Following Rabbits Blog — do it

It's no secret that I'm pretty excited to bid farewell to 2010. While I did have some fun times, I'm definitely looking forward to starting fresh with a new year. I don't really make resolutions- instead I make "to do" lists of all kinds of things I want to do in a new year. I crossed quite a few things off my 2010 list, including go to the opera, have 3 new friends that I didn't have last New Year's Eve, drop a dress size, get tattoo #5 (and #6!), go to 5 concerts (I went to waaaay more than that), and start a new blog. I'm happy to be starting 2011 with a fresh slate, new goals and challenges, and a positive outlook for things to come! Did you make resolutions for the new year?

Like seemingly everyone else in the northeast, my holiday travel plans were wrecked by the snowstorm. I was originally going to leave Cape Cod on Sunday, but the buses were suspended until Tuesday. The Cape lost power and got its fair share of snow and wind. When I finally got back to New York, I was shocked by how messy the city still was!

my mum's front yard on the Cape

snow on the beach in Falmouth, MA

obviously nyc got more snow than they knew what to do with

this could be why emergency response time was sucking so bad!

When I went apple picking this fall I made a rogue claim in the office that I make the best apple pie. Once it ricocheted like the shot heard round the world, I had a couple challengers and we scheduled a holiday-time throwdown. I was pretty confident in my recipe, but limited my trash talking just in case. The day finally came and I made 2 pies... just so I could take a bite when they were fresh out of the oven. It was one of my best! (My secret ingredient is crushed gingersnaps, shhhh!)

We set up a blind test with scorecards and everything! Ha! Once the ballots were tallied, I was crowned the winner. I knew I made the best apple pie!

Every year my family spends the week before Christmas in the Bahamas. When it came time for us all to buy our plane tickets, I told my mum that I couldn’t make it this year. Tickets were expensive, and I’m paying much more for rent this year. I already had the week off from work, so I filled up my schedule with plans to go ice skating, hit up a few Christmas parties, hang with friends, and work on my grad school application. On Thursday a friend asked where I was spending my vacation, so I filled him in on my staycation plans. He felt bad that I wouldn’t be spending it with my family as I had been planning, and offered to lend me the money for a plane ticket. I was overwhelmed! I thought about it for a few hours and decided to take him up on his offer. I called my brother and made him promise not to tell mum, and got to work on packing and tying up loose ends. I think I was even more excited about surprising her than about spending five days on the beach.

Saturday night I finished packing around 8p and went out with friends to our fave UES dive bar. I was planning on making it an early night, since I had a 7:30a flight. I wound up staying out til 2a, got home to Astoria at 2:45a, took a shower and left at 4:30a without so much as laying down. o_O By the time I got to Nassau I was exhausted, but amped to see my fam. I knew her reaction would be priceless, so I recorded it with my Flip camera. I was right-- after staring at me for a solid 30 seconds before realizing it was really me and I was actually here, she leapt out of her beach chair (getting tangled in her earbuds) and jumped into my arms, crying all the while.

When my brother said something about it being a hard secret to keep, she gave him a slap for keeping it from her, haha. She talked for the next hour about how happy she was that she had both her kids here… best surprise ever. 

I'm officially on vacation! I've been wanting to put a crazy streak in my hair for a long time, and finally just did it. First I bleached my hair (again!) and I got it lightened up to the white-blonde that I've been shooting for. The violet streak is very bright, but it fades with every wash.

My mum has a timeshare in the Bahamas at this time every year. I asked for this week off from work ages ago, then decided about a month ago that I didn't have the money to buy a plane ticket. My mum was disappointed I couldn't go, and it was shaping up to be just her and my brother on the trip. I was gearing up for a week-long staycation in the Big Apple when my friend offered to lend me the cash to get a plane ticket and fly down to meet my family! Amazing! I told my brother to expect me, but we're keeping it a secret from my mum... I'm hoping to capture a very surprised reaction on my video camera when I show up on the beach Sunday! 

(And I'll reluctantly be saying goodbye to the violet streak before going back to work on the 20th.)