La la.

I'm sick. Not quite sick enough to miss work, but definitely sick enough to sit on the couch all weekend long and do absolutely nothing. That's not true. If productivity was measured by how many old t.v. episodes I watched, then I got a LOT done. We watched half of season two of Lie to Me, I caught up on ANTM (if you don't know what that stands for, then I would be embarrassed to tell you that I love it.), and Community, and also watched my Netflix pick of the week- Josie and the Pussycats :) . Don't let my picks of girly shows make you feel bad for Matt. We watched football yesterday. all. day. long. Except for when we took a break to play baseball on the Xbox.  (I'll be honest- I had a lot of fun playing.)

Speaking of give and take, Matt has been encouraging me to de-clutter some of my boxes of "treasures".  This is really, really, really hard for me. To come to terms with it, I started making some video scrapbooks of all my things so I can talk about them before I throw them away. Pretty sure these videos would be painfully boring for anybody but me to watch, but I might post them anyways so I can pretend other people want to hear about every movie, concert, and play  I attended in high school, or seeing every little trinket and souvenir I collected in China.

P.S. Stephanie visited last week and it was SO FUN having her here, I just wish it could've been longer. It's always hard saying goodbye to family. We also got to see Jenna for a VERY short time, I wish she could've stayed at least another night or two!

P.P.S. We leave for Phoenix TOMORROW! Goodbye Winter Dreadful-land, hello sunny desert.

P.P.P.S. I am proud to report that I am actually making progress on my thesis. This too shall pass.

Birthday Month!

I love that Matt and I have our birthdays in the same month, and I love that mine comes first so for a few weeks I feel like I am catching up to him in age. And although we do share the same birthstone, we do not share the same astrological sign. Not surprisingly. 

Anywaaays, first of all, thank you all SO MUCH for the birthday wishes! It was the perfect birthday. I absolutely have the best in-laws anybody could ask for, not to mention the best husband who always seems to know how to plan a perfect day (and keep it a secret). Also, Elizabeth came to visit!! Our very first house guest.  How sweet.

Highlights of my birthday- 

Getting sushi for lunch with Elizabeth, then doing arts and crafts at home on the floor.

 Later,  I came home from work to find Matt with a big bouquet of flowers and a very sweet note. 

Matt took me out to dinner at Market Street Grill (YUM!) then told me we were going to meet up with Elizabeth to go bowling. I wasn't too keen on the bowling idea so I kept trying to convince him to go somewhere else. 

He finally convinced me, so we went to the bowling alley and I was very surprised to be met with a bunch of our friends! Our lanes and tables were even decorated with balloons, and I kind of felt like I was 12, but I loved it. One of our friends even brought me a gluten free RED VELVET CAKE which was super delicious. Good times with good friends... we did manage to get a picture of most of us.

New York

New York was the best!

Here's the highlight reel:

• MARY POPPINS! Truly magical. Chicago was really great also.
• MoMA, Guggenheim, and the Met. Could have stayed there for weeks. Preferably in the Abstract Expressionism wings.
• Topaz = Best. Thai food. ever.
• Shopping, of course.
• Chinatown. Brought back some smelly memories.
• Babycakes. Unbelievably good gluten free bakery.
• Spending time with Diego, Joy, and their daughter Amalia. They are hilarious, so fun to hang out with, and really welcomed us into their home. I love their apartment.
• Central Park was beautiful! So was Times Square. And Grand Central Station.
• I loved seeing some of Matt's old mission area in Brooklyn! I might have been more excited about it than he was.

 Other than the fantastic Broadway musicals, to-die-for museums, fine eateries and such, here are some other things I gleaned about New York culture:

• About 3/4 of the establishments we visited had informational posters about how to save somebody from choking. I'd never been that worried about choking before then.
• If you want a slice of lemon in your water they can really only spare a sliver of a slice. Guess they have citrus shortage.
• Favorite thing somebody asked us on the streets- "Hey, do you like drugs and midgets?"Not sure that merited a response.
• If you want to fit in, wear black clothing, tall boots, and your best don't-talk-to-me attitude. I gave up on fitting in.

Happy November!