Keen for 2018

I am completely in love with this time of year. I think it’s incredible. I love the hustle and bustle of shopping, the pretty lights, and everyone’s festive spirit. With the exception of the weather, this time of year is my favorite.

That being said, I am really looking forward to the new year. I feel myself getting excited by home improvement projects (adulting, am I right?) and a fresh start. I’ve never been one for new year’s resolutions, so I won’t say I’ve gone so far as to plan something I actually want to stick to, but I am excited to get some things accomplished.

I have a list about a mile long of projects that I want to get done and I honestly don’t think they are all going to be completed within 2018, but I’m not super stressed about completing them either. It’s a weird feeling for me to have. Like, usually having a long list like I have would stress me out. This year, I’m just going into it with a more relaxed attitude and will accomplish as much as I can. No pressure.

I’m also incredibly stoked to have 10 straight days off work starting tomorrow afternoon!

Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone!

Roadtripping to Radio City & The Rockettes: The Rewind

After a frustrating week of video editing (including but not limited to being completely done with the video and then losing EVERYTHING from a corrupted file), the vlog Boyfriend and I put together about NYC is done!

New York was absolutely incredible and I loved it! The Rockettes made it spectacular and they were even better than what I had previously imagined. I hope to make it back to NYC very soon!

Enjoy the rewind!

Roadtripping to Radio City & The Rockettes: The Countdown

The countdown is on!!!

There’s officially one week until I leave for New York City and I could not be more ecstatic about this trip.

It’s been about two and half weeks since Boyfriend surprised me with tickets to go see the Rockettes in New York. I haven’t blogged about it until now because it’s taken me this long to figure out how to put my excitement into words.

I FRIGGIN’ LOVE THE ROCKETTES.

Going to see the Rockettes in NYC has been a dream of mine for years. I was even in a tap kickline group in college that only furthered my appreciation for the beautiful ensemble of women that is the Rockettes. Also while in college, I did an entire project/speech in my dance choreography class about them because I wanted everyone to know how amazing they are. Everything they do, everything they touch is pure gold. I am a super huge fan and still cannot even try to begin to express my emotions about the experience I’m about to have. Boyfriend and I bought tour tickets for the Radio City Music Hall and we even get to meet a Rockette when we’re there!

I figure I’m going to cry at least five times during this glorious road trip:

1. When we wake up at 3 am to leave for NYC (partially because it will be 3 am and partially because we are going to NYC and I’ve never been there and lastly because it will be T minus one day until we see the Rockettes).
2. When we arrive in New York (because the city is beautiful from what I hear and also because we are that much closer to seeing the Rockettes).
3. When we meet a Rockette (because duh…)
4. Before, during and after the show (It’ll just be one continuous cry, probably through the entire thing because it’s going to be so beautiful… I have to remind Boyfriend to bring about 14885752369 boxes of tissues.)
5. When we leave NYC (because who doesn’t love NYC, right?!)

I’ve already warned Boyfriend that I may or may not pass out while meeting a Rockette. He’s prepared… Or at least he thinks he is.

I could probably go on for DAYS about how amazing and superior the Rockettes are. BUT, I am also just really excited for the city of New York. Like I said, I’ve never been and I hear it’s pretty much the cat’s pajamas (oh wow, I’m getting old).

The plan is to arrive Friday afternoon, grab some food (New York style pizza, of course) and then sightsee for a little bit in southern Manhattan. Saturday is going to be packed, but we have from early morning to 10 pm (when the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular starts) to cram in as much as we can. Sunday, we don’t really have much time so we are pretty much going to eat breakfast and hit the road for home.

Boyfriend and I sat on Google Maps and pretty much mapped out everything we want to do and see. There are 21 items on our list, but we are determined to cover them all. It’s probably going to be freezing and miserable outside, but that’s why I’m all about the layers, especially on this trip. I don’t know when we are going to go back to NYC, so I am prepared to spend about two minutes at every stop. I just want to see it all. I have no idea how realistic this is going to be, but I plan on lacing up my running shoes and hitting pavement ALL DAY. I’m also going to need about 5 coffees Saturday morning, probably more.

Wish me luck, y’all!

P.S. Send tissues.

Moving Montage

Hey, guys!

I don’t know if you remember, but in my Dog Mom For Days post, I mentioned making a video of our whole moving experience. A couple disclaimers here:

1. Boyfriend and I are total amateurs when it comes to shooting video and video editing. That being said, we learned a TON from making this video and plan to record a lot more! (We just got a new camera today and plan to take it with us everywhere.)
2. The video is quite a bit longer than we expected, but we still feel like we didn’t capture everything. What you are about to see is just a snapshot of the work we did in our new home.
3. Our house is not done yet by any stretch of the imagination! We want to do more, buy more, be more! So be prepared for more home improvement adventures from us.

Okay… Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Here it is! Enjoy!

 

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

Do y’all feel it in the air?

I DO! IT’S BASICALLY FALL NOW!

Sooo… I pretty much want everything flavored with pumpkin spice. C’mon Starbucks! Give us a release date for that PSL already! (Maybe September 1st?)

On the bright side, Dunkin’ has their stuff figured out this year.

Dog Mom For Days

Hello, beautiful people!

How long has it been? A year and a half? Life, man. It goes by so quickly!

Anyway… How have y’all been? I’ve just been enjoying this crazy thing called life one day at a time. I’m sure a lot has happened since you last heard from me, too. Let’s start with the two biggest things that happened:

1. I bought my first home! YAY! It was a really good experience and I’m ultimately glad I chose to do it. Boyfriend and I are now 5 months in and we are still loving homeownership, so that’s a plus! We took a bunch of video while we were going through the process of moving (and remodeling) so we are finally going through all the footage, cutting, splicing, and dicing our way into a finished product everyone (including y’all) will be able to eventually see. Our video editing software has crashed a few times, but it seems to be good now, so we are well on our way to something awesome!
2. We bought a puppy! This happened before the purchase of our home, but since this post will be about her, I figured I’d put it second on the list. She is ADORABLE! When we got her, she was just 3 months old, weighing in at a hefty 5 pounds. As far as breed goes, we are certain she’s part Rat Terrier. We were told she’s mixed with English Shepherd, which makes sense once you look at her, but I’m still not entirely convinced. We named her Hallie and she now is fully grown at about 15 pounds.

I’m sure I will give you a lot more background on her in a different post, but for now…

It’s crazy how we’ve had Hallie for a year now and I went from hating everything living (plants, kids, animals) to being a hardcore dog mom. Hallie is the most spoiled dog ever, I swear. I find myself wanting things now that I never would have dreamed of wanting before. For example, I really want this pair of friendship bracelets. You get one for you to wear on your wrist and another for your dog to wear as a collar. And also this dog mom shirt. It’s the cutest thing ever! I never wanted to be a mother to anything and now my dog is basically my child.

Another thing I reallllly wanted? A birthday party for Hallie when she turned one. A birthday party?! For a dog?! Yes. I wanted it. And it happened. She was the most adorable thing ever in her party hat and “It’s My Birthday” bandanna. Boyfriend and I made a buttload (yes, that’s an actual unit of measure) of homemade dogs treats, handed out goody bags for Hallie’s dog friends and even had Subway catered (for our human friends). Hallie had a birthday cake and the whole shebang. It was awesome.

Hallie’s First Birthday

So now, especially after that day, I’ve decided I’m a crazy dog mom and it’s totally okay. This is one of the few things that I really enjoy about being a millennial – They have embraced dog ownership full-force and I think it’s freakin’ awesome.

Some things I do for my dog, I’m well-aware are absolutely ridiculous, but I don’t have actual children so I feel as though these things are okay. Like what? Well, I just spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon this weekend at the off-leash dog run. She loves it there and I had nothing better to do, so why not go and let her run around with her friends? I buy her things, lots of things, just because she’s a really good girl and I want to reward her. She could be just sitting there and I’ll tell her how good she is. Ridiculous, right? For Christmas last year, we took her to see Santa and on Christmas morning, she had a stocking full of toys. On Easter, we took her to see the Easter bunny, but he was really creepy and Hallie hated him, so we won’t be doing that again. She has a sweater or bandanna for every single holiday or season. Why? I have no idea, but she looks super cute wearing them. Sometimes, I even go through the Dairy Queen drive thru to order a small ice cream just for her.

Oh, well. At least my dog will have a really good life. I’m okay knowing that.

These Memes, Though!

I’ll leave this here just because these memes cracked me up and are completely accurate: http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/memes-in-2015?utm_term=.at6qOx0r8R#.fkV2XAqnk4