Saturday, January 28, 2012

Weekend Ramblings...

A few weekend loves/likes/wants...

An interesting wine - 2006 Goosebumps - Sparkling Shiraz made from a second fermentation of Molly Dooker's popular Blue Eyed Boy to add "sparkle" (their words).  I've been dying to try this... unfortunately, haven't had much luck finding it anywhere.

 


Such a cute song by Gloriana - Kiss Goodnight 

The greatest invention - Bodum Tumbler - A travel french press for delicious coffee even if you're running out the door. I bought one for Grace for Christmas, and I was so intrigued that I went back and got one for myself. Perfect for those of us who aren't happy (annoying) morning people. Anyone who has ever seen me before 9am knows I am one of these morning grouches... until coffee is present. 

Coffee in Valencia - my favorite

Spaghetti Pie - pasta tossed with greek olives, tomatoes, spinach & feta... then baked in the oven until the top has a nice crunch. My mom sent me a similar recipe this week... It's a different twist on a pasta dinner and it's delicious.


And finally...

A Saturday morning pep talk from my riding coach. We've been having a little trouble with the horse that I have been riding/training the last six months, and her thoughtful & helpful advice was just what I needed this morning after a frustrating warm-up. She made me realize that I need to think a little more like this.... 



and a little less like this...
 



Happy weekend everyone! Cheers for now.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Prouda You

Big things are happening people. The year of change... didn't I tell ya? 

Today, my oh-so-smart roommate was accepted into the number one MBA program in the country for her degree! She proved that hard work really does pay off - and, hopefully, those endless hours spent studying for the GRE's and applying to graduate programs all seem worth it now. Congratulations Marissa! We're all so damn proud of you!

Look at us... growing up so smart! Remember when the only worry we had in the world was who was  driving to Buddies Thurs night? Oh college... 



"Fanny Frat" our senior yr house

Now its time for some celebratory beverages. College sodas anyone? Cheers!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Fashion Sunday

I'm not going to pretend to have any significant insight into the fashion world in this post. I read the occasional "Vogue", and I'm slowly filling up my "Style" pin-board on Pinterest... but none of that makes me particularly chic or trendy. Instead, I want to take a second and highlight a new fad that I've noticed over the last few months... one that is particularly close to heart for this girl...  



Has anyone else noticed the equestrian fashion starting to catch on lately? Suddenly dressing like you're about to hop on a horse is stylish... with designers tending towards the tall boots and knee patches look. Hunter jackets are flooding department stores - as are the classic red "hacking jackets" (jcrew). Does this make me fashion forward? I've been rocking that look since I was a small child running up and down the barn aisles in jodhpurs and paddock boots... Well, let's be honest, growing up as an "equestrian" most certainly meant that you were "trotting" or "cantering" down the aisles - not running like any normal kid -- Man, we were cool. I'm also the most comfortable now in a pair of TS breeches and Ariat tall boots. Throw me up in a saddle and suddenly I'm in my element... ready for anything. Don't get me wrong, I understand that the fashion world sees this trend in a very different light than the horse world... but the similarities are surely amusing. 

looks familiar...

This trend isn't just on the clothing racks either. It's decor too... Maybe I'll take a few of these tips when decorating my apartment in Dallas. Would be awesome if I had unlimited funds... but for now, a girl can day dream. Can't wait!



courtesy of Elements of Style


Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. Cheers for now... 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

New Enland Winter

Snow! Finally! I was starting to get nervous I wouldn't have at least one more good New England winter before I packed it up and headed south. My tune will most certainly change when I have to dig my car out of a sheet of ice later... but for now, let me bask in my glory.




Take me here!
Last night, as I froze my butt off in Boston, my gorgeous friend (who just made the move to TX) was sitting at a rooftop bar in seventy degree weather. Yes, I said it. Seventy degrees in January. Can you even imagine?  Guess I'll be joining her soon... Less than six months to go.

Cheers!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

City of Dreams


This weekend I traveled down to New York City for a three-day visit. I’ve been to NYC a few times before and always found it to be a little bit daunting. I’m used to Boston, with its winding streets that make absolutely zero sense… its small restaurants and coffee shops… and how completely normal it is to see someone you know every time you step outside your apartment. In my mind, Manhattan was always just “way too big and way too hipster” -- not that Boston doesn’t have its fair share of skinny-jean-wearing people that only like mainstream things ironically. This trip, however, was a very different experience, and maybe even changed my mind about the whole city. After walking around NYC for a few hours, I was pretty confident in my ability to get from place to place without too much confusion (This is the exact opposite feeling that I have when wandering through Boston -- which is sad because it's true). Also, the first two nights we stayed away from the touristy areas, so all the places we went had the same comforting quality that you can find in a little pub back home. This gives me some hope that I'll take to Texas in a similar fashion...

 The first night we ended up at a bar called “Kettle of Fish in Greenwich Village. It was packed, and I looked downright ridiculous is my work attire… but we all cheers-ed to the weekend over shots of tequila (gag) and had a great time chatting & mingling for a few hours. The next night, Billy and I met up with my cousin and one of his friends. They’ve lived in the city for several years now, so they took us to all the bars that we would never have found on our own… Well, let me rephrase that... all the bars that I wouldn't have found. We started at the “Ear Inn, which opened in 1817, and had the dusty memorabilia on a shelf over the bar to prove it. After a few quiet drinks, and our first free shot of the weekend, we jumped to “Bleecker Tavern” in the West Village to watch the game. Are free shots trendy now? Did Boston completely miss the memo? This wasn't the only time during my trip that a bartender lined up a row of shots in front of us... just because we were there. I didn't hate it. I digress. Anyways... The second bar was interesting because to get into it you had to walk through a burger joint and up a back staircase... This blew my mind. I've heard of these "secret bars" in NYC, and while this probably wasn't one of them, it was still pretty awesome in my book. However, not too many Pats fans in NY… sorry guys.

The last night we went into tourist mode. The hotel was across from MSG, so we figured we really couldn’t avoid the situation… Plus, let me be honest here – I’m a total tourist at heart. After a cocktail in the sketchiest bar in America, followed by a very necessary nap, we wandered over to the “Top of the Rock Observation Deck” in Rockefeller Center. I wish I could tell you that we planned this; however, by a complete stroke of luck, we managed to time it perfectly – overlooking the entire city at sunset. Hoooowww romantic (I can see Bill rolling his eyes now)… It was gorgeous though, and completely worth the bitter cold and the money they robbed us of in order to get up there. People aren’t kidding when they say NYC is crazy expensive. Afterward, we warmed up in a packed sports bar (Giant's game -- people went nuts) which was eventually followed by a delicious dinner on restaurant row and a bottle of pinot noir. Red wine… boy knows the way to this girl’s heart.

Top of the Rock (iPhone camera)


Monday, January 9, 2012

I wanna quit the gym...

I know, I know… everyone in the entire world has their New Year’s resolutions going full force right now (gotta shed those holiday lbs) and suddenly I utter such an absurdity? It’s true though. I wanna quit the gym. It has nothing to do with the actual act of exercising, which I usually enjoy. It has everything to do with this particular gym’s complete and utter ghetto-ness (for lack of a better word… or for lack of an actual word). On a regular night it takes me at least three attempts before I finally find a treadmill that functions properly -- By “attempts” I am referring to: getting on the machine… realizing it only increases speed but won’t decrease… followed by a highly awkward (and might I add "un-athletic") maneuver where I lift myself off the platform, slam the emergency stop button, and start it all over again on the machine to the left or right. With all these new, resolution-inspired athletes now packing in… lately, I’m lucky if there is even anything available. It doesn’t help that the only thing playing on the one TV up front is some god awful Bieber video over and over again... which I will ultimately hum for the rest of the night because those tunes are just so damn catchy.

The only things pushing me through this are my snazzy, green, running kicks (given to me by some pretty awesome relatives over Christmas) and the hopes of an early spring... 

Friday, January 6, 2012

Travel Bug

Yep, I've got it... that "gotta get on the next flight... one way ticket to somewhere far away" itch. It started three years ago as soon as I stepped off the plane at Heathrow International Airport... it intensified over the course of a beautiful, fall semester as I traveled through England, Ireland, Spain and Greece... and it spiked up again a few months ago when my family and I took a two week hiatus to Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla.This is one of those addictions that I hope I never get over... it's also one of those addictions that I hope I can someday afford. Who wouldn't want to see the world?


Lantern Festival, Hawaii

South of France... someday...


Westminster Abby... London town

Montserrat near Barcelona

Sevilla

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happiness

This made me smile.


3... 2... 1... Champagne


Sitting around the living room yesterday afternoon – together again with Nunan back in America – we started reminiscing about the last year. Weird, I know. We never just sit around and talk… (jokes – that’s literally all we do). Anyways, we discovered something pretty cool... Even numbered years have been all about “change”. All of the major events in our lives happened in these years: high school graduation, going abroad, college graduation, first apartments, first real jobs, first real responsibility… basically just a whole lot of firsts. 2012 is already lined up to follow with this trend. With friends headed all over the country this summer, and others starting grad school / new jobs, our group is starting to split up. It’s crazy. We’ve lived, breathed and depended on each other for the last six years, and now all of the sudden I have to “grow up”. What is that? The worst. 

For the first time – in my entire life – I will move across the country… on my own. Talk about a mess of emotions. It’s a weird feeling to be excited and terrified at the same time, but that anxiety is pulsing through me… and probably will until I step off that plane in sunny Dallas. Actually, let’s be completely honest here… that emotion will absolutely peak in that exact moment. I guess the good news is we’ll have a lot of new places to visit in 2012. (Side note: Visit me.)

This year we rang in 2012 in Boston. We popped numerous bottles of champagne, threw on cocktail dresses peppered with sparkles, put appetizers all over our apartment and invited every person we’ve ever know to join us. Literally. Sorry boys, but the 5 of you were grossly outnumbered last night. After some party games and a little bit of the Bruins, we headed to the bar. Walking there proved interesting. Very high heels and alcohol levels don’t mix well. We all have a few bumps and bruises to prove this thesis… some more than others. I feel it necessary here to give some props to a certain individual who carried my butt home at the end of the festivities… You know who you are, and it was much appreciated.

Happy New Year!
All in all, great night. One for the books ladies and gents.