Four Down, One to Go

            It’s hard to believe that I have put away yet another set of textbooks and graduation and the real world are only a semester away!  But the end is in sight and it feels oh so good.  So last Tuesday night, after wrapping up our last final, my school friends and I got together for a little celebration.  Now, it was nothing crazy but a little cookie decorating and a lot of champagne drinking was exactly what we needed!  And though the combined sugar/champagne buzz was heavenly while it lasted, the crash came hard and quick and we were in bed by 10pm.  Ohhhh to be a grad school grandma J

A Snowy Sunday in the South

            This is going to be a post of few words.  Instead, I will let my pictures do the talking because a) my brain is not functioning due to excessive amounts of useless information about swallowing that are occupying space that is usually reserved for (somewhat) eloquent and witty thoughts that end up on the blog and b) the first snow has a way of blanketing even the busiest of cities and most stressful of days in a quiet that can't really be described in words.

"I am younger each year at the first snow.  When I see it, suddenly, in the air, all little and white and moving; then I am in love again and very young and I believe in everything."

~ Anne Sexton

Happy Snow Day!

Love,

The Hotel

DIY Happiness

"People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if you are fortunate.  But happiness is the result of personal effort.  You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world to find it.  You have to participate relentlessly."

~Elizabeth Gilbert

            Being the wishful thinker that I am, I tend toward the mindset that if all of the pieces would just fall into the right places, I would be perfectly, blissfully, happy.  If only I could get this one wish or change that one moment that set in motion the chain of events that led to some sort of unhappiness.  So when I read this quote, I got to thinking about happiness.  Sure, I know that in theory, we are the creators of our own destiny, blah, blah, blah but I don't often think about the fact that if we really want to be happy we may need to take matters into our own hands.  

            So that is just what I did tonight.  Recently, I have felt like I am balancing a stack of textbooks on my head and holding my breath until Christmas.  This whole eat-sleep-breathe speech and language thing is taking it's toll and I desperately needed to go out and join the living.  And when I did, I discovered that life is going on in a big way out there.  I hadn't even realized it but the Christmas season is really here.  There are lights on branches, candles in windows, and trees lined up under tiny white bulbs just waiting to be picked.  And there is no better place to experience the magic of the holidays (and a friend's birthday!) than at the Opryland Hotel.  This place is Christmas on speed and I'm not afraid to say that I am addicted.

            So though it may not have been good for my GPA, my Christmas outing was good for my soul.  Instead of giving into the misery that is finals week in grad school, I went out searching for my own happiness and discovered if you just open your eyes and look around a little bit, it's not all that elusive after all.  

P.S. Can you believe how the Opryland Hotel has bounced back since the big flood?!

Spotted

            Calm down...I didn't see T.Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal, though I am studying in the cozy coffee shop where they were spotted just this past week.  But I am desperately hoping for a sighting even though I think it is stupid that they are dating and she is way to young and he should be my boyfriend instead.  Don't judge me.

             But back to what was really spotted here in Nashville this morning.  SNOW FLURRIES.  Yep, it's snowing here in my Southern city and I am loving it.  So what if it is not sticking and will probably be 50 degrees tomorrow.  Right now it feels Christmas-y and festive and I am soaking it up.

Gotta run!  Off to catch some snowflakes on my tongue.

In Case You Were Wondering...

            I know that Thanksgiving has come and gone but I wanted to just share a few pictures of my family's celebration at my favorite place in the world.

And I also promised my Aunt Kim that she would get a shout on the blog and I couldn't let her down!  

            Though we were only there for a short 24 hours, we soaked up every minute of our cozy Fox Point holiday.  Meal preparations were filled with the typical banter that I expect is present in every household in the minutes leading up to the turkey carving and consists of arguments about how many more minutes the turkey needs in the fryer (yep, I said fryer...red necks and proud of it), where we should put all of the food, and who is sitting next to who at the big long table.  To top it all off, the night ended with a massive family turkey coma, during which relatives of all ages were sprawled across every inch of living room carpet eyes glued (or closed in the case of the men) to the tv as Will Farrell pranced through the streets of New York City looking for his dad.  Talk about getting into the holiday season.

Sorry so blurry!

            And though I loved all of our Thanksgiving, I think one of my favorite parts of the holiday is the grace.  This is always my grandfather's job and though he gets made fun of for being a little long winded, the man says a mean grace.  The rest of the Thanksgiving celebration is hectic and filled with the happy hum of cousins and dogs and football on tv, but during those few minutes we all are quietly reminded of what is at the core of Thanksgiving.  And that is my favorite part...besides the sweet potatoes.