... unique up on it. <-- that was part one of a two part series joke my dad used to love telling us when we were younger. Each time we'd laugh and groan in unison.
Now that I have birdies I realize that is definitely the worst way to ever get a bird to trust you, especially quirky, unique bird like the ones I have! I am still working on the training part, but the surest way to get them to come to you? Introduce fruit and protein into their diet. The weeks you have to remove seed from their diet all together they let their displeasure be known (most of them anyway.)
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1.24.2014
1.02.2014
What Keeps You Up at Night?
I love sleep. Not only do I love sleep but I will fully admit that it is also my escapism when I'm going through a difficult time. That being said, there have been a handful of times I've laid awake at night, my mind racing. For example, during times of change when I've moved to a different state, the night before I left for college, when I was about to leave my mission to return home, the end of a relationship.
There have also been health related reasons, such as when my blood sugar was too high, or too low, to go to bed. The night I was in Singapore to collect my dad from the hospital. The nights we were in Chicago after his accident, waiting to see if he'd live. And of course we all have those incredibly personal experiences good or bad that chase away sleep.
Our last night in the Dominican Republic was for none of the reasons above. Earlier in the evening when we Shannon and I were boiling and bleaching all of the shells we'd found, my mom noticed that something had taken a bite out of one of the bananas. I was baffled because I was SURE I hadn't bought them that way. Baffled, we went back to cleaning and my mom to reading. A few minutes later we hear her scream ... a large rodent had scurried underneath her bed. We couldn't figure out where it went so we hoped for the best and eventually my parents went to bed.
Shannon and I stayed up packing and watching The Great Gatsby but eventually went to bed ourselves. However, soon we were woken-up by a crash in the kitchen. Afraid something was wrong with my parents Shannon went outside to see what was going on. There were broken dishes but no parents. We shrugged thinking that it had to have been leaning incorrectly while drying and fallen off. Not taking any chances that it was the rodent we quickly cleaned it up and went back to bed. Soon we heard scurrying in our room and I freaked out, turning on the light. It ran underneath our bed and into the bathroom. I said to myself, "okay, as long as it stays over there I can fall asleep with the light on." As I tried to will myself back to sleep we heard this repetitive scamper, swish, thud... scamper, swish, thud. I peeked over the bed to see what it was doing and was so baffled, I had to get the following on video tape:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ezk16TEJX0
*I am happy to report that after Shannon had a Parent Trap bear-in-woods-moment, I opened up the door, we hid behind the bed and as soon as it wandered out, I SLAMMED the door. A few hours sleep before one last beach comb, shower and hasta... nunca DR!
There have also been health related reasons, such as when my blood sugar was too high, or too low, to go to bed. The night I was in Singapore to collect my dad from the hospital. The nights we were in Chicago after his accident, waiting to see if he'd live. And of course we all have those incredibly personal experiences good or bad that chase away sleep.
Our last night in the Dominican Republic was for none of the reasons above. Earlier in the evening when we Shannon and I were boiling and bleaching all of the shells we'd found, my mom noticed that something had taken a bite out of one of the bananas. I was baffled because I was SURE I hadn't bought them that way. Baffled, we went back to cleaning and my mom to reading. A few minutes later we hear her scream ... a large rodent had scurried underneath her bed. We couldn't figure out where it went so we hoped for the best and eventually my parents went to bed.
Shannon and I stayed up packing and watching The Great Gatsby but eventually went to bed ourselves. However, soon we were woken-up by a crash in the kitchen. Afraid something was wrong with my parents Shannon went outside to see what was going on. There were broken dishes but no parents. We shrugged thinking that it had to have been leaning incorrectly while drying and fallen off. Not taking any chances that it was the rodent we quickly cleaned it up and went back to bed. Soon we heard scurrying in our room and I freaked out, turning on the light. It ran underneath our bed and into the bathroom. I said to myself, "okay, as long as it stays over there I can fall asleep with the light on." As I tried to will myself back to sleep we heard this repetitive scamper, swish, thud... scamper, swish, thud. I peeked over the bed to see what it was doing and was so baffled, I had to get the following on video tape:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ezk16TEJX0
*I am happy to report that after Shannon had a Parent Trap bear-in-woods-moment, I opened up the door, we hid behind the bed and as soon as it wandered out, I SLAMMED the door. A few hours sleep before one last beach comb, shower and hasta... nunca DR!
12.31.2013
The Changing Tides, And Years
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We arrived back from our excursion a little more sun-kissed and dehydrated than we left (loads of booze, limited water.) We each took showers and prepared to ring in the new year at a nice restaurant. We took the local taxi for $1 to a restaurant my mom had found to discover it was completely booked. We then took it another $2 to the other side of the complex to another restaurant hoping they'd have room for dinner.
They had plenty of room but it was $100 per person. We didn't know what to do, everything was booked, it was getting later and how many taxis would we have to take?! The restaurant agreed to forgo the prefix menu since we wouldn't be drinking alcohol so we said, "what the hell!" and stayed. I drank loads of virgin margaritas and we ate seafood to our hearts content and each chose a decadent dessert in true #treatyoself fashion.
We then went back to the condo and played games, skyped family/loved ones (since Shannon got the wifi working) and rang in 2014 with Latino flair. After midnight Shannon and I went for walk along the beach and sat down looking at the stars and chatting of the passing year and what was to come. Each glad the final chapter had closed, anxious what the next 365 days would bring, the decisions we had to make and, or course, the adventures we'd have to plan!
Carpe Anum.
We arrived back from our excursion a little more sun-kissed and dehydrated than we left (loads of booze, limited water.) We each took showers and prepared to ring in the new year at a nice restaurant. We took the local taxi for $1 to a restaurant my mom had found to discover it was completely booked. We then took it another $2 to the other side of the complex to another restaurant hoping they'd have room for dinner.
They had plenty of room but it was $100 per person. We didn't know what to do, everything was booked, it was getting later and how many taxis would we have to take?! The restaurant agreed to forgo the prefix menu since we wouldn't be drinking alcohol so we said, "what the hell!" and stayed. I drank loads of virgin margaritas and we ate seafood to our hearts content and each chose a decadent dessert in true #treatyoself fashion.
We then went back to the condo and played games, skyped family/loved ones (since Shannon got the wifi working) and rang in 2014 with Latino flair. After midnight Shannon and I went for walk along the beach and sat down looking at the stars and chatting of the passing year and what was to come. Each glad the final chapter had closed, anxious what the next 365 days would bring, the decisions we had to make and, or course, the adventures we'd have to plan!
Carpe Anum.
Life Lessons from Ms. Ocean
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1. No storm lasts forever
2. Sometimes you need a little extra hand to make sure you're heading in the right direction
3. Even when life seems completely empty, if you look close enough there are people all around you
4. Just because you won't be around forever doesn't mean you can't make a lasting impression
5. The world can be a harsh place, but buckle down for awhile and you'll be okay
6. After every storm, there really is a rainbow
7. The most unlikeliest of creatures may need your help sometime
8. You never find exactly what you set out to look for, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy all the other beautiful things that are put along the path
9. The spikier the outside, the squishier the inside
10. Whatever you puts out always "comes back" somewhere
11. You can be annoyed by the sand in your shoes, or just take them off and enjoy the walk ... so what if you're a bit more vulnerable (you get more out of life that way.)
12. Sometimes the ocean is cruel; it takes away things very precious to us and it's okay to cry. Remember is also gives some of the most beautiful and life sustaining things.
*I had an amazing list that I kept adding to throughout the trip. Alas, my iphone played a bad Houdini and it is forever lost. The above is my horrible V2. I will curse the loss of that list for years to come!
1. No storm lasts forever
2. Sometimes you need a little extra hand to make sure you're heading in the right direction
3. Even when life seems completely empty, if you look close enough there are people all around you
4. Just because you won't be around forever doesn't mean you can't make a lasting impression
5. The world can be a harsh place, but buckle down for awhile and you'll be okay
6. After every storm, there really is a rainbow
7. The most unlikeliest of creatures may need your help sometime
8. You never find exactly what you set out to look for, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy all the other beautiful things that are put along the path
9. The spikier the outside, the squishier the inside
10. Whatever you puts out always "comes back" somewhere
11. You can be annoyed by the sand in your shoes, or just take them off and enjoy the walk ... so what if you're a bit more vulnerable (you get more out of life that way.)
12. Sometimes the ocean is cruel; it takes away things very precious to us and it's okay to cry. Remember is also gives some of the most beautiful and life sustaining things.
*I had an amazing list that I kept adding to throughout the trip. Alas, my iphone played a bad Houdini and it is forever lost. The above is my horrible V2. I will curse the loss of that list for years to come!
12.30.2013
Excursion to Para-lies
Our excursion to the DR's paradise was more like a pair of lies! Actually, more than a pair of lies, it was all lies, from opening paragraph to ending the collage of photos.
Brochure: You will be picked up by a private driver and taken to a small boat for snorkeling
Truth: We were picked up by a driver in an old mini van and then had to wait to go get another loud, obnoxious American family and drive over 1 hour to the boat, which included not the 10-12 people we were told, but over 20!
Brochure: Dive in and view the variety of the DR's ocean life
Truth: We got in the boat with 20 other people and went .25 miles from the shore and to go "snorkel" swimming for 15 minutes to see.... a few striped fish! My poor mom with her knee, it wasn't even worth it. I remember getting in the water and thinking, WTF is this?!
Brochure: Next, you'll discover the natural baths filled with a hundreds of multi-colored starfish.
Truth: There were no starfish, there were no fish, there were no shells; there was nothing but drunk humans. Shannon and I even snorkeled around to see if we could find starfish. THERE WAS NOTHING BUT WHITE SAND. In fact, the only starfish in the area was a dead one they'd pulled from a cooler for photo ops. When I called them on it, the photographer said, no no... put it in the water until I say "3". Okay, buddy i'll play along if it makes you happy. This rum and coke pit-stop is also where we realized it was going to be a very long booze cruise.
Brochure: You'll have the afternoon to relax on private Saona island after an authentic DR meal.
Truth: We piled on a boat with even more people (very dangerous and a few people had to help my mother transfer from one to the other since it was a big jump over choppy water) and headed to a "private" a la tour company private island, stood in line for some bulk-made BBQ chicken, rice and pineapple. After we ate we found a place to sit in the sun and/or shade. I got my mom to go in the water for a bit, but the waves were so harsh and the sand so rough we both cut ourselves off. She lost her balance from the crashing waves a few times, we got a nice gentleman to help her keep her balance enough to walk out. I walked to the end of island before it curved around, passed Russians modeling in the sand, families playing games and building sand castles, and lovers doing what they do best on tropical islands. We got back just as our boat was getting ready to leave. phew!
Brochure: Enjoy a catamaran ride back to the dock while enjoying free drinks and dancing.
Truth: the most accurate part of the entire trip, and the worst for me. I stupidly had taken my hat off and stuck it under my bag. A huge gust of wind picked it up, I prayed someone would catch it, but they were all too drunk to notice it flying around the boat and then ... it was gone. I cried most of the way home. The most wonderful birthday gift, purchased not even a year ago in PR and full of some of the most precious memories; and it was just gone. Not only that, but we had to endure the drunk rantings of some of a few of the Wisc.-based family the entire car ride home. The DR won on day 3 as well.
rating: 1 star. Save your money and if you want to go on a snorkeling tour, go to the Bahamas or Cancun!
[gallery type="slideshow" ids="5848,5849,5817,5850,5852,5818,5819,5820"]
Brochure: You will be picked up by a private driver and taken to a small boat for snorkeling
Truth: We were picked up by a driver in an old mini van and then had to wait to go get another loud, obnoxious American family and drive over 1 hour to the boat, which included not the 10-12 people we were told, but over 20!
Brochure: Dive in and view the variety of the DR's ocean life
Truth: We got in the boat with 20 other people and went .25 miles from the shore and to go "snorkel" swimming for 15 minutes to see.... a few striped fish! My poor mom with her knee, it wasn't even worth it. I remember getting in the water and thinking, WTF is this?!
Brochure: Next, you'll discover the natural baths filled with a hundreds of multi-colored starfish.
Truth: There were no starfish, there were no fish, there were no shells; there was nothing but drunk humans. Shannon and I even snorkeled around to see if we could find starfish. THERE WAS NOTHING BUT WHITE SAND. In fact, the only starfish in the area was a dead one they'd pulled from a cooler for photo ops. When I called them on it, the photographer said, no no... put it in the water until I say "3". Okay, buddy i'll play along if it makes you happy. This rum and coke pit-stop is also where we realized it was going to be a very long booze cruise.
Brochure: You'll have the afternoon to relax on private Saona island after an authentic DR meal.
Truth: We piled on a boat with even more people (very dangerous and a few people had to help my mother transfer from one to the other since it was a big jump over choppy water) and headed to a "private" a la tour company private island, stood in line for some bulk-made BBQ chicken, rice and pineapple. After we ate we found a place to sit in the sun and/or shade. I got my mom to go in the water for a bit, but the waves were so harsh and the sand so rough we both cut ourselves off. She lost her balance from the crashing waves a few times, we got a nice gentleman to help her keep her balance enough to walk out. I walked to the end of island before it curved around, passed Russians modeling in the sand, families playing games and building sand castles, and lovers doing what they do best on tropical islands. We got back just as our boat was getting ready to leave. phew!
Brochure: Enjoy a catamaran ride back to the dock while enjoying free drinks and dancing.
Truth: the most accurate part of the entire trip, and the worst for me. I stupidly had taken my hat off and stuck it under my bag. A huge gust of wind picked it up, I prayed someone would catch it, but they were all too drunk to notice it flying around the boat and then ... it was gone. I cried most of the way home. The most wonderful birthday gift, purchased not even a year ago in PR and full of some of the most precious memories; and it was just gone. Not only that, but we had to endure the drunk rantings of some of a few of the Wisc.-based family the entire car ride home. The DR won on day 3 as well.
rating: 1 star. Save your money and if you want to go on a snorkeling tour, go to the Bahamas or Cancun!
[gallery type="slideshow" ids="5848,5849,5817,5850,5852,5818,5819,5820"]
12.29.2013
DR Dominates on Day One
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I relish in travel particularly when I am leaving the cold, wet, rainy weather behind for sunny beaches. My parents and I woke-up early Sunday morning and left in enough time to park the car and take the shuttle to CLT given my mom's just-had-knee-surgery status.
When we arrived we were boarded earlier because of her knee (even though we were in exit rows?! okay!) but I waited until Shannon arrived on her connecting flight from D.C. All seated together and with treats prepared by mom, we hunkered in for the four hour flight. I slept a little bit but mostly planned and caught-up with Shannon. When we arrived I made sure to shed a few layers as we walked to the Caribbean-esque passport control (chaotic line, men playing brass drums, an entry tax no one told us about...) then excited made our way to the rental car facility where the person we were renting the car from was supposed to meet and lead us to the condo in our rental car.
Bad news is when 1) there is no one to meet you 2) their is no car for you. Strangely, even though Shannon had booked two cars neither of them had any available; were were livid. We went to other desks to see if they had any available and the only one we found would have cost $500 (ours was supposed to cost $150). Um, NO! We soon discovered that they overbook their cars and people had been waiting days for a rental. All agreeing that we didn't want to waste our vacation waiting for a car and, once our contact finally arrived, we had a taxi take us to our condo. On the way we made a pit-stop at a bank so I could pay him the $60 it cost to go 10 minutes.
Once we arrived and settled in I asked the taxi driver to take me to the grocery store where we could stock-up on food for the week since having no car nixed our plan to go out in the evening for dinner. Shannon and I hopped in the car while my parents settled in and, to our angry surprise, the market was directly next to the airport. Proverbially shaking my fists at the sky, i wished we'd have stopped on our way to the condo instead of spending another $50 to go to the store! He gave us one hour to shop and, while that seems like plenty of time, it was daunting to think of three meals a day for five days and race around a store you'd never been to in order to find all the ingredients. What were snacks we'd enjoy, a few desserts to liven up the evening, ingredients we could use for more than one meal etc.? After the driver came in to get us, we made the most of what we had and checked out.
Once again to our chagrin, the wifi we'd been promised didn't work so there was no way to research or book any excursions we wanted to do. Shannon and I went up to the main part of the hotel to try and seek help in getting a car, trips planned, wifi ... anything and everything! With very little new knowledge to go off of, we all decided to explore the beach, have dinner at the one restaurant in the complex then call it an early night.
DR, please be kind to us.
I relish in travel particularly when I am leaving the cold, wet, rainy weather behind for sunny beaches. My parents and I woke-up early Sunday morning and left in enough time to park the car and take the shuttle to CLT given my mom's just-had-knee-surgery status.
When we arrived we were boarded earlier because of her knee (even though we were in exit rows?! okay!) but I waited until Shannon arrived on her connecting flight from D.C. All seated together and with treats prepared by mom, we hunkered in for the four hour flight. I slept a little bit but mostly planned and caught-up with Shannon. When we arrived I made sure to shed a few layers as we walked to the Caribbean-esque passport control (chaotic line, men playing brass drums, an entry tax no one told us about...) then excited made our way to the rental car facility where the person we were renting the car from was supposed to meet and lead us to the condo in our rental car.
Bad news is when 1) there is no one to meet you 2) their is no car for you. Strangely, even though Shannon had booked two cars neither of them had any available; were were livid. We went to other desks to see if they had any available and the only one we found would have cost $500 (ours was supposed to cost $150). Um, NO! We soon discovered that they overbook their cars and people had been waiting days for a rental. All agreeing that we didn't want to waste our vacation waiting for a car and, once our contact finally arrived, we had a taxi take us to our condo. On the way we made a pit-stop at a bank so I could pay him the $60 it cost to go 10 minutes.
Once we arrived and settled in I asked the taxi driver to take me to the grocery store where we could stock-up on food for the week since having no car nixed our plan to go out in the evening for dinner. Shannon and I hopped in the car while my parents settled in and, to our angry surprise, the market was directly next to the airport. Proverbially shaking my fists at the sky, i wished we'd have stopped on our way to the condo instead of spending another $50 to go to the store! He gave us one hour to shop and, while that seems like plenty of time, it was daunting to think of three meals a day for five days and race around a store you'd never been to in order to find all the ingredients. What were snacks we'd enjoy, a few desserts to liven up the evening, ingredients we could use for more than one meal etc.? After the driver came in to get us, we made the most of what we had and checked out.
Once again to our chagrin, the wifi we'd been promised didn't work so there was no way to research or book any excursions we wanted to do. Shannon and I went up to the main part of the hotel to try and seek help in getting a car, trips planned, wifi ... anything and everything! With very little new knowledge to go off of, we all decided to explore the beach, have dinner at the one restaurant in the complex then call it an early night.
DR, please be kind to us.
12.28.2013
So This is Christmas {2013}
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I was really glad I got to spend the weekend with Mukarram before I headed down to N.C. for Christmas. That weekend was made possible (emotionally guilt-free) because I had to work and they were heading to the mountains for the Polar Express over the weekend. Well, Sunday afternoon Mukarram came and picked me up to take me to the airport as well as pick up my birdies to watch them over the next two weeks (he also ended up taking Shannon's as they were missing a mommy and a caretaker!)
I guess it is my personality but I had a really hard time saying goodbye to him for two weeks. I'm excited to see my family but I just want him there with me (i'm an idiot). I suppose knowing this would be the last time I had Christmas with so much family around since Derek, Kristie and the kids are moving to Florida and my parents are moving to Utah before next year, made me nostalgic. The buzz of Christmas is always amazing and, perhaps the reminiscence of college, i love the buzz in the air as I head to my parents and relax to the lead-up of Christmas. I unfortunately did have to work but at least it was on a laptop at at kitchen table that I could easily power off and immediately be with the fam.
I used Monday and Tuesday to make cookies with the kiddos, play board games, watch movies, and when everyone was asleep go through my room and donate/pack-up or toss whatever I had in prep for my parents move. It was an interesting experience to rate on a scale of "archivable to trashable" the things I'd accumulated throughout my life. Items that were once in the former are now in the latter and you wonder if you're making a mistake! I of course chatted with M many a time throughout the day and was kept apprised at his (bless him) efforts to take Shannon's sick bird to the vet ... for those efforts he officially got to name him Waddles aka Rosie. ha!
It is such a joy to watch my nieces and nephews open their Christmas presents, try to play with them all simultaneously (and I of course was a little sad remembering the year before when M played video games with Beckham and Clancey for hours. They looooved him!) and enjoy the extra spunk they carry around from lack of sleep, over excitement and everything in between. It gave my excitement to go to the Dominican Republic the same small twinge as when I left M at the airport for the holidays.
I was really glad I got to spend the weekend with Mukarram before I headed down to N.C. for Christmas. That weekend was made possible (emotionally guilt-free) because I had to work and they were heading to the mountains for the Polar Express over the weekend. Well, Sunday afternoon Mukarram came and picked me up to take me to the airport as well as pick up my birdies to watch them over the next two weeks (he also ended up taking Shannon's as they were missing a mommy and a caretaker!)
I guess it is my personality but I had a really hard time saying goodbye to him for two weeks. I'm excited to see my family but I just want him there with me (i'm an idiot). I suppose knowing this would be the last time I had Christmas with so much family around since Derek, Kristie and the kids are moving to Florida and my parents are moving to Utah before next year, made me nostalgic. The buzz of Christmas is always amazing and, perhaps the reminiscence of college, i love the buzz in the air as I head to my parents and relax to the lead-up of Christmas. I unfortunately did have to work but at least it was on a laptop at at kitchen table that I could easily power off and immediately be with the fam.
I used Monday and Tuesday to make cookies with the kiddos, play board games, watch movies, and when everyone was asleep go through my room and donate/pack-up or toss whatever I had in prep for my parents move. It was an interesting experience to rate on a scale of "archivable to trashable" the things I'd accumulated throughout my life. Items that were once in the former are now in the latter and you wonder if you're making a mistake! I of course chatted with M many a time throughout the day and was kept apprised at his (bless him) efforts to take Shannon's sick bird to the vet ... for those efforts he officially got to name him Waddles aka Rosie. ha!
It is such a joy to watch my nieces and nephews open their Christmas presents, try to play with them all simultaneously (and I of course was a little sad remembering the year before when M played video games with Beckham and Clancey for hours. They looooved him!) and enjoy the extra spunk they carry around from lack of sleep, over excitement and everything in between. It gave my excitement to go to the Dominican Republic the same small twinge as when I left M at the airport for the holidays.
12.21.2013
Graffiti, Lights, Love and Sugar
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The month of December is an absolute blur. I finished school later than normal and with the craziness of work, I am not sure what holiday time I really got to enjoy. However, here are a few highlights:
Snow Day! Very few things raise your spirits like waking up in the morning and seeing that the federal government has closed down. I was slightly bitter since I was expected to work, but I absolutely did the bare minimum in the a.m. and then (on one day) when the snow had ceased for the day, Shannon and I went to The Container Store, Anthropologie and I did a few phone calls along the way.
Cookie Decorating. Shannon and I made an array of sugar cookies and had a few friends over to decorate and watch Home Alone. It is always interesting to see what creative minds come up with ... and how much candy can fit on one little cookie!
Secret Santa Debacle. I'm all about spreading Christmas cheer (and singing loud so all can hear) but sadly not too many people in the office were. To their defense our (not very good at her job) HR person didn't explain it well and people hadn't done it before so got overwhelmed and opted out. There were a handful of us that did commit to doing it but because of the snow days she first postponed the day it started, and then because someone gave their gift anyway she canceled it! All of us were confused by such a reaction and asked if we could still do it since we'd bought our gifts. Apparently out of the 6 or so of us that did it two (the HR person being one of them) didn't do it. So there were two that gave gifts but didn't receive?! I can't tell you how asinine it was. Bitter feelings from and toward the HR person spilled over into our staff Christmas party when she did nothing but plan the location. Thus, officially nominating ourselves to the Fun Committee a few of us organized a ski ball competition and used in-house Starbucks gift cards as the prizes. It made things a bit more lively so hopefully everyone had fun. They let us out early so I used the time to go to the temple before rush hour hit, it was a great way to cap off the end of school and pre-Christmas break.
Beach Prep. I talked Shannon and my parents into going to the Dominican Republic for New Years (wahoo!) and as pre-planning had it, Shannon and I scoured Nordstrom Rack for summer sandals and clearance price sun dresses to get us in the mood.
Date Night. Mukarram and I discovered the Angelika Theater and for our Friday night date night we grabbed some dinner in the area and wandered around before our movie started. Merrifield is definitely an up-and-coming place with a Mom's Market (see photo above), an Anthropologie, a specialty tea shop, a specialty oil/vinegar shop and a ton of other boutique places I'll never be able to afford. The night wasn't too cold so it was wonderful to walk around hand-in-hand before I sunk mine into a bowl of specialty popcorn!
Christmas Shopping. Because Mukarram wasn't coming home with me, I didn't let him out of my sight until I got on the plane to go to N.C. (which part of me regretted was TOO SOON!) Saturday morning we went to our favorite brunch spot, Le Pain Quotidien (LPQ), for brunch then headed out to the Leesburg outlets so I could get the gift I was focused on getting him, he could let me pick something and in general we could get a few things on sale and stuff for other people. One of the best stops was Williams Sonoma, where he bought a pressure cooker and a few cooking items, I bought part of Shannon's gift (we decided instead of Christmas pressies we would put together 2014 Prep Packages), the 12 Days of Christmas plates and a tagine! I then made us go to Tumi and as luck would have it the light briefcase I knew he had been eyeing (and the focus of what I wanted to get him) had ONE left in the store and it was on sale!! I was SO excited and glad we didn't wait any longer to come to the store. Then it was time to hunt for me .. and for some reason I was in a really weird emotional state. We went to go buy me a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and I couldn't decide between two kinds. I really liked one, he and the sales lady liked another and I felt so pressured I started to cry! Just to give me some space we walked to Coach, where he bought me a fordable beach bag and a small clutch, both 75% off with an extra 20% -- love D.C. outlets! I was really coveting a fur vest they had, but it was either too big or too small. I let it go, and committed to my hunt for a nice silver fox fur stole. Finally I steeled my nerves, we walked back to the sunglasses shop and I got the pair he really liked on me; it is the pair he would have picked so I will always think of him. All spent, we loaded up the car and headed home to a nice evening of kabobs, a movie and snuggling before I headed out the next morning (insert sad face).
The month of December is an absolute blur. I finished school later than normal and with the craziness of work, I am not sure what holiday time I really got to enjoy. However, here are a few highlights:
Snow Day! Very few things raise your spirits like waking up in the morning and seeing that the federal government has closed down. I was slightly bitter since I was expected to work, but I absolutely did the bare minimum in the a.m. and then (on one day) when the snow had ceased for the day, Shannon and I went to The Container Store, Anthropologie and I did a few phone calls along the way.
Cookie Decorating. Shannon and I made an array of sugar cookies and had a few friends over to decorate and watch Home Alone. It is always interesting to see what creative minds come up with ... and how much candy can fit on one little cookie!
Secret Santa Debacle. I'm all about spreading Christmas cheer (and singing loud so all can hear) but sadly not too many people in the office were. To their defense our (not very good at her job) HR person didn't explain it well and people hadn't done it before so got overwhelmed and opted out. There were a handful of us that did commit to doing it but because of the snow days she first postponed the day it started, and then because someone gave their gift anyway she canceled it! All of us were confused by such a reaction and asked if we could still do it since we'd bought our gifts. Apparently out of the 6 or so of us that did it two (the HR person being one of them) didn't do it. So there were two that gave gifts but didn't receive?! I can't tell you how asinine it was. Bitter feelings from and toward the HR person spilled over into our staff Christmas party when she did nothing but plan the location. Thus, officially nominating ourselves to the Fun Committee a few of us organized a ski ball competition and used in-house Starbucks gift cards as the prizes. It made things a bit more lively so hopefully everyone had fun. They let us out early so I used the time to go to the temple before rush hour hit, it was a great way to cap off the end of school and pre-Christmas break.
Beach Prep. I talked Shannon and my parents into going to the Dominican Republic for New Years (wahoo!) and as pre-planning had it, Shannon and I scoured Nordstrom Rack for summer sandals and clearance price sun dresses to get us in the mood.
Date Night. Mukarram and I discovered the Angelika Theater and for our Friday night date night we grabbed some dinner in the area and wandered around before our movie started. Merrifield is definitely an up-and-coming place with a Mom's Market (see photo above), an Anthropologie, a specialty tea shop, a specialty oil/vinegar shop and a ton of other boutique places I'll never be able to afford. The night wasn't too cold so it was wonderful to walk around hand-in-hand before I sunk mine into a bowl of specialty popcorn!
Christmas Shopping. Because Mukarram wasn't coming home with me, I didn't let him out of my sight until I got on the plane to go to N.C. (which part of me regretted was TOO SOON!) Saturday morning we went to our favorite brunch spot, Le Pain Quotidien (LPQ), for brunch then headed out to the Leesburg outlets so I could get the gift I was focused on getting him, he could let me pick something and in general we could get a few things on sale and stuff for other people. One of the best stops was Williams Sonoma, where he bought a pressure cooker and a few cooking items, I bought part of Shannon's gift (we decided instead of Christmas pressies we would put together 2014 Prep Packages), the 12 Days of Christmas plates and a tagine! I then made us go to Tumi and as luck would have it the light briefcase I knew he had been eyeing (and the focus of what I wanted to get him) had ONE left in the store and it was on sale!! I was SO excited and glad we didn't wait any longer to come to the store. Then it was time to hunt for me .. and for some reason I was in a really weird emotional state. We went to go buy me a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and I couldn't decide between two kinds. I really liked one, he and the sales lady liked another and I felt so pressured I started to cry! Just to give me some space we walked to Coach, where he bought me a fordable beach bag and a small clutch, both 75% off with an extra 20% -- love D.C. outlets! I was really coveting a fur vest they had, but it was either too big or too small. I let it go, and committed to my hunt for a nice silver fox fur stole. Finally I steeled my nerves, we walked back to the sunglasses shop and I got the pair he really liked on me; it is the pair he would have picked so I will always think of him. All spent, we loaded up the car and headed home to a nice evening of kabobs, a movie and snuggling before I headed out the next morning (insert sad face).
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