Upstate New York

Remember that time I went to New York and it took me a month to blog about it? Yes, I'm finally getting around to it.  
So I won't lie and say that the start of our trip to New York was perfect because it ended up being the furthest thing from it.  I learned that the bf does not function well under minimal sleep and lots of stress.  It all started with a phone call at 11:30 pm that our 8 am flight from Indianapolis to Chicago was canceled. After an hour of both waiting on the line and straightening everything out I made the executive decision to take the 6:30 am flight, which would take us to Detroit and then to Upstate.  The other option was to take a 1:40 pm flight but that would get us there rather late and my thought process was well I would rather be with my family and tired then still be in Indiana. But the bf had a lot going on at work and really wanted a good nights sleep in his own bed, which I get but I don't get to see my family that much so my mindset was just to get the hell home! Anyways we got in a fight and I ended up driving us to the airport at 2:30 am because we couldn't sleep and it's about an hour and 20 mins to the airport anyways.  Fights happen especially under stress but it is all how you work through it together. After talking through it, he apologized and we moved forward.  When we got there my brothers Sean and Liam and his wife and 2 kids were there. It was such a gorgeous day and we spent it outside drinking beers, playing corn hole, eating yummy New York pizza, and laughing about old times.  Couldn't have been more perfect!  

Corn hole with my brothers Liam and Sean! And yes my mom has flamingos in her yard...

Friday all the ladies went and got mani and pedis while the men did some honey do list items in preparation for my moms wedding. (Number 79 on my 101 Things List)  We stopped and got a cocktail before heading home, because well we all love to drink and why not? The rest of Friday was spent getting things done outside prepping for the rehearsal/wedding!  All the guys wanted to do was play cornhole, needless to say they were somewhat useless.   At this point I was still freaking out about the toast I would have to give because that's what I do I stress myself out for no apparent reason at all other than to raise my blood pressure. After the rehearsal run through and hanging with family it was time to get away for a little bit. Phil and I went into town to meet up with my sistew Erin and meet her new BF!!!

Sister in-law! 

Saturday was obviously all about the wedding!  For those that don't know I don't have your typical family.  My Mom and Dad were married for 25 years, had four kids and then my mom came out of the closet.  So now I have 2 Moms.  They have been together since I was 12 so my Moms now wife has been a big part of my life.
I wanted to be there for my mom and help her in any way.  For the most part all the flowers were set up it was just finishing all the last minute touches, lighting all the candles, talking to the caterer, and getting ready which took way longer for me than it needed to.  I had a hair crises because the lady showed up late and didn't have time to do my hair, which I would have been fine with but I didn't have anything with me to do my hair but my bf went and got me bobby pins and my Aunt saved the day and helped me out.  The wedding itself was just beautiful and comical.  2 year olds are just so unpredictable.  My lil nephew was supposed to walk down the aisle with me but he decided that was not happening.  So Martha, my moms wife picked him up and he was kicking and screaming the entire way they walked down the aisle, everyone was cracking up!  Haha and then half way through the ceremony my little niece fell on the stone and started screaming.  It was simply perfect because it just sums up our family. 

My family! 

Decorations!

The Toast (Which I have to say is all about the delivery) It was a huge hit, both with tears and laughter!  

Good evening family and friends!   First off, congratulations to the newest married couple of Trumansburg.  You both look beautiful tonight.   I can’t express how happy I am that this day has arrived, that you two are finally able to stand here as a married. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time and I can only imagine that these two have been waiting even longer.  It truly is such an honor to be part of this special day and a moment I will never forget.

Martha, welcome to the family officially, even though I already considered you to be, you’re a brave one because we sure haven’t made it easy. You have supported me through good times and bad.  We have had many fights but yet so many more hugs.  You truly have become a parent figure in my life.  Most importantly you have brought laughter and joy back into my mom’s life and when I see you two look at one another it’s obvious of the love and happiness you both share.  So I thank you for being an incredible partner for my mom, but also thank you for considering me the daughter you never had.  Please take care of her and treasure each moment you have together.  I love you.

To my beautiful mother and best friend, I can’t express how happy I am to be a part of this day with you. There isn't a time looking back that you haven't been there for me or supported me in the newest crazy idea that I seem to come up with. You truly are an inspiration to me and I find myself being more and more like you every day and I am so proud.  You stand up for what you believe in and fight for what you love.  So today I am here to support you and your love for Martha, I couldn’t have been more honored to stand by your side when you said “I do”.  I love you to the moon and back!

To the two of you, you've both worked hard to get here today and when life handed you difficulties, it did not make you bitter, it made you better. Your marriage to each other is a true triumph and example of a love that I look up to.  I’m a big believer in the idea that when it comes to the person you’re meant to be with, when you know, you know. (Thats when I looked at Philip) Today’s beautiful bride and bride, are the perfect example of this.  Congratulations and enjoy each day of your marriage together. Be friends to each other, share each others hopes and fill each others dreams.  Let’s raise our glasses to the happy couple, to my Mom and Martha, Cheers and I love you both.  

 

The Toast!  (Number 92 on my 101 Things in 1001 Days List)

 
The rest of the wedding was spent mingling with everyone, eating, and of course drinking and dancing!

Sister!!!

My mom knows how to get down!

My Mom and the Maid of Honors!

Paper Lanterns.

Sunday Phil I get to spend all day with my sistew, her new man, and her family.  We walked the Watkins Glen gorges where we got the booty workout of the week with the 2 miles of stairs, had lunch on Seneca Lake, hit up some wineries for tasting (Number 13 on my list), went to a family friends pool, and ended the night with a bonfire/hot tub party in the pouring rain. It was a fun filled drunk fest of a day!  This my friends was the day that I consumed far too many adult beverages and the pool was about the time that I bawled my eyes out on my best friends lap because I miss her.  

Seneca Lake

Best Friend and her Man! 

Friends

The rest of the trip was spent being with my family and showing the bf around all the local joints! It was so nice to be home for 6 days because I don't get the chance to be home that often.  It's a 10.5 hour drive or an expensive plane ticket, aint nobody got time for dat.  

Just playing cards with my cat....jk Fun night playing skipbo and drinking beers with the family and Phil

The rip roaringggg Falls 

Ithaca Guns

House built by Frank Lloyd Wright behind us.  

Now I am back home and its already been a month because I suck and I'm still sad because I miss my family and friends!  I'm glad the bf got to be part of it, I'm glad I got to spend so much time with my sister and her new boo, which by the way I approve, he's a keeper, i'm happy that I got to be with all three of my brothers, i'm so happy to have been part of my mom and her partner's wedding (Number 7 on my list), and I got to check off lots of items on my list, which is a good feeling!  Good news is both my Mom and Dad will be visiting in November, but not at the same time of course and I get to see sister on a cruise for a whole week in 3 months! Party dance! :)        

Independence, Babies and Rearranging

Last night our neighbors were having a tree cut down, which I am not happy about because it was a pretty tree and I love the look of our street with the trees (I sound like a treehugger but I'm okay with that!), anyways the tree fell on the power line that is connected to our house.  We didn't have any power and it blew most of our circuits and appliances!  Not happy! :(

All last week I felt like a big pile of poo, it was just that time of the month so it was nice to get out this weekend. Most all of my weekends are spent with Phil, very rarely do we spend them apart, actually I don't think we have spent a weekend apart unless Phil was out of town for business.  Saturday we did our separate things because I had a hair appointment in Indy and Phil had a work engagement.  Early Saturday I went and got new glasses and because I'm always so behind on weekend recap posts, I already picked them up.  

Selfie

I've already talked about how much I love my hair dresser Brenna, she is just so amazing with hair! Since the cash flow is low these days saving for vacations I just did I trim. My hair has never been this healthy...I can actually brush my hair without it being a total birds nest, I owe it all to Brenna!  I love it and it makes my life so much easier.  I went and met up with my old rooms Amy to check out her newish place and to see my cat that she kindly adopted when I moved in with Phil.  Sadly he is allergic to cats, which makes me sad but at least I can go visit.  Do cats remember people because I feel like she remembered me! She sat with me the whole time and even sat on my shoulders.  She's a total psycho cat by the way, I don't know what's with me and having crazy animals but they just gravitate towards me.  Not sure what that says about me...but I'll leave it at that .   

Just hanging with my lil girl Cayuga, named after Cayuga Lake in Upstate NY

She had to get ready for a wedding so then I went over to my brother Liam's place to hang out with my niece and nephew! I can't get over how big they are getting! Why must they grow up so fast? 

They love their bikes!

Next stop was to meet up with my girl Megan, we worked together at my previous job and both got the hell out of there. Anyways I wanted to catch up with her because her and her fiance postponed their Wedding and she is a total wreck, which I would be too in that situation.  Honestly though I didn't know what to say to her because nothing you say is going to make her feel better.  It's supposed to be a happy time and all that jazz but instead she's moving in with her brother and drinking lots of vodka, rum and bourbon.  You know all the strong stuff.  I really hope they can work things out because I know how much she loves him and wants to be with him, plus I thought they were a good match.  You never know what happens behind closed doors. 
After that I was so ready to get back him and see my bf!  Haha I'm so lame but I just love hanging out with him! Our options our limited as to what the heck to do in our town so we decided to go check out the Hog Festival, which is basically a big motorcycle fest where people who have bikes get together.  There are tons and tons of bikes and some a really bad rock band.  It just was not my cup of tea, and besides I was cold because I did not dress for the fall weather.  We decided to meet up with a few people at a local bar called Folkies which is your typical townie type bar.  Apparently they have crab races and is a must see....only in my town does this stuff exist, I swear I can't make these things up.

Sunday we hit up our usual breakfast spot, Bob Evans, which has now become our Sunday tradition. Afterwards I got in a cleaning mood, which doesn't happen often.  Phil and I got rid of all our area rugs...boo but our pups have ruined them with the stench of urine and poo. I polished all the floors and for a while we have been wanting to move our tv room in the room next to the kitchen.  It just makes more sense to have the two rooms closer and its so much better for entertaining and just the day to day flow.  Plus now we have a spare bedroom for friends and family to stay!  It ended up being a bigger project than I thought but it was so worth it!  We both love it, it just feel more like a home! We need to get a new media center,  a chair for the room, an area rug (hopefully they pups wont try to mark there territory on it!) and a new L shaped couch!  I'm really into renovating and redecorating the house so its more "ours".  The bachelor pad has got to go! If anyone has some great ideas or websites of fun, mid-century modern furniture let me know!  It's a work in progress and needs some more TLC but we're working on it! 

  

Anniversary Weekend

Side Note:  I’ve got this eye twitching thing going on now for like 5ish hours and all I want to do is go home and have a personal day consisting of catching up on my shows, taking a nice relaxing bath, ordering food, walking around the o’l hood and snuggling up with my Dragon.  These days that stuff never happens, I’ve just been so busy.

Now back to your main program:  Last week I shared about my love story with the bf because we just hit a milestone in our relationship, one year together!  So this weekend we celebrated.  Thursday was our actual Anniversary and I sent the bf 5 paper flowers at his work.  They were seriously awesome I ordered them from Paper Blooms by Rachel Little and she and her husband were so awesome and sent the order out super quick and just were really awesome.  She does bouquets, hair pins, single flowers; they are just amazing if anyone needs just a lil something different than just flowers.  Phil sent me a bouquet of flowers to work as well so I was all smiles the rest of the day!  For dinner I made all his favorite things.  I made chorizo sausage and marinated shrimp skewers, roasted potatoes with bacon, parmesan, garlic, and parsley, and some nice artisan bread.   I also planned on grilling pork chops and green beans but when I realized how much food we actually had there was no way the two of us would or should eat that much so I saved it for Friday night. 

Saturday morning I gave Philly his gifts, which seem pretty lame but I got him a really nice cheese board because he has been talking about it for a while now and also a framed picture of us for his office.  Also something you need to know about Phil is he is not cheesy or corny in any way but I totally am so as a joke but also serious I made him this 52 Things I love About You booklet out of a deck of cards.  He got a kick out of it and I’m pretty sure there was some eye rolling but hey I’m mushy and he loves me so it’s all good. 

We actually had an early appointment with an Animal Behaviorist for Dragon to see if there was any hope in fixing her behavior.  I’ll save this for another post.  After that emotional whirlwind of an hour we drove into Indy and stopped at the Fashion Mall.  We hit up all the furniture stores and looked at couches and things we are interested in being a majority of our furniture has been eaten by my dog.  We have some serious renovating and decorating that needs to happen to make the house more “ours” and homey.  The bf took me to Nordstrom to pick out a nice watch as his gift to me.  I was like really you couldn’t go do this yourself?  That’s just him though so I ended up picking out a Michael Kors.  I love it, I can’t some looking at my wrist. 

The next stop in our celebration was to visit Black Acre Brewery, the spot where we had our first date.  We had a cheese plate and a few beers and reminisced about the first time we met.  My old roommate happened to walk in, who I haven’t seen since I moved out and we caught up.  It was so nice to run into her.   For dinner we went to our favorite Restaurant downtown called St. Elmo’s, famous for their shrimp cocktail and steak.   During dinner we talked about some of our famous memories of the past year and I have to say we have an amazing life together and have some pretty fucking good times together.  It was good to reflect on those memories, it just made me feel really good about our relationship.  The plan was to head to the Irish Fest after dinner but we were both so tired and decided to just head back home and get a drink closer to home. 

Shrimp Cocktail  

Cheese Plate at Black Acre

One of my favorite parts of the day was that drive back. We literally spent the whole drive blasting Twenty One Pilots, which we are seeing in October and singing along too them and of course I was doing some car dancing.  It was just a “that’s so us” moment.  To top it of the sun was setting so it was a picture perfect moment.  Another item to check off the list on my 101 Things in 1001 Days list,  #27!

My Love Story

Today is a huge milestone for me because this day last year I met my boyfriend Philip for the first time.   This is also my longest relationship, I had an on/off “thing” for 2 years in college but I don’t count that because he sucked!  We chose today to celebrate our anniversary instead of when we actually became official because it was only 10 days later.  Yea folks, he moved quickly to lock me down.  We both had this instant connection, even the few text messages we shared before meeting it was just so easy and natural. We both fell hard in love quick but also became best friends.

Our Love Story

It all started back in September of 2012, my coworker/friend had just met her boyfriend, now fiancé on match.com.   I still didn’t know a ton of people so I figured why not give it a go and you can’t go wrong with free drinks and food, right?  I had gone on three dates which progressed from awful to okay.  Why was it so awkward?  As a girl on match its absurd at how many emails a day you get, I seriously couldn’t keep up.  So I figured I’d give it another week or so and that’s when I get an E-Mail from this fella name Philip which said “Hey, I’m getting off this thing but you were one of the girls I wanted to talk to, here’s my number if you are interested. “  Real smooth, right?  Yea, not.  So after reading his entire profile up and down I decided that I would text him but not till the next day.  So many stinkin rules with dating, I’m honestly glad I’m over that. 

After 6ish hours of texting back and forth he invited me to meet.   Texting with him was so easy, we talked about New York, what we did, our bucket lists, and how we were going to look up one another on Google.  My hot spot at the time was the brewery within walking distance of my apartment so I suggested that we meet there.  On Wednesday, the 12^th I headed early with my roommate for a drink just to calm the nerves before meeting this guy.  That 1 drink turned into 2 and neither of them helped calm me down, I had butterflies and I think a few birds flying around in my stomach.  I saw him walk in and my first thought was, YES he is even cuter than his pictures!  After hours and hours of non-stop talking on both sides he walked me home and gave me a good night kiss.  And let me tell ya that kiss was unforgettable!  I couldn’t wait to see him again and at the end of the night he asked me to hang out on Friday to go to the Irish Fest in downtown Indy.  Another successful date that ended with a kiss for the books and we even ran into my brother and his wife. 

First picture together at Edward Sharp 

Little did I know that he lived an hour and 20 minutes away, which is way farther than I would have liked.  On Saturday we had been texting all day and he invited me to come over and show me around where he lives.  I didn’t leave till Monday morning…  He showed me his place, I met his dog Mouse,  drove me around his town, stopped at a few local bars to meet up with one of his friends and fiance  took me to his Company and gave me tour, which was probably my favorite part because his face just let up talking about what he does.  We have hung out every weekend since then unless we were away on business.  On September 22 we were out with some of his friends for a birthday party, he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes.  

I remember calling my mom a few days after and I said “Mom, I am going to marry this man”  and I’m pretty sure she said something like “dang girl, slow down but I’m happy you feel that way. “   Though we aren’t married or even engaged yet, we are heading in that direction in the future.   There isn’t a doubt in my mind that someday we will be.  I have a feeling with him that I have never had with anyone.  People always say when you know you just know.  I had never felt that way before until now, it is just so hard to describe until you yourself actually experience it.  It’s an amazing feeling and I hope that everyone gets to experience that “when you know you know feeling.” 

Yes, we fight and drive each other nuts sometimes but we laugh about it afterwards and learn from it.  It hasn’t all been rainbows.  My family actually had a hard time accepting him for his different political views.  That was a rough patch we had but we survived and my parents and family have gotten to know him and love him now. 

The fam and I at Christmas!

 

Philip is truly my everything.  And I know its super cheesy but he just makes life so much better. I still get those mushy gushy feelings that I had when we first met.  He's my boyfriend, my best friend, they guy I tell everything to (and probably share way too much info), the person I trust the most, the person I look up to, the guy that motivates me to be better,  the guy that can put a smile on my face in an instant, the guy I can snuggle with every night, the guy I turn to when I'm feeling down, the guy that that loves me for who I am, he's the guy I can't wait to come home to, the guy that supports me, the guy I still find myself checking out, the guy that I fall asleep next to every night, he's the guy that still surprises me every day, he's my opposite  he's the person I like to hang out with the most, he's the guy that I love to the moon and back, he's my guy. 

One Year Recap (Favorite Dates/Memories – These might be more for me just to document)

1.   Irish Fest (2^nd Date)

2.   Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros (3^rd date and my treat)

3.   Birthday Party Bus (The night we became official)

The night we became official! :)

4.   Gala Fundraiser for lupus. 

5.   Trolly Birthday Party

6.   St. Elmo’s for many dinner dates and our shared love for shrimp cocktail

7.  Road trip to New York for Christmas.  Stopped in Detroit to visit a friend, drove through Canada, stopped in Niagara Falls, saw one of his stores in Buffalo and then stayed with my family for Christmas

8.   Ithaca Beer Co

9.   New York City

10.  Bartrom Wedding

11.  Antiquing

12.  Kentucky Trip to check out the Bourbon Trail

13.  Floor seats at the Pacers Game.

14.  My first NFL game to see the Colts with his family

15. Biloxi, Mississippi for a long weekend trip on his parent’s boat, lots of jambalaya was consumed

16.  Trip to Columbus to visit friends and attend a Hockey game, which I have no recollection of being at…oops

Yea, I don't remember this....

17.  Taking my nephew to the Children’s Museum together

18.  Cooking for our first dinner party

19.  Weekends at the Lake with friends

20.  Dinner dates at Joseph Decuis

21.  Moving in together (February 15th)

22.  Owning our first dog together, which has been very challenging because we have a devil dog

23.  Chicago Trip for my birthday

24.  When he plays the piano for me

25.  Irvington’s Halloween Festival with Mom.

26.  My favorite is when we dance around the house with the music blasting before heading out somewhere.

27.  Watching the Soprano series for 3 straight weeks

It has been an incredible year and I am truly blessed to have found that balance I needed in my life.  We have done so many fun things and we really do have the best time together.  We are going to celebrate this weekend by going to Indy for the day.  The Irish fest is this weekend so we are going to check that out again, visit our favorite antique mall (he’s on the hunt for a vintage Herman Miller Eames Chair), have a few drinks at Black Acre Brewery (where we met on our first date) and end our night at St. Elmos for dinner. That to me sounds like the perfect way to celebrate our love for each other.  Another item to cross off my 101 Things in 1001 days list. Oh and bonus, he sent me flowers today at work! :) 

My Lil Butt is so Behind!

Just rename me to behind because i'm going to spend the rest of the year trying to catch up.  I'm behind on blog readying, blog writing, I haven't even recapped my trip from NY but I kinda have a reason for that, i'm behind on working out (all my months of hard work are just gone, hasta la vista, baby), sleep, and who knows what else i'm also behind on i'm sure there's more.
Anyways I'm not able to recap my trip till I get the pictures from my mothers camera and she is being slower than a turtle trying to cross the street with uploading those.  Until then here's my weekend recap.
The bf's sister, Mary is in town from St. Thomas and I have been hanging out with her a ton!  It's nice to have a chick around because well i'll be honest, I only have one friend in this small town I live in.  Its kind of depressing especially since I've now lived here for 6 months +.  It's super hard to make friends in a new place, which is another reason why I started blogging.  My bf is in the business world and we tend to hang out with older couples with kids and such, which they are fun and great to talk with but I would never call one of them up and be like come over and watch Grey's Anatomy with me.  Is anyone else in a newish town and having a hard time meeting people around your age? 
Back to my weekend because I got side tracked, that happens a lot!  My weekend included lots of eating and adult beverages.  I also shot a gun for the second time, which is kind of scary but I actually did pretty good.  The big exciting part about my weekend is I went to my first NFL game.  I'll be blunt, I hate football! I often wonder how Erin and I are friends because she lives for her Giants.  I just never could get into it but actually going to the game was a whole other ball game.  I loved it!  We got down to the game around 10:30 so we could of course drink. We started with mimosa's then switched to vodka and grapefruit and by the time we got to the game I was drinking bud light.  Highlight of the game is seeing our posters up on the jumbo tron, not once but TWICE!!! It was a really good game and I have a new crush and his name is Andrew Luck! :)  I am presently surprised at how much fun I had and I actually watched the game!  But you still wont find me watching it on TV, baby steps! 

Photo Highlights!

Lucas Oil Stadium, Go Colts!

Phil's Family before heading into the game!

Watching Andrew Luck warming up! :)

Mary and I all smiles!

Dude in the back totally photo bombed this picture and I don't hate it!

View from our seats!

Our Famous Posters!

These 3 kids were sitting right in front and they were so cute.  Pretty sure it was there first game! 

I hope everyone enjoys there hump day!