Football and Politics...an Unlikely Combo

Tailgating at our first Steelers game!

October 25, 2009

I just had such a fun weekend...on Friday, we went to our friends' pumpkin party, on Saturday, I went for a run in the beautiful weather with Oliver and we went to The Sharp Edge for appetizers and drinks with some new Pittsburghers, and yesterday, we went to our very first Steelers game!


The game was AWESOME...huge win over the Vikings, although I do have to say, it was really exciting to see Brett Favre throw passes in real life! PJ was invited by our friend Brian, and I was invited by our friend Dana, so we sat separately at the game. Dana's dad has season tickets for the club section, so my seat was amazing. About halfway into the first quarter, we noticed someone very familiar sitting two rows in front of us...

John Kerry (who was there with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry)! It was so neat to see someone who I actually voted for in a Presidential election!

My weekend ended with a phone call from my long-lost college and post-college roommate, Megan, who I haven't seen since August 2008...I can't believe it's been that long! It was so good to catch up with her, and we made plans to go to the November 29th Buffalo Bills game...I can't wait!

And finally, I am counting down the days until I see Pearl Jam...only 4 left!

Home is Where Your Mom Is (and Dad, too)

A BEAUTIFUL tree discovered in our little neighborhood while taking Oliver for a walk

October 19, 2009

I drove up to Corning this past weekend to visit my parents, after realizing that I finally had a weekend with no obligations and no big homework assignments due this week.

I didn't even do anything particularly exciting...met my brother, my parents, and some of their friends out for dinner, drinks, and bar music on Friday, then went to the house and snuggled with the dogs...ran some errands with Mom on Saturday (including coffee from Heavenly Cup, of course), made dinner for the family, did laundry, and watched "You've Got Mail" with my parents...went to the bakery with my mom and relaxed on Sunday before the drive back to Pittsburgh.

It was the best weekend I've had in a long time. I haven't felt that relaxed in months. There has been too much going on and even during the times that I have been sitting down, my mind has still been going a million miles a minute with lists of things to do. But there is something about being home (not as much at the holidays, because those are busy times at home, too) that is just so comforting, no matter how old you are. You can temporarily abdicate your position as a full-fledged adult and just relax, knowing that someone else will take care of you for a day or two. I really miss that feeling sometimes.

Thank you for apples.

Today, I have been having a crazy busy AND bad karma day all rolled into one...backed my car into a wall (no damage...phew) and broke the copier within an hour of getting to work...all in the midst of trying to get piles of work done.

And then I remembered...I brought an apple to work today.

Before I begin (or continue) to sound like a huge weirdo, I just have to say, in no unequivocal terms, that I. Love. Fall. Sweaters, hot chocolate, cider, apples, sweatpants and a good movie, football, birthday, school supplies, boots, pumpkins, the colors of the leaves...I love them all. I think that it comes from growing up in Upstate New York, where fall is an event--it is really the most beautiful time of year.

So when I realized that I brought an apple to work today, it totally kicked the piles of work and the bad karma into a corner. Thank you for apples.

Little Reminders

For the past week, the universe has been sending me reminders to take care of myself. Sometimes, I think we find ourselves so busy juggling everthing--work, school, relationships, and all of the day-to-day goodies like cleaning and errands, that we forget to take a break and just be. Last week, I received all kinds of giftcards for my birthday and the first thing I thought was, "Great! Now I have money to buy Christmas presents!"

Not even an hour after I said this to a coworker, I received these messages from Jillian, who gave me a giftcard to Sephora:

"Use it on yourself. DON'T BUY PRESENTS FOR OTHER PEOPLE!"

And then, just in case I hadn't gotten the point:

"Seriously. I KNOW YOU."

Oh, she's good.

So, needless to say, I went to Sephora on Friday and spent half of my giftcard on Philosophy's Creme Brulee body wash and some lip balm (and Jillian, I promise I'll spend the rest on myself...but at a later date).

Then the weekend got busy, mostly with our sixth wedding of the year and thoughts of my busy week to come and the 5k that we're running in this coming weekend, and SMACK...I got a cold. Something about that "my head is disconnected from my body" feeling tends to yank you back from all of your future thinking and drop you back into the present.

And so, universe, I hear you. I am trying to slow down this week and I am trying to take better care of myself and trying not to care if everything gets done. And I'm smelling like delicious creme brulee while I'm at it!