Parentals :)

All the cool kids drink beer through a straw see?
The blushing bride and dashing groom, redo :)

This weekend was also my last tasting for work which my darling parents came down to enjoy. They are definitely going to miss the delicious buffets of free food every season :) After which we were all able to mosey on down to my favorite pub The Green Leafe and partake of a true Williamsburg tradition, Mug Night. While a masterful Bruce playlist serenaded us in the background we reminisced, planned and mentally prepared for the busy weeks ahead. Plane tickets have been bought, U-Hauls reserved it is all really happening and I am so glad they were able to come and enjoy my last call Williamsburg with me.

The Shaggin Wagon

This is my fathers latest and greatest acquisition. A 1999 conversion van L.A. West edition and let me tell you this thing is pimp. In theory it is to be used for long road trip to Illinois but I am pretty sure it is going to see more action on the 'party van' circuit. Pop in that V.H.S. or cassette tape turn down the electric bed and enjoy the ride :) Eww that sounded dirty. Come to think about it maybe you should just stick to the pilot seats and Disney videos. There we go, good clean fun for the whole family!

So long Williamsburg.

A classic shot from my Pancho party which was very fun. Everyone gathered around and drank many cocktails and had a very grand time. I did not get to wear my sexy senorita dress because it is apparently glued to the wall, who knew? Rude. Also while I was incredibly late to sign up for karaoke they fit me in and allowed me to do a rendition of 'Son of a Preacher Man' that brought the house down. Well not really but some people danced a little. So that made me happy :) It was a really great way to go out in the Burg... now I just have to get ready for Saturday in Richmond. Danger Zone.

Great Moments in Williamsburg History

The colors before I revolutionized the slime
My girls out at the Corner Pocket one just got married the other is getting married in November... my how the times change

My 25th Birthday with my Pancho Villa family. Love the hats!

We were the hottests girls at all the Chamber events

My Williamsburg boys <3> Painting of le cottage
My old ugly bathroom before the beach revolution
The opening of the Spitfire, before the closing of the Spitfire
Making our own drinks at Pancho.... we bartend on the side :)

Last Call Williamsburg

Now we are upon the eve of my last weekend as an official resident of the City of Williamsburg. How crazy is that? This next week is going to be a whole lots of endings and I don’t do very well with them being the uber-sentimentalist that I am. You are talking to the chick who cries during commercials after all. I just hate the finality of not knowing when the next time you will do something is but you never really have a guarantee for anything and I can’t very well go through life getting all misty every time I leave someone or somewhere I love.

For example a local favorite Italian restaurant of mine burned to the ground in July. The last time I went there was with my parents and we had a lovely lunch. I had no idea that it would be my last time at Sal’s because Sal’s was going to burn down. So I went along on my merry way enjoying my pasta (this was before the points kick) and I felt secure in the fact that it was not my last time ever at Sal’s. Little did I know….

We don’t get to control it, so we might as well enjoy it right? I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow let alone next week or year. The only thing certain in life are death and taxes. Change is inevitable. Apparently I am just full of cliches today. Forgive me it must just be the nostalgia talking.

Anyway for my last weekend in Williamsburg I have some fun plans. I am going out with my wonderfully solid, reliable and amazing ‘Burg friends who have stuck with me through painting the cottage, and Green Leaf debauchery , and everything in between. I only have a handful of these such friends but they have been fantastic to me and have stuck with me through many changes in circumstances and lifestyle. You will always have awesome college and high school friends they are your bests, but it’s the ones who you make when you are outside your comfort zone who are so unlike you that continues to amaze me. People who would not have been a part of my life unless I had moved back to Williamsburg who now I love very dearly. Ugh. Everything today is super emotional.

At some point this weekend I should make a point to drive to Hot Topic listening to Dashboard Confessionals the whole way. It would only seem appropriate.

I have vowed to myself not to get all teary eyed and corny tonight even though that would be my natural instinct. This evening we are going out to dinner at my local Mexican restaurant Pancho Villa where, not the brag, I am literally treated like royalty. Margaritas on the house, napkin roses and tonight I might even get to wear this hot little senorita dress that they have thumb tacked on the wall for decoration. It was my goal to do so before I left and since this is my last chance I think it is going to have to happen.

Then the evening will hazily ( those free margaritas are STRONG, oh and free!) progress to karaoke and dancing which is really the only way to properly say goodbye to a city if you ask me. I have not yet decided what I am singing it might be a Britney night, but if I do find myself in that weepy place it very well might be ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’. The only problem with that is that I always want to play both the parts of Gladys Knight AND the Pips, which is hard to do simultaneously.

When I wake up and perhaps recover it will be time to clean and pack and restore in preparation for Sunday where I will preside over another final aspect of my Williamsburg life - the Catering Company Fall Tasting. Having done one every season for the last three years I am clearly feeling a little well I guess by this point you have figured it out. So I have my last tasting, on my last weekend. From here on out I will merely be a potential client and a tourist. My how things change.

Anyways I am going to stay upbeat and not allow the misery and impending terror of change cause me to become a big sopping mess on the Ho House floor. That is just not a cute look for anyone.

I will let you know how I do. Its kind of like the dress rehearsal to my big going away in Richmond. After all the show must go on :)

Alright so now for my week in review:

My song of the week: “Good Girls Go Bad” by Cobra Starship featuring Flo Rida. Its just a fun poppy, yelly song that all of the cute little MTV mainstream kids are listening to and I absolutely love it. I make bad boys go good. Ha! Not so much Gus is not really a bad boy, despite being from Hampton and all.

Quote of the week: Now let me give you some context to this quote both of the people involved are from rural parts of the south and both have a history of heavy drinking and prior D.U.I. arrests. Their names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent (I really must have Britney on my mind)

Male #1 : Who are you Republican bastards running for Lieutenant Governor, it’s a chick isn’t it?

Male #2: I don’t know I am not really a fan of the Commonwealth right now.

Male # 1 : Well goddamn Male #2 you can’t just go off and succeed from the Union every time you get a D.U.I!
Classic. That’s all you can say.

Highlight of the Week : In a crazy twist of fate I bought and purchased the perfect going away party dress on the same day that I wrote about how I have too many dresses. It just could not be helped. Anyways I heart this dress and I did not want to take it off yesterday so that's my highlight. Sad and shallow but I don’t care really if there is tulle involved.

Lowlight of the Week: Boyfriend dropping off the planet. Not literally but pretty much. Might as well have, stupid exams.

Zumba Highlight of the Week: I got my feet and brain to work together and I rocked it this week. Shook it like there was no tomorrow. While dancing away I could not help but smile that three of the songs we did routines to were on a mixed c.d. in my car and had been since before I even started doing Zumba. So not only did I know the words but I felt there was a certain cosmic destiny in my music taste perfectly corresponding to those of the larger Zumba community. Serendipity some might say, others might say illegal file sharing but I just choose to ignore them.

So there you have it loves, that is where I am at right now. Next week is my last here at work and in Williamsburg so bear with me as I work through my complex and sometimes deranged range of emotions.

It is lovely to know that you, my fearless readers will stick with me.
Slainte!

Fixated much?

As one packs up ones life and attempts to shove it into whatever sized cardboard box is nearby one gains a certain perspective on the inventory that defines the material aspects of ones life.

Or in laymans terms I have tons of stuff. I live in a former shed that was converted into a cottage, we are talking maybe 400 square feet here yet I have managed to fill it to the brim with things that make me happy. Now the hard part is taking all those things and putting them in boxes, then putting them in cars, then putting them in my parents garage, then putting them in a U-haul or a Shag Wagon whichever comes first, and then driving 945 miles and then putting them in a new home. Actually when I put it that way it seems relatively simple. Its not really though. I tend to think too big picture and right now I am being very logged down with logistics. How does that get where, do you really need that, and then the mantra of my family going through my head 'simplify, simplify'.

Its not that I am a hoarder or anything I don't have twelve cats and eat spoiled food, its just I develop certain sentimental attachments to random things and I can't imagine getting rid of them. Wait that kind of does make me a hoarder doesn't it.

I don't know how that happened my parents are extremely minimalistic and we weren't really raised on knick knacks and such. I am laughing in my head now imagining what my parents would have done if at an early age I had decided I wanted to pursue something as gauche as a snow globe collection that would need to be displayed in a massive china hutch. I would probably have been raised by a completely different family forced to wonder the rest of my life "why am I the only redhead in this town?" .

Luckily I was able as a youth to curb my natural urges, I had a souvenir pencil collection which could be easily concealed when company came. Genius. Now as an adult with my own bank account and place to live far from the Pledge soaked socks of my youth I have let myself run rampant.

I have a lip gloss 'collection' that has overflowed and when I counted last night I have 116 different colors, brands and types of lip stuff. I barely even wear lip stuff. I usually forget and I have always been the girl who gets it all over my teeth. Yet everywhere I go I buy it. Some have not even be opened. It is sick. Now I have to ask myself where does my lip gloss shrine fit in to my new life?

Similarly I have never been really comfortable in pants and have a body more meant for dresses which means that instead of trying to pack my trusty old blue jeans for the journey I have been packing dozens upon dozens upon dozens of dresses. They are everywhere these dresses, cocktail, evening, slutty,church dresses, work dresses, painting dresses, cleaning dresses, sundresses. So. Many. Dresses. I think I might have a problem.

Some are addicted to the rush of roller coasters or the high of catching that big fish (ahem) but not this girl I am addicted to the glitz and gloss. Its not like those high end fashionista addicts though with massive credit card debt and designer handbags these dresses range in price from 5-19.99, with the most expensive items being my 'signature' pieces that my mom bought on one of our shopping trips where we got some gorgeous thing 75% off.

I don't really think about my dresses or lip gloss fetish as a problem, I am actually proud of the fact that at any given time there are at least five lip glosses in my purse and I never, ever feel under dressed. Yuck, that would be terrible. I am however at a loss as to how to pack and maintain this collection to ensure that it gets to Illinois where it will be rendered null and void because apparently there are no martini bars or musical theater in Carbondale. Sigh. So now what? Do I ween out my collection that has become my security blanket? I can't bear to do that. So I pack it all. I will figure it out when I get there.

I have kind of made peace with being too sparkly and too much for my new town but I never thought of the fact that my stuff was too sparkly as well. Thats a whole different ball game.
I will tell you what though I will have the sparkliest, pinkest U-haul truck ever. I clearly have a color scheme that I have embraced and it is evident even peeking out of ugly paper boxes. Its a good thing that there is a basement at 2011 Elm St. because I am going to need it. I also might need another closet.

What can I say, its who I am.

Cleveburg

Heavenly :)
Riding Dirty.... Harley Style
Best Friends Forever!

You can get a lamp in every size... it must be Italian!
The Christmas Story House!
trying on our styling sweatshirts!
At the Warsaw or Murphy's Law as they now call it

North by South

We have returned! Actually mommy and I returned Monday afternoon but I am just now getting to write because apparently when you miss loads of work two weeks before you leave they want you to get stuff done. Who knew?

Anyways the trip was incredible, and exhausting. For the first time in a long time we went random places and did random things and met random people and drank exotic beverages. Okay, maybe Labatt Blue is not THAT exotic but it is hard to come by in the Burg.

It was wonderful mom and I flew to Cleveland for the first time saving us a day of traveling so we got to spend more time with Marcella T. McGee, who was as always the consummate hostess. Caloric intake was completely forsaken as we ate and drank with the best and brightest Cleveland has to offer. Mainly the Cassidy crew to be quite honest with you. There is really not much more that you need. Mom got to have a mini High School reunion and I got to catch up with my uncles who play a mean game of boccie and take more pictures that an entire crew of L.A. paparazzi :) They are wonderful and I don't get to see them very often so it is super awesome when I do even if it is just for a minute.

The coolest and most unexpected part though was that my most amazing cousin Mary (Colleen) was able to come out and play and in a fit of drunken reminiscing we made up a game plan that included hitting Cleveland favorites and also trying out new things. Then in a hungover stupor we actually went and did those afore mentioned things. Normally Cleveland has a pretty regimented pattern and it is not often that one deviates from the norm but we were able to go on a tourist/local does Cleveland day and it was crazy fun.

For example we went to Drew Carey's bar ( the Warsaw for you die hard fans like moi) and we also went to The Christmas Story house which is now a museum. The whole time giggling and taking pictures. So that the locals would not think us tooo touristy though we also went to an old favorite Harley Davidson cafe which you would only know about if you were cool and in the know. It used to be my Grandmas favorite place to do lunch, no for real. She was a rockstar before it was trendy. We also hit up Malleys which was crucial because we needed hot fudge to ease us through that last nagging bit of lingering gross from the night before.

It was incredible.

We shopped, we cuddled, we ate (alot) and drank (even more) and laughed and cried and just had a ball. I won't go ahead and blow up her spot by telling you how much Champagne was consumed because Marcy will get all freaked out about having such information on the Internet but it was more than any four women should be able to go through, let alone one :)

Cleveland was a little bitter sweet though because it sort of seemed to mark the end of an era. The whole ride home was spent talking about moving plans and reality and as my pasta buzz faded the knowledge of my impending move and the uncertainty of when I would be back to Cleveland next really hit me. It was a great trip though (thanks Mom!).

I would recommend it to all, and I know just the people to call to show you a truly amazing time. Just make sure you develop some sort of tolerance because those kids don't mess around :)

Riding dirty HD style

The Goal was to SPARKLE!

Week in Review... ( just a little early)

Since I am going to be flying off into the wild blue yonder tomorrow I will be unable to give you the week highlights that I know you all look forward to so much :)

In honor of the passing of the late great Mr. Patrick Swayzee the license plate I have chosen is clearly a tribute to him. I can still remember mom renting Dirty Dancing from the Bon Air library on VHS and sitting down with Jon and I to watch it on a rainy afternoon... if only I knew then what I know now ;)

I think I am going to try to make it my goal this weekend to use the line "nobody puts baby in a corner" in context. I will let you know how that works out.

Alright on to the wrap up, its going to be very simple I promise.

Song of the Week : Before I tell you isn't it funny that my artist last week was Taylor Swift? I could not have even predicted all of that Kanye stuff blowing up but I am v. glad she won the VMA she is such a cutie. Anyways my song of the week this week is "Down the Road" by Kenny Chesney. Granted it is an old song but I found it on a mix I made forever ago and have started listening to it (over and over) again. It seemed especially symbolic after the big Greene mini-van road trip and all the grilling (and lack thereof) that transpired :)

Quote of the week: "All the little chicks with the crimson lips say.... "

Well you know the rest.

Highlight of the Week : Going to Cleveland

Lowlight of the Week : Gus leaving and not even being able to say goodbye properly because he ran off, and packing for Cleveland.

Zumba Highlight of the Week:

I shall not be going to Zumba this week because I have an early flight to catch and must get to Richmond to rest up, I bet they will continue to dance without me though :(

Thats all I got and now you know. I will update you about all the Cleveland adventures when I return :)

Ciao loves!

Cleveland Rocks.

Well it seems like I should be very use to air travel by now. I have spent more time in airports this last summer than I have in the past three years. That's what happens when people have to go and move all far away. So since I have embraced the airplane, mama and I have chosen to jet off to the lovely land of Cleveland as opposed to embarking on our customary eight hour road trip.

Since this means we will be spending no time on the Pennsylvania parkway I for one am ecstatic. Plus we get to go to Cleveland to stay with Marcy and play and shop and drink and just be back in my happy place.

I still get a little misty during the opening credits of the 'Drew Carey Show', true story.

Most people would probably find it odd that a Midwestern town like Cleveland, Ohio could be someones happy place, after all its known for a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a sub-par football team. Those people are dumb though.

Cleveland is magical.

Those people have never sat in a pastel colored ice cream parlor and dug in to the best hot fudge sundae on the planet. (Thanks for always finishing them off for me daddy! )

Those people have never been in the madness of Tower City at Christmas time, or been chased by nuns around the Little Sisters of the Poor because Jon Greene was driving the Rascal waaaayyyy too fast.

Those people have never been woken up at Marcy's house to kitty's sniffing you and the smell of bacon and the sound of a champagne bottle opening at 8 a.m., or been there when it started snowing as if on cue right after you finished devouring the pie buffet at Aunt Barb and Uncle Pats.

Cleveland to me is family and Thanksgiving, too much delicious food and much too much champagne. Its dressing up, it bars, its old friends, its Grandma, its Chinese cookies and mass.
Like I said its magical, and mom and I will be there tomorrow.

Try not to be too jealous, we will take lots of pictures :)

Yikes

As some of you may or may not know I was given the go ahead to post the 'want ad' for my job on CraigsList last week and the response has been absolutely massive. If I had any doubt as to the state of affairs in our country I have them no more.

Over the weekend almost 90 people applied for my position. Now don't get me wrong this job has been great for me but we have had incredible overqualified people apply. People with Masters degrees, decades worth of experience at Fortune 500 companies, and government security clearance have all applied. Mothers, drive through workers, hair stylists, even a pirate re-enactor. It is incredibly draining to sit down and with a critical eye read through 90 different resumes, some tragic and some crazy impressive. I have no idea how human resource people do this all day every day.

The hardest part though is writing back to them and saying that in essence they are not right for us, I hate hurting peoples feelings and as someone who is currently sending resumes in the universe I know that it sucks getting that email back.

I cannot help but think that it might be bad karma to be in a position where I am doing so much rejecting. It just seems so negative. I have now narrowed it down to a 16 candidates and from that pool they would ideally like for it to be narrowed down to 10, and then hopefully interview about 5. Whew. Did I mention my last day is October 2nd? I am not cut out for this part. Trying to find, interview and then train your replacement is not only mildly depressing but also a very daunting task.

It is nice to harbor under the delusion that you are irreplaceable but according to CraigsList that is simply not the case. Sigh. Cleveland in two days. I am just going to keep thinking happy thoughts as I send rejection emails and sift through the sea of resumes. This is definitely not the fun part.

Getting close

So I dropped Herman off at the airport yesterday and drove away much like a sad movie and it was hard to say goodbye after such an incredible weekend. Everytime I go out there it is like a vacay to a new world with lots to explore and do, but him being here in the Burg was just so natural.

It was hard to believe when he was here that he had been gone for months. We went to Bay Days and I did NOT get a bubble gun (ahem), I engaged in a v. rough game of pick up football with the Diggs brothers and we took an amazing road trip to Ernie's to celebrate my Grandmamas birthday. We also managed to fit in our old favorites like margaritas at Pancho and Sunday night football games that I have no interest in but which serve as the perfect sedative.

Just a great weekend. It really emphasized though how close we are to the move. Just a few more weeks now and they are really going to go by very quickly. So I need to get my game face on. This weekend is Cleveland which I cannot wait for and then its just two weeks until the U-Haul takes me away. Its a little bittersweet but not really I am crazy excited.

OH! Before I forget for those of you who may or may not be in the Richmond area on October 3rd I would like to invite you to my super laid back going away shindig. I am having it at Liberty Valence on Forrest Hill where I will be singing karaoke and drinking beer out of mason jars in a cocktail dress. You are all of course invited. It should be quite fun indeed. No pressure just good old fashioned Conestoga wagons :) Hope you can make it.

Fishy Fun

Jonny caught a big fish













But he is still pretty goofy














Grandma modeling her super hot new coat Napoleon style










Fishing makes us smilely

Thank goodness its Friday!

Gus is coming home today hurrah! I am obviously in an ecstatic mood this morning.

I changed clothes like nine times trying to find the perfect "pick boyfriend up from the airport" outfit only to discover that it is actually kind of cold outside. So I wound up throwing a sweatshirt over the entire perfectly constructed ensemble.

Fail.

Oh well we are going to have margaritas tonight, do Bay Days tomorrow and hop in a car with the crew and drive to Ernie's to celebrate Grandparents day. All in all it is going to be a fabulous weekend made even better by the boy being here. I know I realize that I am gushing and am sorry but I can't help it :)

Alright on to my lovely week in review because I am sure you are dying to know all the details. Riiiiiight.

Obviously the license plate is an indicator of what I am going to be saying as I hop up and down at the end of the arrival gate at the Newport News/ Williamsburg International Airport.

My song of the week : Anything Taylor Swift. Seriously that girl even though she is only 19 speaks to me. Plus she is just so flippin cute. Very elf like. I heart her. My current favorite song of hers right now is "Best Day" I happen to have a super incredible father and alot of the stuff she sings about reminds me of my own daddy and pumpkin patches and joy. Its just a really sweet tune.

Quote of the week: "Loves a fool's dance And I ain't got much sense, but I still got my feet"

-Bruce Springsteen from 'Girls In Their Summer Clothes'.

Bruce always knows exactly what to say. Always. *swoon*

Highlight of the Week : Gus coming!

Low light of the Week: Doing crap tons of laundry and cleaning because Gus was coming.

Zumba Highlight of the Week:

So I am not going to lie to you I was a little off at Zumba last night. My legs had no desire to work together with the rest of my body and started their own little revolution. Try as hard as I might I was never really on point but it was of course still fun. During one of my particularly uncoordinated moments I thought to myself that maybe Zumba would be easier if I had a shot or two before hand. I remember in my hazy youth drinking and dancing all night never feeling tired and shaking it like a pro. Now in hindsight I probably looked like a drunken dancing fool but there is something to be said for the stamina that vodka provides. I feel like the Y might frown upon jello shots prior to group exercise though. I might need to consult my policy book again.....

I would like to close this wonderful Friday by thanking all of you who read and responded to my entry yesterday, you know the one about guilt. I did not mean to make any of you feel 'guilty' about not stalking me. See the whole thing is just so cyclical. I am honored that so many take the time to read me and I will keep it up because I like to and I realize that when bored a pretty pink screen with lots of pictures is always fun to look at. I got you covered :)

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend, I know I finally will. It is a wonderful
feeling to have something to look forward to.

Cheers loves!

Guilty as charged

Apparently I am a huge slacker and don't update my blog ever.

Its fine though I just discovered that my boyfriend reads it maybe once a month so I am guessing perhaps that the rest of you, my lovely readers might be sporadic blog checkers also.

That is fine with me because then I feel less guilty when I don't get a chance to write as much. Which is a convenient segway into my new buzzword. A word that has been used in my life frequently lately and encompasses the much broader concept of....

wait for it....

GUILT.

Oh yea. I went there. I was curious as to the actual definition of the word and apparently to Mr. Webster it means :

"the state of one who has committed an offense especially consciously b : feelings of culpability especially for imagined offenses or from a sense of inadequacy."

I don't know if it is just me but that definition makes absolutely no sense. I went to college and everything and I have no idea what that definition means. But I certainly know all about some down home good old fashioned guilt.

I don't even know where it came from or how it happens but there you are sitting there feeling badly and second guessing yourself for something or other.

For example I have felt very guilty about leaving my current job because my employers have been amazing to me and have in actually treated me more like family then someone who just works for them. I kind of feel like I am abandoning them and leaving them stranded, and perhaps I suffer from delusions that they will be lost without me (which they will) and won't be able to replace me (which they will).

Then there is also all kinds of family guilt. It never feels good to be very far away from your family but sometimes maybe that is just the next step in life. I can't really picture my parents, Jon Greene, Gus and I in an 'Everybody Loves Raymond" -esque scenario but it would be nice to at least live within driving distance. Also, a certain beloved member of the Greene clan has a penchant for the melodramatic and knows how to instill little shots of guilt that you don't even realize are there until they hit you randomly while you are reaching for your last diet coke can or watching yet another re-run of the Nanny. Out of nowhere you think....

"crap! maybe I shouldn't have done *insert guilty conscience driven offense here*"

Sometimes I try to be more like my brother and be impervious to guilt trips. You cannot shame Jon Greene into anything. He is simply bullet proof against it. He smiles his goofy smile and moves on accepting that it is not in his nature to please everyone all the time he merrily goes on his way.

I am so jealous of him. Ugh.

When you set yourself up to be everything to everyone you are without a doubt going to fail and it is at that point that your mother threatens to drink herself to death, or your boss reminds you gently about the endless supply of bacon they have provided over the years, or your boyfriend accuses you of not letting your bunny out to reek mayhem on your small cottage enough.

Then the guilt kicks in. I suppose other people either have stronger defenses or simply choose to ignore that nagging feeling that something is amiss. Is it the Catholic in me that embraces the guilt? The mom voice in my head that never quite goes away? What drives the guilt?

I tell you it is maddening.

It would be very selfish to just go through life not caring about what impact the decisions you made had on yourself and those around you, but somehow other people like stupid Jon Greene manage to make decisions and then embrace them never second guessing or questioning their actions. They made the call and they live with it. Those people are my hero's.

In choosing to make this big next step I have suffered many feelings of guilt, leaving my friends some of whom are going through big transitions in theirs lives too, leaving my family who as we speak are looking for a car big enough to fit 3 grown ups in the back seat because they just want us all to be comfortable, leaving my company which is on the verge of either real greatness or utter failure.

So. Much. Guilt.

I just have to pull a Miles Davis and 'rise above it'. At the end of the day it is my life after all. Friends are going to grow up and away, my family will always support me regardless, and Williamsburg Occasions will survive without me around. It will be o.k. Life will carry on and me sitting around over analyzing it to death will do nothing but give me a tummy ache and a forehead wrinkle.

I suppose you have to carry a little bit of guilt around with you just so that you don't go crazy and start disappointing people and hurting feelings but just a little bit. It certainly should never stop you from making bold choices even if they don't always work out.

I am going to try to be better about seeing life as the big picture and in giving up that control hopefully the rest of the little details will figure themselves out in due time. After all I can't control them and worrying about them wont solve anything.

Less guilt more glee says I!

Then when I find myself beginning to feel that old familiar nagging twinge I will just say to myself W.W.J.G.D and I will smile a goofy smile and carry on secure in my convictions and happy with myself :)

I will keep you posted on how well that turns out... methinks it might be easier said than done.

Happy Friday Friends

Happy Friday bloggerians! That is not a word but I enjoyed typing it so lets just say we let me have this one. Remember how I said that Friday was going to be my week in review round up?

I am still going to go with that its just that it has been the lamest week EVER.

No seriously, I am not quite sure how I survived this one. I can't even really tell you a high or low light because it was that uneventful.

I am going to start including your 'license' plate of the week. A few of you might now know this but I collect (pictures of) license plates that I like. Normally they are on parked cars but the real prize is if you can get a great one when its on the road at a light or speeding away from you. Now there is a challenge. So that's why there is a picture of one. Just a heads up.

This afternoon I have my last ever Manor wedding unless someone decides to elope in the next three weeks. So I am putting a link to my favorite Manor wedding pictures here so you can look back at my illustrious career as a B&B wedding planner. *Sniff* Onwards and upwards as they say.

Alright on to the week -

Song of the Week: Zac Brown Bands "Toes" - This is a really great song to symbolize the end of summer and I have had it stuck in my head all week, I don't even speak Spanish :) I want to be best friends with these guys because they just seem like so much fun. Also, Marcy and my parents will embrace it for its 'Alcoholic Country' qualities. I think my favorite line of it is "not a worry in the world a PBR on the way" it reminds me of Bro Jo. Anyways download it and enjoy it I assure you it is infectious and wonderful.

Quote of the Week :

"I like red heads, their lips are like a drop of strawberry jam in a big fresh glass of milk "
Roger Sterling on Mad Men
(which is my latest television obsession I want to be Joan when I grow up except you know obviously not a secretary at a Manhattan ad agency in 1960... well I mean I want her clothes.)

Highlight of the week :
I reached the 'white level' on my FittLinx points this week it is the lowest level you can reach but I have never reached a 'level' on any fitness related thing in my life so it was pretty neat. Plus the screen had all these fireworks and looked very celebratory.

Low Light of the week:
The stupid Y being closed for three day for stupid routine maintenance and not being able to go to Zumba :(

Zumba Highlight of the week : see above low light :(

All in all I am very glad this week is over and now it is only one more week until Gus comes home to visit. Hurray!

I hope you all have a lovely Labor day weekend. Lots of cookouts and fun and such.
Cheers!

Fabulous News :)

Today this blogger is one happy lady because Hermie has purchased a ticket to fly home to the land of Hampton Roads next weekend.

Hurray!

It has been over a month since the last time I saw him and that is really just entirely too long.
I am not sure what fabulous and nostalgic things we might do but I really want to take him to my Wal-Mart and drag his butt in front of the rude check out boy who has on several occasions commented on my purchases of 'single girl' food.

As if one did not feel badly enough about buying single serving frozen vegetables and SmartOnes meals the guy at Wal Mart has to go ahead and in front of the disgruntled, poorly dressed couples behind me call me out for my pathetic purchases.

Well I will show him! Ha. Idohaveaboyfriendandhelovesmesothere!

That is the thing about being in a long distance relationship, unlike Hannah Montana who makes the best of both worlds having your boy live far away is the exact polar opposite.

It is the worst of both worlds.

You get none of the benefits of being single and none of the benefits of being in a relationship.

For example, you go to a bar with friends and a boy offers to buy you a drink. You politely decline not wanting to give him the wrong idea but alas there is no boyfriend there to buy you a drink or defend your honor. So you wind up sitting at a bar, relegated to being a third wheel and feeling so depressed that you wind up incurring a massive bar tab that you then have to pay because you are no longer at liberty to use your red hair and charming personality to your advantage.

Sigh.

That is completely hypothetical of course. I imagine that's how one might feel in that situation.

Not being able to see or talk to you best friend because he is far away, stuck in a basement all day doing various research and tests is definitely a challenge in a relationship.
Especially if one is an insecure jealous wench (ahem) .

Needless to say the last three months have been exceedingly difficult.

Long distance blows, I would never wish it on my worst enemy.
Well maybe my wooooooorst enemy but she totally deserves it.

I am very glad that Hermie is coming home. I think that it will give me some closure in my Williamsburg scene and really get me excited for the move that is only a few weeks away :)

I am really looking forward to being the girl standing with her boyfriend in the Wal-Mart check out line and no matter how smug and content I feel in my blissfully happy relationship I would never ever be condescending to the girl in front of me with her cart full of microwave dinners and yogurt.

At some point we have all been that girl before and while it definitely makes you stronger having someone push your cart for you while you flip through the latest People magazine is a much nicer place to be.

A pirate looks at 25....

We braved the Blue Crab and were rewarded with cheap beer and a lovely deck.

Totally worth it.

Jon Greene is a super hero

Shaking it on the beach, well sorta...

A pirate looks at 25.

It is clear from the above posted pictures that I have returned from a wonderful family vacay to the OBX. It was especially poignant for me because our whole family has not been there together in years and it will most likely be my last visit to the ocean for a very long, long time.

The impact of moving to a land locked state hits you when you realize that in the future you will not be able to just hop in the car and drive to your happy place. The beach for me is more of a mental state of mind than being on the actual beach. Being a rather large child from a young age I have never been one to embrace the 'swim suit', and when I was younger and played in the water I would usually swallow way to much salt water and wind up... well lets just say it was unpleasant. But I love being atthebeach. Its just like a totally different mind set.

Life is more relaxed there, it smells wonderful. My parents spoil me with delicious seafood and low calorie cocktails. You get to go shopping. You do things that at home are mundane but are special because you are atthebeach. Driving down there is a sense of anticipation, an exhilaration that you are going to a wonderful place where you are going to be very happy.

I heart the beach.

I am very glad that my last venture to the ocean was with my wonderful and supportive family although the quote of the weekend might have been my mother trying to plan my "viewing". I am actually not dying. I am just moving away from the people and things that I have grown to associate with love and joy. BUT I just have to remember that I am not losing those things they are just going to be farther away.

Anyways it was a wonderful weekend, exactly what I needed. As a final closing note to those who have lived in those afore mentioned landlocked states in the past....
LAKES ARE NOT THE SAME.

I swear if I have one more person tell me that there are always lakes......
comparing the two are like saying that a ring pop is the same thing as a diamond.
Not even in the same league.

Farewell Atlantic Ocean we shall meet again :(