Laura's Wedding!

There is an old proverb (or a quote from Woody Allen? google says both) that says "If you want to see God laugh, make plans". Laura and John had planned the perfect outdoor summer ceremony in a garden. For the rehearsal, it was sunny, beautiful weather with the sun setting. For the actual wedding day? torrential downpours, as in leave the car at home and just swim to the reception. We started off the afternoon telling Laura, "it's just getting the rain out of its system before your ceremony" followed by "ohhh its just sprinkling, its barely raining" (when actually, I believe at one point I saw Noah pull up and start rebuilding the ark outside)...but by ceremony time it was clear it'd be happening inside.

and you know what, God? I heard you laughing and I thank you for it...because it turned out to be absolutely beautiful!!! I couldn't be happier for Laura and John!

Perpetually 18

I am perpetually 18 years old.

Even though I am actually 26. Even though staying out until 3 am no longer appeals to me and "those kids" play their music way too loudly. In my mind, I will always be a teenager. I mean, seriously, I still like watching Real World and consider french fries an adequate dinner.

My best friend in the entire world is getting married today. We were roommates in college and have been bffs ever since. As we've been preparing for the wedding, she made a comment that we seem too young to be getting married....and then we realized, sadly, ummm no we aren't. (We proceeded to drown our sorrows in ice cream) Likewise, planning my own wedding is such a surreal experience, I can't help but feel like a little girl playing dress up in my mother's closet.

This blog was started under the idea of "what happens in that weird space between college and adulthood" and today, more than ever, I am faced with that question. What defines us as adults?

I don't know if there is even an answer to that question. Does marriage make us adults? Is it when we buy our first house or create a new life? As my friends start getting married, buying houses, and having babies (Rachel wins the prize for being my first friend to have the "adult" trifecta- marriage, house, AND baby) I can't help but stop in my tracks, blink, and look around. I ask myself, "wait a second, wasn't I just in college last week? When did all this happen?". I start to panic. Have I done enough in my first quarter century? Where am I going next? What is going to happen?

But then, I look over and I see Sean. and I see Laura and John getting married today. and Rachel with her beautiful family. and my parents who have been together for 30 years and I feel myself begin to calm. This isn't so bad, being an adult... plus it means I get to drink margaritas whenever I want ;)


editor's note: CONGRATULATIONS TO LAURA AND JOHN TODAY! Laura, I hope you are blog stalking me as we speak and I just want you to know that I am SO happy and excited for you! You are going to make the most beautiful bride! And for all the other blog stalkers out there, stay tuned for amazing photos!

Running therapy

At the risk of sounding all Oprah-esque, I seemed to have lost myself and I'm in the process of finding "me" again.

Summer is supposed to be about pina coladas (and getting caught in the rain), but so far my summer has been a battle against stress. and stress is winning.

Actually, scratch that. Stress WAS winning. It's not anymore.

Since the school year let out, I've spent the past month in complete disarray. My workouts have fallen to the wayside while my eating habits have gone straight to my waistline (get it? wayside-waistline? heh. heh. I'm so clever). The original HBIC, Eleanor Roosevelt, once said "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent". How right you are, Eleanor, how right you are. I let outside factors affect the way I behave, essentially changing who I am and that's not okay. I may not be able to control the things that happen to me, but I can control the way I respond to them.

Any runner will agree, running is cathartic (and a heck of a lot cheaper than retail therapy). There is something so pure and simple about lacing up your shoes and hitting the road. and yet, I abandoned running this past month. However, as I was spinning in my ball of stress, I realized it was all a big cycle. I felt like crap, so I didn't go running. I didn't go running so I felt like crap. ohhhh the irony.

So Saturday night I decided to reclaim myself. Stress, you've met your match. It was sunset, and I found a new running path along the harbor. As the sun went down over the Boston skyline, I could literally feel the weight of my problems falling off my shoulders. At one point, I was actually smiling as I ran. Ummmm, smiling during a run? Who am I!?

Towards the end of my run, I even thought "yay!!! a new blog post!" I was inspired again. I didn't have my camera with me then but I wanted to capture some essence of the happiness I felt during my run, so I tried to recreate it yesterday, except this time I dragged Sean out with me.

We ran a bit earlier too but you still get the idea. (we had delicious homemade calzones and wine waiting at home for us- I mean, that's why people REALLY run isn't it? So you can eat and drink whatever you want without feeling guilty?)

Please excuse the appearance...after a month off of running, I'm definitely not in the shape I was before my half marathon. Sweaty Beast = me. but I'll get back to it, especially when I do these stairs multiple times:

I can just hear the Rocky theme song now. Well, I can hear the Rocky theme laced with expletives as I curse my way to the top, but hey, whatever gets you through right?