Guess Who's Back? Back Again...

Happy New Year, G&G readers! I am extremely remorseful for falling off of the blogging bandwagon for a bit. I promise to do better in 2015!

Here is a quick summary of what has happened during my hiatus: Thanksgiving, Christmas, NYE, quality time with family and friends, a smashed car window and stolen tablet, over-consumption of craft beer and holiday treats. Throw in some holiday parties and lazy days on the couch, and there you go. Moving on! Just kidding...here are a few pictures from the break.

I made some pumpkin spice puppy chow over Thanksgiving that was to die for

We got our first live X-Mas tree as a married couple! It never smelled though which was a bummer.

We celebrated Christmas Eve on our own and made a gourmet meal: homemade bread, balsamic roasted brussels sprouts, red-wine braised short ribs, parmesan risotto, and champagne. Hello, food coma.

I assisted a Coca-Cola merchandiser out in the field and helped stock some of Buckhead's stores!

Leaving my job in public accounting this past June means that this is my first winter since 2011 where I am not working busy season hours! I can actually enjoy my Saturdays, exercise after work, eat dinner at home with my husband...you know, the little things that you take for granted when you don't have to work 80+ hours for 2 solid months. Sayonara, busy season!

With all of this free time, I have taken up some new hobbies to spice up 2015:

1. On the fashion front, I am obviously sporting the super-popular blanket scarf, or "blarf" as my co-worker and I have come to call them. I got this baby from China via Amazon for $10, and it only took a few weeks for the weird smell to dissipate before I could wear it!

2. Since Serial ended a few weeks ago (side note - I thoroughly enjoyed the ending and thought it wrapped things up nicely), I had to find a new podcast to entertain me. What better podcast to fill Serial's void than....Gilmore Guys! I am still depressed that Gilmore Girls is over (this is not healthy, the show ended in 2007), and now that I have hijacked my parent's Netflix account and started watching the show anew, Gilmore Guys seemed like the perfect fit. Listening to two dudes crudely discuss each episode is pure magic. I have even developed a personal relationship with the hosts via Twitter, soliciting not one but TWO responses to my tweets. Next stop, Hollywood.

3. I wanted to become more involved at our church, so I signed up to lector at the 7:15 pm mass once a month. Ensuring that you say everything correctly, fluctuate your pitch, and make eye contact with the parishoners is no easy feat. I have only lectored twice so far, but I am hoping that the third time will be the charm and I will remember to take a breath.

4. I volunteered to interview high school seniors who are applying for admission to W&L, and I had major flashbacks to my own interviews and how nervous I was. I was also extremely jealous that many of them will be starting the best 4 years of their lives at the greatest place on Earth in just a few short months. Oh well, I have the Atlanta Chapter Lee Party coming up in a few short weeks! We may be alumni, but we still know how to throw a good party...

Here's to a great 2015!

Viral Video Vendredi: 1989

Admit it, you love Taylor Swift's new album, 1989, and have been listening to it on repeat for the past three weeks. No? You haven't? Well, haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate.

I have always been a T-Swift fan, though I mock her at times for her "surprised face" when she wins music awards and get slightly annoyed when she claims to be from Tennessee. I also hate her at times for looking effortlessly flawless every minute of the day. Let's call a spade a spade - I'm jealous of Taylor Swift and her glamorous lifestyle that's filled with fancy parties, famous friends, world travels, and to-die-for fashion. Womp womp.

If you've been living under a rock and haven't seen her kick-ass music video for "Blank Space," then stop what you are doing immediately and watch this video in its entirety. My coworker said that the male lead went to her fiance's high school - the jealousy level just got bumped to an 11 on a 10 point scale.

           

While I love 1989 and Taylor's fresh, sharp sound, this week's VVV is centered on a group called Superfruit who covered Swift's entire album in their own unique way in. Enjoy!

           

November Thankfulness Challenge: The 1/2 Way Mark

Happy Tuesday, readers (if you are out there)! We are little over halfway through the month of November, and there are only 10 days until we can stuff ourselves silly with turkey, rolls, and green bean casserole. This fun challenge has allowed me to take a step back each day, reflect on my life and its many blessings, and illustrate them through film. (The fact that this challenge takes mere seconds to complete doesn't hurt my success rate either). Take a look at what I have captured so far!

                

Viral Video Vendredi: Chimpanzee Riding on a Segway

I tell you, these work weeks are flying by as the holidays get closer and closer. I am traveling for the fourth weekend in a row - this time to Birmingham with Matt to visit some friends who recently moved there. We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend with these sweet friends, eating good food, watching football, and playing with their new Labrador puppy, Lola.

This week's VVV is 100% silly. My brother showed me this video years and years ago, and I remember rolling around in stitches on the floor after I watched it. Three words: chimpanzee, overalls, segway. You're welcome and happy Friday!

                             

Sink Your Teeth Into Serial

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! I am currently editing the 400+ pictures that I took on our weekend getaway to Charleston, so look for my re-cap of this awesome trip in the next couple of days!

To tide you over until then...has anyone else out there been listening to the new podcast, Serial? 

 

Let's take a step back for a minute. There are podcasts out there about anything and everything. Want to learn a new language? Try out one of the Coffee Break language podcasts as you drive to work. I've been listening to Coffee Break French led by my homeboy Mark and my homegirl Anna. 

Anna et Marc 

I also enjoy the podcast Stuff You Missed In History Class, which covers a random as hell topic about a random event in history. Agent Orange? The Hindenburg disaster? All found on this podcast and increasing your bank of Jeopardy knowledge one car ride at a time.

But back to Serial, the podcast of all podcasts. As I've mentioned before, I love a good mystery show like Dateline or 48 Hours, and Serial is exactly like these shows sans video. This weekly podcast chronicles the real-life murder case of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of killing his ex-GF in 1999. 

Each week the podcast interviews different players in the game, plays recordings from the trial and police interviews, describes evidence, etc. I read that this podcast is literally developing as the weeks progress, so I'm not even sure if the producers know how it is going to end? It is killing me not to Wikipedia the crap out of this case and find out what the endgame is. 

If you love to binge on TV shows or movies, then this would be an excellent foray into the podcast world (especially with Thanksgiving road trips home coming up). Just don't blame me when you find yourself idling in your car for 15 minutes so that you can finish up your episode before going into the house...