I Adore 34

Today I turned 34.

It was a lovely day. I got everything I wished for. I didn't wish for a snowstorm but I did get that this morning. It's okay. I can live with that. Everything else turned out great.

I got to my office this morning and it was decorated by my birthday buddy. We had an incredible cake and I got some great gifts from my lovely friends. My friend, Cristina sent me these beautiful flowers.

I wish I could get flowers every week!

I also attended a service awards thing for the college. I received my 5 year pin today. It's hard to believe I've been here for 5 years. I didn't think I'd make it to 2 much less 5. But I'm happy in my job and it was nice to get recognized for the service to the college.

After work, I went to have drinks with some friends and then had dinner with my crush. It was wonderful. I realize more and more that I love to spend time with him. But that's another story for another day...

In honor of my birthday I want to share with you:

34 Things I Want To Do in my 34th Year:

1. Travel to a city that I've never been to before

2. Complete my t-shirt quilt

3. Scan all photo albums

4. Get a facial or two

5. Increase savings account (contribute to it regularly)

6. Refinish the dresser that is stored at the GFE

7. Schedule all doctor's appointments for check ups

8. Get my car detailed professionally

9. Obtain a Claddagh ring (I can't buy it for myself--it's got to be given to me)

10. Purchase a Coach bag

11. Take a class about something new and not academic related

12. Get the Tiffany skeleton key necklace

13. Donate money to SU, O-State, Sigma and St. Jude

14. Research doctoral graduate programs

15. Get a gym membership

16. Attend a country concert and DMB concert at Bethel Woods

17. Take a beach vacation

18. Take a personal retreat

19. Have a yard sale in the spring/summer

20. Take a trip to see NYC (the tree at Christmas time)

21. Go camping/hiking

22. Save up for a washer/dryer for my apartment

23. Paint my bathroom and the weird room

24. Do something fun for St. Patrick's Day

25. Get a massage (I can't believe I've NEVER had one)

26. I would like to change my tattoo a little (outline it in black)

27. Try a new restaurant

28. Make a sign and stand outside of the Today Show

29. Do a professional organizing consultation (to start my portfolio)

30. Really begin the Tri Sigma alumnae group I always want to start

31. Write a letter/note to someone in my life at least once a week

32. Design a workout plan to add more toning exercises

33. Visit friends and family that I should see more often

34. Find one thing a day to be thankful for and verbalize it...

I truly do love my 30's so far!

Christmas at Club Chestnut

This is my first Christmas at my new apartment so I wanted to make sure I documented the decorations. I'm not feeling very festive but I do love the lights and the coziness of the holiday season.

Gracie and Sadie think the tree is really fun to lay under. I got this Merry Christmas sign at a holiday gift exchange years ago and it's one of my favorites.
The little tree in my office/library area.

It's hard to see but I got a sign that says Country Christmas for the kitchen.

The tree in the kitchen. I've had this tree since college, so it's OLD.

The tree in the foyer. I love the way the white lights look from the outside. I'm getting a bigger one for next year.

Another look at it.

This is the little tree in the living room. I just used cookie cutters on this one. I needed to look at lights in the living room.

The back entrance

Happy Holidays from Club Chestnut!

Thanks

I haven't blogged in awhile. The reason is because I've had a lot going on that I couldn't really write about (mostly all good). But today I wanted to take a pause to write about what I'm thankful for. I'm thankful that this year has brought me so many life lessons. I'm thankful for the wonderful people in my life--the people that love me no matter what happens and tell me so when I need to hear it. I'm thankful for new friends that have opened my heart a little more. I'm thankful that I've found some inner strength to deal with some aspects of my life that have been unpleasant for a long time. Mostly, I'm thankful that I've started a new chapter in my life and finally feel at peace with who I am and what I want. It's nice to finally feel that way. I'm thankful for the tiny blessings in daily life...

Today was a nice Thanksgiving. My friends Jared and Lizz (newly engaged) came over to celebrate. They brought the turkey and I provided the atmosphere and the desserts. :)

Here is the table before the food...The spread...Jared and Lizz actually brought a turkey that they killed at a local farm (free range--grass fed). I was really impressed with them. I might go do that next year. Here they are unpacking it. It was delicious too. Probably the best turkey I've ever had.Thankful we were finally about to eat...It was a great day with good friends. I even managed to bring a plate of food & one of my pies to a friend that couldn't make it today. Today my heart and stomach were happy and full--and I'm thankful for that.

I hope you all had a great day with friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

A Little Bit Country...

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet and I've JUST put away the Halloween decorations but I had to share this cute Christmas decoration I picked up last weekend. Although I'm in NO way ready for the holiday season (in fact I'm dreading it a bit this year) I do like to decorate for it.

Cute huh? Other than that it's Thursday and it's been a busy week. I was excited to watch the Country Music Awards last night. I love that Carrie and Brad hosted again.And Carrie's performance was great.
And how cute was Taylor Swift winning Entertainer of the Year?
But my favorite part was Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews performing. Loved it!

Did you watch? What was your favorite part?

Happy Thursday!

Boots & Bags

I mentioned my love of boots right now. Well, I didn't share the story of a few weeks ago. I went shopping on a Saturday morning (after a terrible night) to cheer myself up. I decided that getting new boots would be the answer to all my troubles for the moment. So I tried on this pair of black riding boots. They were cute and I was pretty much sold. But I had seen another pair in a different store and I wanted to make sure I didn't like those better. So I put my boots back on the shelf and went to check out the others. (My friend works at this shoe store so I told her I'd be back in a few) After about 20 minutes I decided that the boots at the first store were the ones for me. So I went back in to purchase my boots. Only to discover that my size was no longer there. I found my friend and asked her. They were being bought by another lady. (who would not wear them as cutely as I would have, I might add) So that was that. No boots for me that day. Sadness.

That was a few weeks ago... I still don't have those boots (I think later this week/next week) BUT....

Check out what I just got to fill the void

I love them and actually am wearing them today with a jean skirt. I don't think the picture captures the cuteness, but I assure you they are cute.


And I'm also carrying this little cutie that my friend Cristina brought me as a little surprise on Saturday. The handles are green--I just hadn't taken off the tissue paper yet. And I'm taking a half day at work. It is a good day!

Happy Tuesday!

Falloween

Well. Halloween is officially over now. In my world, anyway. I know it's a week late but the 1st Halloween at Club Chestnut took place on Saturday night. It was fun to dress up and hang out. Halloween night wasn't a good night for people with kids or any of the people that work at a college campus so it had to be this weekend. I love theme parties so I had to have a costume party.

Here are some highlights:

Jill, Me and Alisha

Emily and I
Jared and Vinny proving that dance does matter.

Batgirl and Emily

I think Jared and I were doing a high kick contest here. Yikes.

Now on to planning the next event...

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

What To Wear

When I get bored, stressed, or have a few minutes of free time I like to think of new ideas of what to wear. I people watch ALL the time to check out what they are wearing. I'm sure we all do this in varying degrees, right. I definitely plan out my hair or outfit for the next day while I'm sitting in a boring meeting.


Anyway, during some of these fashion brainstorming sessions I remembered a fashion statement I made back in high school (it was the 90's). The Eastland loafer. I used to ROCK the Eastlands. I even did the Eastland knot. Wow! I really loved these. Did any of you wear these or was it just my high school? I almost want a pair again. I remember them being really comfortable.

But back to 2009. I am obsessed with boots right now. As everyone seems to be right now. I am loving boots of all kinds. I really love boots with skirts. I love wearing skirts and dresses and want to find ways to incorporate them into winter. These are the looks I currently want to try out (both are taken from gap.com)

I love this look. So cute.

And this one is great. I adore the boots but I saw a girl wearing the knee socks with them the other day and I thought it was great. I need to go get knee socks. pronto.

(http://www.gap.com/)

Now I want to go shopping.

Have a great Friday!

New Tunes

Happy Tuesday! I've had a busy day. I just got home from work at 11 pm. So there isn't much to write about today. I did want to share that I got the new Carrie Underwood CD and I listened to it in my office today and I'm happy to report that I really like it. Of course, I'm a big Carrie fan--she's a Tri Sigma, after all. I really needed some new music in my life so this was good timing.
Sometimes it's the little things. What new music are you listening to?

Shout out to Dad

Yesterday my Dad, brother and I took a trip up to Buffalo to watch the Bills vs. the Texans. It was a fun day (although the Bills lost. Big time.) The weather was beautiful there (weird for the November, really)

I have a confession. I am a Buffalo Bills fan by birth. That may seem strange but it's true. My father is a HUGE Bills fan and I can't think of a time that this sports team wasn't a part of my life. Seriously, I don't have any recollection of a time that I didn't know about the Bills. I spent the four years of high school treading water cautiously after the Super Bowl losses. (sorry, Dad) I don't really consider it a Sunday in the fall or winter if I don't hear the gentle sounds of whistles blowing or commentators talking about 1st downs. It's just a way of life. And there is something comforting about the fact that I always know where my Dad is on any given Sunday when the Bills are playing. He'll be sitting in his recliner with his some Buffalo shirt on watching his boys play. Because of this, I feel a connection to this team. I always check to see how they did if I didn't watch the game. And I always feel happy when they've won and sad when they lose. But not because it's going to impact me in any way. I just want them to win because I know it'll make my Dad happy. I'm a good daughter.

My brother & I
Dad under the stadium sign

A little of the game...
Dad & I

Let's Go Buffalo!

Apple Delicious

I know I only worked for 3 days this week but I'm really happy it's Friday! I am feeling great. I went for a walk after work and all of my favorite songs came up on the iPod. That means it's going to be a good weekend, right? Fantastic.

I made some Apple Crisp the other day and I had some at lunch today and it's so amazing. I got the recipe from Angie last year and I LOVE it! It's incredible and I think it's a weight watchers recipe so it's relatively guilt free. So if you are looking for something fun to make for the Halloween festivities you have going on...

4 cups apples cored and sliced (about 6)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
6 tbsp.. melted butter

Place apples in pie plate

Blend all other ingredients and sprinkle over apples.
Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350. Enjoy!

I'm getting ready to meet people for dinner and then the rest of the night is open for just about anything...we'll see how it goes. Did I mention that I'm in a really good mood?

So what are people going to be for Halloween? I'm going to be a cat for the trick-or-treaters tomorrow but I have another costume for a party next week. :)

Have a GREAT weekend!

Wear it Wednesday

Well, I'm back at work today. And I have to say it's actually been a pleasant day. I haven't had a lot of meetings and my desk remains relatively uncluttered. It was a crazy rainy morning here. It's cleared up a bit and I think I might be able to walk later. I am trying to walk outside instead of doing the elliptical right now because I will have to be inside exercising all winter. Although I like both, but the outside walking is way more interesting.

So obviously I don't have a lot of fun to talk about today. Except I wanted to show my new nail color. It's Material Girl by Essie. I like it. Maybe I should have a special nail polish edition once a week. ha ha. Manicure Monday or something like that. Someone probably already does that though. hmmm..... So I mentioned that my father brought some of my boxes from storage over last week and in it was my letter jacket. At the bottom of the box, was this sweatshirt:

I got it when I was in 11th grade in Paris (I went there to play softball) and I wore it for a long time and then eventually put it in a box with the other high school stuff because I couldn't part with it. I love Paris and I remember being determined to find the perfect sweatshirt while I was there. So it's lived in a box for years. Well, I decided that I would actually wear it again. To put this in perspective I NEVER keep clothes this long and actually wear them again. I don't think anything in my closet survives more than 2 or 3 years at the most. So this it kind of fun for me. Is that weird?

I swear there is more meaningful stuff happening in my life, but this is way more blog able today. It's fun to be a girl...

One to Spare

I've spent the last two days doing nothing really. I think I needed a break from my normal routine. I needed to just be. Not do anything social. Just be. I've done stuff around the house and watched a lot of Friends on DVD. I don't want to go to work tomorrow but I guess every break has to come to an end. But I resolve that I will take some more days off in the near future. All I know is that this has helped to clear my head and put some stuff in perspective.

But anyway...on Friday night I finally finished my spare room. It's a small bedroom so it's the guest room/craft room. I haven't had a guest room in a long time so I was excited to get it done. Especially because I had my first "guest" on Saturday night. (Thanks to Dad for bringing me the bed!) Here is the view from the doorway. There is a sewing machine table in there too. It was my Grandmother's and I love it. Now I just need to learn to sew.

Here is the craft closet in the room. I love that I finally have a place to store craft stuff. It has to be reorganized at some point but it's fine for now. I need winter projects anyway.

That means I have finally finished unpacking. There are NO boxes left in this place. From now on I'll be concentrating on improvement projects. It feels good to be settled.

Now I'm off to take a walk before it rains. Happy Tuesday!

Memory Lane

I've lived in this town for twelve years (wow!) and my world is pretty compartmentalized. I went to college here and then worked at the college I went to. Then I left to go to graduate school and then moved back and am now working at the other college in town. So I generally have very different memories of each part of my time here. On Saturday I spent some time visiting my post college life.

I actually got invited to attend a dedication for the building I was the Residence Hall Director in back in the late 90's/early 00's. They renovated it all last year and they did such a nice job. It was great to be able to walk around and see the building. I had a lot of great times in the building so I always think of it fondly.

The view of the building. It looks so good now.Tobey used to be a very traditional residence hall. The typical kitchen on the main floor. But now each floor has a kitchen. And there used to be only one laundry room. Now there is laundry on each floor. This would have been great while I was a student there. My favorite part is the fitness center on the top floor. I am so jealous. I would have used this all the time when I was the RD. My very first supervisor and I.

After that I met up with my friends Beth and Tricia. They were here meeting up with their friends from college (I hung with different people in college). We went to a bar that we used to frequent back in the day. Although I live here, I rarely step foot in there any more. It was exactly the same as it always was--just new, younger faces.

Here are Tricia, Beth and I. Ginger & Roxy shutting it down at the end of the night. It was a fun day!

On Sunday I returned to the present and spent the day cleaning, doing laundry and getting stuff done around here. This is fall break for the students so I'm taking today and tomorrow off. I'm so excited! The weather is going to be good so I plan on taking some good walks and doing whatever else I want. I love fall break!

Happy Monday!