Baby It's Cold Outside

Yeah, it's cold.  I thought I moved to the South to get away from this whole Winter thing!  But no...It is FAH-reezing.  I know, I know I am a yankee and I should be able to tough out a few days in the 30’s but when you live in a drafty old house (current inside temp is in the 50's) and forgot the call the landlord to have the heat turned on, toughing it out is not all that easy.  In order to compensate for our lack of central heating, the ladies of the hotel have been snuggled up to this little baby…

I’m not kidding when I say we have been moving it around and positioning it just a few feet from our toes at all times.  I even considered bringing it into the bathroom and pointing it toward my towel-clad body as I shivered my way out of the shower this morning.  Luckily, help is on the way in the form of the gas man who promises to come tomorrow afternoon and heat up the joint.  Until then, I plan to stay bundled in a snowsuit and planted directly next to the fire hazard space heater.  

I hope YOU are warm and cozy where ever you are!

Give a Little

Have you come out of your food coma yet?  Or does the tryptophan still have you comatose on the couch?  If you are one of those insane people who waited in line at the mall this weekend for those deals that you just can’t pass up, I give you a lot of credit.  Even I can’t stand the madness that is the King of Prussia Mall on Black Friday and coming from a girl who really, really loves her shoes…that is saying something. 

Traditionally, we think of this time of year as a season for giving but let’s face it, we’re pretty into the getting around this time too.  So I wanted to give you all a few ideas for ways that we can all give a little something back since, when we stop to think about it, we all probably have a lot more than we actually need.  Check out two suggestions for ways that you can do your part below:

Soles4Souls.  Like I said, I am a girl who knows the importance of fancy footwear and this is a way that we can help make sure that everyone has something to cover up their toes this winter.  According to RealSimple magazine, there are 2.9 billion (yep, billion) pairs of shoes sitting in the closets of women across the country.  And while some of us are hoarding away all of these shoes, others have none.  Soles4Souls is a charity that distributes shoes to over 300 million children and 1.5 billion adults around the world.  So clean out those closets and drop off your gently used shoes at a collection box in your area (souls4souls.org).

Project H.O.M.E.  Now this may be more suitable for hands-on help from you Philly folks since it is based here in the city, but they will certainly accept that cashmonayy from where ever you are!  Started by one of TIME magazines 100 Most Influential People, Sister Mary Scullion, Project H.O.M.E. works toward ending homelessness in the Philadelphia area through education, employment, medical care, and affordable housing.  My dad and I had the opportunity work with Sister Mary to help pack boxes of Thanksgiving dinners for Philadelphia families the other night and talk about getting some perspective.  Sister Mary is an amazing woman and the work she is doing is really making a difference so check out this website to learn about how you can help!

Happy giving!

Thankful

             I am not always the best at counting my blessings and being thankful for all that I have in my every day life.  Sure, I know that I am blessed beyond measure and really don’t need a single thing but I usually don’t take the time to stop and think about it.  So though it is cliché and blogs all over the internet are exploding with posts about being thankful, I am jumping right on that bandwagon.

            In the spirit of the holiday, I figured I would share just a few of the things that I am thankful for.  And prepare yourself, this is gonna be long (and somewhat random).  Cause when I stop to think about it, my life is busting at the seams with blessings.  Check yourselves out at number 3 J

I am thankful for…

My roommates.  Honestly, I don’t know what I did before I moved into the hotel and was surround by these fabulous people.  I am the kind of person who does not like to be alone.  I get lonely easily and though I find myself pretty entertaining at times, even I get bored of me.  So I have felt so blessed to share a house and my life with these six girls.  They are some of the funniest, kindest, loyalest (not a word), best people I know.

My new-found love for addiction to coffee.  I swear I couldn’t stomach the stuff just two short years ago but it has been my study buddy for all of grad school and has helped me keep my eyes open during even the roughest of three-hour lectures.

The blog and it’s readers.  I started this little blog almost a year ago as a way for family to see what I was up to and to give myself a record of the ups and downs of life as a grad school grandma.  But it has turned into much more.  Now don’t worry, I am nowhere near quitting my day job and joining the blogosphere full-time but it has been a pretty cool experience thus far.  And to all of you who check in with the blog, leave sweet comments, and send me emails to let me know that something I said resonated with you, I am so grateful.  It can be hard to put it all out there and I sometimes wonder how all of my gut-spilling will be perceived, but you have made it totally worth it.  So basically I love ya.

Nashville.  It is the backdrop to many of the stories that land on the blog and it is such a special city.  If you haven’t been, go.  You won’t regret it.  And I promise there is more to it than Paradise Park and the Grand Ole Opry (but those are pretty great too).

The fact that I get to be in grad school.  That’s right, I said “get to.”  With all of my bitching and moaning about schoolwork and stress and a lack of a social life, you might think that I hate this whole putting-off-the-real-world thing.  But really I am learning a ton and enjoying what I’m doing and in the grand scheme of things that is pretty important.  Don’t get me wrong, I plan on soaking up every happy hour and free Sunday afternoon that I can get after graduation but in the meantime, its not all that bad.

Seatbelts.  After spending a semester working in the hospital, much of it in the Trauma ICU, I have seen the difference that just wearing your seatbelt can make.  Seatbelts are sexy.  Wear them.

These people.  I tend to get mushy about my family a lot on this blog so I’ll keep it short.  I love them.  And they love me even though I’m a sore loser and talk in accents at the dinner table.  So I feel pretty lucky.

Here's hoping you have LOTS to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Friendsgiving Dinner

I have a friend who loves the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends.  

            In fact, he says that he has always wondered when the time would come where he would stop going home to spend the holiday with his family and instead, have a Friendsgiving.  I think he was a little disappointed when we told him we all planned on going home for the real deal for at least the next few years, but I would say that Saturday's early Friendsgiving dinner was a pretty close second!

Okay you'll have to forgive the classy Keystone...we're not really grown-ups yet...

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Hello? Anybody still out there?

            Once again, I have been a little MIA.  But that color I so desperately needed after a very gray few weeks finally arrived.  And y’all, I got color in spades.  That color came in the form of an acceptance to an externship program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia this coming summer, time spent with family and friends in Philadelphia, and not one but two “Friendsgiving” celebrations.  I guess it just goes to show that the return of the color really is inevitable but sometimes we have to be a little bit patient.  Check out some pictures from the past few days to see what I have been up to!

            Thanksgiving dinner at the Hotel was a huge hit.  Everyone’s food was delish and the conversation, laughter, and wine continued to flow late into the night.  Top it off with Gwyneth Paltrow on Glee to end the night and I would say it was pretty perfect.

I love living in a house where pj's are the encouraged dinner attire...forgive the look of complete exhaustion and apparent lack of vitamin D...yikes your girl needs a tan.

I love loved showing my Nashville friends around my city…sometimes it takes seeing it through new eyes to really appreciate where you come from.

And as if one turkey dinner wasn’t enough, on Saturday I took a road trip down to DC for round two with some favorite friends.  Stay tuned for pictures!

Sticking Out the Gray

            The past few days have been a little rough.  A lot of school work, not a ton of fun, and the stress that comes with trying to get everything done before heading out of town.  And as a result, the blog has suffered.  I don’t mean to leave y’all out in the cold but sometimes when everyday life is taking a lot out of you you’re not left with a lot of energy to write about it.  So I hope you’ll forgive me!

            I was reading another blog the other day and the author talks about how life is filled with color.  All of that fabulousness and the moments that you want to just sit and soak up like a big soapy sponge.   Getting a promotion, reuniting with old friends, a really great first kiss.  But she also talks about the gray.  The long thankless day at school or work, the fight with a friend, the end of a relationship, or just the general funk that comes with a bad day.  And though these grey moments really suck and sometimes hurt like hell, we’ve gotta live them so that the color is all the more vibrant.  The joy is that much better.  I think she’s onto something…

            So as I sit here at my desk, on a Saturday night, working on not one but two papers, living the gray, I can only anticipate the color that is to come.  And I plan on grabbing it with both hands and not letting go.

I Want That

Just some things that I've been lusting over lately...

I'm dying to see this movie.  I mean let's be serious...Jake Gyllenhaal.  Enough said.

I tried for a really long time to photoshop my own face into this picture in place of Anne Hathaway's...a girl can dream :-)

Loving this little gold ring from Anthro...Santa?  Are you listening?

Apple cider from Frothy Monkey is my favorite.

Sorry Katy Perry, the Glee version is wayy better.

GMA at the CMAs!

            When you live in the country music capital of the world, there is no bigger event than the Country Music Awards.  And tonight, ladies and gentlemen, is the big night.  So in order to celebrate, my roommates and I dragged our sleepy heads out of bed at 5:30am and headed downtown (not before grabbing some coffee of course...I'm not a real person until I've had caffeine) to join in on the taping of Good Morning America at the Country Music Awards.  And though it was a little chilly and my eyes still had some of that sleepy dust in them (see pictures below for proof), it was fabulous.  And I have now come to two conclusions:  Sam Champion really does look like a Ken doll in real life and I'm really sad that Dierks Bentley wears a wedding ring.  Just saying.

Best seats in the house

This was the real deal.

Yikes...6am is not a good look for me.

Sam and Dierks.  We're on a first name basis.  NBD.

And now some videos for your viewing pleasure...

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do...

Ever heard that song?  Well as a little girl, it was my favorite.  I sang it every night.  The last line is “it won’t be a stylish marriage, I can’t afford a carriage, but you’ll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.”  And don’t you just love this bicycle-built-for-two wall hanging?  I do.  I think it would look fabulous in my someday-living room.  Does anyone else have a file of all the things you might maybe, someday, if you win the lottery, have in your future home?

This photo is courtesy of You Are My Fave.  I don’t know the blog’s author personally but already know that I like her because she is a self-proclaimed lover of polka-dots and performer of the post-board-game-winning victory dance.  And so am I.

The Party's Over

The pumpkins are sporting some serious mold, the temperatures are dipping into the 50’s (gasp!), and the Halloween costumes are getting packed away for next year.  It is no longer acceptable for me to indulge in excessive amounts of candy and pumpkin-flavored beer.  And though a part of me is sad to be kissing my most favorite month goodbye, another part of me is excited because November brings with it a lot of goodness of it’s own.  In just three weeks I will head home for time with family during which we will proclaim just how thankful we are for a life chock-full of blessings. 

My mom, sister, and I will spend hours in the kitchen (I will only be stirring and chopping of course) with James Taylor blaring, bowls piled high in the sink, and the intoxicating smell of sweet potato soufflé seeping from the oven.  Other highlights of November include showing my Nashville friends the life of a yankee with a trip to Philadelphia, a 5-year high school reunion which is guaranteed to awkward and as a result, alcohol-fueled, and lots of virtual hugs sent to the boy in South Africa who won’t be able to make it home for Thanksgiving.  Okay, so October may be gone but November is gonna be good.  I can feel it.