'Tis the Season

Okay folks, it's that time of year again, when I turn into a Christmas carol-singing five year-old who shrieks at anything glittery.   Today is a super depressing, gray and unseasonably warm day in DC, but I'm choosing to imagine that large snowflakes are falling.

Since it has obviously been awhile since I've written {I have a good excuse, I promise!}, I guess I owe you a recap.  Starting in mid-November, my life was hijacked by file-reading.  No joke.  I was reading during nearly every non-sleep-occupied hour, waking up at 4:40 every morning so I could still go for my run and get to the office at 7.  Sure, I was productive during the week-and-a-half that I was reading, but my quality of life was God-awful and I was so exhausted that I was kind of crabby.  You can imagine my relief when I got home from work the Friday before Thanksgiving and my sweet Dan, who had left to meet a friend for hh/dinner, left me some beautiful flowers and an encouraging note that reminded me that I was almost done.  At that point, I started to cry a little bit, both from the sweetness of the gesture and from exhaustion {probably more the latter}.  I'm hoping things will be a little bit easier in the next round, but I'm sort of doubting it…that being said, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job and really enjoyed reading about all of these kiddos.  It was just a lot of intensity in a very short amount of time.

Anyway, because Thanksgiving fell so late this year, I was able to wrap up my file-reading just in time to head back to Pittsburgh with Dan for Thanksgiving!  I had been looking forward to the trip for a long time, since it was the first holiday that we have spent together, and, despite the fact that I missed my family {it really isn't the same whenever you spend a holiday away from your family}, I had a fabulous time.  Dan's family is relatively big on both his mom's and dad's side, and a good chunk of them live in Pittsburgh, so, when I counted, I met 14 new people, in addition to the members of the family that I already knew.  The family is hilarious and has a soft spot for family game nights, so what better ice-breaker than a game of Trivial Pursuit and watching home videos all together?! {As a side note, Dan was the cutest little kiddo!}.  We were able to sneak in some alone time, too, to watch a few episodes of Homeland, go to the Pens game {my first at Consol!} and head downtown to see the PPG tree and the Market Square Christmas Market.  I was definitely not super psyched to come back to work on Monday, but the length of the break felt just right.  I was able to catch up on some much-needed sleep and spend time with a wonderful and loving family.  I really did luck out in terms of Dan's family; they are such a great, enthusiastic bunch, and have welcomed me with open arms into the family, which I have appreciated so much.

For the next few weeks, we'll be doing all sorts of fun Christmasy activities {ice skating! sweets- baking! present-wrapping! carol-singing}, while hopefully coasting in to the Christmas break work-wise.  I do have to work for a few days over Christmas break, being that I am one of the newbies in the office, but it shouldn't be too bad.  I will be heading to NY for a few days for Christmas with my dad's family, and I am super psyched, mostly because there are two new babies in the family this year, one of whom I haven't met yet.  I think the Facebook photo stalking of these children has reached the point where I just need to see them already!  Finally, two weeks from today, Dan will have all of his MBA decisions on hand, and I couldn't me more excited {and, admittedly, nervous} for him!  It could put a damper in our Christmas dinner two weeks from today if he gets bad news…maybe should have planned that one better.  The thought that we could know in two weeks where we'll be next year is exciting and overwhelming at the same time.

Happy Christmas Season, friends!

A Very Merry Christmas Indeed

If you read my blog posts at this time last year, you will remember that, what with our whirlwind Christmas vacation, my family had a very, very busy break.  I look back on that trip so fondly, and I know that my family does as well, but dam, did we keep busy that break!  This Christmas break was a total 180 from the frenetic pace of Christmas 2011.

I'm going to have to separate the break into a couple of posts, because I think that this one will be a little bit lengthy otherwise, but I'll start with "fake Christmas," my Christmas celebration with Dan the Friday before Christmas, before he headed home.  I  had gotten off of work really early, which ended up being nice, because I had time to pack and clean my apartment.  Once he got to my place, we headed downtown and stopped by the Capitol Christmas tree, which I always love {it looks so much more natural than the caged-in White House Christmas tree}.  From there we walked to dinner at Poste in Chinatown, which, although exorbinantly priced, was delicious.  Plus, what better time to go out for a pricey dinner than a holiday, right?  Then, we went home and opened presents, and, once again, Dan did a great job. He got me a beautiful, logo-free Coach wallet {he knows how much I hate logos, and he also has had to watch me fish through my coin purse for credit cards and IDs enough to know that I needed an upgrade}, as well as a running headband {purple, my favorite color, to match the running jacket he got me last year} and smart phone-friendly running gloves. I had gotten him a dress shirt to replace some of the ones that are now out of commission {he tends to get holes in the elbows of his work shirts, so he must sit in a strange position when he's at his desk!}, as well as an overnight in the Charlottesville area and a trip to a few breweries on the Nelson County Microbrewery Trail later this month, which we are both really looking forward to.  I was sad to see him off bright and early on Saturday morning, but it helped to know that I would see him again in just a few days.  The two-week separation over Christmas last year was really difficult, so it brought me so much happiness to get to spend so much time with him this break.

After a long run, I met up with my friend Jamie to go to the Georgetown basketball game.  From there, we perused the Chinatown Christmas market and then saw Anna Karenina.  I had been really excited to see it {I almost always love Keira Knightley period pieces}, but we both walked away very disappointed.  I should have known it would be a letdown, particularly since I disliked the book so much {I actually ended up giving up and didn't finish it}.  It is always lovely to spend time with her, though, so I was happy, despite the $9 wasted on the movie haha.

From Saturday night to Wednesday I stayed at my parents' house, which was exactly the getaway I needed. There was lots of going to bed early, early-morning runs with my dad, eating yummy baked goods that my dad picked up at the Old Town Farmers Market, and generally spending quality time with my family.  On Monday, my mom decided that Tim needed to get out of the house, so we went to the Spy Museum, specifically because there was a special James Bond exhibit that she thought he would enjoy.  Even though I had been to the museum once before, I thoroughly enjoyed going again, and I think my dad and Tim had a nice bonding experience over the Bond villain exhibit.

 

We spent Christmas morning at my parents' house, opening presents and eating our customary Christmas rolls {if the picture below doesn't make your mouth water, there may just be something wrong with you}.  Santa was very good to me this year; in addition to the running gear that Dan had gotten me, I got some more great stuff, including a dri-fit shirt, a roller {to help with my tight muscles, which I am SO excited for!}, a belt that holds some small water bottles, and some gummies, which are so delicious I plan to use for my training and then during the race.  They are so yummy that I had to promise Dan that I wouldn't just sit at my desk popping them throughout the day...Not to pat myself on the back, but I really loved the gifts that I gave my parents and Tim, Snapfish photo books of our Europe trip last year.  I wanted to find a creative way to memorialize the trip, and I was so pleased with how they turned out!

Seriously...

 

After we finished opening presents, we drove to my aunt and uncle's house in southern Virginia, where my mom's entire family gathered for Christmas dinner.  It was the first time in probably about ten years that we had all been together, so it was nice to have the entire family there.  Everyone especially enjoyed the Christmas poppers that we brought, something that we always do for Christmas on my dad's side of the family. Each popper contains a paper crown, a small toy and a little joke, and everyone was a good sport and wore their crown.  After an overnight stay and some more time with the family in the morning, we headed home.

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours!!!

Lots to Give Thanks For

My little family had a really nice, somewhat relaxing Thanksgiving break.  It was so nice to recharge, especially right before an incredibly hectic period at work for me.

I spent Wednesday through Sunday at my parents' house, which was a nice change of scenery.  Although I certainly don't get the "going home" feeling when I go home for the holidays {being that "home" is not the home I grew up in, and the absence of travel doesn't really make it feel like a holiday.  Gone are the 10-hour car rides at Thanksgiving and Christmas}, it is always nice  to spend time at their place.  We drove out to the Shenandoahs to see my grandparents on Thanksgiving morning, and, being that it was a gorgeous day, Tim and I hit the links at teh resort there.  Meaning that Tim let me drive the cart a bit and let me take a few swings haha.  We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, complete with two types of pumpkin cheesecake and a pumpkin pie that were simply divine, and it was such a treat to spend the day with my grandparents.

We drove home on Black Friday morning, since my cousin Kelly, her husband Alec, and their two kids, Kaitlin {age 7} and Alexzander {age 4} drove down from New York for the weekend.  With a baby girl due in February, Kelly knew that it was going to be now or never for them to come visit, so I'm glad that they did.  It was really neat to see DC through the kids' eyes, since they had never been here before.  On Friday night, we went to Cactus Cantina, one of Alec's favorite restaurants from when he was a college student in DC, and then saw the monuments by night, which is always nice.  On Saturday, I had my 11-miler for marathon training, and then we went to the Alexandria Farmer's Market and the Air and Space Museum, followed by lunch at Tombs and a quick tour of the university.  We got dinner at Cafe Milano on Saturday night, and I left to go home early on Sunday morning, as I had a lot of work that I needed to do leading into last week.

Although all of us in our nuclear family are currently living in DC {I anticipate that this will change as soon as Tim graduates}, it is so seldom that we are all able to get together, so I enjoyed having everyone in one place for the extended weekend.  It was really hard, though, not to be with Dan for Thanksgiving.  First of all, it seemed like he was gone for forever, but it is also tough to spend the holidays away from the person you love most.  He has already promised that he'll be gone for less time at Christmas so that we can romp around DC in the days leading up to the New Year.

I have said in past years that I really do have so much to be thankful for.  I have to echo that same sentiment this year.  2012 has certainly brought its challenges, first among them Dan's harrowing health scare following our race and subsequent stay in the hospital.  Although I would care to forget that experience {as I know he would too}, I think that it did make us stronger.  Not that I would ever wish that situation on anyone, but the severity of his injuries definitely reaffirmed for me how much I love him, and I think that, even in the short-term, it has made us stronger as a couple.  Of course, I am thankful for my wonderful family and friends, and the relative good health of those people.  I am grateful for the roof over my head, my job and my good health.  I especially like reflecting on all of the things I have to be thankful for leading into the Christmas season.  I'm looking forward to spending the next few weeks gearing up for the holidays with family, friends, and my love.

Easter!

Oh boy, I think that was the most relaxing weekend I have had in a LONGGGG time.  I had the day off on Friday (yay for working for a Catholic institution and getting Good Friday off!), which meant that I got to start the weekend out early with pizza and the Masters on Thursday with Dan.  So. Relaxing.

I metroed home on Friday morning when Dan left for work (at about 6:30), and was able to fit in a run, 2 loads of laundry, cleaning the apartment and packing for the weekend before meeting Lauren for lunch at 2 Amys.  I was feeling pretty good about my productivity, especially since I knew I would neither want to do laundry nor clean the apartment when I got home on Sunday night.  I had decided to spend the weekend at my parents' house, just for a change of scenery.

After Lauren and I gobbled down our favorite pizza, we saw the movie Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which, despite its title, was actually a fabulous movie.  Afterward, we briefly contemplated running in to the showing of Titanic in 3D, but, good girls that we are, refrained (maybe it was just my group of friends, but we never snuck in to multiple movies when we were younger).  Afterward, we did some nice window shopping, and then we parted ways so that I could meet up with my family and some family friends for dinner at Sequoia on the Waterfront.  It was actually a surprisingly good time (I had been unsure, going into the dinner, of how well the groups were going to mesh), so it was nice to have that good company to start off the weekend.

I started off Saturday morning with my best outdoor run of the season so far.  My previous outdoor runs have all been with Dan, and, perhaps due to the hilliness and my allergies/asthma going crazy, I have spent part of each run in the midst of an asthma attack and completely miserable.  However, my runs outdoors on both Saturday and Sunday were fantastic, so those definitely started my days off right!  Afterward, my dad and I went out to breakfast and got some hearty, tasty oatmeal-wheat germ pancakes.  Then, I made my beloved Cookie Dough Cupcakes (seriously, Kate, thank you so much for passing this recipe along, because it is one of my favorite ones to make, however sparingly I do so!!!) to serve at Easter lunch on Sunday.  After dinner, we headed to Easter vigil Mass...and did not emerge until 2 1/2 HOURS LATER.  Seriously, those were the most miserable 2 1/2 hours of my entire life, and I was FUMING (as was my mom).  The Mass was unnecessarily long, and I was shooting death glares at the cantor as she sang the third of seventh readings...seriously, not funny.  My mom said the next morning that she had been so "distraught" (her word, not mine haha) after Mass that she had forgotten to make her special holiday breakfast, which needs to rise overnight.  Oh well, I guess I wasn't really planning on doing anything after Mass anyway.

After my run on Sunday, I helped my mom get the mountains of food ready before two of my friends and Tim and two of his friends arrived for lunch.  Everything was delicious, and by the time that Molly, Lauren and I arrived back at our apartment last night, we were definitely crashing big-time after our sugar high.  Yeah, I guess I jumped back in to eating sugar a little too eagerly (although the two of them hadn't given up sweets for Lent and ate just as much, so maybe I shouldn't feel so bad?  That's what I'll tell myself haha).  We ended Easter weekend by watching some episodes of Mad Men in sweats, and believe me, it was glorious.

Me, Lauren and Molly down by the Potomac (and looking very springlike!)

Tim, Max and Mike relaxing after their catch

The reason for the sugar high?  Bunny cake, cookie dough cupcakes and chocolate

Time and time again, I am in awe of my parents, particularly how generous they are about opening their home to Tim, myself, and our friends and loved ones.  I never take for granted how lucky I am to have my parents just a short Metro ride away, and the fact that they are so open to making my friends and Dan a part of their lives means more to me than they will ever know.  I truly am the luckiest girl in the world :)

Also, here is a picture of Molly and I with our creations from the painting happy hour we went to last week!