Only in New Jersey...

can one enjoy a Friday afternoon tanning but be brushing snow off their car on Tuesday.

Just another snow day..

I yearn for the days when I can post pictures of my weekends at the beach.

For now, we're stuck with this:

I guess I have to admit it ...

I have the best boyfriend ever.

He surprised me with something that I've been drooling over and dreaming about for awhile now, a Canon EOS Rebel.

As a proud new owner, I bundled up and took to the snow and ice covered streets of the Jersey Shore.

I think it was worth it.

Photos from my Flickr

Snow Day(s)

You know what makes me really happy?

I got out of shoveling snow! One point for trivial happiness!

After the extreme snowfall last winter, my mom and my neighbor split a snow blower hoping to never have to use it. That logic clearly failed, but it got me out of shoveling my immense driveway.

And, in further proof that snow days aren't fun after graduation, I had to work from home. Nope, no more snow days ever again. No more wine at 10 a.m. No more movie marathons while snuggling with my roommates. No sledding for me, just writing. Not that I really minded because I am a poor writer and it was another great excuse of why I couldn't help blow snow or clean off the cars.

Anyways, I'm done with snow now and it can melt and we can skip to summer, thanks.

I Hate Snow, but ...

is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Happiness for All

I wish I could be one of those people who post everyday. But, there simply just aren't enough hours in the day. And enough interesting things just don't happen in my day. Sorry for the disappointment.

Anyways, as Christmas is nearing, things are a little busy. Add decorating, baking, wrapping, etc. with a full time job for the first time ever and it gets a little crazy. I just love baking too much to cut it out and this is about the only time of the year that it's totally acceptable for me to be a fatty.

Going with the theme of my blog and my daily pursuit for happiness, kicks and giggles, it looks like I should also add in the pursuit of the happiness of Tucker this holiday season.
I didn't know dogs could frown.

The First Snow Fall

South Jersey is a place that is just not prepared for the snow- especially the first snow fall. You would think that they got in the swing of things last year when Mother Nature dumped literally feet of snow over the south of the state. But no. This year, all it took was HALF AN INCH of snow to ruin my evening.

I hate snow.

And by ruin, I mean that it took me 3 1/2 hours to get home from work. The half-inch took my normally crappy 2-hour-ish drive and made it a miserable bumper-to-bumper nightmare. Driving up north was, thankfully, okay because all the snow was south of 195. Which made my panic attacks about driving in the snow at work totally odd because there was no snow in the forecast for up there and was a totally different world than an hour and a half south.

I hate snow.

And that it. That's all the snow that was on the ground last night. Almost no snow was on the highways because of all the drivers, but my road is a solid sheet of ice now. Lovely.

I hate snow.

This too is just not okay: More Snow Could be on the Way for Jersey Shore, South Jersey this Weekend.

I hate snow.

Bundling Up

Speaking of the weather getting cold, the freezing weather over the weekend made it the perfect time to break out the puppy sweaters.




Boyfriend and I tried to enjoy the weather (ha) and get into the Christmas spirit. We walked through Princeton (pretending we were smart and studious, of course), got coffee and looked at condos we can never afford. Ah, to dream.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and started to get themselves in the holiday spirit!

It's Cold.

It's cold.

I mean, below-freezing-over-night, frost-on-the-windows, down-jacket-scarves-and-gloves cold. The cold that makes it so hard to get up in the morning.

Ah, hello winter.

Although it's not officially here for another few weeks, winter has definitely arrived in New Jersey. The only thing I'm looking forward to is the Winter Solstice, only because each day after stays bright a little bit longer.

I don't like cold weather and I hate the dark. And lucky me, I work about two hours from where I live three days a week. (Hopefully not for much longer, but the process of growing up, starting to pay my bills, saving money, finding an apartment and buying furniture takes some time). After spending a day at a desk in the basement/dungeon/coal mine, I get to spend two hours driving in the dark home. Luckily it's a great first job and my coworkers/fellow miners are wonderful. Regardless, it has left me pretty tired and cold.

If it were socially acceptable to wear Snuggies at work, maybe I'd be a happier person.

Peppermint Mocha

I know I'm a little behind on this, but I finally got to dive into the holiday spirit with one of my favorite splurges, Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha. Nothing tastes like winter and Christmastime quite like one.
Boyfriend spent the weekend at my house and today we did one of my favorite things- found a cute downtown, wandered around and got coffee. I love a good downtown and always dream of living in one. Somewhere to walk and meet friends for coffee. To be able to walk or ride my bike to the gym. Wander around and do some shopping. Walk to the post office.
Ah, maybe someday.

Photo from here