I Think I Can... I Think I can... I Think i can.. I think

This Weekend's To Do List

• See Dad in "West Side Story" as Officer Krupke
• Organize Guest Room
• Clean House
• Teach CCD
• Buy Baby Shower Gift
• Buy Bday Gift
• Run Errands
  
• Throw Surprise Baby Shower ~ "Nick's Last Fling Before the Teething Ring!"
• Burn CD of Jon and Wendy's Wedding Photos
  
• Attend Jon's 50th Bday Party
• Makeover Blog
• Updates
• Upload Pictures
  

Does anyone else have something to add?

Tonight

We are going out for Emre's birthday. We will start at the TAM around 8pm and do Trivia around 9pm. The TAM is a great place to get strong, cheap drinks in Boston. Then the party will head over to the nightclub Rumor. I don't know if I will make it to Rumor, but I am super excited to be going out tonight.

Apologizes ... Here's the scoop

I apologize for being away for a few days, but I had a very busy weekend. Let me break it down for you.

Thursday night
I got my hair done after work and then headed over to The Publick House to meet a bunch of friends for dinner. We were all celebrating Erin B getting a new job. :) Then we went around the tables and we each found something to be happy for. Most of us got the Mac and Cheese which was amazing as always. After dinner, some of us headed back to my place for a nightcap and then said our goodbyes. My mother called me, or I called her, I can't remember. I started to tell her I needed to be up by 4am in order to make it to this meeting in NH with my boss, which was an utter lie. You see, I was flying home to surprise her for her birthday and had to take a 7am flight. It astounds me that I could come up with a convincing fabrication while being a wee bit tipsy. lol After our chat, I only had 4 hours till I needed to be up again for my flight home to Chicago.

Friday
My mother was so sweet. She called to "wake me up for my meeting" at 4am. LOL I knew then that she had no idea what she was in for. Emre drove me to the airport, which was so nice of him, and I made it. I flew Jetblue for the first time. Let me tell you I felt like I was in first class! I had 42 Direct TV channels, Satellite Radio, leather seats, extra leg room and windows you could actually see out of. Jetblue is the new airline for me.
My father picked me up from the airport. He and I had been planning to surprise my mother for over a month. We had a great car ride home. We found my Mom in the kitchen on her laptop. I snuck up behind her and threw my arms around her. She had no idea and seemed to be happy I was home. She had thought everyone had forgotten her bday. Sadly, my sister thought that Friday was the day we were doing something and didn't really go out with my Mom on Thursday,making her feel like no one cared. lol Little did she know.
I finally got to meet our new family dog, Sally. She is adorable but still very timid. If you would like to read about her story and Clouseau's, check out my Mom's blog. I spent most of the day trying to get her to be comfortable with me and then ran errands with my Mom and sister. We went to a high end furniture store so my sister could steal a catologue for her interior design class. My mother had me say that I was thinking about moving back from Boston (which is true) and needed new furniture. The icing on the cake was my sister saying, "And she is probably going to be engaged soon too!" Thanks Megan. Sheeh. lol So we got the catalogue and did a few other things.
Later that night, Michael met up with us for sushi. (He has stopped by after school to give me a kiss. :D I love that man.) Mom loves sushi and it was cheaper than going out to a fancy restaurant. We had a lovely meal and then went home to play games. Mind you I had had maybe 3-4 hours sleep, so I wasn't very helpful to my partner. lol

Saturday
I spent the entire day running around with my friend Becky to get ready for Katie's surprise Bachelorette Party. (Becky and Katie have been my friends since 1st grade. I am very lucky to have them.) It was so hard getting Katie to come out because she has been swamped with moving and wedding planning but we did it! We opened gifts at Becky's new town home (which is beautiful) and had snacks. Then, we went to dinner and country line dancing at the Cadillac Ranch. How many of you know how to country line dance? I don't. lol It was fun but I was very intimidated and did not get on the dance floor as much as I should have. However, I have decided to learn some moves for the wedding to surprise Katie.

Sunday
I went to brunch at Mint Julep Bistro with the family. This place is soooooo good and cheap. I think it will be a new hangout spot for me when I move home. After brunch, my good friend Isabelle came over to hang out and meet the dogs. Then we went to Michael's new apt and hung out for a bit.

Monday
I went to lunch and ran around with my Mom, said goodbye to Michael and took a plane home.


I did so much but still didn't get to do everything. I think my heart is leaning more and more to moving back home to Chicago.

To all of you who are

Have a wonderful day!

I went a little nuts

Wed night, I was having dinner at 7pm with some friends (SLA and Steve). However, I got stuck at the office till 6pm and didn't feel like walking all the way home just to go straight back out again. So, I decided to waste time in a CVS till dinner. And ... I went nuts! I bought so many cards. I have never been a card person. I don't even send out birthday cards. I send people messages on facebook, a text or I just call them. But for some reason I just had to buy cards. Now I have been writing letters to keep myself busy at work. And you know what? I love it! It's lovely! I want to buy more cards. LOL

Valentine's Day Weekend Results

Valentine's Day weekend was a blast!

Friday night, I stopped at Finale on the way home and picked up desserts. I went a little over board. I got 2 mini creme brulees, 1 mini lime tart, 1 mini chocolate decadence, 1 mini cheesecake and half a dozen chocolate covered strawberries. I filled my room with candles and laid out the delicious spread. My favorite bottle of wine was chilling in the flower pot Michael gave me last Valentine's Day. Nat King Cole was playing in the background when he entered my room. He loved it. He even loved that the dog came in and crashed our party. ;) Sadly, he was so tired after the long day that he passed out on my couch. lol

Saturday morning, we woke up and cooked each other breakfast. We decided to lounge around the house till it was time to go to dinner. Cuchi Cuchi was fantastic! They have amazing drinks and the Tuna tartare was delicious! Highly recommend it. Michael hadn't counted on "Casablanca" being sold out so we went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" instead. I loved it. The storyline about the couple who had been together for 7 years was a little hard to watch at times. (We have been together for over 7 years. lol) We then went home and picked up where we had left off the night before, dancing to Nat King Cole by candle light.

Sunday, we did brunch with one of my roommates, Steve, and then watched another movie. Michael suggested we invite some of my friends over for a game/movie night. We played Balderdash and watched "The Wedding Crashers". Forgot how funny that movie was. Plus, Ru had never seen it making it even better. ;)

Monday we cuddled till Michael left for the airport. I started to cry when he left. It is getting so hard to say goodbye. Long distance for 2 and a half years can be draining. I love the guy so it's worth it ... but I feel that it's time to go home.

The Little Things

To those of you who might have a Family Guy "paper towel moment" if anything else goes wrong.... Here is a quick story.

My friend Erin B. has been working at a hospital for the past year and a half. She works in the Thoracic and Hematology Oncology departments, which mostly deal with cancer patients. Obviously it can be a very hard job and being at the bottom of the totem pole becomes difficult to deal with each day. Her superiors tend to drop everything on her, including undeserved blame when they forget to do something. This job can make any normal person want to throw someone out the window. Erin keeps that place going. Very rarely does she even receive praise.

Lately the job is taking its toll. Just when she felt like enough was enough, she found something on her desk today. It was an edible arrangement from a patient. The note said, "You are a wonderful, special person and it doesn't go unnoticed that you always go above and beyond to take care of me. Thank you so much." At that moment, everything else didn't matter. Erin received all the praise she needed and went back to work.

We rarely know how our actions can touch another person's life. Remember that every little thing counts and sometimes the little things are what can pick us up again. In the words of CGGI, "Celebrate the small stuff!"

New game I want to try

You are my Fave suggests:

Food - Pop lots of popcorn and offer add-ins and flavorings. Set a stack of cups next to the big bowl so friends can just dig in and stock your cooler full of glass bottled soda (so you look semi-fancy).

Game - Load your i-Pod with all the best dance songs (or if you still have a boom box like me prepare an all mighty dance CD beforehand). Have each guest stand up one by one while you push the shuffle button on what ever technical option suits you. That person then has to come up with a dance to whatever song starts playing and has to keep dancing for at least a minute. This game has been tested and I can guarantee that your stomach will hurt from laughing so hard afterwards. If you want to add a competitive element to it you can incorporate judges. This is what your guests will look like -

So the question remains, what are the best dance songs? And what song would you hope that it landed on for your turn?

Sometimes plans don't follow through and it's for the best

So I had a blast this weekend.


Friday night: (very cold)
Plans = I have the house to myself. Maybe work out and have a movie night.
Results = My roommate Steve convinces me to come out to Border Cafe with friends for a night of margaritas and fun! (It was like having the old Steve back. :) I had to go!) Wendy headed over with us. We waited a bit out in the cold but were rewarded with drinks as soon as we got in. I met a lot of new people. I really like them. (This girl Laila really seemed to be into Steve. I hope that takes off. He deserves to be happy and not keep getting screwed over. ) Pete and Jason were there too. :) Plus Aaron works there as a server. It was nice to see him. After a lot of drinks and great food, we walked around in the cold and finally got a cab home. Barry was up so the drinking continued for a while. It was a great night!

Saturday:
Plans = Maggie's party tonight
Results = Woke up. Made breakfast for Steve and Barry. I was still thrilled with how last night had gone. I even did most of the dishes to help Steve out because he was hung over. lol Maggie called and asked me to help her film a video for this cool job to be an island caretaker. If she wins, she is flying me out and I will be her cleaning lady. ;) We filmed in the Boston Commons.
Next, we went around getting things for the party. I got 3 bottles of my favorite wine, a yoga mat, bread and double stuffed oreoes for myself. haha
Ben surprised us by getting home early and we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. I love Maggie and Ben! They are great friends and great people.
The party started at 9pm. It was a blast. I hadn't seen many of those people in a while. There was even sword fighting! My friends dropped me off thank god! It was super icy and I was a bag lady again.

Setback: While my friends were dropping me off, I noticed a smart car on the street. Sigh. Yes it means that Steve's "we're just friends" ex-girlfriend Brittany is staying over again. All I have to say is this. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice and I am just asking for it." I haven't said anything to him because he is an adult and can make his own decisions. Also the last time I tried to say something as a friend, he treated me poorly for a while. You can't talk to people about love. However, if he turns into the person he did last time, I'm not putting up with it. He's better than that.

Sunday:
Plans = Go to see the movie Defiance
Results = Went to the movie with Josh, Lisa, Jay and Ru. I loved it! GO SEE IT! I think Daniel Craig is moving up to the top 5 on my list. ;)
Lisa left after the movie and the rest of us headed over to The White Horse Tavern. We watched the Ravens vs Steelers Game and played trivia. It was non stop laughs.

Minor setback for the day = I got home to find Lupus had had an accident. Apparently, no one had been home since 4:30pm. Also, the kitchen was not clean and there were still tons of dishes. So .... not into it. I am going to wait on my duties this week till that stuff is done.

Monday:
Plans = Go to Public House with Sarah!!!
Results = Had a great night with Sarah!!! Done!