I have gratitude today for...
* Megan being here to help with cleaning. We worked our little butts off today for almost 6 hours. 
* Sam calling me to tell me how happy he is that I agreed to switch territories. It really means so much to me that he sees so much in me in just 10 months. 
* stopping for a kids mango at Rita's on my way to the beach. I like the kids sizes because they are just enough to fulfill my Rita's cravings. 
* spending a couple of hours at the beach with the Fry's before Andy got here. 
* Macks Pizza and cucumber/tomato salad for dinner. 
* hanging out with Jeff, Megan & the kids tonight at the house. 
* staying out of a political discussion and going upstairs to watch TV instead. Sometimes it is hard being surrounded by people with completely different views. 

I have gratitude today for...
* talking with Jeff C. about my new territory. He took the time to go over almost every account with me and it made me feel much more at ease about starting over again with all new offices. 
* talking with Sandy about my move to the midwest team. It feels so weird---I won't be on her calls anymore, I won't work with those case managers anymore, but I'll still be 15 minutes from the office. We joked that I'll still visit for birthdays!
* spending more time with the Fry's on the beach. We played kube, drank Bloody Mary's and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. I love early evenings on the beach!
* Maria's awesome italian night for dinner. I allowed myself to have a meatball, I couldn't resist. It was amazing. Andy & I stayed until about 10:30--late enough to watch Michael's science experiment with apples, peaches, cherry & vodka. 
* Andy finding me airfare for my trip to Chicago in a few weeks. I am excited to email a bunch of our friends that live there. I will always have someone to hang out with when I'm there. 

I have gratitude today for...
* spending this morning looking through all of the midwestern accounts and figuring out where they are located, how far they are from Chicago, etc. 
* Kate sending me the adorable pictures from the American Idol concert. 
* finally talking with Sam & Bob about my new role. I feel much better about everything now. 
* dinner at The Bellevue with Andy & Mrs. Roth. 

I have gratitude today for...
* talking with Ian this morning about everything that's going on. I have a better understanding and I think there is a way to work things out.
* spending some time on the beach with the Fry's. The flies were really bad and I eventually left because they wouldn't leave me alone, even with bug spray. I was able to read almost at entire O Magazine before the flies drove me away. 
* dinner with Mrs. Roth at 96th Street Grille in Stone Harbor. We originally tried going to the Windrift but they were charging a cover because of wing night. I tried to explain we were there for dinner and didn't plan on drinking the beer special OR eating wings. They still wanted to charge us. It wasn't really about the $5 per person, but the principle---they were going to make us pay to go in when we were already going to spend more than most people there for the special. We were annoyed they were forcing us to pay for something we didn't want to buy, so we left. We had meals we enjoyed at 96th Street Grille and then walked around Stone Harbor for a little bit. 

I have gratitude today for...
* Andy having off today and my half day. After lunch I spent some time making fresh bruschetta, salsa and guacamole. We took it all down to the Fry's house in Sea Isle. We hung out at the house for a while and played with Liam. Then we all headed to Twisties for some drinks on the water. I've never been there- it was very cute!
* keeping myself together as I talked to Sam about changes at work. My territory is changing from the Northeast to the Midwest. It did make me feel good when he was telling me how happy they've been with me and how much he wants to keep me on his team. At first I thought I was losing my job simply because I live where I do. After thinking about everything I am hoping he accepts my plan on how to make this new territory work. Right after the call I was heartbroken because I love this job, this company and really don't want to have to go through trying to find that again somewhere else. 
* the awesome margaritas Midge made to make me feel better when I got back to the house. 
* everyone loving the appetizers I made. 
* being invited to stay for dinner again, playing F*** the Dealer and going out to the O.D. for the Monday Night Jam with Andy, Jackie, Michael & Erin. I really wanted to go out but ended up getting  upset about everything I found out about today. 
* being able to tell myself that even though things feel uncertain, I am ok. The phone call wasn't telling me someone I love has died or been harmed. I have a supportive husband and partner in life, great friends like Erin and an awesome family. I have money in the bank, a roof over my head and don't have to worry about my next meal. My life is better than millions of other people in this world, so even though things felt crappy today, I have a great life and will find a way to work things out. 

I have gratitude today for...
* getting through one of the most disgusting cleaning jobs I've ever had (the house had 14 guys, just out of high school, all summer.) They kept asking me "is this bad?"--um, yeah...
* eating dinner on the back deck in Avalon. It was a beautiful night to eat outside. 
* a fun time at Kixx with Andy, Julie and her cousins. The bartender at the Martini Bar outside was really nice. He made me a great pineapple drink! I saw The Chatterband for the first time, they are one of the staples down here. To me they were just ok but we still had a good time.

I have gratitude today for...
* finally starting to feel better this afternoon after being sick all night. It must have been something I ate. All I know is I was up every 20 minutes from 3am on and it was awful. There is nothing worse than I stomach virus.
* our night out with Jeffrey & James. I picked them up in Narberth and we met Andy at our house. Then we took them to Rita's and let them pick out whatever they wanted for dessert. Andy & I had Tony A's pizza for dinner (the boys were already eating dinner when I picked them up.) Afterwards we surprised them and took them to Dave & Busters. It was their first time there and they loved all of the games. It was a great night!

I have gratitude today for...
* having the opportunity to sit inside the Irish Pub on Walnut St. with Steve (and eventually Kate) to see the filming of a new movie, Paranoia. It was really cool to look out the window and watch the whole process. Harrison Ford was on set and so was Josh Holloway; he wasn't bad to look at. 

* talking with Josh Holloway as we walked back to Steve & Kate's apartment. He was in the director's chair and we said hi. He was very friendly; we chatted about Lost and his time in Philly. He is gorgeous in person!
* a great time at the American Idols concert. Our seats were on the floor, 1st row, 2nd section back. Phillip was awesome! I'm looking forward to his album and to hopefully seeing him again in a smaller venue. 

Say what you will about Phil Phil, he was fantastic! My favorite American Idol winner so far.

* Andy offering to pick me up when I told him my stomach was bothering me. Every so often I get very bad stomach pains and they are unbearable. I wasn't going to be able to deal with taking the train home feeling that way. I was thankful Andy picked up me from Xfinity Live. (Xfinity Live is great, tonight was my first time inside.) 

I have gratitude today for...
* leftovers from last night's dinner for breakfast; bruschetta chicken & pasta, yum!
* more donations for Kelly's classroom coming in!
* a good visit in Wilmington, DE with the ESIS office. I brought in Rita's Ice and everyone loved it!
* stopping at Chili's for a late lunch--as much as I hate to admit it, I love their chicken enchilada soup.
* a great dinner at Trattoria Giuseppe in Newtown Square with the PLC Board. It was nice meeting everyone and the food was incredible!! I think it may have been the best bruschetta I've ever had.

I have gratitude today for...
* posting the pics from giving Kelly her gift card and all of the great comments people left about it!
* Joe taking us on a boat ride through the bay and into the ocean.
* lunch at Leslie & Terry's pool.
* a fun afternoon turned night at La Costa with Andy, Mrs. Roth, Christa & Joe, Leslie & Terry, Val, Jacqui, Tim and a few of his friends. We went to see Jerry Blavet and ended up staying until 9 to watch the outside band as well. We were all dancing & singing, it was a great time. The lemonade drinks on special definitely helped. Afterwards we went to The Princeton for dinner.

I have gratitude today for...
* only having one cleaning job. I was able to enjoy my morning and didn't feel like the whole day was wasted.
* going to the beach with Andy for most of the afternoon. It was perfect weather! I enjoyed reading Philly Mag, I took out a few recent issues from the library.
* the awesome chicken marsala I made for dinner. I used a new brand of marsala wine and I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I made green bean almondine, roasted potatoes & cucumber salad to go with it. We sat outside and really enjoyed the dinner.
* lots of laughs and good conversation at Donna & Bill's house. Christa & Joe were there too and we ended up staying until 11:30pm.
* going to Jack's to see Laura Lea & Tripp Fabulous. We had a good time listening to the music and laughing about some of the characters there. Especially the girl I dubbed "a foreign princess" with her $100,000 worth of jewelery. I've never seen diamonds or sapphires so big---and they were real. There was also the 70 year old couple jamming out, singing The Killers and high-fiving like crazy.

I have gratitude today for...
* getting a lot done for work and setting some new appointments. I also found airfare to Richmond and then to Westchester, NY for the end of September. 
* stocking up on fruits & veggies at Produce Junction. For $20 I got a pineapple, grapefruits, avacados, peaches, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, peppers & onions. Pretty amazing!
* talking with Ian this afternoon. I am extrememly grateful for my job. I've been feeling more confident talking about what we do to people. It's been challenging having to learn so much information---I'm used to just knowing what I'm talking about and learning a brand new industry made me a little uncomfortable. I had to accept the fact that there is always a learning curve when you start something new. 
* a fun time at Leslie's house with Tim, Jacqui and a bunch of their friends. I thought I'd feel funny since they are all 21-25 years old but they were a nice group. Joe & Bill came over for a while too. Playing beer pong in the garage brought back some great memories of weekends in Sea Isle with Adrienne when we were that age. 
* stopping by Jack's to catch the last 1/2 hour of the band. Our intentions were to see Mr. Greengenes at The Windrift tonight but we ended up staying at the house until 1am. The band wasn't that good but I got my nightly fix for live music. 

I have gratitude today for...
* the additional donations coming in for "Kelly's Classroom!"
* Andy selling the other Eagles pre-season game. We lose so much money on those tickets, annoying...
* finding out I'll have a few extra vacation days this year because my 1 year anniversary hits before the end of the calendar year. Woohoo!
* the song Father & Daughter by Paul Simon. I really listened to the lyrics today and they gave me chills. 

"I believe the light that shines on you
Will shine on you forever
And though I cant guarantee
Theres nothing scary hiding under your bed
I'm gonna stand guard
Like a postcard of a Golden Retriever
And never leave till I leave you
With a sweet dream in your head  

I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you" 

* the emails back and forth with Maureen & Debbie about our CA visit. I can't believe it's only a few weeks away, so excited!
* the nice lady at the courthouse today. I went to plead not guilty to the stupid speeding ticket I got last week. She gave me a court date right then and there so I didn't have to wait for the mailed letter to find out when it would be. 
* a great night with Lori & Lorin. We sat outside all night with the candles lit and drank wine, talked and ate some great food. I made a salad and sauteed vegetables with grilled chicken in piccata sauce over quinoa. For dessert I made Tastefully Simple's Chocolate Coconut bars, they were a hit! It was a beautiful night filled with lots of laughs and good company. 

I have gratitude today for...
* iced coffee & a NY bagel from the corner deli near Kelly's apartment. I don't really drink coffee but I do like iced coffee once in a while. The bagel was awesome too. 
* the iHome alarm clock/radio I bought at Marshall's for $20. It's perfect for our room at the shore!
* lunch at Boston Market---I haven't had Boston Market in years and it was really good. The sauteed spinach was my favorite. 
* shopping with Kelly for her classroom! We got so much stuff and she only used $175 of the donated money. She was really excited and I loved how she could buy what she needs without stressing out about it. It was an incredible experience. 

* talking to Mom when I got home and telling her all about our shopping trip.
* watching "American Reunion" with Andy. It was pretty funny and very well done for what it was. It brought back some fun memories---I remember seeing the original "American Pie" in the theaters right after we graduated. 

I have gratitude today for...
* more donations coming in for "Kelly's Classroom" giftcard.
* fitting in a few cleaning jobs eeeeeearly this morning. Megan & I cleaned two houses before I had to start work. I should really try to get up this early more often.
* being able to laugh at myself when I was crawling on the floor in a dress, in the middle of the card aisle in Stop & Shop after I dropped my (Andy's) Discover card and it slid under the card display. I could not get it out. Some guy stopped and he was helping me but he couldn't get it either. I was annoyed but it was quite comical. Now I have to get new cards and change over all of my bills which is always so much fun.
* meeting a new supervisor at the York office I visited today. He was very nice and helpful.
* Astoria being so close to East Meadow- it only took me a half hour to get to Kelly's place!
* finding a parking spot no problem in Astoria.
* going to Michael's to get stuff for Kelly & Alex's Save the Dates.
* dinner at Manetta's Ristorante with Kelly & Alex. We sat outside and the food was fantastic!
* finally getting to surprise Kelly with her gift card! It's only been a week but it feels like forever and I couldn't wait to tell her about it. I waited until the server cleared our plates and gave her the envelope. She was confused, shocked, in awe. It was awesome. I'm glad I didn't tell Alex because he was equally surprised and happy. I'll be writing more about it in a separate blog post. 

* walking to the park in Long Island City to enjoy the amazing view of the NYC skyline. They had lounge chairs and it was an incredible site!

* drinking wine with Kell and looking at all of our family photos. 

I have gratitude today for...
* keeping my cool when cleaning took much longer than I expected this morning. 
* Primo's for lunch.
* floating in the bay with Kerry, Jim & Andy. 
* talking to Kelly about wedding stuff! We talked about bridesmaids dresses, her shower & bachelorette and venues!
* dinner at the Yacht Club's grill room. The turkey burger was awesome!
* watching the men & women's swimming teams win their respective gold medals in the medley races. All of these athletes work so hard and I love seeing their hard work pay off. 

I have gratitude today for...
* an awesome meeting with Joe @ REM. Ian & I were able to learn a lot about what's going on within their company and there is great opportunity for us. I hope this is a company we can get on board, it would be huge for me and our company.
* floating in the bay with Kerry & Jim. I'm excited about being able to have friends down, even if it's just for a night.
* going to The Real Enchilada for Happy Hour. It's BYO and we each had a taco since none of us ate lunch. I'm feeling guilty because I had a chicken taco. I'm finding it hard to kick back into eating meatless. I'm not eating large portions or anything but still, my plan was no meat in August and I've already caved. I think I might go meatless during the week and allow chicken/turkey on the weekends and see how that works.
* playing cornhole out front while we we're waiting for Andy to get here.
* pizza from Nemo's for dinner.
* going to Jack's for a few drinks. I was disappointed because the band was awful. Usually the bands are really good on Fridays but we still had a fun time.

I have gratitude today for...
* reaching out to Dave today. I feel awful for him and wanted him to know I'm here for him.
* the awesome guacamole I had with lunch today. I wasn't sure how good the Moe's would be but it was excellent and only 100 calories for the individual pack. 
* going for a run in my new sneakers. I skipped yoga to run some errands after work. I was about to start dinner and I thought to myself "just go do what you can do." I was worried about the heat and the hills. I did 2.5 miles, the first half was uphill. My sneakers felt great! It was hard, the hills were hard, and it was hot. But, I did it and I hope to keep building up how far I can go. 
* DVR'ing the Olympics, blowing up the queen air mattress to watch upstairs and using my iPad keyboard to catch up on my blog. 
* watching Gabby Douglas win gold for the U.S. Women's Gymnastics! 

I have gratitude today for...
* having Sandy with me for the drive to Harrisburg, it was nice to have company.
* lunch at Fox & Hound with Ian & Sandy. The chips w/guacamole & salsa was very good!
* the ice cream truck being a hit at Nationwide. Over 90 people came out to get an ice cream and I met some new contacts.
* yoga class with Jennifer tonight, she is very calming.
* deciding to renew my membership at Ryah. I was going back & forth because I haven't been able to get there enough this summer. They let me do the summer special so it was a little less for Aug. & Sept. I really like how close it is to our house and I like the instructors so I decided it's worth the $89/month!
* finishing "The Help". I can't say enough about this book. I can't imagine what it was like during the times of segregation. My heart broke for all of the characters in this book, but it was such a great story. I have a feeling more of it is true than the author will admit. Everyone should read this book!