As 2011 comes to a close, and we're all inundated with articles and montages and sound clips of everything that's happened throughout the year...
Why not read one more? I mean, really, what's one more.
My fiance and I spent last New Years Eve sitting on the couch at home trying to decide if it was worth it to walk to the douchy hipster bar across the street... or to not bother. I'm not anti-hipsters... but this place brings out the hipsters that everyone hates. As you might guess, we stayed home and had dinner and drinks on the couch.
A nice, relaxing start to what would be a whirlwind of a year.
After a few really tough years here in Boston, this past year was magical. Riddled with stress, but still really damn magical.
In April, I got on a plane for the first time in 10 years for our 2-week trip to England and Denmark. It was an amazing trip, with perfect weather and wonderful people. Just days after returning, my fiance popped the question. Just days after that, some of my closest friends flew into town for my 30th birthday. What more could a girl want?
The rest of the year has been almost all about wedding planning, with some attempts at learning Danish stuffed into the cracks.
These last couple of months, with all of the stress that went along with the layoffs at my company, and the extra workload that entailed... Well, it's been trying. It's tested my patience, and my patience hasn't always passed that test.
But in the end, I'm a lucky girl. This coming year is going to be a wild one. With the wedding in May, followed by the Big Move some time this Summer... Expect to see plenty more posts here.
As for New Years Eve this year? We'll be spending it at home with dinner and drinks. On the couch.
Happy New Year. And many more to come.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Danish Lessons - Rosetta Style
My Christmas gift has arrived in the form of a bright yellow box from Rosetta Stone.
So far, I've done most of the first lesson, and I'm feeling positive. I suppose this is the whole point, but I feel like a child learning to speak for the first time with this program. I haven't learned a whole lot so far, but the repetition and the visual aids with each phrase really do help.
What have I learned so far? Phrases like "en dreng er under en bold," or "a boy is under a ball." Where one would expect to find him, of course...
I know that I will never forget the word "flyvemaskine," or airplane.
And, of course, "elefant." If the prevalence of the word in my lessons so far is any indicator, I can only deduce that Scandinavia is made up of pachyderms, boys flying airplanes, and other boys hiding under beach balls.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Obligatory Christmas Post
It's Christmas Eve, and we are at my parents' house for the weekend.
While my mother's side of the family did grow up Catholic, we aren't an especially religious family, so we celebrate more out of tradition than anything else. We used to celebrate Hanukkah as well, since my father comes from a Jewish background, but that seemed to fall by the wayside when I was a teenager.
Let me paint a picture, if I may, of the scene right now:
My mother is in the dining room piping out little colored circles onto parchment paper. Little circles that will soon be some seriously delicious French macaroons. In the fridge is a roll of chocolate cake and delicious filling that will, tomorrow, become a realistic edible Yule log, complete with merengue mushrooms and pistachio moss.
In the living room, my dad, my fiance and I are all sitting on the couches.
Each typing on our own separate Macbooks.
As far as Christmas traditions go, we don't have many. What we generally do is open gifts in the morning on Christmas day, then drive down to my aunt's house. Once there, we will drink Manhattans and eat until we can barely move.
As far as traditions go, it's not too shabby.
Merry Christmas, all. And happy Hanukkah.
And a happy Festivus. For the rest of us.
While my mother's side of the family did grow up Catholic, we aren't an especially religious family, so we celebrate more out of tradition than anything else. We used to celebrate Hanukkah as well, since my father comes from a Jewish background, but that seemed to fall by the wayside when I was a teenager.
Let me paint a picture, if I may, of the scene right now:
My mother is in the dining room piping out little colored circles onto parchment paper. Little circles that will soon be some seriously delicious French macaroons. In the fridge is a roll of chocolate cake and delicious filling that will, tomorrow, become a realistic edible Yule log, complete with merengue mushrooms and pistachio moss.
In the living room, my dad, my fiance and I are all sitting on the couches.
Each typing on our own separate Macbooks.
As far as Christmas traditions go, we don't have many. What we generally do is open gifts in the morning on Christmas day, then drive down to my aunt's house. Once there, we will drink Manhattans and eat until we can barely move.
As far as traditions go, it's not too shabby.
Merry Christmas, all. And happy Hanukkah.
And a happy Festivus. For the rest of us.
Monday, December 19, 2011
A "Business Casual" Christmas
As I think most of us were as kids, I was pretty unaware of class differences when I was young. I grew up in a fairly affluent area, but I didn't really realize it until I left. Moving to a town like Buffalo as an adult will give you a real sense of perspective.
That being said, we're a pretty casual family. We dress up when appropriate, but I'd argue that we're generally a casual, jeans-wearing bunch.
And very few people are as casual as radio people. The argument is that no one sees us anyway, so why dress up? That's why we're often found not just in jeans, but often in sweatpants and hats. I happen to be wearing that uniform right now, actually.
So, when we were headed to a small company Christmas party at the house of a coworker of my fiance's, and we were told dress was "casual," well I thought jeans and a sweater would be great. Thought my sneakers wouldn't stand out at all.
Boy, was I wrong.
For this "casual" Christmas party, they'd hired someone to come play Christmas songs on the grand piano in their livingroom...
To be fair, I may be the only one who noticed the difference, but it seems that when wealthy folks say "casual," they really mean "business casual." All of the women were in slacks and nice shoes and sweaters. The men wore button-down shirts and slacks, and one was even wearing a matching jacket.
Everyone there was perfectly nice, but I've rarely felt so out of place.
Sing it with me now: "One of these things is not like the other."
That being said, we're a pretty casual family. We dress up when appropriate, but I'd argue that we're generally a casual, jeans-wearing bunch.
And very few people are as casual as radio people. The argument is that no one sees us anyway, so why dress up? That's why we're often found not just in jeans, but often in sweatpants and hats. I happen to be wearing that uniform right now, actually.
So, when we were headed to a small company Christmas party at the house of a coworker of my fiance's, and we were told dress was "casual," well I thought jeans and a sweater would be great. Thought my sneakers wouldn't stand out at all.
Boy, was I wrong.
For this "casual" Christmas party, they'd hired someone to come play Christmas songs on the grand piano in their livingroom...
To be fair, I may be the only one who noticed the difference, but it seems that when wealthy folks say "casual," they really mean "business casual." All of the women were in slacks and nice shoes and sweaters. The men wore button-down shirts and slacks, and one was even wearing a matching jacket.
Everyone there was perfectly nice, but I've rarely felt so out of place.
Sing it with me now: "One of these things is not like the other."
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The Best Things in Life Are Free...Pastries
This whole wedding planning thing can be seriously intense at times. With so many vendors and so many decisions to make, I keep expecting something to fall to pieces.
The truth is, so far at least, our vendors have been wonderful.
Yesterday's cake tasting at Konditor Meister was no exception. It all just seemed too simple. It felt like there should have been more questions to answer, more decisions to make.
But it was just a matter of eating cake, showing them the cake we liked...
...and walking out with free pastries.
Now, it's apparently standard for them to hand the couple a box with six pastries after a wedding cake consultation, which is just plain lovely to begin with. But since we were heading to a holiday party afterwards, we thought we'd buy some pastries for that as well.
So, we walked up the the counter, ordered our 20 pastries, and the girl behind the counter said, "Okay, you're all set."
Brief pause on our end, followed by me asking, "Okay, do we pay over there?"
To which she responded "No, you're all set."
...huh?
Then she finally says, "You just had a wedding cake consultation, right? Then you're all set."
I still walked out of there thinking she was going to get in trouble.
Free pastries are magical.
The truth is, so far at least, our vendors have been wonderful.
Yesterday's cake tasting at Konditor Meister was no exception. It all just seemed too simple. It felt like there should have been more questions to answer, more decisions to make.
But it was just a matter of eating cake, showing them the cake we liked...
...and walking out with free pastries.
Now, it's apparently standard for them to hand the couple a box with six pastries after a wedding cake consultation, which is just plain lovely to begin with. But since we were heading to a holiday party afterwards, we thought we'd buy some pastries for that as well.
So, we walked up the the counter, ordered our 20 pastries, and the girl behind the counter said, "Okay, you're all set."
Brief pause on our end, followed by me asking, "Okay, do we pay over there?"
To which she responded "No, you're all set."
...huh?
Then she finally says, "You just had a wedding cake consultation, right? Then you're all set."
I still walked out of there thinking she was going to get in trouble.
Free pastries are magical.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Hammertime!
There hasn't been much time to rest, let alone think about all that much lately.
Work, wedding stuff, workouts, repeat...
Cake tasting this weekend, which I'm pretty damn excited for. Who wouldn't be? I mean... it's cake!
Of course, I got a call saying that my wedding dress is in and ready for my first fitting, so... maybe I shouldn't be so excited about cake. And more focused on those workouts.
Okay, this is all a bit rambly, so in the interest of tossing out something interesting, I recommend that you go here.
And if this is not something you are already aware of, I recommend that you get yourself caught up.
Hammertime!
For your health!
Work, wedding stuff, workouts, repeat...
Cake tasting this weekend, which I'm pretty damn excited for. Who wouldn't be? I mean... it's cake!
Of course, I got a call saying that my wedding dress is in and ready for my first fitting, so... maybe I shouldn't be so excited about cake. And more focused on those workouts.
Okay, this is all a bit rambly, so in the interest of tossing out something interesting, I recommend that you go here.
And if this is not something you are already aware of, I recommend that you get yourself caught up.
Hammertime!
For your health!
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