12 of 12 November

For photo essays from previous months, check out the archives, or click on the tags.

Instructions can be found on Chad Darnell's Blog. Photos click for a medium version. Large via flickr.

1) Had a cinnamon bun for breakfast. nom.

2) Made up for the food by spending an hour at the gym. Definitely feel the soreness all over. Then off to school and work...

3) After work, met up with Kevy and headed to the Comcast Center to pick up Dee (the roomies), then off to happy hour and dinner.

4) Plans were to go out after happy hour, but it got colder, rainier, and windier, so we headed home. Set up the new xbox! Ordered it on Tuesday, got it on Wednesday, and got the promotional credit for $100 off today!

5) After setting Dee up with an xbox live account so that she could play Castle Crashers with me, it was time to start packing for my weekend. Zooming up to CT for my other half's birthday then to NYC for mom's birthday.

6) It's been a little while since I've brought such a full weekend bag for a trip, but its getting so cold, and its time for layers.

7) Next was toiletries- Hair wax, cologne, saline solution spray, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste... all into a ziplock bag.

8) Re watched last nights episode of Glee so that Kev could catch up. Also got the soundtrack last week :-D

9) Also replaced the crappy white headphones that came with the ipod after my second pair broke... Got a pair that has a microphone/remote/volume control combo. The click/double click/triple click play/pause/forward/backward function is so convenient! This week was a busy week for the front desk of my building since 6 packages came within 2 days for me :-X.

10) Yes, I am a nerd, and not a very good one, because it takes me about 3 days to catch up and finish listening to podcasts from earlier in the week. Tomorrow is tekzilla for the metro north ride.

11) Some warm tea during the podcast, almost time for bed.

12) Speaking of bed, heres a picture of mine! Got it last year after moving into this apartment/condo and it was probably my best purchase ever. I don't know how I ever lived without a queen sized pillow top.

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Soul Searching

These last couple of months have really been a jolt to the system for me.

For a while, waking up in the mornings got a little harder each day. I was constantly bombarded with little reminders of his presence in my life. A snide remark overheard on campus, or a pause to check out a car in the parking garage. I've changed and its more noticeable to me now that he isn't here. Me from four years ago seems so far away now. I wonder what my younger self would say if he saw me today.

It's exciting and scary at the same time to discover myself again. I know that was something that Jon wanted for me this year, and I guess I never realized why until now.

12 of 12 October

For photo essays from previous months, check out the archives, or click on the tags.

Instructions can be found on Chad Darnell's Blog. Photos click for a medium version. Large via flickr.

1) Right after a shower in the morning, squeegee time.

2) Throat felt a little itchy and dry, so I gargled some salt water.

3) Here's the result from that little tease in April. All healed up, and ready for action ; ).

4) Had to start dressing in layers because I need to go clothes shopping :-X. I think I have 2 sweaters that fit... and the rest are in a closet in New York because they aren't the right size. I don't really understand how I got a sweater in size large... if it was a gift, which family member would think that I could even fit into it?

5) breakfast... mmm limited seasonal donuts.

6) My room is in disarray because I had to move the couch to the center so that the condo maintenance guy can come in and fix the ceiling/roof, ugh.

7) Packing the bag, gotta bring an umbrella cause its gonna rain, probably for the rest of the week too :-( I want summer back.

8) Since its so cold, the heavier coats have come out. What happened to fall?

9) Jailbreak! I love the customization part! oh, and the background tasks too.

10) Late night in the lab = take out! Looks like the domino's tracker is incorrect because it took the delivery guy an extra 20 mins from the time it said my order was delivered and when he actually got here. Then when he did get here, he forgot the soda, and it took him an extra hour from that point to get it and come back and the bottle he brought wasn't even cold! I bet it would have been faster if he walked 2 blocks to CVS and got one. Total delivery time: 1 hour 45 minutes. Never ordering from this place again. epic fail.

11) Bleh, I had also forgotten how the pizza wasn't very good... the breadsticks made up for a little bit.

12) Back home, and preparing for the season, the tissues are anti-viral because they have a center layer with little beads. Pretty nifty.

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These photos are also in my photostream, for any flickr users- send me a friend request/email to be added.

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Almost 12 of 12 September

Life has been busy lately, work, school, play, and other stuff has just gotten in the way and blogging has been getting a little harder to get into.

I remembered to take pictures on the 12th halfway into the day, so I didn't actually get 12 :-(

I also let my flickr pro account lapse, so I dunno if putting pictures up there are even worth it if they will just disappear in a couple of weeks. Bleh, anyway- the 8/12 is below.

Morning started off with heading over to the supermarket to pick up some groceries, then headed over to pick up some friends, and back to the apartment for a shower.

1) I hate mosquitos, and for some reason, when I go back and visit the parents, I always get bitten :-(. Where would I be without anti-itch creme?

2) Post shower- I need a haircut!

3) After getting all cleaned up, it was time to do some major sandwich making... Roomies friends were over, and this is the start of the 2 ft long avocado turkey club.

4) The sandwich was really filled to capacity, it was so good :-9.

5) We moved our little party to the deck overlooking the delaware, and sat out there just eating and drinking for most of the afternoon. This + not starting with morning pictures = reason I don't have a full 12.

6) After lunch/dinner, and everyone had left, a little snack and...

7) Glee! If you haven't already seen it, go watch it. Too funny.

8) Followed by midnight snack/dessert of course. While I was composing the sandwich, the others were making an oreo ice cream cake. Nom...

ugh

Why have I got a crush on Hamish Macdonald, the presenter on Aljazeera?

Down time

It's been a little while since my last post. Mad Men took up some time and I missed my 12 of 12 :-X. Guess there's next month.

It's been a busy week, got back from a weekend trip to NY to see the family, some early birthday barbecuing, followed by work Monday and Tuesday. Then I took off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to entertain the boyfriend and to help the new roommates move in.

Jonny came down for one last visit before the official start of his time at med school. We caught a break in the weather and hit the beach, and also attended Boys of Summer [in skimpy swimsuits ;-)].

12 of 12 July

For photo essays from previous months, check out the archives, or click on the tags.

Instructions can be found on Chad Darnell's Blog. Photos click for a medium version. Large via flickr.

1) Jon has come down to Philadelphia for the weekend! Sometime this morning/early afternoon when he was fiddling on his computer.

2) He was making a new ringtone for his phone in garageband. I still prefer audacity, mainly because of the open file formats.

3) After going grocery shopping, he wanted to play with kitty, who doesn't look too pleased in this shot.

4) Mmmmmm... Chicken.

5) A DC Cised request- Jon eating.

6) After dinner, Jon started his drive back to his new place in CT. Time for some laundry.

7) After laundry, everything got put away...

8) My closets look so empty now :-( The entire right side used to hold Jonny's things.

9) After laundry, more cleaning. This is the lineup of supplies for the bath tub, shower, toilet and sinks.

10) Eek! I'm starting to peel from the sunny days in California. Lotion, lotion, lotion.

11) A little dessert + snacks to pack for tomorrow.

12) Another 12 of 12 is over, time to change the calendar.

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These photos are also in my photostream, for any flickr users- send me a friend request/email to be added.

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Back into the swing of things

Vacation is over, and Jonny is all moved into his new place, so its time for a short recap! So much has happened, that I will most probably leave stuff out because the days were so hectic and I can't even remember which specific days we did any of these things, this'll be a very disjointed post because I'm not even going to bother reading it through till tomorrow.

We flew out of Philadelphia Friday morning and into Orange County.

Picked up the rental car and drove over towards Newport Beach/Huntington Beach for lunch, and then up to Los Angeles.

Then we checked into the Andaz on Sunset Blvd, and grabbed some quick dinner before crashing after a long day of travel. Timezone changes suck. Here's a view from the roofdeck/pool area of the Andaz.

We got really lucky and had pretty good weather for 4/5 days while in LA/OC. Drove around West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, up Mulholland Drive, and down to Laguna Beach to explore.

Spent an afternoon at the Getty, one at Griffith's Observatory, one at the Grove, and one on Rodeo Drive.

We then drove out to Palm Springs and stayed at the La Quinta Resort for 3 days. Spent a lot of time in front of our casita in the pool and just relaxing. (yes, thats me in the picture :-P)

This was probably the best part of the trip because we didn't spend as much time on the road or doing touristy things. Next time around, it'll just be a week in Palm Springs!

We then drove back past LA and up the costal highway/Route 1 up to San Francisco. Definitely something you only do once... that road was so windy and once you got on, you couldn't get off.

Once we got into San Francisco, we stayed at the Hilton near Union Square and met up with some one of Jon's friends, Myles. He showed us around and brought us to the Pink Party that night. Probably the biggest block party I have ever seen, and definitely the largest group of gay people I have ever seen in one place. I think I heard an estimate of 80,000, and maybe thats about right, because they closed down 10-20 blocks and it was packed from sidewalk to sidewalk until after 1AM.

The next morning we stopped by Myles' hotel room and watched the parade go by and then headed over to the civic center to wander in the crowds.

Had some brunch, and walked around some more- and got some flat fortune cookies from the fortune cookie factory (sooo good).

When our trip finished up, we flew back to Philadelphia, I went to work the next day and Jon packed his room up.

We spent most of last Thursday driving up to Connecticut in a 16 ft Uhaul to move Jonny back for med school. Traffic was horrible, but we made it. Got all of his stuff in, and did some cleaning and shopping. Came back to Philadelphia on Saturday (no thanks to megabus because the bus I was booked for never showed and when I called to find out why they didn't contact me with the information they asked for I found out the next bus was going to be 2 hours later.) Took Metronorth into NY and then made my way back home.

Back to a full week of work this week, Session 2 of Summer has started, so new kids. It's getting a little late, and I have to head to bed, so g'nite all!