in the computer lab on campus.
I also have mucho wedding planning left to do and would like to secure a photographer in the next week or two. This weekend's priority is finalizing the guest list.
Eric and I are going wine tasting tomorrow at some of the Cayuga Lake wineries. That's one of my favorite things to do :) We live in such a beautiful part of the world and it's nice to get out an enjoy the scenery and drink some delicious, local wine. Our current favorite is the Hermann Weimer
Semi-Dry Johannisberg Riesling. Yummm...
OK I'm going to look at wedding rings online now. It's a good thing no one reads this blog because my posts are boooring! Hee hee.

The dress for me

I got a wedding gown this past weekend! It's so, so beautiful and I feel absolutely beautiful in it, which, I'm told is the most important things when buying a wedding dress. I must have tried on close to one hundred and I have to admit I liked a LOT of them, but there's something special about this one. My mom cried when I put it on but I was too excited to cry. I was grinning from ear to ear.

Domestic goddess...or not

Recently I wrote about how I never get to spend any time alone so when I do, it weirds me out a little bit. On Saturday morning, Eric went to his parent's house to help his dad in remodeling the kitchen and I opted to stay home and spend the weekend relaxing. I promised myself that I would not go out (I knew it wouldn't be hard since most of my friends were out of town anyway). During my time alone, I learned some interesting things:
1. I really enjoy drinking coffee and watching the morning news without having to worry about the time and whether or not I should be getting ready for work.
2. Having the bed (and bedding) to yourself is the BEST. I haven't slept that soundly in a long time.
3. It's nice to be able to leave the house and not have anyone worry about when I'll be coming back.
4. It's also nice to spend as much time as I like in the grocery store.
5. It's ALSO nice to be able to watch the first 4 episodes of Desperate Housewives back-to-back without hearing any complaints.
6. I do not enjoy cooking chicken. I roasted one all by myself and got freaked out when trying to clean it because the ribcage felt like a cat's. After I finished cleaning it, I need a glass of wine, which lead to two glasses of wine and by the time Eric got home I was drunk (I'm a lightweight), wearing only my bra and shorts, singing and dancing to music and attempting to chop vegetables.
All in all it was a very restful weekend!

No title

Almost exactly a year ago, our former neighbors were attacked while they slept in their home. The husband was killed, the wife is still alive although she suffered extensive injuries, especially to her face and head. Today she can barely speak, she lost one of her eyes and is otherwise horribly disfigured. What makes it worse is that the only suspect (who was just arrested), is their son, a 22-year-old who my brother and grew up playing with as children. My mom emailed me an update on the story and I haven't been able to shake the sadness of it the entire day. It's very unlikely anyone else could have committed this crime - the evidence is greatly stacked against him. I can't imagine the pain and anguish this family must be going through. I keep them in my thoughts and hope they can be happy somehow, someday.

Lucky me

Poor Eric. He was so tired and all he wanted was to go to sleep but I convinced him to come over to Jimmy and Kay's house for dinner and Taboo (the best game in the world). He obliged and when he wasn't as lively and fun as I wanted him to be, I freaked out. When we got home and went to bed, I stayed awake worrying and thinking and obsessing. It's as though I expect every aspect of our relationship to be perfect just because we're engaged now. I thought we were through the stress that dating brings because saying yes forever would somehow be easier than not knowing your fate as a couple. But it's not easier and relationships, no matter how serious, committed and loving, take a lot of work. So I woke him up and told him what was bothering me and listened and held me and tried not to fall back asleep. He said he was sorry and that he was preoccupied all evening because he had work to finish up and hadn't gotten to it because of the plans I'd made. He didn't accuse me of anything because he never does. He went along with me plans because he loves me and wanted to spend time with me regardless of whether or not it involved other people.
Today at work women were telling stories of how their husbands expect them to cook dinner every night, pack their lunches every morning and iron their clothes every week. Eric wouldn't dream of asking me to do these things because he takes care of them himself, as he should. We have certain chores we handle and the housework gets done just fine. We take care of ourselves and we take care of each other when we need to . When he was busy with schoolwork the other day I ironed his shirts for him and he seemed so touched. Even though we say the words to each other several times a day, I wanted to show him I love him. I'm lucky and I need to remember it more often.

The Weekend in Review

After all the complaining I did on Friday, I want to talk about what I good weekend I had! Honestly, I can be such a drama queen sometimes. Life is good! I need to remember that.
Friday evening, my parents came over on their way to visit my grandparents, who live about an hour away from Eric and me. We had a nice time, the four of us. It wasn't awkward and weird being around Eric and my parents as it sometimes tends to be. We had dinner at a little restaurant downtown then got ice cream. We went to bed around 11 because we had a big day planned for Saturday...
CORTACA JUG! Since not one of our friends could make it to the game in which Ithaca College takes on our ultimate rival, Cortland State, Eric and I drove over to the school around ten, parked with the other tailgaters and proceeded to drink beer and chat up a storm with each other and the people around us. I think that is the earliest I've ever had alcohol in my system. It didn't taste great. After about and hour and a half we made our way to the field and stood among the crowd of fellow Ithaca fans. We shouted cheers ("Cortland...Cortland...Cortland...YOU SUCK!", "That's alright, that's OK, you will work for US someday", and the simple, yet elegant "Staaaaate Schooool"). OK, none of those cheers are good, but when you're in the situation, it works! Unfortunately, we lost 37-30 in overtime, but I'm proud to say I wanted the ENTIRE game and complained minimally.
That evening we met up with our friends, Jimmy and Kay, at their house and played drunken Cranium, which was the most fun I'm had in a long time. I highly recommend playing Cranium if you've never done so.
And yesterday? I can't really remember what I did yesterday but it involved a lot of sleeping, watching TV and doing laundry. Not bad.
Now it's Monday and I've got to continue on with my work. The sun is shining outside and I think I'll take a walk at lunchtime.

Worst. Friday. Ever.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I only got 5 hours of sleep last night (I made the lethal mistake of exercising at 10:00 pm and was wound up like a top) but I've just been off today!
My computer died on me at work and still isn't performing well. I ran Ad-Aware, which found a slew of new critical objects to remove.
Then my mouse wouldn't work - or I should say still won't work. It's a wireless one which I thought would make my life eerier. I was wrong, wrong, wrong as it slips and skips and stalls all over the place.
Then I tried to run an errand at lunchtime and found myself stuck behind the slowest truck in the world, just wasting away my lunch hour. When I tried to but something in a store, the girl in front of me took forever to check out. She obviously didn't have any place to be because she was acting like the world was waiting on her. Then, with only one cashier open, and a line of five people behind her, she decides it's the perfect time to apply for a store credit card.
Walking from my car back to work I was nearly run over by two male students. They were oh-so-preppie and full of themselves in their black SUV with their Northface jackets. I had the light (I was in the crosswalk), and they zoomed to turn right before I could cross, nearly hitting me in the process. I yelled at them through their window. I was that close.
Finally, I received am IM from Eric (he has today off, as does most of America, for Veteran's Day). He tells me that our toilet's broken and he's been unsuccessful in both his attempts to fix the problem or get a plumber to our house to do so.
My parents are stopping by on their way to my grandparents house to take us to dinner. I'm hoping things get better from here. Sometimes getting together with your parents isn't the fun, light activity you thought it would be.

"And what you wish for might come true..."

I'm so excited - we're going with friends of our to see Guster tonight at the State Theater! I haven't been to a concert in forever and Guster is one of my fav bands :)

Me, myself, and I

It's unseasonably warm here today! Almost 70 degrees at one point, which is just unheard of for early November in upstate NY.
I took a walk around campus at 2:00 and watched the students gearing up for the weekend. All excited and talkative. I still feel that way most Fridays. I feel it today even though I'm pretty sure I'll end up going to a bar with friends and then going back to K and J's house to hang out in the hot tub. But there's just something about Friday that makes you feel alive! The world is full of possibilities!
It's been a really long week at work. Things are changing around here and change can often be uncomfortable. Not only that but we are in an incredibly busy season and the work surrounding it feels like it's consuming my life.
Last night Eric and I made plans to go out to dinner (we do this once a month, preferably on the first to celebrate each month that we are together). He had to get an oil change after work so I was by myself in the apartment for a little while and I realized how rare it is that I'm alone. I'm never alone with myself and I sort of miss it. Don't get me wrong, I love Eric more than anything, and it's wonderful to have a partner in life but sometimes you need to be along in your head. So before he came home I did some sit-ups and push-ups and took a nice hot shower. It was lovely. Then he came home, we had a glass of wine together and had a really great dinner out. The only flaw on the evening was that I left my doggie bag at the restaurant! Damn!
:)

Happy Halloween!

When I was a kid, Halloween was my absolute favorite holiday. I liked it more than Christmas and looked forward to it more than my birthday! Most years I dressed up as a cat, sometimes I was a skeleton. I never really understood the point of dressing as a princess or fairy or something like that because those aren't scary.
When I got a little older my dad helped my construct a coffin that we filled with a "corpse." We propped the coffin up on the porch of our house and I attached a string to the lid, which I ran through an open window of our house. When Trick-or-Treaters came to the door, I'd pull on the string, and the coffin lid would fly open! The kids would scream and jump! When I went away to college, I heard that all the neighborhood kids were sad that I wasn't around to do the "coffin trick" anymore.
Now that I am a fully grown adult, my passion for the holiday has waned but not to the point that I don't get excited about decorations, costumes and candy.
This year, Eric and I live in a real neighborhood so I'm hopeful we'll get lots of Trick-or-Treaters. We bought several bags of candy and made the mistake of opening them. I came home one evening to find Eric sitting on the couch, surrounded by wrappers. He sure can pack away that candy. It's amazing how skinny he is!
Tonight we're having friends over to watch scary movies, drink wine, and give out candy. Eric and I carved pumpkins last night and put the finishing touches on the decorations. Maybe I'll even get in the bushes and scare some kids...
Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Planning a wedding = hell, part 2

Actually, this time I'm only kidding! Eric and I have finally chosen a location to get married and put a deposit down to save our date. July 30th, 2006, and the beautiful Fontainebleau Inn. My very knowledgeable and helpful friend helped me to put together an extensive budget that we presented to my parents and Eric's - and they actually said yes! We're so excited because this was our first choice of a venue.


I'm going home next weekend to shop for dresses with my mom and aunt - I'm so excited!

Where are all the cute clothes?

Since IC's Homecoming is the weekend, and I have to work at the Althletic Hall of Fame Awards Dinner on Friday night, I needed something a little dressy to wear. The problem is, I live in a place where everyone wears flip flops in the summer, hiking boots in the winter. In other words, there are not cute, dressy clothes to be found in any of the stores around here.


Today Brenda and I took a trip to the mall during lunch in search of the simplest, yet seemingly hardest item of clothing to find: the little black dress. I already own several LBDs: one with a boring, straight shape, one with a small pattern, and a third that have a small ruffle trim around the bottom. Small. I'm not in to big, ruffly dresses, don't worry.


Anyway, Brenda and I ran around the mall at breakneck speed because we were on our lunch hour and found...nothing. Finally, at the last store we tried, I found something that I can wear with my favorite LBD: a cream, angora caplet, which makes the whole thing look a little fancier and more seasonable. Now all I need is a really fantastic push-up bra.

Dunzo

US Weekly is reporting that Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey have finally split for good. And I'm sad! I know they're totally annoying and over publicized, but I really thought they might make it! Dang. I don't know what to believe anymore.

Planning a wedding = hell

I don't know what I was thinking assuming trying to plan our wedding was going to be fun. It is turning out to be very, very stressful and we're only in the beginning stages of it! It is amazing how much everything costs, and we aren't even looking to put on a big, fancy wedding. All we want is a quiet, low-key setting with good music and dancing. Oh, and of course I want a fabulous dress :) About a month ago, my mom and I went dress shopping and to my surprise, it was the best shopping experience ever! All of the gowns are built for thinnish, tallish people, so they were mostly all a perfect fit for me! This is a big deal because every other article of clothing I own is too short and wide, I look like I'm wearing something I shrunk in the wash. Highwater pants alert! Anyway, I didn't pick out a dress yet, but now I have a better idea of what I want and the next time we shop, we're planning on buying one.
Anyway, as soon as we decide on a venue I'm sure some of the stress will dissipate. Riiiiight :)

Keyed off!

This morning I walked out of my apartment to find that my fiancee's car had been keyed! The scratch runs almost the entire length of his car. I just can't imagine who would be mean enough to do such a thing. We don't have any enemies that I know of! I felt really bad having to call him up and tell him because his computer crashed last night as well. What a way to start off the week :(

Gotta write something!

Oh my god, reading Ellie's bog has inspried me to write. So here's what's happened to me since June:
-I went boating a lot.
-I drank more than I should have.
-I took an online class.
-I got engaged.
-I moved into a new apartment.
Now it's Friday, the best day of the week. Time for fun. Bye for now!

Success!

To anyone who might have been wondering, Alumni Weekend went off without a hitch! It was a VERY long weekend for those of us putting in 12 hour days, but we had so many positive comments from alumni, faculty and staff who attended, that it was all owrth it. And the beautiful weather didn't hurt either!
In my opinion, the highlight of the weekend was the awards dinner where Gavin MacLeod gave a wonderful speech in the importance of giving back. This has been the theme in so many speeches given at the College this year and will undoubtedly help to secure our financial future.

Long time, no blog

Oh my god. If anyone ever read this thing they'd think I was crazy! Which I am. Well, I had the surgery and it went GREAT. Way better than I expected, actually. My stomach finally looks like I want it to, which is to say, it looks flatter and less-scarred.
And living at home with my parents wasn't bad either. I was only home for 3 weeks because I recovered so much more quickly than anyone expected. Maybe I'm superhuman!

Happy Easter!

Eat candy! Eat ham! Eat candied ham!

Some fun websites

I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite guilty-pleasure websites with everyone! I'm sure many of you already know about them.
http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com
http://www.homestarrunner.com/
Let me think what else I've been up to...I'm also in the midst of wedding planning stuff. Not my wedding. My cousin and my friend are both getting married this coming July. I'm a bridesmaid in my cousin's and am playing the viola in it too.

Longest Week Ever

I know everyone says this, but I really am so tired! Even though I like my jobs and enjoy the people I'm with, it's still draining.
I also feel badly for out kitty who's at home by himself all day and night. I try to pay him lots of attention when I'm there but he's so sad. And that makes me sad. I think we need to get him a friend.
Gotta go fix a problem with the fax machine...again.

New Job

It's like the snow never stops! And to think, we've still got 3 more months of this...wow.
Anyway, I started a new job last night. I'm now working two in order to pay the bills. Luckily for me, my main job here in Alumni Relations had great benefits like health insurance and a free graduate degree, but now that I'm working an extra 3 nights a week, I won't have to be as freaked about my money situation.
I'm hostessing/waitressing at a restaurant called Angelina Centini's, right down the hill from the College. The people seem nice enough there and it's a low-stress environment, which is always a plus. I did find out that the building is haunted though, which I love! Angelina Centini created the restaurant in the 30's and then died in 1955. She was only about 60. They say her ghost lives in the restaurant and certain employees refuse to go into certain areas of the restaurant, like the downstairs bathrooms (they're for customers and located in the basement). Angelina's great-granddaughter, Angela, now owns the place. It's cool because there are all these old photos on the walls of the Centinis, spanning many generations.

Monday

What a good weekend I had! Mostly it consisted of cleaning the house (we finally took down the Christmas tree) and grocery shopping. I find comfort in these routine things. They make me feel like I have some control over my life!
I finished reading a great book, Lucky by Alice Sebold. For those of you who may not be familiar with Alice, she is the author of The Lovely Bones. Lucky is her memoir and is about her rape and subsequent trial while she was a sudent at Syracuse Univerity in the early 80s. I really liked the book, although I found it difficult to read at times.