A Waltz for a Snowy Day

Though the weatherfolks were only predicting an inch or so of snow to fall last night in our area, we actually got around 4-5 inches. Yippeee! Winter wonderland day :)

I know I live in the Northeast now and should really not be so excited over a snowy day, but what can I say, it still feels new sometimes!

So, while I'm out playing in the fluffy, white snow, here's a waltz for the morning. I just love this song!




Snow pictures to come, should anything strike me as lovely, which I'm sure it will.

Short and Sweet

Wooowww. I got a bit long-winded yesterday. It was a lot of describe, but geesh. I'm such a geef. (that's not a typo, it's a word I invented... geef. Use it.)

So, today I'm keeping this one short n' sweet. Remember that trip to Connecticut I was talking about taking earlier this month? I decided that throwing it together with less than a week's notice, while fun and spontaneous, is also majorly more expensive. So, it's on the books for Valentine's Day weekend.

The hub and I aren't big Valentine's Day people, however. This will mark the second time we've ever done something besides give one another card. We're not big on gifts, so I consider this trip our gift to each other.

Very exciting! I've got calls into this little inn and this little inn and a couple of other too. It's going to be a short getaway, but still a getaway. And a big plus, if all goes well, I will be checking one destination off my 2010 list. I hope it snows while we're there... lots and lots.

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? If so, how do you shower the ones you love with affection or do you throw up the finger at the very mention of "VD?"

*photo source

The weekend that was..

Thanks to Toothpastefordinner.com for this morsel

What a weird weekend! Looking back to Friday it feels like it was really long and normally that's a great thing and means that I had an awesome weekend, full of fun and generally little sleep.

But this was a different weekend. Friday I was home basically the whole day. I didn't accomplish much, but sometimes that's a good day. Friday night, we wento Cafe Bruge, in Carlisle, PA.

This is our favorite place by far in Central PA. We love to sit at the bar and chat with owner/bartender Garrett and scarf up the amazing food. An order of frites to start is a must, the rest our menu changes every visit. This time we had stoemp saucisse. Yum!!


Saturday, I completed my volunteer shift from 10 - 1 at the Susquehanna Art Museum and proceeded to have a meltdown on the way home. Over nothing! I'm blaming it solely on hormones. The meltdown took about an hour, from during my drive home and then the comforting from my befuddled husband.*

Saturday afternoon, is a complete blank for me? What did I do? I know we took the dog for a walk, but what else? I'm not sure. Saturday night we drove to Hershey to go to dinner at a place we like, called Houlihan's. Unfortunately, most of the residents of Hershey had the same idea. So, we drove around a bit till we found The Chocolate Avenue Grill. We went in with no expectations and found a very nice place to share a Saturday night! We started with the best spanikopita I have ever had and ended with a slice of lemon marscapone cake. My man had the steak special that came with sweet potato fries (his fav) and a giant tree of steamed broccoli. And I had the seared tuna encrusted in sesame and poppy seeds and a strawberry, papaya salsa. Delish!

So Saturday started with tears and ended with cake. A pretty good save!

Sunday was interesting! We ventured to Ski Roundtop to try our hands at skiing. I was excited all the way there and ready for the challenge! I was armed with all the advice and tips from friends and blogfriends alike. We got there, bought our passes, rented our equipment and lined up under the sign stating "First Time Skiers" and waited for our instructor.

Keith was his name and he was extremely helpful and knowledgeable and led us through a two-hour course on turning and sort of stopping and proper stance and proper pole position and side stepping up the mountain. It was all positive! I fell only once during our two hour class and didn't even a bad one. My butt didn't touch the ground.

I did however, manage to impale myself with my own ski pole while we were on the kiddo lift. Some lady hit the emergency stop button (so she could get the perfect shot of her lil angel exiting the lift) throwing everyone on the lift forward at the exact moment that I had my head down to put my glove in my pocket. There was a little blood and swelling. But I was being a trooper, no biggie! Still going to be a great day on the slopes!

After our class we decided to head down the bunny slope one more time just for good measure and did it successfully, gliding towards the chair lift up to the "easy" slope. We took the lift with a five-year old and her dad who told me the trick to skiing was just to "follow your Daddy and do what he does." I looked at my husband, who was not comfortable with this label, but it generally much more adept and athletic. He would have to be my Daddy.

Time to get off the lift and.... fall. Fall #1 was a simple tangling of poles and not standing up soon enough. Ok... back up! Hubs asked if I was ready, I said "No, but if I don't go down now, I won't go at all."

And we're off, skiing, building speed, losing control and... fall. This was the big one. My right knee was contorted behind me in a very unpleasant way. Trying to get up... fall. Thinking and saying out loud, "Why didn't they teach us how to fall and not kill ourselves? People die doing this? Why wouldn't they teach us?" I managed to get myself over to a poll (it was padded, thank goodness) and get my skis off. I then walked up the hill, and let the nice man from the ski patrol sled me down the hill.

Was this humiliating? Yes. Could I have skied down that hill? Probably not and walked away under my own control.

So, what happened? I was in control of myself earlier, where did it all go wrong? I'll tell you where: panic. I have a teensy tendency to panic when things go awry. So when I started going fast, all my previous skills like turning myself to slow down went OUT THE WINDOW.

I skied the bunny slope a few more times, feeling much less than confident. Then decided that's about enough for one day and took the skis off for good.

Today, I'm nursing a wonky right knee (it'll heal, I'm pretty sure) and a little cut on my very sore jaw. I am undeterred, however. I will go back to try it again in the future. I might even spring for a one-on-one lesson as I am not ashamed to say that I may be a challenging case.

It looks like so much fun for those who can do it! My husband had a great time and said that he feels he would enjoy it much more with me along. There's motivation right there!

And now here we are at Monday morning. I feel like that weekend had to be at least five days and I'm pooped.

*In my defense, we are experiencing the arrival of some major life changes. And while things are very exciting, they're also a little scary. Scary life changes + hormones = teary meltdown

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!