Wahhhh Wahhhhh

So the internet at my apartment is down, which is really hindering my blogging.  I've been taking my pictures and completed another goal on my list, not saying which one just yet, so you should all be proud.  I HAD a flash drive but can't find it so basically I can't post anything because I can't get on the internet at home and I don't have the pictures at work.  It's a lose lose sitch right now.  EVERYONE knows the pictures are the best part, so I couldn't possibly blog anything without one.  We are getting a new Linksys in the mail so hopefully I can get some blogging done before the crazy long weekend festivities begin.

My apologies, I know you are all waiting with baited breath for my posts, as well as wedding weekend pictures! Hang tight, please and thank you!

For now I will leave you with one of my favorite pictures from this weekend, that was taken by someone else and posted on Facebook.  It's currently my default.  Not totally sure what we're doing, but it looks like I'm waiting for my internet to get fixed.

15. Watch Every Christopher Plummer Movie ~ Our Fathers

I am head over heels in love with Christopher Plummer.  If he came walking through my door right this second, I would probably alternate between hyperventilating and crying, and maybe screaming, I'm not sure.  I know whatever my first words to him would be, whether between screams or sobs, they would be utterly embarrassing.  I lose my ability to speak when I'm flustered and being in the presence of someone as utterly amazing as him would cause my heart to most likely stop. I do know that wherever I was I would immediately start judging myself through his eyes, Amy what are you WEARING today?!  You couldn't have touched up your make up?  Where are my heels?  Why did I pick today to not dry my hair?  How is the lighting?  I bet I look fat.  The list goes on.  I do not care that he is 80, he is amazing and handsome and fabulous and Canadian and dreamy and smart and fantastic and talented and oh so handsome, did I say handsome?  Oh well, it's worth repeating, over and over and over again.  

I have loved him since I was a toddler and watched the 'Sound of Music' 8 times a day.  No, honestly, when I was 2 I knew how to rewind and play a movie and I watched the SOM over and over again every.single.day.  I would walk into my kitchen with my blankie on my head and only answer people when they referred to me as Maria.  I asked for pink parasols for my birthday every year, and re-enacted the scene where Gretel sings the last part of 'So Long, Farewell' while climbing up the stairs and Leisl comes and carries her to bed.  I made my parents watch me do this up the front stairs of our house then my dad would come over, pick me up, and carry me inside.  Really, every time we came home.  Coming home from the grocery store?  Put those bags down and pick me up!  Middle of the night and I fell asleep in the car?  You better wake me up and let me act this out, please and thank you.  I know the entire thing by heart and insist on reciting every line each time I watch it, I don't care where I am or who I'm with.  I love it all, especially in the gazebo when they FINALLY kiss after they've already fallen in love.  How romantic is that?!  They didn't even kiss and they knew that they loved each other.  I mean, hi it's Christopher Plummer, he could read a phone book and I'd fall in love with him.

Okay, so this post isn't about the 'Sound Of Music', it is about Christopher Plummer, or Mr. Plummer as I like to call him.  He has been in 151 movies.  151!  That is a lot, but completely understandable since he has been acting since the 1960s.  I plan on sitting down and watching every single one.  Even the ones I've already seen and don't care to ever see again, like 'Syriana' or 'The Lake House'.  I will also suck it up and watch the uber sad ones, like 'Up!'  or the scary ones like 'Cold Creek Manor'.  I HATE scary movies, but I will watch it, during the day, will every light in the house on, and then not sleep for a week just because he is in it.  

Ratty has a Netflix account and has so graciously offered to help me out, since I don't have an account, heck I don't even have a DVD player.  The first one on the list was 'Our Fathers'.  It was a Showtime movie, so we were pleasantly surprised to find it on Netflix.  It seemed like a good first choice since it was based in Boston and we were familiar with the plot.  It covers the  lawsuit against Bernard Cardinal Law during the Catholic Church scandal in 2000 and the subsequent backlash.  If you weren't planning on seeing this movie, let's keep it that way.  There was just too much going on, and nothing ever was explained fully.  I know there were lots of twists and turns, sub plots and people, but whoever wrote this wanted to tell everyones story.  I can appreciate that, but there was too much to cover in 2 hours.  If I wasn't familiar with all the names and knew the outcomes of most situations, I would have been completely lost.  Obviously, Mr. Plummer was the one glimmer of spectacular-ness in this film, hence why he was nominated for both an Emmy AND a Screen Actors Guild Award.

I was joking before the movie started like, 'This movie is going to be awful until Christopher Plummer comes on the screen'.  Little did I know that was exactly what happened.  Within 3o seconds of it starting, Ratty looked over at me and rolled his eyes.  We spent the majority of the film laughing because everyone was named Marge, and the Boston accents were absolutely butchered.  Some of the real people played themselves in the movie, like detectives or journalists.  You could pick them out right away because their accents sounded real, not forced and nothing like nails on a chalk board.  

{I really took this screen shot of the TV.  Ratty likes to watch movies with all the lights off, so it was pretty easy to capture this fab shot.}

{I may have started giggling and threw in a high kick for good measure while snapping this.}

  

One down, only 150 more to go!

62. May 20th, 2010 Picture.

I am not really sure what is going on in this picture, I was REALLY confused when I took it because it was 9am and I hadn't had coffee yet, so it hurt my brain.  The Starbucks I go to is inside a hotel, so there are always a bunch of people from conferences or just guests milling around and clogging up the line.  I was waiting to pull a u-turn so I could park in the illegal tow zone, when I saw this:

So, obviously they are setting up for an event, outside, on the street.  What kind of event is this?  It's 9am so it's not a breakfast, and it seems a little early to have all the linen on the tables for a luncheon.  Furthermore, who wants to have an event in the shade of super tall buildings, next to the ocean, while trapped in a wind tunnel?!  Nothing about this event seems like a good idea, like, nothing.  Not to mention there are parking meters lining the street, plus the hotel loading dock.  That's what I want when I get married, have my table set up right next to a dumpster.  It was just bizarre and the second I saw it I knew I had to document it because no explanation would do, I needed photographic proof of this idiotic event.  I couldn't grab my camera fast enough.  

Sorry about the rear view mirror.  I thought it was cool when I took it, but now that it's on the blog and I'm trying to read around it, it's giving me motion sickness.  I am the WORST with motion sickness, I am famous for getting it when standing on land.  If i see anything moving out of the corner of my eye, I literally get nauseous.  At Castle Island there is this walkway that goes out into the harbor, one giant circle that we call the sugar bowl.  There are one or two dam portions of the walkway, where water rushes from the harbor into the little bay.  Typically there are people fishing here, no clue why, it doesn't seem like a fish 'hot spot'.  When I'm walking the path, I physically need to close my eyes and hold on to the fence and guide myself across the dam because if I see the water rushing thought the corner of my eye, I'll get sick.  Seriously, it pretty ridiculous.  Anyway, sorry about the picture.  Maybe it won't make anyone but me sick, here's hoping.

62. May 19th, 2010 Picture.

Since I'm going to be away this weekend, having an absolute BLAST, and Ratty is going to be in NYC visiting his friend Josh and seeing Pearl Jam, I went over to his apartment on Wednesday night after pilates to hang out and watch a movie.  Not just ANY movie, but my first Christopher Plummer movie from my 101 list, Our Fathers.  More on that later.


Ratty had told me that he had a little surprise for me, but was pretty vague when it came to clues, typical.  He said it was something I could use almost daily and that I'd really like it.  I had no idea what it was, a tooth brush?  No, I use that more than once a day.  I was at a loss, so I just went along with it and didn't try and guess, so unlike me.  When I got to his apartment, after collapsing on the couch and panting, begging for water, he lives on the 5th floor of a 5 floor walk up, he started with the giftS.  Yes, more than one!  The first 'gift' wasn't really much of a gift, rather the 'Best Places to Live' annual issue of Boston magazine.  I LOVE real estate and that is my favorite issue since it breaks down median home prices and the most coveted neighborhoods.  He told me that he did not read the Globe that day so he could finish the magazine and subsequently give it to me, so romantic.  Then he gave me a mix CD he made, which he had told me about beforehand, titled 'Pearl Jam songs Amy might actually like.'  I haven't been the biggest fan of Pearl Jam, so he weeded through all their songs and put together a few that might sway me into becoming a fan.  Tricky.  I did this with country music and it totally worked, he's a not so closeted fan now, thankyouverymuch.  


After these two gifts he told me to close my eyes and put out my hand.  I open them and what do I see?  A roll of quarters.  Romance is not dead with him.  No but honestly, I am always looking for quarters, I hoard them.  I am always driving around the city and constantly need quarters for parking meters.  Whenever I'm going to meet him I always text, do you have any quarters?  Sometimes he does, but most times he doesn't.  This was actually a pretty practical gift and I really could use them almost every day, until they run out that is.  I was pretty excited about my gifts but he told me to close my eyes once again.  There's MORE?!  I hear some rustling and finally open my eyes to see a beautiful bouquet of lilies - MY FAVORITE!  I had been dropping not so subtle hints that lilies were my favorite and that Ratty should get off his tulip kick (I don't like tulips but you can't just come out and say that to someone, after they send them to you, and you are staring at them as you're talking).  I quickly snatched the flowers and hugged them going, I LOVE STARGAZER LILIES!!  Ratty looks at me, shocked and goes, 'That's what their called!  I asked the lady and she called them stargazer lilies!  How'd you know that?!'  Um, hi, they're my favorite, duh.  He couldn't get over that I knew the real name, as if flowers are a super secret club and I'm not supposed to know about them.  I snapped this little shot after carefully arranging my gifts.

We then watched 'Parenthood' which is the greatest show, so get on that bandwagon if you haven't already.  Adam and Kristina are my favorites, for the record.  Then, after dinner, we turned on Our Fathers.  I plan on writing a separate post for this, but to give a heads up, it's a Showtime original film that tells the story of the Catholic Church Scandal with my love, Christopher Plummer playing that jerk Bernard Cardinal Law.  Don't add this movie to your Netflix queue unless you have a love for Christopher Plummer like me because frankly, he is the only good part.


After bringing my flowers home, my room now smells like a funeral parlor but I don't mind.  I am going to pack up the vase and all and bring them to the hotel this weekend.  I hate when you get flowers and can't enjoy them, so since I'll be gone for 3 days, they need to come with me.  Crazy?  I don't care, I am going to enjoy the hell out of them.  And I am sure that my wedding weekend roomies will love it too.  Hi 2 girls and 2 gays?  We need flowers, it's like written in the bi-laws or something.

62. May 18th, 2010 Picture.

Now for the wedding this weekend, we have a packed room on Saturday night.  Lana is a bridesmaid and is staying in a bridesmaid room on Friday night, but come Saturday, she wants to party and crash with us, who can blame her?  We are awesome.  There are 4 of us in the room tonight, with poor Kevin taking the bus from NYC and getting into South Station at 12:30am and then having to drive the 45 minutes to Plymouth.  He is going to be tuckered out before the weekend even begins!  Anyway, I offered to sleep on an air mattress in the hotel room on Saturday night, so all 5 of us could fit.  I asked Jamie if I could borrow her air mattress and went over on Tuesday night to pick it up.  It was just going to be a pop in but then Jamie offered to feed me, to which I said YES.  As I'm heating up this amazing homemade soup Jamie made the day before, her roommate Rachel comes home and says that since they have company, it's time for a drink.  Hard to imagine why I'm friends with them, huh?  We grab some glasses of Sangria and hunker down in the living room to watch some American Idol and Biggest Loser.  We chat about almost everything, our 101 lists, check out Rachel's HERE, books to read, sleepovers, running 5ks, weekend retreats and so much more.  After we finished our soup, Jamie brought out some cake, she said it was on sale and who was I to argue?  She came strolling out of the kitchen singing happy birthday, it was no ones birthday, and threw a lighter behind it as a faux candle.  I immediately jumped, screaming PHOTO OF THE DAY! and grabbed my camera.  They were both so excited to be the photo of the day and therefore really laid it on thick for the camera.

62. May 17th, 2010 Picture.

It's really funny, but the post I'm getting the most feedback on is my Nantucket Nectars cap collection.  I didn't realize how popular Nantucket Nectars are, I'm getting the feeling that Grapeade is the flavor of the moment, as Lina claimed it's what she imagines heaven is like. People have been offering to save their caps for me, and my mom is now determined to help me find the Chicken Box cap.  I went home Monday night for dinner and opened the fridge to find it stocked with juice!

A few days earlier, my mom called to tell me she bought all the flavors she could, knowing I hate mango, and asked if she could open them all right away so she could see the caps.  I politely asked if she could at least wait until I was home and she obliged.  Once home, I grabbed the Watermelon Strawberry one and excitedly twisted off the cap.  Aaaand I am sad to say it was my FIRST repeat!  My mom looked absolutely deflated when I told her it was one I already had.  Who knew that Nantucket Nectars caps would have such an effect on peoples happiness?  I am still adding the cap to my collection, although it doesn't get me any closer to collecting them all.  For the record, the cap said 'There are 44 steps on Steps Beach."  Wah wahhhh.

62. May 16th, 2010 Picture.

What a better time to catch up on blogging than a Friday afternoon.  I am giddy with excitement because my friends and I are packing up for the weekend and going to Plymouth for our friend Jenn's fabulous wedding.  I need to get all caught up on my writing so I can go into this weekend stress free, so let's go!


One of my dear friends Shelby is having her second little girl in a matter of days and to 'celebrate Izzie's life' as Shelby's mom Ellen said, they had a little brunch for some of Shelby's closest friends.  There were a lot of Shelby's in that sentence, but I wanted to make sure it was grammatically correct, and didn't really feel like using the former or the latter at all.  


It was held at Shelby's mom's house on Sunday afternoon, and Ellen, a girl after my own heart, had plenty of food and mimosas on hand to celebrate.  As soon as I walked in the door, I was greeted by Shelby's little girl Emma, who immediately wanted to open the present I had brought for Izzie, short for Isabelle Catherine.  Being an aunt to many adorable little girls, I know that you cannot show up to a party with a present for one and not bring something small for the other.  I had picked up a little Hello Kitty tote at Target and put a giant bag of animal crackers and a case of sidewalk chalk inside for Miss Emma.  As soon as she started grabbing at the tissue paper in Izzie's gift I was able to defuse the sitch and give her the HK bag.  We promptly went right outside and started drawing all over the steps and walkway, even enticing neighborhood kids out of their driveways.  At one point, Shelby's Aunt Paula walked outside and called me the Pied Piper of children because they were somehow multiplying.


After successfully covering every inch of brick and concrete with chalk, we moved inside to eat lunch.  Shelby and Ellen put on a wonderful spread with lots of yummy food, PLUS a cupcake tower.  Hi, totally my thing.  Lana forgot her camera 'accidentally', and took charge of the picture taking with mine, so she snapped some adorable shots of Emma licking all the frosting off her cupcake.  Typical.  After eating we refused to get up and sat around gabbing and telling ridiculous stories about each other from college, we can't let go, ever.  It was pretty hot on Sunday, so we moved the party outside on the deck for some fresh air.  Miss Emma needed a nap and was pretty much asking to get put to bed, too much partying for one little girl, and we passed her around the group to say goodnight.  She is just the cutest thing and I can only imagine what Miss Izzie is going to be like.  Emma was QUITE spoiled since she was the first, and we joked that Emma's life as she knew it would be ending in a matter of days.  She has no idea what's in store for her, but I think she'll be alright. 


Everyone started filtering out and heading home, but I could not let go of the Wellington/Buhkenik household.  I don't get to see Shelby that often, she's a married mother of soon-to-be 2, but we have a great time together when we do.  After Shelby's wedding last year, I borrowed some sweatpants because Erin and I had an impromptu sleepover at Ellen's house and I needed something other than my dress to wear to bed.  I headed back to Ellen's house a week or so later to return the clothes I borrowed and ended up staying for almost 4 hours, drinking tea and chatting with Ellen, Shelby wasn't even there!  I am completely fine with always overstaying my welcome.


I loved my one on one time with the family and was there to play with Emma when she woke up from her nap.  We headed outside to the yard again where we played with Duke, their dog, and kicked around Emma's new princess soccer ball.   I finally pulled myself away from the family a casual 6 hours after I got there and headed home to Boston.  Here are some pictures from the day!

This is my little gift for Izzie.  I realized that everything Emma has is monogrammed, and poor Izzie needs SOMETHING with her name on it.  I headed to Target on Saturday afternoon and bought some adorable little onesies, one covered in daisies, one that says Hand Picked, and one that says Watch Me Grow, plus a Little Firecracker 4th of July outfit, white ruffled skirt, bathing suit, socks, mittens, and of course, hair bows.  I may have gone overboard but everything was just so wittle and so so cute!  How can you not buy a teeny tiny striped bathing suit?  I also bought glitter puffy pant and a purple basket and channeled my inner sorority girl and wrote Izzie's name in my girliest glittered handwriting.  

{And here is Miss Emma's little gift!  LOVE the dollar aisle at Target.}

{All the girls.}

{Emma testing out the cupcake.  She still looks unsure about it.}

{Go Gamma Phi!}

{Modeling the bump AND the gift!}

{Emma wanted all the bows for herself.}

{Look at how teenie weenie that bathing suit is!}

{The gorg scrapbooked frames that Lana made for both Izzie and Emma.  She is also a professional photog and picked the sweetest pictures!}

{The button is a photo of Shelby when she was 8 and Lana refused to take it off for the entire party.  Shelby didn't really love it, wonder why?}

{Duke just jumped onto my lap, completely unprompted.  I think he was jealous of all the attention we were giving his sister Emma.}

{We had to honestly coach Erin through this process.  She has never held a baby before.  It's like Emma knows somehow.}

{Erin just put Emma on her lap and let go.  We kept yelling 'you need to HOLD her!'}

{Emma just really liked my necklace.  She couldn't have cared less about the rest of me.}

{Lana and Emma.}

{The whole group.  With the skinny arm.}

{We are ridiculous and needed to get on the rock and pose this one out.  Look at how casual this is.  Especially Lana.  Just hanging out, on the rock.  We do this all the time.}

{A little more natural.}

{Again, Erin needed to be coaxed to touch the belly.}

{Just me, Emma and Duke, playing in the backyard.}

I cannot wait to meet Miss Isabelle Catherine, and I know that Emma will be a fabulous big sister!  Oh and Shelby and Yuri are great parents too, can't forget that part!

62. May 15th, 2010 Picture.

Like I've mentioned in previous posts, I have a pretty awesome apartment.  I really love living here and can't believe I found this place.  I could wish for a slightly better kitchen, but I guess I'll just have to make due without my industrial restaurant appliances, marble topped island with built in wine chiller and dish washer, and settle for my city apartment eat in kitchen.

The one true eye sore of the place was, notice I say WAS, the backyard.  I was honest to God afraid of it.  I spent 5 minutes down there once clearing out weeds in preparation for the St. Paddy's Day party that never even made it outside due to the fact that it was hurricaning all day, and I was sure I was going to come across a dead body.  It's South Boston and lots of shady stuff has happened here in the past, so it's not THAT far fetched.  It had tall, tall, creepy tall stalks of some sort of weed that were getting to be taller than me, lots of scary roots that were scrapping at my ankles, a legit stump and brave squirrels who would come right up to me and most likely try and attack me.  It was a pathetic excuse for a yard and frankly, looking out my window and all my neighbors yards, made me embarrassed.

My roommate Char really took charge of the backyard project and wanted to set a stone patio over the dirt so we could actually do things outside and like, not be afraid we were going to die.  She asked if anyone we knew would be interested in helping, and my brother Eddie offered.  Now, I love Eddie, he is fantastic, but he likes to offer to do things without really thinking them through.  He has a wife and two adorable little girls, but sometimes his hypothetical eyes are bigger than his hypothetical stomach.  I took Eddie's offer with a grain of salt, and told Char to keep looking.  Her brother offered to help us, and was pretty much a rock star through the whole process.  Not that Eddie ISN'T a rock star, he's just a different kind of one.  Char's brother drove 6 hours from upstate New York, toting chainsaws and other important tools that he probably needed, like a rake or something, and got up at 5:30am on a SATURDAY to work on our patio.  I had offered to help out in anyway I could, but when I casually rolled out of bed at 10am, this is what I saw.

By the time I woke up they had been to Home Depot TWICE and had already gotten the patio more than 50% completed.  So that's what it's like to be productive.  The most I did was get up and shut my window when Char's brother went out at 5:30am to dig up the stump.  I may or may not have flashed him a dirty look and contemplated reporting him to the city for working outside before 8am, but thought the better of it.  I turned up my sound machine and put a pillow over my face and didn't come out for 5 more hours.  I did however mop the house up after the patio was complete, so that was my contribution.  Oh and I bought him and his wife beers that night, totally even.

The patio looks FANTASTIC and I spent the better portion of last night hanging out with the roommates and Jamie.  I can't wait to have people over for a BBQ and some day drinking - day drinking's my favorite.  Note: must learn how to BBQ.  Hopefully there will be plenty more photos of the day that take place on our brand spanking new patio, so you can see it all done up.  I plan on getting a FIRE PIT because I love love love fire pits, and also planting some flowers around the edges.  Look at me, just call me Martha Stewart.  

We are no longer the horrible neighbors with the eye sore of the backyard.  We probably now hold the title of best yard, maybe coming in a close second to the ones on the left who have a lilac bush.  Lilacs win every single time.  Yesterday afternoon, the cute old couple to the right of us had their grandson clean up their backyard.  I guess what they say on HGTV is true, once one person starts fixing their house up, neighbors naturally join in and do the same.  Look at me, I'm practically a landscaping expert, and I didn't even do anything!  Yay, everyone wins!

62. May 14th, 2010 Picture.

Friday afternoon I left work early to attend a luncheon at the Seaport World Trade Center for MCPHS Commencement.  Ratty is the Director of Communications at MCPHS (Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Science) and he got a plus one - basically he just needed to fill a seat.  I was MORE than happy to attend a free luncheon, on a Friday, with an open bar.  I dragged my feet to the top floor of the World Trade Center and sipped my Pinot, looking out over the harbor while rubbing shoulders with some important people.  Life is so hard.

After the luncheon, and I mean RIGHT after, all the MCPHS folks had to pack up and drive to the Worcester campus for the next graduation ceremony.  Everyone asked if I was coming, as if this was a room block for a hotel after party.  Even the President of the college was like, 'so Amy are you making it out to Worcester with us for the night?'  After the second VP asked me, I looked at Ratty and was like 'Am I SUPPOSED to go?  Aren't you working?  They know I don't WORK for the college, right?'   I like the people Ratty works with, and after a co-workers wedding in Newport last October, I bonded big time with most of them.  Dennis, one of the VP's is like my new best friend and I pretty much love his wife.  Frannie and I are tight, open bar and champagne will do that to anyone.  

The luncheon ended at 2:30pm and there was a welcoming reception at 5pm at the Worcester hotel, so everyone scooted out quickly.  Since I now had a lovely Friday afternoon free, I decided to go get a pedicure.  I have a wedding this weekend, wait, I really mean WEDDING WEEKEND, because we are all packing up and spending the entire weekend in Plymouth for my sorority sister Jenn's fabulous wedding and I just cannot wait!  K back to the pedicure, I needed my toes done, badly, and once again decided I needed a treat, because frankly, I can't treat myself enough.  I took my white wine hazed little self to a place in Southie, aptly named Champagne Nails, and reaped the benefits of  a massage chair and a foot soak.  

Once my toes were all glossed in 'Miami Beet' I came home and collapsed on my bed, because obviously socializing and primping are exhausting.  I flipped through the channels and realized that I was JUST in time to watch my favorite fast talking, mother daughter twosome in the perfect faux Connecticut town of Stars Hollow.  That's right my friends, Gilmore Girls!  Only the greatest show EVER!  3 years ago I watched the series finale on the floor of my bedroom with a roll of toilet paper and a box of Kleenex and sobbed as if someone just told me they were going to need to put my puppy down.  I've seen every episode at least 5 times, every episode for 7 seasons, at least 5 times, that's a lot.  I have still only seen the series finale episode once, because I can't bring myself to relive the end of one of the greatest TV families and towns.  Sighhhh I dream of having a Luke's, and a Stars Hollow with the gazebo in the town center, and the cute little house with the wrap around porch and maybe even a Taylor but DEFINITELY a Dean and definitely not a Jess.  Anyway, I snapped this candid while sitting on my bed, admiring my toes and watching my little Rory move into her dorm room at Yale.  It was a really rough day, because after Gilmore Girls ended, I took a nap, under my awesomely cozy Nantucket sweatshirt blanket.  Woe is me.

62. May 13th, 2010 Picture.

Whoops!  I got so excited about my Gilmore Girls photo that I posted it before this one.  This error only occurred in blog world, not in real life, because I DO have a photo for Thursday, May 13th.  Phew!  Thankfully because of the miracle of technology, I've fixed the post, so it's all in order now.

The Celtics were playing in Game 7 against the Cavs on Thursday, and obviously being the basketball fair weather fan like I am, it's totally fine, basketball is #4 in my professional sports rankings, #4 out of 4, naht the greatest odds.  Anyway, since it was an important game, I threw on my Celtic green and headed out to watch the game.  I headed over to J.A. Stats in the Financial District to meet Ratty and have a few while cheering on..those guys...with the ball...throwing it through that hoop thingy.  I walk through the door and I have these waiting for me.

Now I don't really love High Life.  When I think of it, I think of the dive bars in Southie that have it on tap, or Trinity where the drink special is a $2.00 High Life and I only go in there and drink them when I'm running low on money and Sissy's has cut off their $2.00 Bud Light drafts.  I know they call it the 'Champagne of Beers' but I really want to disagree with that.   Champagne is classy, delicious, bubbly, sweet and pure heaven.  Miller High Life is pretty much the exact opposite.  It is usually something that I'll only drink after I've had a few other, better beers, and don't care anymore.  Kind of like in college where a party would get 2 kegs, one Bud Light and one Natty Light.  Once the Bud Light one was empty, they'd tap the cheaper, more disgusting keg and no one would know the difference because they had already killed the first one.  

Ratty got a High Life kick when his college friends came for a visit, and they drank them every place they went.  Obviously he wanted to be just like his friends, so now High Lifes are his new favorite and I get to tag along.  For the record, right after this I ordered a Stella.

62. May 12th, 2010 Picture.

I live next door to an abandoned factory.  When I first moved to Southie it was up and running as the 'American Nut and Chocolate Factory' but it never looked like a place I'd want to buy something from.  Within the past year or so it closed down, like a lot of other businesses and warehouses around Boston, and has sat gross and unused.  I live on a cute street, and have an amazing apartment.  No honestly, I have a huge bedroom, my own attached bathroom, spiral staircase, porch, back yard, basement, washer/dryer and a spare bedroom.  There is no way that I should be able to afford living here, but I can and I do.  I like my neighborhood.  I am really close to downtown, and am within walking distance to a lot of stores.  Previously in Southie, I would need to drive most places because I lived in more residential areas, so this is a nice change.  Unfortunately, I park next to this eyesore and have long hoped that something would eventually replace it, like a 99 or something awesome like that.

Last week I was walking to my car in the morning and I saw a little pop up tent in the parking lot, along with a few chairs under it and a man taking pictures.  I assumed it was some sort of ground breaking ceremony and I got excited that finally something would be moving in. It's a great location, right on the main street next to a bus stop between the liquor store and Burger King.  Hi, prime real estate in South Boston.  I was beyond excited when Ratty sent me an article from the Boston Globe that said that a brand new gourmet grocery store would be built where the horrible factory now stands.   I am now going to be able to walk 10 steps and pick up milk or other groceries and never have to drive anywhere!  For a nice town, there is 1 not so nice Stop and Shop in Southie, so I will be SO happy I won't need to go there, or truck over to Dorchester to buy my food.  Not that I buy food that often, I try to make my food last as long as possible, you know, since I'm poor.

Anyway, this is the current horrible building, it looks like a scene from a horror movie or something.  Yes, those colorful houses behind it are projects, ahem low income housing.  I don't mind living near the projects, truthfully there are 3 complexes in South Boston, so no matter where you live you are close to a project, they even have the best beach front real estate with crazy views of Boston Harbor.  At least living a block over from a busy street with projects lining it, I know there is always someone around.  Even if I am walking from my car late at night, there are lots of people walking up and down the streets, so I actually feel pretty safe.  I know my neighbors and feel a good sense of community on my street.  Plus there are lots of people with dogs.  I don't know what it is about dogs, but they make me feel safe.  Having my apartment between a fire and police station also helps.

I swear Southie is a great place to live.  It is one of the more coveted neighborhoods in Boston and tons of young professionals live here.  After re-reading my post, I realized it doesn't shine South Boston in a the greatests of lights, but I love it here and don't plan on going anyplace anytime soon.  New grocery store or no new grocery store.  But I'll take it with the new grocery store.  Thanks.

62. May 11th, 2010 Picture.

Tuesday was not good to me.  I was in a bad mood from the start and nothing seemed to be going right.  I had that sick, anxious feeling all day, and although not sad, I teetered on the verge of tears more than once.  I didn't want to be at work, I didn't want to be home, I just didn't want to be anywhere.  It was a day that I would have loved to drink a bottle of wine and gone to bed, only to wake up when everything was nice again.  I told Ratty at one point that I wanted to drink my feelings, but that would most likely result in alcohol poisoning, and he advised me not to.  Smart guy.

There wasn't one thing that didn't go right, it was just a mess of a lot of things that when stacked on top of each other equaled a bad day.  I was annoyed with anyone I talked to and just couldn't shake my blah feeling.  I decided that I needed to do something good for me, and went to pilates after work. I'm driving along to my appointment, trying to push all my negative feelings away and just focus on all the great things in my life.  I'm sitting at a red light, minding my own business when BOOM, I get rear ended.  YES!  I got rear ended on the horriblest of Tuesdays.  I am pretty sure I looked straight up into the sky and said 'God, what did I do?  I know they say karma is going to get you eventually but I didn't think they meant ALL in the same day!'  The woman was really nice, and there was no damage, so I was able to get right back in my car and zip to pilates.  The class went pretty well, and once finished I decided to pop quickly into Ben Franklins to see what they had.  For those who don't know Ben Franklins is one of those stores that have EVERYTHING!  They have all this craft supplies, fabric, kitchenware, games, toys, beach stuff, home goods, and stationary.  Not kidding when I said everything.  I thought that maybe they'd have drinks, I was parched, and I like poking around so it seemed like a win win.  I found Vitamin Water which obviously, next to coffee and champagne, is one of the greatest beverages ever.  I started looking through the crafts thinking that this would be a perfect time to grab something to keep me busy.  Maybe I could paint something, or knit something, I even debated getting yards of fabric to sew or a paint by numbers.  I have no sewing machine or patterns, so the idea of buying fabric with no real goal is just absurd.  Paint by numbers Amy?  Really?  You're better than that.  I quickly snapped back to reality and knew that I didn't need a sunflower shag hooked rug to make me feel better and decided that Vitamin Water and candy would be enough to climb me out of my deep, dark, woe is me hole.

I got in my car, and immediately started shoving Reese's Peanut Butter cups in my face.  This is what pilates is for, I can eat a Fifth Avenue, which by the way is the BEST candy bar ever, and 20 miniature peanut butter cups and not feel guilty at all.  They're miniature, which means, they don't even really count.  In fact, I DESERVE this candy!  Cut to the scene where I'm in my car inhaling chocolate and now choking back tears while talking to myself, waivering between my life is horrible and get it together.  I'm driving down Storrow Drive with the windows down, trying to sooth myself with some fresh air.  Two of my favorite songs play back to back ('Little Lion Man' by Mumford and Sons and 'Lay Me Down' by The Dirtyheads if you care to look them up) and I'm brought back to a happy place.  The sun is shining, I'm looking out at the Charles, my windows are down, the wind is sucking the negative energy out of my car and life is good.  I get home and decide that as a treat for surviving the day, as if the 2,000 calories of pure sugar I just consumed wasn't enough, I am going to make myself smiley face french fries.  Crispy outside, mashed potato inside.  How can these things NOT make you happy?

I'm very happy to say that when I woke up on Wednesday it was a fresh start.  I am back to my old self and haven't thought about crying since I last heard 'The House That Built Me' by Miranda Lambert yesterday.  Honest to GOD that song makes me bawl like nothing else.  When watching the Country Music Awards last month at Ratty's apartment, Miranda performed that song live and I sobbed silently while Ratty looked up stuff on his Blackberry.  By the time he realized I was drowning in my own tears, it was too late.  He just sat there, looking at me, then looking at the TV, then back at me, trying to figure out when exactly I lost my mind.  He finally mustered up the courage to ask me what the song was about, because he is a guy and wasn't listening to the performance, and I shrugged my shoulders, rolled my eyes and snapped that he wouldn't understand and that he should go back to his world with his cell phone, Facebook and Twitter.  He still has no clue what the song is about and still doesn't understand why I was crying.  Typical.  But in all seriousness, try and listen to that song without shedding a tear, it's IMPOSSIBLE.  Anyway, I'm back on track and have nothing but positive things going for me.  If I do ever get down though, I always remember that my niece Cassie thinks I'm just the coolest gal around, and there isn't much more I need in life than that.

62. May 10th, 2010 Picture.

I got this lovely tidbit in the mail a few days ago, but completely forgot about it until I saw the envelope resting on my night stand.  I don't know how frequently these things get sent out accidently, I'm hoping it's all the time, but honestly, how did I even end up on AARP's radar?!  This wasn't like a 'hey, don't forget to remember us in 35 years, when you're ready to start collecting Medicare!' (Dear God, please let there be Medicare for me, or maybe something even better that we don't even know about yet.  OR a winning lottery ticket, like ASAP.  xoxo, Amy.  Amen).

No no folks, this wasn't just a letter in the mail, or a subscription getting sent to the wrong house.  This was a MEMBERSHIP card!  For me!  With my name on it!  I am no where NEAR 60+ even though I kinda sorta act like an old lady sometimes, but that doesn't mean I completely skip to the head of the line.  So what if I really like nougat, and toffee, and I don't like to drink caffeine or coffee too late because I won't be able to sleep?  I enjoy antiquing and have been known to request large print books from the library - it was an ACCIDENT, but once I adjusted my eyes, I actually kinda liked it and read the book super quick.  I'm obsessed with the old school TV show 'Father Dowling Mysteries', so much so I actually dressed up as Sister Steve for halloween when I was 8.  Yes, I was a nun for halloween.  Moving on, give me a 'Murder, She Wrote' or 'Get Smart' marathon and I'll run around my house looking for a blank VHS tape to throw in my VCR to record it.  I've called the police on 'those crazy kids' across the street, and watched happily out the window as the cop came and broke up the party.  They were LOUD!  It's a residential neighborhood and not even the sound of falling rain from my Conair sound machine could drown them out.  I've caught myself starting sentences with 'when I was your age...' and have pretty much skipped straight to that stage where older people say whatever they want because they just don't care anymore.

Everyone knows that I am just an old soul, NOT an old lady, there's a difference.  If asked, I would even tell you that I was an old Jewish woman in a past life, I know it.  Apparently I do weird things that actually have religious meanings in Judaism. When I got chicken pox in the 6th grade, I made my mom put pillow cases over all the mirrors so I wouldn't have to look at my deformed self as I walked around.  It wasn't until after the fact that I was told that this is what Jewish people used to do when someone died, they'd hang things over the mirrors so they wouldn't see their grief.  Oh, I was grieving.  HI!  Old Jewish lady!  I have Deja Vu all the time, and have memories of being places that I know I've never been to.  I don't think I'm going to be on a episode of 'Unsolved Mysteries' anytime soon (oh ya, I really love 'Unsolved Mysteries' too, something about Robert Stacks voice just gets me creeped out), BUT I do think I've been around before.

Anyway, I don't think that any of the above reasons qualifies me for an AARP Membership, but thanks for thinking of me!  I'll get back to you in 2045.

Number 32. Find Out How Many Nantucket Nectars Caps There Are and Collect Them All.

So, for those unaware, I am obsessed with Nantucket.  I dream of moving there someday, or at least summering in my beach front cottage.  I've been drinking Nantucket Nectars purely because of the associaion with the island, and for the fact that they have Nantucket facts under each cap.  For years I was saying how I should save them, put them in a pretty glass jar and set them on a shelf in my bookcase, but I never did.  I finally decided that I needed to start my collection.  I had random caps in my desk drawer, a few at the bottom of my bag, and a few at my mom's house.  I wrangled them all up and put them a clear vase on the floor next to my reading chair (re: FEMA chair).

I've also googled and researched to see how many caps there are and if there is a working list of circulating ones so I could scratch them off the list as I found them.  No such luck....yet.  I am going to keep looking.  I do know that as of right now 750 caps have existed, but at any given time there are only 100 or so facts in production.  I currently have 23 caps, so in theory, I have 77 to go. I'll keep going as long as I find new ones.  I really want to find the one about the Chicken Box, they have it framed on the wall of their bar.  'The Life is Good is the Signature Drink at The Chicken Box'.  The Life is Good is a drink with vodka, red bull and a bunch of other things, served over ice in a pint glass.  That is like my holy grail of caps.  Sighhh I really hope I find it someday, otherwise I may be tempted to steal the framed one off the Chicken Box wall.  Here's a list of the caps I've found.

-Nantucket is a favorite destination of the home restoration show 'This Old House.'

-The Indian tribe native to Nantucket were the Wampanoags.

-The streets of Nantucket weren't named until 1797.

-Nantucket was initially incorporated not as an island but as a town.

-Nantucket has over 82 miles of beaches.

-Nantucketers are famed for their 'gams', a term for their colorful social conversations.

-Dionis Beach in northern Nantucket was named for Dionis Coffin, an early settler of the island.

-The first Daffodil Weekend ever held on Nantucket was in April, 1974.  (Weird fact: I got this cap legit the Monday after the 2010 Daffodil Weekend.)

-Nantucket's Opera House Cup began in 1973 and is among the greatest classic wooden boat regattas in the world.

-There are 44 steps at Steps Beach on Nantucket.

-Nantucket is world-known for its sports fishing of stripers, bluefish, bonito and false albacore.

-By 1900, there were no more Quakers, a once dominant group on Nantucket.

-Harvesting cranberries replaced whaling as Nantucket's major industry in the 1920s.

-Peter Foulger was the interpreter for the 1st settlers of Nantucket and the grandfather of Ben Franklin.

-Using tax-free liquor as an incentive, NH's governor tried to convince Nantucket to join the Granite State is 1977.

-Nantucket does not have any fast-food franchises.

-Nantucketers moving to the mainland in the 18th Century often disassembled their island homes and took them along off island.

-Cisco Brewery's Triple 8 party on Nantucket is always at 8pm on 8/8.

-Wandering around Nantucket is commonly called 'rantum scooting' by the natives.

-Harvesting scallops is a family tradition each fall on Nantucket.

-At one time, Nantucket had seven streets named Atlantic Avenue.

And the two most recent ones I got are very similar:

-On 1/1/2000 the first sunrise in the United states was at Siasconset on Nantucket.

-Many say that the best sunsets on Nantucket can be seen on Madaket Beach.

So, that's my collection right now.  Here is a picture of the jar on my bookcase.  Point of reference, that picture in the background was taken on the porch of my mom's house.  It is me with my niece Cassie, yes the same one who just had her first communion.  She can't be more than 2 in this picture, and we are sitting side by side, with her copying my crossed legs looking up at me.  It's one of the greatest pictures ever.

And here is my typing facts work station:

Number 20. Start My Decorating Folder.

The whole idea behind my decorating folder was to have a place to store all my magazine cutouts of houses, furniture, accessories, craft ideas and recipes in one spot.  It wasn't really intended to be a craft/recipe folder as well, but after reading about 20 Martha Stewart Living Magazines, the folder has started to morph.  Prior to this organizational wonder, I would rip a page out of a catalog, dreaming of my living room one day being renovated or decorated just like it.  Ask me where that picture is right this minute?  I have no clue!  I had been thinking about starting a folder for a while now, but never really buckled down to do it.    Thankfully, this list made me really motivated!


I was thinking that I just needed a file folder, one pocket with one lone tab at the top, to store all my pictures.  Obviously, if this was going to be a 'decorating folder' the folder needed to be decorated.  I didn't want just a plain manila folder, it needed to be colorful and pretty.  Obviously pretty.  I stopped off at Anthropologie, one of my favoritest stores ever, to see if they had any decorative office supplies.  I couldn't find what I wanted, BUT I did pick up the ca-utest dress, ON SALE!  So the trip was obviously a win.  I decided that a place like Kinko's or Target would have more of what I was looking for.  Kinko's you ask?  I had just been there a few days before and saw that they had some really cute stationary items.  If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either.  I ended up buying a really intense green accordion filing folder 'system' with laminated tabs and an elastic band to keep it closed.  This was a far cry from my manila folder idea.  Once I saw the binder, I knew that it would be perfect.  I could create a tab for every room in my make-believe house and keep everything UBER organized.  My tabs are as follows:


Bedrooms
Kitchen/Bathroom
Living Room
Dining Room
Den
Office
Entryway
External
Yard
Organize
Furniture
Miscellaneous


I started going through old Martha Stewart Living Magazines, looking for rooms, furniture, colors, pictures, crafts, fabrics or any other kitch that I liked.  I then ripped the pages out and filed them neatly in the correct pocket.  My misc. pocket is getting a little hefty already, so I may need to rethink my tabs.  My mom laughed when I rattled off all the different categories, saying "you think you're going to have bathroomS, and an office, and a den, plus living room and $50,000 kicthen?"  Good point mom, but I can dream!  Even if I buy a little teeny tiny house some day, I have all the ideas now to make it my own.


For the record, I am obsessed with houses.  I check listings on a most likely daily basis and watch hours upon hours of real estate shows on HGTV.  I even have wrap around porches, stain glass windows and wainscoting as interests on my Facebook profile.  Honestly, who has wainscoting as an interest??  ME!  I even watched a TV special on how to install it myself - I.AM.READY.


That Martha Stewart is REALLY crafty.  I started finding all these interesting articles on how to clean and store antique linen, how to patch holes in a cardigan, how to make a Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake, as well as honey walnut buttons.  This is why my misc. section is overflowing.  Someday I plan on making shadow boxes out of my future daughters teeny weenie sunglasses and I am going to be SO happy I have my MSL (Martha Stewart Living) instructions.

Speaking of random, yet educational and insightful articles, MSL really loves themselves some champagne.  I knew that I was destine to read this magazine when I came across the photo gallery of vintage and antique champagne glasses.  This, my friends, is where I had a major brainstorm.  I LOVE champagne, like really truly love, and drink it whenever and wherever I can.  I went to a wedding once, that was open bar, and I swear that champagne flute never left my hand.  The bartenders knew me and pulled out the bottle as I walked over.  That's my kind of service.  Getting back on track, I was pretty impressed and fascinated with the variety of shapes, colors, details and styles of champagne glasses.  I also really love antique stores, flea markets and yard sales, and thought that it would be pretty fabulous if I started to collect vintage champagne glasses.  I imagine having a party in my perfectly decorated house, and serving champagne is a variety of glasses.  In the summer months, my mom and I like to go up to Ipswich and Essex and poke around white elephant shops.  They always have random glasses for sale, but I've never looked at them since there are usually just one of a kind.  This lends itself perfectly to my plan!  I can shop in different stores and pick up one style here, another one here, and eventually amass a pretty cool collection.  I envision this collection displayed in my craftsman detailed built-in hutch in my clapboard cottage on Nantucket.  Obvi everyone is welcome to visit.  I'll add a picture of a picture to someone show what I'm talking about.  If you need any other visuals, just bing 'vintage champagne glasses' and have a look for yourself.  I only say bing because they had more pictures than google, yes I already looked.

62. May 9th, 2010 Picture.

Sunday was Mothers Day, and I spent the afternoon at my mom's with my family.  Per usual my adorable nieces were the center of attention and wanted a photo shoot.  I've created little monsters I think.  Chloe got a hold of the camera and wanted to take one of me and Abby, so here is it: 

Even in my arms, teetering on my knee, Abs is still able to do the DOUBLE skinny arm.  That, is determination.  I think Chlo did a pretty good job too, my hair looks really good, and I look tanned, THANK JESUS!  No, I didn't forget the E, i just call her Chlo, I'm not totally sure how I'm supposed to spell it, so C-H-L-O will just have to do.

The day was pretty great.  I stopped off at Trader Joe's to grab cheese and garnishes for my cheese tray, got into a slight tiff with a lady in the parking lot, she was an idiot and she needed to know it, and then headed home to spent the afternoon with Steph and Co.  We sat around sipping champagne, eating cheese and crackers and laughing over absolutely horrific stories of my mom's daycare.  We can laugh now because my mom, in fact, did NOT have a heart attack because of one psychotic mother and has lived to laugh another day.  Can I have your straw?

Abigail said the party couldn't end because Nani hadn't opened her presents yet, and that since she was a big girl she could open them all by herself.  That lasted about 5 seconds until Abs climbed on my mom's lap to help her out.

{I asked Abby to smile, and she did, but she also wiped her nose at the same time.}

{A handmade card from Cassie.  It says 'Dear Nani, Happy Mothers Day!  I hope you have the  best Mothers Day in the world.  Love Cassie.'  How sweet is she?!  She even drew her and my mom at the bottom.  My mom is the one with the crazy blond hair.}

{Chlo and Abs love each other.}

{Giving faaaace and rocking the skinny arm MUST run in the family.  No other way to explain it.   I had nothing to do with either in this shot.}

{Me, Chlo and my other niece Devon.  I have lots of nieces.}

{Abby was eating yogurt with one spoon and adding fruit to it with another.  She did not get this yogurt and fruit thing from me.}

{I LOVE YOU YOGURT!!!}