leavin' on a jet plane

this time tomorrow i will be in grand rapids, MI.

with this kid:

[we are hilarious, obviously.]

i really can't wait :)

ohhhhhhhhhh hello, gift cards

i know it's crazy to be brainstorming how to spend gift cards TWO days after christmas. i got lots of awesome gifts from my friends & fam. i didn't NEED any of it [even though i loved it!!] and i surely don't need anything more.

but i got some gift cards. and i know i'll spend them long before they expire. so i've compiled a [short] list of things i'm daydreaming about owning.

1. a mustard yellow cardigan from target. mustard yellow has never been one of my fav colors, but for some reason i love it this winter.

2. jeans that fit perfectly. [i have no idea WHERE i could find these & i highly doubt i could afford them, even with gift cards. but i'm still dreaming...]

3. high rubber boots like the ones i wore all winter in japan. they're definitely not classy but my feet never got wet in those bad boys...

4. a red flannel shirt. i most likely will not buy this bc melissa scorns the fact that flannel has recently become in [ie: expensive!] and would absolutely judge me if i caved to the trend.

5. a set of these dishes. lemongrass is the only color i don't have & i SERIOUSLY love it!!

christmas vay-k so far...

the nelson fam had a relaxing christmas day, partaking in the following activities: mirror photography
couch snoozing
cooking delicious treats
stealing internet while wearing a russian hat indoors.

we also saw "where the wild things are", explored east providence, walked & looked at christmas lights, thrift shopped, and laughed.

christmas eve present~

today Al wanted to go christmas shopping at target. as soon as we arrived he goes "just pick out something you like & i'll buy it for you" [yes... every girl's dream!]

we wandered around for a while and i tried on this awesome dress:

he paid. we drove home. i immediately put it on for the christmas eve service*

coats!

three winters ago i bought this long, black winter coat with a hood & toggles. i didn't take it to japan & last winter mom thought she had accidentally give it away. then we found it, at the end of the season.

this season i wore my fall coat [which is SO awesome!] until my co-worker complained that i needed to switch to my winter coat. so i got it out of storage. and i've been wearing it. and i've been hating it. today i decided to scope out a few stores to see if i could find something i like better...

here are my unfortunate conclusions:

winter coats are NOT flattering!
they make my shoulders look huge.
they are too tight under my armpits.
i have to buy a much bigger size in order to fit layers underneath.
trying to buy a cute coat right before christmas= nearly impossible
i'm totally gonna need a winter coat in michigan & i don't wanna wear the one i have.

[i know, i know, my life is terribly difficult. i promise i'll get a grip.]

snowy brunch

philadelphia got over a foot of snow this weekend. for me, that's nothing significant, but for philly, it's big news! naturally, we didn't let the weather ruin our fun & my group of friends still let the good times roll.

yesterday morning we had people over for brunch. our plan of pancakes turned into a giant homemade-waffle-baking extravaganza...

SO adorable!

i found this amazingly cute youtube video from somebody's blog.

see his COMMECAISM sweatshirt? TOTALLY japanese!

one week till christmas update

awesome: christmas is next week & i get to see my lovely family. i'm really excited about the gifts i've gotten people this year. it's only snowed once this winter. fan & i had super sweet philly adventures on monday- photos here:


annoying: my electric toothbrush broke just three months after i purchased it. the family dog has been jumping up on me/barking more than usual lately. i had a failed blood donation last monday and the bruise turned super nasty 5 days later... [secretly i kinda like how tough it makes me look...]


cute: the kids of my students really like me; today one needed a kiss before she left!! another told her mom she wanted to come to my house. another wanted me to try on the sunglasses she found on our toy shelf. <3

caution: fun-filled four days ahead!

i love the fact that i only work 4 days a week. and i have a 3-day weekend. every weekend. i especially love the fact that my weekends are filled with awesome stuff. take this coming weekend, for example...

friday: dinner with melissa, joel, and kyle downtown. hit up the switchfoot concert.
saturday: my friends chad & liz graduate from college so we party hard. fan arrives. joel & i go to his staff christmas party!
sunday: relax w/ fan and my philly fam. fan & i attempt to help joel make paella for his school's culture club.
monday: fan & i explore philadelphia all day. i meet joel & his college friends for dinner.

totally rad~

little bit of trivia

sometimes my boyfriend tells me how much [ie: how little] he paid for a particular item of clothing. i adore that.


personally, i love finding bargains so it makes me really happy that he does, too.

christmas wish list

it's been a while since i actually made a christmas wish list. and i'm not about to start now.

but i just stumbled across this idea. and immediately emailed my parents to BEG for it!!


SO awesome~

someday

someday i would like to blog about the following things:
the awesome way i've decorated my own home. my own children. cool gift ideas. my own photography. rad places i've traveled. my own christmas traditions. delicious food i've made.


in the meantime:
the ADORABLE child of one of my students walked for the first time on tuesday. he walked to me!!! and today he snuggled on my lap & played with my earrings. and then another student's child snuggled on my lap and rubbed her hand on my arm. mmmmm*

i just booked my plane ticket to michigan for post-christmas/ new years. wahoo!~

if i were a boy 4

if i were a boy...

i'd

make

fun

plans

for

new

years

in

michigan.

with

me.

thanksgiving 09

last night i got back from a long weekend in rhode island. i loved my parents house & loved the time with my family. i loved hanging out & laughing with allen. both car rides were good & full of conversation. i got to hang out with my old friend jacqueline. joel had only been to boston once [while running the marathon!] so it was fun to give him a taste of other boston stuff.

we didn't take as many photos as i would have liked, but here are a few. interspersed with details of the weekend and things i'm SO very thankful for...
thankful that my fam could be together
thankful to be surrounded by such studly history majors :)
thankful that this self-timed photo turned out hilarious
thankful that allen is fun & funny & can read my mind about goofy photosthankful that joel got to go to fenway park. even though it was dark & cold.
thankful that we got to see paul revere's grave. jk i don't care about that... thankful that my parents love each other so well.

[words cannot express how grateful i am for the weekend. photos can't either. but they're a good start]

so what's a progressive dinner?

i thought everyone knew about progressive dinners... basically, you progress through the stages of dinner, stopping at different people's homes for different courses of the meal. ours had 4 stops: appetizers, dinner, dessert, and porch sitting.

our group of 10 friends carpooled to the various sites. after appetizers we got a tour of the church where matt/ann marie live. at our house we had an entire thanksgiving feast, including a turkey carved with an electric knife. dan/becca's apartment was perfect for dessert; we sat on the floor around their stone table [japanese style!!!]. we ended at the awesome porch at chris' house & continued into the basement to play wii golf. ok, the guys played wii golf while the girls watched...



my friends are SO awesome. i'm incredibly grateful that they like to do fun, creative things. i'm grateful that we can all be ourselves when we're together. and i'm sooooo grateful that they willingly accept new people into the group.

my 5 things

ummm, i read a hundred different blogs throughout the week. one of them posts regularly about various people's "5 things" [aka: top 5 things people want to do in a lifetime].

made me think about mine:

1. go to europe
2. have my own garden
3. kiss as the ball drops on new years eve
4. stay with my whole big fam at the beach again
5. write a children's book. seriously. this is a new dream~ [and no, not one about a tiny baby leaf... been there. done that.]

early november ramblings

sometimes when i'm driving i think of things i want to blog about. they all leave my brain the second i walk in the door... why IS that?!

i know i at least wanted to celebrate two things:
1. last night was my final GED class for the semester. i don't start again till february. my students were REALLY grateful and they all improved on their post-tests! 2. on saturday i'll be taking my 2 final certification exams. once i pass those, there's just one simple application standing between me and all those elementary ed. positions. wahoo!

this weekend my friends are planning a progressive dinner. it'll be my first since college & i'm wicked excited. we're doing thanksgiving style; our house is the base for the full meal!

speaking of thanksgiving, this one will involve a lot of firsts-- 1st time staying in mom/dad's new [HUGE!] rhode island house, 1st time driving from philly to RI in holiday traffic [or any traffic, for that matter...], 1st time bringing a boyfriend to any holiday with my family. zoiks!
[isn't this photo adorable? i just decided to share abby's chair& she scooted right over to make room for me~]

i LOVE being home

[the AWESOME photo behind my blog title was taken by my friend christiane]


it's sooooooo wonderful to be at home for an entire weekend! it gives me opportunities to see lots of people i love, to enjoy fall weather, and to finally breathe...


last night my friend julie, her husband duane, and their 3 darling kids came over for s'mores. melissa and my friend rebecca joined our little bonfire~

two years ago

i was just starting my year of adventure in japan. i took lots of photos during the fall season & they continue to take my breath away...

the swine flu won

my best friend is brilliant! H1N1 halloween costumes!!! <3dr. turk and JD made sure we didn't spread our sickness around too much~
[i'm like "joel, what are you doing in this picture??" he goes "making sure you're ok". haha]
we planned to be the black eyed peas as a back-up plan. good thing we didn't!!


[the party was super fun. everyone thought we were hilarious. lots of my friends showed up. the weather was SO awesome (no coats necessary!). i've never had such a great halloween~]

this always happens...

...when my co-worker is home sick, i'm bored to tears during lunch time. and i always update my blog. haha.

i was just cleaning up some books off the floor next to our classroom library. one of my favorites caught my eye, so i decided to do another post about children's books. in no particular order, here are few good ones:

1. officer buckle & gloria. an absolutely hilarious story about a police officer and his funny k9 who does tricks to make boring safety seminars more exciting for the kiddos! 2. a chair for my mother. i used to have this book when i was a little girl & i love it just as much now! [p.s. they have a spanish version, too: un sillon para mi mama] 3. click, clack, moo, cows that type. so cute & funny~ 4. miss nelson is missing. ok, i'm obviously biased b/c this book is about ME. it was one of my favs when i was little & we have TWO copies in our class library. i always recommend it to my students. they laugh. and they think i'm clever. and then they don't borrow the dang book.

how embarassing. and fun!

a few weeks ago my [girl]friend invited me to this halloween party. i said i couldn't go... mostly b/c i don't really like halloween [it's a kids' holiday; i can't think creatively about costumes; people get obnoxious on halloween; i'm lazy; all sorts of good reasons to dislike halloween, right?].

and partly b/c i thought i'd have plans with someone else. and i did. that someone else invited me to a halloween party. and i said yes. granted, i whined about not having a costume idea, but i absolutely couldn't say no to him.

about an hour later i realized it was probably the same party. so i checked facebook later that night. and it was. [oops-- how embarassing!] i quickly emailed my friend to explain the situation. she was so very kind & just said she was glad we'd get to see each other. WHEW!

so nowwww melissa and i are planning our hilarious costumes. NOT gonna announce them yet, but pictures will be posted this weekend.

cheers to meg&kyle

two of my very favorite friends got married 10 days ago.

their wedding was phenomenal. the ceremony was so unique & musical. [jim & kyle relived their days as musical roommates!] we partied in a barn [basically my dream come true!]. my college favorites were all there. the food was the best wedding food i've ever tasted. they had a photo booth. we danced for a wicked long time. i got a TON of good hugs [plus one awkward one from kyle, but i truly didn't mind this time!].
i'm soooo dang excited for them to have a new life together. they are such hilarious and loyal friends... i know their marriage will be full of love & fun!