stuff that's making me happy RIGHT NOW

A few TREATS on this day before Halloween!

This Halloween TREAT!

Recipe here

{{ I just might make this tonight as a treat for my friends and family tomorrow}}

This Holiday Card!

{{some of you might see this in your mailbox come December}}
although many of you know I still have Christmas projects
circa 2008 that have not yet been finished
so in case i don't get around to it--- here's how beautiful it could be!

These BOOTS!

i don't know why but I'm obsessed with the idea of these boots
and they're on sale at the REI outlet.
i might have them shipped to my local store
figure I've got nothing to lose!!

Beautiful Pumpkins! how gorgeous are these?!

almost makes me sad the Halloween is tomorrow

if I'd done them earlier I'd have enjoyed them this Halloween season


Happy Halloween!!

back to programming as usual

i'm back.
home.
feels good.
though i do miss my girls- team dash.
we made a good team!

(((3 Day review and pictures to follow- too tired tonight)))

so yeah.
its good to be home.
i missed dan.
and i thiiink he missed me too ;)
its good to be back to work.
its good to be back in a routine.

typical wednesday. went to the gym with kim.
stopped at Whole Foods on the way home.
I met a nice man from the Cape who was sampling
Toasted Sesame dressing. MMMmm!
Will definitely be buying that
to make some Asian salads in the near future.
Then I got hit on by a worker stocking the shelves.
"You just come from the gym?" he asked.
"I did."
"The outfit gave you away."
I go back to looking for agave to make granola later...
"Well whatever you're doing, its working! You look great!"
"Thank you"

geeeez. you don't hear that every day.
but after 1 day back at the gym I'll take it! lol

then i met another nice man,
a cheese farmer from vermont.
the cheese was delicious
and the profits benefit a local children's camp
or something very quaint and touching like that.
best $7 i've spent in a long time.

picked up my farm share on the way home.
stopped into the library to pick up a veggie soup cookbook
that was waiting for me.
the librarian knows me now and we chat when i pick up/drop off.
she's heard great reviews about this cookbook
(and put it on hold for herself for when i return it)

simple things.
but i love my routine.
local community.
local food.

i had some late season corn and a sweet potato with scallions for dinner.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!

root veggies are in the crockpot so i'll have lunch and dinner tomorrow
(and for some days thereafter).

homemade granola is in the oven.
can't wait to try it out.
(edited to add-- granola is YUM- here's the recipe).

now its cuddle time on the couch.
have a great night!

Philadelphia Day Five

The Breast Cancer 3 Day (turned 1 Day) is now officially over. I'll do a more thorough recap later, but here is the brief overview:

It was still rainy and cold when we left Christine's house at 5am this morning and when we hit the start line around 7:30am. But the rain started slowing and eventually stopped (amazingly enough!!!) and we walked the rest of the day with a lot of wind and an occasional sprinkle but nothing unmanageable.

The duct tape on my sneakers kept me 100% dry despite some very large puddles and early rain! And my rain gear didn't fail me either.

Our team did great all day! The 3Day Crew was so phenomenal, cheering as we crossed every street and approached each pit stop. And the people who came out to cheer us on were equally great- especially Team Dash's family and friends, lead by my parents who had the best cheering station of them all! They were clapping and shaking their maracas and giving out candy and smiles! It was so perfect. I can't wait to share some pictures!

We all made it to the closing ceremonies except poor Sarah who got sick and had to be taken to the hospital. At this hour I believe it was something viral, as she was not dehydrated, thankfully. But we were very sad that she was not able to be there with us at the end. We were thinking of her the whole time.

And now, its over. It went so quickly!

After a few pints at Fado's and a lot of laughs and retellings of various events, we all parted ways and now I'm back at the hotel and looking forward to a good night's sleep before heading home tomorrow. I've missed you MA (snow and all).

Here's some more news coverage if you're interested:
Coverage on the news & their slideshow & video which shows the start line where we kicked things off this morning.

Thanks again to everyone for your support! I couldn't have done it without your calls, emails, texts, and cards (THANKS for the MAIL I received today! It was the highlight of my day).

I love you all.
Good night from Philly!

Philadelphia day four

Day 4 by Diane:
Rick and I went to the National Constitution Center. The new exhibit
Diana: A Celebration, showcasing the life and work of the Princess of Wales. The 10,000 square foot exhibition explores Diana's childhood, her engagement to Prince Charles, their royal wedding, their children, and Diana's life and works as a global humanitarian. The exhibit features 28 gowns including the most famous wedding dress of all time.

We went to Reading terminal Market for lunch then to the King of Prussia mall to see our Team Dash for the first time. What a sight to see. Tutu’s crowns and fur everywhere. We were so proud of them. They walked all day at the mall with troops of others not willing to be cancelled by the rain. They left shortly after we arrived but not before a few dozen photographs of them together as a team. Hopefully everyone has the right camera back Ha ha! We walked the mall for a bit then went to a nice dinner at a place called Pietro's Coal Oven Pizzeria, 1714 Walnut St. Great suggestion by Jimmy.

Philadelphia Day Three

Post by DianeDay three:

Started with a call from Grammy (my mother), who is taking care of our cats. She called to say she had rearranged our living room. Yes, you read this right! She also told us the cats haven’t pooped the whole time shehas been taking care of them. Rick thinks she scared the poop in them!
We think they will be in a boarding house by the time we get home because they are far too messy for her. We should probably head home before she does anything else.

Off to City Hall, the love sculpture, acapella group, Basilica of St. Peter and Paul.
Lunch with Jimmy and his lifelong friend Doug at Marathon Grill.

The afternoon Independence hall, and the liberty bell and back on the trolley with a very animated tour guide who gave the history of where every actor filmed on location in Philly. Very fun!
Dinner at Jimmy and Bridget’s with Mae as the entertainment. Great night to be able to share alone time with a nice cousin and his beautiful family that we see far too little off. As we were leaving Lil returned from an evening with her friends. We chatted a little more than Jimmy left with us and gave us a guided tour of their city. Very quant much like Chestnut Hill or Hingham.

Friday in Philly by Jen

The ironic, fairy-tale chimey theme song from Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia (TV show) is streaming through my head making me smile as it always does.

Yet again it rained all day, though that wasn't a surprise. A good portion of Team DASH gathered at the Willow Grove Mall to get some walking in. There were a bunch of other 3Day walkers there. We cheered each other on. Shared stories and took pictures! We only logged about 1/4 of the miles we normally would have on the Official Day 1 of the walk, but that's ok :)

Yes, its difficult logging a lot of miles at the mall. Though Stephanie decided if we had to keep walking in circles this was the spot she'd choose. MMM Abercrombie eye candy!

We actually did walk enough to warrant stretching :)

Here's a clip that was on the news tonight. (I don't know why it says King of Prussia. The first time we watched it, the clip said Willow Grove which is where we were)

All in all it was a great day! We came home, had a yummy dinner. Relaxed, watched TV (the Phillies game for Tini), and best of all, stayed warm and dry!

Tomorrow we're walking again at a different local mall. We're definitely making the most of this experience, different though it may be!!!

Updates Continued....

The Official Word from the 3Day Site: October 16-18, 2009 Updated October 15, 9:40pm EST. In light of the extreme cold, windy and wet weather conditions, the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3-Day will now be a one day walk on Sunday. We will not walk on Saturday since the weather forecast currently does not show improvement. The weather has also caused physical deterioration of our camp location preventing us from implementing the camp portion of the event. As organizers of the Breast Cancer 3-Day, our main priority is to ensure the safety and welfare of our participants. After consultation with medical and safety experts, a modified version of the event was determined to be the most appropriate action.
We will start our walk on Sunday, October 18th, at 7 a.m. from Fairmount Park, located at 2030 Belmont Mansion Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19131. We will walk the route originally planned for Sunday and end with our Closing Ceremonies at 5 p.m. at Navy Yard, located at Intrepid Ave., and Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19112. Additional logistical information for Sunday’s event will be posted on this webpage by tomorrow, October 16th, at 5 p.m. Please monitor the weather and dress appropriately for the current weather conditions. If you are a Crew member, your Crew captains will contact you regarding involvement with Sunday’s event. It disappoints us to have to change your journey because we know the level of dedication shown by you, our participants and volunteers, especially after you’ve spent months training, fundraising and devoting your time to help fight breast cancer. Please know we are committed to showing you the best Breast Cancer 3-Day possible despite what Mother Nature has served us. We look forward to seeing you Sunday! Needless to say, this is so amazingly disappointing after all of the training, preparation, packing, and mental readiness that went into the planning of this weekend. Jen, Christine and I have been wandering aimlessly, shaking our heads, starting sentences and being unable to finish them. Just shocked... but it is what it is and we've come up with a number of silver linings, small though they may be, its helping. On the Down Side The one thing that stinks is that our team is not all together. Three of us are here. Terry is nearby at her friends' house which made more sense given the fact that we have so much more time to meet up this weekend (and I think she has a bed to sleep in there). Jenni and Stephanie are at their hotel in Philly. Keri and Hilary were on their way towards Philly to crash with a friend tonight when the news started coming in. They promptly stopped at a McDonalds trying to decide what to do and when word came in that things were canceled until Sunday- they headed home to their warm beds and families. Sarah and Patty hadn't come into PA yet since they were planning to come in tomorrow anyways. On the Bright Side There are a number of walkers meeting up at various local malls tomorrow and we're going to pick up some of our teammates who have actually made it into town and join them :) Its good to have something to look forward to. Something productive to do. And something that will hopefully still raise awareness on some level. Its a good thing.

Philadelphia Day Two

Hi All,

This is Jen, updating from Christine's house. We had a good day today. Slept off the beers from last night's Fado adventure and lounged around, planning a little bit more of what to pack etc.

Then we ran some errands, got a nice warm bowl of soup for lunch at Panera and picked up our friend Jen at the airport. We then went to Pat's for cheesesteak, Mom and Dad, soaked from their daytime Philly adventures met up with us. We shivered outside Pat's and took a few pictures and then moved on to warmer indoor climates.

It was shortly after that the emails and updates started flying in. Rumors from Crew Members were saying that Day 1 would be cancelled... and then we finally got official confirmation just a few minutes ago that we are not walking tomorrow. I'm really sad not to be able to walk all 3 days but I do understand their main priority needs to be keeping us safe and with low 40s, high winds and drenching rain... that's just not possible tomorrow.

Christine, Jen King and I are hanging out at Christine's house watching the Philly's playoff game. Terry will be joining us soon and we'll have fun here regardless.

Keep your fingers crossed that the weather improves and we can walk on Saturday and Sunday. I'll keep posting here once I know more.

Hi everyone- this is Diane, guest blogging Day Two:

Got up late for me 9:30 went down to the nice complimentary breakfast in the hotel. Back to the room to get ready for our first day in Philly. Monsoon weather. We are having a nor’easter and guess what, in 2 days which is Saturday we are getting another nor’easter! This is terrible for the walkers.

Notable nor'easters
The Great Blizzard of 1888
The Great Blizzard of 1978
The Christmas 1994 Nor'easter
The April 2007 Nor'easter
Now the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3 day Nor’Easter

We took the trolley tour around Philly for the afternoon. Great thing to do if you could actually see out the windows. The windows were so fogged up they were passing out paper towels to everyone including the driver. We decided to be adventurous and get off the trolley to meet the girls for Philly steaks at Pats. Someone gave us directions and I guess they wanted us to go to their favorite cheese steak place and they sent us to 4th and South to Jims! Which is very far from Pat’s!
We actually had to use my phone gps to get us back to Pat's, 1237 E. Passyunk (Near 9th & Passyunk) and yes, Rick would not listen to her either.
By the time we met the girls we were cold and very, very wet! I almost died when we arrived and it was an outdoor food stand. No inside! No alcohol! I almost cried!
We met Jen King for the first time. I hope first impressions are not always accurate. We still had fun and took a few pictures under the Pat’s sign. Christine dropped us off at the next trolley stop. We finished the tour then went back to Reading Terminal Market which was cute but closing. I got a nice hot apple cider and we walked from there to the Gallery which is a 4 block mall, then back to the hotel to collapse. We actually did the last day’s route for the walk and I didn’t train for it.

Jen called right when we got back to tell us they cancelled the opening ceremonies and the walk for Friday.
Jim called to make plans with us for Friday, then Jen called to say they now cancelled Saturday too! How disappointing. They trained so hard and long for this.
Sad end to a nice day!

Philadephia Day One

Hi everyone- this is Diane, guest blogging for Jen with an update on the trip to Philly and our first day. Will try to keep you posted this weekend's events!

The ride was eventful especially driving with Pete and RePete. Jen and Rick fought with Ms. Garmin all the way down. Listen to her, don’t listen, listen now. To be honest I was trying to find the volume on them. In the end we listened to her and had to pay $1.25 to get off the highway and then back on. I think that pushed them over the edge.

We went to a cool diner for lunch in Oakland, NJ. Then we got back in the car and we just 'stayed left' and made it to our hotel. Very nice hotel, Holiday Inn express downtown Philly.

We checked in got freshened up and went to Fado (the Irish Pub) in Philly- only a few blocks from hotel. We got dinner there and a few Guinness 250 drinks. Christine met us there. They have Pub Quiz, trivia night, which was fun. We were the 3 watters and a worta. (water in Boston and Philly) We thought we were the best! That is all that really matters.

Jen went to Christines’ for the night. End of a nice day.

2 Days and Counting

Wednesday I leave for Philly!!!
I can't believe its come up so quickly
Breast Cancer 3 Day here I come!

So what has it taken to get there?

A lot of training
Walking many many weeknights and weekends.
breaking in my gear
spending way more on sneakers than i ever would have
{but learning that its totally worth it}

A lot of fundraising
Sending emails
Calling people
Reminding people
Selling my cards at a local fair
and at the dancing shows
Mailing in paperwork.
Totally. Worth. It!

A lot of emails
from my team members
excited,
anxious
planning
sharing information

A lot of errands
Lots of last minute stuff.
Travel sized toiletries
{which I usually avoid at all costs,
but space is at a premium}
flashlights
batteries
more and larger ziplocs than
i ever knew existed

A lot of packing
Laundry.
filling the various sized ziplocs
so that when it rains
{yes, when it rains (on friday)
not, if it rains}
even if my bag gets wet, my clothes won't.
and now my bag
which is VERY large.
think hockey bag
is 99% full.
and amazingly enough i can still lift it
which is key
since i'll need to.

so i'm just about ready.
i'm hoping to blog from my phone
or to have mom log in as a guest blogger
to give some updates before i get home on monday!

thanks again everyone for all your support!!

some fun stuff

have seen some cool things online this past week and since i had a few minutes i thought i'd share the highlights. (click on the links below to see what i'm talking about)

clever!!
everyone has cell phones charging wires strung across rooms don't they?! this totally solves that. and for a fairly low price

inspired by!!
loving this color combination.
loving the whimsy, the hand-drawn flowers that look like a million bucks.
loving how every details (even on the inside of the envelopes) are attended to.
no, no marriage plans here :) but it does make me want to plan that housewarming party that's already 1+ year in the making ;)

decor!!
loving old, antiquey stuff.
like how linear it is
love the mix of colors.
love it all

apples!!
and more apples!!
it's fall.
and i'm obsessed with apples.
i even made homemade applesauce last weekend
and mom just sent me this recipe which makes me want to try a more sinful version of it
might just go apple picking this weekend
to satisfy this craving!

boo-hoo!!
for those of you who know me as a scrapbooker,
you know that i'm obsessed with Scenic Route paper
i could scrap with that alone and be very happy
and they are going out of business
i hate this rotten economy nonsense.
makes me sad.

thinking pink!
i leave for philly a week from tomorrow!
ahhh!!!!
i am so incredibly excited
a new bath of donations has recently rolled in
which has me inspired all over again.
i can't wait to see my friends.
i can't wait to put all of my training to good use.
i can't wait to wear my pink and smile with the best of them!

a fresh start

i woke up in a fantastic mood this morning!

yes, its monday

but last week is officially over

and i'm ready for a new week.

its sunny

and fairly warm outside.

i got some beautiful flowers from my CBeds team

as a thank you for my hard work last week

which was really sweet of them.

of course gerber daisies are my favorite, so couple that with the fact that they are fall themed colors and you've got one very happy camper.

------------------------

my coworker just walked in and commented on my pretty gerbers and when i told her who they were from she said "aww, they're nervous breakdown flowers."

i said: "yes, they're thanks for not having a full on mental breakdown flowers."

she said "and please don't leave this job flowers."

i added "we may need you to do this again at some point and want you to remember these flowers flowers"

all of which is true :) and i'm ok with it.

-----------------------------

this weekend was a good one.

friday night i got home late after finally fixing the outstanding cbeds issue. watched "its always sunny" and "the office" two shows that always, without a doubt make me laugh. and i needed that.

saturday was my favorite kind of fall saturday. got up. cleaned up a bit. took a shower, got back in my pjs and climbed into bed to watch a Scrubs marathon (hoping to fall asleep. that never happened). made some homemade applesauce in the crock pot. i highly recommend it! takes 5 minutes to chop it up and a few hours later you have some seriously yummy stuff (makes a great dessert when served warm over vanilla ice cream). did my grocery shopping in the afternoon and then dan and i finished cleaning the rest of the house. i love when everything is squeaky clean, right down to the floors. at night we had matt, kris and the kids over for dinner :)

sunday was dad's birthday dinner. riley kept most of us entertained with her cute antics, while the patriots win kept dan occupied. gram arrived later and got us playing cards which is always fun, even if she can't always remember all the rules and melissa inadvertantly cheats by looking at her cards every other hand (blaming pregnancy brain) lol :) all in good fun!

how cute is this kid in her new pink kicks? she loved her beads (which grammy brought home from aunt rachel's house last weekend. riley spent the day sharing her beads with everyone- even uncle danny had them on for a few!!)

all in all, a great weekend.

hell week

and, no i don't mean that in the fun
"i'm doing a theatrical production next week and so we're practicing all the time" kinda way

tuesday was the date of our 3rd cbeds upgrade.
and all hell broke loose.
we got it to a manageable point by tuesday night (15 hours later)
but the rest of the week has still been insane
and unfortunately the fix we thought might be the real solution
that would ease my mind and put an official end to this horrible week
did. not. work.

couple that with the lack of sleep
poor nutrition
stress
and a twisted ankle
[that's what happens at 5am when
walking to the car in the pitch black...
those rocks come out of nowhere]
poor dan. i was a bawling basketcase this morning. the ankle did hurt.
a lot. throbbing.
but moreso i think i'm just wiped.
if you know me, you know i need sleep
good, long-stretches of peaceful sleep.
if/when i'm not getting that, watch out!

tomorrow its supposed to pour.
buckets.
with any luck i can sleep in.
and relax.
i'm reallllly looking forward to that.

not real confident that that actually WILL happen
but its getting me through the day.

hope everyone else had a better week!
i promise i'll have something less negative to post about very soon.

----

ok since i have a quick second.
some happy thoughts.

-- my fall share CSA started this week
-- i have a ton of great library books at home just waiting for me to soak up their information
-- i got a couple cute fall sweaters last night in a fit of much necessary retail therapy
-- i get to see my smiling niece on sunday! looking forward to some cuddle and tickle time with her.
--- this quote from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia had Dan and I rolling the other night... "Dee: (to Martha, slurring her words) Oh, I just think you're so full of magic. You're like a big round wizard."