Death by Enthusiasm.

So the other day i was attempting to annihilate my 38 item to-do list. That i had made in my enthusiasm for the idea that monday would be a snow day. due to crazy predictions on friday. i mean, holy crap. a sunday and monday snowed in? i could get ALL THE THINGS done. like all 38.

needless to say, we got exactly zero inches of snow and i busted my butt on sunday and got 20 things done. but i literally busted my butt. while swiffering under my table i enthusiastically dropped into a squat and almost took off the part of my butt that crashed into the corner of my wooden chest in the corner. and THEN broke my toe with a wine bottle while enthusiastically throwing my recyclables into an appropriate clear bag.

my enthusiasm is trying to kill me.

and CLEARLY i am never going to get all 38 things since one of them was snowshoe.  in the middle of the pretty pretty blizzard.  that we never got.  i mean, i am as done with winter as the next guy, but if you TELL me that we are going to get a foot of snow…..then give me a foot of snow. Liars.

Sleigh riding in style

as my brother-in-law put it: Just another day at the Sherwoods….

sleigh riding is exhausting

#polarvortex.

Have polar vortex, will travel.  BY SNOWSHOE! which is exhausting by the way.  Managed to snowshoe twice before the freak 2 day warm up melted the ice caps.  And instead of complaining about getting a foot+ of snow this weekend, i prefer to silver lining that beast.  By SNOWSHOEING. yeah.

Harry Potter Land!

My most favorite conference of all time led me to Harry Potter Land this year! None of these are my pics btw, it was nighttime, so my camera was useless.

oh it was glorious!  we had all of Harry Potter Land to ourselves for 3 hours! and i had someone that loved to ride rides! Game On.

first we strolled through Hogsmeade. magical.  Went in honeydukes.

then entered the castle for the Forbidden Journey! a fabulous ride with a combo of simulation screens and live parts of the castle, we flew with Harry on a broom, got chased by a dragon, went through a room of spiders (not a fan of this part) a room of dementors, the whomping willow, and ended in a Quidditch game.  It was super fun!  We did that 3 times.  The line for the ride goes through the castle which is really neat and i looked around as fast as i could each time we raced through the empty lines.

Next up: Flight of the Hippogriff

pretty underwhelming, but a good ride for kiddos.  and it’s fun to say hippogriff.

Last ride: DRAGON CHALLENGE!

AMAZING.  You can pick red or blue.  red is more full body loops, straight up and down loops, and blue is more crazy corkscrew loops.  A bunch of us went on it 5 times in a row- red, blue, red, blue, blue.  We decided we liked blue best.  Oh man, it is a good ride.  after the first few times i tried to ride without screaming and literally could not.  it just sucks the screams out of you.  the G force was so strong i thought my sneakers were gonna pop off.  And when we were all done my friend said it wasn’t that bad, then walked straight into a wall.  I think it took half an hour for me to unwobble.

Then we capped off the night with a butterbeer.  disclaimer* does not contain any alcohol.  which was a little sad. but it was delicious.

It was really fun.  The only thing that could have made it better was if i was dressed like this:

but it was a work trip, so no dice.  also why i didn’t buy a wand.  which i kinda regret now…

But it was seriously fabulous.  with Hogsmeade and the Castle and Hogwarts express, it was just great.  As was the rest of Universal which i did the next day.  Their rides are definitely superior to Disney.  But it would also be hard to take small children there for that same reason.  The full day at Universal was so awesome it almost made up for the Worst Night Ever that followed.

1st Annual Curling Competition!

When life hands you a polar vortex, build a curling rink!

Had a friendly neighbor plow out a section of the lake, poured water on it a few nights in a row, and voila! a curling sheet!

One thing i was worried about was the safety of having a bunch of people on the ice.  I felt reassured when the ice fisherman told me the ice was 10 inches thick, but i felt VERY reassured when the morning of the party i saw planes on the lake 🙂

it worked so well! we had frozen jugs of water as “stones” and adopted a redneck curling/shuffleboard method of scoring.  The only thing that didn’t really translate was the sweeping…the ice was so slick there was no need.  and we had no brooms 🙂

although we did do a little “mopping” after a short sleet storm 🙂

Glad everyone came out and hopefully we can improve next year!

The worst night of my life*

* (barring death and illness of course)
Coming down off a high of Harry Potter Land and a day at Universal (where i walked over 10 miles according to my fitbit. remember this, it will come into play later.) I entered the Orlando airport and the black hole where everything that could go wrong, DID GO WRONG.

Part A: Orlando Airport

1. 6PM.  There were 2 lines for US Airways: Self Check in and the regular line.  Of course i got into the regular line, because thanks to the weather we had across the country, everything was delayed and i already knew my flight was delayed 2 hours.  This line had ZERO counter people working.  and fifty people in line.  i went to the other line, which took 40 minutes to be helped with only 5 people in front of me.  the self help kiosks were broken, the attendants were frazzled (i overheard one whisper into a walkie talkie “get your ass out here and help, there is going to be a riot ANY SECOND!) oh and the checked bag stickers weren’t printing.  after waiting 25 minutes for the group of 3 women in front of me to come to the realization that 30 minutes is indeed, not enough time to be there before an international flight (2 hours idiots!) i finally was told my plane was delayed 3 hours, and i would miss my connection in philly and have to spend the night.  but he could get me to scranton (2 hours from philly!) by 6 PM the following day.  due to the impending riot i took that and walked away.  past the initial line of 50 people who STILL had no one at the counter.  and yet they were STILL in line. like whoa.

2. talked to my sister, and decided to pursue her grand idea of flying into NYC and coming home with them the next day.  which meant i walked another 2 miles (total 12 miles) to every terminal to see if that could happen.  short story: it couldn’t.  to which i said my new mantra “of course.”.

3. 9:02PM  Back to my terminal. See a Qdoba! things are looking up, i can get a burrito for dinner! Burritos fix everything! Qdoba closed at 9. of course.

4. 9:20 PM.  We can begin boarding! Wait, they found something wrong with the plane. Stand by. Yep plane is broken.  But there is another plane! Please walk from gate 39 to gate 59 as soon as possible so we can takeoff.  My feet are now numb.   of course.

Part B: Philly Airport

1. 12:42AM  We land.  And i take off to the Marriott in the airport! 1.5 miles away! there is a shuttle but it is closed for the night. of course. 13.5 miles.  Get to the Marriott! They have no rooms.  of course. I just start to cry.  and can’t stop.  You know who else is fully booked? EVERY OTHER HOTEL NEAR THE AIRPORT.  of course.  Only apparent option to me: rent a car.  Which the nice people at the desk help me with.  Mostly because they are afraid i will stand there all night silently crying. As the guy is walking me to the door outside (where budget is right across the street!) and i am marveling at the sheer price of renting a car to go 100 miles, he says the following:

Marriott guy: Well on the upside you are saving money!

Me: (while still silently crying) How?

Marriott guy: Our room rates at $359.

Me: stop dead in my tracks. (explosively) THAT IS BULLSHIT!!  That is the meanest thing i have heard.  You should be ashamed of yourself! People do not stay here to experience the magic of the Philly airport, they stay here because something has already gone horribly awry.  That is awful!

Marriott guy: Soooo, there is budget right across the street.  Good luck! of course.

Part C.  My Ford Hybrid Clown Car.

1. 1:30 AM.  Budget was right across the street.  Down an icy driveway, over an enormous snowbank, across a 4 lane airport highway, over another snowbank, and across an icy snowy parking lot.  of course.  in my sneakers and sweater coat no less.

2. Into the fancy car i go! Takes me 5 minutes to figure out how to start it with the stupid fancy push button start.  (hint-step on the brake). Drive out the of the parking lot (still silently crying by the way) and almost get stuck on a patch of slushy ice that is approximately the size of my sneaker.  awesome. and of course.

3. 2 AM.  Made it to the turnpike! You got this Maria, not problem! lets pop into the first truck stop and grab a water.  crying so much has dehydrated me. on the upside i have now stopped crying.  i come out of the truck stop, literally less than 2 minutes later, and it is a BLIZZARD.  OF COURSE IT IS.  i start crying again.

4.  Luckily it doesn’t stick to the road. i have my single moment of enjoyment when i pull up to the tollbooth and scare the operator who didn’t hear me thanks to my ultra-quiet hybrid clown car.  Made it to Scranton!

Part D: Scranton Airport

1.  3:30 AM. almost there Maria, getting close now, keep it together.  just need to return the rental car, get my car, and drive home.  Find the budget spot, grab all my stuff, step into the 20* weather once more, down the sidewalk, over a snowbank, across the street and into the building!

2. Which has exactly ZERO people working in it.  Zero, zilch, nada.  I ask 4 guys waiting at the counter, ummm anyone working here?  To which they reply, no they don’t get here till 4 AM.  of course. My brain can literally not comprehend waiting 30 minutes so i simply drop my suitcase (unattended baggage! come arrest me! and while you are at it take care of my rental car please!) and walk to the empty rental car area.

3. i have never returned a rental car before, so i have no idea what to do.  and full disclaimer, my brain is only operating at like 30% potential. so i stand there blankly for a moment before my eyes focus on… a Drop Box! at Budget! which is my company! and is the only dropbox on the whole counter! I literally have my keys halfway in the box before my brain fires and i realize there may be more to this.  So i read the box: fill out your return form provided to you and place the keys inside before dropping in the dropbox.  i have no return form.  of course.

4. But by now i have already leaned into rebel territory (unattended baggage!) so i simply go behind the counter at start rifling thru the Budget counter to get a return form. (behind the counter! at an airport! rifling! come arrest me! and while you are at it can you grab me a return form?!) find one, have to rifle through all the other drawers in the rental car counter (like 10. it’s a rental car counter with a “take your pen home with you” policy. i mean, seriously.) to find a freakin pen, fill it out, add my phone number (you got a problem with my method, call me),  collect my unattended baggage and head to my car.

The End: My House, 4:45AM

1. I hit the open road, almost lose my car in a ridiculously giant pothole, of course (thank god i didn’t still have my clown car or i would probably still be in the pothole) and finally make it home! and bonnie has plowed my driveway clear of our 14 inches of snow so i can actually get in! I throw it in park, gather my suitcase, think “i made it. i actually made it!” and promptly fall going up my stairs that are covered in 14″ of snow in my sneakers.  of. course.

September Favorites

Some of my favorite things this month:

One Pan Pasta!

i made this last night and it was legit delicious!  A few changes i made: i used spiral pasta instead, added a bit more salt, used a half a red onion diced, and at the end added some pesto and sliced chicken.  next time i would use a smidge less water too.

Urban Decay Eyeliner in Deep End

This is really pretty.  it really makes my eyes pop and i wear it with either turquoise, grey or nude eyeshadow.

Satsuma Beautifying Oil

With the arrival of Fall, comes the arrival of my dry skin.  Hello itchy!  I put this on when i turn off the water in the shower and let it soak in for a second before i towel off.  it smells great and helps lock in the moisture.  I used to use Neutrogena Rainbath, but thats hard to find now…

Dancing with the Stars!

This show sucks me in every time.  They are just so good and so happy!  It really makes me wish i was a C-list celebrity so i could join.  I would want Derek obvi.  This year i think it’s going to go to Amber, Brant, or Corbin.  Although i bet Brant will be kicked off due to low fan base of people not appreciating the awesomeness of Noel Khan….

Ruffian Nail Polish- Delirium

This is a birchbox find, and is a really fabulous color.

AE ripped jeans with super stretch

These super stretch jeans are my favorite.  i have jegging, skinny, skinny kick, and now the “distressed” kick boot.

Spiced Latte Creamer

This stuff is so good, and it smells like fall!

And my last favorite thing right now?

How AWESOME i have been sleeping.  let’s hear it for cold nights!

i take my cues from Olivs

Honorable mention for Melissa & Doug toys.  Sept/Oct is my baby month and i often hit up Melissa & Doug (on amazon) for good toys. Seriously in Sept and October, one baby was born, 2 more on their way, 2 baby showers, Olivs 1st b-day, my god-daughters 1st b-day, and her brothers 2nd b-day.  I buy baby stuff in bulk.

September Fun Facts

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/09/animated-gifs-animal-facts/

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/surreal-landscapes-made-from-food-carl-warner/

Cucumber Bridge

Movie Review: Now You See Me

you know a movie is good when you are dreading the ending because you don’t want it to be over.  Dave Franco is much more delightful (and cuter) than james franco.  Mark Ruffalo is always great, and the other three are really well cast.  i’m already hoping there will be a sequel, but i feel like that is unlikely.

CSA: Purple Pepper Farms

They have been really rocking the farm box lately.  This week i got a huge bag of potatoes, tomatoes, PLUMS(!), radishes, some peppers and a few squash.  i’ve already made squash soup AND spaghetti squash mac and cheese with my other boxes.  (the mac and cheese- not so great….not bad, just..squashy)  i forsee roasted potatoes, caprese salad (use up my basil before it gets frozen), and plum something.  plum smoothie? plum cobbler? plum salsa?  i must consult pinterest.

Workout slump 

i’ve been in SUCH a lazy slump mood the past month or so.  i really need to pump up the running (or you know, start the running), the weather is about to be perfect for it.  and also the hiking, kayaking, paddleboarding and the gym.  What i need is motivation.  motivation to not be a lazy lump.  i’m going to try and make the rest of september a ramp up, then october full out.  i mean honestly, whats the use of cute workout clothes if i don’t use them?

Raking Party

Do you think if i had a  BYOR* party anyone would come? Because it’s that time of year again, where for an entire month i could rake every day and still have a yard full of leaves and trees full of leaves.  it’s overwhelming to say the least.

*Bring Your Own Rake

Read 5 Classic Books: #1 Pride and Prejudice

I honestly think i haven’t read this. I know i have enjoyed the heck out of the movie, but never read the book. So here goes. The first of my 5 brain enhancing books.

it was a good read, although a little hard to follow at times because of the way she writes.  and they call all of the 5 girls Miss Bennett so that gets confusing.  Overall i would have to say i liked the movie better (the Kiera Knightley one).  And the whole time i was reading i was picturing the movie.  Which makes me want to watch the movie again, but i think i lent it to my lawn guy when he had to read it for school.  I should remember to ask him about that.

so do i feel better educated now?  i suppose so.  I def have a better feel for how Jane Austen writes, and if i am ever in a social situation where everyone is getting all Austenland i will be able to play along.  Which will most likely never happen, but i am now better prepared.

I feel like my next book should be a history book so i learn something useful.

i did just read The Help, which while not necessarily a true story, is certainly close enough to qualify as historical.

Potentials:

The Art of War

To Kill a Mockingbird

Call of the Wild

Wuthering Heights

Swiss Family Robinson

awesome link:

Most Beautiful Living Spaces

Movie Reviews:

Despicable Me 2: HILARIOUS.  of course.

We are the Millers:  also fairly hilarious!  would def go see, it was super entertaining.  i really heart Jason Sudeikis.

NOLA, Part 2

After Pat O’Brians we were bopping along Bourbon street and ran into a Bachelor party that invited us up to their balcony to throw beads! of course we went because hello, Beads? check! Balcony, check! Bourbon street? check!  i mean it was basically the title of our trip.

Couple of takeaways here:
1. Don’t do this unless you are a party of 9 girls, woe to the guy that tries anything suspicious when you are rolling 9 strong.
2. This poor bachelor party was all excited for an influx of girls until they realized they were 80% married with kids. Too bad boys, hand over the beads!
3. As it turns out, boys on the street will also flash their chests. Less impressive than girls i am sure, but far more hilarious.  Especially the ones that eased into it, “ooo check out my abs, ooo check out my ribs, and here’s my manly chest, want some more, check the collarbone…!” Sure dude, heres some beads.

another handy tip:  if you get bored throwing beads, try your hand at lasso-ing.  the objective: to try and toss beads so they land around someones (unsuspecting) neck.  harder than it seems!  one of the bachelors offered us $1,000 if we could do it.  This was of course AFTER Paola had already done it once.  Also i’m pretty sure they were exaggerating the $1,000.  I got bored of failing at lasso-ing and resorted to trying to drop them in the beers of the unsuspecting loiter’ers below.  It had a much higher success rate.  A free night of Beer, Balconys, Beads and the best people watching anywhere?  Thanks Ohio Bachelors! Even if you are from…Ohio.

This is what the balcony looked like during the day…..sketcheroo.  But they did have some pretty impressive karaoke!  And that, my friends, is the end of night 2.

Day 3!

Once again, up faaaaar too early.  But we just didn’t want to waste a second! and again i blame my sister.  We hit up Magnolia Grill for brunch in the French Quarter and it was delicious and just what we needed 🙂

then we just strolled around the French Quarter for a while, hitting up various stores and the French market until we broke for Beignets.

Cafe du Monde!

After that it was over to Jackson Square for some shopping

Hello Andrew Jackson!

Sisters on the Great Sister Trip

After all that we clearly needed a drink, so we headed over to Napoleans, a bar that looks a little divey on the outside, and on the inside, until you walk through the back door into a beautiful courtyard.  Bring on the Pimms cup!

Then it was back to Bourbon to seek out another fun bar

note* Bourbon street smells terrible during the night, and only slightly less so during the day.  And this is in the off season!  i think i would pass out during Mardi Gras. We walked all the way to the end of Bourbon to hit up Lafittes, a Blacksmith Shop Bar

No electricity and all wooden tables and stools, very cool! literally haha.

after that a few girls shopped and a few of us pedicabbed it back to the hotel to start the shower cycle (9 girls, 3 showers…organization is key)

Hurricanes in hand!

The three of us hatched a foolproof plan to have a pedicab race to dinner later and recruit our driver to get all his slow friends so we win.  But then we were late so we took a cab.  Le sigh.  again, 9 girls: 3 showers.

i think it was somewhere around here (or perhaps it was the 2nd night) that Dana and i taught the girls the use of “BUNNY!” which is apparently a Sherwoodism. Instead of constantly saying “quick like a bunny” when crossing crosswalks we find it’s more effective to just yell BUNNY!  It was developed to encourage my mom who thinks 6 seconds is plenty of time to cross a four lane road, in DC, at a stroll.

Dinner was at Sainte Marie and was delicious.  and then it was back to the hotel for a costume change into our superhero alter egos:

Guess which purse is not a purse, but a box o’ wine DISGUISED as a purse?

At this point in the trip we had to be the tiredest, most draggin superheros ever.  My eyes were soooooo red from no sleep.  i looked like i had been smoking pot all day.  luckily my alter ego mask covered that.  so we went out, had some shenannigans, listened to some jazz and thats all i can reveal so as to not compromise the integrity of our alter egos.

sleep for 2 hours (literally TWO) and Peter was waiting downstairs to take us to the airport.  Most adorable taxi driver ever, we lined him up earlier when he drove us home 3 hours ago and when he got back he texted us “i’m here” “where i picked you up last night” “i’ll be here”.  Oh Peter, such an adorable, pastel plaid wearing, 20 something, Romanian.  Keep in touch.

Smell ya later NOLA!

3 airports, some amazing Italian lunch, and one minor car accident (not our fault) later, four of us arrived back in t-town.  3rd Annual Great Sister Trip in the works already 🙂

Beads, Bourbon and Beignets!

NOLA, Part 1 AKA the 2nd Annual Great Sister Trip! Day 1: 9 girls arrive in Nola from from 4 different states. The day is started off by convening in our luxurious Marriott suite (note-always include a girl who works at a hotel or airline, we had hotel- check!) enjoying snacks and champagne (drank out of plastic cups through twizzlers straws of course….) once most of us had arrived we took our drinks into the streets (no open container laws! a source of glee all weekend long) and headed to the Carousel bar. A bar that revolves around the center bartenders! Super slow, but still super fun, and we had our ridic expensive drinks bought for us by an elderly gentleman in head to toe seersucker.  a little bit like Colonel Sanders…. Next stop: Riverwalk! To see the river…and riverboats…. and that was about it. On our way to Riverwalk we stumbled upon (or perhaps feverishly stalked) a movie set!  American Heist– starring Hayden Christensen, Adrien Brody, Akon, and Jordana Brewster.  We saw none of them, but did get hit on by a grip…. After that we walked around the french quarter a little and bopped in some stores, then headed back to the hotel to pick up our last arrival.  Then it was time for a late night dinner (which is surprisingly hard to do in NOLA: bars stay open, resturants do not….) and bedtime!  We did manage to get a good christmas card pic:

Day 2: An early morning morning wake up call (thanks to the freakishly early risers in my room…mainly my sister) led to magazine reading by the pool, then we all headed to brunch at the Ruby Slipper. While it wasn’t quite the Green Eggs Cafe in Philly (let’s be honest, nothing will probably ever beat that brunch besides Channing Tatum or Ryan Reynolds bringing me breakfast in bed…) it was delicious with fun drinks.  After stuffing ourselves we decided to walk..er ride…it off on the hop-on hop-off bus tour thru the French Quarter, Downtown and the Garden District. We hopped off for a while on Magazine street to get in some essential, vacation, retail therapy!  We stopped at Sucre for gelato and chocolates to cap off our afternoon then sprinted home to see how fast 9 girls could get ready for dinner. Which turns out to be amazingly fast. On our way to dinner:

Dolls in doorways

Dinner that night was at Muriels…a fancy, haunted, restaurant that sets a table with wine and food each night for it’s resident ghost, the late owner.  I had my favorite drink of the trip here, a sage julep made with gin.  It was ridic and needs to be re-created at home ASAP. After dinner we headed upstairs to their balcony overlooking Jackson Square for a little while, then explored the super creepy upstairs red rooms, that are like a museum/boudoir/haunted house.  Where we of course had some weirdo photo shoots.

 

Also Paola opened the “fake” sarcophagus and i’m pretty sure cursed us all.  (minor car accident on the way home and i get a bat in my house? coincidence? i think not.)  If you go to NOLA, eat at Muriels and make sure to explore the upstairs 🙂 Just don’t open the sarcophagus. After dinner we headed to Jackson Square so i could get my tarot cards read.  Nothing earth shattering, but Thanksgiving time is supposedly going to be a lively time for me…! Looked up the cards btw…not traditional tarot cards, some kind of Angel Oracle cards.  Which confuses me because i feel like religion and fortune telling shouldn’t really mix…. but it is NOLA. Next stop: Pat o’Brians for Hurricanes and Dueling Pianos! Pretty sure this was my favorite part of the whole trip.  it was also where the infamous spoons made their debute!  We sat outside for a while and drank our drinks and engaged in spoon shenanigans.

The glowing is the spoons….

Then headed inside to listen to the dueling pianos (although really, they were more taking turns pianos) at a front row table, and loved it.  Lots of singing along, cheering, and spoon stealing. Doorman TeeJay even got in on the action and made Paola scream like she got knifed when he stole her spoon. and gave it to me, muah haha!

we look like great singers don’t we?

great table, we were so close!

this seems like the end of day 2…..but it’s not! To be continued…..Bourbon Street, Bachelor parties, and Bead throwing!