My destination wishlist

From my last trip to PEI. The bay at Sunset.

A couple of weeks ago I had a dream that I was travelling with a big group of friends (which I luuuv) to do. Anyway, we were all in an airport waiting for plane and discussing our trip. Our imaginary voyage was going to take us somewhere (can't remember the end destination), but we were to have a 24 hours stopover in Dubai. And in my dream I was ecstatic about the opportunity to visit this place. But why?

Why Dubai? No idea. When I woke up I started thinking about it. Do I want to go to Dubai? I know virtually nothing about it. Michael Jackson posted up there, tallest building in the world, recent real estate boom, beaches, near some body of water (no idea which one).

This all has a point, I promise. So the sudden, subconscious urge to visit Dubai symptomatic of something else? A need to visit something so foreign, so different from my own life? The thrill of the entering a land full of the complete unknown is one of life's greatest pleasures to me, but Dubai? So I chalked the dream up to being, well, a dream, and started making a travel list for this year.

2010's travel list is much different than my lifetime travel list which could go on and on. I basically want to go everywhere. This list is an effort to set attainable travel goals for the year and being realistic about it. I have a life goal that I will try to visit a foreign country every year, preferably a new one. But if it's been over 10 years since I visited, I think it still counts.

So here goes:
1. Visit California. I have never been to the West Coast of the country at all.
2. Go back to France. I intend to start grad school in the near future (I'm shooting for August) and need to get my French-brain working in high gear.
3. Colorado. I can't believe I've never been! Not a single person I have ever spoken to about visiting Colorado has anything negative to say. It's high time me and hubs make it there.
4. Further explore NYC. We are three hours away, and I can't move out of PA without a couple more trips to NYC. That city has so, so much to offer and I want to see as much of as I can. But in a cool, look like a local-way. Not in a "follow your tour guide who happens to be dressed up like Lady Liberty" sort of way.
5. Stay in an inn in Connecticut/Vermont. I think it's from watching "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney a few too many times, but I want to spend a weekend in a cozy inn by a fireplace with my man. Sounds fantastic. And while I'm in CT, we will hit New Haven. Gotta have a steamed burger.
6. Visit our dear friends in Canada again. They've made their home on Prince Edward Island and it is so lovely! So quaint, with friendly people and amazing lobster, and of course great company. I truly hope that we can visit again and this time I can take my husband along.
7. And of course.. home. Go to Nashville, see my family, hug my nieces and nephews, laugh with my sisters, brothers-in-law and my parents. Lounge in my house and sleep like a baby, where it is so quiet and dark and peaceful. Ahhh... home.

And, I think that about wraps 2010. The list is quite an undertaking! But, I am a travel junkie and just writing it made me want to pull out my camping equipment, throw Mick (dog) in the car, steal Tyler from work and hit the road!

Do you make travel goals? I am a list-maker, so I make them for just about anything. Are you a bit anal retentive like me? Or do travel by the seat of your pants? Do tell :)

Ummm... Boo

This is how I feel right now = meh, blah, yuck

I hate when plans change and things fall through. Unfortunately, this seems to happen to me frequently. So strike the trip to Vegas, we're probably not going. Circumstances have changed and other people's plans have changed and in short, I'm bummed.

Really bummed. Really, really sad. I know I'm gonna get over it, but this whole "not going to Vegas" has put me in a really sour mood. I think it's just symptomatic of my life right now. No plans, always in flux, always a cluttered mess.

I'm over it! Going for a walk need to be outside today.

This is how I need to feel = happy.

I gotta snap out of it. In a rut! In a rut!

Sorry this post is like stream of consciousness. But, it is what it is. Arg.

Weekend in Vegas

Photo Source

The third weekend in February, my husband and I along with four of our good friends are planning to jet off to Vegas for the weekend. We've been kicking this around for months and now seems to be the opportune moment. It's been cold in PA for what seems like a decade and I am craving a big shift in scenery, even if for a few days. I'm ready to leave the Northeast behind!

I have been to Vegas twice before. Once for business and once for an overnight stay before driving to Zion National Park for one of my best friend's wedding. So, I don't have any experience with spending an entire weekend in Vegas. I have, at most, had about 24 hours of pleasure time there. So, I'm looking for tips.

What's the best place to stay for the buck? We're not exactly "high-rollers" but we don't want to end up at the Golden Nugget or anything.

Besides the Strip, what's a Vegas must-see? Is there anything in the actually city of Vegas we should visit? Or a place we just have to go for lunch?

I am planning to drag everyone (kicking and screaming if I have to)to the Grand Canyon one morning. 1. Because I LOVE to drive through the dessert and 2. I have never been to the Grand Canyon although I've been within three hours of it at least five times in my life. It's time to remedy this situation!

So please tell me your fabulous Las Vegas experiences and stories! I'm very open to suggestions for our weekend. Locals especially, hit me up! I want to see more of the place you actually live, because I'm pretty sure not all of you occupy a penthouse at the Palms.

We are so excited!! My husband literally cannot contain himself!

Weddings

I am at the age where I attend many, many weddings and as many baby showers. Life changes are very normal in this time of life and there a lots of things to celebrate. So, this weekend we went back to my hub's hometown for the wedding of one his high school friends.

It was a lovely wedding full of very sweet moments and a reception full of interesting characters, to say the least. We had a great time and I got to be "someone's wife" who no one knew, while hubby worked hard to remember names of people he hasn't seen in years (always a treat!).

Attending a wedding always makes me remember those exciting, stressful and nerve wracking times that came before my own wedding! It's such an overwhelming task! For most brides the to-do list is long, even for a simple wedding. Not the mention the enormity of the commitment you're preparing to make can cause some deeply pensive moments. But, when the day comes, there is nothing quite like the feelings of joy, peace, love and solidarity that arrives shortly after you say "I do." The stress just melts away!

I don't often post pictures of myself, but I decided to post a few from our wedding. It was a truly special day!


We tried for a very "country elegance" wedding. Very relaxed in the mountains of East Tennessee. So I wanted my flowers to be wild-looking, and we used raffia in all the bouquets and centerpieces to make it look a bit more homemade.
The cake started it all! I got the idea for the cake by melding two cake designs I found on theknot.com and the rest fell into place!
My dapper Groom


Our amazing wedding venue. It rained a bit the morning of our cermony, so everything was SO green!

All of these photos are courtesy of my amazing photographer and friend, Natalie McGee! Leave a comment if you are interested in contacting her and I will gladly pass along her information!Just Married!

Yogatastic Announcements!

I don't blog about it very often, but I am avid fan of yoga. I've been practicing for about three years and it has truly changed the way I think about fitness, health, balance and well-being.


This Saturday, January 23rd, is Yoga Day USA! It's a great opportunity for those who have never tried yoga to get a taste of the practice and maybe find a new passion! There are many, many studios/rec centers, etc across the country that are offering classes on this day (for free!) and you can find one near you by visit the Yoga Day USA website. I hope anyone and everyone who is interested in learning more about yoga will give it a shot. It's a great way to stay fit inside and out.
And now for local news. My yoga studio, Just Plain Yoga in Camp Hill, PA, is also offering a Beginners Yoga Class this weekend to benefit the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra! It's this Sunday, January 24th, from 4:00 - 5:00 pm and all proceeds from the class go straight to the HSO. Here's more information at Just Plain Yoga's site. It will be taught be my wonderful teacher, Tina Stroh, so I hope that you can come and Yogacise with me!

In other yoga news, here's what I am currently working on in my own practice. The Prasarita series is very difficult for me. While it's one of the more simplistic series of movement in the Standing Series of Ashtanga Yoga, I struggle with it because of my feet. I realized that I walk with my feet rolled toward the outer edge. This causes the tendons on the outside of my shin to be extra tight, so getting my head to the floor is impossible and my feet ache, ache, ache. My teach Tina tells me this will lessen in time and I can see that things are getting easier the longer I stick with it, but it's a challenge! Any other yoga enthusiasts who wish to chime in with tips, comments, what you're currently working - please share!

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Everyone has a few Seinfeldian atrributes to their personality. A dislike or unrest about some small, insignifigant thing that just drives you crazy. It could even drive you to the point to end friendships or relationships over it. It's that serious.

I have already gone into a few of my workplace related gripes, but oh boy do I have more from workplace and beyond! And, I think they are so humorous, that I should share them. It wouldn't be right to keep it all myself (sarcasm.. do ya get it? do ya?).

1. People who always smell of bacon/musty and/or smoky food. This was very prevelent in my elementary school. Growing up in rural Tennessee, kids quite often came to school smelling as if they lived in a smokehouse, but in a bad way. Not like they're making awesome bbq, like they're bathing in bacon fat. Even as a small child, this = gross.

2. Whislers/singers/talk-to-yourselfers in the workplace. I work in an office that is best described as a time-warp to 1965. I'm surprised the men don't smoke in here. The women work like drones while the men shoot the breeze, discussing sports, taking the occasional phone call and worst of all singing/whistling/talking to themselves incessantly while they're here. When they are all here and walking aorund, the sound is a tornadic mixture of noise and annoyance the likes of which are not matched in a daycare full of sugared four-year-olds.

3. Collectors. Why? Isn't there some sort of diagnosable condition for this now? Hoarding or something? Why are you collecting basecall cards? Why are you collecting Boyd's Bear figurines? What is the point? I suppose if you are collecting rare works of art or early-edition pieces of literature (you know the things where a collection = 10-15 items), I can get it. But who needs thousands upon thousands of pez dispensers? It's just weird and makes me think you're crazy.

4. Celine Dion. Period. I can't stand her French Canadian accent when she sings. And the people who like her are strange to me. Does anyone else think she has major issues? She married an old man when she was just a child? How was this not prosecuted? And she is guilty of wearing a backward tuxedo in public. If you like Celine Dion, we are going to have a difficult time communicating, I think. The same thing goes for Toni Braxton, on all counts.

5. I did once cease to date someone over their drymouth and excessive clicky, mouth noises. It was constantly offering him something to drink. It was over in less than two weeks. I couldn't take it!

What about you? What are your Seinfeld-like tendencies? Do you introduce yourself to people under a false, more impressive identity like George's Art Vandelay the Architect, or despise manhands?

Not that there's anything wrong with that....

Wow, what a day

I haven't really posted anything in a couple of days due to complete lack of original thought. My mind has been wound into a taught, little knot thinking about plans for the future. News has just arrived that we will be moving to an undisclosed location in the next five months. I may be moving from my current residence within the next month and a half. We have no idea where we'll be going.

It's a lot to process. It's a lot of packing and work, not to mention, a major career shift for both my husband and me. Oh boy, just typing about it is giving me a headache. All of the accounts to cancel, addresses to change... again with the headache. I need some tea, or maybe a stiff drink.

Change is exciting and the possibilities for our life are wide-open. But I literally feel like I'm stepping of the roof of my house and expecting not to fall. One tactic I take to keep myself feeling in control is focusing on the present. Worrying about today's decisions and making them with careful consideration.

And while I am doing this, I am still feeling the panic bouncing around in the periphery of my mind.

How do you keep your cool in the face of big change? Or are you someone who takes big changes in stride without a problem? If you are one of these people, please tell me how!!

Craigslisting

Lately, I have been shopping for a bike. I think that a bike would be a great thing to have for running errands when the weather warms up a little bit. Plus, a bike is just fun! I live in a pretty small town and I can see myself tooling around Main Street on my bike in the sunshine. It sounds lovely!

I've been doing some shopping and gotten several recommendations on what sort of bike I should get and what bikes brands are reputable. But daannnng, bikes are expensive these days! I remember when a pink Huffy made the grade. Well, things have certainly changed.

I started my search in local specialty bike shops and found that everything I was interested in was around $400 and up, and that is just a bit out of my price range. So where else to look? I want to spend my money on a quality product that I can use for quite a while, but didn't want to pay the retail price. This led to me the used bike realm, which has led me to Craigslist.

There are quite a few bikes for sale on Craigslist in all price-ranges and styles, so I may pursue this avenue.

But, I don't have a lot of experience with Craigslist. I bought a washer and dryer set when we moved into our current place from CL, and haven't been entirely pleased with the purchase. But oh well, I'm willing to try again. That's the nature of buying something used and sight unseen.

I've known people who have had awesome luck with their Craigslist purchases and have made some phenomenal deals.

Have you gotten a steal on Craigslist lately? Or even bought a bike from Craigslist or another classified ad service?

It's a YouTube video kind of day

I could watch this cat all day.



I just love how he?/she? slides into these boxes, then just chills there. No need to free itself, why bother?



Speaking of which, have you ever noticed that cats can't walk with something around their mid-section? We used to do this to my friends Sally's cat Bill (a female) and laugh till we cried. We were cruel.

There's something very zen about Maru in his all-white/neutral Japanese apartment. For some reason, this other video won't let me embed, so you'll just have to follow the link to some Maru, slo-mo should you choose to do so.

Enjoy and may you have a relaxing weekend :)

Skiventurrrreeee!

I have never skied. Never! Being from Tennessee, the opportunity didn't present itself often when I was growing up. However, now that I have relocated the the Northeast, pretty good skiing is fairly available to me and I am excited to give it a shot!

In preparation for my bigtime ski trip coming up this March to Sunday River, Maine, my man and I decided that it would be a good idea to give this whole skiing thing a try before we drive all nine hours to Maine only to find ourselves crappy skiers.

So this weekend we will be venturing to (instead of Connecticut - more on this later) beautiful, exotic..... Lewisberry, PA! Wow! It's about a 40 minute drive from my house and is home to Ski Roundtop. A decent little ski resort where we will take a class, learn how to put on skis (literally), and try out our recently purchased ski pants for warmth and waterproofness.

I'll admit the website is a bit disconcerting for me. The first shot you see is of someone sliding down a hill on a innertube? Where are the skiers going swish, swish, swish? I am not feeling inspired by this, but I am told my boss that it's the best in the area.

So, I need help! Anyone have tips on how NOT to break my neck or extremities? Please leave them in the comments. I am going to make one of those cuff things quarterbacks wear to call plays for the weekend, filled with tips on how not to impale myself on a tree a la this guy:

And as for the wonderful New Haven, CT trip. I am saving it for an upcoming milestone. It was just too much to throw together last minute and I want to do it right... I'll share the details soon :)

Time to Step Up for Haiti!

As I'm sure you know, the people of Haiti have suffered a catastrophic disaster this week and their world is in a shambles. Aid workeres have described the situation as "worse than a war zone."

So it's time for all of us to step up and give whatever we can. The American Red Cross is calling for any monetary donations and many charities across the country have been tapped to assemble needed items.

Here is an example of a health kit that is requested from a local aid organization:

1 hand towel (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27")
1 wash cloth
1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz and up)
1 toothbrush (single brush only in original wrapper; no child-sized brushes)
1 large tube of toothpaste (4.5 or larger, expiration date must be 6 months or longer in advance of the date of shipment)
6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

As you can see, this kit is not very costly to assemble and will do much good for those who receive it.

Please contact a local agency and give whatever you can. These people need our help and they need it now.

And one more thing - You can donate to the Red Cross relief fund in Haiti by texting "HAITI" to 90999.

*Photo courtesy of the Daily Mail.

A case of the blahs....

It's that time of year. The boring time of year. I can guarantee that I spend more time googling vacations at this time of year than any other. I am just itching to get out of town, or get something on the books that states in writing that I will be taking some sort of vaca soon. I need it on the books!

My sisters and I share this. I think it must have come from my Mom as she is as bad as I am; and it gets worse every year. The "borings" hit me as soon as all of the holiday excitement ends and we're left with the LLLLOOOOONNNG stretch from here till Easter.

So what to do to make the time pass? Winter is in full swing and I have lots of books to read, recipes to cook, yoga classes to take, volunteer hours to do, work (of course) - but I still find myself bored. Saturday nights roll around and my husband and I stare at each other blankly wondering how to pass the evening. Are we so lame?

The answer is yes.

So - here's the plan. I got the itch big time this morning and decided that even taking a little 36 hour getaway this weekend is better than staring at one another or the tv this weekend. Which is why we will be spending our weekend in lovely..... New Haven, CT! Actually we will be staying in
Branford, CT, which is very close. I want to visit Gillette Castle, Yale University, have one of those famous steamed burgers like I saw on Man vs. Food!

Now that's what I'm talking about it! It's not the Caribbean, but it's a change of scenery!

GO BIG ORANGE!

Ok I am going to take a moment and get all vol on ya. Who saw my boys take on #1 ranked Kansas in bball last night?

And who saw them WIN despite playing with three walk-ons because the scholarshipped guys are idiots? I DID! It was amazing! Me and hubs were cheering and jumping up and down and screaming!!

Sweet tea Skylar McBee made the shot OF HIS LIFE last night. Double clutch, terrible-looking three-pointer that put the nail in the coffin. It was an amazing night for Tennessee fans!

On a side note: UT's own Renaldo Woolridge is also known as SwiperBoy. A rapper who pretty much raps about Tennessee Athletics. If you search for him you can get his myspace page and take a listen to such favorite as "Eric Berry." My favorite lyric: "Eric Berrrryyy, Eric Berry, (in a whisper) man he's scary!" Check out the story on espn.com here.

V-O-L-S! GO VOLS GO!

Bouncing back

It's funny how life works sometimes. Today I was having a really nice pity-party for myself. Driving along yesterday after work, my check engine light came on again. I have already written about how my car is not healthy and most like not going to be with us much longer.

On top of that, I went to my yoga studio last night only to be faced with a person in my new class who I absolutely cannot stand and she was rude. I will have to see her every Thursday from 6:30 - 8:00 for the next 11 weeks. Yippee!

Then, I went to return something my Mom bought for me for Christmas and a "kindly" saleswoman saw me browsing and pointed me towards a rack of larger sizes than the one where I was looking. Why would she do this you ask? Because she believed I am larger than I actually am! Sonuva!

So, I was a little down in the dumps this afternoon... feeling sorry for myself. Thinking about what a hard time I have of things right now and wallowing in it.

But then, I went to do my volunteer shift at Downtown Daily Bread in downtown Harrisburg. I spent two hours dishing up desserts to anyone who came in the door and knowing that many of these people would be spending this evening out in the cold. And it's cold here. It's snowy and cold and the wind is whipping around my house. And here I sit in my kitchen being warm and comfortable, smelling the pot of chili I put on to cook a bit ago and thinking about how lucky I am.

I try not to allow myself to give unfortunate people my pity. They are individuals and they deserve to be regarded with dignity, not as poor pitiful souls. But many of these people broke my heart - literally rent it in two. A woman, petite, with a lovely face. So cold she shook violently when she came in and who could not look me in the eyes when she chose her piece of peach pie. She who was offered hand-warmers by another man in the soup kitchen and took them gratefully. What struck me about this act was how much of a sacrifice it was for the man who gave her the hand-warmers. Did he even know her name?

As I walked away from the shelter a million thoughts ran through my mind. We had only fed them lunch, would they have dinner? Would there be breakfast the next day? A warm cup of coffee? Is there a shelter where they would sleep? What about all of the other people who didn't come in for lunch that day? Have they eaten today or in the last few days? Would they freeze to death during the cold night? What else can I do for them? What else can I do?

Then it struck me that all of my questions and worries and thoughts for these people are most likely shared by the patrons of the shelter as well.. They must think about where the next meal will come from and worry for their safety. But despite all of this, they come into DDB and eat and chat and laugh with one another. They are pleasant and seem happy despite all of their worries, troubles, addictions and pasts.

They find the courage to laugh anyway.

The Joys of the Insured

Currently I work in an insurance office. It's not my calling, it's not my career, it's a job for now. That's it, that's all.

Some days I think I should not work and focus solely on going back to school so I can begin fulfilling some of those big dreams and aspirations that I have. Unfortunately, aspirations don't pay off the car loan. And as my car is currently running on its 8th or 9th car life, I must work to pay off the car loan.

But while I'm in ze cube at my insurance job, I do try to find the things that I enjoy and cling to them. Namely, I like office supplies. Highlighters and binder clips being two of my favorites. I'm not sure why someone hasn't tried to create a more environmentally friendly version of the binder clip. Maybe made of really strong pressed corrugated cardboard? And highlighters. I love to color coordinate my work. Red folders for one thing, green for another. Blue highlighters for this month, orange for next month, and so on. It feeds my inner control freak.

Now, we certainly cannot forget my most favorite office supply fetish:

ALL HAIL THE POST-IT!

Don't call the men in the white coats yet, I have my reasons. You can use a post-it note for so many things: reminder notes, status updates on ongoing projects, wallpaper for ze cube and tabs in my great big, full of crap folders. I've also found them excellent ways to send incognito funny messages to co-workers. Imagine getting an important-looking file on your desk, opening and finding a neon orange post-it note with the words "Twerk it." It might just brighten up your day!

Also, guess what people who call your insurance company in a fury about something but never read their mail - READ YOUR MAIL. AND, don't sign anything without reading it...EVER! If everyone did this, my working life would be so much easier. No one would call me losing their minds because they got a $2 scheduled increase in their premiums, which they received notice on and agreed to. Oy vey. That's all I can say about it.

Moving on from all that unpleasantness. Today is my Friday :)

Speaking the English of the English

Sometimes I read the Daily Mail, one of London's many tabloidish papers when I'm in the mood for some hard-hitting journalism (I kid, I kid). But today what really struck me was the English that the English speak and write in daily life. I think it's adorable!

My bff moved to Canada several years ago, and has since adopted a few Euro words, spellings and phrases into her speech. For instance, she spells her favorite and color as "favourite and colour" as well as uses phrases such as "go to hospital," rather than go to the hospital and "in university" rather than in college. I find these little changes to be good ones, more concise and direct and a bit classier.

Other little things I find very likable and would love to incorporate into my own way of speaking include: proper (using it as "I need to find a proper raincoat"), bum, tum & mum(self-explanatory), brilliant (use it more often and not only to describe a great idea), reckon (when they say it, it's not redneck at all), wee, nosh. There are many more that just don't come to mind at this exact moment.

Afterall, it's proper English. Now I have to try to use it without sounding like a stooge or someone who desperately wants to be a Harry Potter character.

Because I'm not feeling so hot today...

And really don't feel like writing stuff. Here are some rad videos.



This poor kid. I don't want to laugh, but I can't stop myself!

I wish I could give an accurate reason for why I love "Jersey Shore" so much. I guess it's because living so near to Jersey I know people who are just a fake tan away from being cast in the show. Fist pump!!

And no one on that show is closer to my heart on that show than Snookie.



And who knew how freggin tiny she is! Wendy Williams looks like a giant next to the Snookster! Shocking!



Snookie gets serious:



What a philosopher, that Snookie.

Nashville. Oh Nashville!

I feel like when I say that I should have my hand over my heart.

My man and I went home (my home) for the New Year weekend and celebrated both New Year and Christmas with my side of the family. It was a ton of fun. I got to spend some time with my sisters, bro-in-laws, my parents and my adorable, hilarious nieces and nephews. All four of them! One of my nephews said more funny things than I can possibly list. He is a character in every sense of the word. You COULD NOT write the stuff that kid says.

We spent our time walking my parents precious hounddog Oakley in the woods, talking, cooking and breathing the fresh air. It was a refreshing visit. Going home always makes me feel comforted. Home for me is always safe and warm with my Mom cooking up a storm and my dad close by telling a story. I love it! And my hometown is nothing that would knock one's socks off. It looks a lot like this...

It's a blip on Highway 100 near Nashville. But it hides some special spots too. Like this...

Our beautiful Bowie Park: and there are even the more places that are special to me for varying childhood reasons. But,my family's corner of this little town is my favorite. When I get home, I don't want to leave. It's so quiet, relaxing, peaceful, simple. It's a location that I truly believe people would like to have as a country home, but I got to grow up there! How lucky am I?

Now I'm not saying I want to necessarily take up a permanent residence there. You go to eat at any of the 4-5 restaurants in town and you will see SO many people that you know and they all want to know your business... Where do ya live? Are ya married? Any kids yet? No, then when ya gonna start? It's small town overload. There's lots of "Me and you sister went to school together (and by school, they mean high school) and I just knew you had to be related. You two really favor!"

But there is something to said for the small town experience. While there you can feel as though the air is being sucked out of a balloon and you are trapped inside it. However, when a plane has put several hundred miles between you and town, you can reflect on how warm everyone is. I still cannot believe how many wedding presents I was given by residents in our community, even though I had lived away for nearly 6 years.

My small town's proximity to Nashville is also a great asset. In less than half an hour, I went from my quiet country home to a Turkish restaurant for dinner on New Year's Eve! Even more fun, was my bff since age 6 joined me and we had a lovely dinner, complete with really strong Turkish coffee to keep us hopping till the wee morning hours. Which it did quite successfully!

And without question, Nashville is a great town. It's got a ton of personality and makes my current location fall flat in its Pennsylvania Dutch austerity. So much music, so much to do - from high-end shopping in Green Hills to nude karaoke in Printers' Alley. Nashville truly holds something for everyone, and many days I miss it terribly.

Now it's time to pull myself up by my brand new 2010 bootstraps and look forward! I think we're already off to a great start considering I finally got around to sealing off my bedroom windows.

Hey.. the resolution list has to start somewhere! Tonight, I clean out the bookcase.