If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes…

…maybe I wouldn’t hate the snow so much.

Guys.  It’s snowing.  Again.

I used to love living in Pennsylvania (and before that, I loved living right across the river in New Jersey).  While it gets humid in the summer, it’s never completely unbearable like humidity in Florida.  And while it would get cold in the winter, it was never like living in Syracuse.

In fact, while I fell in love with Chicago when we visited in 2009, I refused to move there because it was just too darn cold.

(Chicago isn’t cold in September though.  I miss it!  I also miss my short hair.  *sigh*)

I thought we were in the perfect Mid-Atlantic Climate.  Until last winter.  And then this happened:

It started snowing.  And it snowed all winter.  And then this winter it started snowing again.  And it hasn’t really stopped since.

(and that’s just what accumulated on my walk home!)

So I wanted to share with you what’s helped me get through it, in case any of you are in the same boat [errr... snowstorm].

1) Dreaming of warmth: Robert and I recently booked our honeymoon for Antigua!  (I’m trying to get him to write a Wedding Wednesday post about how we booked it!  Encourage him!) Looking at pictures like this make me feel warmer inside.

2)  Drinking in warmth: you guys know that I love a good cup of tea.  This week I’ve been feeling under the weather and all I want to do is drink warm things.  To avoid overdosing on tea, I’ve also been drinking hot water with a lemon slice soaked in it.  It’s been so warm and comforting!  I have to give Mama Pea credit for inspiring this idea.

3) Speaking of Lemons: Robert and I have been OBSESSED with 30 Rock lately.  We’ve worked our way through the whole series once, and we’re now going back through it.  It seemed dumb at first (I mean really dumb!) but now you see that it’s just goofy fun.  And the show is actually fairly nuanced, in that we’re picking up on hilarious things now that we totally missed the first time through.  Plus the inside jokes they weave throughout all the episodes and seasons give the show great continuity.  30 Rock is best enjoyed while under a warm blanket with a cup of tea.

(source)

4) Getting lost in a book: I can’t remember if I mentioned that I got the Nook for Christmas?  Well, I did.  Thanks, Santa!  This baby is amazing.  We got snowed in while visiting Robert’s family after Christmas, and it was so nice to have books at my fingertips, since I hadn’t brought any other form of entertainment.  There’s nothing like getting lost in a book to take your mind off of the reality of the Arctic Tundra forming outside!  So far I’ve read The Book Thief, Heaven is for Real, a few popcorn/chick-lit books, and now I’m mid-way through Shanghai Girls.  I strongly suggest reading The Book Thief (I’m serious, this is my new favorite book), and Shanghai Girls seems to be really good so far!  Clearly I have a thing for historical fiction.

And I know (I know!) people have issues with e-Readers.  I was one of those people for a while.  But being able to have all of these books at my fingertips has been clutch while I’ve been either snowed in, or just too darn cold to go to the book store!   Plus, look how pretty it is

What do you do to stay warm in the winter?  Any suggestions are appreciated!

Wedding Wednesday–Keeping it real

I have a confession to make.  And while I try not to sugar coat things around here, I’m sure you noticed that sometimes I don’t post as often as usual, or I skate around certain things that go on in my life (yes, I still owe you all an announcement…)  But now, I gotta keep it real.

Lately, wedding planning just hasn’t been fun anymore.

Ever since the first of the year, I’ve felt this pressure on my shoulders about the wedding.  “Oh my gosh, it’s 4 months away. We must do this-and-this-and-this.”  And since the invitations are going out, it’s been a mess of determining the guest list, nitpicking about the color of the paper, and whether to hire a calligrapher or get the envelopes printed.  And I’m trying to be nice.  But gosh, guys, it’s so hard to please everybody all the time!  (yes, yes, DUH cass)

And YES I know that these things are not important in the grand scheme of things.  Whether the invitation is on ivory paper or white paper does not dictate whether or not Robert and I will have a great marriage. 

But lately I’ve been consumed with wedding planning.  All I can think of is the wedding.  When I’m not thinking about the invitations, I’m thinking about the place cards.  And when I’m not thinking about the place cards, I’m thinking about my bridesmaids’ accessories.  And when I’m not thinking about my bridesmaids’ accessories… well you get the idea. 

And… well, I had this lovely vision of all my closest friends and my mom and my future sister and mother in law all joining hands and singing lovely songs about my lovely wedding.  But they all have their own lives, and their own weddings, and their own thoughts in their head that might not always revolve around my wedding.  And that’s ok.  But sometimes I feel a little lonely.  And it’s hard sometimes to elaborate how I picture certain aspects of the wedding, so I end up bickering with some of the closest women in my life.  And really… the place cards aren’t worth it. 

Anyway what I’m trying to say is that while a lot of people warned me of burning out on wedding planning, I never expected it to happen to me.  I just keep wishing that it was over already – and I hate that I have been thinking that.  I need to step back for a little while, and focus on what this is all about – our marriage.  I know that regardless of what my head is thinking, my heart feels the love that’s all around me, and I know that I am blessed.  I only plan on doing this once, so I need to focus on the present and enjoy this special time.

So I hope that you all understand if I’m not constantly providing wedding updates.  I’m really excited to share all the details with you, but I need a breather.   I hope you can forgive me

Have you ever gotten burned out by planning an event?  Any tips for surviving would be appreciated!

p.s. thank God for a practical wedding.  I can’t write as well as meg or alyssa or lauren, but they know how to get me through this mess.  I highly recommend stopping by this amazing site for answers to… everything.  I might not be feeling so sane right now, but I can only imagine how I’d feel had I never found APW.

Time Machine Tuesday–BWBP

A lot of people will tell you that they have THE BEST FRIENDS EVER OMG.  However, I’m here to tell you that they’re lying.  My friends are the best ever.  And this is why.

I am lucky enough to still be close friends with most of my girlfriends from high school.  And while I didn’t follow any of my friends to college, a good number of them went to school together, and made very close friends there too, who have now become my friends.  A lot of us have moved away, but we still come back to see each other as often as possible.  Even if we go a long time without seeing each other, I know for certain that there will be one weekend a year where I get to see all my girls… Bitches Weekend.

Bitches Weekend started in 2007, and has been a yearly tradition of drinking, eating taco dip, making each other breakfast, and sunbathing.  (Sometimes too much sunbathing). 

(the first bitches weekend, circa 2007)

The same crew comes back year after year, and it’s such a routine for us now that we all know who we’re driving with (Leslie), what time we leave on Friday (after a half day of work), who brings what (Les and I always get the alcohol!), and what bed we sleep in (back bedroom, next to Leslie.)  Perfect.

I didn’t think anything could get much better.  But, you see, I’m the first one of my friends to be getting married, and apparently they wanted to do something special for my last Bitches Weekend as a single gal.  And special doesn’t even begin to cover it.

It didn’t start much different than any other bitches weekend.  We had been planning to go out in Atlantic City on Saturday, so we’d been talking for weeks about all the cute dresses we were going to wear.  This didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

On Friday night when Linds and Lili arrived, they went grocery shopping.  This didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

On Saturday when some of the girls and I took a walk, and the rest of the girls went home to get ready for Church, that didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

When we walked back to the house, and the back gate was locked, I just thought “hmm so much for wiping off the sand, I’ll just use the front door.”  That didn’t seem out of the ordinary.  (Damn I’m naive.)

It wasn’t until I walked through the front door to see this (well, plus all my gorgeous friends), that anything was out of the ordinary.

And then I cried.  And then I was presented with a tiara. 

And Bitches Bubbly, and yummy snacks.

And beautiful necklaces that my beautiful friend Whitney made just for us.  And this amazing pint glass, that couldn’t have been more perfect.  (Yes, I still drink out of this at least once a week!)

We got ready…

and headed to AC.  The girls had put together a very detailed and amazing scavenger hunt that we started on in the car, and we reconvened at Carmines for dinner.

The rest of the night was a blur.  We drank girly drinks and I just soaked up the love that I felt from all of my friends.  There are no words to express how I felt that night, and how I feel when I think about that night.  It was such a sweet (and perfectly executed!) surprise, and I just can’t thank all of the girls for the most perfect Bitches Weekend Bachelorette Party a girl could ask for.

What was the sweetest thing that your friends have done for you?