hello {& goodbye} october 2014

time flies when you're...everywhere but home :/ so let's do a quick recap of all the fun had in october, shall we?

goals:

> run 40 miles: phew! the last 7 miles in the last 3 days.

> switch winter/summer clothes: all of the winter out and summer packed away. still wearing shorts and a few dresses, but with next week's forecast, i'm going to haul it all to the basement today.

> register to vote & research the options: registered (i've only lived her for 4 years, oops) and still narrowing down my choices.

watching hocus pocus over and over

using agave nectar instead of splenda

counting down to our wedding day! {11 months to go}

asking myself these 7 questions as i pack the summer clothes away

being force-fed fresh veggies from our CSA {so yummy}

this is how i'm feeling today, tgif.

marathon spectating is more fun when you have a runner to keep track of:

ring-pop and harry potter bribery on the latest plane ride:

too many bowl-meals in a row + not enough dishes done = multiple meals eaten out of the measuring cup:

getting pretty skilled at self-done party 'dos:

my view: august 2014

before my sandals turned into a muddy mess at woodchuck's ciderbration // my *office* // the bffffffff is married! // prettiest stack of egg cartons #nojudgie // breakfast of champions at the lake // the grey garden collection is now in the shop // these neighbor's houses face each other, this is the view from the driveway in between, yikes!

how to have a romantic picnic dinner in the city....

step 1 have a terribly long and annoying week. hello monday:

step 2 decide tofu is something neither one of you want deal with on a friday night.

step 3 mix a{n accidentally super strong} "to go drink."

step 4 walk up a giant hill to your favorite carryout place, aka one that hasn't made you sick and isn't chipotle {yes, i could eat burritos for the rest of my life}.

step 5 head to the liquor store next door, grab a couple of beverages and forget to snag two extra paper bags.

step 6 wander over to the neighborhood "commons," which in your opinion has far too much concrete to be seriously considered a park.

step 7 find a spot to sit in the park, which also happens to be across from the courthouse.

step 8 wrap his tallboy {hehe} in said extra paper bag, then pour yours into your now empty sippy cup {wow, where'd my drink go? i must've been pretty thirsty....}.

step 9 open up all of the containers and chow down. start off trying to be lady-like, then realize most of your options are basically finger food {or have handles!} and forgo using real utensils.

step 10 give your fiancé sad puppy eyes when he starts to use pita bread to scoop with {hello cross-contamination....and jealousy}.

step 11 laugh at your fiancé when he admits that 3 yrs ago {to the week} he was on vacation and freaking out to his girl BFF about this new cute girl he met.

step 12 kiss, canoodle, giggle and be obnoxiously romantic and cute.

step 13 stand up to leave, and realize how much youve had to drink, oops.

step 14 then insist that ice cream will make you less wobbly for the walk home. down the giant hill.

the end.
 

my view: july 2014

i drive and park other peoples cars all over boston for a living....you would think that i could park greg's truck in our neighborhood #longbedtrucksinthecityarestupid // finished up some custom wedding bow ties // leaning tower of eggshells while making breakfast for dinner // {actually} relaxing at the beach, only drinkies and vitamin d consumption were involved // gettin crazy mixing strawberry and banana italian ice // second year attending the vermont brewers fest, glutenberg i missed you :( // well, that's how i got my flowers home

what's more american than apple pie....?

baseball!! monday, mid-afternoon greg sends me an instant message at work and asks if i want to go to a red sox game. silly question.  because his bff has some extra tickets from work. free tickets? double silly question. i haven't been to fenway park since my 3rd day living in boston:

you know, back when gluten and i were still friends. 

so we hop on the T, make our way down to fenway, and meet justin at the gate. i didn't even glance at the ticket i was handed, i was focused on making it through the purse check with my water bottle and gf backup snacks intact. next thing i know, we take a sharp left and up the nearest set of stairs we go.....shit.

we were headed for the suites, and i wore jorts...whoops....

yep, those were the faces we made once we opened the door. 

there was quite the snack selection: pizza and chicken fingers and ceasar salad and all kinds of beer and baseball hat sundaes....

 as usual, i ended up with an eclectic mix: chips&salsa, popcorn, chardonay, and a hat full of reeses pieces...

realistically, that sounds like a single-girl-dinner kinda night

as the night cooled down, we opened the giant window, and i finally paid attention to the game.

i may have been watching it through the bottom of my wine glass though :D

we talked about how cool it would be to have seats on the green monsta {to the right of greg's face}

as we were leaving, we stumbled upon this gem, and i'm kinda jealous i didn't hop in {but was also genuinely concerned greg would drive off in it}

finally, we made it back to the T, and i sat on the back stairs for the ride home. in my jorts. with my smuggled  tin of that stale, weird, but oh so delicious movie theater/ball park popcorn. with this knee level view from the green line:

february's mexican adventure

we may be in the home stretch of april, but last week old man winter just wouldn't go away.  with temps back in the 30's and snow on the ground again {ugh} all i could think of was my butt in the sand with a drink in my hand.....oh mexico, how i miss you....

no one bothered the cute girl laying all alone in the un-reserved cabana....until some goofy greek kid sat down next to her......thanks greg
started every day with yummy fresh fruit, nuts and coconut shreds {the gf bread tasted like sand}, but i'm pretty sure i ate my weight in guacamole and ceviche, so no worries :)
beach volleyball in the mornings, and pool volleyball in the afternoons
we went swimming with dolphins and all i got was this lousy bracelet... {just kidding! greg told me i couldn't take one home :( }
a crazy mexican cover band that {hilariously} played *highway to hell,* *save a horse,* *honkey-tonk woman,* and so many other mangled spanglish rock songs
zip-lining through the jungle, *superman style*
a gorgeous sunset ocean cruise
the irony of being sunburnt in a bikini {that doesn't make you look like a 12 year old up top...yay!} and your winter coat hanging in the closet
the all-in-one hospital/casino, right across the street
and the nightly view from our balcony

looking back at these pictures helps me forget the chaos we came home to. thanks again to greg's parents, it was an awesome trip!

zip-line photo courtesy of nuevo vallarta tours

hey ryan gosling, how's the 2014 boston marathon?

how do you make lots of girls (and a few boys too) smile at mile 19 of the 2014 boston marathon?

Mile 19 stats: Ten thousand Boston Strong signs, one Ryan Gosling poster  pic.twitter.com/Ko5uXerwbO

just make a poster with Ryan Gosling's face on it

throw out some free high-fives

and stand there all day yelling & cheering!! woohooo, this is my favorite way to spend patriots day!!

thanks for the warm welcome home, boston!

i had originally written this post on 2/17, but in my haze, had forgotten to actually publish it. be forewarned though, it's full of #firstworldproblems.

last saturday ended in puerto vallarta, with a sunset view of the ocean, and a drink in my hand......

lots of food and fun followed.....

these popped up on my phone every other day, and i laughed.....

8 nights and a mexican snow day* later, it was time to head home. 
ugh.
ugh.
ugh.

we touched down at 12:03 monday morning.  the snow didn't look too bad, until we realized everything in our driveway was frozen solid. iced formed around tires, frozen solid. it took over an hour, 2 people pushing, some steel shovel ice chipping, tire squealing and lots of rocking to get greg's truck out. and only one neighbor stuck his head out for a peek. thank goodness his sister's car came out a little easier.

so now its 2:30am and time for bed. except, i'm wound up from all of the adventures in the driveway. i'm fliping and floping in bed, then all of a sudden I. AM. TOTALLY. FREAKED. OUT. PANICKING. AND. CONFUSED. i haven't heard my alarm for over a week. hello 6am. ugh again.

i'm up and getting ready, no problamo. i left my truck at work for the week we were gone, so greg was gonna drop me off on his way in. good plan.

except, his truck was stuck. again. our driveway is narrow. our house, 2 feet, the truck, 2 feet, and the neighbors fence narrow. then a pretty flower box right at the edge of the yard to contend with. not the easiest to get a rear-wheel drive pickup truck out of. especially when the snow melts off of the roof and it refreezes around your tires, again. so more pushing, and rocking, and 2 doormats for traction later, we're off.

i'm exited my truck is still where i parked it and it hasn't been plowed under. or relocated by the silly tow truck guys. after driving around the city all day, its time to free the jeepy. i chip off  the frozen snow/ice, chunk by chunk, like little icebergs. they come off pretty easily, and i narrowly miss almost ripping my wiper off in the process. it starts right up {whoohoo!}, i put the jeepy in 4L and crawl out of the parking lot, next stop grocery store.

i pick up the few necessities to get us through the rest of the week, and by now i am beyond exhausted. sleep deprived doesn't even describe it. i'm just running on caffeine, adrenaline, and prayers. i've only had some popcorn for lunch, and i'm starting to see funny things on my drive home.

the grocery store was out of rock salt, 3 hardware stores later, and i still didn't have any.  so i get home, and pull out the steel garden shovel, put on my boots, and head out to the driveway.  i can see the giant chunks of ice that greg was getting stuck on, and opt for walking across the wet part of the driveway. except it's not dark because its wet, it's black ice. and i'm flat on my back. efffff. at least i didn't land on the shovel or hit my head. but my ass and back sure do hurt.

i chip away for a little while, but can't really tell what progress i've made on the ice-filled mini-sinkholes that make up our driveway. so, a beer and a BLT later, i'm going to bed.

*we ended up with an extra day when a snow storm canceled our flight from chicago to boston late saturday morning, and our flight was rescheduled for the next day :)