Day 53: Gunslinger

I am not a fan of anything violent or scary... action flicks, horror movies, MMA, boxing, weapons. The pure mention of any of these sends shivers down my spine.

People say that I live in a fantasy world... where everything is peachy keen and everyone is happy-go-lucky. I don't fight, I rarely curse, and I've never touched a gun... unless you count a water gun, and I never really liked those. Where I grew up, guns were always associated with gangs and violence... but, that isn't always the case.

So, on Saturday, my co-worker's boyfriend introduced me to my first gun shooting experience. Hannah and I went to visit Andrea and her boyfriend, Adam, in Litchfield. Adam was kind enough to have us over at his family's home, where he and his dad patiently took Hannah, Andrea, and me under their wing. They taught us the basics of guns: never put your finger in the trigger hole, keep the gun in front of you, and never drop it. Adam supplied us with the guns, ammunition, target, and headphones... at least we looked the part! Hannah was a natural at hitting the target... getting to her mark over 90% of the time. Andrea did well, too... hitting the target over 70% of the time. I, on the other hand, hit the masking tape that held the target in place... including that, I "hit" my mark with a whopping 4% accuracy. I have a sneaking suspicion that I won't be called in to replace Lucy Liu for any Charlie's Angels sequels. Thank you Adam, John, and Cece, for having us... and thank you, Andrea, for sharing Adam for the afternoon!

Day 52: I'm in the Band

Congratulations, Melissa and Ryan!

Last night, I celebrated the marriage of my friend, Melissa, and her husband, Ryan... it was a blast! I can't remember the last time I danced non-stop for three hours straight... with the exception of a few 30 second breaks to hit up the bar, I danced like there was no tomorrow. The band, Felix Brown, was AWESOME. Last summer, Melissa, Ryan, Ginny, Ian, and I went to Newport to check out the band, and the happy couple decided to book them on the spot. Felix Brown played everything from Marvin Gaye to Journey to Kanye West to AC/DC to Michael Jackson. In grand fashion, I requested that the all-male band play some Gloria Gaynor; my hope was that they might play Cake's version of "I Will Survive." The bandleader said, "Do we look like we could sing that song?" I confidently exclaimed, "Absolutely!" Well, the band couldn't sing it.

So, I sang "I Will Survive"... alongside the live band... at the wedding. It was towards the end of the night, and I thought, "Why not? I haven't done my 'new thing' for the day yet!" I initially planned for my "new thing" to be catching the bouquet during the toss, and even had a strategy in place: take out my earrings, pull back my hair, and elbow anyone who gets in my way. But, Melissa and Ryan decided not to do the bouquet and garter tosses, so I needed something different. I don't have much of a voice this morning from all the singing and screaming throughout the night, but it was all well worth it! I'm so happy for you, Mr. and Mrs. Jessell, and wish you the very best as you start your lives together!

bride and groom

CCMC

singing with the band

Day 51: Reservations for One

A few weeks back, I'd gone to the movies by myself, and loved it so much more than I thought I would.

During my Brave blog, I admitted that I care too much about what other people may or may not think of me. I generally don't like people to think negatively of me, but I've come to realize that those people aren't important to me at the end of the day... so, why should I care? I'm gradually getting better at "not caring anymore," but there are still a few kinks to work out in this learning process.

So, last night, I went to dinner alone at my favorite restaurant; with the exception of a quick lunch at Subway here and there, I've never gone out to eat by myself. Why? In the past, I worried too much about what others would think of me if I ate out... alone. So, I called Bricco in Glastonbury to make my reservations: the hostess who answered the phone didn't seem to know what to do when I said I wanted to make reservations for one. I could hear her talking with another hostess, saying, "She wants a reservation for one, how do I do that?" She asked for my first and last name, and my phone number. After I gave her my last name, she said, "Oh, you're already in our system." Of course I was... it's my favorite restaurant and I eat there all the time, just not by myself. When I got there, I was seated in a corner booth, where I had the perfect view to people watch. I love to people watch. My server, Kristi, was so sweet! I told her about my blog, and she thought it was fabulous. She told me about some new and different things she'd done recently, and loved my plan for Day 60. Kristi insisted that I try some new foods for dinner instead of all my regulars. I enjoyed a glass of Riesling (regular), Toscano Salad (new), Penne a la Vodka (new), and Nutella Pie (regular). I loved dining out by myself, and managed to keep preoccupied for over two hours. As people walked by me, I simply smiled and mouthed, "Hi," and received several smiles and head nods in return. After dinner, Andrea met up with me for some drinks... but not before finishing off my Nutella Pie. I almost made it the whole night without having to share.

Day 50: (Not So) Sweet Treat

After my fairly successful attempt at baking muffins from scratch a few weeks ago, I decided to take it one step further and attempt making a dessert from scratch.

I'm so excited for two of my co-workers, Jenn and Taryn, who are expecting babies one week apart this fall. Jenn will be having her second baby boy, whom I think she should name "Ellaine-o," but she has a difference of opinion. Taryn will be expecting her first baby, whose sex won't be known until the day of delivery... since her mom's name is "Elaine," she also opted to not use "Ellaine" or "Ellaine-o" when her bundle of joy comes into the world. When I first started my blog, Taryn suggested I make something with chocolate for the expectant moms, and I've kept that in the back of my mind for the past 50 days.

So, I decided to make brownies from scratch for Jenn and Taryn. I found a recipe on Toll House that had 5 stars and over 100 reviews. It had to be delicious, right? I went to visit my friend, whom I hadn't seen for a couple weeks, and he let me use his kitchen for the daunting task. I followed the directions... for the most part. After the first layer of brownies, I topped it off with white chocolate chips and caramel. For the top layer of brownies, I forgot to add in one more egg. I was bummed once I realized my mistake, but the brownies smelled so good while baking in the oven, I figured it was just fine. Nope. I wanted to taste test the brownies; they definitely looked better than they tasted. Maybe I'm still a tad too hard on myself... then again, maybe they really were bad. The brownies ended up dry and cake-like, and I'm so much more of a gooey and fudgy brownie person. We topped off the brownies with some ice cream, which masked the dryness of my dessert. I brought the brownies in to work the following morning, warning my co-workers ahead of time that the brownies weren't as tasty and delicious as I'd anticipated. They comforted me by saying that brownies are probably the most difficult dessert to make from scratch. I guess I'll take that.

Day 49: Flower Girl

As I'd blogged earlier on, I love flowers! Since I went all out and bought myself flowers for the first time ever back in June, I had to do something a little different today.

For the past two weeks, I've had a beautiful bouquet of flowers on my kitchen table. Unfortunately, they began to wilt, and I needed to throw them out. I replaced the bouquet with my red faux standby flowers, but it just wasn't the same.

So, after work, I stopped at Gutt Farm in Glastonbury to cut and make my very first bouquet of flowers. I asked the girl at the stand if I could pick and cut my own flowers from the field. She offered to let me pick flowers from pre-cut ones at the stand, but I wanted to enjoy the full experience of making my own bouquet. She handed me scissors, and told me I could pick one sunflower and 11 other flowers. I walked up and down the field, looking for the brightest and prettiest ones. I shooed away bumblebees and other insects in order to make my floral arrangement. While I won't be quitting my day job to become a florist any time soon, I can walk by my bouquet sitting on the kitchen table, knowing I made it all on my own.

Day 48: Day Off

Unfortunately, my plans for Block Island today fell through. It's ok, though... I still had the day off.

I like to work... a lot. And I always have. Some see this as an admirable trait while others worry that I'm going to burn myself out. To each his own. I got my first job working at the Gap when I was 16... it was the best job! Since then, I've always held at least two jobs at the same time. I work full-time at the Children's Hospital and work every few Saturdays at a nursing home... I like keeping busy and absolutely love what I do, so I rarely take time off from work. I'm trying to get better at the whole work-life balance thing... it's been a slow but steady process.

So, today, I took my first day off of the entire year. Yes, it's August 6th, and I haven't taken a day off from work since 2011. I have Fridays off (because I work 10 hour days Monday-Thursday), and always considered it to be a "day off." But, the more I think about it, the less I see it as a "day off." I typically spend my Fridays sleeping in an extra hour, running errands, and making appointments... it's my  day to catch-up on everything since I don't get home until after 7pm the rest of the week. Since I didn't get to go to Block Island, I spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing... and it was wonderful! I slept in until about 8:30, made blueberry pancakes with blueberries I'd picked at Rose's Berry Farm, and had coffee in the London Starbucks mug my friends Amy and Alli gave me a few years ago; I kind of felt like I was at the Olympics. I made a "quick" stop at the outlets to find a dress for Melissa's wedding on Friday, and found a winner! I spent the rest of the afternoon at Andrea's, where we gushed about Sarah's engagement, and took her dog, Tucker, for a walk. Then I came home, and made spaghetti and meatballs with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Last, but not least, I finalized plans for Day 60. It was such a relaxing day! I think I need to do this day off thing more often...

Day 47: Engaged!

Not me, silly! Today's blog is going to take the focus off of me for a little bit. I'm so thrilled and excited over the engagement of two of my closest friends, and that's enough of a "new and different thing" for me today.

This morning, I went to Half Door for brunch with two of my best friends, Andrea and Sarah. I was excited to blog about my "Birds in a Nest" with cheese, bacon, and mushrooms. My brunch was good... but there's even more exciting news to share, so enough of that. Andrea caught us up on her vacation in Puerto Rico with her boyfriend, Michael; I updated the girls on what was going on in my life; and Sarah vented some frustration over waiting for her boyfriend, Mike, to "put a ring on it." Mike has been one of my closest friends since we were freshmen in high school, and he told me back in March that he was planning on proposing to Sarah during their trip to Disney this September. Trying to keep the secret has been tough, and I only spilled the beans to a few people.

So, as I was pulling into my driveway this evening, I was returning a text to my friend, when I had an incoming call from Sarah. As I answered my phone, all I could hear was screaming... "I'm engaged!" was what I heard. There were lots of words before and after that, but none of that was really important. Sarah was engaged! My initial response was "Shut up!" Then, I started yelling and screaming, and Sarah continued yelling and screaming... it was a mess. I grabbed my groceries from the backseat; threw the eggs, milk, and creamer in the fridge; and drove straight to Mike and Sarah's condo, because I needed to get all the details in person. I was there the night Mike and Sarah met in October 2010, and their connection was instantaneous. You often hear about "sparks flying" between two people, but I never knew what that meant until I watched Mike and Sarah interact that night. Sarah was "too tired to stay out late," but ended up leaving when the bar closed at 2am; Mike took his phone out to show Sarah his baby pictures and his Christmas footsie pajamas. Like I said, I've known Mike more than half my life, and I'd never seen him react that way towards a girl . That's when I knew. That's when everyone else at the bar knew. His late-night texts to me immediately afterwards, asking about Sarah, solidified that. I couldn't be more excited for these two crazy kids... there's nothing greater than seeing the people you love the most in this world so blissfully happy. Congratulations!

Birds in a Nest at Half Door

ENGAGED!

the gorgeous rock

with the bride-to-be