My Life as a Gardell

Wake Up Juliet: We are GO for Launch!

2009-07-27T11:32:00.005-04:00

That is correct...I expect this to be my last post on Life as a Gardell! She's been good to me, but I need more room to stretch and more places to store my various interests.

I apologize for being lax in posting, but I've been saving up all these goodies to use on the new site. She's still a little bare at the moment, but soon I'll be adding:

Home Tour (the good, the bad and the ugly)
A New Arrival (shh...you'll have to wait and see)
This week's entry for I Heart Faces (It's Beach week!)
Shots from the photo shoot with my sister and her boyfriend
Shots of the 5 Guys from Enter the Haggis
Tips from professional photographers that you can use in your everyday shots
Finished gift for my cousin's new baby
and much, much more!

At the moment we're still working out an RSS feed, so follow me on Twitter (WakeUpJuliet) and I'll be sure to let you know all the updates.

And now (drum roll please...), presenting: Wake Up Juliet!

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

2009-07-21T07:52:00.002-04:00

Everyone has a band they love, a band that they'll drop everything (ok, almost everything) to go see them when they come to town.

Enter the Haggis is that band for Sean and I. Our relationship with them follows our own relationship. We first saw them at the Maine Highland Games our first summer together. Over the following years, we saw them countless more times, and it became a family event, with my mom, dad, and sister often attending with us.

The guys in the band even helped Sean propose to me. We went into NYC to see them at the Knitting Factory, and they called him up on stage to pop the question. We tried to repay the favor by having them to our rehearsal day barbecue.

So they're a bit like family to us. And when family is hurt, you want to help however possible. This past weekend, Brian (fiddle and guitar player/vocalist) lost his fiddle, and all signs point to it being stolen. He's had the fiddle for 15 years. It's been his companion as he built his career and joined the band. While you can never replace that sentiment, he'll need to replace the fiddle. He's set up a fiddle fund in response to the overwhelming offers his fans made to assist him. If you can spare a little to help him, you'd be supporting some of the hardest working musicians I've ever met. Find out more here: Enter the Haggis Fiddle Fund.

I'm a winner!

2009-07-19T10:08:00.003-04:00

Holy Crap!

Thank you to Life with Kaishon for alerting me to this fact :) Sean and I were on our way out to the Glasgowlands Highland Festival when my Blackberry beeped. I had a couple emails alerting me to comments on my blog. I was incredibly flattered by them (thank you!) and was reading them out loud. Sean looked at me (ok, more glanced at me, cause he was driving, and full on staring at me would have been unsafe) and said "you won?". I had checked earlier that morning and the winners hadn't been announced, but the thought was too good to be true. I had to find out. Thank God for Blackberry Internet Browser!

Sure enough, there my photo was, 3rd place in the Sports in Motion category! I went into full on giddy celebration mode, called my mom, babbled incoherently, hung up, then continued babbling to Sean. I still can't believe it.

So thank you for your comments, thank you to Rog of EPLove, who was the judge this week, and thank you to Amy and Angie of I Heart Faces for creating these challenges to encourage photographers of all skill levels. I feel blessed and incredibly flattered that I can post this button:

Photo Frames Class: Day 1

2009-07-14T23:24:00.005-04:00

I'm taking advantage of the free Photo Editing: Frame-ups and Special Effects class on Jessica Sprague's website. The first day discusses PNG files (a format that supports transparency), and you can see my project below. I took this photo of my sister on our vacation this past week (yeah, you noticed the lack of posting?). We went up to my grandmother's house in Maine, and on one of the nice days, we walked out to the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. I got it in my head that it would make for a great angled shot if my family went up on the balcony and I sat (or lay, like I did) on the rocks below.

Luckily I did get some great shots, otherwise the strange looks and my family's embarrassment at being associated with me would have been for naught. Above is my project for the day, complete with frame and fun words. And to prove my successful lay on the ground theory (for all of you thinking this was a fluke), see some of the other photos below.

I'll fill you all in with more vacation details later, but it's kinda late now. I need my beauty sleep!

I Heart Faces - Pets

2009-07-14T21:42:00.003-04:00

I'm very excited to show off one of my favorite subjects, my rescue fur baby, London. He's a beautiful boy, part Siamese, part Himalayan, and all goofball. Here I caught his beautiful blue eyes and perfect pink nose as he was watching TV with us.

Check out all the other furry, feathery and scaly entries at www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com!

I Heart Faces - Sports in Action

2009-07-14T20:44:00.006-04:00

I hope you all enjoyed my SCA/medieval photos before, because I've got more (and besides, baseball is so 21st century). My sport submission is from a heavy list tournament we witnessed this past weekend. It was called the "Tournament of Whimsy", and participants drew their weapon choices from a bag. Many options were quite comical, including the one this poor soul drew. "Sloth" meant he had to face his opponent while seated. I love the face he is making behind his mask, it shows such concentration and determination.

If you enjoy this face, head to www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com to see the other entries!

The Building of a Website Chapter 2: Brain Hurricanes

2009-06-24T11:03:00.004-04:00

I apologize things have been erratic here. I feel like I'm in limbo between this blog and the new site. Hopefully it will be up and running this week so we can press forward! A lot of my energy has been spent brainstorming ideas for posts so that when the site is up I'll have a lot to start with.

It's all very exciting so I'm sharing it with you, and would love feedback and reader requests!

There will be multiple sections for easy and organized browsing:

Diary
Home & Garden
Photography
Crafting
Entertaining
Travel

I'll break it down with some of my brainstorms neatly categorized:

Diary

personal musings and adventures
week-long experiments: I've always loved articles where the author has tried something for a week or so and documented their experiences (example here). Ideally I'd love reader suggestions!

Home & Garden

Tour La Casa Gardell
DIY Home & Garden projects
Budget friendly updates and decor
Product reviews (first attempt here)
My attempts at turning my stubborn thumb green
Mood boards
Real Room Makeovers

Photography

Photo Finish Fridays: Taking a photo and showing some finishes in PhotoShop
Professional Tips: featuring a guest photographer who will offer a tip to improve your everyday photos, complete with demo by yours truly
I Heart Faces entries (of course)

Crafting

Projects in knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and anything else I find interesting
Guest blogging by my cousin, the card making queen. She'll offer tutorials of some of her best work.
Crafty charity shoutouts

Entertaining

Party idea boards
Real party recaps
Party friendly recipes
Interviews with the Bride: follow my best friend, Diana, as she gets ready for her October wedding

Travel

Travel tips
Packing for a week in _______: give mix and match outfits to pack for a week
Travel in style tips
Guest Blogger: My sister, Caitlin, will update during her year abroad in Scotland, where she will be completing grad school
Real travel plans: Sean and my plans to visit Caitlin for her graduation next July

This is where YOU come in:

Tell me what you like/don't like/want to see added to the brainstorm.

I Heart Faces Giveaway!

2009-06-24T09:15:00.005-04:00

This week over at I Heart Faces, judge Lori Nordstrom is generously offering up one of the fun, unique camera straps from her shop Pepper: Spice Up Your Camera as well as a free, 6-month membership to her photography forums. You can gain extra entries by tweeting, blogging, and signing up to follow their blog (which I highly recommend).

I did not enter this week's challenge "Let's Hear It for the Boys". There are a lack of boys in my life, and my favorite and, well... only male human subject is only willing when he doesn't realize I'm shooting him. When Sean sees the camera pointed at him, he starts acting doofy, making weird faces or covering his face with a pillow. He knows I'll get frustrated and give up.

I'll have to hone my photographic ninja skills.

Cause he's so darn cute when he's not a doof.

The Building of a Website Chapter 1: The Site Takes its First Victim

2009-06-17T21:58:00.006-04:00

I've been studying the connotations of various curse words. I didn't realize that the same curse could mean something bad and something good within the span of 5 minutes.

My test subject is my husband. He's figuring out the coding behind Wordpress, which I've downloaded to manage the content of my new site/blog. The site has taken his language skills hostage, because, for the last half hour his speech has consisted of only four letter words.

It's kinda cute.

Problem is, I can't play with it yet. He's not done. I don't know if he'll ever be.

So while I wait, I'll update you with what's been going on in Project Expansion into the Blogosphere. Hmm, I think the next step needs to be coming up with a shorter project name.

Anyways...here's how far we've come so far:

1) Choose a domain name

As you may have read in previous posts, I came up with a name for my baby. This was possibly the simplest yet hardest step of all. You need a name you can live with for a loooong time. Until you have that name you can't buy the domain. The decision? Drum roll please...

Wake Up, Juliet

You're all probably scratching your heads, trying to figure out how that plays into anything. Let me explain:

Growing up, I fell head over heels for the Disneyfied fairy tales which toted the love+marriage=happily ever after equation. I always held a secret hope that I'd find a prince who I'd have a romantic, carefree, successful life with. Well, I found my prince, married him, and have swallowed the large pill that is reality. I didn't marry a romantic guy, and happily ever after doesn't just fall in your lap. You've got to work at it and build your own happy ending day by day. Sean is my prince. He's sweet, funny, very intelligent (he can understand all that codey stuff), and usually very eloquent (above instance excluded). We share a love of theater, Shakespeare in particular. A Shakespeare character who I felt fit the young, naive mold was none other than Juliet Capulet, who wound up dead when her happily ever after didn't come so easily. Hence, Wake Up, Juliet latched onto my mind and wouldn't let go.

2) Create a Web banner that reflects the look of the site

Remember I asked you to vote on your favorite? I wanted the site to have a romance-meets-today look. So which one beat out the others?

I didn't want the typical clean lines, Martha Stewart-esque look that I see done so often. I love intricacies and details, so I think I struck a good balance.

3) Choose a platform to manage your new blog

I chose Wordpress...which is why my husband is still cursing up a storm. He's trying to figure out the intracacies behind it so he can truly customize it for me. Wordpress does offer many ways to customize your blog, but apparently that's not good enough for me. Did I mention my prince was stubborn? It's ok, he's cute, so I'll forgive him.

I'll keep you posted on how this is going...hopefully I'll be posting on my new site soon!

I Heart Faces: Week 23 - Sepia Tone

2009-06-16T07:20:00.003-04:00

I'm very excited to be submitting my first entries in a weekly challenge at I ♥ Faces. Last week was merely a fun week. This week's theme is Sepia Tone, with Adult and Kids categories.

Adult Entry:

This is a photo of our friend Dave, taken backstage at a Taming of the Shrew performance. He's a character, and made us crack up every show.

Children's Entry:

This is a photo I took of my friend Eryn and her son, Conor. He's a wriggly little guy, and had the best time on this hayride during an apple picking trip last fall.

Click the button at the top to check out the other fantastic sepia entries in this week's challenge! I also highly recommend looking around the site and submitting your own entries next week.

My First Race

2009-06-14T19:53:00.002-04:00

Today I ran my first race, the Worcester Firefighter Department's Memorial 6k. It commemorates the 6 firefighters who were killed in the Worcester Cold Storage fire of 1999. As you know, life gave my friend, Robbin, and I a bigger motivation for running this race. Our dear friend Doug passed away yesterday. So we dedicated our run to him today.

I was nervous, having never run a race before, and having only reached 3.5 miles in my weekly runs. Start time was at 1pm, which can be the worst time of day in June. I woke up to the sound of rain outside, which elicited a groan from my semi-comatose state. Luckily it had tapered off by the time I got up, and the sky remained clouded over.

I made myself 4 scrambled egg whites and 2 slices of nine-grain toast for breakfast. A green apple came with me for right beforehand. Sean and I headed over an hour and a half early so I could get registered. The park was packed already, and everywhere I looked I saw bib numbers. I didn't quite feel like I belonged as I pinned on my own.

Robbin arrived shortly after, she had preregistered on Friday. We wandered a bit more until they announced that runners should make their way to the starting line. It was only 12:20. However, I could see why they did it. Lines began to form outside of the port-a-johns. I had gone already, but by the time they finally had us all lined up, I probably could have gone again.

The opening ceremony was tough. Two fire ladders were extended over the starting line and a giant American flag hung between them. They had a moment of silence, followed by Amazing Grace, played on the bagpipes. Bagpipes always give me chills, they're beautiful, but my eyes began to well as I reflected on our recent loss. A quick glance at Robbin told me she was reacting the same way. As soon as the last note faded, we gave each other a big hug and waited for the starting horn.

The horn sounded, and I experienced my first pack start. It wasn't as bad as I expected. There weren't too many walkers in front of us, it was the faster runners who created some near stumbles trying to weave ahead. I was feeling good, passing others, and eventually ran on the sidewalk to avoid having to weave.

1 km popped up, then 1 mile. I was still feeling good. Soon after the 1 mile mark I looked up and saw my dad, mom, and Sean on the sidewalk. Their cheers gave me a nice boost and I soldiered on.

We rounded a corner and saw that we'd be doubling back at some point. We also caught a glimpse of the winner, who was rounding that return corner already! I think he wound up finishing in 16 minutes and change. Simply amazing.

I was hoping to go the full 3.7 miles without stopping, but I think I made the rookie mistake of starting too fast. After the second water stop, about halfway, I had to slow to a walk. This short breather would allow me to finish strong, and it did.

As I made my way up the final stretch, I searched for my parents and Sean, but they weren't there. Then I saw why...the digital clock as I ran up was ticking its way through the 36th minute. I had told them I'd likely take 45 minutes! My official time?

37:03!!!

I grabbed a water and waited to cheer Robbin in. It wasn't long until she arrived with a time of 40:14.

I'm officially hooked, and will be looking for another 5k to set as my next goal. Happy running!

Sometimes Life Just Blindsides You

2009-06-13T22:12:00.004-04:00

Sean and I are trying to recover after receiving some very very sad news. While on facebook, I saw my friend's latest update:

The light in my life has gone out. Doug passed away this afternoon. Rest in peace, I'll love you forever.

I thought it was some horrible joke, but the comments that followed were sentiments and prayers. I called our friend Robbin, and she confirmed this unexpected event. It appears he had suffered a heart attack.

We first met Doug last summer, when he directed Sean in MacBeth. He earned Sean's respect as one of the best directors he's worked with, and everyone we met agreed he was a fantastic actor and singer as well. Next weekend, My Fair Lady was set to open with him as Henry Higgins. I was very much looking forward to working with him in October in Moon Over Buffalo.

But our hearts are going out to his partner of 30 years, Bruce. Every time he spoke about Doug, you could see the love and admiration they had for one another. They weren't married, though they wanted to be, but after living together for so long they had retained, if not improved their love, which is sadly too rare in this day and age. That love extended beyond their own relationship to their friends. Doug was always ready with a hug to greet you. We did not know him long, which we regret, but, like all others who knew him, we loved him.

I'm sorry to be such a downer, but it's such a shock...it's hard to believe. What hit me hardest was looking at Bruce's profile. The status update from before is at the head of his page, but right beneath it was a note from Doug that was posted yesterday:

Don't forget....trash comes later today.

Just your everyday reminder. Now he's gone, just like that.

So hug your loved ones, tell them you love them, don't let anger hang over you. Life is too short, and it's hardly ever fair. Pray to God and thank Him for your blessings, ask Him to watch over those you love.

Cast Your Votes Again!

2009-06-12T23:49:00.010-04:00

More web bannery goodness for you to vote on. Last time the poll I used wouldn't link to the results very well, so if you would just cast your vote in the comments section, along with any suggestions, I'd be very very happy.

Thank you!

OPTION A:

OPTION B:

OPTION C:

OPTION D:

OPTION E:

My Clock Can't Make Up Its Mind

2009-06-12T09:25:00.003-04:00

I'm 23, a wife of 1 year and 10 months, a homeowner of about 9 months...and I'm afraid to drink the water.

Because everywhere around me, the water seems to contain baby virus. In Sean's family there has been 5 - no wait, 6 babies born in the last year and a half. At work, there are 4 "Welcome Baby" cards pinned to the copy room bulletin board. My supervisor is on maternity leave, our travel agent's manager is on maternity leave. My dance teacher just gave birth, and in my SCA group there's one belly that waddles around, promising to continue their recent baby boom.

I've lost track of the amount of times I've heard "You're next!"

So far I've laughed it off with "I have a cat right now, I'm good."

And those who know my cat, know how much of a baby he is. He loves his mommy, and especially loves occupying my arms when I'm on the laptop. He can be demanding, but at least he doesn't shriek, doesn't wear diapers, and we can leave him home without a babysitter.

Don't get me wrong, I do want to have kids, which is a revelation since I've "grown up". As a child and a teen the idea of birth scared the crap out of me. So I decided that when I got married I would adopt, since there are so many children out there without a home.

But now that I'm older, I realize I want to create a child. I want a miniature blend of Sean and myself. And when I'm around pregnant women or particularly cute children, my heart strings pull and I want one now. But then I see the limitations that children bring. Going out becomes more of an ordeal, your days are planned around naptimes, and your time is no longer your own.
And suddenly the little clock and my heartstrings relax and go back to sleep. One day we'll be ready to have our world revolve around a little one, but right now, we're not done being young and selfish.

New Site in the Works! Poll Time!

2009-06-09T22:59:00.006-04:00

This is exciting, I am currently working on expanding. I am blowing out the walls of this blog and moving on up to my own domain. I finally chose a name and now I'm working on the decor. Which is where I need your help. I've created a banner, and while I like it for the most part, I feel like it could be much better. To be fair, I am my own worst critic, so I thought it wise to get some of your opinions. Click on it to see it in a larger size.

Be honest, I can take it!

If you don't love it, I'd greatly appreciate any comments on how to improve it. If you're good and cooperate, I'll share more development goodies in the near future!

My Favorite Things: Home Decor Edition

2009-06-09T12:02:00.012-04:00

When decorating a house, it can be difficult to blend the styles of a husband and wife. I managed to luck out, because Sean and I surprisingly agree on most decor choices. I thought I'd share some of my favorite decor themes with you, and later, I'll write a post showing how they have been incorporated (or will be) in our home.

If I were to name my style, I'd say I'm "Old World Traditional", or "Updated Old World". Sean and I hope to build a Tudor home someday. I can't STAND modern and contemporary designs, which means most design shows turn me off in some way or another. To me, the plastic, clean, minimalist lines seem cold to me, and I don't think I'd ever feel at home among them. Give me overstuffed, warm wood tones and elegant designs anyday. I don't say this to offend the clean line lovers out there, it's just not for me.

Elements I love are:

1) Dark wood furniture
2) Wrought Iron Pieces with beautiful curves

3) Fleur de Lis, I don't know why, but I love the look

4) Candles and Lanterns

5) Monograms

6) Wall Words: Sean and I are literature nuts, so bring on the quotes!

So what are your favorite decorating elements? What's your style? Let me know, you could inspire an addition to my list!

I Heart Faces and Our Medieval Weekend

2009-06-08T12:20:00.013-04:00

New to the I ♥ Faces blog, I thought I'd throw some of my photos out there. This week is a nonchallenge week, where you feature a past vacation and photos from it in your blog.

My husband and I are thespians, Shakespeare lovers, and renaissance faire goers. This year we stepped that up and joined the SCA. This weekend was our first weekend camping trip, and we attended Sommer Draw in western Mass. It was a great, small event and served as the perfect introduction to period camping. Sean has begun fencing, a hobby he had previously dabbled with in college, and I've taken up sewing clothes.

Now, those who know me know that I swoon over a good sword fight in a movie. Pirates of the Caribbean and Princess Bride come to mind in particular. I also think my husband is particularly handsome.

So put a sword in his hand, and I just melt.

Sorry ladies, he's all mine!

So what weekend getaways have you enjoyed lately?

Community Garden - green thumbs for amateurs

2009-06-04T14:47:00.007-04:00

This weekend I became a gardener. Before you laugh, it's for a good cause!

Community gardening is very similar to community theater...you have an interest and very little knowledge or training when you begin, and as you work hard at it, one of two things happen: 1) you flourish in your new found and home grown talent, or 2) you fail miserably in front of many people.

In this instance, community theater has led me to this gardening venture. Theater friends of mine decided to join up with a few other families to create a community garden to aid some people who are suffering from the recession. Three of the five familes backed out, which left a lot of land (see below) and not many hands to work it. So I decided to lend a hand in order to gain some experience and knowledge.

We showed up to face the vast, tilled ground, with a small box of seedlings.

I was merely expecting to lend a hand, but they presented me with a large section of land and asked me what I wanted to plant. My mind drew a blank, so I decided to try digging up the soil first while I mulled it over. It would give me ample time with my thoughts.

Before my hoe had sliced into the earth, they pulled out Big Bertha...

And in a mere five minutes, my section was ready for planting.

Ideas: Zero.

So I walked about in the deliciously cool, soft earth and marked out sections which will house zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkins, cucumbers (for Sean), carrots, cherry tomatoes and 2 types of lettuce.

As I planted the last of my seeds, the sky grew dark and opened up on us. We hurriedly finished the last of our work and headed home.

The sign of a good day of the work in the dirt:

Yum!

A Ladies' Blessing (Rolls Eyes)

2009-05-28T10:55:00.003-04:00

Today was session 6 of 8 with Adam, the bringer of pain. Also Week 2 weigh in. I stepped on the scale with the memory of last week's 4 lb loss fresh in my head. This week's loss?

A big fat 0.

So we checked my body fat percentage, which was 30.5 at my initial weigh in. It's slipped to 29.7%. But before handing me the device he said "the only time it's inaccurate is during 'that time of the month'". I groaned...because dear Aunt Flo checked in on Tuesday.

So the good news is that I likely have dropped more weight and percentage points, Flo's fat butt is just masking it.

At any rate, I'll be working my own butt off this next week to ensure an awesome final weigh in.

Product Review: Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair

2009-05-25T16:39:00.004-04:00

My first product review! I'm constantly stuck in the grocery aisles staring at the bazillion and one options staring at me. I thought I'd try to help others by reviewing products that I've tried.

Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair: B+

London is hairy...enough said. And spring is synonymous with shedding in our house, lots of little white and gray tufts of hair floating through air. I typically use sticky rollers to keep it under control, but I thought I'd give the new roller by Pledge a try.

Packaging: The box opened very easily, and the roller pulled out, ready-to-use.

Ease of Use: It was a lot easier to use then a sticky roller. Short, back and forth strokes, a nice grip, and no need to stop and rip off the filled sheet.

Overall Performance: It wasn't extraordinary. It did do a good job picking up the larger clumps, but left some of the finer single hairs behind. Perhaps I was naive when I bought it, but I didn't realize it was a disposable. I think I would have preferred if it had a simple pop-off canister and was reusable. The rollers did clog a bit, but the performance wasn't diminished. The fact that I didn't have to deal with ripping off sheets of paper constantly was its greatest asset.

Will I Buy Again?: I'll have to wait and see how long it lasts. The disposable asset is a deterrent, but the ease of use is alluring.

How to be a Superwoman (or, what I did this weekend)

2009-05-24T20:23:00.003-04:00

How many projects can one couple complete in a long weekend? We still have one more day to find out. But in my generally overzealous manner, I created a list of items I'd like to knock off our perpetual homeowner to-do list.

Here's the "if-I-was-Superwoman" list (complete with human updates):

mow the lawn (COMPLETE)
weed whack (COMPLETE)
weed n' feed (COMPLETE)
cut back the mini maples (this is on hold due to poison ivy overload)
pull up poison ivy (is it possible to go backwards on an item? In this case, yes...we discovered a ton MORE poison ivy in our backyard!)
bring lawn bags to Clark St. station
start veggie seeds
water the roses (COMPLETE)
move snowblower to the garage (COMPLETE)
clean the family room floor
clean the fitness room rug
laundry (3 loads COMPLETE, plus guest room linens washed)
hang sconces in entry way
hang frames
put up wall words in kitchen
sweep living room/dining room (COMPLETE)
sweep kitchen (COMPLETE)
mop/Wet Swiffer kitchen (COMPLETE and much needed!)
organize office closet
bring craft stuff downstairs
finish crochet headband (COMPLETE)
Anne of Cleves necklace
Anne of Cleves french hood
memorize Anne of Cleves lines
draft sponsor letter for Snuggles Project
find new spot for iron cross votive holder (I have a spot in mind)
rake up sticks left after pickups (COMPLETE; this was a last minute addition since they came by to clean up the branches from the ice storm Friday)

Now that I see it, we've gotten quite a bit done! Tomorrow will hopefully continue in this vein.

What have you been up to this weekend?

Success!!

2009-05-21T21:37:00.002-04:00

I had my first week's weigh-in tonight at my training session with Adam. I have lost *drum roll please*......FOUR pounds!!!

Please excuse my happy dance.

We've become "that" neighbor

2009-05-21T07:01:00.000-04:00

This is a bit embarrassing, but we were called out about our lawn yesterday. It's in very sad shape, long grass, dandelions everywhere, but in our defense, Sean is planning on cutting it and spreading Weed n Feed on Friday when he has a half day. With the show and all the rain we've had lately, we haven't had a chance to get out there.

We got home from dropping off Nana's birthday gift and our next door neighbor's tenant was outside with her dog and a young man. She waved us over and introduced us to her daughter's boyfriend, who was home for the summer and "a good worker, should we need it". Turns out, her landlord is an absolute freak about his perfect lawn, has someone come in and take care of it, and he's been griping about our lack of lawn care thus far.

We'll see if he's singing a different tune after this weekend.

Conflicted Feelings...

2009-05-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I was so pumped off of my great workout/eating/weight loss, and today is not measuring up.

Reason #1: Ran this morning - Now I'm proud that I got up and did it, I had to wrestle with my brain to get out of bed, but when I was out there I confused myself. I planned to run at least 2 1/2 miles, to build on what I did last time. As soon as I started running my legs felt dead. They were fatigued from my workout yesterday. But I pushed and made it the mile to the track, where I ran into a decision: keep going on the road for a change of pace, or stick to the track where I can measure my distance? I chose the track, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake since I was counting laps. I eeked out 2 and headed back. But this is where things got weird. I felt myself pushing harder and running faster without intending to. This kept up on my way back and I finished in a fast run down a hill I usually ease up and stay steady on. Then I kept going a little further before beginning my cool down walk. So I wound up only running 2 miles and change, but I pushed harder without thinking...see my dilemma?

Reason #2: Lunch - One of the great things about my work has now become evil. Lunch was brought in from Olive Garden (my favorite) to celebrate one of our colleagues achieving his MBA. Oh...and there was cake. I had the best intentions, packed a lunch so I wouldn't have to indulge in the calorie fest that is OG. But pasta usually wins, and I took about an open hand size portion of penne alla marinara (which is less scary at 310 cal for a lunch portion), some salad (and a tsp of house dressing, ugh)...oh, and a slice of cake. I could have done worse, and I'll be skipping my afternoon snack, but I feel bloated!!! Hopefully I'll be able to squash all future temptations by remembering this.

I still have Quickstep class tonight. I do love being so active.

I may be crazy...

2009-05-19T09:20:00.001-04:00

...but it's working. I got up at the unthinkable hour of 5:30 am to go meet Adam (aka bringer of pain) for a 6 am training session. Made it out the door twice on time (had to run back in for my food diary) and was waiting there when he showed up. I had eaten an apple in the car on the way there, as instructed, and was praying I would still have said apple in my digestive system when the hour was up.

The session started off well, had a fairly good critique of my eating (just need more protein), and he weighed me in to see what the retention was. I weighed in 2.5 lbs lighter than Thursday evening! He said counting the retention through the day I've likely lost a pound, but we'd verify on Thursday when I meet with him in the evening.

We had the session and I felt great! Worlds apart from what I felt like on Saturday. It's so nice to see progress! We'll have to see how this affects my running tomorrow morning.

We've Tamed a Shrew

2009-05-18T09:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the close and strike of Taming of the Shrew. It was a fun run, but Sean and I are looking forward to having our summer free. I brought along the camera, because I knew I'd be missing out on some great photos if I didn't. Boy was I right!

In other news, I found a new obsession...shooting backstage action. Between mirrors, makeup, lighting, and general backstage antics, I got some fantastic shots.

Normally this would have been too yellow for me, but it seemed appropriate with these shots.

Applesauce Pumpkin Muffins

2009-05-17T11:18:00.001-04:00

Sean and I have begun refocusing on our nutrition and fitness. We've joined a gym and are working with a trainer (who's the reason we're both cringing with every movement today). We're also following the Eat Clean Diet. I'm on a 1200 calorie diet, and so far it seems to be working. I've dropped a pound in 1/2 a week.

This morning I made Applesauce Pumpkin Muffins (189 calories) from the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook for breakfast. I paired this with some fruit salad that I dipped in organic non-fat vanilla yogurt. Very yummy!

I made some alterations to the recipe based on what I had in my kitchen. Instead of 1/2 c quinoa flour and 1/4 c whole wheat (WW) flour I used all WW flour. And instead of a 1/2 cup of maple sugar flakes, I used less than a 1/4 cup of raw sugar and a splash of organic blue agave sweetener. Next time I'll use more.

Quickstep, Class 1

2009-03-26T07:01:00.000-04:00

I know, posts 2 days in a row! Please, take a moment to recover from the shock and then continue reading.

I've been taking ballroom dance classes for a few months now, and I'm having a fantastic time. I started with a 10 week Foxtrot class, which finished up last week. Last night was my first Quickstep lesson. It's like Foxtrot on speed! So much fun and it has you zipping along the floor with ease and grace. All but 2 people in the class I've already had other classes with, so it should be a really enjoyable time.

Steps learned:

1/4 turn
chasse
progressive chasse

My absence...

2009-03-25T08:01:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry, I've been absent for a while. I have excuses though. A lot of things have been going on! The Front Page went up, which occupied the hubby and I for 2 weeks. Now that it's wrapped, we're moving right on to Taming of the Shrew. I'm enjoying being back up on stage. Nobody puts Baby in the tech booth. I jest, it was a different and educational experience, and there's nothing like live theater to give you a few heart attacks.

In other news, I've begun a new volunteer position with Hugs for Homeless Animals. I am the new Snuggles Project Coordinator! It'll be a lot of work, but I'm very excited.

Ok, off to work with me, but I thought I'd let you know I'm still alive!

I'm a proud big sis!

2009-03-03T07:34:00.000-05:00

My younger sister, Caitie, called me last night, demanding to know where I had been all night (first rehearsal for Taming of the Shrew, in case anyone really wants to know). She had very exciting news for me.

My sister was accepted into grad school....in IRELAND!!!

She's looking into animal management, and had applied to schools in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Scotland's answer is expected early next week.

Sean and I may be arranging a trip to visit her in a year...

I love a man who can make me laugh...

2009-02-23T21:07:00.000-05:00

In this case that man is my cat, London (though Sean makes me laugh quite frequently). We discovered that he has a favorite TV show. While channel surfing one day, we came across Cats 101 on Animal Planet. London was hooked! He sits on the rug, absolutely fixated. See his expression below. Any other show he could care less about, but this one he will plant himself and watch the whole half hour!

My First Snuggles Donated!

2009-02-16T15:41:00.001-05:00

I have my first two Twisted Garter Stitch Snuggles completed! I brought them over to the Worcester Animal Rescue League today when Sean and I went to volunteer.

Unexpectedly, I was able to actually "give" them to a couple of cats. I asked which needed them the most, and the worker brought me over to a cage with two brothers in it. She said that one of them was warming up to people, while his brother (who was lying in the litterbox) did not like being there. I placed the blankets in the cage and then asked to visit with them in the spare room.

Both boys were very sweet, with the friendly bro warming right up to us, and the other guy needed a little coaxing. With some skritching behind the ears and on the cheeks they were quite happy with us. Before we left we saw that litterbox bro had warmed up to one of the Snuggles quite nicely.

They had curled up together to share the purple Snuggle. It warmed my heart and made me feel like I had made their indefinite stay a bit more comfortable.

I went out and bought materials for 3 more :)

A rose, by any other name...

2009-02-15T13:44:00.000-05:00

Since when did a nice gesture no longer become just a nice gesture? I had to stop at a gas station after dance practice, and I noticed a rose seller was set up, trying to move his leftover Valentine's Day bouquets. In the midst of watching the numbers slowly click upwards, someone approached me and said "Excuse me, ma'am" (we'll overlook that misstep). I look up and it's the rose seller, with a single red rose in his hand. "This is for you, Happy Valentine's Day, " he said, and then left me to finish filling my tank. I thanked him, surprised and touched by the gesture, but then my mind automatically went to the credit card in my pocket, even as far as to wonder if there was a gps bug in the rose and he would rob my house later. That's how crazy far my mind went!

But no, there was no bug, my credit card was safely in my pocket still, it was simply a kind gesture. So why did I automatically assume there was some scam or evil plot behind it? Granted, the last time a rose seller gave me a flower, he chased after Sean and I demanding payment (we had clearly explained to him when he first tried pushing it into my hand that we didn't have money). But this is what the world has come to...where so many "good deeds" are merely scams or opportunities for pick pockets or con men, that we can't trust any one who is just trying to do a nice thing.

So to the rose seller, thank you...and I'm sorry for neurotically misjudging your sweet gesture.

Very Sad News for Massachusetts Animals

2009-02-06T07:43:00.000-05:00

Read this news story. Three animal shelters, Springfield, Martha's Vineyard and Brockton, will be closing as a result of the economic crisis. These shelters took in approximately 11,000 animals last year! What will happen to the animals who are left? Will other local shelters be able to accommodate the overflow?

Help keep this from happening to other shelters, who rely so heavily on donations. Give what you can. Turn in all those cans, roll or bring your spare change to a Coinstar and give that "free money" to the shelters. Spread the love to those who want nothing more than to love you back.

Hopefully a Happy Ending

2009-02-02T20:17:00.000-05:00

Remember the puppy, Rudolph, who I walked on Saturday? Well my sister-in-law emailed me today to say he was adopted that very day! Sure enough, I looked on the website and his profile wasn't there.

One down, and far too many more to go.

Loving those who want nothing more than to love back

2009-01-31T14:50:00.000-05:00

One of the most rewarding and at the same time heartbreaking things I've ever done is volunteer at the animal rescue league. I was there this morning, walking the dogs and signing up to help in whatever way I can. The positive thing was that there were only about 5 dogs there, which is far less than the last time I went. The 3 dogs I walked were all terrier/pit bull mixes or looked like them. And though they looked like tough dogs, they were unbelievably sweet (and strong, talk about a workout!). I hope someone gives them the time to see past their square heads and frames and realizes that they are the dog for them.

The first was Rudolph, a playful little boxer/pit bull terrier mix. Once we got outside he grabbed the leash and wanted to play tug of war. He definitely needs a little discipline and training, but he will wear out any kids!

The second one made my sister-in-law a little nervous because of his size and apparent strength. I looked at little Jose's info and it said nothing about trouble, so out he came. A fellow volunteer gave me a warning that he was a jumper, but I saw no indication of this while walking him. He is most certainly house trained, because as soon as we made it outside he bee lined for the snow and did his business. I couldn't think of how hard it must be for him when he needs to relieve himself in his kennel because he has no other option. It also broke my heart when he headed straight back to the shelter doors once he was done. No playing, no running, just did his business and went back inside. But he does gladly accept attention. He needs a family who will appreciate this little gentleman.

The third, and the one that touched my heart the most, was Jax. A larger pit bull terrier, Jax was very well behaved beyond a bit of pulling. When they said eyes are the windows to the soul, they had this dog in mind. Beautiful amber eyes that just radiated happiness, excitement, love and sadness. He did not want to go back into the kennel. He saw the door, stopped, and lowered his head, staring mournfully up at me. My heart broke.

But good news! I spoke to them about the Snuggles project, and they were VERY receptive. I'll be bringing in a couple next week with more information. This makes me very happy. Now I just need to find some other local knitters and crocheters to contribute as well.

I'll keep you updated. But if you can, donate to your local shelter, volunteer when you have a few hours, if nothing else, give your furry friend a hug. These animals need and deserve love, and interaction is vital to their hopes for being adopted.

Finding my Strength

2009-01-26T07:20:00.000-05:00

While at church yesterday, I saw this passage in my hymnal that spoke to me. I've been wanting to give back somehow, to find a charity or project that I could lend my talents to and help change lives.

Send Me
Use me, God, in thy great harvest field,
Which stretcheth far and wide like a wide sea;
The gatherers are so few; I fear the precious yield
Will suffer loss. Oh find a place for me!
A place where best the strength I have will tell:
It may be one the older toilers shun;
Be it a wide or narrow place, 'tis well
So that the work it holds be only done.
- Christina G. Rossetti

I've been praying that God will lead me to where my strengths will be a great help, to a cause where I make a difference.

Last night I applied to Hugs For Homeless Animals to become an online research assistant or a volunteer coordinator. I hope that I can be of some use to them, they're a great cause that works for the comfort and proper treatment of shelter animals while they wait for their forever homes.

As you know, Sean and I adopted a shelter animal, and the woman sent him home with a bed that had been in his crate. This bed was London's security blanket during the transition, and it is the one thing that is truly his (even though now he thinks this is his house and we're merely living in it to fawn attention on him). H4HA has a Snuggles project, which offers patterns for knitters, crocheters and sewers to create and donate to shelters. That way the animals will have some protection from the cage or kennel floor and it can be their security blanket.

I'll let you know if I hear back about the volunteer positions, but in the meantime I highly suggest visiting the site, make a donation, make a Snuggle, adopt a pet, do what you can.

I pray that you also think about your own strengths, and perhaps find a way that they can be put to use for good.

Finished Object and Adorableness

2009-01-20T21:07:00.000-05:00

I just finished my homework for Charms class in the Harry Potter Knitting and Crocheting House Cup. We're "learning" the Patronus charm, and the assignment was to either practice using it for protection, making something for yourself that would ward off the seasonal blues, or practicing using it for messaging, by creating something that would carry a book or notebook, etc. So I made this Robin's Egg Blue Hat.It makes me very happy. The only thing that is meh about it is the part where it comes together. It's just slightly pointy, not sitting fully flush to my head like I would like. Perhaps that would change with blocking, which I'm a little scared to try.

Sorry...total interruption here: Biggest Loser is pissing me off! Joelene has been slacking the entire time, she doesn't want to be on the ranch and yet the contestants kept her on this week and sent a deserving contestant home. Argh!

Ah well, adorable pics of London always cheer me up.

Um...so I guess that blogging regularly resolution is out the window.

2009-01-13T20:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry about that. And I can't really say I've been super busy...just distracted.

My distractions?

Harry Potter Knitting and Crocheting House Cup - On ravelry.com there is a group based around Hogwarts, designed to challenge your skills and help you develop new ones. You're sorted into houses, and then classes give assignments each month. Complete an assignment and earn points for your house. There's even Quidditch, where members of each house work together to complete a larger assignment.

Ballroom dance - I've started Foxtrot and Advanced East Coast Swing classes :) I'm having a blast, getting some exercise, and really excelling at it! Sadly Sean is not doing it with me.

This weekend will be Enter the Haggis filled for us. We're hitting the show at the Hungry Tiger in Manchester, CT and then heading up to Cumberland, ME for one on Saturday. We're very excited to try out our new camera some more.

Goodbye to 2008

2008-12-31T14:58:00.000-05:00

It's New Years Eve 2008. When midnight hits, *poof* 2008 is gone and it'll be 2009. I thought now would be a good time to think back and revisit everything that happened in our lives this year. The good, the bad, the happy, the sad, all of it. Ok, not everything, because we'd be here all night, and you'd be bored. But here's the short list, complete with pictures, because I love me some pictures.

Good: Sean and I were in A Streetcar Named Desire. I played Stella, and it was the best performance/role I've had to date. We got reactions from the audience that I never dreamed I would experience.

Bad: Lost my job at the publishing company. Boo...

Happy: Quickly found a new job at an energy consulting firm and I'm very happy here.

Bad/Good: Sean and I had his and hers wisdom teeth extractions.

Very Good: I helped marry off my best friend since childhood. She and her new husband make the cutest couple.Good: Sean won the lead role in Macbeth. He was a very sexy Shakespearean Scot :)
See? Told you ;)

Good: I played Ariel in the Tempest. The weather for this show suited the name to a T. We began one performance with a slight drizzle, and by the middle of the first act, my body paint was gone, we were soaking wet, and our director come out and let our devoted audience go.

Scary: Sean began to have pain in his stomach. We brought him to the ER, and after a late night involving CAT scans and sulfur smoothies, they determined that he had an inflamed appendix. The next day they performed an appendectomy. For those who know Sean, you know that no illness can go smoothly for him. A week later we made two consecutive night visits to the ER again because Sean's fever hit 104 degrees. The catheter from the surgery caused a UTI which ascended into his kidneys. I'm happy to report that he's been back in action and "normal" since!

Very Good: We bought a house!

Scary: Found out someone very close to us had cancer.

Very Happy: Surgery removed all the cancer.

Very Happy: I helped marry off my cousin. May have been four months later than expected, but she's now an army wife!
I think that hits the hot spots. Overall I'd say a very positive year! I hope 2009 is just as good, even better if possible! I know I've got one more to marry off in October, and I can't wait. Tomorrow I'll be back to talk about our New Years Resolutions.

Please have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve!

My holidays

2008-12-28T17:14:00.000-05:00

I haven't had a moment to rest, and that's likely why I'm now runny, sneezy, and generally miserable. My darling husband had been sick most of the week, and I woke up yesterday morning with sore throat and post nasal drip...fun. Especially since I was in my cousin's wedding yesterday...but I'll get to that.

Wednesday (Christmas Eve): I went into work, and spent half of the short day at FedEx, getting hard copies of a report out the door. At one o'clock I headed home to bake, clean, and finish knitting my grandmother's present. At 6, we headed to Sean's family's Christmas party at his sister's house. Lots of food, family and babies. Four new babies born in the past year...something's in their water. Sean nearly had a coronary when he saw me holding the youngest, he's convinced pregnancy is contagious.

We headed home in time to welcome my grandmother, who stayed with us, then were soon out the door once more for the midnight service at my church. It was beautiful. Our church has a gothic style, and much of the service was dimly lit with candles.

Thursday (Christmas): I cooked and no one died! We had 14 people over, both my and his family. I made a ham, mashed potatoes which were delicious, and my mom brought a green bean casserole. And we have lots left in the fridge, not to mention the desserts! Later on we went to his parents' for their annual Christmas party.

Friday: 8:30 am we were on the road to Rochester, NY. A half hour later than we had hoped, but still good timing. We ran into my best friend, Justine, and her husband, Erik, about halfway down the New York Thruway. We got into Rochester around 2:15, which was good considering we hit a pretty nasty, though brief, snow squall in Syracuse. Our first stop was Best Buy. Sean and I had our eyes on a Nikon D40, and had the money from Christmas to get it. The rest of this post will feature pictures from our new baby.

Saturday: Woke up feeling awful, as before noted, and the weather wasn't fantastic, but the show goes on, and so did we.We got these two kids hitched, though it may have been four months later than expected. The lovely bride is my cousin, Shauna, and the cutting officer is her new husband, Steven.

For December the day was warm, but wet. We processed to the church, and everyone carried umbrellas and we girls all sported boots under our gowns.

The reception was a dessert reception, with pies, cakes, and strawberry shortcakes.

My reaction (behind me you can see my sister's)...unfortunately shortly after this photo I had to make a pit stop in the bathroom to fight off the consequences of post nasal drip and an empty stomach...sorry. This didn't hold back my sister, Catie, though, from helping herself. And though I didn't eat much, if I know my sister's metabolism, every calorie she ate will mysteriously appear on my hips.

Yeah, go ahead and rub it in, Catie.

We spent Saturday evening at Justine and Erik's, then headed out at 10 am this morning. Now I am on the couch, watching the Jets/Dolphins game to see if the Pats will make it to the playoffs.

Merry Christmas everyone, and (I can't believe I'm about to say this) go Jets!

Our baby

2008-12-16T10:11:00.000-05:00

It's Tuesday and we still have no power. There is an electrician at our house so hopefully that status will change today. While we hate being displaced and inconveniencing others, we feel far worse for our furbaby, London.

London was Sean's Christmas present to me last year. I have always had pets growing up, so when it was just Sean and I, something felt like it was missing. Like our little family still needed that one little thing. We definitely aren't ready for babies, and our schedule is far too chaotic for a dog, so I suggested a cat. This was met with resistance, with Sean professing to "not be a cat person", but finally he broke down and looked through petfinder.com with me. We found two young cats, Kasha and Linden. We met Kasha first, at a Pet Smart holiday adoption day, but she seemed more fit for an older person who would want a companion. We were looking for a kittenish spark, one that would love to play and entertain himself while we were away, but would snuggle up on the couch with us at night.

Meeting Linden took us up to Winchendon, where he was staying at a shelter in a woman's house. He was in a large cage, and would play with a wand, but did not want to come out. He let us pet him as well. She tried to show us another cat, a sweet white one who was an absolute love. We had to make a choice, and Sean chose Linden, since he was so unique and beautiful. This other little cat would dazzle anyone and surely find a home soon, but we wanted to take a chance on the one we came for.

It was the best gamble we ever made. Linden (now our London) soon became the exact cat we wanted. He makes us laugh every day, and he loves us as much as we love him. Which is why it hurt us so much when we would crate him up to take him with us when we lost power. He didn't like the strange homes and would hide under the bed.

Yesterday was warm, and though we still had no power, we had to leave him home. Sean's mom runs a day care and needed the room we stayed in for the kids' naps. I've never seen an animal so happy to be home. We checked on him last night, and as soon as I walked through the door he was at the top of the stairs mewing loudly (for him). He wouldn't even let me get situated under a blanket before he was on my lap, purring and cuddling. Sean and I knew we couldn't stay home, but we couldn't bear to crate our little guy up again. So we left him home and stayed at my in-laws once more. I went to check on him this morning and it was just like last night. He was fine but he had missed us terribly.

Hopefully we will be up and running today, and we'll be back in our home, with our baby, where we should be. I just want a good night's sleep in my own bed again.

We're refugees

2008-12-13T09:44:00.000-05:00

In case you're not up to date with Massachusetts weather, much of the state suffered from debilitating icing Thursday evening into Friday morning. See this story to find out more. Sean and I hardly slept that night as we listened to cracks and the sound of giant limbs tumbling to the ground. We woke twice to ones that bumped the house, the second actually rousing us out of bed for good. Looking out our front window we saw that this one had ripped the power lines off of our house.
Our yard is a waste land of downed tree limbs, many so large we can't even fathom how we're going to remove them. One landed between our neighbors' driveway and our own, with branches that encompassed my car. Thank God mine appears to be unscathed, as does the neighbor's.
This is the one that threatened our cars. Mine was just to the right of the orange cone. See more of the damage below.We couldn't get a hold of Sean's parents Friday morning, and with his dad recently home after surgery, we decided to venture out and check on them. A typical 2 minute drive up the street became a surreal trip through a maze of downed lines and tree branches. We hardly recognized the neighborhood. Thankfully everyone's alright, and no damage appears to have been incurred. However, the day passed and little progress seemed to have been made in restoring power. Evening arrived and the temperature was dropping, so we packed up London and enough clothing and supplies for the weekend and headed to my parents' house in Douglas, where they had gotten merely rain.

So here I am, and here we'll stay until power is restored. As we watched the news last night and they showed the many homes and families who would be braving the cold and the dark for the next few days, I was so thankful for the situation God gave us. Please pray for those who do not have anywhere else to go, they have a longer weekend ahead of them than us.

Rockefellers, Pumpkins and Kilts

2008-10-14T07:52:00.000-04:00

I always feel like I run out of time to write about all that I did over the weekend. Especially when pictures get involved. So here we go, my super quick recap of my holiday weekend. My family and I went to Hudson Valley, NY for the Great Jack-o-lantern Blaze. But first was a 3 hour tour of the Rockefeller estate, Kykuit. Here are Sean and I on the west porch. Our big fat heads are blocking the fantastic view, sorry.

And here is a photo of the front of the house. Beautiful building and gardens, but the last Rockefeller to live there, the governor, had a thing for modern art...and I don't. So the strange sculptures and paintings just didn't fit for me.

Sadly, a lot of my pictures of the Jack-O-Lantern Blaze didn't come out well, but here's a nice close up of one of the celtic knot pumpkins which Sean and I are thinking of imitating on our own pumpkin. But the displays were incredible...dinosaur skeletons, giant spiders and a whole undersea display!

We finished off the weekend with a trip to the CT Renaissance Faire. Sadly, Sean had to work, otherwise I'd have pictures of him up on stage for the Men in Kilts competition. But you'll have to make do with our friend, Chris, having his kilt checked.

I came away with a new irish Tudor gown :) It's so pretty!

Alright, I have to run, but I'll leave you of a picture of London helping me type this blog entry:

I love my husband...

2008-10-10T07:45:00.000-04:00

My husband is not the romantic type...at all. But sometimes he does little things that are sweet and surprise the heck out of me.

Case in point: Last night I went straight from work to meet up with Eryn and Naomi to start our devotional study. I told Sean I'd be back by 8 to help unpack, and of course, I called him at 8 saying I was just leaving. I get home, nothing out of the ordinary, Chief showed up minutes later to watch Supernatural. Sean couldn't contain himself anymore and pointed at the dining room table. In the center was this:

A beautiful arrangement of orange flowers which he proudly explained he'd "built" himself. He felt the table was naked and we needed something fallish to make it prettier.

This weekend we'll be going to Sleepy Hollow, NY for the Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze. I'll be back on Sunday with lots of pictures!

I'll sign off by sharing a picture of my baby London, to share the cuteness:

101 in 1001 Project

2008-10-08T17:09:00.000-04:00

This is just a quick post for today. Sean and I have been working on what's called the 101 in 1001 Project. Essentially, you set 101 goals for yourself and you have 1001 days in which to complete them. You can find more info on ours here: http://briana.gardell.googlepages.com/101in1001

With the house consuming much of our time, we sadly haven't been paying much attention to this list since our start date of August 12, 2008 (our 1st anniversary). But now I'm determined to focus on my part at least, and I'll be trying to update you all daily.

As for exercise, I was lazy this morning, but a coworker and I walked to lunch today, and tonight I'm starting a daily yoga pose in hopes of building up a practice. Tonight, the Triangle pose!

Strange Delawarean Sickness

2008-10-07T07:48:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been quiet the past few days, but first I was out of town, and then I was sick...well, I still am sick.

Here are a few pictures from my trip. It was a whirlwind, starting in NJ Thursday night with an overnight visit with my cousin, lunch in Philly on Friday with a couple friends, a quick stop on campus (University of Delaware) to visit old coworkers and drop my stuff at my best friend's, then met up with some swing kids for dinner and headed back into Philly for a blues dance. Below is a pic of Maeva dancing:Then all day Saturday I spent doing wedding things with one of my best friends, Diana. We went to Gramercy Mansion, where the wedding will be, and then went and tried on the bridesmaid dress she had picked for us. Very good choice, I must say...picture this in red:

Like the new haircut? It's part of a makeover I'm slowly trying to perform on myself. I've done the same look for so long that I wanted something new. I'm also starting to exercise. Everyday I'll record what I did for exercise at the bottom of my blog. My cousin and I are going to be each other's fitness blog buddies. So my first entry: warmup and arms on intermediate bellydance video. It was a nice start, and I'm sick and congested so the next step, chest isolations, weren't happening today.

Alright, time to get ready for work, and I feel like a germ factory...blech.

I have a really good excuse!!!

2008-10-01T12:00:00.001-04:00

I've neglected you, not by choice, but by force for the last week or so...reason being? Charter. Sean and I moved into the new house on Sept 21 (yay!)...didn't have internet until Sept 27 (wtf?). It was weird...luckily, I was working late a lot last week, so I didn't miss it so much. But it's good to have it back.

What have I been up to during that time? Well I have pictures! We went to King Richard's Faire the day after move in with a bunch of friends. Beautiful day and we had a great time.

Sean and me

Eryn and me

Eryn, her husband, Chris, and their two wee ones

We had such a good time that we'll be attending the Connecticut Renaissance Faire on Columbus Day. Stay tuned for pics of my "peasant" garb, which will be debuted at that faire!

Tonight/tomorrow I will update you on my "makeover" that I'm trying to slowly perform on myself. My goals:

new haircut (nearly complete)
wearing makeup regularly (in progress)
beginning an exercise regime
becoming a bit more assertive (in progress)

Happy Birthday to me...

2008-09-18T09:15:00.000-04:00

I'm an adult finally...I've determined the demarcation between young adult and adult is the fact that your birthday no longer becomes a day of all out celebration. For me, that age is 23. I turned it yesterday. I begrudgingly went into the day with the full knowledge that it would have one of two bleak outlooks:

1) Working late at the office due to large project at work
2) Working late on the house in order to move in Saturday

I had a little bit of both.

I started off the day a tad grumpy and physically and mentally weary...I haven't had a break in about a month. But Sean's body decided to show it more, and he started off the day lightheaded and nearly stayed home. Totally not fair, if anyone got to stay home on my birthday it should be me. But, with a little water and food, he was back to normal and off to work.

I enjoyed a little quality mom and kitty time with London, who's routine is to sprawl out on my chest and revel in some attention first thing in the morning. Nothing wakes you up like a kitty paw to the face when you start to doze off and your petting hand stalls. Then I got in the shower, where I apparently lingered a little longer than usual, because I got out merely 10 minutes before I had to leave. 15 minutes later I'm dashing out the door.

Work was busy, and my fogged mind sorted through edits all day. And when I mean all day, I missed my typical 1/2 lunch away from my desk. Instead, I wasn't able to touch food until 1:30, and even then, half of my chicken caesar wrap lay, untouched, next to my keyboard.

Luckily my editing for the day ended at 6pm, and I was able to head to the new house, after only a half hour of overtime. There, an unevenly painted wall and lots of carpet was awaiting me. Sean picked up a mac & cheese TV dinner for me (hey, what else can you do when you're between places and everything's packed?) and we got to work.

Well Happy Birthday to me...the hardwood floors beneath the carpet are in such good shape they still gleam without being washed!!! This is the only thing that has gone right the first time in this house!

A while later, Sean's mom and her friends stopped by with a petit four from a local bakery and sang Happy Birthday to me. I must have been quite a sight, the birthday girl in stained and painted sweats and tank top, hands filthy from carpet dust and raw from pulling up staples with pliers.

Next thing we know, we're finished and the clock reads 11pm. We pack up and head back to the apartment, where I walk in and see a card and a beautiful bouquet of roses from Sean, surprisingly devoid of little kitty bite marks! And I had been getting upset that he was completely unromantic and had nothing more planned for his (somewhat) new wife's birthday than waking me up with a slightly out of tune Happy Birthday song and making me slave away at the house.

He wins.

Torched Windows, Anger Management and Beheadings

2008-09-15T10:13:00.000-04:00

What a weekend...

I made my first design mistake on the house...I attempted Ebony stain on our bay window...well, I don't know if it was my brain convincing me it wasn't so bad, with another coat it'll look great, but who was I kidding? I'd brush on the stain, wait as instructed, then wiped it off...

It looked like someone took a blowtorch to the frame.

It had sucked in and was BLACK in some spots while barely covered in others. How I got through half the window I don't know. Just the start to my weekend...

Life has been rather crazy with all the work on the house, but work had been kinda quiet, so it balanced out. That all changed when things got crazy with a rather large project that I'm backup on. Basically we had to turn around a draft of a large application between Thursday and midday today. My original weekend plans looked like this:

Friday night: clean up apartment for landlord to show on Saturday
Saturday: work at the house most of the day, work on application in evening
Sunday: King Richard's Faire and a well deserved break

The best laid plans of mice and men, right?

My real weekend played out like this:

Friday night:
Luckily I got out of work on time, and did get to clean the apartment while Sean did some work on the house.

Saturday:
Up bright and early to vacate the apartment, with London in tow, was very productive at the house, but waited and waited for phone call from work so I could get some editing out of the way that night so Sunday wouldn't be horrendous for my coworker. That call never came. That evening, my father in law took us out to dinner at Kyoto, this Japanese cook-in-front-of-you restaurant, which was a great time. I actually caught the food the chef flung in my mouth, first time for everything. We met a very interesting couple from Nepal who were put at our table. The guy bought us a round of Sake shots before we left. Highly needed, since I had just gotten off the phone with our friends, who decided that the weather for the next day was too risky to bring their two kids out in. Understandable, and we're planning on going next week instead, but this meant I would be getting drafted for work. Sure enough, we got back to the apartment around 11pm, I logged onto my work email and discovered that now the client wanted the draft soon enough to start reviewing first thing Monday! I sent my coworker a quick email alerting her to my availability and telling her to touch base in the morning. Then I crawled into bed for a decent night's sleep.

Sunday:
Sean headed off to the house to get started working, and, after a quick run to McDonalds for breakfast, I settled down on the couch, laptop in lap, to begin work. I decided that, since King Richard's Faire didn't happen, I'd get my dose of merry old England by catching up on the Tudors while I worked.

After about 7-8 episodes, I was still working away, and had a new appreciation for life today. I sometimes say I was born in the wrong century, but what I really long for is the dress, the furniture, and the architecture. I can do without the plagues, "bleeding" being modern medicine, and heavy seasonings to mask the taste of spoiled meat.

I loved how women dazzled in yards of beautiful fabric, and looked ready for a ball 24/7, the romance of wearing a chemise to bed (still determined to get my own), and how the corset was the ultimate bra (to you scorning ladies, I, being "curvy", appreciate good support). Even men cared about how they dressed. I loved the craftmanship and the details involved in the furniture and the architecture. No Ikeas, Walmarts, and "assemble your own" stuff that may or may not be sufficient for its purpose. There was a code of conduct (on the surface), and there's something so respectful about a bow or curtsy.

However, I grew to pity each and every woman on the show. Married men getting it on with every strange woman that attracted them in the least, and the women could do nothing but suffer. You pity Ann Boleyn, who started as one of those strange women, yet after she becomes queen and Henry's eye begins to roam once more you watch her jealousy grow to near madness. I know I'd probably behave the same way. You know where the end of her story leads and yet you sit, watching, praying that you could change history, or at least slap Henry. This last episode (the one before the finale) you watch four innocent men beheaded, not to mention earlier in the season when several men of the church, including Sir Thomas More, are killed. One thing I'll never understand is the number of people who came out to watch these beheadings for sport. And we say our generation is desensitized.

Meanwhile, in real life, I was wanting to behead my laptop (and would have, had I known where its head was). Microsoft Office thinks it's smarter than you, when in reality, it only creates more work. If it simply performed the task I wanted when I asked, things would be much more efficient. Instead, I ask it to restart the numbering in a style and it indents it! I did not ask for it to indent, did I? *sigh* Nine hours were spent fussing with documents in Word, and this project still has no foreseeable end.

What did we do?

2008-09-12T20:15:00.000-04:00

There were several times in the process of buying our house that we looked at each other and said, jokingly, "What did we do?"...The house has been ours for 2 weeks and we're burnt out, tired, frustrated, broke and still not done with the renovations!

What have we done? See the list below:

stripped all the wall paper on the first floor
painted the guest room
painted the kitchen
painted the bathroom
painted the dining room (red!!!)
replaced the toilet
replaced the heat lamp in the bathroom
replaced the over mirror light in the bathroom
respackled the ceiling of the bathroom
framed the mirror in the bathroom
put up trim in the bathroom
taken down the wall between the living room and foyer
built a half wall out of bookshelves

What's left to do??

paint living room and foyer
stain bookshelves
stain windows
finish painting office
finish painting master bedroom
take up carpets
touch up bathroom
move the second refrigerator
paint foyer railings
get and install new front door
put up new house numbers
paint radiators
touch up ceilings
move in

Pictures can be found here.

So pardon me for not being up to date in my postings, but things have been a little crazy! I'll do my best to give you updates as often as possible. We're planning on moving in next week!

Less than one day until we're homeowners!!!

2008-08-28T14:26:00.000-04:00

Ok, so technically the bank will own the house and we'll owe them a lot of money. But see the house in the picture below? As of 1pm tomorrow we will have the keys :) Then the renovations begin...but I'll be sure to keep you updated on that.

In other news, we've celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We survived a whole year!!! And that's saying something! Since I last posted (I know, bad Brie), Sean had an appendectomy, swiftly followed by a UTI which became a kidney infection. We've seen the ER more in one year than most couples see it in their lives. But, *knock on wood* we are both healthy and are focusing on far happier things!

The House Hunt

2008-07-11T13:16:00.000-04:00

Sean and I have been looking for a house, as we are rapidly out growing our cluttered little apartment and are tired of sharing floors, walls and hallways with crazy neighbors who smoke, let their cat escape, and have frequent loud visitors.

We put in an offer on a house 2 streets away, negotiated, initialed the changes, then had the seller/agent come back saying "Nevermind, if you want the house, you have to pay full price with no concessions (like the other offers that came in)." So we walked. The next weekend we saw this house, two streets in the other direction:

So we offered $10k below asking with appliances, they countered with $5k with appliances and we agreed. We were gun-shy after our first experience, but the signed offer came back a day later, and we have the inspection tomorrow morning at 9 am!!! Wish us luck!

After all that excitement, we also open our show, The Tempest, tomorrow afternoon!

Things are busy

2008-05-20T11:29:00.000-04:00

Sean and I aren't quite ships passing in the night, we bump for the occasional half hour over dinner. We're both full swing in our show rehearsals, 3 nights a week. Sean is coming down to the last few weeks, Macbeth opens the first weekend of June. He's grown a nice beard for the part that isn't nearly as offensive as I feared it would be. He looks good. Another update is that he went to the eye doctor and got contacts for show use. It's still odd getting used to the idea that he can see without the glasses.

I am recovering from my wisdom tooth extraction. Sorry, no crazy stories about me coming out of anesthesia. The surgery was this past Thursday and I've done really well with it, which is good and bad. The bad part is that I'm really bad at resting when I don't feel I have to, so Friday I was up at the park with my friend and her kids (2 yr old and 6 mo old), then ran to my aunt's to help with my cousin's prom hair and makeup, then back to my friend's to watch aforementioned kids while their parents had their first kid free date in over 6 months. Saturday I puffed up and Sean and I hibernated, despite the fact that the weather was torturously nice. Sunday found me out all day again, helping at a canoe and kayak demo day for my dad's store. So Monday came, I went out for my run, got back to get ready for work and hit an exhaustion wall. I was so tired all day yesterday. Luckily I'm back to eating soft solid foods (although I was successful with chicken last night) so I'm getting some energy back from what I'm eating.

Happy Birthdays!

2008-05-02T17:07:00.000-04:00

It's been a week of birthdays. On Wednesday (April 30) was my mother in law's birthday, and today is my dad's birthday. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We love you!

I swear I'll be better...

2008-05-01T13:23:00.000-04:00

...at updating. Things have been busy for us. Sean went to Vermont last weekend for his bowling tournament, had his ups and downs, and finished the season with a 206 average. He didn't come home with more money than he left with, like he did last year. Oh well.

I auditioned for the Tempest and found out Sunday that I will be playing Ariel! We had our first read through last night and another tonight. It will be a fun role, something different for me. Work last week was busy, and I worked til 10:15 Thursday night. This week has been quieter, thankfully, and I can slow down and leave on time.

Our shower was finally fixed! While Sean was in Vermont, I was home supervising the work (and by supervising I mean watching the TV and surfing the internet). So hooray it's now white and clean! No more tiles falling off the decaying walls while I'm trying to wash.

The running is going well, I haven't given up, which is new. Hopefully in less than 8 weeks I'll be successfully running 5k!

Ouch...

2008-04-22T21:13:00.001-04:00

I am sore!! My quads and my abs especially ache from my first run yesterday. But as much as I look like an old woman hobbling about I can't wait for my second run tomorrow. I'll be rewarded tomorrow night when my friend is comes over to give me a massage. Doesn't hurt to know a massage therapist!

I also had a consult with a maxillofacial surgeon today. That's what the degree on the wall said anyways. I have to have my wisdom teeth out. Turns out I am super special and have 5 wisdom teeth! I have a little baby one up behind my left side top tooth. I think I'll call him Frank. May 15 they come out. Fun times.

Couch to 5k- Week 1 Day 1

2008-04-21T22:30:00.000-04:00

I've always despised running. Unless I was being chased by a bear or really had to pee I never saw the purpose. I played soccer for most of my life, but the game and the ball gave me a reason to run, though I played defense, which on a good team (which mine was) meant I got rests compared to the forwards and mid fielders.

So why have I decided to try my feet at running? Well, it's the easiest and cheapest workout to maintain. All you need is a pair of running sneakers and you can run anywhere. I said in my last post that my apartment is five minutes from everything. That includes a dirt track at the local community college. A five minute walk up the street and I'm there (which works out to be a perfect warm up and cool down). I frequent thenest.com fitness boards as well as sparkpeople.com, and many posters were having success with the Couch to 5k program. Seeing as my butt was on the couch at the time, it seemed perfect.

I conferred with my dad, who was my coach growing up and currently a high school gym teacher (and former track and soccer coach), and he said it looked like a good, doable program for me, and is providing lots of support. I also found a guy who created podcasts for the program and has them available for free on his website.

With my mind made up to start Monday (today, and appropriately enough, Boston Marathon day), I walked in the mornings last week to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather that's FINALLY arrived in Massachusetts. I woke this morning to find that it's downright cold and foggy. Not the best motivator. But oddly enough, I was excited to start the program and start I did. The podcast was great. I don't know if it would have worked as well for me if I was tied to a watch. The one thing I realized? I am WAY out of shape! I had somehow gotten it into my head that it was only 4 sets of intervals, so I finish the 4th to hear him pipe up "Halfway there!"

WHAT?!?

I was cold, tired, breathing heavy, and the old guy was lapping me. On the second to last interval, Mr. Podcast tells me "You should start to feel the effects of the running, but not be tired or out of breath." Um...yeah...I'm out of shape if I'm sucking wind on the first workout getting me off of the couch.

But I'm proud of myself. It was hard, but I finished. And I get another chance at it on Wednesday, when I will do Day 2 of Week 1.

On a side note: Sean and I are participating in "Turn of your TV" week. Tonight was a success, thanks mostly to a trip to the mall and the new wireless internet that allows me to play on my laptop while he plays game after game on the desktop. Boys and their games...

Welcome all!

2008-04-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

This is attempt number....well, honestly I've lost count of the number of blogs or journals I've started. But this time I really hope it sticks.

I guess I'll give you the run down of our little family.

Members: Sean (the man), Briana (the woman, aka: me), and London (the coolest cat alive)

Sean and I met through theater, and began dating before the spring of my senior year in high school. I went off to the University of Delaware for four years and we struggled through the long distance relationship. We were married August 12, 2007 (8 mos., 9 days ago) and it was a perfect day. We then embarked on a 2 week Mediterranean cruise that was amazing. It was our first time abroad and we can't wait to travel again!

We've been living in a little 3 room apartment in Worcester, MA for about 10 months, and we've got the itch to get out! By way of apartments we really can't complain, it's 1 of 4 units in a "house" on a residential street in one of the few safe neighborhoods in this city, rent's good, heat and hot water are included, and everything is only 5 minutes away. Quite a difference from growing up in backwoods Douglas where everything was a minimum 1/2 hr away (except the woods). But we do have to pay for laundry, deal with the apartment sized stove that likes to set off the smoke alarm, and we have to share walls and ceilings. We also have quickly outgrown the little storage space we have. So now that we are settled in our jobs (I'm a project assistant for an energy consulting firm and Sean is a project engineer) and have the monthly budget allowance for a mortgage, we are finding it hard to wait a few months for our down payment fund to grow a little more.

Lately things have been in a lull for us, but don't you worry, we don't sit still for too long. Sean finishes up his bowling season this week and heads to Vermont for a tournament with the boys this weekend (I don't ask for details). He is also playing Macbeth in...well, Macbeth. This will be the first summer since we started dating that he will be doing a different summer Shakespeare show than me. I will be auditioning for The Tempest tomorrow night or Wednesday.

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