Almost 2008!

It's crazy to think in a mere 13 hours, it'll be 2008! Where did 2007 go? I guess looking back, it's been quite an action packed year, but it sure seemed to go by at a lightning-quick pace. Tonight, Mark and I will join Patty and some other friends at Dylan's Steaks in Tribeca before possibly toasting the new year at a nearby bar. I say possibly, because we are definitely not forking over $60 just to get past the door, so if it seems like every place has a supersteep cover, we'll just head home--dinner should be enough of an entertainment factor for the night. Hopefully on the way home, we won't be inundated by any drunks on the PATH like I was last night when I came home on the 12:20 a.m. train! (We may just have to take the bus for that reason alone!)

On another note, we had a really great time at home over the past week; zig-zagging between University Towers and the Flynn's. I have lots of pictures from my brand new camera (courtesy of Mark!) that I will post shortly.

happy new year!

Just call me Santa...

...because I was ho ho ho'ing my way around Manhattan yesterday, picking up gifts for all of the good girls and boys in my life! But instead of a sleigh of reindeer to carry me around, I simply had my feet, barely supported by the 3" heels on my boots. After each store, I got more and more weighed down, and then the rain started to fall and I was just waiting for the overstuffed bags to split open with all of the gifts crashing to the dirty street.

Fortunately, the bags held up and I made it back home in one piece, albeit a bit stiff and sore from the heavy lifting. And I'm proud to say that my Christmas shopping is DONE!

I think that's a record for me!

Tonight, we're heading over to The Garden for a Duke/Pittsburgh game. Erin F. is on her way up on the bus, and she'll be going to the game then coming over as our first official house guest! I'm glad someone will be able to see our tree before it disintergrates (it's a bit dry...guess that's what you get with a Home Depot bargain!).

Cookie Time!

We had such a great time at Chez Bernardis on Saturday for our now-annual cookie making party! By the time Karl, Leezie, Sam, and I arrived around 1 (I'd spent a freezing morning in Central Park for a race), a few dozen were already on cooling racks, and more were baking in the oven! We unloaded our goods and proceeded to make at least 6 more kinds of cookies--everything from nutella-filled sandwich cookies to mint chocolate wafers. I chose the latter out of Everyday Foods, plus another Martha creation: coconut sandwich cookies with vanilla cream filling. Bec's gingerbread people were adorable, Karl's choco-chip crisps perfectly stackable, and Leezie's snickerdoodle's buttery and delicious. Even Mother's Russian Tea Snow Flakes (or whatever we're calling them) were okay--despite the thought that the butter may have been, er, turned, I tried one tonight and it wasn't half bad!

The puppy/baby theme from Thanksgiving continued as Bruno and Sam provided lots of entertainment by ways of adorable faces and overall cuteness. It was nice to see Daniel and Mario too--we missed Anna, though! Maybe next year!?

Visions of Sugar Plum Fairies...

...danced in my head last night as I watched New York City Ballet's beautiful production of The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center. I loved every second of the performance--from the very realistic rats in the first act to the delectable second half full of dancing confectionaries. The tiny angels that opened up the second act literally floated on stage (their golden costumes were bell-like dresses that went all the way to the floor, shielding the audience from the little girl's feet and making them look like they were gliding on air), and when the snow fell onto the stage during the Waltz of the Snowflakes, I felt like I was looking out a window into an enchanted wintry forest.

Aftewards, I was laughing to myself thinking about my (probably distastrous) debut as one of the "Hot Chocolate" dancers back at Whestone, circa '89. I think Sissy was a flower in the Waltz of the Flowers, and I remember being really envious of her frilly pink costume. Mine wasn't so bad--a Spanish-insprired red and black get-up--but what little girl doesn't want to wear a pink and purple tutu?

Cook Shop

After a rather soggy Urban Run last night, I got a surprise visit from Keren, who had ditched a pricey ($25 at the door) holiday party across the street. Being cold and wet, I wasn't in the mood to do much partying either, so we opted to go to Cook Shop on 20th and 10th avenue for some bites.

Cook Shop is owned by the same folks who run Five Points near SoHo, another restaurant Keren and I frequented a while back. Both offer gourmet "American" fare, but Cook Shop seemed a bit more upscale. For example, instead of bread and olive oil (as we were presented with at Five Points), we received bread as well as long, skinny croutons that we were supposed to dip in the cream fraise spiced with a bit of horseradish. And instead of typical burgers and chicken, the entrees at Cook Shop are more elaborate: diver sea scallops, Hudson valley rabbit, suckling pig.

We opted to share the chicory, suncrisp apple, maytag blue cheese, and hazlenuts to start, followed by the mushroom pot pie. Both were great--I especially loved the maple-cider vinaigrette on the salad and the buttery warm pastry top on the pot pie. And this one you didn't have to wait an hour to let it cool off before you could actually take a bite, unlike most pot pies I've had in the past!

As always, it was great to have din with Keren...she's always full of crazy stories and keeps me very entertained!

Christmas Time is Here...

Got in a lot of spirited holiday fun over the weekend. Started off with a visit from Mark's aunt Elaine, in town from Herndon on a NYC tour. She had some free time, so we met her in Rockefellar Center (briefly caught a glimpse of the big tree between my gripes about how freaking crowded it was), then took her down to the Village. We had a great lunch by the fireplace at Dublin, then walked down to Jaques Torres (aka heaven for a chocolate lover like me), then to Washington Square Park. These pics were taken by the tree below the Arch.

After we parted ways with Elaine, who was on her way to see the Lion King, we swung by Leezie's to have a quick visit with our favorite nephew. Mark, the baby whisperer, held him the entire time, leaving me a bit jealous! Hah! I guess I have to get all of my Sam time in during the week while Mark is at work!

We then met up with Keren, got a burger at Stand, then saw the most disturbing movie: Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. It's one of about 100 movies Philip Seymour Hoffman is currently starring in. I had no clue that it was one of those films that has characters who start off in an awful way and just continue to spiral downward until the credits roll and you are so uncomfortable and sad and angry at them for being so stupid that you want to beat someone up. It's actually a fine movie, but just not the dramedy I was seeking, I guess.

We hoofed it back to Hoboken and I rose early this morning to make it to the Urban Run. I did my thing there and at Chelsea Piers, and then met Mark to go find a Christmas Tree! We wound up at Home Depot and got a bargain on a beautiful noble fir tree that's about 7' tall. Our biggest one yet. It smells great and is putting me in the Christmas spirit bigtime...let's just hope I can get my act together to do all of the various holiday projects I'm hoping to do before the 25th...

p.s. I realize I haven't posted any pics of our new digs, but you can at least see a partial view of the living room in the Christmas Tree shot...

Here are a few shots of Sophie and Lucy at their "photo shoot" at Montgomery Mall. Surprisingly, there weren't any decorated trees to be had in the entire mall, except the one near Santa, and it's probably verboten to take your own snaps (god forbid you get away without having to pay the $15 to buy the mall's pics!). So these pointsettias had to do. Lucy is on the right clutching my purse, they are in their Christmas finest, which one lady in the mall pointed out to me made them look "very Scotch." I think Sissy got some pics of them looking in the same direction--may be coming to a mailbox near you!

After all of my griping about the bus, it turned out to be just fine. Had a seat to myself and was delighted to hear that all Washington Deluxe busses are equipped with free wireless connections, so I played a little Scrabulous, watched some YouTube, etc.(didn't get much work done, though). Imagine--im'ing and emailing on the Jersey Turnpike! I've really been missing out toting around that old relic of a laptop with zero battery and the external (and tempermental) wireless card. Working on the new Sony Vaio I bought last week makes a world of difference and I feel so much more productive!

I've been having a great time at the O'Connells of Kentlands over the past couple of days. I accompanied Stella and Sissy to Montgomery Mall today where Sophie and Lucy met--and were subsequently freaked out by--a very real-looking Santa. The picture is priceless: Lucy just about to cry and Sophie already in hysterics. But they were quite adorable in their Christmas plaid dresses, and seem to be fashionistas-in-training (Lucy got hold of my purse, threw it over her arm, and carried it around all day).

Tonight, Sissy, Corinne and I ate dinner at Guapo's (where we were waited on by a woman who worked there back when we were hostesses....that's, uh, like ten years!) then saw American Gangster. Good ol' Rio has gotten a bit of a facelift but is still the same for the most part. Just a lot more built up. The movie was excellent.

Back on the bus tomorrow afternoon.

Bussin' It

Tomorrow morning I'm braving the bus for the first time in over a year. After being spoiled by a professional driver (Mark) for nearly every trip down to MD, I've lost my fondess for public transportation. But since I'd rather get some work done during the trip than stress over bad drivers and big trucks on the Jersey Turnpike, I just reserved a seat on Vamoose. (Let's hope they have a better movie than My Cousin Vinnie, which was played on both trips last time I took the bus. I know I just mentioned I have to get work done, but the only thing worse than a bad movie is a bad old movie, even if it is just playing in the background!)

I'll just be home for a few days, mostly to see Sissy, S&L, my 'rents, and to celebrate a belated birthday with Corinne. They all had a wild night on her actual birthday this past weekend, and I missed out. Although at the same time I was watching the spectacle that was the Woggle show at Maxwell's, I have a feeling that it just wasn't the same kind of fun.

Every time I get a little antsy about my job sitch (and what freelancer doesn't?), I gotta remember days like these where I can just pack up and go anywhere I wanna on a whim. No complaints here--even though I do have to go LB and take the bus once in a while.

Noisy Neighbors

For the most part, Hoboken living has brought us a quieter existence--gone are the days of the lovesick trannies, drunk teens, and feminine guys practing their dance moves underneath our bedroom window. At times, Christopher Street rivaled Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras, and my nerves had just about enough wooh hooing wake-up calls in the middle of the night.

Which brings me to our current apartment. Perched on the 4th Floor, we don't hear much. Or at least we weren't privy to any city noise until the other night when at 4 a.m. we were shocked out of bed by the sound of an extremely loud motorcycle. It was like Daytona Beach during spring break--Bike Week style throttle revs reverberating off the brownstones around our building. As I struggled to gain some semblance of where I was and what the noise was, I wondered why anyone would be riding a motorcycle at 4 a.m. in the dead of winter. A crazy person, do doubt.

Well apparently this crazy lives nearby or possibly frequents the tatoo place around the corner (a bit of an eyesore in the otherwise charming neighborhood). I heard him again, only today at 4 p.m. Just as I was scrambling to meet a deadline. Of course I got completly distracted and marched outside to see if I could catch a glimpse of him--or his license plate. All I saw was a 'cycle parked in front of the tatoo shop, but no driver. So I wrote down the plate number and went back in, too chicken to call and complain because I didn't actually see anyone on the bike.

And here we are again, 11 p.m. at night, and Mr. Harley is revving himself around the street once more. It's way too cold to go outside to see if it's the same motorcycle, so I'm hoping he gets in his kicks and puts away his motorcycle for the night--or for good.

And it's Over!

Most of NYC is breathing a collective sigh of relief today now that the Broadway strike is over. Speed was back to work at 9 a.m. this morning--considering the battling stagehands and producers reached an agreement just hours before then, he must have been in for a brutal wake up call. But now (hopefully), his current show Rock and Roll will rake in some big bucks after all of the pre-strike glowing reviews (and hopefully I'll be able to see it!). Now maybe the L.A. writers will meet a similar outcome with their strike, and all of our telly shows will resume as normal--we're all going to go nuts eventually if we can't find out what's happening with Mer/Der on Grey's!

Throw Down!

Today, I accompanied Bec to Cadence for what I thought was a taping for a Food Network show called "Creative Classics." Since it took place in a triathlon store--and since the featured chefs were both Ironman athletes and claim their cookie is a good post-workout snack--Bec was chosen as a taster. She wasn't told much more, and I was able to come along to be part of the studio audience.

I arrived a bit late and snagged a spot in the crowd gathered in front of the two chefs, who are from Lavain Bakery. They had brought in a heavy-duty oven and many other kitchen accessories for the occasion, and the women were going through the steps of making their prize-winning cookie. I couldn't quite figure out where Bec was going to fit in until I looked up and in walks Bobby Flay. I'd just been looking at his picture on the cover of the cook book Maureen got Mark for his birthday! Turns out, the show was actually Throw Down--for those non-Food Network Junkies, this show always pits local chefs against Bobby Flay, and he always surprises them, then challenges them to a cook off. This time, the chefs went head-to-head for a chocolate chip cookie making competition, and Bec and a pastry chef instructor from a culinary school were to make the tough, tough decision of deciding who's was tastier.

The audience all got to sample the cookies and the buzz around me was that the Levain Bakery cookie was much better than Bobby's. Bec and her counterpart agreed--though they had to first discuss it on film! I even got a bit of the action by being plucked from the crowd to stand between the two competitors and hold up the winner's arm after Bec announced their decision (they wanted it to be similar to a prize fight decision). I'm sure everything will be edited down, but no doubt Bec will be prominently featured on the show! We'll be sure to let you all know when it airs.

More reunion pics...

Class of '97 Reunited...

The class of '97 reunited in Bethesda on Saturday night, and we had a great time! I spent the evening chatting away and catching up with people I hadn't seen in years (or a decade, in some places). There were newlyweds, parents, soon-to-be moms; some were larger, smaller (and some of the guys were sporting a lot less hair), but mostly it seemed like people hadn't really changed all that much. Which was rather refreshing considering it feels hardly any time has passed since we were all walking the halls of WM!

We partied til we were pooped and crashed at Corinne's place, just a few blocks away. (And yep, that's Tom in one of the pics--he ditched is own 10-year to come to ours! Hah!).

Some cute shots of the "next generation"...

Thanksgiving Day Festivities

We had an excellent time, as usual, over the Thanksgiving Holiday. We jetted down to MD on Wednesday night, with no major traffic. Whoo hoo! After a quick bite at the Whea-tone Subway, we went to bed and arose very early on Thursday for the Virginia Run Turkey Trot. This was a different race than I've done in years past--a 5K, it's half the distance of the Bethesda race--and it was also conveniently located just a few minutes from the Flynn's house. All four Flynn kids, plus me (a psuedo Flynn) ran and enjoyed the unseasonably warm temps (check out our team pic, taken by Mr. Flynn). I crossed the line in 15th overall (20:41; it was very competitive with a lot of the typically fast NoVA runners showing up!), feeling great and ready for the big D (that's D for Double, as in two Thankgiving meals!).

Meal #1 was a scrumptious one at Gaffney's. Aside from the regular crowd, we got to see Ann Marie and Tyler, who is now 4 and adorable. I held my breath at the beginning, hoping my various contributions (chocolate cheesecake, spinach and cheese puff, and pumpkin spice cake) didn't poison anyone. Fortunately, they went over well!

We then shot up the road to Thurmie for Meal #2. The drive up 15 was beautiful, with the Catoctin Mountains splashed with autumnal hues of reds, oranges, and yellows. We got up there just as the troops were about to dig in to yet another delicious meal. This time, I didn't hold back and devoured a plateful of turkey, ham, and all of the fixings. Thanks to Bubba's organization and everyone's contributions, all of the bases were covered, food-wise--and then some!

Even though we were dearly missing some key players (Jeanie & Uncle Phil, Andy & Julie, and The Stirling-O'Connell's), the Farm was as lively, warm, and booming as ever. Maybe that's because there were 7 children under the age of 7 present: Anna, Ella, Alex, Philip, Sophie, Lucy, and Sam kept everyone smiling all day long.

Aleta has posted some amazing (as usual) pictures on her blog. I had to snatch this one as it's just too cute...Philip wasn't too sure about Mark at first, but after a little of his "baby whisperer" magic, they were BFF by the end of the trip.

New pics of Sam!

Sam is definitely getting cuter by the second! He's making really adorable sounds and is offering a few smiles here and there. Here are a couple of pics from the past week or so, many more can be found at Speed's picture blog here.

weekend recap

We just enjoyed our first non-moving, relatively stress-free weekend as Hoboken residents. The apartment is looking better by the day, and we're down to just a few more boxes! The small-town vibe is really growing on me--it's a much more neighborhood-y feel, and I love seeing all of the mom and pop shops, delis, and bakeries that still seem to be thriving despite all of the fancy chain stores that are popping up in the southern part of the town ("SoHo" as Patty deemed it).

We ventured out to my most unfavorite part of the world, Secaucus, to pick up Mark's new TV--his very first flatscreen! It took us a few extra minutes (and the dreaded Jersey U-Turns) to get to the Circuit City, but once we did, it was totally worth it to see how excited Mark was to get his new toy! He set it up right away, in the bedroom, leaving the other TV out in the living room. It's so much fun to be able to watch telly before going to sleep, something we've missed for years.

After all of that Jersey time, I was in need of a city fix, so I rose early on Sunday to head over to CP for my Urban Run. Afterwards, I worked out a bit, then met Leezie and Sam. The three of us went to Cadence to watch Karl and Bec participate in an indoor trainer race, in which they battled eachother out on bikes attached to a Computrainer. It was pretty cool to watch, and I was happy for the chance to all get together. Then it was back to 'Boken for me, and Mark and I utilized our new, fancy, and BIG kitchen to make a meal of tilapia, quinoa, and salad. Yum!

Happy Friday! Start your weekend off with a little tour-de-Belize, Sarah-style. Here are some of many, many shots taken during all of the festivities surrounding Andy's wedding. I tried to edit and caption most, but I'm getting a little dizzy with so many pics. So, if you have a few minutes (OK, maybe 30!), check out the full album here. Or, just peak at the slideshow!

My camera cord is with Mark in Stamford, so I can't post my pics...yet. But I noticed Andy has some great shots up on his blog. Check them out--plus some awesome underwater shots of various critters he encountered on one of his daily dives. (And can you imagine a better location for wedding pics??!!)

Back to Reality

Belize was amazing...absolutely perfect, beautiful, fun, and totally worth the very long return trip that had us on a water taxi, regular taxi, puddle jumper, two regular-sized planes, and Air Train, a subway, a PATH train, and a taxi before we got home at 1:30 a.m. this morning. Needless to say, I need a bit of time to recover, unpack, and rid my stuff of the piles of Belizean sand that's managed to make its way into my bags! But as soon as I get that done and find my camera cord, I'll post the many, many, many pictures and video we took of Andy and Julie's spectacular wedding and all of the pre- and post-nuptual fun!

Bye, Bye 'Boken, Hello Belize!

In a mere four hours, we are leaving for Belize! I've yet to pack a stich of clothing (too busy with Project Craptastic!), but I guess I'll just stay up all night and catch up on my sleep on the two plane rides (the Miami-Belize City leg will also have my rents, Jeanie and Uncle Phil, and Andres and Kasia on board!) and ferry trip we're taking before we reach our destination in Ambergris Caye. Hope to be able to blog from there, and of course, post pics of the Wedding!

Sleepy Sam

Sam's trying out to be the next model for Angel Soft toilet paper; Mark's a strong contender for Uncle of the Year

It's been a whirlwind of a week, and after five days of struggling to tread water among crap, crap, and more crap (courtesy of our move), I'm finally coming up for air. We're settling in to our new abode, slowly ridding ourselves of boxes, and making ourselves a lovely home here in Hoboken. I'm loving the neighborhood, the extra space, the pretty hardwood floors, the washer, the dryer, the dishwasher, the bathtub, the big windows...and well, I could go on and on. It still has a ways to go, but I think we've made some good progress, thanks to Karl's cleaning and Mark's handyman skills.

Despite my obsession with unpacking and organizing, I allowed myself some fun over the weekend. First off, Karl and I bussed into Central Park early on Saturday morning to meet Bec and catch the men's marathon Olympic Trials. It's times like these that I truly miss working at NYRR--it would have been awesome being a part of all of that action. But being a bystander isn't so bad, either. We found a great spot to spectate and were able to cheer on all of the runners by name (thanks to our track-geek knowledge, plus handy bibs emblazoned with their last names). We even had a Deena Kastor spotting and were happy to see that she is decidedly *not* a noassatall runner, unlike the many other women we saw throughout the morning!

We went home with all intentions to continue the clean/unpack project, but were soon met with the news of Ryan Shay's death. I was completely shocked, as everyone else was. Just a few days before, I'd watched a video interview with Ryan and his new wife, Alicia, and I was thinking how sweet and cute he was, and how he seemed like such a good, loving husband. It's unimaginable what she and his family must be going through right now--I can't quite get it all out of my head yet. It's the last thing you'd ever think would happen at an Olympic Trials, espcially to someone so amazingly fit. I suspect that, like Pre's untimely passing in the 70's, Ryan's death will have a profound and eternal impact on the running community. But the fact that he was merely running--not driving a car at a high speed around a sharp bend--makes it all the more tragic and just so, so sad.

On a MUCH happier note, we celebrated Sam's baptism on Sunday! I made an appearance at the Urban Run, then scooted up to the church to see our boy be officially welcomed by the Lord. Hah hah. He is as cute as ever, and didn't even make a peep when the priest doused him with the holy water. He is such a good baby. Maybe because he has such great parents! All of his "greats" were there (except for Grandpop Irv and Grandpa Ron/Grandma Karen), so it made for a nice little get-together. The spread was great, the company excellent, and it was a nice way to end the weekend!

Odd Blog

One of my odd jobs has now manifested itself in the blogosphere. Starting this week, I am now the proprietor of the adidas Urban Run blog, which will highlight some of the stuff I'm putting together for adidas, plus other newsy bits about the running world that only true track geeks will be interested in (I believe I'll have a small audience among those who read this blog alone!).

Feel free to check it out--I'll probably be updating it more than I blog on this page, just because it's actually part of my (many) jobs.

BTW, I am thinking about writing about a girl taking on a bunch of odd jobs (fiction, of course...that would make it much more interesting!). And sometimes, a great story starts with an even greater title. So, if any of you out there has an idea for a book title (something along the lines of Odd Job Girl, but edgier), throw 'em my way!

Celebrating Two Years of Bliss!

October 29--Hands down, the best day of the year. Above Christmas, my birthday, and even Thanksgiving. This is the day that Mark and I were married on a brilliantly sunny afternoon at Mount Saint Mary's, in front of all of our favorite people. It was truly the most amazing day of my life, and, now two years later, I am still pinching myself as a reminder that it really happened. I couldn't have dreamed up a better husband than Mark, or a better life than what the two of us have built together. And it makes me even happier to know that our adventure is only beginning...next chapter: Hoboken!

Super 7

This morning as I got ready to head out, I turned on the Today show for a quick weather check. Ann was in the courtyard interviewing the USA Women’s Gymastics Team—fresh off their World Championship gold medal performance last month in Germany. I quickly watched the segment, and headed out to Soho, where I had to pick some stuff up at the adidas store.

When I walked in, I wasn’t surprised to see the store completely packed—it is Soho afterall. But then I started to feel like I was in Munchkinland. All of the girls shopping aside me were well under 5’2”, and on top of that, they had these absurdly muscular arms, broad shoulders, and tiny waists, hands, feet, etc. One of the girls was asking for size 4 ½ shoes, and some of them were shopping in the kids departments, even though most of them looked at least 16.

Who were these miniature people? Well, it took a few minutes, but then I pieced together that it was these were the very same girls I’d just seen on the Today show—the “Super 7”. And apparently, that I was actually in the midst of a USA Gymnastics shopping spree—turns out, the team is sponsored by adidas, so they must have had some kind of mega discount (they were buying out the store). They also had a chauffeured van awaiting them outside to take them to their next destination—Chinatown. Also with them? Marta Karolyi, wife of famed coach Bella (and a coach herself). Not surprisingly, she was very loud.

I noticed that the individual gold medallist, Shawn Johnson, had some sort of boot on—so I guess she's injured. Did she pull a miraculous Keri Stugg-like feat and compete on a stress fracture at the world champs?

I had this little daydream that they’d all break out into a tumbling routine in the middle store, you know, just because, but they all remained on their (very tiny) feet.

Rainy Run and Old School Tights

After threatening with gray skies all day, the rain finally came this evening, just as I was leading my Wednesday night group out for a run in Central Park. Not only was it raining, it was also cold--and very dark. I was totally underdressed and wishing I hadn't left my jacket inside. But once we got started, I remembered how much I love running in the rain, and we did a bit over 5 miles in under 8-minute pace--pretty quick for this particular group. Now, I actually wouldn't mind a few more nights of rainy runs (now snow or freezing rain...that's another story).

Since I must sport all adidas attire for these runs, I really have to dig way into my supplies when it comes to my outfits. (As many of us do, I buy most of my workout clothes at "M", so I can't be choosy with brands). Tonight, I wore my now old-school, royal blue 3-stripe tights, which--if memory serves me correctly--were purchased at the Gaithersburg M in 1995. Sissy had (has?) the same ones, and we'd wear them to track practice, back when we considered ourselves the team's "Outlaws." They were way cool back then, and actually still get compliments. In fact, all of the adidas gear reps took notice of them (they knew they were way old because of the classic trefoil symbol, which has since been replaced by the three-stripe triangle). For a second, I was kind of embarrassed that I was admitting to wearing 12-year-old tights (how stuck-in-the-90's of me), but hey--they're vintage, right?

I'm Not Obsessed...

Okay, yes I am....with scrabulous.com.

After a few months of being on the wagon, I've relapsed. My addiction to online Scrabble has returned with avengence. I now go to bed with imaginary letters in my head and think about which combinations will garner me the most points. When I'm supposed to be working, I'm playing NanaJane or MimisMom, and not always winning. This is where working from home becomes extremely dangerous...but today I've restrained myself and have only played one game. So far.

I'm almost ready to challenge Bec, a fellow addict (granted, she plays when she's forcing herself to rest after like a five-hour workout , but whatever), but my stint away from the boards has left me blind to Scrabble opportunities (as in 7-letter words, I've only scored one so far) and other strategic moves. I think her skills will get the best of me, so I may have to wait until I've got the magic back.

Hmmm, maybe I should practice a little more now...

What a difference two years makes!

When I saw a picture of Ella sitting among mums (taken by Aleta the other day), I was immediately reminded of another picture of her with mums...from two years ago! At our wedding on 10.29.05, Steve (our photographer) captured an adorable moment of little Ella and the potted mums outside of the church. And almost exactly two years later, she struck the same pose!