L is for Last Five Years

Today I'm talking about a show that is very near and dear to my heart. The Last Five Years, by Jason Robert Brown, is about Jamie and Cathy, a couple who meet, marry, and divorce in the span of 5 years. They each take turns telling their side of their story - Cathy starts at the end of the story on the day their divorce is final, then Jamie sings about the beginning of their story on the day they meet. Their stories intersect in the middle of the show where they sing a duet on the day they get married.

The premise is very sad and maybe a little depressing, but it's also so beautifully done. Oddly enough, it's the show my husband and I sort of think of as "our show." I know, we may just be inviting bad kharma, but here's why. When JP and I started dating, he made a playlist of fun and sometimes romantic songs to listen to on our first date. Included was "Next Five Minutes," the song from their wedding scene in L5Y. I'd never heard of the show so I quickly got the album and fell in love with it while simultaneously falling in love with JP. (There aren't really any lines to speak of outside of the songs, so if you listen to the album, you know the show.) The little things we say to each other are often sweet lines from this show.

The reason this fits into my NYC theme is because there's currently a revival happening off-Broadway and JP and I have tickets on April 23 and I could not be any more excited!! I can't wait to tell you all about it!!

Valentines and Galentines

Valentine's Day is my second favorite holiday. Growing up, my mom always made it a big deal by throwing a pizza party complete with lots of decorations, so for me it wasn't so much about romantic love as it was about love in general. It was about love, family, fun...and pizza and candy. Plus, the colors involved are pink, purple, and red, and you just can't beat that.

I've yet to gather my own Valentine's Day decorations, but I've resolved to do so next year. I did put together a super fun Valentine's Day outfit involving a new skirt that I'm so in love with. We had dinner at our usual spot, Trattoria Trecolor, where they had all the tables decorated with roses. JP surprised me by dressing up in khakis and a blazer - he looked so handsome!

Friday night I went up to Harlem for a little Galentine's Day shindig with my girlfriends. Katie made pizza bread in a bundt pan - sort of like monkey bread, only it was for pizza. She melted cheese on the bread and made a tomato sauce for dipping. Jess made a queso dip that was also delicious and I bought a heart shaped cheesecake with red velvet crumbles for dessert. Also cannolis. Molly had Valentine treats for us, even though she had to leave to go work hard for the money. :-( In addition to the great food and great company, Katie got to babysit one of the cutest babies ever and she had all of us going gaga over her. It was a lovely night - so grateful for those girls!

A belated Happy Valentine's and Galentine's Day to you!!

Nemo Aftermath

Well Nemo came and went without hitting NYC too badly. We didn't lose power and I think our area only got about a foot of snow. Not too shabby.

So on Sunday, we decided to celebrate JP's birthday (insert hoots and hollers here) by going sledding in Central Park! Your response to that might be, "Oh, you have sleds?" and my answer would be, "No, we in fact do not own sleds." We had no plan, we just went up to our friends' apartment near the top of the park and we brainstormed what to use...we debated finding trash can lids somewhere, we debated using a cookie sheet (and even measured against our butts), we even debated wrapped our bums and legs in saran wrap...finally someone gasped and shouted, "THE AIR MATTRESSES!"

Our sleds were born.

We blew up two twin sized air mattresses and lugged them across the street and through the park until we got to a great hill. Along the way almost everyone we passed made comments about our ingenuity because we are awesome. And they worked really well too!

It was a lovely day.

                         

The above is video of the

Anniversaries and Weddings

I fell off the internet grid there for a while. First I celebrated my second wedding anniversary, then we traveled to Georgia for my brother Micah's wedding. Needless to say, I didn't have much time for the online world.

I was again amazed at how emotional I felt on the day of our anniversary. It fell on a Wednesday, which meant I already had the day off. This year the traditional wedding gift was cotton so I got JP some underwear and socks. I know it sounds boring, but he asked for them so there you go. He got me some flannel pillowcases with snowflakes on them and I was completely thrilled with them. 

That evening we headed into the city for dinner at our favorite spot in midtown. It's called Trattoria Trecolori, an Italian restaurant (obviously). It's the perfect size, it always feels quiet, it has romantic candlelight, and the service is excellent. Not to mention the food is out of this world and not overpriced. We've eaten there for lots of special occasions over the past 3 years and have come to think of it as "our" spot. Afterward, we went to see the play Peter and the Starcatcher, which was a Christmas gift from my aunt Carla. Overall, we had an excellent anniversary. 

Of course we had to take our traditional picture in front of the statue where we got engaged. I'm so happy I chose to marry JP and move to NYC - three years later, I wouldn't change a thing.

And now onto another marriage milestone: my little brother Micah got married!! He married his girlfriend Golden in a beautiful ceremony at Henderson Village (in Georgia). This is one of the times I hate living far away from my family - it's hard to try and get to know someone on my random and busy trips home. Regardless, I've really enjoyed getting to know Golden - she's beautiful and caring, a total sweetheart. She and Micah really fit well together and I'm so happy for them. Also, her dress was to die for. Congrats to the Jordans!

There were several months where I didn't blog at all. Between May and January, to be precise. So stay tuned to hear about other major milestones that happened during my absence.

Fear of Belts

Yesterday I overcame my fear of belts.

Up until now, the only reason I would wear a belt is if I needed to keep my pants up. Belts were to be worn, but not seen. I have an hourglass figure, heavy on the upper curve, and I've always worried about accentuating my waist too much and making myself look even more top heavy. However, I also tend to like wearing long sweaters and shirts with leggings, which can often make me look a little shapeless. JP has been trying to get me to pair a belt with these long shirts ever since I've known him and I've resisted. Until now.

After a major shopping trip this week, I came home with a new long sweater and a stretchy belt. I wore them yesterday, and although I left the house feeling worried about how it looked, I ended up really liking it! You're never too old to what works for you and what doesn't in the world of fashion. In fact, a woman I know (who's over 50) just today learned that black is slimming (don't ask me how she'd never heard that before, I was as shocked as you are).

Moral of the story: Don't get stuck in a rut. Don't be afraid to try something new for yourself. And if you have someone who encourages you to step out of the box, keep them. :-)

Random update with lots of pictures.

I spent the majority of my day reading someone's entire blog, which made me realize it's been a while since I posted on mine...which made me realize how much I stay home on my days off. That's not really a bad thing. For one, we've been attempting to save a little money here and there (which is really hard, in case you're unaware) and now that I work really long days 4 days a week, it's harder to feel like leaving the apartment if I don't have to go to work. Also, we seem to have crossed that line from tourist to resident...we've seen a ton of the city (though not all there is to see - sometimes I think that's impossible) and we're not dying to get out and explore anymore.

We may be going through a boring stage at the moment, but that doesn't mean our lives are void of excitement. Here's an update on a few things in case my Facebook and Twitter aren't enough for you.

First of all, I'm extremely disappointed in NYC's winter weather this year. We had zero snowstorms. Zero. There were a couple of flurries (it's strange to think that back in Georgia these flurries would have seemed like blizzards), but the snow never stuck around and there wasn't enough to build a snowman. Fingers crossed for more snow next year (and also for a mild summer, though I doubt it will help)! This is probably the most snow we got all winter.

In February, Colby (my best friend/twin) and David visited for a long weekend. Colby and I worked hard at making JP and David best friends. They like each other, but "best friends" is still a work in progress. However, the most important part is that David proposed (to Colby, not to JP)! It was very exciting and I am super excited to fly to Georgia for her wedding the first weekend in May. I also took on the task of planning a bridal shower from afar, which has been interesting. But thanks to Pinterest, I have an awesome theme of glitter and will be making lots of fun things to decorate with. And thanks to my aunt Carla, Party Planner Extraordinaire, for helping me! I'm sure I'll have an entire blog post dedicated to her shower/wedding coming soon.

Top row from left to right: Our attempt at forcing them into BFF status by sitting them next to each for a game of LOTR Risk; the game board; Colby and me. Bottom row: Meeting a unicorn; proof of engagement; riding an orca into battle. 

Next up, we went upstate for one of my best friend's baby shower. I've known Brittany for...7 years? We became friends halfway through college, were roommates for a short of time, took a road trip to Disney World our senior year, I got her a job with me at my ophthalmology office after we graduated, and I was a bridesmaid in her wedding. She is so special to me and it's so wild to be able to witness all of these huge life-changing events. Anyway, she's an adorable little pregnant lady and I had so much fun catching up with her and her husband Paul and getting excited about their future baby boy! 

Also in February, I started experimenting with hairstyles, specifically ways to curl it. Random note.

In March our friend Jen came back to NYC for a visit. We had a fabulous night out with her and our other friends, Molly and Katie, and this amazing picture came to be.

My in-laws also made quick visits so that they could see my brother-in-law in Carrie, the musical.

Our next visitor was Lisa, my bestie (or occasionally referred to as my beastie). She decided to pop up for a visit at the last minute, which is always exciting. We visited several of the routine places most people want to go, but we did actually go to a couple of new places too, the WTC Memorial and the New York Public Library.

And last but not least, Colby and David announced that Colby is pregnant! It wasn't exactly in the plans, but they're both very excited. And JP and I were thrilled and honored to be asked to be the baby's godparents. I so look forward to watching them become parents and hopefully having lots of chances to spoil that child. Colby was trying to decide how to announce it in a non-cliche way, and I suggested they do something they're very familiar with - a video. To be specific, turn it into a movie trailer. JP did the voice over for it and Colby had me record myself saying some lines and they did their thing and it ended up being really amazing. I love watching it. Enjoy!

First Anniversary (cont'd)

Just in case you guys were wondering, our day was perfect.

I was taken by surprise by how emotional I was from the moment I woke up...I just felt overwhelmed by my happiness and the fact that somehow I'd just been allowed to spend an entire year married to the love of my life. I couldn't help but laugh at myself when I started crying as I snuggled up to JP and wished him a happy anniversary.

We went ahead and exchanged gifts before we even got out of bed. We'd decided that we would give each other the traditional anniversary gifts each year. (Everyone knows the 25th anniversary gift is silver and the 50th is gold, but there are others for years 1-15, then for every fifth year after that. You can view the traditional and modern lists here, and we went the traditional route.) So the first year is paper. JP made me a couple of origami hearts and painted them, plus an origami heart-lined picture frame that we plan to put on the fridge once we get some magnetic strips. I made him a "love jar" (although I didn't have any jars sitting around, so I used a Valentine's Day drink mixer) where I cut up pieces of paper that have things I love about him written on them so he can take one out and read one whenever he wants.

















After that, we spent the day being lazy. We'd just bought the Lego Pirates of the Caribbean game (we LOVE the Lego games) so we played that all day. Then that evening we got dressed up and went to our favorite Italian restaurant in Times Square.  Of course we had to visit the statue of George M Cohan in the middle of Times Square where we got engaged. It was nice since the tourists are all gone now. :-)

All in all, it was a very lovely day.

Love

 

"I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives." -The Holiday

That line right there is probably one of the major reasons why The Holiday is my favorite movie. It is so true for me. I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and I'm constantly aware of how love (or the lack of it) shapes people and the world around them. Love can be perceived but not truly felt. It can be withheld. Love can be lost, and not always by both parties at once.

I've been in love for more than 2 years, and I in no way consider myself an expert on the subject. However, I do feel like I've learned a lot about love in the past 12 months. Have you heard about the five love languages? They're the five main ways that we show and like to receive love: words of affirmation, touch, quality time, gifts, and acts of service. I've heard about these all my life pretty much thought everyone should know about them and focus on them. When JP and I first got married, we decided to take the quiz, thinking that it would help us to know more about each other.

It was fun to do and the results were interesting, but not long after that day I realized something. The way that I want to be loved most varies day to day. The result I got that first day was not the same result I would have gotten a week later. It became pretty clear to me that even though these love languages are interesting to learn about and to be aware of, they are not the be-all and end-all of loving relationships. The key is balance. Don't discover your spouse loves acts of service, then proceed to lose focus on encouraging them or spending quality time with them. By the same token, don't be upset when your spouse doesn't show you love using only the option you scored most on - you have to look at what else they're doing to show their love to you instead of focusing on the one way you've decided to expect.

www.mollymcgaughey.com

 

This is all leading up to today's special occasion. It's mine and JP's one year anniversary. Yep. We've been married a whole year. It truly is a milestone. The year has been a rough one outside of our marriage - a year ago, I would not have been able to imagine just how much I would come to rely on JP's quiet love and support. I know I've had my extremely crazy moments of freaking out, but he always has a way of calming me down, whether he's lending balance to my frame of mind or validating my freak out moment with other words of wisdom. This year has truly made JP my family and I can't imagine my life without him.

 So in light of these things I've learned about love in general, here are some ways JP has shown me love this past year. They're little things, but little things that spoke to me and made me feel loved.

- He's willing to walk home barefoot for me. One night we were getting home late after a night of dancing and I had been wearing heels that were killing my feet. It was too late to catch a bus from the subway, so we decided to walk it, but I was really having a hard time. JP offered to walk home barefoot so that I could wear his shoes. (Side note: He's offered many times since too, but it's never been bad enough for me to have to do that again.)

- He gives me the pickles from his Chickfila sandwich. He hates pickles (weird, right?) and I love them. He used to get the sandwiches without pickles, but now he gets them so I can have them. Yeah, I know that I could get pickles on the side, but it's not the same. I love that he just started doing it without saying anything.

- He makes phone calls. I HATE making phone calls. JP doesn't care for it either, but he's always willing to call to order food, to call our landlord with questions...anything that requires a phone call, he'll do it.

- He does random, silly internet things for me while I'm at work. When I found out I could get into Pottermore early, I was at work. I asked JP if he would go on to see if he could do it for me, and before I knew it I had a Pottermore screen name. Back when I played a lot of Facebook games, he would harvest stuff and gather coins for me while I was at work. (I'm aware this makes me sound obsessive...the point is he's willing to put up with it and help me out.)

- He understands that Colby and I are crazy together. He refers to her as my wife and understands that our relationship is a little...codependent. He puts up with the fact that sometimes we're going to obsess over little things and sometimes I'm going to annoy him by chattering about stuff he doesn't care about. But he respects us and what we have. Or maybe he just puts up with it. :-)

- In the same vein, he's willing to help me with videos. The first time I wanted to film some segments for one of Colby's videos, he rolled his eyes at me and laughed. But when we actually did it, he was into it and throwing out suggestions. We had fun shooting the segments together. Another time, he didn't even understand what I told him I was doing. He just set up the camera and shot it for me.

- He shops with me in the rain. There was one particular day that was going to give us plenty of time to shop for Christmas gift and it ended up raining all day. But he was a trooper, going everywhere I needed to and offering to carry bags.

- Those random moments when he says, "I'm so glad we're married." I know we're still newlyweds and this may not last forever. But I love it when we're doing something random like watching TV or cooking dinner and then he turns to me with this certain look on his face and says, "I'm so glad we're married," or "I'm so happy you're my wife." My heart jumps every time.

Here's to many more years with the man I love.

It's a trap!

I've changed a lot in the last couple of years. I can't decide if it's for the better or not...and I attribute the particular change I'm going to talk about here to JP and Colby. They would definitely say it's for the better.

I've done two things I thought I would never do. Read the entire Harry Potter series (something I actually swore I would never do) and watch the entire Star Wars saga (which I just never did seem to get around to).

Colby and I were not immediately close when we first met. We were both cast in Beauty in the Beast at MLT. I met her at call backs, and we ended being cast into two different groups. She was a napkin/wolf and I was a silly girl/dish. I bonded with my fellow silly girls and she with her napkins. However, one of my first memories of her involves her and at least one of the other napkins singing the song from Potter Puppet Pals in the dressing room.

It took me 3 years to finally read the series, and it finally happened after JP and I started dating and he and Colby would have lengthy, detailed conversations about what house I belong it. I had no clue what they meant and finally I had had it. JP went on tour, he owned the first 3 books in the series, and I had time on my hands, so I thought what the heck. I read the first 2 and figured that I probably wouldn't feel the need to buy the ones that come after 3. But then I read the third one...and I was hooked. I was very depressed about being hooked because I had abstained for so long (and maybe also because I spent grocery money on the last 4 book at Barnes & Noble)! The series really is very well written - the best part is how seemingly small things you learn in the first two books end up being super important by the end. Just really well written all the way around. (Side note: I hate the HP movies.)

But I still don't know that Potter Puppet Pals song by heart.

As far as Star Wars goes, I did really like them. My favorite moments were when I would ask a question and then JP would proceed to answer with big words that didn't seem to ever be mentioned in the actual movies...he's read all sorts of extra literature that explains all things Star Wars. The best part about having watched these movies is the fact that I now understand all of the Star Wars jokes out there!

In fact, here's a commercial that would not have been funny at all if I had not seen Star Wars. Ole Miss is currently without a mascot and is trying to decide on a new one (also something I would not have known if not for JP).



Let me also add, that I would be all about going to Dragon*Con if given the opportunity.

Who am I????

Random weekend home.

Two Mondays ago I was feeling very down. Distance from JP is hard when I'm living in a brand new city by myself. Thankfully, I do have my fellow Georgian friend Molly living up here and we try to hang out a lot, but it's not like we can hang out every day. So for the most part I wake up, go to work, come home, figure out something easy to eat, watch some TV, play on the internet, go to sleep alone...Repeat. Don't get me wrong, I love living here. It's not like I'm second guessing moving here. It's just not the same being here by myself.

But I digress...back to two Mondays ago. I was feeling very down in the dumps and I couldn't stop myself from putting up a woe-is-me status on Facebook about wishing I could go home for a couple of days. (You should know that normally I despise it when I see other statuses of this kind, but we all stumble sometimes, don't we?) Well before I knew it, my flight attendant friend Ollie had me on a flight home for the following weekend.

It was really great to go home for no good reason. It had been two and a half months of seeing no family, of missing out on certain foods, of not riding in or driving a car...the weekend was just very magical.

Saturday I went to visit with my future mother-in-law for a little while. I'm incredibly lucky to get along with JP's mom so well. Before I even knew JP, I respected her so much. She's a great lady with great talent and I have always enjoyed being around her. How could I not love her when she was playing the matchmaker without me even knowing it?

Later I grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-A (oh and I'd also had it for breakfast) with Amy and Becky. I've missed them so much. It was fun chatting about everything and nothing and sending Becky into the Twilight Zone. And I got to meet Amy's sweet baby! She is just too precious. I debated sticking in my suitcase, but decided against it.

I got my Zaxby's for supper, then completely surprised Lisa by showing up at her apartment. Definitely an amazing moment.

Sunday I went to church and sang a song. I kind of got choked up a little when I first got to the microphone to practice...I guess I miss singing a whole lot more than I realized. And I guess my vocal chords did too - it was a little rough at first! That's one thing about not having a car...I used to sing nonstop if I was driving by myself. And also if I was driving with someone. But I'm not about to belt it on the subway or the bus with my earphones in. That would be crazy.

The rest of the day was spent shopping with my sisters and my mom. I really miss them a lot. And my mom was amazing about this whole thing. Her response to my coming home proposal? "Hell yes!" I know it's hard for her to send me off on my own and to know that it's not always easy for me, but she has made it so easy for me. She is so supportive, no matter what, and is always there when I need her (if she misses my phone call, she beats herself up for it, but she always calls back pretty quickly!). I had to catch a 6am flight Monday morning and who got up at 2:30 with me? My mom. I know it sucked to have to put me on a plane again, but she did it anyway. Seriously the best Noni Lamb I know.

So yeah, that was all pretty great. And now I'm super pumped about Colby visiting this weekend. We will be painting our own garden gnomes. Amazing.

First big trial...

Tuesday morning JP got a message from American Family Theatre (who he's toured with before) asking if he would be willing to replace an actor for the rest of a tour...ASAP. Of course my initial gut response is "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!" But after that passed I knew he had to do it. It's miserable for an actor to not be acting. And we're always a little tight on money. So JP packed a suitcase and left on Wednesday. He won't be back until May 21. It happened so fast and I can't decide if it was better that way or not. It's something we've discussed and known could happen. I've tried to prepare for it and be ok with it. But it's not that easy.

Of course I cried a lot Tuesday night. But after a while my crying was just funny because I would stop and then if he said anything or tried to comfort me it would start all over again. And then I realized April marks our 1 yr anniversary and he would be gone (although he keeps saying we can make our anniversary a bunch of different dates, so does this really count? The anniversary we need to worry about will be our wedding anniversary anyway.) I did good Wednesday morning, but when I came home to an empty apartment, I didn't hold up as well. I was sick of crying so I fought it as much as possible by turning on Scrubs (it failed me - it was about romantic gestures and the end was sickeningly sweet with like 5 different couples being romantic), cleaning the apartment (I learned very quickly that entering the bedroom was a bad idea), and making dinner (which is not as fun to do alone).

Luckily, Carla is coming into town today. She'll be staying until Monday. This has been the plan all along so of course I told her JP said yes so that he could avoid her visit. ;-) It will be good to have some company on these rough first few days. And hopefully it won't be too hard on me when she leaves. And hopefully I won't ruin her trip by moping. Haha.

We did Skype for a little while once he got to his hotel. It was strange since the last time we did that was when he was up here in New York visiting his brother and auditioning and I was at home surrounded by family and friends. It was interesting to see how things have changed. Or to feel how things have changed. Back then when his face would pop up on my computer screen I felt a love for him that was brand new and I spent the whole time wondering where we were going and how I was realizing I couldn't live without him. Now when that video starts I feel such a deeper love. A love that I have for someone I know even better than I did before. My love for him has grown exponentially and I don't think I fully realized it until now. It still makes me excited to think about where we're going and I still realize every day that I can't live without him.

Anyway, blogging was apparently not the best idea either. It'll get better.

And so the countdown has begun. 57 days.

Major Update

Well, after that first trip to New York, things just snowballed and got incredibly hectic. So if you're not sure exactly what's going on with me...here's the scoop.

Thursday, January 7, 2010: I leave work early so that JP and I can head to the airport. However, JP had been notified that our flight was canceled...yeah. The one time someone decides to send snow clouds to GA just happens to be the night that we want to fly out. But we rushed up to the airport early and managed to switch to an earlier flight. That was my first time on a plane and although it sucked as far as me still having a bit of a head cold, the view as we came up on Manhattan was just amazing. I will never forget that moment and the excitement I felt.

Friday, January 8, 2010: We got up and headed toward the financial district for my interview. However, it turns out there are two different offices for NY Laser Group and I had gone to the wrong one. So we had to travel an hour out to almost the end of Queens (Kew Gardens). But we made it and when I walked into that interview, I had pretty much already been hired. The lady interviewing me loved my resume and loved me and she already had a schedule written out for me. So she showed me around the office, asked me when I could start, then said ok see you then!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out in the city. We spent hours at the Met (I recommend that if you ever go there, plan on spending a ton of time and definitely use the coat check. I got so sick of carrying my stuff around!)

Saturday, January 9, 2010: Definitely a day to remember. This was planned as our day of fun. We headed down to Times Square and hung out a little until it was time to go see Phantom of the Opera. It was simply amazing and definitely brought on some tears. So so good. Then we decided to hang out and maybe go in some of the shops and stuff. JP also told me he wanted to show me the George M. Cohan statue. He was a major Broadway star and the only Broadway star to get a statue on Times Square. So we headed over there, took some pictures in front of it, then kind of stood trying to figure out what to do next.

So there we are, standing in the middle of Times Square with our arms around each other. JP start saying sweet things about how he can't believe we're going to live here and he can't wait to start a life with me, etc. I would also like to point out that JP says sweet things a lot, so this was nothing out of the ordinary...yet. So I just kept interrupting him saying things like, I know me too! But then all of a sudden he got down on one knee and I totally freaked. I immediately started crying and a million things ran through my mind. I couldn't believe he was doing this without a ring because how could he have a ring? He doesn't even know my size, we haven't even looked at rings, and somehow I think I would just know if he had a ring...but then I looked back at him and he was pulling a box out of his coat pocket. I'm pretty sure I was hyperventilating and he said some other stuff that I couldn't focus on enough to remember and somewhere in there he asked me to marry him and I said yes.

Of course, then a mass of phone calls ensued until finally we headed to Union Square to meet up with Michael, JP's brother, for dinner to celebrate. Stand 4, home of the Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake. BEST THING EVER.

Sunday, January 10, 2010: A day of rest. We walked around Central Park, went down to Ground Zero, and did other touristy things. A great day.

Monday, January 11, 2010: We looked at apartments. We saw three of them and completely fell in love with one of them. The broker told us we could do everything by overnight mail and that we could be in by February 1. We said ok, let's do.


So there's definitely more to the apartment story. It was very stressful dealing with a board, the broker, and the landlord, all seemingly not dealing with each other...but after a lot of stress and a little tears, we are finally in our apartment. Haha. And we love it so much. I posted some pictures on Facebook and I'm sure there will be more to come.

Officially in freak out mode.

I got a call from a LASIK/cataract center in NYC saying they've received my resume and they would like to set up an interview. Holy crap! It's not like I thought that wouldn't happen, but still...it's happened and now I feel crazy.

So January 8 at 1:00 will help determine a lot of things. I need this interview so I can get an idea of what kind of salary I'll be getting in New York. I need to know what kind of salary I'll be getting so that I can know how much money we can spend on an apartment. I need to know how much money we can spend on an apartment so that we can find an apartment. We need to find an apartment so that we can move already!

I don't mean to sound like I'm ready to move and don't care about what I'm leaving behind (because, believe me, it's very bittersweet). I just hate the preparation and having to deal with the unknown. I'm just ready to have it done and over with so that we can move forward.

January 8. 1:00

Please give me a job.

Resume done!

I was stressing about having to do a resume because I really hate trying to remember when I worked where. And I was dreading trying to list everything I do at my current job (which is a lot). But then I got on my computer and voila! I found a resume I'd saved on here after I graduated. All I had to do was update it. And on top of that, I remembered that I'd actually already made a list of my work talents in an email I sent to the office so I just copied and pasted. Yessss. Resume? Done.

So now that my grandparents know about the move, now that JP and I have definitive plans to look for an apartment, now that I'm actually talking to an office there about a job...it's really hitting me. Every day I think about the things I'm going to miss. So...here's a list of a few of them.

1. My family. Duh. In 24 years, I've never lived more than a couple of hours from any of my immediate family. And for 20 of those years, I've lived with them. We're all so close and, truth be told, I'm terrified of not having them to run to. I really am. That's not to say that I don't think I can do it, because I know I can, but it will definitely be the biggest adjustment and it will be accompanied with lots of tears. And Bruno will also be missed. He loves me so completely and unconditionally. And he lets me dress him up.

2. My friends. I am a people person. I like to be liked. I love hanging out with groups of people and having fun with them. I like having friends who I can tell anything to and know I won't be judged. I like having friends who only want the best for me. It will be sad not to be able to call up Lisa, Doug, and Niccole and plan a weekend in the mountains together. It will be sad not to be here for Amy's kid. It will be sad not to be able to call Becky up for drinks. It will be sad not to try and see my FPD friends every few months (haha). I have to start all over!

3. Colby. I've never felt closer to another female. She is truly my twin, inside and out. I love that we can talk about anything that comes to mind, no matter how stupid. I love that we tend to like/dislike the same people. I love that she still likes to act like a kid with me. I don't know what I'm going to do without her.

4. Chick-fil-A. Yes, this list is in a specific order. I could eat there multiple times a day (and have) and for several days in a row (and have). There is only one Chick-fil-A in New York, located in the dining hall of NYU so I'm not even allowed in. Will I attempt to sneak in? Of course. There are also locations in New Jersey. Will JP and I take a bus into Jersey at least once a month? Of course.

5. My accent. As much as I say I won't let it happen, I have to face the facts. I tend to talk and pick up the mannerisms of people around me. I think I'll be able to keep a trace of it, but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to keep it up completely. I am very saddened by this, and not looking forward to the speech lessons my mother will undoubtedly give me over the phone.

6. Theatre. I have really enjoyed my time on the stage. I have now had experience as a main role, as well as being in the chorus and honestly I don't like one more than the other. They are both so fun-I just love being on stage and singing. But I have no desire to do it profesionally. So I'll miss doing it in the community.

7. Snow days. Every winter I live in hope of snow because it means I won't have to go into work. I doubt that will matter in New York...

I'll post updates of more things I'll miss as I think of them.

Moving to NYC!

I haven't blogged in a long time, but I'd like to start back. Some people scoff at bloggers who only write about their daily lives. But in light of the huge life changes that are about to happen, I want to talk about it.

I will soon be moving to New York. I've lived in middle Georgia for 24 years. Born and raised. I have only traveled further from the surrounding states once. It was to New York on a school trip, so I was very limited in what I got to see and do. And now I've met and fallen in love with a wonderful man whose plan has always been to live in NYC so that he can audition on Broadway. And he's good enough to make it. And I've always wanted to live in New York. And I can't let him move up there and leave me here. So off to New York we go!

My family has been great. They have those concerns you'd expect any parent to be concerned about. But they're happy for me and 100% supportive. My grandparents aren't quite 100%, but ultimately, they want me to be happy too I think.

We've just picked dates in January to fly up there and look at apartments. We'd like to live in Astoria in Queens. It's cheaper than Manhattan and you get more square footage. We'll see when we get up there!