From Emma to Emmi

And We're Back

2012-01-31T09:51:00.000-05:00

It looks like I've still got a few followers lurking around. So I just wanted to give you all a head's up that I'm back to blogging again. You can find me over at We Becomes Three, where I'll be documenting our adventures in getting pregnant. Not THOSE kind of adventures, you sickos. Just the ups and downs, trials and tribulations...all that good stuff that goes into deciding to have a baby at the ripe old age of 32-almost-33. I hope you'll join me!

Swan Song

2011-10-03T09:03:00.001-04:00

We threw that term around quite a bit this weekend at our house. It was kind of a disappointing weekend for us, I have to admit. We hosted our annual Oktoberfest party on Saturday. We had invited about 60 people. We had positive responses from about 24. 8 showed up. Of those 16 who didn't show up, only 8 notified us earlier in the day that they couldn't make it.

So Matt and I decided that this year was the Swan Song for our Oktoberfest party. Why should we bother to make the effort when no one else does? It was a lot of work and a lot of money that we invested into that party, only to be pretty let down when no one showed up.

But that's not really the point of this post - to bitch about our lack of guests at our Oktoberfest party. The point of this post is that this will be my blogging Swan Song. I have really enjoyed blogging for the last (almost) 2 years, but I kind of feel like my blogging juices are running dry. I rarely have time to write, or topics that I want to write about. And while I like the Man-Candy Mondays and the Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays, I don't want to be one of those bloggers who only blogs the memes. But I don't feel enough creativity to keep it going.

So I'll be signing off. I just feel like lately I've been neglecting my blog, and the pressure that I keep trying to put on myself to be a "better" blogger is just kind of silly. I never set out to be a regular, long-time blogger, and rather than try to force myself to be something that I'm not, I'm just going to let go.

I still plan to read all of your amazing blogs. My Google Reader is chock-full of all your wonderful-ness. Thanks for always reading. And all the comments. Although I was not a comment-responder most of the time, I swear that I really did appreciate each and every one of your comments.

Take care, my bloggy-friends. Come follow me on Pinterest, if you want!

Oh, How Pinteresting!

2011-09-28T08:52:00.001-04:00

No theme this week. Just randomness. I'm too preoccupied with a) getting all my work done so I'm not leaving my colleagues with a lot of stuff to do when I'm off on Friday, b) getting our house ready for Oktoberfest, and c) getting rid of this stupid cold that I caught yesterday. Seriously, guys, my throat is killing me. And my nose won't stop running. I am pretty sure I slept for about an hour last night. Most of the night, I was lying awake, trying not to swallow and cut the hell out of my throat with the razor blades that someone apparently shoved back there.

So, for purposes of trying not to think too much today, here is just a random smattering of some stuff I pinned recently!

I love that each little tab-thingie (technical term, you know) is more lyrics from the song. Hysterical.

I knew it!

Nerdy kitty!

So these posters are so freaking awesome, and I really really want one. The columns that make up the background? Yeah, those are all the words from the novel. The entire book is printed on that poster. How amazing is that?

I am completely in love with this nursery. I really want to do an "alphabet" theme for my baby shower. Whenever that happens.

I may have to make our future pregnancy facebook-official with a photo like this. I just love it.

Link up with Michelle over at The Vintage Apple to see lots more pinning!

A Few of My Favorite...

2011-09-21T08:49:00.000-04:00

Geez, I have neglected the blog a bit recently. I realized today I haven't done a 10 Day You in weeks. And I missed Man-Candy Monday this week (again). And I haven't done a Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday in weeks, either. So...this week's

Are just a few of my favorite things. People, movies, music, sports...whatever.

Death Cab for Cutie

Friends

So You Think You Can Dance - the Butt Dance!

Batteries Not Included

My Pitt Growl Towel. I miss being a part of the Panther Pitt

Steelers Football. Hines Ward.

Michigan Football. Charles Woodson.

Savion Glover.

If you haven't seen Batteries Not Included, you really should. It's 80s cheese, but super sweet and a lot of fun. And you should check out some videos of Savion Glover tap-dancing. He's amazeballs, you guys. I got to see him in person in his Broadway show Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, and I was absolutely, totally, completely in awe. The guy has more talent in his pinkie than I ever could in 25 lifetimes combined. Have you seen Happy Feet? That's him doing the taps for Mumble.

The Panther Pitt is what we affectionally call the Student Section at Pitt home games. I loved going to the games, and I miss it terribly. Matt and I keep talking about going out for a game, but it just never works with our schedule in the fall.

And yes, I live in Pennsylvania, grew up surrounded by Penn State fans (blech!), and went to Pitt. But I am a Michigan football fan. It hasn't been easy in the past few years, but - hey - we are nothing if not loyal. Charles Woodson is - hands down - one of the best players to ever grace the field at UM Stadium, if not the game of football. He's incredible. Along with Desmond Howard, Jason Avant, Tom Brady, Chad Henne, Braylon Edwards....just to a name a few. Michigan's produced some pretty stand-out players!

*all photos from my Pinterest

More Projects

2011-09-18T15:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I told you that I was going a little bit, um, nuts around the house. Today, I finished my final project. For now. I'm still convinced I'm going to repaint our kitchen and paint the cabinets. Some day...

This was my inspiration picture.

from

I went to Michael's and checked out the canvas/styrofoam. Both were considerably out of my price range in the 12x12 or even 9x9 options (even 12x12 styrofoam was $5 a piece - no thanks!). I had just about given up, when I came across some hidden packages of 4 6x6 canvases, on sale, for $12. I picked up 2 packages, plus an extra single 6x6 (also on sale for $3). I went nuts in the scrapbook paper aisle. No, literally, I went nuts. There were so many options, I had no idea what direction to go in. I really like the monocromatic look in the inspiration photo, but they didn't have enough paper in one color that I really liked. So, after about 35-45 minutes of picking paper, putting it back, picking it up again, laying it out in the store....I decided to mix it up a little.

I got it all home, and since the canvas is wrapped around and stapled into wooden frames, I thought I could do the same. I got out the stapler, and, lo and behold, it worked! I wrapped most of them last night, then hung them this morning (after running back out to A.C. Moore to get the picture hangers, oops!).

I'm really happy with the way the whole thing turned out. Hanging them was kind of a PIA, but it was worth it.

Matt got home today and loves all the new decor. Yay!

Is it Possible to be Nesting...

2011-09-17T20:14:00.000-04:00

When you're not even pregnant? Maybe it's all the time I've been spending on Pinterest? I don't know. I just don't know how to explain it, but I am just completely obsessed with decorating and crafting. I'm redecorating our entire living room. And doing it completely DIY.

I've recently been feeling like we need to make our home more "grown up." We've had photographs on nearly every single surface in our home since we moved in. Not that I don't love photographs. But it was starting to feel very dorm room to me. Not 30-something married couple home.

So, this weekend, while Matt's in Hershey and I'm stuck at home on-call, I took matters into my own hands. I went to Michael's, Target, and the dollar store, and stocked up on decorations - hurricane glasses, candles, scrapbook paper, canvases, wreaths, flowers, spray paint....all kinds of good stuff. Wanna see what I've been up to? I got a lot done today, so I'm super-excited. Tomorrow, I'll show you what I get done tomorrow.

Up first, a project I worked on a few weeks ago. My anniversary gift to Matt. I know that paper is the modern traditional first anniversary gift. And I was going to go full tradition. But I fell in love with this idea

from

...and so I'm bending the rule a little. Technically, I know, canvas is fabric, not paper, but since I painted on it, I treated it like paper, therefore....it's paper.

I painted lyrics from our wedding song on a 12x12 canvas. 12 lines, 1 inch each. I have just the spot in our bedroom that we'll hang it, too. I hope he likes it as much as I do.

Ok, so here's what I worked on today. First up, I really wanted to do something about our door. We have some seasonal wreaths, but our autumn was is totally falling apart. I pinned this a few months ago, and finally decided to tackle it.

from

I got the wreath and flowers from Michael's. And instead of getting numbers, I got a letter. I don't have the "I" painted yet, but I edited it in so you get the general gist of what I have here.

Ok, next? We used to have a chalkboard/magnet board/key holder hanging on the wall next to our front door. I was really starting to hate it. It looked messy and I just couldn't stand it anymore. So, after seeing pictures like this on Pinterest...

from

I picked up some scrapbook paper, and dug out some old, unused frames. I printed out the letters, using various fonts, and attached them to the scrapbook, then threw it in the frame. I bought the shelf at Target, and the flowers are from our closet.

I really love it. I sent Matt a photo of it and he's thrilled. Yay!

Last but not least, our new fall centerpiece. I totally loved these pictures.

from

I got the hurricanes from Michaels and the candles from the dollar store. Unfortunately, I couldn't find candy corn or whole nuts anywhere (I know, can you believe it?!). As I wandered around the aisles of Target, I had an epiphany...

Reese's Pieces! They're automatically fall-colored, and they're made my Hershey! Bonus! So I put together this little tablescape, and I really like it. Tomorrow, I'm going to roll the two brown pillar candles in epsom salt so they get all sparkly and pretty, like this one!

from

One more project that I started today and hope to finish tomorrow. I'll show you that one soon!

Have you ever had a transition period in your house?

Man-Candy Monday

2011-09-12T14:07:00.000-04:00

Been a while, hasn't it? Yeah, sorry about that. It's Man-Candy Monday again, and this week, I'm bringing back a blast from the past.

Scott Foley. Matt and I were watching the season finale of True Blood last night, when all of a sudden...

...he appeared! And I couldn't help myself, I blurted out, "Noel!" Because no matter what other roles he goes on to play, he will always be Noel Crane to me.

Scott Foley

Once worked at Mrs. Fields cookies. At the time, he was so broke, he lived on the leftovers.

Was married to Jennifer Garner (they met when she played his high school girlfriend on Felicity). In 2003, they divorced. He is now married to Marika Dominczyk and they have a baby girl.

Notable roles:
Cliff Elliot, Dawson's Creek
Roman Bridger, Scream 3 (he was nominated for a Teen's Choice Award for Choice Sleazebag for this role)
Noel Crane, Felicity (he was cast as Ben, but they couldn't find anyone for Noel, so they asked him to take the role of Noel so they could find a different Ben)
SSG Bob Brown, The Unit
Jeff, CougarTown
Patrick Devins, True Blood

I'm anxious to see how his role peters out on True Blood. Too bad I have to wait until next year now! UGH!

Link up and enjoy the pretty boys!

9/11/01.

2011-09-11T18:04:00.000-04:00

My last semester of college. About to graduate. About to go out into the world. So excited.

I woke up and took a shower. In my towel, I went down into our living room to turn on the tv and check the weather forecast. My usual Tuesday routine. Only this time, I turned on the weather channel to a quick local report, then "But we'll get you back to New York, now, since we know you're all wondering about that" Wondering about what? They switched over. The first tower was on fire. What the...? Put on CNN. The second I found CNN, the second tower exploded. In that instant, I knew - our country was under attack. A gut feeling. I just sensed it. One plane is an accident. But two? That's pure malice.

I was glued. I missed my first class while I watched the towers fall. Finally, I got dressed and drove to campus. Went to class. No one could pay attention. Professor dismissed us in 20 minutes. I went back home. My roommates were there. We sat, together, in our little house, watching the news all day. I called my sister - she's fine. I called my dad - he's fine. I couldn't get through to my mom, who was traveling. She finally called me. She's fine, just "worried about my little social worker and her big heart." It was true. I was devastated. All that loss. All that fear. All those poor families. I burst into tears. My roommates and I cried together.

The days that followed were sad. Scary.

The weeks that followed were confusing.

The years that followed have been sad. Scary. Confusing.

10 years later, and the images have no less affect on me than they did that day. I weep for the families who still mourn. My heart swells with pride in the policemen and firefighters who drove in while everyone else ran out.

Hershey in my Heart

2011-09-08T19:08:00.001-04:00

Not sure if you've heard the news, but Central PA is under water, you guys. Lots of water. Feet of water. Here are a few pictures from around Hershey, my hometown. My heart aches every time I look at them.

Hershey is surrounded by a few very small creeks. Small creeks that have now completely overflowed and spilled into...well, all of Hershey. I spoke to my dad last night, and he said downtown Hershey is basically an island - you can't get in, can't get out.

Here are some pictures from Hershey Park. And ZooAmerica, which is the small zoo attached to the Park. The zoo staff actually had to euthanize 2 of the buffalo yesterday because they were drowning. The flooding started so quickly, they couldn't get them out in time. They thought euthanizing them would be more humane then letting them drown.

This is a road I took every single day of my life while I lived in Hershey. It's literally falling apart.

And this is pictures from my in-laws' house. The first is of the "road" out front. The second is of the parking lot of the KinderCare day care next door. And their driveway. In between the two, is a storm ditch that is about 8 feet deep. It was meant to hold up to a 100-year flood. Fail!

Matt's parents' basement flooded. And their sewer backed up into the basement. ICK. My mom and step-dad, and my dad, are all safe and have no damage. My friends are all ok. Thank God. This is completely unprecedented for Hershey to have this much flooding.

Sending love, prayers, and virtual hugs to all our friends and family in the area....

Hurricanes

2011-08-29T11:52:00.000-04:00

So everyone knows the East Coast got hit by Hurricane Irene this weekend, right? If you live on the East Coast, you pretty much couldn't get away from the coverage. I have read around the interwebs that people were "sick" of hearing about it, that the storm was overhyped and underwhelming, that everyone on the East Coast overprepared. Some people even called us sissies. Crybabies. Drama Queens.

Whatever. I'd take overprepared over underprepared any day of the week.

As I sat in our house on Saturday, listening to the rain beat down and the wind blow against the siding, I could not help but be reminded of our honeymoon and our adventures with Hurricane Tomas. I remember being absolutely terrified during Hurricane Tomas. And I think a lot of that was because we had no way of knowing what was happening, how long it was supposed to be happening...it was all a big mystery.

In St Lucia, we woke up on Saturday morning to a phone call telling us our zip-lining excursion had been cancelled because a tropical storm had hit the island and they wanted to make sure the lines were still intact and safe for use. Made sense, so we just rescheduled for later in the week. We stepped onto our balcony to survey the scene. It was wet. And windy. There were already palm leaves on the ground. So we headed over to breakfast and tried to get a better handle on what was going on. The staff seemed to be fine. We ate and then thought we'd borrow the laptop and check our email. And that's when we found out it was a hurricane that had taken up residence on the island, not a tropical storm that had already blown over. But the staff was still acting like nothing was happening. So we went back to our room to do some reading on the balcony.

Around lunchtime, we got hungry, so we made our way over to the Bayside, only to find that most of the resort was hanging out in the Mirage, playing games and watching movies. And drinking. So we sat down and joined them. The storm continued to intensify outside, but still - no announcements, no warnings, nothing. We heard through chatter among the guests that Hurricane Tomas had intensified to a Category 2 storm, and had slowed down to just about 10 miles per hour, which basically meant it was just sitting on top of the island. An island which had not had a direct hit from a storm in 30 years. An island that had in no way, shape, or form prepared for this storm. An island full of people who had either heard the warnings and ignored them, or who had never heard the warnings in the first place.

By the time the storm blew over, it was clear that the people of St. Lucia had not prepared. Even some of the resorts, especially down at the Southern end of the island, where the devastation was nearly total, were completely unprepared to handle the aftermath of a hurricane. Travelers were stranded, forced to find shelter elsewhere. Left without electricity. Left to basically fend for themselves until help arrived. No communication.

On the other hand, this past week we were inundated with warnings about Irene. We spent days before boarding up our homes, putting away our outdoor furniture, stocking up on water and bread and flashlight batteries. When the storm hit Saturday evening, Matt and I had every candle in the house out and ready to go. Every flashlight in the house ready to go, with replacement batteries nearby. Our cell phones and my laptop were fully charged. We had a case of bottled water, 2 loaves of bread, plenty of PB&J, and a few cans of tuna and baked beans (gas stove still works in the event of a power outage!). We felt prepared.

I'm not gonna lie and say it didn't get scary. Saturday night we had 4 separate tornado warnings in about 90 minutes. How did we know that? Because we were lucky and didn't lose power and saw it on our tv. [BTW, did you know that emergency broadcast messages will interrupt On-Demand movies? I had not before Saturday, and was so thankful for that.] So I started to cry and freak out, because tornadoes scare the ever-living shit out of me. But then I got up, cleaned out our coat closet, got out some extra pillows and blankets, and we had our tornado shelter ready to go had we needed it. Thankfully, we didn't. But we were prepared, and just knowing that made me feel better. Knowing that we knew how we would get food and water over the next few days if things got bad made me feel better.

Preparation is everything. And yes, maybe we all panicked a bit more than we should have. But hindsight is twenty-twenty, and I, for one, would much rather be able to look back and laugh at myself for overstocking water than look back and be sorry that I blew the whole thing off.

Party Planning

2011-08-24T08:48:00.000-04:00

Every year, Matt and I host an Oktoberfest party. It started the year we moved into our house as a house-warming party. But since we held it during the traditional Oktoberfest dates, we called it an Oktoberfest party, and we've been doing it ever since. Except for last year, since we were kind of busy getting married.

Anyway, I'm already planning away for this year's party. Now that we're married and grown-up, I'm ready to class it up a bit. In the past, I've barely decorated, mostly just putting out food and booze and letting our guests take over the house. This year, I want to make it look pretty. I want it to scream FALL PARTY.

So, linking up with Michelle at the Vintage Apple for...

...here are some of my thoughts for this year's Oktoberfest!

I love the thought of these lining the steps into the house, or along our new retaining wall...

Every year, there are a few specific dishes that our guests can count on. Brats cooked in beer, onion, and pepper. Soft pretzels (I cheat and buy them from Philly Pretzel Factory). Corn and olive dip. Oktoberfest-style beers (which just happen to be my favorite style of all). Two years ago, I found a recipe for a reuben dip. I know technically reubens are considered Irish, but since they have saurkraut in them, I consider them part-German. Like me!

Reuben dip recipe

It was a huge hit, so I'm definitely adding it to the regular cast of characters. I usually also make a few desserts, once of which is always Crack(er) Cookies, which are easy, cheap, and addictive. And somewhere in there, I throw in a pumpkin-themed recipe. Usually a dessert, like two years ago I made pumpkin brownies. I wasn't too impressed with them, though, so I'm looking for a new recipe. I just might put out this dip.

Pumpkin Fluff recipe

So that's it! Our Oktoberfest party in a nutshell. I can't wait to host it again this year!

*all images from my Pinterest

Earthquake!

2011-08-23T15:08:00.000-04:00

I'm sure most of you heard by now that the East Coast had a bit of a shaky start to the afternoon. 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Virginia, felt all the way from North Carolina up through Maine! Wow!!!

We felt it here in Philly. I was in a staff meeting and suddenly the whole row home was swaying back and forth. Definitely a creepy feeling. I heard from my sister, who lives in Baltimore, and she said they're fine. Her husband was at home and their house is intact. But their kitty, Brady, is freaking out. Poor little man.

I hope everyone on the East Coast is safe and sound!

Man-Candy Monday

2011-08-22T15:51:00.000-04:00

I re-watched Life As We Know It yesterday. Despite my dislike of Katherine Hiegel, I enjoyed this movie. Sure, it's predictable and corny and whatever. But every now and then, you need corny and predictable in your life. At least, I do. My job is unpredictable and frustrating enough as it is, I don't need complicated movies to make me think more. I sometimes forgot how freaking hot Josh Duhamel is. But really, like, whoa.

Josh Duhamel

Born Nov 14, 1972 in Minot, North Dakota
Dad is an ad salesman and mom is a teacher
Has 3 younger sisters
Married to Stacy Ferguson, aka Fergie (Black Eyed Peas) since Jan 10, 2009

Best known roles:
Messer, Life As We Know It
Major Lennox, Transformers series
Nick Beamon, When In Rome
Danny McCoy, Las Vegas (tv show)
Tad Hamilton, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton

I mean, don't you just want to crawl into that bed with him?!

Link up and ~~wipe the drool off your chin~~ enjoy the scenery!

10 Day You

2011-08-21T15:30:00.000-04:00

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky. I can't even tell you the ways I love this book. It just speaks to me. They are making a movie, and Emma Watson (aka, Hermione Granger) is playing Sam. I'm half excited and half scared to see how this turns out.

2. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak. I just finished this recently and I could not believe how much I enjoyed it. As I reached the end, I wanted it to keep going.

3. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold. Some people think it's really dark and weird that I like this book as much as I do. But I love Ms. Sebold's interpretation of what heaven is.

4. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling. I wanted to pick one of the books, but I just couldn't. Each book is so amazing because of it's interaction with the other books. Each book builds and develops the other books.

What are your favorite books?

Front Porch Renovation

2011-08-19T13:49:00.000-04:00

So Matt and I tackled one of our big projects this year. When we moved into the house, the front of the house had some enormous bushes out front that completely hid the house.

We had found an incredible deal on a 10-piece patio furniture set so we put the small table and two chairs out front. But if you sat out there, you couldn't see anything. Some people might like the privacy. We didn't. We like to people-watch. If we want privacy, we sit out back. For years we talked about tearing out the bushes out front. Then they started dying, and we decided it was time to act. Matt cut down all the bushes himself. It was hard work, and in the end, we had 30 bags of lawn waste lined up on our front curb. CRAZY!

We called a couple of landscaping companies and got some quotes. The first company that came out...well, it's been over a month, and we still don't have a quote. Real good business practices, guys! The second company we really liked. They gave us a quote within 2 days, and it was a great quote. So we booked with them. We got the quote on Tuesday. They started/completed the project the following Monday and Tuesday. And we love the work.

We are totally thrilled with the results. But now that it's done, we realize we want more. With the new wall up, it is now painfully obvious how much the existing brick/slate wall leans. And the stairs look like crap now. So we want to bring them back and have them knock down and rebuild the stairs to match the retaining wall. We will probably also ask them how much it would be to put pavers on the porch, although that might be overdoing it. We're thinking next Spring, maybe?

We've been in our house for 4 years and we're just finally getting around to this. How long did it take you to do your big house projects?

Headlines

2011-08-18T14:44:00.000-04:00

Some news stories that caught my eye...

Facebook Murder-For-Hire Are people really this dumb? Did this girl actually think that she could get away with posting an offer to pay someone to kill her "baby daddy" on her facebook wall and no one would notice? The sad part is, even though by the time he actually was killed, she was behind bars already. Which means either someone else took on the "I'll pay you a stack to kill him" bit, or some idiot didn't realize she was already behind bars and needed the money.

Flash Mobs Marc Lamont Hill, you are a moron. There are so many ways in which you are dead wrong that I can't even believe the Inquirer published this nonsense. All that aside though, my main argument is this: What about my right to walk down the streets of this city and not get nervous when I walk past a pack of teenagers? Doesn't that count for anything?

The Eagles I hate living in this area during football season. Eagles fans drive me crazy. They are the most fair-weather fans I've ever seen. One good game? Everyone loves them. One bad game? Everyone hates them. And now, with expectations of a "perfect" season after all these free agents they just picked up, a lost game is going to be horrific. It almost makes me want to move. I don't understand it. If you're going to be a fan, be a fan. I lived in Pittsburgh for 15 months. Now those are fans. Win or lose, they love their Steelers. Philly fans are just obnoxious.

9/11 Responders This makes me want to cry. These first responders saved countless lives in the days following 9/11/01. Now you're going to sit there in your big offices and pretend like they don't exist? How dare you!

Brain-eating Amoebas GROOOOSSS!!!!!

Michelle Bachman Really? You, single-handedly, will control the crude oil market and cause those prices to drop? You, single-handely, are an idiot.

More Randomness

2011-08-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

Yippee! It's Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

I'm going to subject you to more of my randomness. I surely hope you don't mind, dear readers.

Remember I mentioned I've been fantasizing about redoing our kitchen? This is the kitchen I've put together in my head.

except in turquoise. i have a new-found obsession with turquoise.

I need a friend to have a baby soon so I can get a cake like this.

I am in love with this nursery. And this rug. Not that they really go together. But, they kind of do...

Is it wrong that I want to hang this in my office?

Last but not least, can you name all the movies quoted in this poster?

Link up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple! Have fun with it!

*all images from my Pinterest

A Little Randomness

2011-08-16T15:44:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged much lately because, well, there isn't really much on my mind. Work has been relatively quiet (since getting all those psych placements out last week). We had a pretty low-key weekend. I just haven't had much to say, I guess. But there are a few thoughts flying around in this little brain of mine, so I'm just going to subject you to my complete and utter randomness. Enjoy/sorry.

~ A few months back, one of our vendors brought me an orchid. You can kind of see it in this picture.

She brought it because I was having a rough week. And because she's a sweetheart. About a month ago, all the flowers fell off and it's been sitting looking dead on my desk since then. Just last week, though, we found these:

New little sproutlings! Yippee!!

~ We saw Horrible Bosses on Saturday. It was hilarious, you guys. Seriously. I laughed out loud. A lot. Even Matt laughed out loud. And he never laughs out loud at movies. You should see it.

~ I don't know if you've heard or not, but Philly has been having this little problem with flash mobs recently. Only, they're not the fun everybody-break-into-dance-at-the-same-time kind of flash mobs. If it was that, I woudn't call it a problem. These are teenagers are converging on an area in the city and basically inciting violent riots. People are getting injured and robbed. It's scary. Mayor Nutter has instituted a curfew. This weekend, he hosted a bowling party in Center City. After he left, a kid got shot while walking home. As far as I'm concerned, the kids who are participating in these need to go to jail, and their parents should be fined. Cuz I'm telling you, if my kid were involved and I had to go pick him up from jail (not that that wouldn't be reason enough for me to ground him forever) but then I got a $250+ fine on top of that? Kid would never see the light of day again, except to come to and from school. One of my favorite quotes regarding the flash mobs, from Mayor Nutter: "I don't care what your economic status is in life, you do not have a right to beat somebody's ass on the street. None." Tell 'em, Nutter.

~ I am fantasizing a lot lately about redoing our kitchen. It is in no way, shape, or form something we can do right now. We just spent a good chunk of money on redoing our front porch (did I show you that yet? I didn't, did I?). We are saving for our anniversary trip to Orlando in October. We are saving to do more to our front entrance (I'll explain when I show what we've already done). We are saving for baby-time. We are saving for the babymoon that I say we're taking to Atlanta to see my gorgeous friend Abriel, her husband Dave, their awesome baby Cal, and her incredible new store. But I really want to redo our kitchen. I want to repaint the walls a bright turquoise. I want to replace the cabinets. I want to redecorate with fun, funky stuff. I want to make it about 10 square feet bigger (ok, that part definitely can't happen).

~ Money scares me. And this whole up-and-down nonsense with the economy terrifies me. We have been kind of lucky recently because even though Matt's company cut their hours down company-wide in January to 32 hours per week, he has had enough work to do to work 40 hour a week, and even got some overtime the past 2 weeks. Instead of going out and having fun with that "extra" money, though, we are shoving it right into savings.

~ Speaking of savings, we just switched banks. Matt had his checking and our disposable savings with TD Bank and my checking and our no-touch savings was with ING. TD Bank's interest rates sucked, and Matt was ready to get out of there. ING just got bought out by Capital One, and I hate Capital One, so I wanted to move my money. We chose to go with Ally. Not every bank is right for every person, but Ally works for us. Their interest rates, even for their checking accounts, are among the best in the business. Not to mention, they refund all your ATM fees at the end of the month. Bonus!

~ I think I finally decided what to give Matt for our anniversary. Yes, I'm aware that our anniversary is 2+ months away. I'm a planner. What of it? Maybe if you're nice to me, I'll share my idea with you.

10 Day You

2011-08-14T14:04:00.001-04:00

Oh boy, this is gonna be tough.

1. Chicken puttanesca. Chicken sauteed with olives, capers, and cherry tomatoes. I love me some salty food, and this dish is just packed with it. Most recipes call for green olives, but I make mine with kalamata. It is delicious. I'd never had it until I randomly came across a recipe for it. And now I'm hooked. Usually, I guess, it's served with pasta, but I usually serve mine with brown rice. Yumm...

2. Pizza. A good slice of plain or pepperoni pizza is always delicious, but I like being adventurous, too. Chicken basil pesto? Definitely. Chicken bacon ranch? Absolutely. Hawaiian? Bring it. As long as the crust is thin and somewhat flexible (especially with the plain pies - must fold it in half!), and the sauce (if it's a regular pie) is not too sweet and just a little bit spicy...I'm in.

3. Ravioli alle noci. Ie, ravioli with walnuts. O. M. G. I had this at a tiny little restaurant in Florence, Italy, while there with my sister. We were hungry one night and started wandering around our neighborhood near the hostel. We stumbled upon this little restaurant and I ordered this, thinking it sounded interesting. It was the best meal I've ever had. No, really. I wish that we had written down the name of the restaurant, but we didn't. It's something like Di Pepe. I have tried to replicate the recipe from memory, but have always failed. It's close, but no cigar.

4. Creme brulee. Dudes, this dessert is amazing. The texture. The crunch. The sweetness. The creaminess. I die.

5. Steak. A good, medium rare, perfectly seasoned steak can make me melt. Our engagement dinner will forever be one of the best meals I've ever had. Not just because I was basking in the glow of the beautiful diamond Matt had slipped on my finger not 3 hours earlier. I mean, I realize that I probably could have eaten a grilled cheese sandwich and been happy. But this dinner. Oh my God. We ate at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse in Philadelphia. I got a filet, medium rare. It was the most perfect steak I've ever eaten in my life. One of our friends got us a gift certificate for a wedding gift, and I honestly can't believe we haven't been back yet

*all images from google

Edited to Add: I thought I'd try to search again for that restaurant in Florence, and wouldn't you know? I found it! It is called da Pepe! Holy crap, I'm so happy I found it! If you are ever in Florence, you must - MUST! - go to this restuarant!!

Social Work is Pinteresting

2011-08-10T09:08:00.000-04:00

In many ways, it feels like "Oh my God, it's only Wednesday?! Could this week be any slower?" But then I opened up my blogger dashboard and there was Michelle at the Vintage Apple with this week's Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday. What?! It's Pinterest day already!?

I've had a long week so far, and I feel like it's just going to continue that way. Saturday night is the full moon. It is a well-known fact among hospital workers (and probably mos mental health workers) that full moons bring out the crazy in people. Already this week, I have had 3 psych placements. And we're still 4 days from the actual full moon! Psych placements are a problem not because you have to deal with patients who are psychotic and/or depressed and/or suicidal. The patients I can handle. It's the bureaucratic bullshit that it takes to get them placed. Getting a note from a psychiatrist that includes a full mental status exam and the 5-Axis diagnosis. Calling the insurance company, speaking to a live person, and obtaining an authorization, within 24-hours of when that psychiatry note was completed. Finding an available bed at the appropriate level of care. Arranging transportation. AND, if the patient is being involuntarily committed, getting all of this done within a reasonable timeframe so that we don't have to take the case to court and get the committment extended. [In Pennsylvania, an initial involuntary committment, called a 302, is for 72 hours. After that, you either have the patient agree to treatment (a 201) or you have to take it to court to get it extended, which is then a 303 and lasts for 5 days.]

It's time-consuming and annoying. Yesterday, I spent probably 7 hours of my day doing all of that for 2 patients. One did not get approval from the insurance company until 5pm, at which point it was too late to look for a bed. The other ended up not having any insurance after all, and we had to have him cleared for discharge to home. It is an incredibly frustrating feeling to spend 7 hours doing something, and have it all go to shit.

Anyway, in light of that, and in light of my post last week about how proud I am to be a social worker, this week's pins are all about my career.

First some funny ones. Because, really, if you can't laugh at this stuff sometimes, it'll drag you down...

Now, here is what social work is about...

And finally, this isn't about social work per se, but Jane Addams basically invented social work, so here's a nod to her...

Link up and join the pinning good times!

*all images from my Pinterest

Consigning My Dress

2011-08-09T08:15:00.000-04:00

Remember when I couldn't decide what I was going to do with my dress? Well, I decided.

Neither of those things. One of my very best friends and bridesmaids is opening up a bridal consignment store in Atlanta, and I'm giving my dress to her! Remember BM Abriel?

She has worked in the bridal industry for a long time. She has a degree in business, and wanted to do something with all her years of education. So, she decided to combine her two loves and open up her own shop! She is partnering with an already-established store in Charleston, and opening up a second store under the same name.

I am so unbelievably excited for her and proud of her. So I decided, to show my support, I'd donate my dress to her shop. She is really excited about it, and I'm so happy to be able to help her out!

If you know anyone in the Atlanta area who needs a wedding dress, tell her to check out Fabulous Frocks, opening in just a couple of weeks!

Now, I just have to get it cleaned...

Man-Candy Monday

2011-08-08T09:37:00.000-04:00

It's that time again! And as Rescue Me closes out its run on tv, I am saddened to realize that my days of ~~staring longingly~~ watching the many hotties on a weekly basis is also winding day. *tear* I already showed you the adorable-ness that is Steve Pasqual, but this next firefighter is just all-out heat.

Daniel Sunjata

Born December 30, 1971
6'1"

Best known roles:
Franco Rivera, Rescue Me
Brad, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
James Holt, The Devil Wears Prada

Link up with Leeann at Join the Gossip to check out some more hotties. Go on - start your Monday off with a smile!

10 Day You

2011-08-07T17:11:00.001-04:00

1. Sydney, Australia - Hands down, my favorite place on the planet. Beautiful city, friendly people, yummy food. I went there once when I was 16, with People to People student ambassador program. 32 students, 4 chaperones. I went again when I was 20 with my mom and sister. Both times we started down South and made our way up to East Coast. Canberra-Sydney-Brisbane-Gold Coast-Cairns, with a camping trip into the Outback on my first trip.

2. Paris, France - Lovely, historical, fancy. Sweet Paris. My sister and I squeezed so much into our 2 days there and I feel like we could have easily spent 2 weeks. I definitely want to go back.

3. Charleston, South Carolina - Matt and I went here for a friend's wedding 2 years ago, and I instantly fell in love. I am absolutely determined to retire here one day. I love old Southern cities, with all their Southern charm and friendliness, and Charleston does not disappoint. It is chock-full of the typical Southern beauty - old churches, delicious food, gas lamps, pretty parks.

4. Hershey, Pennsylvania - Chocolatetown, USA. Home. I grew up in Hershey and will always be a Hershey girl at heart. Matt and I will probably end up back there at some point in our lives. It is a small town but has big-city appeal - an amusement park (Hershey Park), a major concert venue (Hershey Park Stadium and the Giant Center), an AHL hockey team (Hershey Bears), Broadway-style theater (Hershey Theater)...it's got a lot of opportunities! Plus, it's 3 hours from New York, DC, and Pittsburgh, 2 from Philly, and 1 from Baltimore. Have I sold you yet?

5. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - I went to grad school here, and it's where I really felt my life had started. I moved there on my own, knowing not a soul there. I made friends, found a job, got a degree...I built an actual life. It broke my heart to leave it. I wish I got back there more often than I do, but every time I set foot in that city, it feels right. Also? Go Steelers!

6. Madrid, Spain - May 2004, I went on a little trip through Europe. I flew to London and spent time in London and Dublin by myself. I took the Chunnel Train to Paris, where my sister flew in to meet me. We spent two weeks traveling around France and Italy, then headed to Barcelona. I instantly loved Barcelona. It has such a wonderful, pulsating energy. And then I got robbed. I was pickpocketed on the train and lost my credit cards, 300 euro, and my passport. Gone. I felt destroyed. We had planned to go to Madrid, anyway, and we had to to get to the American Embassy. And Madrid saved me. Madrid made me feel safe. Madrid reminded me that I am strong and I can survive.

*all images from my Pinterest

Second Best Night Everrrr...

2011-08-06T18:07:00.000-04:00

Last night, Matt and I went to see Death Cab for Cutie. It was the second best night of my life. I can officially die happy now. I've been wanting to see Death Cab for probably 5 years now. First they weren't on tour, and then they weren't on tour in the US. Finally, they came back to the States this year. And finally I was able to get tickets. They played in June at the Trocodero and I wasn't able to get tickets - they sold out during the presale. So when I found out they were coming back to Philly, I joined the fanclub so I could get in on the presale action.

It. Was. Awesome. My expectations were sky-high, and the band more than lived up to them. Not only was the band great, but the venue was awesome. It was our first time seeing a show at the Mann, and I really wish we'd known about it years longer - it is a beautiful venue! Just a street away from a kind of crappy part of the city, but it's right in Fairmount Park, surrounded by trees and museums. Cities are funny that way, aren't they? The venue is all open, but parts are covered, and if you venture to the top of the hill, you get a tremendous view of the city!

Anyway, the show was great. Frightened Rabbit opened for them. I'd never heard of them, but I definitely intend to download some of their music. Think Mumford & Sons, only harder. Great stuff.

Then, Death Cab took the stage. I was so freakin giddy. They put on a great show. Ben Gibbard is quite funny! And they played forever! They started at 8:30 and played almost right up till 11. 24 songs. Here's the setlist.

I Will Possess Your Heart > Crooked Teeth > We Laugh Indoors > Movie Script Ending > Doors Unlocked and Open > Long Division > Grapevine Fires > Codes and Keys > Summer Skin > I Will Follow You Into the Dark > You Are a Tourist > The New Year > 405 > Underneath the Sycamore > Title and Registration > Soul Meets Body > Stay Young, Go Dancing > Cath... > We Looked Like Giants > Marching Bands of Manhattan

Encore: Portable Television > Expo 86 > Sound of Settling > Transatlanticism

They played all my favorites. When we got through the whole show and they hadn't played "Sound of Settling," I was a little heartbroken. I was thrilled when it showed up in the encore. Jumping all over the place like a moron. Lovin it.

Frightened Rabbit

the set

Ben at the piano

I heart thee, Ben Gibbard

Here are a couple of videos I took, too. First is "I Will Follow You into the Dark." Ben gave us all permission to take a seat and enjoy the song. It was just him and his guitar. Lovely.

The second is "Stay Young, Go Dancing," which is my other favorite song, other than "Sound of Settling." I was too busy jumping around to be able to record that one, ha ha.

If you're not a fan of Death Cab for Cutie, you should be. And I'm sorry for boring you with this post. (c:

Books

2011-08-04T18:37:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading The Book Thief.

If you haven't read this book, go out and buy it. Now. Stop reading whatever you're reading and get this.

The story is about a girl who is growing up in Nazi Germany. I know what you're thinking - been there, done that. I promise you, this book is different. The narrator is Death. It is crazy interesting and intriguing. Death has actual thoughts. Death has feelings. About death. About carrying people's souls on.

But that's not even what makes the book so incredible. It's the writing. The author uses amazing imagery. The similes he choose to use to describe things are just...wow.

"Up high, in the window, her face appeared like a white flag with moist eyes and an open mouth. Her voice was like suicide, landing with a clunk at Liesel's feet." -pg.390

Amazing, right?! I'd love to quote more, but I don't want to give much away.

Please. Do yourself a favor and read this book. Give it a chance - it's a little tough in the beginning but it is so so so worth it.

Self-Deprecating

2011-08-03T18:35:00.001-04:00

I wasn't very nice to myself today. And it pissed me off.

One of my coworkers asked me today if I am a nurse, too. I replied, "No, just a social worker." Just. A lot of weight is in that one little word. Just. As in only. As in not important. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I was disappointed with myself.

There is nothing just about being a social worker. About all the work I put into becoming a social worker. About having the kind of personality it takes to be a social worker.

The decision to be a social worker isn't typically one that one just makes. You either are a social worker or you're not. It is like a gene, buried somewhere deep inside of you. It is not something you do, it is something you are. It is a part of you.

While obtaining a degree in social work may not be the most grueling process in the world, it is not easy, either. It is a 2-year Masters degree program that includes classes and field placements. A full-time program encompasses 5 3-credit classes plus a 24-hour per week placement per semester. It takes commitment. A lot of reading. A lot of writing.

Going into the field of social work, while it is something you are inherently destined to do, is still something to seriously consider. It is exhausting work. It is emotionally overwhelming. It is high-stress and low-pay. We social workers like to say, "We don't do it for the money!" because, um, we'd be crazy if we did. With a Masters degree, most of us make less than others with Bachelors degrees or even Associates degrees. "We don't do it for the money," but it'd be nice if we were paid according to our work and stress levels. My boss is constantly telling us that she wishes she could pay us more, because it kills her to see how low our pay is for all the shit we put up with.

In my position in particular, as a hospital social worker, we are the ones who get yelled at by overwhelmed and frustrated patients. We are the ones who get blamed with discharges don't happen quickly enough. We are the ones who take the heat when the nurses aren't happy. We take the brunt of everyone's unhappiness...and we do it with a smile.

We appear to have thick skins but we have soft hearts. We put up with all kinds of abuse. We have conversations with people about death and dying. We provide support to patients who are scared about their diagnoses. We reassure families who are feeling guilty about placing their loved ones in nursing homes. We encourage drug addicts who are looking for sobriety.

There is nothing just about being a social worker. It is a noble, important, and necessary profession in this crazy world, and I am damn proud to be one.

Sometimes I need to remind myself of that...

*Images from my Pinterest

If Only...

2011-08-03T14:51:00.000-04:00

I wasn't completely incapable of losing weight...

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

I had all the time and money in the world...

Tiramisu Trifles

I had a pinky-full of real talent in the kitchen...

Guinness Cake with Whiskey Caramel Icing

I would love to spend my days making amazing creations like these. Desserts are just...

Well, you know, it's funny. I don't usually order dessert when I'm out. I rarely eat dessert at home. But seeing pictures like this might make a convert out of me yet.

S'mores in a bowl

I mean, really...who could resist this?

Red Velvet Crepes

Linking up once again for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

*all images from my Pinterest. Click the caption to see the recipe for each picture.

Man-Candy Monday

2011-08-01T19:00:00.001-04:00

This week, I thought I'd try something different - Past Hollywood Hotness. Guys like...

Paul Newman. He was a gorgeous young man. His marriage to Joanne Woodward was seriously the stuff of legend. And those eyes!

Marlon Brando. Have you seen A Streetcar Named Desire? Yum.

James Dean. The ultimate Rebel Without a Cause. He was 24 when he died in a head-on collision on his way to one of his car races.

Not to leave out the still-living hotties...

Hello, Sean Connery!

Who am I kidding? Harrison Ford is still hot!

What do you think? Who are your favorite earlier-generation Hollywood hotties?

*all images from google

10 Day You

2011-07-31T19:17:00.000-04:00

1. Panini grill and press. I've been wanting one for months but have yet to bite the bullet and buy one. I love paninis and would love to be able to make them at home.

2. A basement. We need just one more room for storage and stuff.

3. My Death Cab for Cutie tickets. The show is on Friday and I still don't have the tickets. I have called and emailed the company. In looking through the forums, it seems that this is a common problem. I'm nervous! I'll die if I don't get them.

4. To lose 8 pounds. I'm working on it, but it's not happening as quickly as I'd hoped.

5. Hand-in-hand with #4, I'd like to stop getting injured. In the past 6 months, I've hurt my back, my left knee, my left ankle, and my wrist. And now my right knee is hurting. It slows my workouts down.

6. Vacation. I'm in desperate need of a week off from life. Our anniversary trip to Orlando in October really can't get here fast enough.

7. For my friends to be happy.

*images from Pinterest

Comparisons

2011-07-28T09:42:00.000-04:00

I think that comparing ourselves to others is human nature, don't you? Comparing houses, cars, salaries, education level, boob size...everybody does it. Envy is certainly part of that - looking at someone's house and wishing, "I wish mine were that big/nice/clean." I don't think anyone in the world can honestly say they've never wished for something that someone else has at one point or another. But hand in hand with that, is also pride. Pride in looking at someone else's house and thinking, "I'm so glad mine is cozier/cuter/neater."

But I'm not really talking about things right now. I'm talking about relationships. I think that it is also part of our nature to look at other people's relationships and compare ours to theirs. Better or worse, happier or more strained, everyone has at one time or another watched another couple and thought to themselves, "We/They are so much more/less blank than them/us." Am I right? Or are you sitting there wondering what the eff is this girl talking about?

Here's where this is coming from. I have one friend who is smack in the middle of a rapidly-deteriorating divorce. It is getting uglier by the minute. Accusations of abuse are flying around, questions about cheating...it ain't pretty. This is a couple who started dating in high school and who, for all intents and purposes, seemed like the picture-perfect couple. They had their problems, of course, but they always seemed to work it out. Apparently, what seemed to be the situation was not at all the situation, and a Battle Royale has begun. It's very sad.

I have another friend who is absolutely terrified about the state of her marriage. Things seem to be unraveling around her, neither she nor her husband seem happy anymore, and it's completely tearing her apart. And it's actually kind of freaking me out.

You know how you have those couples in your life? The ones who seem like they're really going to make it. Who seem completely happy and in love and committed to each other? That's what this couple is. Or used to be. Over the past couple of years, I've noticed things that have made me...uneasy. I won't go into details, but it's gotten to the point sometimes where Matt and I have talked about it and wondered how things still work for them. Now I know. They aren't.

I feel like I can't help but compare my relationship to theirs. To make myself feel better? Maybe. To better understand what they're going through? Perhaps. But as I sat there and listened to my friend tell me all the problems she is having, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Oh thank God, Matt and I don't do that/handle that differently/already have communication about that..." I found myself later thinking about it and thinking about the ways in which Matt and I do do things better and can do things better. Is that wrong? Am I a horrible person to be benefitting from the possible dissolution of my friends' marriage? Am I terrible that I'm comparing my relationship to theirs and going, "We are better/stronger/happier..."?

While I always had a feeling that their marriage wasn't perfect, I also always thought they'd make it work. It always seemed like they were committed to their marriage and would do whatever it took to keep it going. Now, I'm not so sure. And as much as I know it's freaking my friend out, it's kind of freaking me out, too. Is that totally weird? Is any of this making any sense or am I just randomly ranting?

Pinterest is Funny

2011-07-27T15:36:00.000-04:00

Every now and then, don't you just need a good giggle? Or belly laugh? Whatever.

Some of my favorite laugh-inducing pins today...

Harry Potter humor is always fun!

If you haven't seen the videos that this next pin is alluding to, you must. You just...you must. I die every time.

And, of course, pop humor references always provide good fodder for entertainment.

The milkshake song

M.C. Hammer

Fight Club...for babies?

And other totally random nonsense.

Yeah, yeah...no, not really a big secret

So those are my pins for the week. Hope they made you laugh like the always do me!

*all images from my pinterest

Baby Talk

2011-07-26T09:56:00.000-04:00

Matt and I have been talking a lot about babies. A lot about affording babies, in particular. Cuz, you know, kids are expensive. You have to feed them, clothe them, entertain them, give them somewhere to sleep, keep them clean...and that's just for the first few months. Then you have to take them to day care. And then you have to pay for school supplies. All the while, you have to be planning for a) future kids (if desired) and b) their futues, ie, college, which, by the way, ain't gettin any cheaper. Seriously, ya'll, kids are costly!

from google

So Matt and I have spent a lot of time in the past few months talking about how much to save, what kind of savings to have, and how much we think we're going to need to spend on stuff. It's a really scary prospect, especially given the shaky place that Matt's job has been in for the past few years. [About a year and a half ago, they cut their salaries by 7.5%. A year ago, they cut their hours down to 32/week. Some weeks, he's lucky if he even gets that many hours in.]

This weekend, we were talking about day care. Matt has been particularly nervous about how we're going to afford day care. I get it - it's expensive. Matt is worried that we won't be able to afford it, and wonders how we're going to manage without our families helping us out. I keep reminding him that my parents had no family around and Callie and I turned out all right, and of all of our friends who don't live near their parents and make it work, and all the families who make it work with way less money than we have. But he's still panicking. I finally got to the bottom of his worries this weekend.

Matt was under the impression that day care costs $100 per day! Once I recovered from my laughter (I'm sorry, but it's funny!), I told him the actual cost ($150-$250 per week), and he was pretty relieved. He was like "Oh! Well, we can do that!" Yeah, buddy!

Silly husband.

Man-Candy Monday

2011-07-25T11:38:00.000-04:00

That time of the week again. I know, it's been a while. Sorry! Linking up, once again, for Man-Candy Monday! This week I chose Jeremy Piven. No particular reason, other than that he's rather yummy!

Best-known Roles:
Ari Gold, Entourage
Buddy Isreal, Smoking Aces
Dean Gordon "Cheese" Pritchard, Old School
Dean Kansky, Serendipty
James Droz Andrews, PCU
The Keymaster, Say Anything

Born July 26, 1965 in New York City
5'10"

I love a man who can pull off a multitude of headwear...

*all images from google

Link up and join the man-candy fun!

10 Day You

2011-07-24T17:12:00.000-04:00

1. Ferris wheels. No, I'm not kidding. I hate ferris wheels. I have yet to be on one that didn't feel completely unsturdy, and I hate that feeling. I won't ride them anymore.

Nope, not even the Eye of London

2. This is probably obvious, but losing someone close to me.

3. Our children being bullied. I know there are a lot of other terrible things that could happen, but bullying seriously terrifies me. It can cause so much damage. Lasting damage.

4. Sharks. Which is funny, since I've been snorkeling and seen sharks and didn't really care much. But probably because it was a reef shark, and they're pretty harmless. Or maybe because I was on the Great Barrier Reef and nothing could have taken away from that. But, like, great whites? Yikes.

5. Losing our home. Not, like, we can't pay the mortgage and we have to foreclose. But physically losing it, like in a fire.

6. Bats. If I'm outside and a bat is flyng nearby, I guarantee you, I am freaking. out.

7. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Also known as Lou Gerhig's Disease. It is just a heartbreaking disease. I have a deep, deep compassion for our patients with ALS, and the thought of ever receiving that diagnosis is so scary.

8. The economy crashing. I know, heavy, right? But seriously, if the US has to default on its loans, it will be an enormous disaster. It will be the Great Depression, revisted. It's a very scary prospect.

*all images from google

I Want

2011-07-22T12:28:00.000-04:00

I Want by emma5w featuring sport dresses

It's 108 degrees here in Philly today. That is decidedly not cool. All week, I've been wearing dresses. I don't really do dresses. At least, I never used to. Seriously, ask my friend DJ. I posted something on facebook the other day about how I've worn dresses 2 days in a row, so obviously it's unbearably hot out, and she responded "Who are you? What have you done with Emma [my nickname]?" It's a well-known fact that me and dresses are not great friends. Even when I was little. My mom said I used to throw a fit if she tried to put me in a dress. Sure, I owned the obligatory "I'm going to a wedding and need something to wear" dresses. I had a couple cute sundresses for dinners out. But otherwise, I never was big into dresses.

Now, though, with all this hot weather, they're all I want to wear. Which presents a problem when I have so few that are appropriate for work (ie, not too short, not strapless, not cleavage-revlealing). So today, I went screen-shopping (like window-shopping but on the internet). You know, just to torture myself. Cuz I can't actually afford to go shopping.

I am obsessed with modcloth dresses. And if I had any sort of extra money lying around, I'd totally blow it there. The dresses above are just the tip of iceberg. I know, not all of those are work-appropriate. But I like the other ones, too, and they'd be totally appropriate for a nice dinner out, like to celebrate our anniversay in Florida....right?

What's on your wishlist?

Jeffrey Campbell flutter sleeve dress
$75 - modcloth.com

Wrap dress
$40 - modcloth.com

Shift dress
$50 - modcloth.com

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Travel Pinterest

2011-07-20T09:16:00.000-04:00

Time to link up!

I grew up in a family that valued travel. We were lucky (in some senses) that, because my mom traveled a lot of work, we had a lot of opportunities to take vacations that normally we would not have been able to afford. This sense of adventure was instilled in me at a very young age, and I really hope to continue that with our family. I know that it will be significantly more difficult for Matt and I to do that than it was for my parents, but we talk about it a lot and are both committed to putting aside money for family vacations.

That being said, here are some of my favorite places that I've been, and that I hope to take my family back to!

Australia. I have been lucky to go to Australia twice in my lifetime. It is - handsdown - my favorite place in the world. I have always said that if I wasn't such a momma's girl, I would move to Sydney in a heartbeat. I absolutely love it there. These first two pictures are actually mine, that I pinned from my own records. The first one is, obviously, the Sydney Opera House, which is just such a beautiful building. And the second one is from our nights camping in the Outback. It was a little scary (we could hear the dingoes howling out in the desert) but it was honestly the most amazing nights ever. I've never in my life seen so many stars.

This is the Great Barrier Reef. Snorkeling on the GBR is un-freakin-believable. That's all.

Up next is Madrid. Most people say Barcelona was their favorite when talking about Spain, but I got robbed in Barcelona, so I have some, um, issues with that place. It was a really cool city, but it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. Madrid, on the other hand, was just...well, honestly, it saved my sanity.

Paris. Ahh, Paris. Yes, the Parisiens are not huge fans of Americans. Big deal. Get over it and just enjoy the city. Get outside of Paris and you'll find that the French people are actually quite sweet. This is another photo I pinned from my own vault, taken by my sister on our trip to Europe (same trip as Barcelona/Madrid).

Rome. I loved the pulse of Rome. But really, it was the history. Man, the history here just completely blew my mind. It felt totally surreal to stand at the edge of the Colisseum and realize how old that structure is. It really made me realize how young our country is.

And finally, Dublin. I. Loved. Dublin. The people. The beer. The energy. The people. Such a fantastic city.

So those are my pins for the week. What's the favorite place you've ever traveled?

*all photos from my Pinterest

U2 FanCam

2011-07-18T15:19:00.000-04:00

Check it out! Apparently, they took a 360-degree photo of the stadium before the U2 show started on Thursday night. You can go to this website, find yourself, and tag yourself in the crowd! Here we are!

Weekend Update

2011-07-17T12:20:00.002-04:00

You guys. I don't know about you, but I had a pretty kick-ass weekend! My weekend started on Thursday night, with a ride on the Broad Street Line subway down to South Philly. I met up with Matt, my mom, my stepdad, my sister, and my brother-in-law at Suburban Station, then we all hopped on the subway. Once we got to AT&T station (so stupid that they bought the station and named it after themselves), we stopped off to tailgate for a bit before heading into the stadium. Anthony (my brother-in-law) had brought a cooler filled with Jose Cuervo margarita, Harpoon IPA, and some pretzels. So we had a few drinks, then headed in.

Matt had gotten me tickets to see them for Christmas in 2009. The show was originally scheduled for July 12, 2010. But then Bono hurt his back, so the show was postponed for a year. My parents, not knowing that Matt had gotten me tickets, also got us tickets for Christmas that year. Club seats. So, we sold our tickets to my sister and Anthony and went to the club seats with my parents.

Matt, Anthony, and the random dude who was already toasted

Mom, Jeff, and Callie

The concert was awesome! One of the best shows I've ever seen. High energy, a good mix of old and new songs. See for yourself - here's the setlist:

Even Better Than the Real Thing > I Will Follow > Mysterious Ways > Until the End of the World/Where Have All the Flowers Gone? > Get On Your Boots > Magnificent > I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/The Promised Land > Stay (Faraway, So Close) > Beautiful Day/Space Oddity > Elevation > Pride (In the Name of Love) > Miss Sarajevo > Zooropa > City of Blinding Light > Vertigo/It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) > Miss You > I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight/Discotheque/Life During Wartime/Psycho Killer > Sunday Bloody Sunday > Scarlet > Walk On

Encore: One > Halleluja > Where the Streets Have No Name > Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me > With or Without You > Moment of Surrender > Happy Birthday

I'm not sure what the story is behind Happy Birthday. We started heading out after With or Without You. The show was great. For Beautiful Day, they actually had some footage patched in from the space shuttle. Mark Kelly (the husband of Arizona Senator Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in Tuscon last year) said a few things, and "sang" along to the lyrics of Beautiful Day. It was really cool.

Interpol

Sunset at the Linc

The Edge!

Captain Mark Kelly. Right here, he was saying, "Tell my wife I love her..."

During "Walk On," volunteers from Amnesty International came on with lanterns

Friday morning, we got up and had breakfast. Matt and I made bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches. They were delish! At around 10:45, we (me, Matt, my mom, and my stepdad) hit the road to get in line for the 12:15 showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at the King of Prussia IMAX. I had purchased our tickets about a month ago on Fandango, so all I had to do was go to one of the Fandango stands and print our tickets. Thank goodness we got there when we did, because an hour before the show, the line was already about 100 people deep!

from google

The movie was absolutely fantastic. Wrapped things up beautifully. The special effects were incredible. I was teary-eyed throughout much of the movie. I just can't believe it's ending! Just like in the books, they brought the story full circle. I definitely think this movie was the best of them all.

Afterwards, Matt and I headed home to change and then took the train to meet my sister and Anthony for dinner and a night out. We had dinner at Ladder 15, in Center City, then went to the Continental rooftop bar for a couple drinks. One of Callie's friends from high school met up with us there, and then we all went down to this great little dive bar in South Philly called Bob and Barbara's. The drinks were super cheap, and they had a live jazz band. It was a lot of fun. Another one of Callie's friends met up us there, too. It was really fun to see those guys and catch up with them. I watched all of them grow up, so it's fun to still be able to keep track of them every now and then.

Saturday morning Callie and Anthony went home, and Matt and I drove up to Perkiomenville to celebrate my stepdad's brother's retirement and 40th wedding anniversary. It was fun to see the family and catch up with everyone. We hardly ever get to see them, so it's nice to get to spend some time and see all the kiddos! Last night we were supposed to go see Sixteen Candles at the Keswick Theater, but we were both so pooped, we just stayed home and watched the season premier of Rescue Me. Do you guys watch that show? You should. It's great.

from google

This morning we are being super lazy, and eventually I'm going to get started on some chores (I need to do laundry desperately) and some errands. All in all, a really great weekend.

Hope you guys all had good ones, too!

10 Day You

2011-07-17T10:51:00.000-04:00

Nine loves.

1. This weekend. I loved this weekend. It started Thursday night, with the U2 concert, and is still going strong today. More details (and pictures!) to come. Stay tuned...

2. Harry Potter. Saw the final movie on Friday. Cried through a large chunk of it. An absolutely perfect ending.

3. Lazy Sundays. With the exception of running a couple errands, I intend to be fairly lazy today.

4. Buffalo chicken pizza. The boys made some for a late-night snack on Friday. My sister and I enjoyed it for breakfast.

5. Dive bars. Friday night, we were in the city, and a friend took us to this little dive bar in South Philly called Bob and Barbara. They have a think called the Working Man's special - a shot of Jim Beam and a PBR for $3. Not exactly delicious, but crazy cheap. And in Center City, that's nearly impossible to come by.

6. Big outdoor concerts. I hadn't been to a big outdoor show in years before Thursday night. I'd almost forgotten how much I love them. There's nothing quite like being outside, with 50K people, singing along to your favorite song.

7. Homemade egg sandwiches. We made them for breakfast Friday morning. Yummo.

8. Trying new restaurants. Friday evening we headed into the city and I got to eat at a restaurant I've been wanting to try - Ladder 15. I had a delicious proscuitto and fig jam flatbread pizza. Which leads me to...

9. Proscuitto. This stuff is seriously amazing. If there is something on the menu that has proscuitto, chances are, I'm going to order it. Yummy, delicious, salty goodness.

Happy Sunday, guys!

Harry Potter is so Pinteresting

2011-07-13T08:23:00.004-04:00

Harry Potter. Really, I mean, not to corny or whatever, but...those books changed my life. I have always enjoyed reading. Since I was little. I mean, even with the books on record (yup, I said record), my mom said I would just memorize the record, then sit and read the books to myself. But Harry Potter was the first series that really caught me.

And then the movies. I absolutely loved watching the books come to life through the mind of the director. Watching the characters grow up. Watching the spells do their jobs. Watching the creatures come to life (did you actually think a hippogriff looked like that?). The last movie comes out on Friday. I'm going to see it in IMAX 3D with Matt, my mom, and my step-dad Friday afternoon. We have always gone to see the movies in the theater, but usually waited a few weeks for the crowds to die down. This year, we all already have Friday off (we're all going to see U2 Thursday night), so we decided to do it up right for the final movie, and go on opening day. I get giddy just thinking about it. I drop everything when I see a preview for it. I. cannot. wait.

With that in mind...

...my Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday is all about - what else - Harry Potter. The end of an era.

Learning from Harry...

A few things I wouldn't mind owning...

A sweet tattoo. I don't really like tattoos (for me!) but would actually consider this one...

We Harry fans have been through a lot together...

Keep Calm...

This. This is why I love Harry more than Twilight. I could never quite put my finger on it, but now I know...

Hermione is stronger, smarter, and - let's face it - prettier than Bella.

And finally....

Thank you, indeed. JK Rowling, I am forever in your debt.

*all images from my Pinterest

Man-Candy Monday

2011-07-11T08:31:00.000-04:00

The final Harry Potter movie comes out on Friday. I'm going to see it, along with my mom, step-dad, and Matt. I'm so excited, but - I'll be honest - a little bit sad. So, in honor of that, here are the men from Harry Potter.

Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter, obviously)

Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)

James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley)

Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)

Granted, they're not the most beautiful guys on the planet. But I have loved them, each of them, for several years. I can't wait to share these books and movies with our kids.

Link up and join the man-candy fun!

*all images from google

Crafty Little Me

2011-07-10T19:20:00.000-04:00

I'm not gonna lie. Since my DIY adventures for the wedding, I kind of miss, well, DIY-ing. I was never much of a crafter, but I really enjoyed what I did. But I haven't had any reasons for making any crafts. But then I came across this the other day and thought, "I really want to do that!" Not to mention, it's probably something I could handle.

I followed the link on the pinterest photo, and it took me to a little tutorial on how to make it. Pretty easy! So today, I went to my old friend Michael's and picked up a few supplies. The original post says to use a 12x12 scrapbook frame. Unfortunately, we don't have enough open wall space in our kitchen to fit that. But I figured I could easily use a different size frame. I picked up a 7x14" frame, some interesting scrap paper, and a couple whiteboard markers.

With the 7x14" frame, I needed 2 sheets of 12x12" paper. I brought home 2 sheets of a couple of different patterns, and went with the one that I liked most on my wall. Then I go to work!

First, I cut the sheets of paper down to 7" wide, then carefully matched up the patterns (sort of - I hadn't noticed that the pattern wasn't totally centered and that I should have kept the top at the top when cutting) and pasted them with the glue stick. From there, I measured out how far apart to write the days. I gave myself 2.5" at the top to write "Menu," which left me with 11.5" to split up for the days of the week. Each day got 1.75," with using Weekend instead of Saturday and Sunday.

I took it into the kitchen and hung it right next to our main "working" counter.

I put this week's menu on it. It doesn't look very exciting this week because we have plans for multiple days. For example, on Wednesday, Matt will just eat leftovers because I'll be at Movies and Martinis with my girlfriends (not eating M&Ms). Thursday night we're going to the U2 concert. Friday night we'll be having dinner somewhere in Center City with my sister and her husband. And Saturday night we'll be at a party at my step-aunt and uncle's house.

I love our new menu board, and hope that it helps me be even more creative with my meals!

10 Day You

2011-07-10T14:56:00.006-04:00

Krysten, at After I Do, just started this challenge. Thought I'd give it a shot, too. So every Sunday for next ten weeks, check back to learn a little something about yours truly!

Ten Secrets:

1. When I was younger, I took synchronized swimming lessons. I did it for 10 years. I competed in the Keystone State Games (PA's version of the Olympics) and actually won a few medals. I really loved it!! When my mom, sister, and I went to the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, we got tickets to see the team competition. I was so happy.

2. In high school, I lied about when I had my first kiss. I told people it happened at the beach when I was 14. I actually didn't have my first kiss until I was 17. What?! I was a late bloomer!

3. I actually usually prefer to stay home and watch movies than go out. Going out requires so much effort. Truth is, I like sitting on my butt in my pjs.

4. I'm addicted to Angry Birds.

5. I get so sucked in to tv shows sometimes that I feel like the characters are real people, and I talk about them like I know them.

6. I am a chronic pessimist, but only when it comes to my health. When I first started having migraines, I was convinced I was dying of a brain tumor. When my knee started hurting, I started preparing myself for a knee replacement.

7. Sometimes, I hear myself talk, and I think I sound like a huge bitch. I'm trying to work on that.

8. I used to say that the girls in my high school were so bitchy and mean and catty and cliquish. Now, almost 15 years out of high school, I see a lot of people being friends on facebook who didn't speak to each other in high school. I find myself thinking, "Psh, I'm not gonna be friends with her, she wouldn't give me the time of day in high school!" I'm starting to realize that I'm the one perpetuating the cliquish-ness. I need to get over it.

9. My biggest pet peeve is when people lack elevator etiquette. You're supposed to wait until the people get off the elevator before you start barelling onto it. It secretly makes me just fume inside.

10. When I was younger, I participated in a YMCA program called Indian Princesses with my dad. It was awesome at the time, but looking back now, I realize how terribly un-PC it was. We had Indian Names (my dad was Running Fox, and I was Dawn Dancer). We used to go to biannual Pow-Wows, where we'd camp (in cabins) for a weekend and have ceremonies where we'd pray to the Great Spirit, do archery, and go canoeing. We wore head-dresses with feathers and beads and painted our faces. It was a lot of fun, and great opportunity for bonding with my dad, but....yikes.

Not us, but this was pretty typical

So there ya go. Some of my deep, dark secrets. I know...scandalous!

Any Other Photo

2011-07-08T08:50:00.000-04:00

Hey all! Matt and I are the featured "Any Other Photo" over at Any Other Wedding today! Head over and check it out!

I didn't discover Any Other Wedding until about a month ago, and even though Matt and I are 9 months past our wedding date, I still really enjoy reading this blog. They talk about weddings in a very realistic way. They don't fluff things, they tell it like it is. I would have appreciated finding that before our wedding - I think it would have helped take some of the stress off. So jump on over, enjoy our post, and peruse the rest of the blog!

No, I'm Not Pregnant

2011-07-07T16:22:00.000-04:00

Just fat. But thanks for pointing out my gut.

I've stopped making excuses to people. Arguing with them. I've just started responding that way when they look at my stomach and ask if I'm pregnant. "Nope, just fat. But thanks for pointing it out!"

from google

Look, I am well aware of the fact that I have gained weight. And that the bulk of that weight is sitting right at my gut. I am aware that wearing babydoll-style shirts and flouncy maxi dresses also contributes to the appearance of being pregnant. But I like that style shirt, and I've been wearing flouncy maxi dresses since before Nicole Richie made them cool again. They are comfortable. Especially in 90+-degree heat. And especially now, when I am feeling too self-conscious about my gut to wear the more form-fitting clothes I have worn in the past.

But I'm not pregnant. And even if I am, it's not any of your business. Until I decide to make it your business. Which I haven't. Cuz I'm not.

So let's stop talking about how I "look" pregnant. Cuz all you're really saying is, "Wow, you have a stomach that's pushed out further than normal and we're taking notice!" Which in turn means, "Hey, Fatty, nice gut." It really doesn't make me feel good.

I have never been one to believe in "dieting." It has always been easy for me to alter the way I eat (portion control, healthier foods, etc) and drop weight without much other effort. Obviously, my body is older and my hormones are different and things have changed. I need to put more effort into it. So I've been working out. I just started the 30 Day Shred, and am hoping that that gets me results. But I'm only 2 days in. So right now, I still have a gut and flabby butt and floppy arms. Can we not discuss it and analyze it to death? Seriously, I'm sitting at work right now, and I feel like I could cry. I just walked away from a discussion between 3 nurses about how they all think I'm pregnant. After a few "Nope, I'm just fat!" comments from me, with a hope that they'd get the point that they're hurting my feelings, I had to walk away. How do you respond to that?

Since when is it appropriate or socially acceptable to so openly discuss a woman's body? Or a woman's choice to bear (or not bear) children? One of the nurses actually had the audacity to ask me if I would be upset if I was pregnant. After telling me that I was pregnant and me denying that "fact," she had the nerve to say to me, "But you wouldn't be upset if you were pregnant, would you?" Like that would be the worst thing in the world. Maybe I would! Maybe I don't want to be pregnant. But how is that any of her business? Since when do I need to discuss my desire/ability/readiness to have children with her?

I'm absolutely appalled by the audacity of these women. I would never dream of asking a woman if she was pregnant if I was absolutely 100% sure that she was. And if I was so rude as to ask that of a woman who then tells me she's not pregnant, I would certainly not continue discussing the matter and insisting that she was! Who does that? In what way is that ok?

I am already terribly self-conscious about the weight I've gained. Having people discuss it doesn't help. I wish it were as happy an occasion as me being pregnant. But unfortunately, it's just as simple as me gaining weight. So let's move on, please. You are not helping my already delfated self image.

Baby Pinterest

2011-07-06T08:55:00.001-04:00

It's Wednesday! Know what that means? Time to link up with The Vintage Apple for...

Yay!! This week, I'm going to feature some pins from my "For Future Babies" board. Matt and I have been talking a lot about when babies are going to come into our future. So I've been pinning a lot of baby inspiration for future nurseries and what-not. Here are some of my favorites!

I love this for a "family photo!"

These are a few purchases I may have to make.

I mean, seriously, how cool are the sunglasses attached to a nuk?

And this is my idea for a nursery - clean, with just a few framed quotes on the wall.

Quotes like...

And definitely a book tree!

So there it is, some baby inspiration via Pinterest! Link up and join the pinning party!

Marriage

2011-07-04T12:15:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, when my girlfriends and I got together, it was such an eclectic mix of people in different stages of their lives and relationships. We had me, the newlywed; my friend Abriel, happily married with a 9-month-old; my friend Mel, divorced from an abusive a-hole with a 6-year-old; my friend Amy, happily married with a 2-year-old and now pregnant with their 2nd; my friend Nicole, widowed with a 5-year-old; and my friend Tina, going through an ugly and painful divorce with a 5-year-old and a 7-year-old [wow, really??]. Seriously - we represented almost every single life stage for a 30-something woman. The only one not represented was the unmarried, childless woman. And now that I think about it, I don't actually think that exists anywhere in my circle of friends! Wow, we are getting old!

Nicole's husband died 2 years into their marriage, when their son was 6 months old. She obviously still mourns him, but is moving on and looking for new love. Mel is in a relationship with a guy who seems to treat her well. Her ex-husband seems to have finally grown up a bit. But Tina is (understandably) miserable and unhappy. And she's not exactly a huge believer in marriage at the moment. So when everyone was asking me about how married life was, I felt a little bit guilty being all "Oh it's just so wonderful and I'm so happy and I love my husband and he's the best thing in the entire world." So I just said "It's great!" and moved on. But later, when it was just me and Abriel and her mom (who is, hands down, one of my favorite people in the world), I admitted my true feelings: I've never been happier. When we first got married, and people asked if I felt different or if anything had changed, it seemed so silly. We'd lived together for 4 years already. Why would anything feel different? But now I realize that it does. It has changed. I can't quite put my finger on how or why, but it has. My heart just bursts when I think about how being married to Matt makes me feel. We talk about our future in such real and concrete ways. We support each other. We encourage each other. We reassure each other. And we love each other.

Sometimes, I look at my husband and I'm just overwhelmed. I've heard from so many people that the first year of marriage is the hardest. Granted, we've only been through 9 months so far. But if it's true that the first year is the hardest, then we are gonna sail along beautifully for the rest of our lives. And I can't wait. For whatever comes.

Dear Pinterest

2011-06-29T14:24:00.002-04:00

Thank you for being my new timesuck. No, really. Facebook is getting a little old. I can only look at pictures of my friends' kids so much, you know? But looking at hundreds of random pictures of beautiful places and funny kids and lovely quotes? Yes, please!

I am relatively new to the Pinterest scene, but my oh my, do I love you. So to show my appreciation, I'm linking up with The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday.

So, here are my Pinterest favorites for the week, which really, are my favorite pins of all-time, since this is my first OHPW.

I am completely in love with the mug shot birth announcement, and I am totally doing it for our first kid. Because, like the first quote says, nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And every likes a happy brain cell. I also love the one that has the quote from "Chasing Cars," and I actually may see if I can somehow print and frame that, since that was our wedding song.

Link up and join the fun!

*all photos from my Pinterest

Inside the Actor's Studio

2011-06-28T10:39:00.013-04:00

Do you guys ever watch this? I love this show. I always learn a lot about the featured interviewee, and I feel like it's a more casual, stripped-down interview than other interviews. I think James Lipton has a ton of fun doing these interviews, and I generally get the impression that the celebrities actually like him.

I was looking up the questions for something, and I came across a list of the guests that have appeared on the show. I had absolutely no idea there have been as many as there are - over 200! I've seen several episodes, but looking at the list, there are plenty more I'd love to see. I heard that Bradley Cooper teared up when talking about his parents and how they supported him; I believe it was filmed shortly before his father passed away. I did see Daniel Ratcliff, and thought he was adorable (as usual). And Drew Barrymore's interview was really interesting. That girl was tragically screwed up in her childhood. Jennifer Aniston apparently just filmed hers, and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to give my answers to James Lipton's 10 questions. He asks these of every single guest on the show and I always find their answers funny. Some of them get really creative. Lipton apparently adapted his questions from a French show host named Bernard Pivot, who had been using Proust's questionairre on his own show. After Pivot heard that he was Lipton's inspiration, he invited him to appear on his show.

Anyway, the 10 questions:

What is your favorite word? Cheeksie - it's what Matt calls me when he's being cuddly
What is your least favorite word? Retarded and/or gay, when used in the completely wrong way
What turns you on? Music
What turns you off? Ignorance
What sound or noise do you love? My phone ringing - someone I love is calling me
What sound or noise do you hate? The train's brakes squealing
What is your favorite curse word? Fuck.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Wedding planner or florist
What profession would you not like to do? Crab fisherman, like on Deadliest Catch
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Do you want to start with the chocolate or the champagne?

What are your answers to the 10 questions?

Man-Candy Monday!

2011-06-27T09:08:00.000-04:00

Matt and I watched The Adjustment Bureau this weekend. I'm still not sure how I felt about it. The idea that there are business men in suits and hats running around and interfering with our lives sort of creeps me out. I rather like thinking that fate hands us choices and the decisions we make shape our lives. It sounds much more...organic. And makes me feel like I have a bit more control.

Like you care, right? So Emily Blunt is in the movie, and I just adore her. She's so pretty and her accent is quite lovely. And she's married to John Krasinski, who I love. So I decided to make him this weeks' man-candy!

John Krasinski, born October 20, 1979

From Newton, Mass

6'3" tall - shorter than his two brothers, if you can believe that!

John and Ben Gibbard?! I die.

Started dating Emily Blunt in November 2008. They got married on July 10, 2010

Roles include:

Jim, The Office
Burt, Away We Go (if you haven't seen this movie, you must!)
Harley, It's Complicated
Carter, The Leatherheads
Ben, License to Wed

Isn't he adorable? I love the faces he makes on The Office. So cute.

Link up and join the party!

*all photos from google

Food Obsession

2011-06-26T15:33:00.000-04:00

I have a new-found obsession.

That chocolate hazelnut amazingness. God, I want to just sit and eat it with a spoon. It's so freakin delicious, isn't it? I'd had it a couple of times in high school, then had it for breakfast nearly every morning in Spain, then kind of forgot about it. Until I remembered it. And I am hooked. I find myself looking for recipes that use Nutella, just so I have an excuse to eat it.

I mean, there's the obvious. Nutella on toast. Which was my breakfast yesterday. And quite yummy.

But that gets boring. Don't get me wrong, it's delicious. But I need something...more. I recently made these pastry pockets for brunch with my high school girlfriends. They turned out great, and they were pretty easy!

When my Nutella obsession was first re-ignited, I found this recipe for Nutella brownies. I made these a few months ago, and they were good, but not great. I loved the flavor, but I wasn't a fan of the texture.

I am just dying to try this recipe for Nutella meringue cookies. I love meringues, and adding Nutella to mix just sounds...wowsers.

Do you have any food obsessions? Or any good Nutella recipes to share?

*all images from my Pinterest

Fun Fact Friday

2011-06-24T09:12:00.000-04:00

Every year, my health system has a "day" at Six Flags. We don't get the park to ourselves (unfortunately) but we get seriously discounted tickets and a free meal. Oh, and cheaper parking. So Matt and I have gone every year, because we love us a good rollercoaster. This Saturday is this year's day at Six Flags, and I can't wait. The last time we were there it was literally 103-degrees out and I thought I was going to melt into a puddle while we waited in line for some of the rollercoasters. This year, it looks like it's gonna be 80-something and chance of showers. Maybe that will keep the park a little emptier! Hands down, my favorite ride (probably ever) is the Superman Ultimate Flight. Once you get strapped in, it flips you over so you're face-down, on your stomach - you go through the whole ride feeling like you're flying! It's incredible.

So this week's fun facts are all about amusement parks!

~ There is a park in Korea called Love Land, that features 140 sculptures depicting various sexual positions. Grody.

~ Bon Bon Land, in Denmark, appears to be a park focused on disgusting bodily functions - vomit, farting, etc. Part of me kind of wants to see this.

~ Walt Disney wanted to keep an eye on his park when he built DisneyLand, so he had an apartment built for him above the fire department along Main Street. Employees and guests knew when Walt was in town because he would leave a light on in the window. These days, there is always a light in the window, in memory of the man who started it all.

~ Walt Disney World Resort is approximately the size of the city of San Francisco.

~ The fastest/highest/biggest drop awards all go to Kingda Ka, at Six Flags. It travels at 128mph, is 456 feet high, and has a drop of 418 from crest to bottom. I've been on this and it is sheer terror...and I loved it!

~ Cedar Point, in Sandusky, OH, has the most roller coasters of any park, with 17 coasters for thrill seekers like me to choose from. I've been to Cedar Point, and it is awesomesauce.

fun facts found here, here, and here
all images from google

Snack Attack

2011-06-23T12:02:00.000-04:00

I don't know what's going on with me, but the past few months, I cannot. stop. snacking. I never used to be a snacker. Ok, that's not true. I have very vivid memories of when I was younger, I used to have a snack when I got home from school, and then a snack before bedtime. But I was younger, I was active, and my metabolism was running at an all-time high*. I used to snack on weird stuff, too. Salads. Olives (black or green, I was olive-colorblind). Pancake batter. [Yes, I would mix up pancake batter, and then just drink it. Like a shake. Disgusting.] Then I just stopped. Sure, in college I would indulge in the occasional cafeteria sundae or late-night meal (mmm....Nap's pizza sticks...I still drool just thinking about them). But for the most part, I ate my three meals and day and that was it. Well, that and copious amounts of alcohol. But that doesn't count, right?

Anyway, it went on like that for years. Just eating my three meals and that was it. I rarely snacked, rarely craved snacks (except for chocolate, clearly). But even when I did snack, I had total control. A handful of chips, a small bowl of ice cream, a small frappucino.

Ever since our wedding, though, I am a snack-a-holic. I can't stop myself. I eat when I'm hungry. I eat when I smell something. I eat cuz I have nothing better to do. It's gotten pretty bad, and I've packed on pounds. I could probably still snack and keep the weight off (for the most part) if I could go to the gym regularly but 1) I hate the gym and 2) I have had a series of injuries/pains in my body over the past few months that have prevented me from going. So instead, I snack, gain weight, get mad, and snack anyway.

Matt and I are eating healthier. I'm using lower-calorie/fat ingredients (like substituting 0% greek yogurt for sour cream), we're eating whole grain bread and pasta (which is actually higher in calories and fat, but has more nutritional benefits than it's white counterpart), and we're both exercising better portion control. I'm being very stringent about this. And yet, I have absolutely no self-control when it comes to snacking!

So, I'm trying to snack a little healthier. Having grown up in Hershey, I am physically incapable of surviving without chocolate. So, I bought a container of dark chocolate roasted almonds. I also have a container of butter toffee roasted almonds. They're yummy, low in saturated fat, high in protein...a healthy snack, right? Plus, they satisfy my chocolate needs. I am also officially obsessed with peanut butter. Like, I could, in theory, sit with a jar and eat it by the spoonful. Until it was gone. Instead, I eat a spoonful when I get home from work. I wish I liked apples, cuz I would bring in a small container and some apple slices for a snack at work. I am trying to eat more fresh fruit. I never was a big fruit-eater, but this summer, I am making an effort to buy fresh fruit, cut it up, and divide it into containers to bring to work. Strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, watermelon, canteloupe...I'm loving it!

What do you snack on? Any other "healthy" snack ideas I should look into?

*Probably. I have no scientific proof to support this statement.

Man-Candy Monday

2011-06-20T09:32:00.000-04:00

My favorite part of today's man candy? Most of his pictures are of him half-naked. Which is quite nice, cuz he does have a lovely body. This week's man candy is Isaiah Mustafa, otherwise known as the Old Spice Guy.

Woo! Is it getting hot in here?

Link up with Join the Gossip!

U.S. Open

2011-06-19T10:55:00.000-04:00

What a great weekend. I hope you guys enjoyed yours, but mine was seriously awesome. After work on Wednesday, I came home, packed up my car, and hit the road to Hershey. I got to my dad's and we headed out to dinner to make our plan of attack for the U.S. Open on Thursday. Then we went to the grocery store to get supplies for the day.

We got up bright and early Thursday morning and hit the road. The tournament is being held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. We had to park at the Mongtomery County Fairgrounds and take shuttles from there. I assumed this would be a 5-10 minute ride. It was closer to a 45 minute ride. Oh well. Once we arrived at the course, we quickly reassesed to plan out our strategy. With my dad's pairings sheet (which player is in which group, starting at what time, on what hole) in one hand and a map of the course (how the course is layed out and how to get from one hole to another) in the other, we were off. I had three goals - Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson, and Rory McIlroy. Luckily, Phil and Rory were in the same group, so that killed 2 birds with 1 stone. But they didn't tee off till the afternoon. So up first, we were off to find Padraig. Given the time we arrived (around 9:30) and knowing that he teed off at hole 10 around 7:44am, we thought he might be around hole 17, which was right where we came in. We were right, we got to watch him take his second shot from the fairway, then decided to head up to the first hole tee box. On our way there, we were walking along the 18th fairway while his group was teeing off. [Also in his group was Angel Cabrerra, who won the US Open in 2007, and the Masters in 2009] Dad and I are walking along the right side of the fairway, when all of a sudden we hear people shouting "Right! Right!" and everyone around us started ducking for cover. I was freaking out. I thought for sure I was gonna take a golf ball to the brain. I heard it come through the trees behind me, then heard this metallic "clunk". Right behind me was a big crane surrounded by a green fence. Padraig Harrington had just sliced his tee shot, hit the crane, and the ball dropped in the fenced-in area. Dad and I stuck around to see what he would do. A few minutes later, along comes Padraig with his caddy and a rules official. Since it was a "temporary obstruction," he could take a free drop (it wouldn't cost him a stroke) to get a better shot, rather than trying to hit it out of the fence. We got to watch Padraig drop the ball and take the shot from literally 3 feet in front of us. It. was. so. cool.

Padraig

We followed Padraig's group for a few holes. Got to see them tee off on a couple of holes. I tell you what, these guys have swings that are just beautiful. And Angel Cabrerra's swing is so freakin powerful. It's amazing.

Anyway, after a few holes with Padraig and company, we stopped to watch Graeme McDowell. Graeme won the Open last year.

Graeme

After following him for a hole or two, we stopped to get something to eat and to sit. Watching a professional golf tournament involves a lot of walking. I'd say my dad and I easily walked 4 miles that day. It was crazy. Anyway, after we stopped to eat, we decided it was time to catch up with Phil and Rory. We knew their group would be a total zoo, so we decided to get to a hole before them and beat the crowd. Our strategy was that we would make our way over to the fairway on 14 to watch them take their second shot, then we'd head over to the 16th hole tee box. We got up to the hole 14 green and were about to make our way down the fairway, when we realized that their group was just on hole 11 - and we were right at the tee box for hole 12. So we decided to just park ourselves there and wait. Our plan totally worked. As people started filing in, they were "warned" by others around us that they needed to move to the back - none of this filling in from the front. We were standing right along the edge of the crossing (where they allow spectators to walk across the fairways), so we knew we risked that when they decided to close off the crossing, people would just stop in front of us. For the most part, people did file in to the back of us, but a few people stopped right in front of my dad and I. Luckily, there was a really nice group of men who'd been waiting beside us, and they let me slip up in front of them, since I'm short and they could see over me. So I was right up against the rope to watch Phil and Rory tee off. Again, so. cool. Phil just seems like the greatest guy ever, and Rory is adorable.

Rory and Phil (and Rory's caddy) on the fairway

I had no idea how much fun I would have at a golf tournament, but it was really cool to be there and be able to see these guys swing in real life. It's just amazing, the strength and power in their swings. I definitely would go again, and really think Matt would enjoy it. I'm looking forward to watching the conclusion of the tournament today and seeing who wins. At this point, Rory is 14-under par, and I think it's gonna be pretty hard for anyone to catch up to him. The second place player is 6-under. That's a lot of ground to make up.

Anybody else gonna be watching the conclusion of the Open today? Does anyone else even care about golf at all??

*no cameras or phones were allowed on the course, so I had to steal all of these from the interwebs

Fun Fact Friday!

2011-06-17T08:27:00.000-04:00

I'm writing this a few days early and setting it up to post on Friday because I won't be around to blog on Friday. I have off Thursday and Friday (woo-hoo!) to spend some real quality time with my dad. Wednesday night after work I'm hitting the Turnpike and heading to Hershey. Early early early on Thursday morning, my dad and I are waking up and hitting the road to Bethesda, Maryland. Why Bethesda, Maryland on a random Thursday, you ask?

Well, this week the U.S. Open starts! My dad got tickets and I decided to go. I thought a) it would be great to spend some time with Dad and b) how fun will it be to watch a real life golf tournament in person? Unfortunately, no Tiger this year - he withdrew from the tournament last week. But still, plenty of great golfers will be there. I'm pretty excited!

Anywho, this week's fun facts are all about - what else - golf!

~125,000 balls are hit into the water every year at hole 17 at Sawgrass Stadium Course. Surprised? Don't be.

~ Average driver speeds (speed of swinging the club): average woman golfer, 68mph; LPGA woman golfer, 96mph; average male golfer, 84mph; PGA male golfer, 108mph; Tiger Woods, 130mph. Really wish Tiger hadn't dropped out.

~ There are 336 dimples on a golf ball

~ 22.8% of golfers are women. I'm trying to join that statistic!

~ From September 14, 1963 till October 4, 1964, Floyd Satterlee Rood played golf across the United States. It took him 114,737 strokes and cost him 3,511 balls to get across the 3,397.7 mile "course."

~ Americans spend more than $600 million on golf balls every year. I'm guessin that's a lot of lost balls.

~ There are 3 golf balls on the moon.

~ The longest drive ever recorded is 515 yards (that's 5+ football fields!). The longest putt is 375 feet. What I'd like to know is who is 375 feet from the pin and decides to pull out their putter?!

~ The chances of making 2 holes-in-one in a single round is 1 in 67 million.

*facts from here, here, and here
*all images from google

High School Besties

2011-06-15T07:50:00.001-04:00

This weekend I'm getting together with my high school besties (many of whom were in my wedding party). I am so excited to see them - I haven't seen most of them since our wedding, and the others I haven't seen since a year ago! Wow! Friday night the plan is to go to the Hotel Hershey for jazz on the veranda. Then on Saturday we're having a big brunch with all our moms and kids (except, unfortunately, for my mom, who is away for a work conference - boo!).

We've all been friends since high school, which means that our moms have watched us all grow up, go to college, get jobs, get married, have kids...all that good stuff. They've supported us and loved us and laughed with us and cried with us. But - how do I put this delicatly - some of them have done that better than others.

6 years ago, when our friend Abriel got married, my parents and our friend Tina's parents were invited to her wedding. Our friend Mel's parents weren't. It caused a little bit of tension, but everyone kind of got over it. There's a lot of history there, that I don't really want to get into. Nonetheless, for our wedding, we invited Abriel's mom and stepdad and Tina's parents. Mel's parents were not invited.

So imagine my surprise when we were dismissing our guests after the wedding ceremony, and I was suddenly face-to-face with Mel's mom. I didn't even know what to say to her. I almost couldn't even face her. I mean, I get it - technically, a wedding is a church service and open to the public. Any stranger off the street could walk in and attend. That's not the point. The point is, she knew she wasn't invited, she probably knew that at least Abriel's were, and yet she showed up anyway. I had to hug her and say thanks for coming. It was awkward. At the moment, I was too distracted and busy to really bother with feeling anything about it, but afterwards, I was pissed. Who does that? She had to know it would make me feel bad.

Anyway, she will obviously be there on Saturday and I'm a little anxious about it. The best thing, I know, is to just ignore it and pretend it never happened. But I have never liked this woman, and this makes me like her less. I know it's awful to say that, but, like I said, there's a lot of history there, both in the way she's treated Mel and the way she's treated me. It's hard for me to blow this off. Thoughts?

Man-Candy Monday

2011-06-13T11:50:00.000-04:00

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I don't know about you, but for the most part, it was beautiful here. I was on-call for work, so I couldn't do much, but I did manage to get outside and weed my gardens. I also finished my book and enjoyed a glass of yummy white wine on our back patio. Matt was away, so I was enjoying a little bit of girl time.

But you're not here to hear about my weekend, are you?

Josh Holloway, where have you been all my life? [Love you, Matt!]

Oh my God. The long hair. The dimples. The body. There were times when I was watching LOST that I seriously wished I could jump through my tv screen and into his arms. Duh-ream-ee.

Link up and join in the yummy goodness!

Book Challenge

2011-06-11T20:16:00.000-04:00

Found this over on Meme Addict and thought it was kinda fun. But rather than drag it out over 30 days or weeks or whatever, I'm just gonna do it all at once. Cuz I'm impatient like that.

1. Favorite book -The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (I love her description of heaven)
2. Least favorite book - Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris
3. Book that makes you laugh out loud -Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris
4. Book that makes you cry - lucky, Alice Sebold
5. Book you wish you could live in - Harry. Any of them
6. Favorite young adult book - Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
7. Book that you can quote/recite - Love Story, Erich Segal
8. Book that scares you - A Child Called It, Dave Pelzer (it scares me that there are parents like this)
9. Book that makes you sick - same (it also makes me sick)
10. Book that changed your life - A Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
11. Book from your favorite author - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
12. Book that is most like your life - Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman (a randon stringing-together of funny anecdotes. Totally like my life)
13. Book whose main character is most like you - Jenny, from Love Story. (Minus the whole death thing)
14. Book whose main character you want to marry- Noah, from The Notebook (loyal, funny, hard-working)
15. First "chapter book" you remember reading as a child - Charlotte's Web, E.B. White (isn't this everyone's?)
16. Longest book you've read - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling (870 pages)
17. Shortest book you've read - CDB!
18. Book you're most embarassed to say you like - Turn Me On, Cherie Jeffrey (a totally ridiculous book, but I liked the silliness of it)
19. Book that turned you on - Ummm?
20. Book you've read the most number of times - Love Story
21. Favorite picture book from childhood - Goodnight Moon (I now buy Goodnight Philadelphia for all my pregnant friends)
22. Book you plan to read next - A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrich
23. Book you tell people you've read, but haven't (or haven't actually finished) - Pride and Prejudice (just cannot get into it)
24. Book that contains your favorite scene - Probably Love Story
25. Favorite book you read in school - Man's Search for Meaning
26. Favorite nonfiction book - Man's Search for Meaning
27. Favorite fiction book - The Lovely Bones
28. Last book you read - Those Who Save Us, Jenna Blum
29. Book you're currently reading - The Help, Kathryn Sockett
30. Favorite coffee table book - Ultimate Beer, Michael Jackson

A lot of repeats. But that's ok. What are your favorite books?

Weathering the...Weather

2011-06-09T09:57:00.000-04:00

Alright, so it's about 175 million degrees out. Seriously. It is so hot, it literally punches you in the face as soon as you step outside. Ok, well not literally. The air can't literally punch you in the face. That would be crazy!

Kind of fortunately, I'm stuck inside at work. And my work is very much air conditioned. Not that being at work is my favorite way to escape the heat and stay cool, but - hey - it works. In an ideal world, I'd be doing any of these things.

(source)

Riding a lazy river. I love lazy rivers. The summer I lived in Pittsburgh, for grad school, I had the most kickass summer job on the planet. I was a counselor for the travel day camp at the Jewish Community Center. Basically, I got paid to hang out with my best friends, keep an eye on some kids, and go to water parks, amusement parks, pools, and mini-golf. Water park days were my favorite, because my friends and I would spend our time just riding around the lazy river. So relaxing. So fun.

(source)

Or my ass would be parked at a swim-up bar. Whoever had the genius idea to put seats in a pool in front of a bar was, well, a genius. I'd like to shake his hand. Maybe I'd even kiss him. Swim-up bars are the greatest thing in the world. You stay cool. You get a nice tan. And you drink. Win-win-win.

(source)

Or sitting on a swing on a big porch, with ceiling fans going, sipping a tall glass of ice-cold sweet tea. What is it about sweet tea that just instantly cools you down? My friend Abriel lives in Georgia, and this is what I picture her doing every day of her life. It makes me want to move down there with her.

Instead, I'm at work. Slaving away in the air conditioning. Kids are getting out of school early today. Um, we never got out of school for hot weather. Ridiculous. Buck up, kiddos!

What are your favorite ways to beat the heat?

Man-Candy Monday

2011-06-06T09:24:00.000-04:00

It's that time of the week again! For this week's man-candy, I chose a guy who can do it all, it seems. Singer. Actor. Comedian. Dancer. Golfer. Philanthropist. Seriously, this guy's got it goin on!

What a stud. Seriously, what's not to love about him? He seems like a giant goofball. He can dance the pants off of pretty much anyone out there. He has a pretty great voice. His golf game is so good that you can play him on the Tiger Woods videogames. Every time he's on Saturday Night Live, you know you're gonna laugh. And, every year he hosts the Justin Timberlake Golf Tournament to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children. Be still my beating heart.

Link on up and check out the other man-candy on the list! Have fun!

Fun Fact Friday

2011-06-03T17:10:00.000-04:00

Today is the Opening Tap for Philly Beer Week 2011!

PBW is a huge deal in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. There are literally hundreds of events that occur throughout the city and the suburbs featuring all forms of beer - brewing lessons, meet the brewer sessions, food pairings... You name it, you can find it in Philly during PBW. It's one of my favorite times of the year!

So, in honor of Philly Beer Week, here are some fun facts about beer!

~ In 1962, Iron City was the first brewery to try serving beer in pop-top aluminum cans. 8 years later, 90% of beer was served in self-opening cans!

~ President Teddy Roosevelt took 500 gallons of beer with him on an African safari trip.

~ Prohibition began on January 16, 1920. It lasted until December 5, 1933. 13+ years, you guys. I'd have left the country.

~ Pabst Beer is now called Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR, a staple in hipster bars everywhere!) because it was first beer ever to win a blue ribbon at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1893.

~ The oldest known written recipe is a beer recipe.

~ The Pilgrims were supposed to sail the Mayflower further south, to the mouth of the Hudson. But they were starting to run low on their beer supply, so they sailed into Plymouth Rock instead.

~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected partially because of his promise to end prohibition. Boy, those Roosevelt boys sure loved their booze!

~ Cenosillacaphobia. The fear of an empty glass. May you never suffer from that awful phobia!

*facts from here, here, and here.

80s reborn

2011-06-01T15:48:00.000-04:00

Ok, um...what's up with the resurgence of 1980s fashion? Seriously? I went to the mall today, and I saw 80s all over! The bright colors. Wayfarers? There have been celebrities spotted wearing acid wash! And the crossbody bag? I wish I'd known they'd come back in style - I had 4 of them back in 1988. I mean, seriously, all of this was readily available on polyvore:

80s revisted by emma5w featuring two tone sunglasses

I'm pretty sure I owned that outfit at some point.

This upsets me. I can't deal with the 80s coming back. I hated the 80s. And the early 90s. It was all so...bright. Loud. It worked for a bunch of assholes running around snorting coke? But c'mon. Today's winos and beer snobs (myself included) just shouldn't have to wear things so bright!

What do you think? Are you on board with the 80s revival? Or do you prefer the soft muted colors from the past couple of years (which, really, was a bit of a late 60s/early 70s revival). Give me my blacks, tans, and flared jeans any day of the week, thank you!

Books

2011-05-31T19:04:00.002-04:00

Did you ever have one of those books? You know the one. You bought it because all the reviews about it were good. Friends or family - the trusted ones - recommended it. You cracked the spine, expecting to be wowed and...

(source)

You are less than whelmed. But you keep plugging away. Keep reading. Keep trying. "It has to get better," you think, "NPR said it would." "Why would preciousflower164* have given it such a glowing Amazon review...I have to be missing something!"

400 pages in, you realize - you're hooked. And not just because you've been forcing yourself to keep reading. But because the book has finally managed to suck you in. You find that you love the characters. You're anxious to find out what happens to them. How their lives change. Will he ever make up with his brother? Will he ever forgive the girl who destroyed his heart? Will he ever see his father again? These questions nag at your heart, begging you to come back to the book. Once finished, you find out it has changed you.

Or do I just sound like a crazy person? Well, anyway, I just finished that book. 2 hours ago.

(source)

Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese. I started this book at the end of April. I just finished it. It took me a really long time to get into it. But it just snuck up on me. All of a sudden, I couldn't stop. I read on the train - I have a 1/2-hour ride to and from the city, and I pass that time reading. Occasionally, I read at home, but not often. Once I'm home, I prefer to spend my time hanging out with Matt, cooking, baking, or, well, doing this! So I know I'm sucked into a book when I find myself reading it on my off-hours. I came home Friday night and read until Matt got home. I read more yesterday when we got home from Hershey. It took me a month to get through the first 400 pages. It took me 3 hours to get through the last 150.

If you're a patient reader (which I am often not), give this book a shot. And if you do read it, or have read it, how did it go for you?

*Amazon usernames have been changed to protect the innocent

Man-Candy Monday

2011-05-30T21:39:00.002-04:00

A bit late. But it's still Monday.

Matt and I are sitting at home right now watching last season of Rescue Me. The new season starts in a couple of weeks, and we need to catch up. It's been a year since season 5 ended and we kind of forget how it happened. Now that we're watching it, I'm glad we're catching up.

Anyway! This week's man-candy is Steve Pasquale. Not only is he kiiiinda hot, but he also is from our hometown! Matt was friends with him in high school, and I used to take dance classes with his younger sister. Cool, huh? So, with no further ado...

Firefighter? How can ya not?!

He's a cutie, no? Link on up with Join the Gossip and join the good times!

*all images from google

What to Do

2011-05-25T09:23:00.000-04:00

So I'm trying to decide what to do with my wedding dress. We're 7 months out from our wedding (today!) and my dress has yet to be cleaned. It's currently hanging in the little closet in the Grapes room. Just hanging there. Sad. Lonely.

I want to do something with it. I'm realistic enough to know that my daughter will probably not wear it, so I don't want to just save it for saving-it's sake. But I also can't really bring myself to sell it. Or destroy it. Sooo...my dress had a small train on it. I am thinking of cutting off the train and doing something with that fabric, but still keeping the rest of the dress relatively in tact. Just in case my daughter is a wanna-be hippie like me.

So I'm debating between two different options. One is making a christening dress out of the fabric. Well, actually, giving my dress to my mom and having her make a christening dress out of the fabric. My mom was a home ec major in college, so any time anything needs any kind of sewing, I hand it over to Mom!

My other idea is to make a wreath. Kind of like this.

(source)

I could wrap the fabric around a styrofoam loop, then add some fabric flowers. Flowers in our wedding colors. And a peacock feather? I don't know. Something along those lines.

I think I'm leaning more towards the wreath. It's something we can hang on our wall and always have a piece of our wedding day to look at without it being obvious. It would be like our little secret.

What did you do with your wedding dress?

Hold on Tight

2011-05-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

Alternate title: Why Social Work Will Take You on the Ride of Your Life...Every Day

I mentioned that Friday was a crazy day, right? There are many reasons why a day in the life of a hospital social worker can be crazy. But Friday was a particularly special kind of crazy.

Not only did I have multiple discharges to arrange (which means making referrals, finding an accepting facility, getting insurance authorization, setting up transportation, and communicating all of the above to the patient and family), but I also had a patient who refused to do anything without my "permission" (more on that in a minute), and a psych placement. With out-of-area insurance. Who was refusing to go to inpatient treatment, despite the fact that she was under involuntary committment and therefore legally couldn't refuse. It's unnerving to have to tell someone, "I'm sorry, but, um, tough shit, you're going to get on that ambulance stretcher and go to treatment." Legal committment or not, it's not pleasant to force someone into treatment. We actually had to call security at one point because she threatened to walk out. I had to stand there and have a discussion with her about the fact that she was being committed against her will and she had absolutely no choice in the matter. Not. Fun.

But that's not the part that made my day so roller-coaster-y. (Yep that's totally a word). I had another patient who, when he first came into the hospital, you could not have a rational conversation with him. He was delusional and paranoid. I know, it sounds like I work on a psych floor, doesn't it? I promise, I don't. He was delusional due to a medication toxicity - he'd accidentally/unknowingly overdosed on one of his home medications, and it caused him to go a little wacky for a bit. Once his toxicity level came down, he calmed down and was able to have a real, meaningful, purposeful conversation.

This patient had been (through his perception) abused by the system his entire life. He was distrusting of everyone in the hospital. He threw several doctors and nurses out of his room. The first time I met with him, I had to walk away because he was so abusive. But somehow, I got through to him and he grew to trust me. He felt like, for his whole life, he'd been promised things that were never delivered. I did what I told him I'd do, and I think he felt like he finally had someone on his side. He needed help at home but refused to sign the paperwork necessary to get the help at home because a) he is illiterate and b) he was afraid they'd take his house (a very common misconception, unfortunately). Once I explained everything to him, he agreed to have the caseworker come back and to sign the paperwork...only if I was present for the meeting and explained anything he wasn't sure about.

So I was and he signed everything. It was kind of a proud moment for me. As a social worker, it is incredibly fulfilling to know that you gained the trust of a man that so few others could not. He signed the paperwork. He agreed to go a nursing facility for rehab ("for one week!"), even though the facility that accepted him was outside the city. I had everything arranged for him to go on Saturday. I left work exhausted but feeling like I had done some real social work.

I came in this morning and received a voicemail from his insurnace company saying that he'd never arrived at the nursing facility. I called the facility and they told me that they'd received word that he'd left the hospital AMA, meaning Against Medical Advice, before his discharge. I checked the chart and, indeed, he had signed out AMA.

I have to admit, I'm a little heartsick over this. I thought I had done some real work. I thought I had made progress and made a difference in this man's life. I thought we had a deal. The nurse practitioner who was on service the day of his discharge is not here today, nor is the nurse who discharged him, so I can't find out what exactly went down until later in the week. I ended last week on such a high, and this is a pretty major blow.

In my heart of hearts, I know that I do good in my job. But things like this make it hard to see the forest for the trees.

Man-Candy Monday

2011-05-23T08:31:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday, lovers! Hope you all had a great weekend. We had a blast at the circus on Sunday, even though it was chilly. And Saturday, well, I guess we all survived the end of days. Or whatever that was supposed to be. Which is kind of nice. I kind of like my life.

But you're not here to hear about my weekend, are you? Ok, well, ready for some yummm?

Mm-mm-mmh. Bradley Cooper. He randomly appeared on Saturday Night Live tonight, and despite the fact that Matt was sitting right next to me, I couldn't help myself - I squealed. Like a 10 year old girl. "EEE! Oh my God, it's actually him," she said, breathlessly. You'd have thought he walked into our living room.

He's so hot.

Link up and join in the fun!

*all images from google

Fun Fact Fri(Satur)day

2011-05-21T10:56:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was an absolutely insane day at work, and by the time I got home (2 hour late), I was so wiped, all I could do was collapse on the couch and have a glass of Bailey's on the rocks. So I didn't get around to Fun Fact Friday, even though I totally knew what I wanted to write.

Matt and I are going to circus tomorrow! Assuming, of course, that we survive the whole end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it hoopla. It's the annual LuLu Shrine Circus. I've wnated to go for several years, but just never got a chance to. This year, I had a 1/2-off offer and we actually had a (semi)free weekend! So we're going.

(source)

The LuLu Shrine Circus is near and dear to my heart not only because it's a circus (and who doesn't love a circus) but also because it's put on by the LuLu Shrine Temple. What does that mean, exactly? It's run by Shriners. Ok, aaaannnd? Well, I used to work for Shriners Hospitals for Children, and since then Shriners Hospitals has been my pet charity. I donate money every paycheck through a direct deposit to Shriners Hospitals. I donate all our soda can tabs to Shriners Hospitals because they recycle them and use the money to buy equipment for the hospitals. Shriners is very very important to me. Read more about Shriners Hospitals for Children here. It seriously is totally free care - regardless of income and insurance - and it's amazing care. The things I saw when I worked there were so inspiring.

Anyway, every year, many Shrine temples around the country put on circuses or other such things to raise money for the hospitals. The LuLu Shrine is the Philadelphia-area Shrine temple. In Hershey, it was the Zembo Shrine, and I grew up going to the Zembo Shrine Circus before I even know what the Shriners were.

So, for this week's Fun Fact Friday, here are some fun circus facts!

(source)

~ A basic balancing act = a base to lift/catch the flyer + a flyer to perform skills in mid-air + a spotter who assists the flyer. We used the exact same terminology in cheering. I was one of the lucky ones who did all 3. (c:

~ Cary Grant started his career as an acrobat in a circus

~ It is statistically harder to get into Ringling Brothers School of Clowning than into Harvard Law School.

~ Sousa's march, "Stars and Stripes Forever," was usually played to quickly alert all circus personnel to an emergency in the tent (sound familiar, Water for Elephants readers?)

~ Human cannonballs travel at 60-70 miles per hour. So the next time you're driving down the highway, imagine not being in a car. Yikes.

~ The first circus in America was put on in Philadelphia (woohoo!) in 1793. George Washington was in attendance.

~ The hamburger was born out of necessity at a circus in 1892 when a food concessions manager ran out of link sausages and instructed his assistants to grind the meat into patties.

~ July 4, 1944 - the tent at the Big Show catches fire. Dozens are injured and killed. It's the first big tragedy to happen at a circus. Six officials were sent to prison.

~ Ringling Brothers Clown College started accepting female applicants in 1970.

*fun facts from here and here

Freebie List

2011-05-19T20:13:00.001-04:00

I'm jumping the bandwagon with Jessica and Steph. Seems a little blog party is making the rounds based on the Friends episode where everyone discusses their Celebrity Freebie List - the top 5 celebrities they're "allowed" to cheat on their significant others with. Matt and I have had this discussion before. Or, well, basically, I've told him, "Honey, if he ever shows up at our front door, you'll just have to forgive me." So who did I say that about? Here's my Freebie List (I haven't laminated it....yet):

(source)

Bradley Cooper. That smile. The messy hair. Those abs. He's just delicious. He was filming in Philadelphia a few months ago, and - I'm not gonna lie - I seriously considered calling out of work so I could go find him.

(source)

Adam Brody. AKA, Seth Cohen (on The O.C.). His devotion to Summer, loyalty to Ryan, and relationship with his parents were just adorable. And the wit and charm? I die. I loved Seth Cohen and said many times that I'd marry him if he were real. Apparently, Adam Brody pretty much is Seth Cohen.

(source)

Josh Holloway. Seriously? How hot was Sawyer? With the accent and the abs and the hair... oh boy. And remember when he wore the glasses that he made? Love.

(source)

Ryan Kwanten. Oh. Em. Gee. True Blood is not lacking in pretty things to look at, but boy oh boy, Ryan Kwanten is certainly a highlight!

(source)

Jared Leto. Be still my 14-year-old heart. In 1993, if you were a girl and didn't love Jordan Catalano, you may not have been alive. He's still gorgeous today (even with his eye makeup).

So? Who's on your list?

Rant

2011-05-18T09:37:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have one of those days/weeks where everything and everyone just seems to be out to piss you off? Maybe this is one of those weeks for me. Or maybe I'm just feeling extra-sensitive - it's a full moon and I have my period. The two most wacktastic times of the month are in full alignment for me this month, and it ain't pretty. I feel cranky, tired, annoyed, and fat.

The way things are set up in my hospital is that the social workers are in the department of Clinical Resource Management. This means that we are in the same department as the nurse case managers, who do the insurance reviews to make sure the hospital gets paid. When I first started here, over 4 years ago, the social workers did all the discharge planning - set up home care, ordered equipment, arranged placements, setting up transportation, ordering medications...it was a lot, and things fell through the cracks. We were totally overwhelmed. About 3 years ago, the set up changed a little bit in that the home needs fell to the nurse case managers, so now they do the insurance reviews plus arrange home care and order equipment. The theory behind this was that it would provide the social workers more time to do what we're trained for - to provide supportive counseling for patients and families. It hasn't done that, but it was a nice thought.

Anyway. Where I'm really going with this is that it can be very difficult to be paired with someone whose job is basically about the bottom line. The case manager's job is to make sure we - the hospital - is getting paid. Which means they have to find reasons to prove to the insurance companies that the patient needs to be in the hospital. If the patient no longer meets "hospital level of care," it's time for him/her to go. They also have to make sure that the patient's discharge plan is "safe," which sounds very altruistic and lovely, but really, it just means they need to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep the patient from getting readmitted, because if a patient comes back to the hospital within 30 days for the same reason, we (the hospital) don't get paid.

While I understand that making sure the hospital is getting paid is important (I'd like to keep getting a steady paycheck, too), my first priority is to see that the patient's rights are being respected and upheld. And this is where the social workers and the nurse case managers fall off the same page. And me and my nurse case manager? We may as well be in different books. Social workers operate based on a core code of ethics and values. The biggest one of those is to support the patient/client's right to self-determination. And I take that value very seriously. I feel like it is my job to advocate for the patient's right to make her own decision (so long as the patient has the mental capacity to do so). If the doctors recommend placement for a patient, I am happy to discuss it with her. But if she tells me that he wants to go home, that's her choice. My job is to provide patients with the knowledge and choices to make an informed decision. After that, it's up to the patient. And we have to respect that, whether or not we agree with it. Everyone has the right to fail. But at least they failed with their dignity in tact.

My case manager and I butt heads on this a lot. And I get very frustrated with her very quickly. She is constantly trying to get involved in cases that I am working on. If I have established a relationship with a patient or family and am working with them to help them make a decision about home care services or rehab placement or (and this is my pet peeve!) hospice services, but the family is not deciding fast enough, she gets involved and puts pressure on me and on the family. It's completely inappropriate and it makes me really angry. I have discussed it with her and with our boss, but it never corrects. It's her personality and unfortunately, my personality is the complete opposite. We do not work well together and it's very difficult. I am currently in discussions with my boss, who has just hired someone new, to change up the assignments a bit and put a new nurse case manager on my floor. It's not a healthy work environment for either of us, and I fear that we do a disservice to our patients because we're so frustrated with each other. But I worry that because she's so busy undermining me and then I'm trying to clean up the mess she inevitably causes, we're just confusing and frustrating the patients. And as far as I'm concerned, it's ok to piss me off, but when you start affecting my patients, then it's not cool anymore. I am here, as a social worker, to fight for my patients and to support their wants and needs. If someone is interfering with that, it offends me.

There are many other things about our working relationship that frustrate me. She sends me emails throughout the day, telling me things about my patients that I already know because I've already established a relationship with them! She makes inappropriate remarks about our patients. She tries to drag me into situations where I do not need to be. She tries to pawn work off on me. She tries to make me feel guilty when she stays late and I leave (relatively) on time [somehow the fact that she sits around and gossips with other staff rather than getting her work done means I should be helping her out]. Luckily, my frustration (and let's face it, disdain) with her does not outwardly show, thank goodness (I asked a friend of mine who used to be a floor nurse on our unit).

What do you think? How do you deal with coworkers who you just cannot seem to mesh with?

Me-Time

2011-05-17T22:17:00.000-04:00

I had a great weekend, you guys. I hope you all did, too. Matt was away, visiting a friend of his in Maryland, so I had a girls' weekend. On Friday night, I stayed in and had a night to myself. It was the first time in a really long time, and it was quite lovely. I love my husband, but every now and then, a girl needs to have a couple glasses of white wine and watch some chick flicks. First I caught up on 2 weeks' worth of Nurse Jackie and The United States of Tara. Do you watch those shows? They're absolutely fantastic. Toni Collette, as Tara, is phenomenal. Seriously. You should watch it. Then I watched Easy A. Emma Stone was cute enough, but for me, Stanley Tucci stole the show. He played the father and he was hysterical. After that, I watched Once. What a beautiful film. If you like music, especially organic, raw, beautiful, acoustic guitar music, you must watch this movie. It actually made me cry.

Anyway, on Saturday, my friend Nicole came down. We had a lovely day. We spent a few hours at my house, just catching up and gossipping. We also went to get our nails done. I had hoped we'd have time for mani-pedis, but we chitchatted at home for too long, and only had the time to get manicures. I chose a color that was way out of the ordinary for me:

Purple with a Purpose

Yeah, it's bright. But I kind of love it. I went in wanting a dark grey, but I'm glad I went with this.

After our manicures, we went to see Bridesmaids. Really funny. You guys should go see it. At one point, I laughed so hard I was in tears. Kristin Wiig is adorable and I just love Maya Rudolph, And what's not to love about a movie about a bridal party gone horribly, hysterically awry? I really enjoyed this and give it "two very enthusiastic thumbs up, fine holiday fun!" [name that movie]

Wanna know something funny? Half of this stuff wasn't in the actual movie. Anyway, the movie was over and we were starving. Initially I'd planned for us to go into Center City for some dinner and drinks, but it was raining and neither one of us felt like walking around the city in the rain. So we opted to stick around where I live and ended up at the Melting Pot. YUM-O. Did you know that even if you don't have a reservation, you can eat right at the bar? Yup, they have fondue pots right at the bar. Awesome!!!

Sunday rolled around and I ran a few errands and then got dinner going in the crock pot while waiting for Matt to get home. Sunday night we watched The King's Speech, which totally lived up to the hype, in my opinion. If you haven't seen it, see it.

Yeah, this was a movie-fest weekend for me, but I really needed it. Work has been crazy, and I feel like I've been going at 180% for weeks. My body was really craving this down-time, so it came at a perfect time. What do you do with your "me-time?"

Man-Candy Monday

2011-05-16T08:50:00.002-04:00

Selma, over at Crazy Little World of Mine, has been doing this for the psat couple of weeks and I've been thoroughly enjoying it. I mean, what's not to like about spending a few minutes of your Monday morning gazing at cute boys? Right? So, I'm linking up and joining the fun. My first Man-Candy? Brandon Boyd. The lead singer of Incubus. He is just. so. pretty. Take a few moments and soak in the yummyness.

Mmm. Isn't he delicious?! (all images from google)

It's a blog hop, so link on over at Join the Gossip to start your day off with something pretty to look at!

Tappin 2011

2011-05-14T10:14:00.002-04:00

*I know I posted this the other night. I'm sure of it. But thanks to Blogger's major FAIL this week, it seems to have disappeared into internet nowhere-ness. Thanks, Blogger.*

On Friday, I briefly mentioned that I was going to a dance show Saturday night with my mom and sister. It is one of the two dance schools in Hershey (for a small town, it seems to have a very high concentration of dancers!) - One Broadway - and they have been known for years to put on quite a show every year. The school got its start in 1991 (holy crap) when the two owners of the original school (Hershey School of Dance) had a falling out. One Broadway opened down the street from Hershey School of Dance and quickly gained a reputation as the (in my humble opinion) stronger "talent pool" in town.

Over the years, One Broadway put on some seriously amazing shows, which they called "Tappin." Because of the talent of its dancers, it was able to pull off things that you'd see in big dance companies. They copied - almost tap for tap - numbers from Broadway shows. Tappin has always been a big production, and the weekend of the show is a big weekend in Hershey. Girls took off school on the Friday before the show to "prepare," and the whole town turned out to see it.

In the years after my sister's class left, things kind of got a little weird at One Broadway, and the quality of the show (from what I've heard) suffered. I went back this year not really knowing what to expect. I have to say that although it's definitely different from the years I was there, it seems to be on the up-swing. There are definitely some talented girls (one in particular who I could not take my eyes off of) and for the most part, the choreography was very strong. I think the show still has a way to go, but it's obvious that the current teachers (3 of whom are One Broadway alumni; 2 of whom I absolutely worshiped when I was a wee thing) really care about turning the school around and making it the spectacle it once was.

Anyway, I know none of you really care about any of this, but One Broadway and Tappin were such a huge part of my life for so long, I really just wanted to talk about it a little bit. To make it more interesting, and to help showcase some of the crazy things that One Broadway did over the years, here are a few pictures from my days as a One Broadway dancer. Get ready, cuz I am about to supremely embarass myself!!

1989 - "Playin with the Boys." My first year of dance. I was 10. And yes, that is a trash can lid on my foot. That's how awesomesauce 1Bway was. I cannot tell you how much it was to stomp around with that thing. This same year, we did another number dressed as painters and carried ladders around.

1990 - "Baby, I'm a Star." Little-known but awesome Prince song. This year we also did Grease, and had pink ladies and t-birds. I was a t-birds. I wore a white t-shirt, black jeans, and black Converse with taps on them.

1991 - "Strike It Up." Ok, so this year was kind of major for me. I dropped my hula hoop. In the show. In the first minute. It rolled across the stage, off the stage, and up the aisle of the theater. I wanted to die. Instead, I finished the dance, then ran off stage in tears. I cannot hear that song today and not get all nervous inside.

1992 - "The Rhythm." This was a fun one. This year, we also did a number from Will Rogers Follies called "Give a Man Enough Rope." We were dressed as cows. Complete with horns and a tail. You will never see that, internet. Ever.

1993 - I don't remember the name of this one. My friends and I thought we looked like hookers. I remember being terribly annoyed that we took the pictures this year in this costume rather than our other one. Our other number this year was from the show Crazy for You. We wore the same costumes they did in the show, complete with blonde curly wigs. It was great. And one of my favorite numbers.

1994 - "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Our other number this year was called "Mardi Gras," and I hated it. I think I must have skipped the pro photos this year. It was my last year of dance and I was kind of getting over it. Although I did absolutely love this number. This is the only picture I have. Look carefully and you can see where my mom circled my head.

So there you are, world. My tap days in all their glory. I do miss dance sometimes, and have looked for tap classes in the area, but I worry that I'll never find anything as good as One Broadway so I never actually end up taking a class. It's silly, I know. That's me, though. Picky to a fault.

*Sorry for the crappy photos. They're pictures I took with my phone of the pictures my mom pasted in my baby book. That's why they're so dark and grainy.

Wow.

2011-05-10T08:43:00.000-04:00

9 years ago today, my life was railroaded. What happened that night changed me. If you'd told me then that everything would work out and that my life would move forward, I'd never have believed you. I felt totally stuck. And it scared me to death.

In the years following, the anniversary of that night was a day that I stayed in bed and wallowed. I dreaded it for days beforehand, and it made me feel anxious and sad and scared and angry.

These days, I don't even really think about it. I had no idea it was today until I woke up and logged onto facebook and saw that it was Matt's cousin's daughter's birthday. A few years ago, I discovered that her birthday is the same day. If I hadn't realized today was her birthday, I wouldn't have realized today was the anniversary.

I'm so proud of myself that I no longer dwell on it and that I've moved on to a point where I barely even think about it anymore. The girl that I was before that night will never exist again, but I'm closer to her now than I was for years after. Days like today remind me how strong I am. And that, above anything else, puts a smile on my face.

Nerd Alert!

2011-05-09T15:18:00.000-04:00

You guys. I love Harry Potter. Possibly more than any book or movie series ever. My sister gave me my first Harry Potter book back a thousand years ago when it first came out, and since then I have devoured them. I have read them over and over. I have pre-ordered new books so that they arrive on my doorstep on the day of release. I have gone to see every single movie in the theater. I have purchased (or had purchased for me) every movie. I have the special edition books (The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Harry's schoolbooks). I have a Harry Potter keychain. And a pewter Harry Potter Christmas ornament that does not hang on my tree but rather sits in its box on my bookshelf. On display. In our living room.

Yes, I realize that I am 32 and not 12. But there's something about these books that just totally suck me in. It is the first series where I really feel like I lost myself in the book. Where I really believed that a place like Hogwarts existed. Where I really tried to picture what a hippogriff looked like and how butterbeer tasted. I love seeing the movies not only because I love seeing the stories come to life, but also because I love seeing how closely my imagination of these things matches the director (who, as you know, consulted a lot with J.K. Rowling).

So, because of my love of all things Harry Potter, I was bored the other day and started playing on Pinterest and Etsy. Here are a few Harry Potter things I just luuuuuurve.

(source)

I don't do tattoos, but this might make me reconsider

Hogwarts snuggie?! Yes, please!

I wish I could pull these off!

So true

And for future Erin/Matt babies...

Gryffindor beanie!

Onesie

For the nursery wall

So? Am I a huge dork, or what?

Answers to the New York Quiz

2011-05-06T19:49:00.003-04:00

Ok, so here are the locations from the TV and Movie Tour photos I posted on Wednesday.

1. Trump Tower - as seen in Celebrity Apprentice, Borat, and August Rush

2. New York Public Library - as seen in Sex and the City, Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, Breakfast at Tiffany's, etc

3. Washington Square Arch - as seen in When Harry Met Sally, August Rush, I am Legend, etc

4. Will Smith's house in I Am Legend

5. Katz's Deli - as seen in When Harry Met Sally ("I'll have what she's having"), Across the Universe, Man vs. Food, etc

6. Toby Maguire (aka Peter Parker)'s apartment in Spider-Man

7. Dean and Deluca - where Felicity worked (I so totally miss that show!)

8. Hook and Ladder 8 - as seen in Ghostbusters, Hitch, and Seinfeld

9. Will Smith's apartment in Hitch

Celebrity - Jeremy Piven, aka Ari Gold! Just walkin down the street in Tribeca. Matt's the one who spotted him!

10. #10 St. Luke's Place - The Cosby Show

11. The Friends' building!

12. The Soup Man - aka the Soup Nazi, from Seinfeld!

So, how'd you do???