The Great Burrricane of 2010

Late, late 2009 and 2010 certainly held a lot of snow for us on the east coast. While Monday's snowstorm didn't at all compare to some snowstorms past, we celebrated the snow in style!

Lots and lots of snow! My car was covered

 The truck with the plow got stuck

 This is the main road in town...

Merry Christmas World!

I'd say this is a pretty spectacular toast. I raise my glass to you and yours and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas in Vermont

It's almost Christmas time and it's snowing outside and it's cold and pretty and I've finally caught the Christmas spirit! My last five days were filled with college friend reunions, making new friends, eating yummy Italian food, a little bit of work, family get-togethers, Christmas trees and lots and lots of driving. Twenty-three hours and three minutes of driving to be precise. Joy.

Love you guys!

So much driving in five days...

This is what my car looked like this morning... there were about 4 inches of snow on it. Unfortunately I forgot to bring gloves.

Water for Elephants

Perhaps one of the best books I read last year, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, has been turned into a movie. I'm pretty excited for April 15.

Snow.

A year ago today and tomorrow we got 27ish inches of snow at our house, my parents were literally snow bound and couldn't leave the house for two days and I got trapped in Florida for 3 extra days and had the time of my life. Great times.

Nutcracker Round Deux

Last week I revisited my high school years yet again and participated in my ballet studio's production of The Nutcracker... not just as a Party Lady, but also as a Sugar Plum Attendant and a member of the Flower Corps.

What does this mean, you ask?

It means... I GOT TO WEAR A TUTU!!! Something I thought I'd never be able to do again. Great times.

 Party Ladies... The three of us on the right were former SAB dancers, it was fun to dance together again!

 Can you find me? I think I blend in pretty well!

Happy B-day Ludwig!

If he was still alive Beethoven would have turned 240-years-old today. Geez.

The Moonlight Sonata is one of my favorites of his.

Apparently he dedicated this sonata to a girl he loved and who loved him too, but when he proposed, her dad said refused to let her accept. Bummer. It's still pretty though.

There's A Fly In My Office

A big juicy fly. It's been here since Friday. All I hear is buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

It's driving me crazy.

So crazy, in fact, that I've taken to stalking it with a pad of paper in an attempt to catch it unawares and smash it into a wall...

I'm glad no one else in my office has caught me doing this yet, because I'm pretty sure that I look eerily similar to Chef Louis attempting to catch Sebastian in Little Mermaid.



Unfortunately, the fly is winning.

Penguins in Santa Costumes

Quite possibly the most adorable thing I've seen in a while!

Thank you Yahoo images of the day!

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow!

♥ White Christmas

Exactly one year ago today, we experienced the first of many, many monumental snowfalls here in the valley. Well it's happening again... while the inch we have so far pales in comparison to the 7 inches we got a year ago, I still think it's pretty cool that for the second year in a row the first Saturday of December brought the first real snow of the season!

As much as I love snow however, I hope this early snow doesn't bode for a repeat of last year... if we get 97 inches of snow again, I'm not quite sure what I'll do!

Learning How To Fly With Harry

Right before Thanksgiving I was lucky enough to be invited to go to Florida with my college roommate and her family. Great times were had by all and thankfully, this year (unlike last), no one's cat died, there were no blood clot scares, and all four of us were able to leave on time (i.e. my plane was not delayed for three days).

We were lucky enough to choose to visit Universal/Harry Potter land on Friday, which proved to be a very empty day, and thus were able to ride "Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey" twice in a matter of about 20 minutes, as opposed to the 175 minute wait people had to endure when we went back on Monday. It was pretty awesome though.

The entrance to Hogsmead in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter...

 

Hogwarts!

Below the castle is where the queue for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey starts. This is the ride everyone comes to Universal to ride and therefore often has about 200 minute lines. It's kinda ok though, because the line takes you around the "grounds" of Hogwarts, including through the greenhouse, some hallways and a couple classrooms and stuff, it's a pretty neat queue... as queue's go that is.

You can buy butterbeer at Universal. It comes in frozen and unfrozen.

We got the frozen version, it was good, but tasted like cream soda.

Disney was pretty fun too!

The Warblers

Leave it to Glee to take one song I'm ok with and another I barely tolerate (thank you David) and make them both awesome.

I hope the Warblers are here to stay!


Covering Train's "Hey Soul Sister"


Covering Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream"

What Happened to November???

I didn't know it was possible for a month to fly by so fast!

In the past three weeks, I've...

Been sick, danced a bunch (yay for crazy pre-Thanksgiving rehearsal rush), become an expert at changing flights with JetBlue, lost a job, navigated a brand-new airport (well new to me at least), been to Florida, learned how to fly with Harry Potter (thanks to a little spell and some magic dust), ridden a dragon (coaster), hung out with Mickey and the gang, watched a family of three buy about 300 pairs of shoes, remembered just how much I love my college roommate and her family, been told I look 16-years-old, been yelled at by the fat man taking up 1/4 of MY! seat on the plane for coughing in his direction, knit a few hats, helped cook a totally gluten free Thanksgiving meal, watched my dear old brother turn 21, baked a gluten free birthday cake, negotiated the wonderous black friday shopping world, still been sick, made a pledge to put on my party pants and start treadmilling again (still working on actually completing said pledge), and attempted to get back into the swing of everyday life and my 9am work day.

Boy. I guess I've been busy! Stay tuned for pictures of Disney, Universal, Thanksgiving, and the like...

And get ready, 'cause December's gonna be just as good!

So excited.

Happy Turkey Day!

To every one I know and love...

on this day of giving thanks, I thank you for being.

My Wellness Checklist

As you may have guessed from yesterday's post... I'm sick. Don't know what kind of sick, but judging by the pulsating headache, runny/stuffy nose, skummy throat, and stuffy ears I've had for the past few days, it's something to do with my sinuses. GREAT.

But, I'm determined to get better. By Wednesday. No problem.

Sooo....

Humidifier ✔
A box of tissues (yay for puffs+vicks) every where I go ✔ ✔ (I have a box on both sides of my bed)
Hot washcloth ✔
Ibuprofen Sinus Headache ✔
Robitussin DM-MAX ✔
Musinex ✔
Multi-vitamin ✔
Crazy vitamin C suplement ✔ (But it's pretty nasty so it may become a last resort...)
Lots of sleep ✔ (well I'm trying at least)

Good health... here I come!

This won't be me for long! ☛

I'm Falling In Love...

...with Puffs + Lotion + Vicks tissues.

I've been suffering from an awkward coughing, sniffling, headache inducing cold/sinus thing for the past few days. It certainly is not what I want to be dealing with mere days before I hop on a plane bound for Florida, fun, and friends, but I think I'm finally starting to wear it down.

Anyway, last night I finished my last Kleenex + Lotion tissue, so this morning after deciding that normal tissues were just not going to make the cut for on my poor chapped sore nose, I headed down to the grocery store.

I must have stood in front of the tissue aisle for about 15 minutes trying to decide what the best tissue option/deal/price was... Do I buy generic and run the risk of using sandpaper tissues? Do I buy the ones on sale that I don't have a coupon for? Or do I buy the ones I have a coupon for, but have to buy 3 of to use the coupon? And then, do you get the lotion one? the Vicks one? the one with anti-microbrial properties? Too many choices.

In the end I bought three boxes of lotion tissues and one glorious box of Puffs + Lotion + Vicks.

They are awesome. They make your nose all tingly and help clear out your sinuses.

I ♥ them!

The Cone of Shame

I ♥ UP.

Today mom took Little Kitty (aka Skits) to the vet to get her stitches taken out (we had her spayed) and they told her that the silly cat had developed a small infection from licking her incision. The treatment? A shot of antibiotics and a few days in the "Cone of Shame."

The poor thing hates it and lies around looking all pathetic when she has it on... it's really very cute...

Mumford and Sons

As soon as I got my new car (with a CD player!!!) I decided that I needed some sweet CDs.

I'd heard Mumford and Sons' song "Little Lion Man" on the radio before and I really loved it, but when I heard their second single, "The Cave," I was absolutely and completely sold. So, their CD 'Sigh No More,' became my first physical CD purchase in about seven years. It's awesome!

Listen to these songs and see if you don't fall in love with them too!

Really?

Now I must admit that while I'm sort of apathetic when it comes to politics and I'm not completely satisfied with the direction our government has been moving in lately, it really scares me when I read things like this...

Donald Trump is seriously thinking about running for president.

Really? That's almost as scary as Sarah Palin's supposed presidential aspirations.

After yesterday's elections created an overwhelmingly Republican House and only slightly Democratic Senate, the republicans and tea-partiers are touting their victory, claiming that the AMERICAN PEOPLE have taken back the country. Last time I checked, democrats were American. I know I am.

But hey, over the last two years democrats have been dragged through the mud, stopped at almost every turn, and every decision they've actually been able to make has been criticized. So, who would want to be one anymore anyway? If you're a democrat, odds are, you won't be able to get anything done. After all, Sarah Palin thinks we're un-American, un-constitutional, and just plain unfit to be alive.

So, as much as I hate how red our country just got, all I can hope is that something, anything, gets done in the next two years. Anything, that is, except more stalemates, bickering, name calling, and all the other petty things that come part and parcel with politics. I'm willing to accept almost anything at this point as long as we take care of some of our problems.

But, if we elect the Trumpster or Sarah Palin as president in two years... I may completely lose my faith in people.

Sweet 16...

Sixteen-hundred that is...

This evening my car turned 1,600 miles. That means that in less than one month I've driven over 1,552 miles. wow. I think it's probably a really good thing that I bought a new car...

The Great Pumpkin

Last night as I was stopped at a red light I noticed the license plate of the orange Chevy HHR in front of me... in honor of Halloween tomorrow, I thought I'd share it with you. The picture's not too great... the camera on my phone is far below par and the light turned green by the time I managed to zoom enough and snap the picture, but you get the point.

Just in case you can't read it... it says GR8PUKN. 

Linus would be proud.

I Can Hear The Bells

Congratulations to my cousin Megan and Nate who got engaged on Thursday!!!

I FOUND IT!

The universe is right again, the stars have aligned, and my bracelet has been found.

That's right. Found.

It's a miracle.

The bracelet in question belonged to my grandmother and I inherited it (by which I mean I snagged it from her jewelry box before anyone else could) a little over two years ago. I've pretty much worn it every day since, that is until the dark days hit.

If you recall about three weeks ago I went through a kinda rough patch. So lame I know... I'd rather just forget it happened. Just before that time in my life, I lost my bracelet. At first I wasn't too concerned because I just figured I'd left it somewhere awkward, like in my car or my purse or my ballet bag... I have been known to do that sometimes. But then, when several days went by and I still couldn't find it I got worried.

Well worried is putting it lightly. I literally felt sick to my stomach. I'm convinced that had I had my bracelet I would have been happier, I wouldn't have had car trouble, and my life would have been a better place. I pretty much tore the house apart looking for it, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

So, I stopped looking. Sometimes looking is what prevents you from finding something. I firmly believe that.

And look what happened... threeish weeks later, I FOUND IT!

Got an Extra Old Book or Two?

This article, "10 DIY Projects for Your Old Books" by Sam Schlinkert, was recently featured in an online book newsletter that I get and I thought it was pretty neat. It showcases 10 different ideas for ways to refurbish and reuse old books that you don't feel the need to read anymore.

The DIY projects were collected from different blogs and websites and each project includes a link to the instructions. Some are pretty intense but others don't look so bad.

These two are my favorite...

Check out the rest of the projects here!

Coolest Science Fair Project Idea Ever.

One of my friends posted this video/article combo from cnet on Facebook and I have to admit that it brings out the nerd in me... I'm basically obsessed.

This father/son team decided it would be neat to send an HD camera and an iPhone into space via a weather balloon spacecraft. Cool right? The camera made it to about 90,000 feet before the balloon burst and sent it tumbling back down to earth at speeds reaching 150mph, even with a parachute!

If I had been this technologically savvy (and they had made video cameras small enough and iPhones existed) when I was in middle school I totally would have been all over this idea for my science fair project... although getting daphnia drunk was pretty fun too...

The video is over six minutes long but soo worth watching because it's got fascinating views of the earth's atmosphere and clouds and stuff. Enjoy!

Sunsets

Last weekend I joined my parents, several professors, and about 20 college students on the college's trip down to the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC. It's a trip the ecology class takes every other year and one that I've been going on since I was 1. The pictures below are looking at the Beaufort Harbor at sunset on our last night on the island. So pretty.

 This one is looking back at the lab from across the water.