Movin On...

Tomorrow we leave for North Carolina and another mixer and interview for J. We are staying in a hotel and I'm SO looking forward to sleeping in and luxuriating in a big bed. I may order room service because, you know, I can!

This past month has been great and it's been great to see friends and J's family. There were far more great moments in the past month than bad moments. J spoiled me this Chanukah and I feel guilty because I just don't have the money to spoil him with... One day though, I will have the money to treat us to vacations instead of gifts. ( I like the idea of no longer exchanging small gifts once married. Several people I know decided to save for trips that they take every year instead of gifts.)

Oh, did I tell you? I got my first video game system that is all mine! Meet my new Wii courtesy of J! I can't wait to start collecting games and add on's! I'm so excited! It's such a frivolous purchase that I've never been able to make. J bit the bullet for me after a couple of years of Wii lust on my part. :-)

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and safe travels wherever you may be heading!

Snowy Frostburg

It's snowing...

All night and all day...

We're going to gather round the faux fire place....

And watch the snowflakes fall down from the sky...

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Where in the World Wednesday

Wow, once again it's Wednesday! Seriously, where are the weeks going??

Anyhow, this Wednesday I'm going back to last year in D.C. when J and I visited my extended family and spent a day in the capitol. This is one of the few pictures of me that I have from the trip that doesn't include J. I'm always behind the camera or taking a group picture. I don't have alot of pictures of just me!

Hope you enjoy this weeks WITWW installment!

A Weekend in Boston

Boston

J and I spent the last weekend in Boston with our mutual friend Bekah and her fabulous roommates! We had so much fun and were worn out by the time we finally made it home! It was great to see Bekah and her new life in Boston. Boston is a very cool city and I'm totally in love with it. Unfortunately, it is one place where J did not get invited to any interviews.

Boo :-(

Artwork in the Boston Public Library

We had so much fun wandering the city, eating cannoli's, marzipan, and japanese noodle bowels. A little shopping was done on Newbury and we walked away with some great items. Bekah gave me an awesome scarf and sweater dress from H&M for Chanukah! I can't wait to wear them and will try to get a picture up soon of them, since H&M doesn't put their clothes online. Boo again.

I swung by American Apparel since I can't resist their stores and their simple but so useful clothing! I ended up picking up the Interlock Wrap Dress in a purple color which is no longer on the website. I wore it to out Chanukah party that night and loved it! I can't wait to wear it more!

American Apparel Interlock Wrap Dress

Our party was a blast even though Bekah may or may not have melted a plastic bowl on the stove top :-) (I love you Bekah!) We made latkes, kosher chicken, sauteed veggies and sufganiyot (jelly filled doughnut balls). Everything turned out pretty well and a good time was had by all. We even sang a few Christmas carols throughout the night!

Our Kosher Chickens

I could not have asked for a better first Chanukah. I met some awesome people (Hi Wendy!) and ate some awesome food. We all had alot of fun exploring the city and celebrating Chanukah.

Good food+Wine+Good Conversations+Random Kitchen Mishaps

= A Good Celebration

Cookware Cheat Sheet

If you are like me, you love to cook and dream about either a) creating a rocking wedding registry one day or b) having the money to invest in real cookware that didn't come from a)Target or b)Ikea. However, while we all know a little something-something about cooking and cookware it can be hard to keep the pro's and con's of different surfaces straight.

You can only guess my excitement when I logged onto Apartment Therapy today and saw that Honest Fare has taken the guess work out of the topic and created a cheat sheet for those of us lusting over new cookware, or looking to add some new pieces.

{Via Apartment Therapy}

{Via Honest Fare}

Go check it out and make sure to bookmark it or print it out for future reference!

Happy Hanukkah!

I'll be spending the first couple of nights with my dear friends Bekah over at Everyday Brings With It... Then J and I will be stopping by his relatives on the way back for the third night of Hanukkah. After that, I predict we will be all hanukkahed out and will just light candles by ourselves until we leave and start the long trek home.

Happy Hanukkah and Shabbat Shalom!

Confession Time

I wrapped Hanukkah presents while listening to Christmas music.

Lets hope I don't get interrogated about this at some point by a Rabbi when undergoing conversion. I would hate to have to lie...

I downloaded more Christmas music today while J was at the hospital.

I just can't find any feel good Hanukkah music...

Last night, J and I walked on the beach late at night. As we were looking at the stars I noticed one of the bay front houses had lights blazing and their tree in clear view.

I imagined their family coming together on the 25th and it made me sad.

I always wanted to be the family whose house everyone would convene at to share Christmas morning and dinner with.

That's not an option anymore and none of J's family gets into Hanukkah so I feel like I'm trading a great holiday for a non-holiday.

I may have cried while J looked at the stars and I looked at the tree.

I don't think he noticed.

Thank God.