So, I'm in my new place, my mom has come and gone again, and everything is unpacked, organized, and decorated. I even had a housewarming party. :)
So, updates: I ordered furniture from Ikea, which is awesome. I now have a grown-up bed frame with a headboard and footboard and everything. I ordered what I thought was a black entertainment center, but when it arrived, it was white. I was really mad, since I'd paid for delivery and everything. They wouldn't come back and pick it up, so I decided that I would throw the damn thing together and spray paint the bitch. And then I loved it in white. So... it's staying that way. It's perfect, actually. :)
Mom was here for 6 weeks. That may seem like a lot to many of you, but bear in mind that if I see any family member over the course of a year, it's a big deal. It was awesome. We went to my favorite restaurants and she met a bunch of my friends and helped me make my home beautiful.
One of my besties, who is a total rockstar, moved all of my junk almost single-handedly. He's the best. He says that the OCD way that I pack makes moving all my stuff fun for him. What a goober. Then after he moved all my junk, he came back with his tools and proceeded to fix stuff around my house. He was over again last night, doing more stuff for me. He hung a shelf in the bathroom, tiebacks for my curtains, he hung new curtain hardware, and bamboo shades over three of my windows. AND when he was all done, he walked with me out to the dumpster so I could throw stuff away, as I have been forbidden from going back there after dark by myself. It's in the alley. He supports the me-not-allowed-back-there-after-dark-by-myself plan. He's incredibly generous with his time, and so I repay him with food. It's a pretty cool arrangement, if you ask me. Yup. He's the best. :) He cheerfully does man-stuff around my house, and I have someone to cook for. I think I win on both counts.
My housewarming party was a huge success! I was a bit nervous, as I was mixing friends from different areas of my life: old Philly friends, school friends, and church friends. BUT everyone got along really well, and some of them want to start a rotating monthly dinner group! Also, I baked all day and made some serious yummies. :) I made chewy gingersnaps, MotiondeSmith's ginger-chocolate chip cookies, my deluxe dark chocolate banana bread, and wassail. I also made these tarts with roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, a bit of bacon and apple. I was winging it with those, but they turned out really well. MMMM!!!! It was an autumnal feast. I felt so cutesy. I had lanterns lit on my steps leading up to my door, a ginger-scented candle burning, and smooth jazz playing in the background. Although once everyone started talking, you really couldn't hear the jazz anymore, but I think that's probably a good thing. A few different times one friend or another would compliment me on the group of friends at the party, and several were excited to be having intelligent discussion and socializing with such a large group of interesting intellectual peers. I have two friends in MBA programs, one in a PhD program, a BYU professor, etc, so it was a pretty awesome group and the conversation flowed easily. This made me really happy.
Also, I injured my foot almost 2 months ago now. I was being really intelligent and walking outside barefooted and picked up some glass. This was a huge disappointment, as I had just completed 10k training and was starting half marathon training. It ended up taking 5 weeks, 2 sets of X-rays, and 5 doctors appointments to remove all of the glass shards. So I couldn't run at all, and for a while I was on crutches. I'm doing better now, and hit the roads again this week. I've lost a lot of stamina, and so started back with Couch to 5k week 5. I've done days 1 and 2 quite successfully, and am ready to tackle the dreaded day 3. :)
ALSO, my dear sister, bro-in-law, and niece are moving back to the states in about 4 weeks! Yay! AND while Mom was here, we started HER on the C25k! It's looking like we'll all do a Turkey Trot together on Thanksgiving Day while we're in DC for the holiday! We've never done anything like that, together as a family, and I'm really excited about it. :) I really hope that it's the kind of thing we can do together for a long time to come. :) A couple of my sisters and I have our eyes set on a half marathon at Disney World. Now, I don't like theme parks, and I've never been to Disney, but the kiddies will love it, I'm sure. :)
So, updates: I ordered furniture from Ikea, which is awesome. I now have a grown-up bed frame with a headboard and footboard and everything. I ordered what I thought was a black entertainment center, but when it arrived, it was white. I was really mad, since I'd paid for delivery and everything. They wouldn't come back and pick it up, so I decided that I would throw the damn thing together and spray paint the bitch. And then I loved it in white. So... it's staying that way. It's perfect, actually. :)
Mom was here for 6 weeks. That may seem like a lot to many of you, but bear in mind that if I see any family member over the course of a year, it's a big deal. It was awesome. We went to my favorite restaurants and she met a bunch of my friends and helped me make my home beautiful.
One of my besties, who is a total rockstar, moved all of my junk almost single-handedly. He's the best. He says that the OCD way that I pack makes moving all my stuff fun for him. What a goober. Then after he moved all my junk, he came back with his tools and proceeded to fix stuff around my house. He was over again last night, doing more stuff for me. He hung a shelf in the bathroom, tiebacks for my curtains, he hung new curtain hardware, and bamboo shades over three of my windows. AND when he was all done, he walked with me out to the dumpster so I could throw stuff away, as I have been forbidden from going back there after dark by myself. It's in the alley. He supports the me-not-allowed-back-there-after-dark-by-myself plan. He's incredibly generous with his time, and so I repay him with food. It's a pretty cool arrangement, if you ask me. Yup. He's the best. :) He cheerfully does man-stuff around my house, and I have someone to cook for. I think I win on both counts.
My housewarming party was a huge success! I was a bit nervous, as I was mixing friends from different areas of my life: old Philly friends, school friends, and church friends. BUT everyone got along really well, and some of them want to start a rotating monthly dinner group! Also, I baked all day and made some serious yummies. :) I made chewy gingersnaps, MotiondeSmith's ginger-chocolate chip cookies, my deluxe dark chocolate banana bread, and wassail. I also made these tarts with roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, a bit of bacon and apple. I was winging it with those, but they turned out really well. MMMM!!!! It was an autumnal feast. I felt so cutesy. I had lanterns lit on my steps leading up to my door, a ginger-scented candle burning, and smooth jazz playing in the background. Although once everyone started talking, you really couldn't hear the jazz anymore, but I think that's probably a good thing. A few different times one friend or another would compliment me on the group of friends at the party, and several were excited to be having intelligent discussion and socializing with such a large group of interesting intellectual peers. I have two friends in MBA programs, one in a PhD program, a BYU professor, etc, so it was a pretty awesome group and the conversation flowed easily. This made me really happy.
Also, I injured my foot almost 2 months ago now. I was being really intelligent and walking outside barefooted and picked up some glass. This was a huge disappointment, as I had just completed 10k training and was starting half marathon training. It ended up taking 5 weeks, 2 sets of X-rays, and 5 doctors appointments to remove all of the glass shards. So I couldn't run at all, and for a while I was on crutches. I'm doing better now, and hit the roads again this week. I've lost a lot of stamina, and so started back with Couch to 5k week 5. I've done days 1 and 2 quite successfully, and am ready to tackle the dreaded day 3. :)
ALSO, my dear sister, bro-in-law, and niece are moving back to the states in about 4 weeks! Yay! AND while Mom was here, we started HER on the C25k! It's looking like we'll all do a Turkey Trot together on Thanksgiving Day while we're in DC for the holiday! We've never done anything like that, together as a family, and I'm really excited about it. :) I really hope that it's the kind of thing we can do together for a long time to come. :) A couple of my sisters and I have our eyes set on a half marathon at Disney World. Now, I don't like theme parks, and I've never been to Disney, but the kiddies will love it, I'm sure. :)
LOVED it. Had SO much fun. Dinner party me up. I'd love it!
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