Happy Wednesday

I can't believe it's going to be October! I am enjoying the weather around here - nice enough to wear a light sweater but not cool enough for a jacket. I can't tell if I'm coming or going lately. I have been working weird hours at work. Here's my schedule for this week: Monday 4-12, Tues-Wed 5-1, Thursday 12-8, Friday 1-9. Having weird hours just throws me off. Can't seem to get much done and I am just tired all the time. I can't even keep up with all the stuff on my Tivo with all the shows starting up again.

But I do like having Thursday nights off now because I have been able to hang out at karaoke and I'm even getting up there and singing now! It's so much fun and people tell me I'm good! LOL!

We took the girls to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs on Sunday. I think I laughed more than they did. Super cute movie. Then Randi and I did some shopping and I got two new pairs of cons! I even got some scrapping done.

I've got so much coming up too! I'm going to see Springsteen on Saturday (Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!!) and then we have the Race for the cure on Sunday. I am so excited that I raised about $140 thanks to my friends!

I'm trying to get some stuff done today because I really can't get anything done on Thursdays or Fridays before work. Before I get back to my laundry, here are my latest pages....

Some photos of Penny with Baers Garten's Loveable kit. Credits

From Michelle and Phil's wedding bus tour. Credits

The girls being silly while we were waiting to watch a parade. Credits
Aunt Clara and Grandma in the parade along with some past and present shots from Weehawken. Credits
My goddaughter at the park. Credits
My niece watching and playing Ariel. Credits
And in her fort. Credits


And here are four generations of my family and our love of horses. Credits

Do-nothing days!

It was nice to have no plans for today! The last few weekends have been so busy and work has been nuts, so I was glad to have a nice, quiet Saturday. Mom was gone most of the day. I slept late, caught up on some Tivo (have you seen Glee or Vampire Diaries?), then watched some Netflix (an unaired episode of Dollhouse and Sunshine Cleaning). Took the car for an overdue oil change. Bought some new red nail polish - in honor of the True Blood's finale tomorrow - and crossed some other things off the to do list.

My grandma stopped by earlier and she told me my Aunt Clara is going to be the grand marshal in a parade tomorrow for Weehawken's 150th anniversary. Aunt Clara is 97 and she is the town's oldest resident. That's a pretty cool honor so I'm going to be sure to check that out tomorrow!

Last week, we started producing the Poughkeepsie Journal at work. It's a smaller paper circulation-wise, but they have a lot more pages and sections than we do. So it was a pretty hectic week. We had three editors from their staff join us though, so that will be a big help as we get used to all this new work and stories about places some of us have never heard of.

Well, hope you're all having a great weekend! I need to switch some laundry and then head out to see my pals at the Rover! :)

Walk for the Cure

Every year, my family takes part in the Susan G. Komen Foundation's Walk for the Cure. My aunt and grandmother are both breast cancer survivors so this is an important cause for us. This year, it is even more important for us though, because another one of my aunt's has been diagnosed with breast cancer. After an initial surgery to remove a mass, the doctors found more of the cancer and she will likely have a mastectomy in the coming months.

I really hope you will help support our team this year. You can make a contribution by visiting my page here. And I hope you help by keeping my aunt in your thoughts and prayers.

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Speaking of good causes, I just finished up my poster from Operation Terri Kinney. I don't really know Terri, but my friend who organized the fundraiser asked me to take lots of pictures and to make this for Terri. It really warmed my heart to see all these people - friends and strangers - show up to support Terri. And we had so much fun with great food and entertainment.

Special thanks to Melinda who scanned the dog tag for me! Credits

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With all the craziness that has been these past few weeks, I haven't had much time for scrapping. I squeezed in a little time while I was waiting to pick up Becky a few weeks ago using Michelle Godin's new collab No Place Like Home. This is Randi as a little girl - probably Kylie's age - hamming it up. I used to think she was pretty annoying back then, but she was pretty cute. Credits

Michelle and Phil's wedding

Yesterday I went to one of the coolest weddings I've ever seen. One of my sister's best friends from high school was getting married and Randi's date fell trhough, so she asked me to come with her since I already had a dress from last month's wedding.

Michelle and Phil got married in a really old and pretty church in Manhattan. It was really lovely and it even had comfy cushioned seats.

Here they are lighting the candles.

... and outside the church.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom rented two double-decker tour buses for all the guests! I've never been on one of those so it was pretty cool and I saw a bunch of stuff I hadn't seen in the city. I feel like a super tourist after this trip and the Circle Line last week. I was a little nervous up on the top because the ride was a little bumpy and the signs, lights and branches can seem a little close. Randi kept making fun of me for ducking when they were nowhere near me!


The crowds on the street were pretty cool too since they all cheered for the bridal party on the bus ahead of us. When we got to the Hershey store near Times Square, Phil and Michelle had a marquee message thanking all their guests for coming. That was pretty cool!

The buses brought us back to the reception, which was in a loft space across from the church. There was a terrace upstairs with beautiful views and the weather was beautiful. I didn't really know a lot of people - but that was ok. We had lots of fun mingling and dancing. And they didn't have a cake - they had cupcakes! It doesn't get much better than that!

What a weekend!

What a weekend! I'm still so exhausted, but I had lots of fun and took about 300 photos! Here's a recap of the last few days!

FRIDAY:::::::::::::::::::::::::
Work was pretty sad. A lot of people who were let go were already gone and a few who decided to step down voluntarily were saying their goodbyes. It has been an emotional rollercoaster. The New York Times even wrote about what went on at work.

SATURDAY:::::::::::::::::::::::::
Went shopping and had lunch with Randi at Chili's because she was craving their white chocolate lava cake. (It's so good it's sick!) Then we saw Taking Woodstock, which would have been better if it had a better soundtrack! Cool view of the behind-the-scenes stuff though. Made me realize I would never have wanted to go there - all those lines and mud and smells. Yuck! When I got home, I cleaned the house and did a little scrapping to keep me busy while I was waiting to pick up Becky and Hannah at the airport. Their flight landed just as I got to Newark airport. I realized this weekend that google maps suck! I managed to get a little confused getting us back to their hotel in Jersey City, but we eventually got there after a little bit of a detour in Hoboken.

SUNDAY:::::::::::::::::::::::::
I picked up Becky and Hannah in the morning, took another scenic route and did some dorm shopping at IKEA and Target. They are my kind of shoppers - they bring lists and we were done pretty quickly. I thought it was funny how Hannah knew her way around an IKEA all the way across the country!

Then we headed back to Hoboken where we had brunch at Buskers with Krista! I always love hanging out with Krista and I'm so glad she got to meet Becky, too! The food was pretty good and Hannah took this shot of us...

Then we were off to move Hannah into her dorm at NYU. Well, traffic at the Holland Tunnel was horrible and the directions I had gotten from google and from my phone told me to make a turn that I couldn't make so we had to take another scenic route. Traffic all around was bad with kids moving in and the dorms spread out all over. But we finally got there, met up with Hannah's boyfriend Ryan and got her stuff up to her room, which I have to say was pretty cool. A nice corner room with a great view.

Becky and I then headed back to Jersey to get the rest of Hannah's stuff. And while the traffic was still bad, I figured a way to get us back to the dorm in a little less time. After that, we headed back to West New York (Lincoln Tunnel was a breeze!) where Becky got to meet my mom and Penny! She was feeling pretty tired though - and I don't blame her! - so she was ready to call it a night and I took her back to the hotel to get some rest.

But my night was not nearly over! My friend Steph organized a fundraiser - Operation Terri Kinney - at the Wild Rover to benefit a woman suffering from cancer. There was lots of food and really great bands. Mom even came out for a bit. A lot of people dressed up in camouflage to show there support. I took lots of photos because I was asked to make a poster for Terri, since we weren't sure if she'd be able to attend. But she did make it and she seemed in such good spirits. The place was packed with people she knew and even lots of us who came out for a good cause, and they were able to raise lots of money to help her. Here are some pics...

My friend Heather looking cute in camo.

Here is Terri, center, with her sister, right, and another friend.

Lisa and me

And Oscar on the guitar.

MONDAY:::::::::::::::::::::::::

So you can probably guess that I got started a little late on Monday! I took Becky for some yummy Cuban food at Las Palmas and then we took the ferry from Weehawken over to the city. I've never taken it before, but it was such a nice way to travel after sitting in so much traffic on Sunday! And we really couldn't have asked for nicer weather.

We took some pictures around the plaza and of the Intrepid while we waited for our Circle Line tour to get started.


I really do love doing touristy things in New York. I am always so surprised at how many people around here never go to the city or have done things like go to the Empire State Building. So I was pretty excited to take our sight-seeing tour. We had a really entertaining tour guide and I even saw lots of things I'd never seen or noticed before. I may live here and see this stuff a lot, but I'm always amazed by it!

Here's Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.



The Brooklyn Bridge...

We took so many photos of all the building from all over the boat. Becky's camera died on her at one point so I had to take lots of photos for her. Never a problem for me!

After the boat ride, we headed over to 42nd Street and Times Square.



Then we got some cupcakes at Magnolia....

I kept telling Becky she was a good luck charm. All weekend, I got great parking, we caught the ferries just in time, got cabs instantly and had awesome weather. Well, then we even had a super cool celebrity sighting. We noticed some cameras at Rockefeller Center so we hung around a bit. And then we saw Tracy Morgan! We're both fans of 30 Rock so this was just so fun! He did a little scene yelling something to a guy on a street and then posed for photos with some people in the crowd.


After that we walked up to the Disney Store and Central Park.

And then we headed back to the Village to meet up with Hannah and Ryan for dinner. Becky did pretty well with her goodbyes - I know it wasn't easy for her! And I am kicking myself for not getting a photo. But at that point we were pretty tired and ready to catch the ferry back.

We made a quick stop at my house where Becky gave Penny a super cute little gift!

And then it was back to her hotel. I stayed with her there so it would be easier to get her to the airport at 6 a.m.!

It really was such a great weekend. Becky and Hannah are so just so adorable. I knew Hannah was a smart and accomplished girl, but she really is amazing in person, too. I know she'll do great in the city. And hanging out with Becky was just like hanging out with any of my friends who I've known forever. I hope she comes back to visit!