I have gratitude today for...
* Vera Bradley's "Leap Year" sale! They had everything 20% off their sale prices so I ordered the laptop case I've wanted forever and the weekender tote. So excited!
* catching up with Megan for a little bit this afternoon before leaving for FL tomorrow.
* going over to Kerry & Jim's tonight. We had fun talking, playing with My Fitness Pal, and watching Revenge. I also gave the girls a bag of clothes and hopefully they like some of the things in there. I have so much stuff I don't wear anymore but it's hard for me to get rid of it!
* the adorable note cards and monogrammed hand towels Kerry gave me for my birthday.
* my friendship with Kerry. I'm so happy to have a lifelong friend like her, there is nothing like it!
* a safe drive home. It was pouring rain and hard to see most of the way!

I have gratitude today for...
* waking up early enough to catch Andy before work to wish him a Happy Birthday!
* making it through the day considering I was exhausted and slightly hungover.
* Ian giving me a ride home from the train station.
* finding a Winter Classic t-shirt for Andy at the mall. Since I was sick over the weekend I never got out to buy him a gift. I also found a beautiful card that I splurged on in Hallmark. How they can charge $4 for a card I will never understand.
* dinner with Mrs. Roth & Andy at Totaro's to celebrate his birthday. They had potato soup tonight and it was outstanding!

I have gratitude today for...
* feeling much better and being rid of that awful cold!
* lunch at Geoffrey Zakarian's 'The National' with Ian. It's pretty cool going to all of these famous chefs' restaurants. I had a grilled chicken ceasar salad and it was very good.
* attending the session on death claims. It sounds morbid but it was pretty interesting!
* an awesome night out in NYC. We went to 'Blue Ribbon' for dinner with Steve from ICORP. It is a restaurant where a lot of the chefs go from other restaurants because they are open until 4am. I had my first tasting of port wine (really aged, really expensive) and it was delicious! The guys had all sorts of weird things like escargot, bone marrow, mussels etc, I had chicken.
* good times at the bar we went to after dinner with a real jukebox and an awesome beer selection!
* partying like a rock star in NYC until 4:30am! No really, we went to the bar next door to the first one at 2:00am because I heard live music---of course we had to go. They were playing some great blues/rock music and we somehow stayed until 4am. Crazy, I didn't think I had it in me anymore.

I have gratitude today for...
* sleeping until 10:30 and feeling a little better than yesterday.
* Andy giving me a ride to the train station.
* comments from Debbie on some of my posts. Although I write the blog for me, it's kind of fun knowing someone reads it.
* a fresh orange/pineapple juice from the juice bar at the train station.
* reading more Momastary and listening to music during my train ride to NYC.
* my room being ready early so I could settle in and lay down for a while before the reception at 5:00.
* starting to feel better by the time I had to go to the "Welcome Reception".
* a great dinner at Bobby Flay's 'Bar American' with Ian and a couple of nice people we met at the networking reception. It was fun going to a Bobby Flay restaurant, but I have to say it was no where near the best steak I've ever had. (Sorry Bobby!)
* catching some of the Academy Awards before I fell asleep. I didn't really care that I was missing them because I've never been really into the Oscars, but I saw a few of the big awards.

I have gratitude today for...
* South Philly Comm. Acupuncture being understanding when I called to cancel my appt. last minute. I was really trying to get myself to go but I couldn't even get out of bed without feeling like I was going to fall over. I ended up sleeping all day, until 4pm. I don't know what happens to me when I get a cold, but I completely shut down. Most peple say "oh, it's just a cold." I become very weak and just standing up takes more effort than I'd like to admit. The only thing that makes me feel ok is sleeping.
* making myself eat crackers and peanut butter when I woke up even though I didn't feel hungry. I didn't want another "I passed out today" episode.
* taking it easy watching TV on the couch this afternoon.
* an exciting Flyers game with a shootout win!
* Andy making homemade pizzas for dinner. They came out really good!

I have gratitude today for...
* acknowleding I have to take it easy and get rid of this cold. I really wanted to go to yoga tonight but I don't think I'd be able to balance at all.
* taking a nap from 5-7 after I finished my work this afternoon. Whenever I have a cold it hits me like a ton of bricks. I have no energy and feel so tired. Yuck!
* talking to Anita about cleaning this summer. She always asks a whole bunch of questions about what's going on in my life and is really sweet. She's thrilled we can clean for her again this summer.

I have gratitude today for...
* tomato basil soup at Panera for lunch.
* a beautiful day for our drive to Lancaster and back. The temparture reading on the car said 64 degrees!
* my food processor arriving. I watched the DVD and I'm so excited about all of the great things I can do with it. I tried a few mandolins over the years and never found one that worked well. I didn't realize food processors shred and slice, yippie. (I also wonder sometimes who I am these days, the arrival of a food processor made my day.)
* finally sitting down and writing to our photographer about everything I was disappointed in. Unfortunatly the response made me even more disappointed, I really felt that all my points were dismissed. I don't play this card often, but I am the customer and my concerns should have at least been validated. At least I put everything on paper so maybe I can stop thinking about it constantly.
* Kerry's response when she read the emails.
* talking to Kelly tonight about a wedding she's in, and also about the photographer's response. She said we should all get dressed up again and do pictures, maybe that's not a bad idea.
* staying healthy over the last 10 months or so. I couldn't escape this cold and I'm totally bummed I'm sick.

I have gratitude today for...

* the apple with peanut butter and granola I ate for breakfast this morning. I really need to start eating breakfast again!

* how good the chicken noodle soup I made last night came out. I had it for lunch and it was really good!!

* a nice time at the RIMS Happy Hour. I met some friendly people and Ian & I had dinner with some of them at Mission Grill.

* a relaxing night watching American Idol when I got home.

I have gratitude today for...

* making plans to have a get together with all of the West Chester girls for when Andy is away. 

* taking a trip into the city to look at the space at XIX for our RIMS event in April. It's a beautiful space and I hope we go with it!

* getting my new license; I'm happier with the way I look now than I did four years ago. Bring on aging (but maybe not the wrinkles and gray hair.) :-)

* spending some time editing some wedding photos and picking out some to print for friends and family. 

* a great yoga class with Marissa tonight!
* the cute email I got from Kelly about how awesome my bridesmaids were/are. I agree!
* talking with Jane for a while this afternoon. It was nice to catch and and she assured me I made the right move by taking the job at GlobalOptions. I haven't once questioned my decision but it was still nice to hear!

I have gratitude today for...

* having lunch with Andy. He had off today and it was nice having him around. 

* finishing up with cleaning and straightening up the office. It looks great now and I really like working up there!

* Andy printing and framing some of our wedding pictures (scenic ones like the church, cake and flowers with our rings) to hang in the bathroom and also hanging our DMB posters in the living room. 

* figuring out how to fix the paper shredder after putting too many sheets through the first time I used it! I thought it was dunzo and was really annoyed but I picked every morsel out of the shredder and now it's working fine. 

* being able to problem solve at work. 

* going to Jen's yoga class tonight. I learned I need to eat something an hour or so before class. I hadn't eaten since lunch and felt very dizzy at one point, like I was going to faint. I've felt that way before and now I know I need to have some sugar in me. 

* Andy making baked ziti for dinner. 

* watching The Voice, Worst Cooks in America and playing Scrabble tonight. 

* all of the people in my life that love and support me. One of Viki's friends from Trenton passed away and no one found him until days later. I felt so bad and thought it was sad that he didn't have anyone that would have noticed before a few days went by. He was an alcoholic; it also made me think of Uncle Scott and how I pray he straightens out his life before it's too late. :-(

I have gratitude today for...

* Gino's for lunch with Andy. (Shhh-don't tell the following; everyone I try to help by teaching them everything I know about eating healthy, Kris Carr, Rip Esselton, Debbie) :-)

* running errands with Andy; it was nice just to go out together even if it was to the grocery store, the mall and Bed, Bath & Beyond. I do think that could be my favorite store!

* my love for cooking. I made a roasted chicken in my Le Creuset Dutch Oven with stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli and carrots. The gravy came out great and I didn't have to add anything except cornstarch to thicken it. It took over 3 hrs from start to finish but the end result was worth it!

* Jeff, Megan and the kids and Mom Roth coming over for dinner. I loved having everyone here and they all loved dinner which makes the cook happy. :-)

* making ice cream sundaes for Jeffrey & James.

* watching "The Worst Cooks in America" on Food Network. I can't fathom being that bad at cooking. *It's given us some laughs and there's actually a lot you can learn from the show, even if you cook already.

* ordering my new food processor!! I'm so excited!! I didn't think I needed one since I have the Vita-Mix but I need something that shreds and slices. I can't wait for it to get here!
* the arrival of Tim & Kristen's baby boy! We found out today they had a boy last night, not a girl like they thought! What a cool surprise!

I have gratitude today for...

* finally getting myself to do the elliptical after a long hiatus. It felt great and watching Bruce Springsteen's 2000 MSG concert on Palladia made it fun. I had it really loud it got me sooo excited for the concert coming up next month.

* thinking back to all of the good times I've had at Bruce shows, and concerts in general while I watched the concert today. I was also thinking how thankful I am for parents that love music and how much fun it's been to surprise them with concert tickets for Bruce, DMB and U2!

* being able to go to Jeffrey's 4th Birthday party with all of his little friends. They were all so cute and he was king of the party with his "Birthday Boy" shirt. I just love him to pieces.

* spending some time in King of Prussia with the Roth family this afternoon.

* relaxing on the couch reading some more of the "Momastery" blog. I started from the beginning and just love it!!

* bowling with Andy, Josh & Lauren and their friends Todd & Sarah. We wanted to do something different tonight and it was so much fun. We played 4 games and ended up being there for "Rock & Bowl"--it brought back memories from high school except this time I was allowed to buy beer. I will not be joining a bowling league anytime soon though, I was terrible!

I have gratitude today for...

* listening to my body and taking the day off from yoga. I was feeling a little sore so I thought I should rest today.

* acupuncture today; I just feel so lucky to be able to go 2x per week. I do wish there wasn't so much traffic or but I have Michael Smerconish's talk show to get me through the drive home.

* visiting Megan and the kids for a bit tonight. We went over cleaning stuff for this summer.

* the documentary "Man on Wire". My hands were sweaty almost the whole time even though you know the guy lived to tell his story. What an incredible story about walking a tightrope across the Twin Towers. It also made me realize the towers were only built in 1970. I never realized they were only around for 40 years when 9/11 happened.

* watching the 20/20 special on Whitney Houston. I remember dancing and singing to her songs with my Tynemouth Ct. girlfriends. It's such a sad story, what happened to her, and so many other musicians for that matter.

I have gratitude today for...
* watching Cristina Aguliera's "Storytellers" on Palladia this afternoon while I worked. I never knew what a horrible childhood she had. Her some "I'm OK" has a whole new meaning to me now, knowing it's her story. I've always thought she has an incredible voice and of all the Disney stars, I believe she will withstand the test of time.

* a great yoga class with Jess. Glad I went because I was feeling lazy tonight.

* relaxing night; stew for dinner and watching HIMYM with Andy.

I have gratitude today for...

* yoga tonight with Jen; Kelley came with me, it was a great class!

* dinner at Totaro's with Kelley; hearing about her wedding planning and catching up in general.

* relaxing at home watching American Idol & Revenge. Revenge had my heart pounding--I probably should have waited to watch since Andy isn't home. I'm such a baby!

I have gratitude today for...
* dinner at Carrabba's with Andy to celebrate Valentine's Day. Our waitress was very sweet. It's a nice rarity to have a great server.
* the cute Valentine's Day card from Andy.

* talking with Mom & Dad tonight.

I have gratitude today for...

* bringing in my car early this morning and the guys fixing my tires and balance. The noise is also gone (for now) so I'm hoping the low steering fluid was the problem.

* being able to fall asleep during my acupuncture session today.

* having veggies and dip for a snack this afternoon instead of junk. I've been making poor food choices lately and know I need to make some serious changes again.

* a really great yoga class with Jen tonight. It was all about the heart and Valentine's Day. I really enjoyed it.

* birthday cards from Aunt Kathy, Grandma & Grandpa

I have gratitude today for...

* lots of birthday love! Phone calls, text messages, facebook messages from my wonderful friends and family.

* spending the morning with Andy, Kelly & Alex. Andy made waffles and breakfast potatoes for us.

* an awesome birthday gift from Kelly & Alex. A canvas saying "Love is the music of the soul". Love it!

* relaxing this afternoon on the couch. It was so nice to do nothing.

* Mom & Dad coming to celebrate my birthday with me. We spent some time at our place and then went to Yangming for dinner. I loved being able to take them out and we all really enjoyed the excellent food.

* Mom & Dad bringing Italian butter cookies w/sprinkles from Dolce & Clemente instead of a birthday cake. They also gave me some great gifts; new yoga top and pants, Clinique bag w/mascara and eye shadow, Victoria's Secret body spray and a new peeler.

* watching the Grammy's with Andy, Mom & Dad. Besides Niki Minaj and Chris Brown I really loved them this year!

* a cute Flyer's sweatshirt from Andy.

I have gratitude today for...
* yoga this morning- while everyone was disappointed the heat wasn't working I was secretly happy because I wasnt in the mood for a 90 degree room this morning.
* finding the bakery Viki was telling me about in Conshohocken. They have all kinds of breads and rolls so it's nice to know where they are. I tried a loaf of their sesame italian bread, it's pretty good.

* a fantastic birthday massage at Cortiva Massage. I'm going to have to try a 90 minute massage some day!

* Andy being understanding when I exploded about some things that have been bothering me. Instead of sharing how I was feeling I've been harboring everything inside and I sort of took it out on him. I need to be better about that.

* Tony A's tomato pie

* my 31st birthday celebration tonight with Andy, Kelly & Alex, Megan & Jeff, Amy, Deirdre, Seth & Steve. I made lots of good food, we had drinks and a lemondrop shot before we went out. We first went to Baggataway Tavern and then to the Gypsy Saloon. It was a really fun night!

I have gratitude today for...

* Viki picking me up from Tires Plus and going food shopping with her instead of waiting for them to work on my car.

* the guys at Tires Plus understanding my frustration when they didn't solve the problem I took my car in for initially, and there being additional problems after I picked it up. They promised me if I come back tomorrow they will look into it and take care of me.

* being able to really relax and almost falling asleep during acupuncture today. I like going even though the traffic sucks every time! I just have to remember I am lucky to have a place that is so fairly priced or I wouldn't be going at all.

* leftover Celebre's for a late lunch.

* getting myself to yoga class even though I didn't feel like it. I've gained 5 pounds and I'm really bummed about that so I need to stay committed. I know I also need to start eating better (again), and getting my ass on the elliptical wouldn't hurt either.

* the lavender lotion I bought from Vita-Cost. It's organic, cruelty-free and smells so good.

I have gratitude today for...
* another good meeting with a new office today. The breakfast I had delivered was beautifully presented and everyone was really nice. I think there is a lot of potential with this office!

* a warm, sunny day in NYC. We hardly needed a jacket walking around outside!

* an easy drive home with no traffic.

* date night with Andy. We went to the Flyers game and to Celebre's for pizza after. The game was exciting from the start and they won! The pizza was to die for as usual.

I have gratitude today for...
* falling asleep easily last night and getting up early this morning no problem.
* Wawa low fat cappuccino
* no traffic on the way to long island
* getting through my first globaltrak presentation today. I was nervous but told myself "you know this" and got through it no problem!
* the nice guy at the front desk when we checked in to the Hampton Inn-Seaport. They even had fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. I'm going to have to go on a "travel diet" or those 15lbs I lost are going
to creep back.
* having time to relax for a while when we got to the hotel. I watched
the first two episodes of the voice. I really like this one too!
* dinner at Heartland Brewery with John. I had a salad with buffalo chicken on top and one of their own beers. It was tucked away on one of the cobblestone streets behind the hotel. What a cute area!
* Kelly & Alex being able to come to NYC to stay with me. We walked around for a bit and they had chinese food at one of the local chinese restaurants. After we watched a healthy dose of HGTV and I introduced Kelly to my new favorite blog. It was nice to have the company!

I have gratitude today for...
* Panera having my order ready for pick up this morning. They do a really great job!
* a good meeting this morning; I learned a lot from the feedback from this client.
* Chipotle for lunch. So good and the lady that rang me up was pleasant and friendly.
* my acupuncture appt; so thankful they make it affordable so I can go 2x a week like they've recommended.
* practicing calmness while sitting in traffic for an hr on 76, realizing there is nothing I can do about it.
* taking time tonight to get ready for my trip to NYC tomorrow. I prepared my materials for the meetings and packed my suitcase to make sure I had everything and didn't have to run around like crazy in the morning.
* watching a few episodes of himym and treating myself to a little bit of ice cream with Oreos on top.

I have gratitude today for...
* Ian meeting me to go over the rest of my accounts. He has been so helpful.
* working in my office instead of working on the couch in the living room. I was able to focus better and got a lot of work done.
* a great yoga class tonight. I really like Jen's classes!

I have gratitude today for...
* acupuncture this morning.
* Jeffrey's 4th Birthday get together at Jeff & Megan's today. We decided to give Jeffery a night out with us instead of another toy. I know he was a little disappointed because he didn't understand stand what his gift was from us. They have so much stuff, I rather do something with him that will give him great memories!
* giving Jeffrey a Berenstain Bars book as a part of his birthday present. They were some of my favorite book when I was little and I love the little lessons they teach.
* watching the Super Bowl at Mom & Dad's. Kelly, Alex & Barb G. were there too. We had a ton of great food and the game was one of the best I can remember! I was happy for Dad that the Giants won. It reminded me of the game four years ago, coming down to the very last minute! Andy was a good sport. :-)

I have gratitude today for...
* going to the intermediate yoga class again this morning. It is definitely more difficult than what I'm used to but I like that it's 1 1/2 hrs and I can learn something new each time.
* the AMC groupon deal I found today. 1/2 price movie tickets!
* finally writing Christmas thank you's!
* writing out a card to Adrienne to say some of things that I've been thinking about since we talked last week. Sometimes in life we really wish we could have a "do over" and I certainly wish I could change the way I've handled some things with her. I know the best I can do is be aware of certain things moving forward.
* celebrating Beckman's birthday at the Great American Pub tonight.

I have gratitude today for...
* the arrival of Erin & Jeff Ertz's baby boy. Babies, babies, babies!
* getting up on time for our early train without feeling too tired even though I hardly slept either night we were in VA.
* finding out one of my oldest friends is pregnant. Talia & I haven't really stayed in touch (besides Facebook and the very occasional email) but my heart is so happy for her!
* an easy trip home from VA.
* catching up on my shows from this week; American Idol, Grey's and Private Practice.
* a good conversation with my boss---I hadn't talked to him since before Christmas so it was good to catch up and tell him how things have been going.
* S. Philly Acupuncture being understanding about the traffic and allowing me to reschedule my appointment for Sunday.
* take-out from Pasta Via.
* movie night with Andy. We watched "Friends with Benefits", it was really cute.

I have gratitude today for...
* the Panera breakfast delivery going smoothly for our meet and greet this morning. This is the first one I've set up and I wanted to make sure everything was great.
* meeting lots of nice people during our Esis & Sentry visits.
* lunch at Kona Grill with Ian and meeting his bartender buddies.
* Happy Hour at Champps with some of the girls from Sentry. It was nice getting to know a few of them on a more personal level instead of just shaking hands and saying "nice to meet you."
* dinner at the Capital Ale Grill. Our waitress was really annoying but Ian & I had some good laughs. The Aiden (his son) stories crack me up, especially one about him cursing at school.

I have gratitude today for...
* getting the house cleaned up before I left for the train station.
* fresh orange/pineapple juice from a juice stand in 30th Street Station.
* being able to laugh with Ian about the fact that it was a million degrees on the train. At one point I went into the bathroom and put on my workout tank. I'm usually the one that's cold but this heat was unbearable.
* a good laugh when we got to the hotel and they told us only one room was booked and they were sold out. Ian & I didn't think our wife and husband would appreciate us sharing a room so we asked them to move us to another hotel.
* an excellent dinner at Hondos. If you're ever in Glen Allen, VA (Richmond area) you MUST go there. The steak was one of the best I've ever had and the sauteed spinach was perfect. Tonight's meal is the reason why I wouldn't be able to give up meat 100%, although I will always be trying to cut back.
* my adorable nephew and best buddy Jeffrey joining this world 4 years ago today. It's impossible to believe it's been 4 years already!