Sunday, November 28, 2010

The One Where I'm Thankful

In honor of Thanksgiving weekend, I have accumulated a long list of what I'm thankful for right now.

I'm thankful for a husband that I not only love, but that I actually like. He makes me laugh, is thoughtful and caring, and the man cleans our house every day. He also folds my laundry and brings me breakfast in bed. Whenever he does something ridiculous (which is pretty often), I remind myself that I haven't emptied the dishwasher or scrubbed a pan in months = )

I'm thankful for an amazing family. They are awesome and hilarious and fun and crazy and I'm proud to call them mine!

I am thankful for my friends. I have an amazing group of friends. I remember going through sorority recruitment and being a bit skeptical on whether or not Greek life was for me and a girl said something along the lines of "the girls you meet here will be in your wedding one day-they will be your lifelong friends". This was so true. We have stood by each other through hook ups, break ups, family problems, relationship problems, engagements, weddings, and babies. Even though we met as 18 year old adults, we really all grew up together and it has been amazing to watch my crazy, party animal friends achieve their school and career goals and become wives and mothers. I am so proud to know them.

I am also thankful for Girls Night Out! Despite the fact that we are all busy with work, home, or life in general, we all make a point to have a good ol' fashioned GNO at least once a month. No matter how much we all love the guys in our life, it's great to have dinner, drinks, and gossip time with the girls.

On that note, I'm thankful that we all have husbands/boyfriends that never say a word when us girls have our nights out. I couldn't imagine being in a relationship like that and I'm thankful that we each maintained our independence.

I am thankful that I have gotten to see so much of the world. I have traveled around the world with my family, and John and I have been to various countries Europe four times together since we met. My parents weren't the kind of people to slow down once they had kids, and they packed me up and took me around the world right along with them, my first overseas trip being when I was 6 months old.

I am thankful for my home. I am lucky to own a house, and I sometimes (or maybe more than sometimes) complain about wanting to move, but I know that I'm lucky to have a beautiful home.

I am thankful for my pets. They really do bring joy to my life, and I don't care if that makes me a crazy old cat lady!

I am thankful that I married someone who shares my love for animals. He has let me fill the house with creatures that I have rescued even when that means that everything he owns is covered in fur.

I am thankful for my job. I get to work with my husband, my family, and my friends. When something about work frustrates me I have to remind myself that I get to go to work everyday and hang out with some of my best friends. It's a pretty cool gig.

And now for the less serious, but equally important list of what I'm thankful for:

I am thankful for Mexican food. I just can't get enough.

I am thankful for LA Fitness (see above)

I am thankful for Starbucks. It has become a problem, but I just can't start my day without a double tall skinny vanilla latte-iced.

Ugly slipper socks that are just too comfy to not wear

Sweat pants and pj's

Fire places on winter days

Peppermint mochas

The Office (provides me with many quotes that I can use at work)

Pretty much all of the HBO and Showtime shows

Tall boots with skinny jeans

Nordstrom half yearly sale (coming up next week!)

A good book

Date nights with my hubster

Friday nights in (because we all need one sometimes)

Home cooked meals (everything just tastes better when someone cooks it for you)

Butt warmers in cars (I seriously use them year-round)

Ugg Boots. I know that every man fails to comprehend how glorious they really are, and I know how unattractive they think they are, but I will always stand by my uggs. I just promise to never wear them with shorts.

Hope that you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! 27 days till Christmas!!

Monday, November 22, 2010

The One With All The Costumes

John hates the fall. He really, really loathes it. Anytime anything goes wrong from Sep to Dec, he blames it on the season. But, for someone who hates everything about Fall, he sure does love Halloween. It is safe to say that it's one of his favorite times of the year. We always go all out on Halloween, and the last few years we have hosted a party at my parents house-which is way more condusive to parties than our humble abode. This year was special-my dad turned 50 the day after Halloween, so we had a huge bash in his honor Halloween weekend. One thing I have learned over the years is that my parents friends can out-party many of mine (which is quite a feat in itself), so when we combine parties, it can get pretty rowdy!
Here's a little flash back at some Halloweens' past:

Hmmm...maybe 2004-'Lil John and his gurl


John as Matisyahu...Halloween 2005


Lt. Dangle and his Reno 911 Counterpart-Halloween 2006

Manny Ramirez (back when he was a Red Sox) Halloween 2007


From Left: Chuck Norris, Sexy Ref, Manny Ramirez, Red Sox Chick, Beer-a-Nators


Halloween 2008: John as a beautiful member of the Red Hat Society, and me in a far less interesting costume (I had been in Florida all week for work and we got caught in Hurricane Fay, so I didn't pick out a costume until an hour before our Halloween bash...)

All the "Gals"

Halloween 2009: Kept it simple...Here Kitty Kitty


Halloween 2010: Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats Oooooooh!


Cheetara and Lion-O in the Flesh


John had a childhood obsession with the Thundercats and somehow managed to convince me to wear spandex in public all night in order to pull of an authentic Cheetara. I must love the guy or something! I also demonstrated my commitment to him by shaving the parts of his body that were, let's say, unreachable by him and by slathering that orange body paint on every. single.inch of his body. Again, must be love, right??