Speed Blogging

Time to play a little catch-up, since my vacation from work turned into a vacation from all-things-internet last week. It's always nice to take a break from social media, but nice to get back to it, too! In the interest of time and your attention span, here's the past 10 days, each in 100 words or less (kind of like speed dating, but less creepy): 

Friday:

Made it to the gym early for the first time in forever, had a crazy day at work, then met Dan at the mall (my very least favorite place in the whole wide world) to do fun things like purchase a new suit and look at ties (yawn). Can’t really complain, since I was rewarded with Taco Bell for dinner. I call that a win. 

Saturday:

Worked out super early, then hit the road (in the snow!) for my college town. Met up with wonderful friends, had lunch, and checked into our suite. Freaked out upon discovering that the wedding ceremony was to take place outside in 30º temps, was incredibly relieved to find that a last-minute change had been made and I would not lose a limb to frostbite. Enjoyed a beautiful ceremony, catching up with friends, yummy cupcakes, and dancing with my hubby. Headed back to the suite to celebrate our friend’s birthday. Just as I was getting into bed, the terrible sickness began. 

love this picture!

Sunday:

The terrible sickness continued. The morning was rough. Dan, who left at the crack of dawn for a day of military training, was also sick and was sent home, I was still 2.5 hours away. My wonderful friend kept me company while I considered dying and helped me finally prepare for the drive home. Drove an hour without pulling over to be sick (miracle), stopped at Wawa for a slushie that made me feel a billion times better, finally got home. Hubby and I crawled into bed and slept for 15 hours straight. 

Monday:

Dragged myself into work, still feeling horrible. Didn’t get much work done. Struggled mightily to stay awake, not get sick, not hack off my aching head with a letter opener (that’s gruesome, sorry). Felt the best I had all day at 4:55, when I crawled into my car and headed home for another 15-ish hours of sleep. 

Tuesday:

Felt a bit better. Went to the gym after work for a slooooow recovery workout, then grocery shopped for “snowstorm essentials” (ice cream, wine, wheat thins). Made amazing pasta for dinner. Stayed up way too late, much like a kid bargaining for a snow day -- I was absolutely sure that I’d wake up to 2 feet of the white stuff and a day off. 

lemon chicken, capers, and chives over angel hair

Wednesday:

Woke up to 2 feet of snow, jumped for joy, promptly stopped when I discovered that my office was still open. Cursed under my breath while husband drove me to work over increasingly dangerous roads. Sat at my desk sad and alone, as everyone else was snowed in. Finally left around 1:00, fit in a quick workout, and finally plopped down in front of a beautiful fire to read and eat for the afternoon/evening. Snow day: salvaged. 

snow!

Thursday:

Slept late. Read in bed amidst husband/cat/puppy snores (heaven). Took Teddy for a long, snowy walk. Ventured out to pick up our favorite sandwiches for lunch. Spent another evening on the couch with a fire, a good book, and a glass of wine. Ate delicious breakfast for dinner, despite a sadly failed attempt at hollandaise sauce. 

Friday:

Got up at a reasonable hour, hit the gym for a nice laid-back workout. Stopped at Whole Foods for gorgeous tulips (on sale!) and Dunkin for a humongous coffee. Got some work done, took the pup for a walk, cleaned up the house a bit, watched some Netflix. Headed out to see wonderful friends for the evening. Enjoyed great food and even better company.

looks like spring!

Saturday:

Gorgeous day, took full advantage with a run outside. Ran into this guy also out enjoying the weather:

Cleaned like crazy all day. Happy to report that our bedroom carpet does still exist. Completed five loads of laundry, scrubbed the bathroom floor, and spent at least three hours doing dishes, I’m pretty sure. Ate takeout since I couldn’t look at my kitchen for one more minute, watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the billionth time, and collapsed into bed.

Oh Andie Anderson, you get me every time.

Sunday:

Got up in time to sweat a little before kicking off my mom’s day of (early) birthday fun. Headed out to a vineyard for tastings and a glass of wine in the sun, then stopped at a great lunch spot. Saw a local production of Into the Woods (one of our favorites) that was extremely impressive. Finished off the evening at our new favorite Italian restaurant. Happy (early) birthday, Mom!

 

   Love,

    Meg

Monday Motivation

A quiet weekend full of sleeping late, lazy afternoon naps, and lounging on the couch has left me inexplicably exhausted. It was all my little legs could do to make it through a workout this morning, and my brain used up the last ounce of its energy coaxing my body toward the finish line. I'm a little worried about starting off the week so drained... at this rate, Friday Wednesday isn't going to be pretty.
So in case you're like me and need a little extra motivation on this Monday, I've collected a few furry friends to help.

This cat is working hard to keep his New Year's Resolutions...

... and this one isn't afraid to dream big:

These dogs are overachievers...

... but they're not afraid to ask for help when they really need it:

These animals prove that no matter their size, they can still find creative solutions to a challenge:

This otter has mastered the art of avoiding distraction...

... and this dog knows that believing in himself is the first step:

This horse and this cat are always there to help a friend:

But this bird has discovered that sometimes, you just have to know when to accept defeat:

(do pardon his French)

Happy Monday!

   Love,

    Meg

The Longer The Better

Long weekends are the best. Somehow that extra 24 hours is all I need to feel like I have time to catch up on sleep and get a few things done, and I feel so much better heading back to work on a Tuesday morning. The tradeoff is that four day weeks are always crazier, but I'd gladly endure more of those if it meant sleeping until 8 every Monday.
This weekend was quiet and just a tiny bit productive, too. I made an impressive effort to break my motivational slump, pushing myself through a couple hard workouts and a short but windy run outside. Apparently the gym could tell I needed an extra spark, because I also picked up a nice little gift card as a reward for hitting 56 visits in the first two months of membership. I am already anticipating the massage that these sore muscles have officially earned! I spent most of yesterday cleaning, pushing bookcases around, and doing some heavy (box) lifting. By the end of the day, I had finally unearthed our office (mostly). I'm so excited to have a nice little spot to study!
Here are a few more highlights from the weekend:

a splurge on Friday after work

surprise Friday night dinner thanks to my handsome live-in chef... delicious!

we saw this trio of movies:

21 Hours at Munich -- I knew precious little about the Munich Olympic massacre before this film, and now I know entirely more than I wanted to. It was hard to believe that this horrifying drama was actually real.

Pitch Perfect -- It took me forever to finally rent this one, but Dan and I both really liked it. The singing was great, even when the plot left a little bit to be desired.

Zero Dark Thirty -- definitely did not disappoint. Without getting into the debate on truth vs. fiction, this was a jarring and disturbing but incredible film. I held my breath for at least half the movie and felt both exhausted and inspired when we left the theater. 

I made chocolate pudding for the first time in forever and topped it with homemade whipped cream

Teddy had another fun romp at the dog park on a beautiful day and did some snuggling at home...

... and Toby gave me a little hint of what my studying hours are going to look like.

Clearly the long weekend was a good excuse for extra chocolate, extra time cuddling with our furballs, and extra laughs with my sweet hubby. Not bad!

   Love,

    Meg

Recovery Weekend

It's nice to feel like a real person again, after a whole week of coughing, sniffling, and wincing every time someone close to me emitted anything louder than a whisper. I'm almost happy to be awake so early this morning, because I'm just so darn relieved to be getting back into something that resembles my normal schedule, before holidays and holiday-induced eating and holiday-induced lack of motivation and the-cold-that-was-here-to-stay. Getting to the gym this morning was -- dare I say it? -- refreshing. We'll see how long that lasts.
This weekend was a wonderfully normal one, the kind where you sit back at the end and think, "well, that was... nice." Just boring enough to make you appreciate the exciting weekends even more. Sometimes you need a little mundane and familiar, right?
My weekend actually snuck all the way into Thursday, since that morning I woke up, dragged myself into the shower, took one look at myself in the mirror, and though, "Self, it's just not going to happen today." I called into work and settled in for a blissful 4.5 hour nap. It was the best I had slept all week, but in the end proved ineffective -- I woke up feeling even worse. I laid low for the rest of the day, escaping the house only to take the puppy for a walk before hunkering down on the couch again. I might have eaten pie for dinner and gone to bed over an hour early. Not a bad way to end a sick day.
Friday was a roller-coaster of a day, back and forth between feeling the worst I'd been all week to wondering if I was finally getting better. I woke up feeling a tiny bit improved, and promptly decided to push my luck by going to the gym. I stuck to the low-key neighborhood gym (as opposed to the big one that I love but knew would be full of people) and took it super easy, but even my slow elliptical shuffle was enough to set me wheezing rather quickly. A big, delicious breakfast at work for a coworker's birthday helped for a while, but the morning dragged on and by lunchtime I really wanted to crawl under my desk. I tried to lift the mood by hanging up some wedding pictures, but even that provided only a temporary, adrenaline-fueled respite, followed by a long, terrible afternoon. I felt so awful by the time I got home that I barely acknowledged that my sweet husband had spent the entire day cleaning before crashing into bed. Unfortunately we had to run out that evening, but picking up dinner on the way home and enjoying it from bed seemed to revive me -- I went to sleep that night finally feeling optimistic.
On Saturday morning, the clouds parted. I slept late and woke up feeling so much better that I was actually thrilled to get out of bed. Dan headed into work and I had the whole day, so I took my time and relished the fact that I had no reason to rush. I hit the gym for a long, slow workout, showered, stopped for a bagel and coffee (and a delicious "would you like to add a cookie for 99 cents?" lapse in responsibility), and headed home to read, clean, and cook all afternoon. I whipped up some taco soup in the crockpot, and Dan and I spent the evening on the couch, catching up on the fantastic second season of Downton Abbey (I am determined to watch at least part of season three when it actually airs).
It felt like spring here on Sunday, so we packed up the puppy for his first dog park experience. We made a wonderful discovery about 10 minutes from home -- a huge park with tons of space to run around, lots of trees and sticks to chew, and plenty of canine friends on a warm Sunday afternoon. The best part, though, was the fact that this park's boundaries are three parts fence, one part huge lake. Teddy wasn't so sure about the water at first...

... but dad took care of that pretty quickly. After an extensive game of hide-and-please-don't-come-any-closer with the big dogs, the three of us went for a hike in the hills around the lake. Teddy did so well on and off leash, and we took home one muddy, exhausted little ball of fur. We rounded out the evening with dinner with Dan's brother and his girlfriend, a fro-yo stop, and two more episodes of Downton before an early bedtime.
All in all, a boring, quiet, and wonderfully germ-free weekend. Perfect.

   Love,

    Meg

Decking Those Halls

Whew. The rush of the holidays is certainly upon us... and yet I feel surprisingly un-panicked so far. My shopping is almost finished despite the fact that I never really started, thanks to a couple early purchases, an agreement that a certain furball:

... was Dan's and my gift to each other, some plans for homemade treats, and a rather full amazon cart. Done and done.
Most of the stress has been decorating-related... it seems that making the jump from apartment to house takes that standard to a whole new level. I have been hard at work on a few DIY projects that I hope to share soon (ie when I finally get around to taking a few pictures), and the hubby did an incredible job with tasteful and cheery outside lights. We have a smallish but lovely tree that is Toby-approved for snacking... and if I have to clean up another pile of hacked up pine needles I just might scream (too much information for a Monday morning?). Lots of work, but I think it's finally coming together. If only I could also find time to tackle some of the lingering piles of "things that desperately need a permanent home," I'd be getting somewhere.
Other than finishing up the decorating, our weekend was busy, although a bit bittersweet. Friday was certainly a difficult day, filled less with work and more watching the news in horror. Filled with questions. Filled with heartache for everyone who lost loved ones to such a senseless act. Filled with a sadness that followed us all weekend and remains still.
That evening, we headed out to see one of our very favorite artists in concert:

mediocre pictures, great show

I love the skeptical face on the guy behind us -- I am terribly unphotogenic, so I took about 8 pictures in rapid succession, hoping at least one would turn out decent. In the next one I snapped, he is totally grinning like he was meant to be in the picture!

Our common love for Dave Matthews was one of the very first things that connected Dan and I when we were first getting to know each other, and I've been a huge fan as long as I can remember. It has been years since either of us saw him live, but we are incredibly lucky that our hometown is also the place that Dave and many of his bandmates call home. The band's drummer and violinist actually went to school with my parents! They played a fantastic concert and we had an absolutely wonderful time.
Saturday I got a ton of stuff done around the house while the hubs was at work, and spent a little time being productive over coffee and a bagel at Panera. That evening we took the pup for a long walk and worked on the tree and decorations before staying up entirely too late watching Miracle on 34th Street -- such a classic and a nice change of pace from the news.

our attempt at Christmas light pictures... tough with a wiggly puppy

even Toby gets ticked festive!

Yesterday we got a couple of errands out of the way, hit up Starbucks for a free peppermint mocha, and then went to see Lincoln at our town's brand new theater. What an excellent movie -- fantastic acting, music, and so much unexpected humor made it even better than I had expected. Definitely recommended! Yesterday evening, we made one of my favorites: breakfast for dinner.

eggs with cheese, onions, and dill, blueberry muffins, potatoes, and (purposely) burnt bacon... yum

Tonight, we are lucky enough to get another fun date night. We are heading out for dinner and then a performance of the Nutcracker by the Moscow Ballet. It comes to town every Christmas, and we have been wanting to go for years!
The rest of the week promises to be full of crafting, baking, and wrapping, but luckily I am able to take Friday and Monday off from work, so I am pretty excited about a five day weekend. Lots of time to finish all the last-minute projects on my list... and maybe even relax and enjoy all the decorations, snacks, and the holiday goodness that we've been working so hard to put together!

The Christmas-hating twins. Poor guy, life is just a series of torture scenes...

   Love,

    Meg

I Don't Want To Talk About It

There are a lot of things that I don't want to talk about on this Monday morning... first and foremost being the fact that it is a Monday morning. Other things include:
 -- the distinct possibility that my husband will be deployed to NJ/NY in the next few days for over a month. I absolutely understand that so many people in those states need help and my heart is breaking for them every time I hear more about the destruction. I realize that wanting to keep my hubby at home is incredibly selfish, and yes, I feel quite guilty about it. But the thought of him missing Thanksgiving, my birthday, and the great majority of the "holiday season" for the second year in a row makes me pretty darn sad. Oh, and not to mention: there goes the honeymoon again.....
 -- this damn election. I am so incredibly sick of political ads, political analysis, political signs littering our beautiful state, and political posts all over social media by misinformed or simply ignorant people. I am so ready to vote tomorrow and put this whole mess behind us. My biggest nightmare is that recounts, small margins, and candidates who aren't willing to admit defeat will drag the process out and we will still be talking about this in a month. In which case, I may run away to Canada until the inauguration. Yes, please vote tomorrow. And on Wednesday morning, no matter what the outcome, please please please get on with your lives.
 -- my poor car, which sits in a cold garage awaiting its fate this morning. I wonder if it knows what's coming?
 -- how early I got up this morning in order to get to the gym, get ready for work, drive home and pick up the hubs, drive him to work, and then get all the way across town to my office on time. I don't think I really woke up until a few miles into my run. Interesting note: the gym is sooo much busier an hour earlier. Also, there are a lot more women walking around the locker room with not a stitch of clothing on. Awkward way to start the week.
 -- the fact that I spent the entire weekend cleaning... and I'm still not done. Our house was in serious need of a deep clean/decluttering, so Saturday morning I woke up early, went for a run, and then dove right in. I spent a solid 12 hours scrubbing/washing/organizing/folding/mopping/finding new homes for things/finding hiding spots for all the things for which I couldn't find new homes. And then I woke up yesterday and kept going. By last night, our bathroom and bedroom looked pretty darn impressive, our kitchen looked much better than it did, and our living room saw a bit of progress. The dining room, office, and guest room? I'm just lucky that two out of those three have doors that can be shut...
 -- the frighteningly large number of thank you notes still left to be done. Just the thought of this makes me sweat a bit. One day soon I'm going to sequester myself at a Starbucks table with only some music and this task. Except really, I hear the holiday accessories have arrived and I just want a good excuse to get my hands on one of those beautiful red cups.
Nope, I definitely don't want to talk about any of that. Not one bit.


   Love,

    Meg

What's In A Weekend?

This weekend was full of excitement. Friday night, Dan and I headed out to watch our hometown university team take on their rivals in soccer:

Such a fantastic picture. I really can't understand why no one wants to hire me as a sports photographer.

much better

It was a great game (and we won!) but my toes were frozen by the end. Afterwards we met up with a friend for dinner, but sadly the food was pretty terrible (for me, at least). By the end of the night I was truly struggling to keep my eyes open, and I crashed hard on the couch before the hubby woke me up and made me go to bed.
Saturday I spent some time at the gym and then headed out to my second sports game of the weekend. The football itself was pretty sad, but the perfect fall weather mostly made up for it.

sunny!

My mom and I stopped for pumpkin ice cream (yum!) before heading home for some wine and more football (fall Saturdays are the best ever.) Dan met up with us after he left work and we all headed out for dinner, which was thankfully much better than Friday night's meal.
Sunday, Dan and I took a little drive and made a very exciting visit:

In just a few weeks, one of these little balls of fluff will become the newest member of our family! Dan and I have missed having a dog around so much, and somehow I seem to have let him talk me into getting a puppy -- a teeny tiny adorable un-housebroken always-chewing cat-terrorizing sweet fluffy puppy. This litter was born the day we got married, and their mama is calm, super affectionate, and gorgeous, if a bit exhausted:

you'd be a little tired if you had nine three-week-olds, too

... so we are crossing our fingers that we'll get one of these adorable guys:

They are quite possibly the cutest things ever. When you hold them, they snuggle up and make the most adorable little sounds, and a few of them just fell sound asleep in my arms. Any housebreaking worries I had definitely melted away when I met these sweet little things... I would clean up after them any day. (Remind me of that in a few weeks, please?)
We also got to play with this handsome guy (or girl?):

To round off the fun weekend, we headed out for dinner (Yes, that's three dinners out this weekend. Can you hear my wallet whimpering? I believe it's harmonizing with my waistline...) and a "ghost tour" with two good friends. While the tour was certainly on the tame side, we learned some interesting history and got to tour our town's old jail, which was pretty neat.
After such an exciting (and exhausting) weekend, I was fully expecting this morning to be a struggle. Sometimes Mondays surprise me, though -- the promise of starting my week on a good note lures me out of bed with less pain than normal and motivates me to get moving. This morning, I made it to the gym earlier than normal, powered through a tough workout, and even had time to grab breakfast on the way to work. As the week goes on, I'll find it harder and harder to get up each morning, so we're lucky that this morning started so well: it leaves lots of room for everything to go downhill from here!

   Love,

    Meg

You Might Be Behind If...

... you're just posting the weekend's pictures on Wednesday. We had a super busy few days and then I started feeling sick on Monday, so the week kind of got away from me. After 11+ hours of sleep last night, I'm feeling slightly better, so let's get caught up a bit.
Our weekend was packed full, and ran the spectrum from a fancy gala on Friday night to baling hay on a friend's farm Sunday evening. In between, there were a few football games (including one particularly depressing one that I actually attended), Dan's soccer game, a visit to our favorite kennel, helping our friends put together their nursery for baby girl (7 more days!), several yummy meals, and, of course, some gym time. Here are a few of the pictures I managed to capture, courtesy of Instagram:

my editor keeping a close eye as I worked on Friday's remarks

dressed up for the gala

... and then someone started to tickle me.

gorgeous fall Sunday

hanging out with the soon-to-be big sister!

   Love,

    Meg