SWF Desperately Seeking Snow Boots

Well, if I thought last Friday was exciting with all the snow, imagine my excitement when my work closed at 1:00pm due to weather. That's right people, the big storm has hit the East Coast. Break out your shovels, ice scrapers, and boots!!! We were expected to get between 6-12 inches of snow today. Driving home in this mess was my first real snow driving experience. I made it home safely. Apparently the only thing that slows down Connecticut drivers is snow. Winter is rapidly becoming my favorite time of year around here.

Today I did have an epiphany....high heels do not work in the snow. I need to purchase boots...pronto! When I got ready for work this morning, I knew the terrible forecast. I also knew that practically every school in Connecticut was closed today. So....of course....I thought high heels would be proper foot wear. Somehow the heels did not work out in my favor. Traipsing through the snow to get to the parking lot was not fun. Snow was going inside my shoes and freezing my feet. When I got to my car there was about 3 inches of snow covering the saturn(of course this was the day that all the inside parking in the garage was full...go figure)! So as my car was warming up, I was busy excavating it from the snow. Needless to say, I was a bit wet and cold when I finally unearthed my car.

Moral of the story...I need to buy snow boots ASAP, but snow days do equal fun days! I spent the rest of the day getting ready for my Arbonne party and watching Ellen. It was magnificent!!! Now hopefully work is not closed tomorrow because it is our Christmas party day. That would be a bummer, although sitting inside with a hot cup of cocoa sounds very appealing right now!

It is suppose to snow again this weekend, so Saturday will be spent baking Gingerbread cookies. I will post pictures of our masterpieces this weekend.

Christmas time is here!

We had our first real snow here last Friday and I gotta tell you…I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I was sitting at work when I looked outside my window and saw snowflakes falling sideways. Within minutes the sidewalks were totally white. We probably got an inch of snow, which in reality isn’t much at all, but I was thoroughly excited. Walking through the snow was interesting. Steve Madden boots do not make for great snow boots. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. I really don’t know how I managed not to fall. I figured I would for sure go down as I was crossing the street so I could provide entertainment to those driving home in their warm cars.

The cold weather and snow does really make it feel like Christmas time. Jeremy and I bought ourselves a 4’ fake Christmas tree at Wallmart this weekend. (We aren’t allowed to have the real deal in our apartment because of the fire risk.) We unpacked all of my ornaments and put on some Christmas music and decorated our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We put in on a box to make it look taller. It actually looks really cute. We also made stockings. What is Christmas without a stocking? Santa better fill that bad boy up!!


Good thing I've been working out...I can lift a 4' tree like it's nobody's business!


Jeremy tried to write in cursive...I think he failed that assignment




The finished product. Charlie Brown would be jealous!!

One thing that the snow and cold doesn’t make good times for is 5K runs. This past weekend, Jeremy and I, along with some of his fellow students competed in a Christmas 5K run. This was Jeremy’s first 5K and I was so excited that we would be running together. This was a small Christmas miracle! After running this weekend I decided that I won’t be running outside until April!!! It was soooo cold and I have been doing all of my running from inside a gym on the handy dandy treadmill. So…a 5K is only 3 miles, but I have never felt so terrible after running. The race started 15 minutes late, let me tell you… that did nothing trying to stay warm. My feet stayed frozen for about 2.5 miles and my throat was burning the entire time. Even though we felt like we were frozen popsicles running through the streets of New Haven, we both finished with respectable times. Jeremy finished in 28:09 minutes and I finished in 22:41. Not my fastest time, but I was ninth in my division (20-29) out of 166…so that is not bad at all. Jeremy and I both felt like we were coming down with colds after the race, so we rented Superbad and Waitress and sat like vegetables for the rest of the day.

It's Snowing!

Our first day of snow has arrived!! We were eating breakfast on Sunday morning and when we looked out the window it was snowing and the streets were all white. Here is a picture from inside our place...

Seeing it snow was pretty exciting. We were kinda like little kids on Christmas morning. Although I'm not sure why...we have both seen snow before and there really wasn't all that much on the ground.

I was a little afraid to do errands outside today, but I decided to brave the cold, hop in my car, and officially start my Christmas shopping. Here is a picture of the snow from inside my car.
Told you I was excited about the snow! I just keep taking pictures of it like a person who has never seen it before.

The cold weather and the snow are making it really feel like the holiday season. The cold makes it much more festive than eating Thanksgiving dinner or shopping for xmas presents when it is 65 and sunny outside. We were looking forward to buying our first tree together and decorating it, but that plan has been derailed. I came home one night to a note on our building saying that we aren't allowed to have live Christmas trees because of the fires they could potentially start. I was so bummed! Our apartment complex is killing our Christmas dream. Now we are probably going to get a fake tree, but as I learned this weekend those suckers are super expensive! I am going to hunt around for a deal so wish me luck!! Christmas depends on it!

So, I dread Christmas time because of the present buying. It's not that I don't like to shop and buy things for other people because I do. I just like buying it for myself more! Just kidding....well only half kidding, but I digress. I dread Christmas because it is so focused on presents and some people are hard to shop for and I stress out that they won't adore their present. I like Thanksgiving a lot better since it is all about cooking and eating! Christmas present buying also does a big number on my wallet, I wish I was rich and could buy super nice things for the ones I love, but they will just have to settle for bargain/small presents for another year. The end of this year has not been easy on our wallets, the move was super expensive and we just had to fix our car, so you know that one is still stinging! I actually found some great stuff today and it was my first time in a Kohl's. That is my new favorite store!! They have the best deals!! It was also nice out today for shopping because there was hardly anyone in the stores. This snow thing is growing on me already.

Turkey Day in Boston

Turkey, stuffing, and wine…oh my! Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday. It’s all about being surrounded by good food and family/friends. This year I was dreading the calorie laden holiday since Jeremy and I couldn’t go home and be with my family. Thankfully (pun intended), Jeremy’s mom and sister came to Boston to celebrate with his brother and wife, so we trekked up to Boston for turkey day. Even though the thought of Thanksgiving had brought tears to my eyes leading up to it, we had a great time with Jeremy’s family and got to see the sights of Boston. I just wish there had been leftovers of turkey sandwiches and stuffing to eat the next day, but oh well. Next year!

Zach hosted Thanksgiving for the Beulieu's and a few other folks. It was an awesome dinner, complete with turkey cooked with bacon, grand marnier stuffing, corn, brussel sprouts (my new favorite food...I never had them before), sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce, and rolls. The only thing missing was the pickles! Here is a picture of our host Zach and the next one is Corey cutting the juicy turkey.




So Boston is my new favorite city! Why, oh why, did Harvard reject Jeremy? I guess settling for Yale is alright…the architecture at Yale is much more grandiose than Harvard. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Harvard!

Corey and Caroline live right next to the Public Gardens and Boston Common. We stayed at a hotel in the theatre district (less than a mile away). Every morning we would get up, walk to Starbucks to start our day, and cut through the Commons and the Garden. Their place is a street away from Newbury Street which is where all the fancy schmancy stores are. Placed among Valentino, Cole Haan, and other expensive stores that I can’t name was a Filene’s Basement. I was so excited! We went in the day after Thanksgiving. It really wasn’t that crazy. I would compare it to a Marshall’s or TJ Maxx, but with some better designer stuff. I had self control and didn’t buy anything.
(Jeremy practicing his Tyra pose at the Public Gardens)
(me in front of Filene's)
(The State House)

The great thing about Boston is that it is a big city, but it isn’t overwhelming. You can pretty much walk anywhere and the T is really easy to use. The day after Thanksgiving we avoided shopping (except for a quick morning stop at Filene’s) and opted for a tour of the city led by Jeremy’s brother. Corey was an awesome tour guide! We started walking towards Beacon Hill and took customary tourist photos in front of Cheers. Then we walked along the Freedom Trail to the grave of Samuel Adams. Side note: I was excited to go on the Freedom Trail, for some reason I thought it was going to be like a hiking trail with lots of trees, maybe a brook running through...I didn’t realize it was a red line that goes through the city. It was awesome and I’m not sure why I thought it was something more surrounded by nature, I guess the “trail” in the name through me off. Anyhoo, the graveyard was pretty interesting. The headstones were very intricate. There was another graveyard along the “trail”, but after traipsing though the first plot of dead people, we had seen enough. Next up on our whirlwind tour of Boston was Fanuil Hall. Outside of the hall we saw some street performers doing some break dancing. We walked around the shops that were outside, (unique shops like Ann Taylor and Urban Outfitters) and April tried to find something warm at Gap. It was really cold outside! My hands were numb and I had gloves on. (I really need to buy non-California gloves) Then we went inside Fanuil Hall. The first floor had shops with touristy stuff to buy and the second floor was the hall where all the greats gathered. The hall was very impressive and you could feel the aura of greatness hanging in the rafters. Next up on Corey’s tour was the North End. I was excited to go there because I had heard it was a really cute little Italy area and also the residence of Paul Revere. I was more excited for Italian food, but Paul Revere is pretty cool too. We ate a late lunch at a cute little Italian place, I ordered a delicious soup that came ten minutes after everyone else was served. I have bad restaurant Karma. Maybe I should tip everyone 20% regardless of service. Hmm… I will think about it. After lunch it was starting to get dark and it was really cold, so we went to buy some cannoli’s at Mike’s. Jeremy’s mom had been there before and said we just HAD to try their cannoli’s. The place was packed…there were people packed at the few tables inside and a really long line along the counter. I used my extreme navigating skills to jump to the front of the mass of people waiting to order and we successfully got our cannoli’s in record time. Our first day of sight-seeing was great and we finished off the night at Corey & Caroline’s pad eating pumpkin soup and cannoli’s. Those things were AMAZING! I am still having dreams of them at night. Here are some pic's of the sites...










On Saturday Jeremy and I wanted to get some more sight-seeing/eating in. We started off walking in the bitter cold to the U.S.S. Constitution. Apparently this is some kind of big boat. Just kidding! Corey had wanted us to walk to it the day before, but it was getting dark and cold and so we decided to see it the next day. I kept joking with Jeremy, calling it a boat, and he would get mad and tell me it was a ship. Not just any ship though, a ship that was a major part of his childhood. Who know Jeremy was in love with this ship? When we got there we decided to go on board since it was free and Jeremy had been longing to see this “boat” since he was a child and missed out on a family trip where the rest of his family got to see it. Did you know that the U.S.S Constitution is heavily guarded…just like at an airport, we had to go through security. Yeah, I bet the terrorists are just waiting to take over that ship. I don’t know what America would do without it. I must have looked like a terrorist in my big puffy jacket because when I set off the metal detector I got pulled aside and had to pull up my pants to my knees. Good thing I wasn’t packing my AK47 and knife! After making fun of the U.S.S. Constitution, it had it’s revenge on me. While taking a picture I banged my head on some boat thing. It hurt really bad and Jeremy laughed, pointed, and took pictures of my agony. After looking at the boat we walked back to Tami and April’s hotel to say goodbye. I have never been so cold in my life, my feet and hands were frozen!





After saying a short goodbye to Tami and April (Long story- but no one thought they would get a flight out…April ended up getting on a flight), Jeremy and I headed back to the North End for some clam chowder at America’s oldest tavern, The Bell in Hand. I have to say, the chowder didn’t even come close to Splash in Pismo Beach, but the clams were hearty. Next up on our clipboard of fun was going to Cambridge and seeing Harvard. We took the T and managed to not get lost. Thank you Jeremy! Harvard was nice, but Yale is prettier. Cambridge was bustling with people and seemed like a great college town. We had a drink at the coolest place ever….Upstairs On The Square. It was decorated in bright colors and had funky furniture. Check it out…www.upstairsonthesquire.com. After our coffee and baileys we headed back on the T and met up with Tami. We all went to Corey and Caroline’s and had one of the funniest nights ever.



We decided to grab some wine and ordered pizza in. Corey & Caroline’s friends were going to come over and they had talked about going out. Tami, Jeremy, and I didn’t want to go out, but we said they could ditch us after dinner. Well, after having a glass of wine or glasses…the music came on and the singing began. We basically made our own Karoke bar in Corey’s apartment. I am sure the neighbors loved it. Hairbrushes and curling irons were broken out as microphones. It was truly hilarious and classic!



Since Sunday is the day of rest, our trip had to come to an end. We said our goodbyes and took off on the open road. Apparently a lot of other people set out on the road as well and it wasn’t open at all. It took us almost 4 hours to get home (It is only a 2 hour drive). All in all, it was a better Thanksgiving than I imagined and good times were had by all! Boston is my new favorite city…sorry Chicago!

The Big Game

We had been looking forward to the weekend because we were going to the big game...Yale v. Harvard and tailgating beforehand. Phin & Carla were coming in from NYC to visit and go to the game with us. We dropped a car off early at the festivites and then we met people from Jeremy's lab around 9:30 to go get the festivities started. Well, of course, people were late and we didn't actually leave until 10am. (this is my biggest pet peeve ever!) Anyways, then we had to fight the traffic to get to the stadium. The traffic was really unbelievable, but we got lucky and found a place to park on the street and walked the rest of the way there. Here is a picture of the traffic.

Once we got there, the masses of yalies and harvard preppies were buzzing with pre-game excitement. Basically just lots of people dressed in blue and crimson. It was very festive. We were lucky and our car was parked close to a stero set-up so we had some tunes to listen to. Jeremy and I brought the famed "skip n' go naked" juice to get the party started. There is nothing like starting to drink at 10:30am to get your motor goin'. It was pretty cold out, so when the hot chocolate and baileys was broken out, we welcomed it into our hands and mouths. Here is a picture of me with Christen and Kristin double fisting it...


And then there was Phin...triple fisting it!

After tailgating for a while, we decided to go into the Yale Bowl and catch the game. I have to say...it seemed more like high school football than college. The stadium was kinda small, but the saddest thing (besides Yale losing horribly) was the half time show. Man was it nerdy!! Yale had constructed pterodactyl and a big dinosaur type thing and there was this whole story that went along with it. I feel that if they put that energy into practicing football, we might have scored some more points. Here is a picture of the halftime show.

After the amazing show and checking the scoreboard, we decided our time was better spent tailgating.

On our way back, we happened upon a preppie that had had waaaaay too much fun and needed a little nap. This is just some random dude.


After we got back to our spot, Christen took us to play a little cornhole. I had seen this game before, but never knew what it was called. People play it on the beach in SD. It is like horse shoes, but you throw bean bags into a board with a hole in it. Christen and I lost horrible to some guys. Oh well, it was fun, besides the guy trying to convince me that my name was Angel.

The weather had started to get super chilly and the skip n'go naked was all gone, so we decided it was time to call it a day. I navigated our car out of the parking lot...and this is where the story gets really good...So we are waiting in traffic, once again, this time to get out of the Yale Bowl and there was a group of older people tailgaiting. We thought it would be a good idea to dare Jeremy to steal one of their cookies off of their table. Jeremy decided he would do it and took off running from the car like a mad man on a mission. He ran to the table, grabbed a cookie, and bolted back. The old people started yelling (all in fun) and laughing. Then one of the ladies came up to our car with a glass of chardonnay in her hand and offered us muffin tops. She was distracing us while one of the men stole our cooler from the car. We were all laughing hysterically when another lady came over and offered us brownies and sandwiches that were labeled "tuna" and "turkey." She asked us who we were rooting for and we said Yale and she said "good. If you were from Harvard we would take everything back." They took pictures with us in the car. It was hilarious!!!

The episode must have made everyone in the back of the car pretty tired. While I was sitting in traffic, this is what transpired in the back seat...




We made it home and around 5pm and it felt like it was midnight, but we rallied for some dinner and then passed out around 10:30pm. Here are some more pics of the game for your viewing pleasure.





We woke up on Sunday all rested and ready for the day...well all of us except for Phin....

Ha ha! Not really, this is in the car after walking around. Phin was showing off his amazing greasy hairdo. This took days of work!

We went to breakfast and then checked out Yale. The colors are really beautiful now. Here are some pics. I can't get over the red colors. It is truely breathtaking and I don't think the pictures fully capture the beauty.




All in all, it was a great weekend!!! Up next...Schacalieu takes on Boston with the Beaulieu's for Thanksgiving!

Happy Monday

Ah, Monday...say goodbye to the weekend and hello to the start of a new week. It has been pretty cold here lately and I have been trying really hard to stay warm.

This is my cute outfit to try and stay warm inside the house. I'm heating my hands over the stove. Not to worry, we do have heating but since we are on the top floor we haven't had to turn it on...yet.

This weekend Jeremy and I took a field trip to Hartford. It's about 40 minutes away from New Haven. I wish I had my camera because the colors were beautiful. I have never seen a red leaves like that before. Anyways, we headed to Hartford to check out Crate & Barrel for registering. That's right...we can't wait to get asparagus tongs and wine glasses. ha ha! Registering was fun, I think I always want to shop with a scanner. It adds a nice element to browsing. Realizing that our day out was spent registering for stuff, we felt so domesticated. We didn't have enough time for Home Depot and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but maybe next weekend.

The Crate & Barrel was actually in West Hartford and had alot of cute shops and restaurants in about a three block area. All around the area were painted cows. I didn't have my camera to take any goofy pictures, but here is one that I found on the web. I plan on going back and taking oodles of pictures with the cows.



We also found a Whole Foods there!!! I was ecstatic. We didn't go in though because we found it as we were leaving. I swear, I will drive 40 minutes for their tofu and fabulous chicken & blue cheese burgers! Oh, how I miss the WF salad bar for lunch with my PEPsters.


On Sunday we went to the movies and saw American Gangster. We liked it, but don't really think that it should be getting Oscar buzz. I wouldn't deter anyone from going, but I wouldn't say you have to run out to see it either. We saw a preview for a independent film called Juno. It looks awesome! Jason Bateman is in it along with George Michael from Arrested Development. I am definitely going to run out to see this one! The movie theatre in New Haven has $5 movies on Sunday at 11am with $2 Mimosa's. They play older movies like The Princess Bride and since we are getting close to the holidays they will be showing A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation. I think this is brilliant and cannot wait to go!

Next weekend we will be going to the Harvard/Yale game and plan on tailgating before. I am sure there will be some good pictures and stories!!!

Winter has arrived

As I write this post today, it is roughly 44 degrees outside, there is a wind advisory, and the rain has just cleared up. I am sitting in my chair with a beenie, blanket, sweats, and uggs on. I have been FREEZING all day. That's right people...winter is finally here. I am scared to see what January and February are like because apparently those are the coldest months. At least it's not humid! I am going to keep reminding myself of that.

Besides trying to stay warm, things have been pretty quiet for Jeremy and myself. We did venture to New York to hang out with Phin, Carla, and Jake for a little Halloween party. It was a great time filled with awesome costumes and even more awesome karaoke. I think that is my favorite thing about New York, they have karaoke places where you go into your own little room with all of your friends and sing your heart out. This appeals to me because I have a horrible singing voice and only want to inflict pain on my closest friends, not strangers. Although, I don't know if that is fair...oh well.

So Jeremy and I were traveling gnomes this Halloween and I think everyone really enjoyed our costumes. Here we are in all our glory...


At my work we had a Halloween party and I dressed in Jeremy's costume. I thought I would be more recognizable as the traveling gnome if I was the boy. I didn't win our costume contest, although I think I was shafted because I am a temp. I did bake cookies and with Jeremy's help they were decorated as awesome bloodshot eyeballs.


So that is about it from New Haven. We still keep our head on a swivel when driving or walking because you never know what some crazy person is going to do. We got honked at while walking in a crosswalk and of course I started freaking out on the lady. I just gave her a nasty look and yelled what the hell. Jeremy had to hold me back. I think I need to start meditating because I obviously have some anger issues to work out. Or maybe I should just start taking Paxil. Hmmm, at least I have options. I wish my option was to move back to San Diego where it is sunny and I have friends.

Speaking of San Diego, for the past week I have been fixated on the news surrounding the fires. So far everyone I know has been affected in some way, but I think things are getting back to normal and all of their houses were safe. I just want everyone there to know that I have been worried and thinking about them. Here are some crazy pictures that my old roomie lil' naf sent to me. It really is horrible and beautiful. When tragedy like this strikes it really makes you appreciate your life and to not get too hung up on the negative. Life is too short and too fragile not to make the most of it.




I hope everyone is doing good. Thanks to everyone who has been calling or writing us. It really makes my day when I get a message or email from people we know. Until next time...You know we will be trying to stay warm and dodging cars!!!