Happy New Year!

We would like to wish you all a safe and happy New Year's Eve/Day and entire 2011.  Thanks to our family and friends for making our 2010 a year we'll never forget!

Love,

Sarah, Joey and Doc

Christmas Wrap Up

Instead of doing what millions of bloggers will do today (blogging about what they got for Christmas), I’m going to blog about what I GAVE for Christmas.  Since both are boring, I figure I’ll at least be able to explain my rationale for some of the more creative gifts.

My Mom- Disney Gift Card
An obvious choice, her love for Disney combined with an upcoming cruise made this one easy.  Manicure? Massage? A few drinks? Whatever she wants, she gets!

My Brother- PSU Golf Towel and Club Head Cover
PSU Grad, Golf enthusiast. Easy and spirited.

My Sister-Harry Potter Mug
This mug is SO COOL.  It was so cool that I took it out of the packaging to try it out before I wrapped it back up and gave it to her…so it was slightly used…whatever. It is a black mug that says “I solemnly swear I am up to no good” and when you pour hot liquid in it, it changes white and says “Mischief Managed”.  So freakin cool!

I also got her a pair of flats that go in a little pouch and fit in your purse.  Totally useful considering my own experience of walking barefoot through DC because my feet hurt…

Joey- Disney Golf Bag with Embroidered initials, Concert Tickets
Golf is the theme this year apparently.  Joey loves his new golf bag (it has an insulated beverage pocket!) and we are going to Kenny Chesney on June 4th!

My Dad- And this one was my favorite… Fake Parakeet in a Cage
OK this one obviously merits an explanation.  Ever since our parakeet, Noel, died a few years ago my Dad has been campaigning for a new one.  And when I say campaigning I DO mean spam emails, Facebook accounts, “Parakeets Clearing House” notifications in my inbox, etc.  He already has the name picked out and wants a green one.  Well my Mom is totally anti-parakeet.  So it has become a bit of a holiday…tradition (?) in my house.  Dad wants a parakeet and Mom says no.  So this year I did some googling (which I am SUPER good at) and found a life-sized, stuffed green and yellow parakeet.  Perfect.  Paired with a $10 cage from amazon.com, it was all ready to go!

Here are some pictures from the big reveal!  Poor Dad, he almost got his Christmas wish, but at least Mom is happy too!

The initial surprise!

SO proud with his new Keet

Meeting his new "Friend"

Best Friends Forever!

So, what did you guys give for Christmas?  And yes, I know you are there, even though you are all refusing to follow me... I can still see you!!!!

SG

All I Want for Christmas...

Is some FOLLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And a side of COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I KNOW there are lots of readers out there- I watch my ticker (duh, that's what it's there for) and many of you have told me how much you like my blog.  So why not follow me?! It'll be alot easier to see my updates ;) AND bonus, it'll make me feel all warm and gushy inside. And that's what we all want, isnt it?

Merry Christmas!!

Now, click "FOLLOW"!

~SG

Picture This

7 pound Miniature Pinscher running full speed down the sidewalk, leash trailing behind him, panting, smiling, feeling the sweet rush of freedom.

XXX pound 26-year-old woman chasing him, in a cute dress, heels, dress coat, scarf and gloves, breathing. hard.

26-year-old finally catches Min Pin, tells him what a BAD DOG he is, and goes inside, where she continues to breathe heavily, cough, and otherwise realize she really is in THAT bad of shape for the next several minutes.

And no, to answer your question, I did NOT do Power90 this week. But the above counts as exercise, right?!

WNY? FML.

Today was the first reporting day for my job at the Washington Navy Yard.  “Wait, I thought Joey got a new job, did you get a new job too?” No.  No I did not.  I am lucky enough to work on site with the Government and our entire Command moved to the Navy Yard.  In Southeast. In winter.

Let me go ahead and tell you about my morning.  I woke up, a tad late, due to my Min Pin randomly waking up in the middle of the night and eating a huge meal and then deciding he needed to go outside around 4am.  Luckily, this gave me a chance to check out the Lunar Eclipse!  Anyway, I rushed to the metro station and got there right on time to catch the train.

When I arrived, I had 15 minutes to walk the 7-8 blocks to the Navy Yard. Yep… in Southeast. In winter.  I started walking down 8^th street and after 5-6 blocks I saw the gate to my right.  So I walked over, showed my credentials to a very cute guy in camo, and walked right in.  The place was deserted.  This should’ve been my first clue.  I wandered around a soccer field, outdoor gymnasium, and a few more buildings til I finally found a parking garage where I asked the next cute guy in camo, “Where is Building ###?”.  “I think you are looking for the Navy Yard, ma’am.”  “Ummmm is this not the Navy Yard?” “No, this is the Marine Barracks…”

&#%@*!

So off I went in search of the Navy Yard, which I found right away due to cute Marine boy’s accurate directions, and headed in.  For the next 20 minutes I got a nice little tour of the ENTIRE Navy Yard- from the Officer housing to the Cafeteria, to the Museum, to -FINALLY- is that my building!?! THANK THE LORD!!!!! My legs were completely frozen and I couldn’t feel my face.  I’m probably going to get pneumonia now.

So I went inside, where a slew of other bad things happened such as my access badge not working, my crate full of important papers being missing, and my stomach rumbling….

Can Friday PLEASE hurry up and get here?!?!?!?!

SG

A Little Tini

So I wanted to post about a little project I did this weekend with my friend Kristie.  We were invited to a holiday gathering and the focus of the party was a bake-off!  Everyone was supposed to bake their best holiday treat (there were cookies, brownies, cinnamon-sugar balls, and Ninja-bread men) and all the girls would taste them and vote on whose were the best.  Well Kristie and I, being extremely creative (and possibly alcoholics) decided to create a dessert beverage instead! 

Of course we couldn't just follow a recipe like normal people, so we decided to create our own!  And OF COURSE we couldn't just try it out at the party.  We needed a dry run (har har, not so dry!).  Last week, I went over to Kristie's place after work.  We stopped at the liquor store and got all kinds of chocolatey liquer, rumplemintz, other minty green stuff, etc.  We figured we'd do a choco-minty martini, and add a mini-candy cane to stir it with.

Well, to keep it brief, we tried 4 or 5 combinations, and drank them. All.  Oops. We ended on the "best" one but hey, who knows if it was actually that good, cause we'd had quite a few tries of this choco-mintini...

On Saturday night, I headed back over to Kristie's and we collaborated all of our ingredients:

-Godiva Chocolate Liquer
-Rumplemintz

-Candy Canes (Couldn't find the minis, so I broke off the ends and made stirrers)

-Hershey's Chocolate Sauce
-Whipped Cream
-Cherries

-Crushed Candy Cane (With a hammer!)

-Mini Tini Glasses

When we got to the party, we got to work making our creation.  Of course I took photos to document the occasion.  (Obviously left myself out per my previous posts...)

Martinis pre-glitz and glamor

My broken Candy Cane project



Kristie adding the whipped cream!



Adding the cherries

Close up of the final product

Kristie modeling our Tini

As you can see, I think our product was a success.  Except the semi-gross color of the drink once the whipped cream melted... but hey, it was a good sipper, and if you're nice, maybe I'll post the recipe.... now which one was it???

Til next time!

SG

December 15th PART II

I just wanted to come back to let you all know that after I proudly boasted that I brought my own penut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch (and ate it and all it's friends in .4937 seconds), I went up to the front office (read: big whigs) to drop off a document and was FORCED to fill a plate of tacos, wings, chilli, ETC and eat it because there were so many leftovers from their exclusive holiday party.  Merry Christmas, Sarah.  We're well on our way to those 15 pounds!

DAMN IT.

Freshman 15 (and a bonus rant!)

Of COURSE it’s National Cupcake Day. 

Why wouldn’t it be, on a day when I finally got the balls to weigh myself and was faced with a horrifying number that has been haunting me all day?!

They say you gain weight when you get married.  They also say you gain weight when you quit working out and get your appetite back after not being able to eat for 10 months due to wedding stress…

Sorry to get a little bit personal but hey, it’s MY blog… so go shove a cupcake in your mouth. 

Anyway, I know I’ve been gaining a few pounds since the wedding for several reasons:

1. The cruise. Anybody that has ever been on a cruise knows they practically force feed you 7 meals a day, with dessert. And drinks.

2. It’s SO COLD OUT. Why do I want to walk across the street to the gym? It’s freezing! And the dog doesn’t want to go for a walk either, so we’re out of luck.  Maybe I’ll pop in that Power90 dvd.  Maybe tomorrow…

3. I’m lazy.  I’ll admit it.  I don’t have Red Rockers anymore after work, so I love going straight home and getting some QT in with Doc.  If you know anything about Min Pins, which you probably don’t, they are SUPER snuggly little animals.  Except when they feel threatened…which for him is pretty much all the time… but anyway, he loves to schnuggle me and I would hate to have to put him back in his crate so I could go work out for a while.

I guess it’s officially about time I get back on the bandwagon.  If I ever want to dance again I am going to need to look the part.  Looks like it’s time to sign up for a race.  Ugh. I love to hate running. Srsly. AND I guess I’ll start bringing my lunch to work again (yay! I did it today!) and drinking water and DIET soda…

So when you see me around at holiday functions, please don’t judge me or make any comments like “when’s the baby due?” because FIRST OF ALL (and I am trying to keep it together here) I am EXTREMELY tired of people asking me, talking about, joking around about when we are going to have children.  It was whatever at first, then it got annoying, and now, I’m about to punch the next person who mentions the “P” word to me.  This is MY body, and my husband and I will decide when we want to put a baby in it.  THANKYOUVERYMUCH. 

Moving on… sorry I got a little distracted there…

I think I’ll start by setting a goal. 

Do Power90 some time this week. 

HEY that’s a manageable goal! They say start small!!!  Now I just have to figure out how to use the monster DVD player and the 98364 remote controls…. Sigh.

Yours truly,

Fatty

Pass that Port!

Now that Joey and I are married, we would love to SEE THE WORLD!  Ok, maybe not all of it… But we do both have several places that we want to see/things that we want to do in other countries.  Joey has never left the U.S. aside from our Caribbean cruise, and I have only been to Switzerland, France (for a day), and Italy (to visit family).  So neither of us are very well traveled.  I was thinking of what I should blog about, and this idea sort of magically came to me, so maybe it’s a sign that we WILL be able to afford the trip overseas that we have been discussing on and off for 2011… here’s to dreaming, folks!

Sarah and Joey’s World Traveling Wish List:

1. Munich, Germany

One word.  Oktoberfest. Our friends have gone for the past several years in a row, and we feel left out.  It’s time to join the band wagon.  We are hoping for a trip to Oktoberfest 2011… wish us luck!

2. Tarrenz, Austria

Along the same lines as #1, and thanks to the Travel Channel, we would also like to make a pit stop at Starkenberger Brewery.  Not only do they make delicious beer, but you can swim in it.  Yep. You read that right.  http://www.bierschwimmbad.com/

3. Japan. All of it.

Joey has been talking about wanting to visit Japan for a long time.  The place is just SO COOL.  This would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us and we would have no clue where to start.  If anybody out there has ever been, leave us a comment about what we should do and where we should go!

4. Santorini, Greece.

Joey’s dream honeymoon destination.  Simply gorgeous.  And OH so romantic.  What a lovely place to spend maybe our 5 or 10 year wedding anniversary!  (AKA when we can afford a trip like this!)

5. Alaska.

Yeah yeah yeah, it’s part of the U.S. We are recently more inclined to visit Alaska due to my parents’ upcoming cruise there!   We can’t wait to hear all the juicy details and decide if Alaska will be our next cruise destination.

Those are the top 5, I guess.  There are LOTS of other places we would like to get to in our lifetime, including (the rest of) France and Italy, Ireland, Scotland, the UK, Africa (where, I have no idea), and maybe even Russia, if we can.

It’s fun to dream, isn’t it? 

The First Two Months

So as of today we've been married for 2 months! Wahoo!!! I wish I could say we had some wedding photos to share, but they are not ready yet.  I know it will totally be worth the wait, and I'll be posting the info here so you can check em out. In the mean time, I decided to pick out my favorite pictures that other people took and posted on Facebook.  If you are offended that I used your picture without permission, let me know.  But you did post it to Facebook... :)

Sarah's Favorite Facebook Pics of The Gish Wedding:

Me and A Love dancing on the chairs...

Father Daughter dance

Rehearsal Dinner

Cheers!

Rings

Classy

The cake incident

Well, I hope those provided a bit of entertainment for this Friday.  Have a good weekend everyone!

~SG

GIGANTOR NEWS

Well, if you have been paying attention AT ALL on Facebook, you would have seen my emphatic “AHHHH!!!” yesterday around lunchtime.  Contrary to popular belief, we are not pregnant and we are not going to be on The Amazing Race. So sorry to disappoint.

The big news with us is:

JOEY GOT A NEW JOB!!!

This might not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it’s huge.  Joey’s been working in retail since college.  After graduating, he began looking for jobs immediately, but the job market SUCKS.  In the mean time, he was moving up the ranks at the store in which he worked.  As of yesterday, he was supervising an entire department and all the people in it.  As of today, he is the Assistant Branch Manager for a well known bank and will be managing the entire sales team there.  Holy. Crap. 

I couldn’t shout it to the rooftops yesterday because he had literally JUST gotten the good news and yesterday happened to be his day off.  He informed his old job today, and hopefully he will have a few days off to prepare for this new chapter in life!

Some of the perks of Joey's new job:

-NORMAL working hours!!!!!!!!

-FREE WEEKENDS!!!!!

-Federal Holidays!!!!!

-NO MORE BLACK FRIDAY!!!!

….And many more.  So please join me in Congratulating my husband  on this exciting time!  This really is a game changer for us, as we are interested in purchasing a house in the near future!!  But that's for another post.... ;)

Love,

SG

Disney Planning

We are really looking forward to our January Disney vacation! Joey and I were originally planning on going by ourselves and meeting up with all the GMU Masonettes (Dance Team), Alumni, and Families/Friends that will be there for the UDA College National Championship.  I’d like to take this moment to boast that I haven’t missed one since 2003, the first year I competed.  And last year doesn’t count ‘cause Mason didn’t compete! 

GMU Masonettes competing at UDA Nationals in 2004.  That’s yours truly in the front and center!

We were perfectly content with this idea, and especially looking forward to repeating the Around the World debacle of 2009… when randomly one day over a few beers we decided to invite our friend Amanda to come with us!  She hasn’t been since she was about 11, and according to her mother, only spent a little bit of time in 2 of the parks because “This is what HELL must feel like” is not a positive experience for anybody.

Around The World, 2009.  The entire group before embarking on our journey… J

Then came another night, and another few beers.  Or we can go ahead and blame this one on Four Lokos… Our friend Ryan booked his tickets in a flash, and then there were four! 

So last night, Joey and I held a Disney Planning Meeting.  I was excited because I got to use some of my new hostessy stuff I got from the wedding, and Joey got to make homemade guac with our new food processor (shout out to RR Laura!) and Molcajete (shout out to Scoli!).  We also made a powerpoint presentation with our suggested itinerary, ticket/transportation info, and packing lists.  I think it went very well, was very informative, and Doc and Amanda’s dog, Jax, got to horse around a little bit.

Doc and Jax, post horsing… Things got a little out of control…

If you are a Disney freak, or even if you aren’t, I invite you to comment below with your FAVORITE/MUST-DO attractions for Disney World.  We will not be leaving Disney property, so Universal Studios/Harry Potter World are out of the question.  Yes, we are disappointed but there are much more important tasks at hand… like completing Around The World…

<3

SG

PS: IF you are waiting to find out what our HUGE news is, you only have to wait a little bit longer!!

The Property

What is it? Why do you call it that? What does it all mean?!

Just some of the questions I get when I tell people we are "going to The Property for the weekend".  So here are some answers!

What is The Property?
The Property is 103 acres of land in Drakes Branch, VA owned by my in-laws.  It is mainly used for hunting, and has several different fields, a pond, an old homesite with a rotting tobacco barn, tons of wildlife (to include bears), and opportunities to chill out by the fire pit with a cold beer and look up at the millions of stars in the sky.

Why do you call it that?
My MIL (that's Mother-in-law to you blog rookies) has been saying for years (ok, for the 3 years I've been around) that we need to give the place a name.  Nobody ever bothered sitting down and thinking of one, and it really is just a giant piece of property (aka LAND)... so the name has kind of stuck.  At this point, calling it something different is just going to confuse people.

Where do you sleep at The Property?
In the house! OK it's not a house house... it's a trailer.  But it is fully furnished, heated/air conditioned, and a quite comfortable alternative to a tent.  Although my husband has definitely slept in a tent in the front field before.  Personally, warm bed always trumps hard ground but hey... to each his own.

What do you do there?
Well, I mentioned hunting and star gazing, but we also ride the four wheelers/golf carts, float around the pond/river in a little inflatable boat, set up cameras with motion sensors to check out what critters we have romping around, drink a beer or two, practice our aim/make up shooting games (my favorite was 5 card stud poker), eat delicious food (or hotdogs, if you're me), and sleep IN.

What does it look like?
Well aren't you lucky I have some photos to share :)

The Trailer

The Fire Pit by day

The Hunting House... A new addition!

Front Field

Tobacco Barn... Can you find it?

It looks boring.
Don't knock it til you've tried it!

I hope that gives a little more clarity about what The Property is and why we go there.  Even if you're not into hunting (read: me), there is plenty to do and it's such a great way to relax and recharge on the weekends.  We are so fortunate to have this getaway so readily accessible!

Happy Sunday, all!

SG

Public Service Announcement

I’ve decided it’s finally time I make this announcement on my blog.  While this happened quite a while ago, I didn’t really know how to tell people because I guess I thought they wouldn’t think I was as cool or something…

I am no longer coaching the Washington Capitals Red Rockers.  Professional differences were causing an unhappy working environment, and I’ve moved on in hopes of getting involved with bigger and better things!  I miss my Red Rockers very much, though, and I love getting to see them out and about in DC.

This means two things.

1. I can now openly support my favorite hockey team.

2. I have SO MUCH FREE TIME.  It is seriously amazing.  For the first time in my 26 years of living, I do not have an extracurricular activity.  Yes folks, ever since elementary school, my Mom would pick me up at 4pm and whisk me off to ballet class.  Then came middle school and highschool, where ballet was every day.  Then college, where dance team consumed my life.  Then post-college, where professional dance teams eat up every moment of your life not already consumed by your full-time job.

So here I am at 26, enjoying the fact that I get to GO HOME after work.  It might seem like a little thing to you, but all you dancers out there will TOTALLY know what I mean.

Like I said before, bigger and better things are in the works.  So don’t think this is the last you’ll hear about my dancing endeavors ;)

Love,

SG

She said YES!

So I told you yesterday that today is a very important anniversary for Joey and me.  A year ago today (and around this time) he got down on one knee in our apartment after driving up to Pennsylvania and back and asked me to be his wife.  Obviously I said YES!  From there we entered into a year of complete insanity.... our winter, spring, summer, and fall went ridiculously fast and here we are back on the brink of winter again.

I wanted to commemorate our engagement by sharing some photos that were taken right around that time.  We were by ourselves in our apartment when the engagement actually happened, but this is one of the first photos of the ring, taken at 8:21pm on November 29, 2009.  You can see the only witness to our engagement, Bandit, in the background.  The picture isn't great quality, but it commemorates the initial shock and excitement of our engagement!

Getting engaged is such an exciting time.  The first several months are so much fun, as you get to see friends and family, tell everyone the story over and over again, and celebrate with many glasses of champagne.  Below, is a photo of Joey and I in the back of a limousine sipping champagne and toasting our engagement about 5 days after the fact.

Some other fun things that happen right after you get engaged are:

1. Engagement Photos!
Our friend Amanda took some beautiful engagement photos of us in 2+ feet of snow in old town Occoquan.  We took these just a few weeks after our engagement so we'd always remember the time of year and  to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season!

2. Have an engagement party! 
We were lucky enough to have friends that wanted to host this event for us.  All we had to do was show up!

From there, it was full ahead full into wedding planning! 

Thanks for joining me on a quick trip down memory lane of the days following my and Joey's engagement!

Love,
SG

Giving Thanks

Yes, I know this is late.  I was away from a computer all weekend and I REALLY don't think you wanted to see the aftermath of me trying to blog from a blackberry...

I hope everyone had a safe, happy, and delicious day.  I can’t believe it is already this time of year! Of course I sort of expected it with the wedding and honeymoon bringing us straight up to Halloween.  So here we are, on the weekend of our firstThanksgiving!

Doc is really excited to eat all the turkey and other leftover treats from our dishes.  I REALLY wanted to get this turkey costume for him, but it would have been too last minute and I would have had to overnight it… $80 for Doc to be looking like a turkey? Not quite priceless…

We spent Thanksgiving at Joey’s Grandma’s house.  We thought about doing our own Thanksgiving but let’s get real.  I’m a sucky cook anyway, and there is no way I’d attempt an entire Thanksgiving meal (including a turkey) for just the two (three? Does Doc count?) of us to eat. So we packed up and headed a few miles south for the big meal.  I missed my family.  It is hard living so far away from them.  I know they had a delicious day too and that we will see them soon.

Now comes the time where I say what I am thankful for.  It’s really hard to encompass everything, but here’s a shot.  I’m thankful for my new husband, for BOTH of my families, my best friend-Doc, our ability/opportunity to work for our money and the apartment in which we live, all of my friends, sushi, football, Discovery Channel, and Disney World.

OK that’s enough for now, it was starting to sound like Kevin’s prayer in “Home Alone”…
I hope each of you had a very happy Thanksgiving, ate lots of turkey, watched lots of football, and enjoyed your day(s) off. 

I'll be back tomorrow, because it is a very special anniversary for us Gishes!! ;)

Love,
SG

Ring Lady

Does a wedding ring really make me look older?  Ever since we’ve been married, trips to the liquor store, bars, or restaurants where I’ve ordered a drink of the adult variety have not resulted in my being asked to present my ID.  My feelings are hurt. 

I always get asked for an ID!  I was even told by our hotel’s wedding coordinator that if I wasn’t the bride, I’d be ID’d all night long because I “look so young”.  So how can this be?  Is it like the episode in “Scrubs” where JD can no longer see a woman once she is married?  Am I automatically “old” because I’m wearing two rings on my left ring finger? 

The argument could be that when a woman gets married she is usually over 21.  But the key word there is usually.  If anyone has been watching “16 and Pregnant” lately you would know that many marriages in the US take place long before a girl is 21, although maybe not in my neck of the woods… 

Well, whatever the reason may be, the fact still stands that I have not been asked for my ID since I’ve been a married woman.  So please, if you are a bartender, waiter, or work at a liquor store, ask me for my ID so I can show you that I am 26!!!!!

SG

Wedding Do-Over

So my Mom told me a while back that after the wedding she wanted to throw a little party for some of our neighbors, her collegues, and various other friends because weddings are expensive these days and we really couldn't afford to invite everyone.  I already had expressed my worry about this exact issue in a post on my wedding blog, so I guess my Mom and I have the same problem where we have too many friends.  Not really a problem though... Anyway, shortly after we got back from the honeymoon we got an adorable invitation in the mail (hand made by Mom of course) for a little champagne toast soiree for 20 November.  "No gifts please, we just want to share our joy!"  So Joey grudgingly took off work ("I thought the wedding was over?") and I made plans to drop off the monster with his granddogparents for the weekend. 

We headed up to PA on Friday afternoon, and got there just in time for dinner, wine and a totally random Harry Potter marathon with my sister where nothing was watched in order and we didn't even get to #6 and therefore didn't make it out to #7 the next day... the wine may or may not have had something to do with that.  Saturday we helped clean up the house and get ready for the "little" party.  Well, I guess I should have known something was up when my Mom texted me urgently last week asking for the number to the bakery that did our wedding cake... Or maybe when she mentioned that Peicha (our amazing florist) was going to be "stopping by" on Saturday to drop off some flowers. 

When I got the invitation to this little soiree, I did not realize that my Mom was going to completely re-create our wedding!! It was actually very impressive.  We even used the pomanders that hung off shephard's crooks to line the front walkway, like they had lined the aisle at the wedding ceremony.  We handed out the favors, matchbooks, goody bags, etc.  My Dad put together a slideshow of all the wedding pictures we have so far that played on the TV in the family room.  My Dad also gave a lovely toast and Joey and I cut our (re-created) wedding cake.  This time we did not smash it in each other's faces.  OH and for the record, we didn't MEAN to smash it in each other's faces at the wedding. It wasn't originally planned that way... the pieces of cake were too big soooo that's that.   Anyhoo. On to the best part of the night!

The PEOPLE.  We got to celebrate with so many lovely friends.  Christy and Josh, who you might remember from my wedding blog, got married a week before us and were on their honeymoon during our wedding weekend.  They were so excited to come over and share pictures and compare notes!  Then there were two of my best girl friends from high school, Lindsey and Emily, who I remembered I had my first beer with, and we sat and chatted and caught up with each others lives.  My Mom's friend, Renee, came over with her husband, and it was great to meet him since usually us girls sit around scrap tables and talk about our S.O.'s but never actually meet them!  Some of our neighbors from back in the day were there, as well as some close family friends who were at the wedding but are so awesome that they decided they wanted to celebrate again too! Or maybe it was the free food...

The party was wonderful, and as usual, my Mom did a great job coordinating the whole thing (where do you think I get it from?!).  The worst part of the weekend was this morning, at 4:45am when our alarm clock went off.  Joey had to go in to work today, and so we were off to VA at 5am.  It was a straight shot (no traffic!) but it was horrible.  I drove about 2/3 of the way and let me tell you, it sucked.  But it was well worth it to get to see my entire family (rare to get us all in one place!) and to introduce Joey to some blasts from the past!

I wish I could say that I had pictures to share, but none have been posted as of yet.  I do promise to update with photos as soon as I can get my hands on some.  Until then, I hope you enjoyed this insanely long post about my weekend!

Have a GREAT Thanksgiving week everyone! Wahoooo short work week :)

~SG

Thread Killer

OMG it’s my first non-wedding blog!! Get over it. There will be more.  So I’m a dork and I belong to some Disney message boards where me and other Disney-crazed people count down to our vacations and talk about what color crocs we are going to buy and what rides we are going to ride and in what order and at what exact time (9:36am) we are going to be in line for Pirates of the Caribbean… anyway, I don’t know if any of you have ever been involved with something like this, but it’s seriously just like high school.  There is an “in crowd” and losers, like me, who DON’T spend all day every day on this website.  So when I DO decide to chime in on a certain subject, or –gasp- post my own thread, it’s always the same reaction.  The thread dies EVERY SINGLE TIME.  It’s so annoying… just because I’m not “one of them” I guess means that they feel they don’t have to respond to my questions or comments.  Whatever, I don’t want this to turn into a rant (too late) so now we will focus on more exciting things.

Like our upcoming Disney trip!! Joey is in severe Disney denial.  It’s been OVER A YEAR since he’s been, and he is very upset about this.  It also doesn’t help that I went in March, without him, on his birthday… So we booked a trip (with the help of my Grandmother) for this January!  I’m also excited, since we are still technically newlyweds for an entire year, that we get to boast this fact and wear our bride and groom mouse ears all over the world and not get stared at like we did at the wedding reception…

I also made a really bomb diggety scrapbook for our trip.  Joey and my favorite Disney pastime is called “Around the World”.   At EPCOT, we traverse the World Showcase having an adult beverage in each “country”.  I believe there are something like 13 countries.  And with the smorgasbord of drinks ranging from beer to plumwine to ???, it often turns into a debacle.  And it always ends with us watching the fireworks, or in Joey’s case the time he went alone, him meeting an Irish family and struggling to stop talking in an irish accent to them…  So here are a few pictures of my masterpiece.  There is a page for each country with a place to write what each of us drinks there. 

We’re so looking forward to our trip, but first we must endure the holidays!! This would work out better if Joey wasn’t in retail.  But alas we will make it through.  He even convinced me to start putting up the Christmas decorations already.  I guess I will be in the spirit whether I like it or not!

Stay tuned for more exciting Gish adventures, like this weekend’s Post-Wedding champagne toast thrown by my parents for our neighbors and other friends!!
Love,
SG