Red Pencils and Running Shoes

Or… not.  But since the wedding was on a Friday, Robert and I decided to make a fancy weekend out of our trip to Manhattan.  We started our Saturday by having brunch with the happy couple and my future mother-in-law.  Robert, his mom, and I walked to the Waldorf-Astoria where the newlyweds spent the night.  I couldn’t help but snap a few pictures of the beautiful, historic hotel.

Beautiful, right?!  From the Waldorf, we caught a cab and ventured to Sarabeth’s by Central Park… where we saw Kevin Jonas and his wife!  But since they were there, the table forbid me from taking a picture of the restaurant… and the Jo-Bro.  They didn’t want to make a big deal out of it or something… psssh.  But trust me when I say that 1) Kevin Jonas’ wife is beautiful and 2) Sarabeth’s is SO cute, and so delicious.  Definitely a great place for brunch in NYC!

From brunch, we all went our separate ways for a while.  Robert and I relocated to the Flatiron district to the Marcel at Gramercy; a boutique hotel by Gramercy Park.  Check out our cute room!  Apparently the Marcel hosts resident artists during the year, and all of the rooms are unique!  I loved it.  There was also a great rooftop deck and lounge with a great view.  I could have spent all day up there!

PLUS the hotel was right down the street from a little place I’d been dying to try…  Pinkberry!  I convinced Robert to stop in, and we both got originals.  I think I squealed when I discovered I could top my frozen yogurt with CAP’N CRUNCH!!!  I devoured the whole thing.  Robert wasn’t as big of a fan.  Probably because he didn’t add Cap’n Crunch  

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this new (to me!) part of the city. 

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner.  We had this dinner planned for weeks – it was 95% of the reason we wanted to stay another night in NYC!  Since Robert and I are huge (HUGE!) Food Network fans, we have wanted to go to Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain since forever.  We got all dressed up, collected the new bride (her groom was sending off his irish relatives!) and headed out.

The restaurant was so cool!  We sat upstairs, and got to watch all the swanky action below.  And the food… the food really was amazing.  We were expecting to be underwhelmed, but I was honestly blown away.  I started with the Chopped Asparagus Salad, which was light and lemony.  I wish it had a few more pieces of asparagus, but the rest of the ingredients more than made up for it.  I also had a few pieces of a grilled pizza with bacon and garlic.   And when I say bacon, I mean BACON.  Not that crispy breakfast type, but thick, salty morsels of deliciousness.  My mouth is watering while I type it!  I would go back tomorrow, just for that pizza!  Robert tried the Bar Americain take on a Philly Cheesesteak (yes, we were in New York… I gave him a free pass!)  It was a steak smothered in grilled onions and a provolone cheese sauce.  It was divine!   I highly recommend Bar Americain – please go and eat that pizza!

We finished off the night in Robert’s sister’s Manhattan apartment.  We had such fun gossiping and laughing and talking about her wedding.  And her apartment is so cute, I could have stayed there all night! 

It was a great day in the city, and a perfect follow-up to the wedding. 

What would be your perfect day in Manhattan?

Once upon a time, a beautiful young lady went to Ireland to visit a friend.  This friend took it upon herself to introduce the beautiful young lady to a handsome Irish fellow – and they fell in love.  As months went past, the beautiful young lady saved her pennies to visit her handsome Irish fellow, and in turn he would come to the states and visit her.  Eventually they decided that it was time for the handsome Irish fellow to move to the united states with the beautiful young lady, and soon later they were engaged!

As the year went past, there were several celebrations for the beautiful couple.

But none were quite as amazing as the wedding between the beautiful young lady and the handsome Irish fellow…

The wedding was on June 4, 2010 at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park, and I can’t imagine a more picturesque location!

The food was amazing (think: seared tuna and filet mignon!)  and the DJ was terrific.  He kept us dancing all night… in fact I’m hoping to book him for our wedding!  And with plenty off family  and friends to celebrate with, there couldn’t have been a more perfect evening!

In the end, all anyone could talk about was how perfect the beautiful young lady and the handsome Irish fellow were for each other.  I couldn’t be more happy for them, and am so excited for my future sister-in-law!  I’ve never seen such a beautiful bride!  Congratulations!

So I’ve been pretty busy lately and while busy = more to write about, it usually also means writers block.  In the case of this post, busy also meant that I never had time to get the pictures from my mom.  But alas, here we are, and I am trying to get back to a normal-ish schedule.

Anyway, I don’t know if you know this, but I am the oldest of 15 cousins on my Mom’s side.  (No cousins on my dad’s side!)  Even though I am only about a year and a half older than the next cousins, I look at them all as my little chickies!  Thus, when I was invited to my cousin’s graduation from… WEST POINT… I welled up with pride and immediately made plans to trek to NY.  On top of that, we found out that Obama was making the commencement speech, and I got really excited.  I mean – who cares about political orientation? Whether you voted for him or not, how often do you get to see the President make a speech?!

On that note… time for some pics!

Mom, Robert, and I stayed with my grandfather (GP for short), and traveled about an hour to get to Michie Stadium.  There was traffic everywhere!  If I were a local, I’d book vacation during graduation week every year

When we walked into the stadium, I was so excited to see this sign!  You can bet your bottom that I tweeted the whole time

The stadium was pretty full, even an hour prior to the ceremony.  All the underclassmen lined the top sections in a flood of white.

Finally it was time for the cadets to march into the stadium.  I admired their sweet marching skills   Every graduate and cadet from West Point are a part of the infinite continuum called the Long Grey Line.  Everything at West Point is so steeped in tradition!  I loved it.

After all the students, faculty, and military marched into the stadium, it was time for El Presidente.  We’d heard rumors that he was being transported by helicopter, and sure enough, 10 minutes after the cadets marched, the Obama-rama parachuted down from a helicopter to the main podium.

Ok, or maybe he just marched in too.  But it would have been awesome if he dropped from the sky!    He gave a great speech too – he even absolved all the underclassmen of any minor infractions!  He was great and personable, and really supported the graduates.  He also mentioned that the number one cadet and the valedictorian were both female – for the first time in history!  Girl power!  Here is a link to his speech.

Anyway, all of the honors graduates received their diploma from the President.  How cool is that?!  I wish I’d received my diploma from the President!

Here’s my cousin getting his diploma – I was so proud!  West Point is a tough place, but I know he made the best of it

After the graduation ceremony, we stopped for pictures, and then headed to his commissioning into the Army. 

I love touring college campuses, so I had to snap some pictures on the way to Trophy Point!

My uncle was in the Army as well, and got to issue the oath to Mark.

And there were some sweet moments too.  My littlest cousins never knew my uncle when he was in the Army, and it was so cool to see their reaction to him in his uniform.  They were amazed!  And the very youngest says to his brother “Wow, Mark, I’ve never seen you wear that uniform before!”  And Mark goes “I know – I’ve never worn this uniform before!”  And you could tell how excited they both were.  It was the cutest thing ever

Of course I insisted on taking a picture with my “little” cousin:

(ps can we take a minute to discuss this “million dollar view”?!  could you imagine walking past that on your way to class?!)

After the festivities, it was time to truly celebrate!  My uncle’s friend donated their house for party purposes, and we all gathered ‘round to toast to Mark.  It was the first time in ages that every single cousin was at the same party!

I am so grateful for my family – I love that we all get together to celebrate the good times with each other!  I am so proud of Mark, and I wish him all the luck in the world.

Do you have any family members in the military?  My dad was in the Navy, and of course my uncle and now cousin are in the Army… and my younger cousin is about to join Mark in the Army!  Hoo-rah!

Alternate Title:  How to have fun without going to the beach

Hello friends!  I was thinking the other day that I talked a lot about surviving the rough times at work, but I hardly spend any time discussing the perks of working for the Big 4 Firms.  This past weekend was a prime example.  You see, as many workplaces get off for Martin Luther King day or Presidents Day, we don’t – in fact we probably work a 12 hour day that day.  To thank us for our efforts during busy season, the firm gives us 4-day weekends for the three major summer holidays… and my god is it wonderful!

To kick off the long weekend, I spent Friday [finally] getting back into the wedding swing of things.  I had three meetings with photographers, and in between I spent some quality time with some cute coffee houses.  The first was right in my neighborhood… I couldn’t believe I’d never been to Milkboy Coffee before!  After my appointment with Lindsay, I stuck around for a grilled veggie sandwich and a mint-hibiscus iced tea.  It hit the spot!  I spent a lot of my high school years lingering around coffee houses, and I know this would have been the hot spot back then.  I felt like I was merging two versions of myself… the HS coffee house self, and the foodie self.  The menu even has a seitan cheesesteak, and although I wimped out from trying it this time… I will be back

source

After that meeting, I headed into Northern Liberties to meet with Dollface Studio.  I’d never been to that part of the city before, and once I got past the mild ghetto-ness of the area, I opened my eyes and found my new favorite place:  The Random Tea Room.

I grabbed a comfy seat and settled in with a Bourbon Vanilla Honeybush tea and a cinnamon scone.  I was in heaven!  Maybe one day I’ll open up such a wonderful oasis

Saturday we bummed around the house, and I got some cleaning done.  We headed out later to a BBQ at a good friend’s new house.  They recently moved really close to us… it’s going to be a good summer!  No pictures to report, but trust me – Kelly out did herself with the BBQ food   We finished out the night watching the flyers lose – woo hooo!

Sunday is when we really turned the weekend up a notch.  I may or may not have slept til noon… (I may or may not have had a few Coronas on Saturday )  But I woke up to the grand aroma of Strawberry Pancakes courtesy of the fiancee!  Later in the afternoon we went for a lovely five mile bike ride (approx 45 min!) and returned home to get all dressed up.

Our destination?!  The Waterworks Restaurant and Lounge.  I have been dying to go to the Waterworks since I moved to Philadelphia, and when I saw a Groupon for the restaurant, I jumped at the chance!  I had heard that WW is BYOB on Sundays, so fiancee and I grabbed a bottle and headed out.

First we took some pictures – of course

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I have to admit though, our dinner was sub-par. Once we announced that we had a Groupon, our server  changed his tone immediately.  The meal was set up in prix-fixe style, so we were to be served a salad, sorbet, and entree, and dessert.  We also wanted to try the grilled octopus, and supplement our entree with some mashed potatoes.  The server was happy to oblige (keep that in mind!).  But it wasn’t all bad.  Although I wasn’t a fan of the octopus, Robert loved it.  And our Waterworks salad was AMAZING.  But we had to beg for bread in between, and after the salad… we didn’t get our sorbet.  And when we got our chicken, it was plated with asparagus and MASHED POTATOES.  Which would have been great to know when we ordered an additional side of potatoes (for $8 I might add!)  But as all this was going down, so was the sun… and it made it all worth it.

Dessert was good too – a duo of chocolate flourless torte, and chocolate mousse.  It helped to quell our dissatisfaction about dinner.  That is… until we got the check, and we realized that our waiter had charged us for a salad instead of including it in our prix fixe.  And when we went to ask him about it, he was no where to be found!  Thankfully we flagged down a helpful waiter, and he took care of it for us (although he couldn’t find our waiter either!).  Anyway, we really tried not to let our poor service get the better of us.  While we were disappointed about our miserable service, we made the best of it with… more pictures!

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After we danced around Kelly Drive, we hit the hay.  We had a huge day planned for Monday – complete with a picnic lunch, a blues festival and….

Our favorite local winery was hosting a wine tasting and blues festival all weekend, and as blues music and wine are two of our favorite things, we didn’t want to miss it!  For $25, we got to hear two bands, have a taste of 10 wines, and keep that cutie wine glass above.  Did someone say worth it?!

(Yes, definitely worth it!)  Among our favorites were the Proprietor’s Reserve – a blend of red wine grapes (this wine has been a favorite of ours for a LONG time!), the Merican – another blend of red wine grapes with hints of cherry jam and chocolate, the Sunset Blush (a refreshing rose), and the Naked Chardonnay. 

It paired wonderfully with gelato   OH and why naked you ask?  Why not?!  Haha OR maybe it’s because it’s aged in stainless  steel barrels instead of the oak barrels.  This made a huge difference to me… and might have been the first Chardonnay that I actually liked! I might have even bought a bottle to take home!

Anyway, this afternoon at Chaddsford  Winery was perfect.   Where else could you relax with wine, music, and beautiful scenery?  It was the perfect end to the long weekend.

What did you do with your memorial day weekend?!

Last year I met a friend of mine for lunch on my birthday.  We hadn’t known each other very long, and I’ve never much liked being the center of attention, so I hadn’t exactly been walking around announcing “tomorrow is my birthday!” to everyone I met.  When I met my friend for lunch, I whispered to her: “I have a secret… today is my birthday!” 

This year, the same friend wouldn’t let me forget that last year I ambushed her with my little surprise.   She and another one of my best friends from work started out Birthday Week last Monday at Mexican Post.  For those of you not well acquainted with Philadelphia – this restaurant does Mexican food RIGHT.  And when a girl has a craving for chips and salsa, there’s no better place to go.  Add a mango margarita, and some silly gossip,and you’ve got yourself a fantastic girls night.  I am so grateful to have these girls in my life… I honestly don’t know how I’d get through the work day without them!

Tuesday continued the festivities with a firm-sponsored Happy Hour after training.  Can I just mention how wonderful it was to have training during birthday week?  What a nice change of pace!  It was good to know that I’d definitely get out of work before 7:30 on my birthday

Thursday, May 13, was my actual birthday.  I turned the big 2-4, and celebrated with my family and fiancée at my new favorite place – Lourdas in Bryn Mawr.  Lourdas is the smallest little hole in the wall by the Bryn Mawr train station, and their food is to die for. 

(see how tiny and cute?! source.)

My parents were so generous – they brought me flowers, paid for our delicious gyros (and Melitzanosalata, an eggplant and pepper dip.  I could have licked the bowl of this stuff… so good!  And their hummus was incredible – even Robert was eating it.  That’s a huge compliment!)

The ‘rents also contributed to the “Cassie Wants a Garmin” fund, and my brother finished it off.  That night, I went straight home and ordered my new best friend… which arrived today!  So excited to take her for a whirl   hehe

Now Friday…. Friday was amazing.  Whenever we have training, it’s more or less understood that we get a half day on Friday.  But this time was different.  On this Friday, we only stayed until 10:45.  I took the 11:15 home, and read my book the whole way.  And got home and read my book in my pj’s until I finished it.  And grabbed another book and headed to my nearest outdoor dining establishment and did this:

With this charming dining companion:

Ok so maybe I just liked to pretend I was eating with that handsome fellow.  I want a puppy so badly!  But I consoled myself by doing more of this in Suburban Square after my lunch:

Reading in the sunshine by a fountain in my favorite shopping center?  Happy Birthday to me.  I took a break from my reading to do a little bit of shopping and get a mani/pedi at my favorite salon, and then Robert and I headed out to watch the Flyers make history.  (Unfortunately.  Rangers fans, remember?)  Things might have gotten a little silly after a few Yuenglings and a rockin’ DJ…

Clearly I needed sleep after that exhausting day   But not too much sleep – there was fun to be had on Saturday too!  Robert and I had promised each other bikes as an anniversary gift, and Saturday was the first time we’d had a chance to go shopping.  We ended up at Target, and took Robert’s little civic.  We assumed (yes I know what assuming does…) that the bikes would be sold in a box to be assembled at home, and we’d have NO PROBLEMS fitting the bikes in the car.  Epic fail.  Target was oh-so-kind enough to let you wheel their bikes to the register and buy them pre-assembled.  “Sweet,” we thought, “we’ll just pop the front wheel off and fit them in the back seat.”  Epic fail v2.0.  The brakes were on too tight to release the wheel, and we didn’t have the proper tools.  Luckily I saw this in the distance: 

We rode our bikes to Lowe’s, and after buying a $2 piece of 8ft molding, loaded our bikes into the Lowes rent-a-truck, and drove home. I don’t know what we’d have done without that beast of a truck! 

(Or lovely bikes in their new home. They are Schwinn Gateway Hybrid Bikes)

We got home just in time to get dolled up and meet some friends  out for dinner and drinks in the city.  Robert was a doll and organized all of my friends to celebrate my birthday.  I missed a few good friends, but I got to see a lot of my closest friends.  It meant so much to me that they came into the city just for me!

There were many Magic Hat #9’s, a great burger, and a lot of dancing – I couldn’t have asked for more!  I truly have the best friends in the world, and they helped make this the best birthday in a long time!  I hope my 24th year is just as good as my 24th birthday!

SO Sunday was the big day.  No – not the wedding!  On Sunday I participated in the Broad Street Run.  But before I explain, let’s back up and look at some history.

2007:  I learn about the broad street run.  I think "damn that’s a long way to run, but it would be freaking sweet if I could do it."  I begin the Couch 2 5k program in hopes to at least run a 5k.

2008:  My favorite professor tells me about his running endeavors.  He tries to convince me to run Broad Street, and every time he asks, I have t o admit I can only run 2 miles at a time.

2009:  I see my professor at an alumni event 2 days before Broad Street.  I’m resigned to admitting that I’m still only running 2 miles at a time.

2010:  Just like all the other sports teams in Philly, I say to myself "This year is my year!"  Except I’m still running on the treadmill, and when I transition outside, my magic 8 ball says "Outlook not so good."   I resign myself to walking/running Broad Street here.

So I did it!  I met up with Vinny down at the stadiums on Sunday morning and we took the free subway ride up to Olney. I was so nervous!  And I was drinking my water the whole time, expecting there to be water coolers and port-a-potties in a location close to the subway… but no dice.  By 730 my water was almost gone (I’m a nervous drinker), and I had to use the restroom in a serious fashion.  Thank goodness for the wave start (and being in the pink/last corral!)  so I could hit the port-a-potties closer to the start line.

We hit the starting line approximately 30 minutes after the race start.

We had a few mini goals.  Mine was to finish the first mile without stopping.  Vinny didnt want to be last lol.  I’m happy to say we beat both goals!  The first mile never seemed to end, but I was proud of our two undertrained souls.  And the scenery and the people were quite entertaining.  There were a few people running together with shirts that said “In my mind I’m a Kenyan.”  And “I may be slow, but I’m faster than you.”  I loved it!

I couldn’t believe just HOW MANY people there were…

The race seemed to drag on until about the half way point.  Part of the reason was the spibelt  I bought the day before.  I had put my camera and my phone in it, and it bounced like crazy.  When I took my camera out to take pictures around City Hall, it was so much better!  I ended up running the rest of the race while holding my camera.

We hit city hall around mile 5.5, and with City Hall came Robert!  It was so so good to see his face.  I grabbed a quick kiss and kept on running.  Seeing him was so nice though, and it helped us power through.

Another major player in helping us finish were the fire hydrants that they opened to cool us down.  I haven’t mentioned how freaking hot and humid it was that day – I think the temp was 87, and was a new record for the Broad Street Run.  The hydrants were so fun – I felt like a kid every time we ran through.  I should also mention my appreciation for the water stations – the cutie little kids just filled up my water bottle whenever I was running empty.  Much better than little tiny cups!

Miles 7-9 were amazing.  We ran through South Philly which was chock full of bands and gospel choirs and water booths with girls dressed as super heroes.  It was awesome to feel so much energy.  A woman was even giving out free puppy kisses from her three dogs!

The best part of the race was a barbeque by the stadiums,where they were blasting one of my favorite jock jams. (Silly, yes, but tell me this doesn’t pump you up!)  We ran like crazy at this point until we couldn’t hear the song anymore.

With one mile left, a friendly face came bounding out of the crowd!

Despite going the wrong way on the subway, Robert found us and ran with us for the last mile.  I was so excited, and made him take a few pictures of us (and maybe some boats in the navy yard too!)

And soon, there it was- the promised land – the finish line!  2 hours, 27 minutes and 43 seconds after we started, I crossed the finish line of the Broad Street Run for the first time.  (And beat Vinny by 1 second! hehe)  Robert got one picture of us before he got chased off the course by a Marine for not wearing a bib on the course!  Too funny

It might have taken me 3 years, 2:27:43, but I did it.  And it felt awesome, even if it was hot as blazes.  I might be rocking a sweet knee brace tan line, but I was on top of the world.  What a great day!

PS: Next time, remind me of the one-mile “cool-down” walk they have you do from the Navy Yard back to your car at the Stadiums.  I wasn’t quite as excited about rawlking 10 miles after that hike!  

What’s next you ask?  Stay tuned for the details   Until then, it’s time for bed!  Goodnight loves!

Ok so let me gush for a hot second.  Today marks two things:  1) this is Robert and my fifth anniversary of our first date!  Who knew that being late for econ class my freshman year would turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to me?

2)  One year until our wedding!  I was so excited to see that April 30 was a Saturday… and to see that my venues all had the date open.  I thought it was so fun (and easy to remember) that our wedding date had such significance  for us!
Anyway, I am so excited and I just wanted to share with you all!  I’ve gotta run – unfortunately I can’t celebrate our anniversary with Robert (long story – he has an alumni event at SJU tonight… usually I have one on the same night, but mine is next week!)  Since I can’t celebrate with Robert, who better to spend the day with than one of my best friends?!  My matron of honor and I have a hot date with a phenomenal greek restaurant and a bottle of wine.  I even bought her flowers – how romantic right?!  So excited <3

Happy Friday!!  One year til the wedding!!!!

Guess who’s back, back again…  (eminem anyone?  …anyone?)

Or not.  But it’s true, I’m back.  Yes it’s been a month.  Yes I considered not coming back, but someone very special to me recently found my blog, and as a reward for her impressive stalking, I figured I owed her at least a few more posts

The past month has been busy.  True busy season is over at work, but the work never really stops.  In the past month, I seniored my first job (aka taking charge of the audit, and supervising a staff), got fitted for Kirsten’s bridesmaids dress, hit 6 miles on my broad street training, fell off the broad street training wagon, lost my wallet, went home for easter, started going to the total body conditioning class at the gym (ouch!), visited my one of my best friends in Boston, went to a happy hour for a good friend at work, and spent this past saturday at a combined bridal shower/bachelorette party for my future sister-in-law in NY.  phew.

Anyway, there are so many pictures and stories to tell you all but they all deserve their own posts.  For now let’s discuss fitness – or the lack of it in my life right now.  I started running outside this month… or should i say ralking outside this month.  Several things prevented me from actual running… 1)  lungs/allergies 2)  burning calves/year-old running shoes 3)  my over-active brain.  I figured out the first two (thank God for claritin), but I can’t shake my brain.  It’s always saying “let’s take a break” or “how about 3 miles today instead of 4.”  I just can’t get in the game!  But I’m going to rock broad street regardless.  A good friend of mine is going to run the race with me, and ever since he told me that, I’ve gotten excited.  I am going to try the galloway method of walking and running, and I will be happy about it.  Worst case scenario: Vinny and I take a nice 10 mile walk and catch up on life!  This summer I am going to restart my training outside from scratch, with the ultimate goal of running the Philly Half Marathon in September.  Send some motivating love <3

Anyway, onto total body conditioning.  This class is some sick form of torture, but I keep going back every week.  If I understand body pump correctly, this is the closest that my gym gets to body pump.  It’s intense, lots of weights and cardio, but you leave feeling awesome.  The only downside is that I only like one instructor, so if I miss class on Tuesday morning, I’m out for the week.  But wow!  I’ve already seen improvements in my strength, and I think I see improvements in my abs, but that might be wishful thinking

Anyway I’ll leave you with one picture… check out my new kicks.  I went to Bryn Mawr Running Company to get a professional opinion about my ridic feet.  Usually I am very loyal to City Sports in Ardmore, but this time I needed a better opinion than that of the local high school students.  I chatted with a guy who made me take off my shoes+socks and walk around the store while he looked at my feet.  (Wow that sounds really creepy!)  Turns out I need some stability around my arches, and I fell in LOVE with these Saucony’s but they were so expensive there.  (Think $140…)  Thank God for smartphones – I may or may not have googled the shoe price while he was in the back.  I ducked out of there – and since I was going to Suburban Square anyway, stopped in my beloved City Sports.  I walked out the proud owner of these beautiful girls – in pink+purple no less, and for $30 cheaper!  SCORE!  (Ash, I hope that makes you proud!)

Anyway, that about sums up my fitness life lately.  I’m going to kick ass this week, and totally rock broad street on Sunday.  Wish me luck!

PS remember that yoga challenge?  epic fail.  i hardly did yoga that month!  i just can’t motivate myself to get out of bed when it’s not for a hard sweaty workout.  now that life is slowing down a little bit, i’m hoping to make it to class at the gym on wednesday nights.  sorry for leaving you all hanging on that one!  hold me accountable guys!

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone that I am a Type-A, anxiety-ridden individual.  A lot of people in my profession are certainly Type-A, and a lot of people in my family deal with anxiety. 

Even as a baby, I showed signs of anxiety.  I mean, seriously, look at those little fists of fury!  What infant gets so stressed?  Not much has changed 23 years later - I find myself balling up my fists when I get tense.  Since during busy season, I’m tense approximately 90% of the time, I’ve noticed this happening more and more. 

Some things have helped.  Yoga, for one, has been a huge help.  By focusing on my balance and my breathing, it’s hard to focus on much else at the same time.  Even just 20 minutes in the morning helps start the day on the right foot.  Running helps too, but not as much.  I am able to take out any frustrations on the treadmill, and I feel so strong after a good run. 

Sometimes though, the stressors swell up and it feels like all the yoga or running in the world won’t wash them away.  It gets a little hard to breathe, everything irritates you, and you have to peel your fingers out of the fists you catch yourself making.  What if it’s the middle of the workday, and you know that since you’ll be working until 10pm that you won’t be able to lay your anger out on the treadmill until the following morning?

Here are a few tips I’ve picked up from an article I read in Real Simple a few months ago.  This is one of the few articles that I keep returning to over and over – I should just tape it to my refrigerator!  I hope this helps you all ease your mind when times get rough.  You can read the whole article here… and I really hope you do!

1)  Make it worse.  There have certainly been times when I start to panic.  “OMG I have to lead this conference call, what if I forget what I’m supposed to say?”  “OMG I can’t believe the senior manager saw me trip.  What if he kicks me off all his jobs because I’m embarrassing?”  Real Simple says that instead of controling your anxieties (which only makes them worse), exaggerate them instead,and see what happens.  Go ahead and trip in front of your manager.  Maybe he’ll tease you a little bit for it, but chances are he won’t even notice.  (Take my word for this one.  I almost fell on my face last year in front of a manager, and yet somehow I’m still on all his jobs!)

2)  Set aside worry time.  I love this line from Real Simple: “All too often we take a “Crackberry” approach to our worries: They show up unannounced, like constantly dinging e-mails, and we stop everything to address them―even if we should be doing something else.”  In case the crackberry wasn’t bad enough with real emails – then we get these stressors pinging ups all the time.  I have observed in myself and my coworkers that we spend so much time focused on how much everything sucks that we could have spent that fretting time doing something productive.  Real Simple suggests writing down your worries throughout the day, and forgetting about them.  Then take 20 minutes later in the day to look over your whole list – how many of those worries do you actually still care about?!  Chances are there will be very few.

3)  Breathe it out.  This one really hit home for me.  Ever notice how you hold your breath when you’re stressed?  Think about it – you probably do it more than you realize.  (I was doing it just now!)  We can’t forget to breathe, guys!  As if you weren’t already worried enough – your body is worried that it’s suffocating, and it just makes you feel worse.  Concentrate on your breathing as though you are in yoga class.  For a minute, just breathe.  Don’t let anything else cross your mind.  Even a few deep breaths will help you relax and stay focused!

I hope these few tips helped you out.  There are so many more in the article itself, and I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me.  Godspeed my friends – busy season is almost over!

What do you do to stay relaxed?

Greetings!  Looking outside today it’s hard to believe that we had such gorgeous weather this weekend!  It started Friday – we ate lunch outside, and it was actually HOT!  I’m so glad spring is here. 

I was meeting a girlfriend from work at Cheesecake Factory after work, and thought she said she was in DSW.  Turns out she wasn’t - but that didn’t stop me from looking around!  And I’m so glad I did!  Check these babies out:

World, meet my wedding shoes!  I know, I know, they’re purple.  I’m pretty much over the whole white-from-head-to-toe thing, although some brides definitely rock it.  What it comes down to is that I’m pretty jealous of the fact that my best friends will get to wear pretty purple dresses and I won’t - so I’m incorporating my favorite color into my own ensemble. 

Funny story actually.  When I first got engaged, somehow it came up that I wanted to wear purple shoes under my gown.  My mom… well, she wasn’t quite a fan.  She’s far more used to traditional bridal garb, and was never allowed to even dream about anything else.  I figured, ok whatever – we’ll fight that battle when we actually decide to buy shoes.  Fast forward 2 weeks.  My fam and I are driving down to my uncle’s house, and I’m reading a book.  Mom is talking to my aunt about my shoes.  She goes “Cassie wants to wear purple shoes.  HOW COOL IS THAT?!”  I put down my book and went “you said that?  really?!”  Hahaha!  Oh well – no matter how it shook out, the moral of the story is that I found my wedding shoes -  by accident, on the clearance rack.  Gotta love it!

Saturday after work (the last Saturday of busy season, woo hoo!), we had another lunch outside, this time from my all time favorite place in the city, Tampopo.  I will go into my love of Tampopo in more detail when I have the proper time to devote to it.  It is certainly worthy of its own post!  But for now, lets just say my fresh tuna and rice bowl was amazing, especially in the sunshine. 

(That’s a stock picture from their website, but it’s amazing.  Look at all the fresh veggies and the avocado!)

We followed up the amazing lunch with a pedi and GELATO!   Since it was the first day of spring, I was hoping for some free Rita’s water ice, but I couldn’t find a close one in the city.  We made our way to Capogiro, which was a new-to-me gelato place close to the office.  I tried a handful of flavors (kiwi, I’m coming back for you next!)  and settled on chocolate banana, and burnt sugar.  The burnt sugar was the exact flavor of the top of a creme brulee, and it was divine.  And the chocolate banana…. swoon.  To my surprise, the flavor of the banana wasn’t overpowered by the chocolate – it tasted so fresh.  It was true love at first bite.  The only downfall was that the counter was a little small, and couldn’t fit enough employees to deal with the crowd.  We made it out unscathed though, and enjoyed some ice cream in the sunshine!

Despite our sweet treat on Saturday, I could still hear Rita’s calling me.  Anyone who is from around the Philadelphia area knows about Rita’s.  Free water ice is a tradition that goes back to high school for me – on the first day of spring, we’d all load up as many people into Bill’s smelly car and visit as many Rita’s in one afternoon as we could.  And of course you have to try a new flavor (because you’re not paying for it!).  This year I was dying to try the peeps flavored water ice.  YES – PEEPS flavored water ice! 

Since Robert and I were pretending that it was free water ice day on Sunday, I committed to trying the peeps water ice.  Let’s just say it’s a good thing I had a sample first… wooooo it was SWEET!  It definitely tasted like peeps though – but I knew I wouldn’t make it all the way through a regular sized ice.  Instead my strawberry margarita gelati hit the spot.  And with that, it’s officially spring!

Do you have any specific traditions that define spring or summer for you?!  I get so excited to get my water ice!