Promises Promises...

As I begin to finalize our plans for New York, I'm getting more and more excited! I mean, it's not like we've never been... I think it's more the time of year, decorations, weather (praying for nice, but chilly!) and well, of course the shopping! We've booked the hotel (Intercontinental in Times Square) and Broadway tickets (Radio City Christmas Show and "Promises, Promises") and now it's on to smaller details and day activities. Has anyone stayed at that hotel or seen either of those shows? I'm so excited about both of them!


On a different note, Robert's hard drive crashed tonight. Ohh yes... one week before finals AND his LSAT. Perfect timing, of course. Which leads me to add another item to my Christmas list... external hard drive. I know it's not the most exciting present, but I'd much rather suck it up for a boring gift than lose my (virtual) life when my computer decides to get moody. If you don't have one ladies, it's definitely worth the investment! I have to admit, I was quite impressed with how calm and collected he was when the "final hour" came. Had it been MY computer, some serious tears would have been shed alongside a rather unladylike version of my usual words...


Lastly, amongst all my pre-NY shopping I have decided to splurge on these little beauties...


Yours truly is now a proud owner of these adorable pair of Tory Burch flats that I've been dying for forever. Sigh... I finally broke down and bought myself some. I can't wait until they get here!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'd love to hear about it! Goodnight y'all!

Thankful little turkey

Christmas is one of my absolute favorite times of year, and I honestly couldn't be more excited that the holidays are here! Robert and I try to go to New York at least once a year, and have decided to take our trip in December this year. I looove snow (aka the Floridian likes snow for a week, then is ready for mid-70 degree weather for the rest of December) and I'm super excited to see NY during Christmastime again. We usually go during baseball season (since one of his birthday presents usually consists of Mets tickets), and have yet to go together when all the Christmas decorations are up. A couple of years ago, I went for a journalism conference at Columbia in early December and absolutely fell in love with the whole city at that time of year. From the ginormous Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, to the perfectly decorated shop windows on 5th Avenue, to the feeling of walking through Central Park after it has just snowed. Okay, okay... I know that's kind of cheesy, but it just gives me this warm fuzzy feeling that you don't really get with Christmas in Florida. The last time we had snow was in 1989... That's right, 21 years ago. And (make sure you're sitting down for this one...) it was a whopping 2 inches of snow. Whoo hoo!!! If I can find it, I'll post the picture of us all out the front yard in our little "blizzard" making snow angels. Every time I see that picture it cracks me up. I literally looked (and felt like) the Michelin Man walking through the yard, with the 317 layers my mother had me in. You know in "A Christmas Story" when Ralphie's little brother falls over in the snow and can't get up? Yep... that was me. So, needless to say, I'm very much excited to escape the Florida warmth for a week and head up north. Since our coldest days tap only into the 30s and 40s for a couple hours, my winter wardrobe is seriously lacking. I guess that just means I'll have to go shopping... sigh. ;) I mean, I may or may not have been spent a 2-3 hours a day for the past week looking at adorable winter coats and outfits. Soo yes. I'm very ready.

On a slightly different note, I think it's so important to remember what this season is for. Regardless of your religious beliefs, this time of year should be about being thankful, being selfless, and thinking of others before ourselves for a bit. It's so easy to get caught up in all the parties, presents, and overall excitement of the holidays... and rightfully so, to a degree. Don't get me wrong, spending time with loved ones and "enjoying" the season is definitely a huge part of it. And I'm all for partaking in holiday festivities! :) A couple of years ago right before the schools were letting out for winter break, I was working with a teacher in her 5th grade classroom. A little girl (who was usually very shy, didn't talk much, but always did her homework and did well in school) came up to us and said "Mrs. C, can we come to school over winter break? Like, will it be open?" The other teacher and I looked at each other a little confused, and Mrs. C said "Well honey, I'm pretty sure the school will be locked up. They usually clean it over breaks. Was there something you needed?" The little girl looked a little sad and sighed. "Oh..." she said. "It's just that... well, we don't have breakfast and lunch at my house. And I was hoping I could could come to the cafeteria to get something to eat." My heart just sank. The girl received free breakfast and lunch daily at school, and didn't know what she was going to do over break. The teacher told me that after long weekends, the girl would come back to school a few pounds lighter, and very hungry. The parents both had drug problems, and the little girl was basically in charge of raising her two younger brothers... at 10 years old. I wanted so badly to tell the little girl to come to my house every day and I would feed her breakfast and lunch. It just absolutely tore me apart. Each year since that day, I always think of that little girl when school lets out for break. For the most part, none of us have to really think about whether or not we're going to have gas in the car, heat in our house, or breakfast and lunch to eat. The last thing I want is to come off "preachy," but I just wanted to share that story with you all. If you get some extra time, please donate a meal to someone who needs it, or an extra $5 to an animal shelter to give a blanket to an animal who will spend its holidays on the cold floor of a pound. To us it's just some extra cash but to someone who needs it, it could be the best Christmas present they get... or maybe even the only one.

On a lighter note, I'd love to hear about your holiday plans! Going anywhere fabulous? Or maybe even just staying home and doing absolutely nothing (which, I am a firm believer in sometimes being the best "vacation" there is).

Lastly, I'd like to thank each and every one of you who read my blog! It really means so much to me that you all take interest in it, and I'm thankful for each and every one of you every day. I love hearing from you, so please don't be shy! :)

Goodnight y'all!

And here's why I've been gone for so long...

Okay, let me start out by saying that I feel absolutely terrible for leaving you all for so long... honestly. By no means was the following announcement (...anticipation!!!) intended to take me nearly as long as it did (I'll elaborate in a bit). Regardless, it's 99.9% complete, and I just couldn't wait ANY longer to share my news with you all! I think keeping this whole thing under wraps has been hands down the hardest part (especially since it took me so long!) about this whole process. So here goes... drum roll please!!! "Jewelry by Margaret" is fully up and running and open for business! (Insert huge smile!) For the past 2 months, I have spent countless hours making jewelry, photographing pieces, and getting all the details/descriptions up online. To be honest, I didn't even realize an entire 2 months had gone by. As I was getting the final pieces together last week, Robert asked me "When was the last time you updated your blog? I haven't seen you do anything but jewelry lately." Soo yes, I sort of got a bit addicted. And I'm really sorry... But hey, the hard part is all behind me!

So here it is! I would LOVE to hear feedback from all of you! If you're interested in some of my pieces, but would rather have a different color or stone, please just let me know! I absolutely love doing custom pieces and creating something that fits your style perfectly. Although I'm just getting things rolling, I hope to start doing bridal party pieces, and become a (very small) part of someone's big day! I could go on and on, but please do stop by my shop and take a look! I promise not to leave you all for so long this time... :)

Below is just a quick preview of my pieces. Please click this link to go to the full shop. Thanks!!!

Scary little brown box

Hi all! I hope you're all having a fabulous weekend and enjoying every last bit of it until Monday arrives (dun-dun-dun!). As for me, I've been trying to reorganize the house (...keyword trying) a bit while Robert is taking a 4-day course to become a certified court mediator. A little cash during law school is always a plus! Not to mention, it's a pretty good resume booster as well. Experience + cash is always good in my book! I really do enjoy cleaning once I get in "swing" of it, it's just actually getting in there and deciding to tackle the whole ordeal that gets me. I enjoy the outcome, but deciding to put in the work is another story. Which brings me to my next point... p90x! Ahh yes... the box came last week and I officially let it sit on the counter for 5 days as it ominously stared at me while I walked past it to the glorious homemade chocolate chip cookies. Sigh... Knowing exactly what was in that little brown box I told myself that once I opened it, it was on. No more complaining, no more excuses, and sadly... no more chocolate chip cookies. That being said, the scary little brown box is going to be opened Sunday night, for a fresh start Monday morning. I have to admit, although I know I need to do it, and in all truthfulness I really can do it, I'm still a bit scared. I want this to be something I finish. Really and truly, 100% finish. So often I find myself starting things like this, then just letting them fall to the wayside... eating a cheat meal and skipping a day here and there until "just this once" turns into "it's been 3 months, I should really start back up, but I'll finish the Oreos first." No more half-assing it (pardon the expression...)! 3 months (90 days) from now put me right New Year's Eve. Instead of making a New Year's resolution to do be fit, I want to have a head start; to be able to see pictures of myself from New Year's Eve and be proud of how I'm starting off 2011 (a little cheesy, I know, but true). Soo... if any of you have done (or are doing) p90x, I'd love to hear from you! Any advice/encouragement is greatly appreciated!

Goodnight y'all! :)

Busy (excited) little bee!

Yikes... a week and a half without blogging! Major oops! on my part. Sorry y'all! To my credit, however, this past week and a half has been busier than the last year and a half (...okay, maybe a little exaggeration there, but you get the idea). In this time, I have...

1. Lost a cell phone
2. Lived for an entire week without a cell phone (extremely difficult, but still "doable")
3. Bought a new cell phone (...with entirely new cell phone carrier. Yes, I caved to the iPhone 4. Sigh...)
4. Studied like a crazy lady for the my last certification exam, the FTCE subject area exam, to (finally) be certified to teach biology in grades 6-12.
5. PASSED my last certification exam!!! Whoo hoo!!!
6. Bought way more decorations/supplies for my future classroom than I will ever need (...a little caught up in the moment!)
   
7. Lived 4 days without my computer, aka my life, while it was getting repaired at the Apple store (waaaaaay harder than the cell phone!)
8. Traveled back and forth to Jacksonville three times
   
9. Introduced Charley to my 3 month old "niece" (I say "niece" because she's technically RK's niece, but I figure 7 years of being around the family makes me at least a figurative aunt, right?!)
   
10. Actually relaxed once, maybe twice.

*Big sigh of relief*

I cannot tell you how excited I am to have all of that behind me. For the most part, things usually don't happen all at once like that, but last week was a major exception. Yay for slowing things down a bit!

As I mentioned earlier, Charley met Catherine (RK's niece) for the first time this past week. For those of you who don't know, Charley (my 1.5 year old labrador) is a big teddy bear who wouldn't hurt a fly even if it followed him around for a week straight. He's the dog that lets all the other dogs play and roll all over him without even batting an eyelash. He does give the occasional "okay Mom, I'm getting a little tired of all these youngin's" look, but would still never do anything about it. He's always had a special connection with children, and I was eager to see how he would handle a baby being in the same room. I mentioned this in a post earlier, but I've always felt that dogs know and understand so much more than we give them credit for. Sometimes I feel like he just looks at me and automatically knows what I'm thinking. I don't know, maybe that makes me a little crazy/weird. Anyway, so the moment came for the two of them to meet. The carrier sat on the couch just out of Charley's reach to let him get used to the idea of a new little person in the room. Monitoring how well he was handling it, we picked up the carrier and lowered it to where he could see her. He sat down very politely, slowly peeked inside, and suddenly got the biggest smile on his face. He looked over at me, and walked away. At first I thought he just wasn't as interested as I thought he would be. But, he completely surprised me with what he did next. He went over to the baby bag, picked up one of her stuffed dolls, brought it back over to the carrier and placed it very gently next to her. It was absolutely one of the sweetest things I had EVER seen. Granted, this will probably never happen again... but I'm okay with that. He is so gentle with her it's unreal. I can't wait to see how he handles our future children in his older years...

On a different note, I bought the iPhone 4 (with an adorable purple cover!) this past week as well. I've been a loyal Verizon-er for about 8 years now, and felt it was time for a "fresh" change of pace. RK has been with AT&T since before I met him and, of course, has had every iPhone they've come out with. He's much more of a "techie" than I am. I have to admit though, I love it! I've heard some people have issues with dropped calls and whatnot, but so far so good with this one. Anyone else have the iPhone 4? Thoughts?!

Lastly, I'm officially a certified 6-12 Biology (potential) teacher!!! I cannot wait to finally have my own classroom, my own kids, and my own "teacher desk." Yes, I know, I'm a nerd! ;) I've completely stocked up on every supply possible (kudos to Target and their $1 school supplies!) and am so excited to start my laminating, labeling, grading, etc. I know a year from now I will be so far up to my ears in the aforementioned that I'll want to shoot myself for ever thinking that, but for now it's still exciting. I think I'll wallow in my inexperienced optimism for now. :)

Enough rambling for now... Thanks for reading til the end. I really do appreciate it! Night y'all!!

How time flies...

It feels like forever since I've updated! Oops.. sorry ya'll! Anyway, I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and had at least a bit of time to relax and do something just for yourselves! Sometimes I think that's much easier said than done, but soo important to do! Anyone do anything exciting?!

For the past couple of months, RK and I have been playing in a summer softball league with my parents and a couple of other friends and family members. It's been tons of fun, but boy has it been HOT! I know, I whined about this last post but holy moly! You would think a sport that didn't require near as much running as...well, running wouldn't be as taxing on the body in terms of heat, but that couldn't be further from the truth! Just standing out on the field is exhausting... Growing up I played for almost 10 years and never remembered it being so grueling. Maybe I just never really thought about it, or maybe I'm just getting old(er). Nope, definitely the former... ;) Age is totally relative in my mind! But on the up side of things, Charley and I both got a wonderful post-game swim out of it. Soo refreshing!! I definitely would not have minded a nice cold drink (preferably something fruity and pink, of course!) but settling for just a quick swim wasn't so bad either...

Next week, RK and I celebrate 7 years of being together. It's so crazy how fast time flies! I can't even begin to tell you. We're trying to decide on where to go for a mini weekend vacay, and are thinking possibly Sea Island, GA. It looks beautiful!! Any other ideas?!