superbowl 2010

FYI - I'm blogging in the middle of Drew and Ryan's Superbowl party... :)

I couldn't decide which team to root for so I just based my decision on what color clothing I wanted to wear today and black and gold won so GO SAINTS!

Game update: It's halftime. Colts 10, Saints 6.

Commercials update: No surprise here, Bud Light has had some great ones. The scandalous Tim Tebow pro-life commercial was kind of a let down...

Music update: Carrie Underwood was incredible. The outfit was a bit too Elvis for me but she's still beautiful. Watching The Who perform right now at half time. Meh. Looks like you have to be there to truly appreciate it.

Ryan's girlfriend, Bonnie, is a die hard Saints fan and she's at the game right now in Miami. I can't wait to hear all about it when she gets back tomorrow!

OK back to the party!

kristi and andrew need your help!

As most of you know, my friend Kristi is getting married this October and she and her fiance, Andrew need your help! They've entered the Crate & Barrel Wedding Contest and desperately need as many votes as possible! Being their Maid-of-Honor, I would really appreciate if all 6 of my readers would PLEASE click on this link and VOTE for this seriously cute couple (see photo below) - it would mean alot to me and to them! Thanks :)

http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entries/22773?sort=votes

TGIF! And after a week of clouds, cold temps, and rain, the sun has finally decided to grace us with it's presence! Let's hope it sticks around.

xoxo

groundhog's day

Hear Ye Hear Ye Hear Ye

On Gobbler's Knob on this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2010, Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators awoke to the call of President Bill Deeley and greeted his handlers, John Griffiths and Ben Hughes.

After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers, Phil proclaimed, "If you want to know next, you must read my text. As the sky shines bright above me, my shadow I see beside me. So six more weeks of winter it will be."

Grrrrr!!

the daily grind

First and foremost, today is February 1st so Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit! Thank you Sars for beating me to the punch this morning (as usual)
I haven't updated this in a few days because, to be perfectly honest, not a whole lot has been going on! After all the excitement of the move to Texas followed immediately by the busy holiday season, I'm quite relieved (and a little depressed) to say that I've finally settled back into the standard Mon-Fri, 8-5 work week and lazy weekends that fly by way too quickly.

• Superbowl is just around the corner so the past few weekends I've been glued to the tv! (well, Drew has... this is when I take the best naps!) I am however very excited to watch the Colts play the Saints this Sunday. Should be a great game and I'm hoping to see the Saints win their first Superbowl!
• Crawl for the Cure. The weekend after I ran the half marathon benefitting Living Water International, I maintained my charitable spirit and "crawled" for the American Cancer Society! That's right, Drew and I formed a team of 10 and took part in a Pub Crawl on Washington Avenue. It was such a fun day and although we didn't win we did get to discover some new bars that we'll definitely be going back to in the future.
• I can't believe I'm even using a bullet point for this... American Idol is back! I am LOVING my Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Sugar Land with my mom drinking wine and eating Cheez-its and watching our favorite show! Since I'm on the TV show topic - Drew and I are on Season Two of Mad Men right now. It's awesome. If you haven't watched it yet, I highly reccommend it.
• It's been REALLY cold here lately and I don't have the patience or the wardrobe for it! I am so ready for spring.

That's it for now. Happy Monday to you all!

xoxo

filling in the gaps

Just a little update with what I've been up to the past couple of weeks...

January 9 - With football season still going on, having a Saturday night date night with Drew was such a treat! We tried out a restaurant in Midtown named Farrago and it was delicious, I can't wait to go back! January 10th - Dinner at BJ's in Sugarland with Drew and my family.
January 14 - My first day of work! I love being right in the center of downtown. I spend my lunch hour just wandering around the city (when it's not too humid like today - ugh, don't get me started!). My building is the tall white one on the far right...

January 15 - Last Friday was Tessa's last night in Sugar Land so my parents took us out to dinner at Japoneiros for sushi and wine. We came home and my mom, Tessa, and I polished off another bottle of wine and stayed up in the kitchen chatting and laughing for hours. Definitely one of my favorite nights of 2010 so far! :)

January 16 - The night before the marathon was "carb-loading" night! We had a double date - My parents and Drew and I - at Damian's in Houston. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. I think I really just enjoyed having an excuse to stuff my face with bread, pasta, meat, etc.!

Aaah I wish my mom and Drew had opened their eyes for this one!

OK, all caught up! Goodnight everyone...

xoxox

p.s. Please keep my sister in your prayers as she grieves the loss of her friend Justin. Tessa, I love you - stay strong.

Rest in Peace Justin Jackowicz

1985-2010

half marathon

YAYYYY it's over!! This year I gotta admit, I was REALLY not looking forward to the race at all. It was my third half marathon and my first time not running it in Phoenix and I couldn't have been more UNprepared for it... I have to say however that it went WELL! I felt great the whole time I was out there, the weather was perfect, and the atmosphere was incredible. It felt like the entire city came out to cheer us on, props to you Houston!
I ran the race in honor of an organization that a family friend introduced us to named Living Water. This organization addresses "a global crisis that claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns". It helps bring clean drinking water, something we take for granted, to communities who do not have access to it. It really is a great charity and one I was proud to represent.
I ran the race with my mom and dad and we all finished within about 7 minutes of each other! My dad ran it in 2:12, my mom in 2:17 and myself in 2:19. I was the "loser" of course but I did beat my last year's time of 2:24 and was only about 45 seconds shy of beating my 2008 time.

Couldn't have done it without our supporters! Seriously, it makes such a difference having someone there to cheer you on. Thank you Nancy, Pete, Julia, and Drew for waking up early and standing around the freezing cold - y'all are the best! Also, thank you for all the texts, calls, facebook messages, etc., it meant so much.

After the race we went up to my parents hotel room on the 17th floor of the Hilton Americas for some champagne...

My #1 fan! Drew walked from his condo to the mile 11 spot and then continued on by foot to meet me at the finish line!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, watching football, eating, and drinking. Oh, and watching the Golden Globes of course! I thought they were great and was pleased with all of the results.

Hope everyone is having a happy Monday! Especially the lucky ones who don't have to go to work today (grrr!)

xoxo

help haiti

The devastation in Haiti is tremendous. Thousands are almost certainly dead, and the Haitian prime minister thinks the final number could hit 100,000. This country really needs our help right now...

Organizations are making it easier than ever to reach out and help the people of Haiti. The quickest and easiest way is to simply text HAITI to 90999 and $10 will automatically be donated to the American Red Cross for Disaster Relief for Haiti (it will be added to your phone bill).

For $25 you can purchase this tee-shirt from Aaron Ivey's site to show your support. 100% of the profit from these shirts will go to support ministries in Haiti!

The link below will bring you to a long list of charitable organizations active in Haiti that can accept donations for aid. Don't forget every little bit helps.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34835478/ns/world_news-americas/

If you can't donate your money, please please continue to PRAY for everyone who has been affected by this horrible disaster.

xoxo

the good, the bad, and the ugly

The Good:
I got a job!! I'll be starting THIS Thursday at a Property Management company in Downtown Houston.

The Bad:
I'm not going to lie, this break from work has been way too much fun :) Getting back into the 8-5 work schedule won't be easy....

The Ugly:

I was in the elevator with Drew yesterday and a dog (on a leash) jumped up on me and dug his teeth into my left thigh - ouch! The bruising is getting uglier by the minute but I did go to the doctor this morning to get a tetanus shot and antibiotics prescription. I just hope I'll be able to run tomorrow considering the half-marathon is in... SIX days.. ugh.

frozen

Houston is by far the coldest I've ever known it to be in all the years I've lived here. Today the high is a whopping 26 degrees with a 9 degree windchill. I don't know how you people up north can live like this?? Check out the icicles I saw on the fountain outside of Sweetwater Country Club this morning...
A few other things...

• Last night was the BCS National Championship game. Alabama vs. Texas. Alabama won. I'm not going to get into it anymore, I'm sure everyone watched it or has heard about it by now.
• I'm finally feeling better! Not 100%, but getting there. Poor Drew now has what I had...
• I've been busy searching and interviewing for a job out here. Keep your fingers crossed for me :)
• The half-marathon is in NINE days. I know I say this every year but I am not one bit ready for it. Between my move to Texas, Xmas, New Years, getting sick, and now these freezing temps I just haven't had the time. Or I am just really trying to weasel my way out of it....
• Drew and I went and got massages the other day at an adorable little spa in Houston named The Petite Retreat. I highly reccommend it. Good luck finding it though, it has no signs or anything, just looks like a cute little house.
• I love being back in Houston but right now, when it's 20-something degrees out, I REALLY miss Arizona!

I'm heading out to see Sherlock Holmes now with my mom and sister. Hope everyone is having a great Friday!

xoxox0

not a big fan of 2010 so far

I am sick, sick, SICK! Not a good time for this when I have job interviews and a half marathon coming up in less than two weeks. Yikes!!! 2010 is not off to a good start...