EH

Let's focus on the brighter notes.

I have lots of time that I need to take off in the next 8 weeks (3 weeks worth of vacation!).

I've happily come to terms that it will revolve around an independent art study for me. Basically, I will play outside and focus on my art which has been neglected.

Tuesday = taxing

I occupied my morning train ride with the paper, always a good start to the day. I didn't learn much, but it was good brain stimulation.

What a long ass day...

I've been longing and I think I'm unfortunately clouding my vision at the current moment.

Time to clear the way ... bulldozers are at the ready!

My Own Personal FALL

Monday was a great start to the week. After work I hopped on the train and was able to spend some great quality time out of doors. Even though it was brief, it was very much appreciated.

Hit, you sunk my battle ship!!!

And my destroyer, air craft carrier, submarine ... and whatever the last boat is!

Great morning spent over pastries, espresso, tea and a rousing game of battle ship! I love love love old school board games.

Followed by some nice time enjoying the out of doors and the gorgeous fall weather!

How would you like your eggs?

Deviled, thank you! That was me... a devil for Halloween with an egg on her hip. Get it! Cheesey Halloween humor; gotta love it.

3 t-shirts and a little Trish creativity goes a long way. Don't worry, for those that want to see the whole ensemble will have 2 more chances.

Vomit

Inga is quite right. What a pink disaster ... it should be packed away with the 80's prom dresses and collection of god awful brides maids taffeta disasters.

Random Thursday

Thursday after work I caught up with an old college friend. Ok, so I'm beginning to feel old, it's been a good 3-4 years since we last chatted.

Anyway, it was a great Philly end to the evening. As we were both waiting for trains at Suburban Station there was a guy singing and playing the keyboard. We sat out of sight, then all of a sudden you could hear bongos. A peer around the corner confirmed the fact that the keyboard player had randomly been joined by a bongo player. All of this underground at Suburban at 10 pm on a Random Thursday. I LOVE IT.

Random Philly Moment...

Portrait of a Lady

She's got an MBA and a plush corner office
She's got a don't mess with me attitude
She'll close a deal she don't reveal that she can feel
The loneliness the emptiness
Except when she comes in here
She's the product of the Me generation
She's got a rock and roll side when you get her agitated
She got the tattoo there on her derrière from a spring break dare
In Panama where love was all she thought she'd ever need

She yells out to the band
Know any Bruce Springsteen
Then she jumps up on the bar
And she, and she starts to scream
...

Take me back to where the music hit me
When life was good and love was easy

You Make Me Feel So Young...

OK, I know... enough with the cheesy song lyric headlines! I've just been in an odd musical zone.

Keeping with the things that make me smile kick ... or shall I saw smirk?

Yes, the picture is of a simple hair tie. This hair tie reminds me of the joys of childhood. Any female will recall the juvenile hair ties that are two balls you twist around themselves to lock into place. This hair tie is the grown up version for me.

It's simple, but makes me happy!

Between a Rock...

Wow, what a crappy day Tuesday quickly became.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it! Well let's hope today only gets better. So far so good. I bet you're saying to yourself: Why am I looking at rocks!?!?!

Rocks:

For some odd reason, I always enjoyed rocks in my lifetime. As a small child right up into adulthood! Let's just say as I grew up and my world grew beyond my backyard and Cape May ... the rock collection became more exciting. The collection is by no means large, but it's beautiful.

Tuesday is devoted to small simplicities that make me smile:

rocks, kayaks, baseball, walks, kites on the beach, ballet, music, sketching, relaxing in the grass, fresh baked cookies, snowball fights, leisurely drives, new cities, chairs, a good book, tea, good friends (good company!), scrabble, the shore ...

Ah, that's a much better way to end the day. A longing smile across my face.

Lost in a Sea of Light

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental,
To reach out for another is to risk involvement,
To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self,
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss,
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure,

But risks must be taken, because the greats hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by his attitudes, he is a slave who has forfeited his freedom.

Only a person who risks, is free.

>>>Anonymous

This is an old quote that has carried me through some tough times. I first came across it 9 years ago and have tried to live by it ever since. Granted I fall over every now and again ... but I keep the quote in sight.

A few years after I adopted the above quote a professor made me write the following on a piece of paper and put it in a safe place. I still have this piece of paper and refer to it often for many reasons:

1- it's a valid quote
2 - it reminds me of a trying time in my life
3 - more importantly, it reminds me of a wonderfully fun time in my life

To thine own self be true >>>Shakespeare

Booooooo!

Sunday Fun Day ...

Cranberries Cranberries Cranberries was the original overall driving theme!

Sunday morning, I stopped by the folks to drop off some stuff I'd borrowed and air out my tent. Which, I'm now realizing I forgot to go get at the end of the night! OOPS

So there is this amazing Creampuffery by me. Let me tell you, it's confirmed...they are AMAZING!

I treked to Chatsworth for the Cranberry Festival. It was a good time... great to spend the afternoon out of doors. Although, I must admit... it was a little less cranberry than I was expecting. I tried cranberry ice cream, which was yummy!

Post Cran Fest, the remainder of the afternoon was consumed by pumpkin carving!!! Here is my pumpkin ... don't get too close he may be hungry! It's not a Trish Original ... I saw a picture of this pumpkin and had to carve it. How could you resist!

This week is filling up fast, with my sister in town as well as my uncle. I need to carve out time to make my halloween costume ... or I could just be Marilyn again. Hmmmm...

She'll Have, Fun Fun Fun, Till Someone Takes Her Sanity Away

As of now, I have a distinct grip on my own sanity! Although, I'm currently having an internal battle as to whether or not I should slow down. But, then again, I'm having too much fun to slow down.

There is no picture post for Saturday ...

Typical Trish, I ran around like a fool (more so than usual this time ... if that's possible!)

I worked ALL 3 jobs on Saturday and went to Roxborough to celebrate Nikki and Chris' engagement. Congrats guys!

Sorry, no life discussion for Saturday. Instead I'm posting the Pop Shop. I had a nice relaxing dinner at the end of Sunday's evening. Mmmmm... grilled apple and brie on wheat is some good comfort food (especially when accompanied with a black and white malt!).

Keep the Mind Working ...

America is no place for an artist: to be an artist is to be a moral leper, an economic misfit, a social liability. A corn fed hog enjoys a better life than a creative writer, painter or musician. To be a rabbit is better still. >>>Henry Miller

So what to Henry Millers quote. I say America is a place to be an artist. I'd even venture to say that it is even more so then anywhere else I can think of. We're such a diverse culture whose roots don't run too deep. Because our history is so young an artist can be whatever he or she wants and virtually has very few to be compared with. By this I mean, when one talks about italian art, mexican art, french art...images of great masters pop into the mind of what this should be. (from writers to actors to painters & sculptors) I also feel that anyone in our society who lives for themselves and not for what our misconceived notion of the "American Dream" has unfortunately become they run the risk of becoming a "moral leper, an economic misfit, a social liability" regardless of whether or not they are an artist. One shouldn't care about these things. So what if a corn fed hog leads a better life. I personally wouldn't ever want to be one. Live in a cage, get fed when someone wants to feed you and what they want to feed you, to inevitably be sent to the slaughter house. What kind of a life is that. Yeah you have no worries, no decision and can just cruise on through but you have yet to experiance life. Also, a creative writer, or any creative artist has the satisfaction of having something to show for his/her work, and energy, even if it's never appreciated. Perhaps that is what he's referring to, the agony of not being appreciated to the extent to which you feel you deserve. This is all part of the battle of life you chose. Anyway...I'll end my rant there. That quote helps keep me steered in the right direction.

Geeky Girl Revisited

Last night while waiting for the train (hence the train platform), I really started contemplating my geeky beginnings.

As a child I loved old music (especially dancing to it when no one was looking), playing with my siblings, working hard, all things art, helping people, cat's cradle, 4 square, bike riding, painting t-shirts, running around in the woods, THE BEACH (especially in winter), family events, dunkin donut and pizza Sundays, dinner and dishes with the family, books books books, lasagna ;) and running around with my friends.

What set me apart from other children my age was that I did not like video games or the TV... I preferred my life technology free. If I was in front of a TV, I was most likely consumed with some arts and crafts project at the coffee table.

I was never the pretty girl and I distinctly remember sitting on a bench in 2nd grade with a friend theorizing about growing up. In some odd twist of logic, I decided that I'd have a Cinderella type path to growing up. I had an awkward and fun childhood, was never the popular girl. This didn't bother me b/c I had great friends and always had a good time. But, on that bench in 2nd grade I decided that I was going to grow up and into myself in an amazing way. I knew I'd be a good person and decided that as the awkwardness shed itself I'd become beautiful inside as well as out.

Hahaha... serious philosophy for an 8 year old. Anyway, I continued on that path for the past 18 years and I'm glad I chose it. I still love helping people, still prefer old music, still detest television!!! My predictions were right: I've become more comfortable in my skin, grown up into a beautiful lady, and still love my geeky roots. The Cinderella thing is more all on me ... I was my own Prince charming, swept myself off my feet and put myself where I wanted to be.

So...stay the course

Now you all know why I'm always talking about my inner 8 year old... she was an amazing girl and I still hold onto her!!!

Calling All Special Ladies

What a year!!!

One lovely lady is missing, but for a year and a half now myself and 3 lovely ladies (Nissa, Lique and Olivia) have been gathering for ladies night.

In the past 18 months we have broken up, had hearts broken, bought / sold houses, gotten engaged, gotten married and had a lot of fun along the way.

A toast to the next exciting 18 months. Let's celebrate the good times, be there for each others bad times and keep growing.

Geeky Girl at Your Service

I was always a fun little geeky girl (in my opinion). Apparently my geekyness has moved past a odd chair obsession to include taking pictures of my feet in current settings.

An odd parallel that was brought to my attention yesterday. This is one of many shoe pictures that I have posted on my blog. I know I posted the pink flats... my feet at baseball and more recently my feet camping.

I'm quite intrigued by this trend and I look forward to compiling the shoe/setting pictures together (a little Trish experiment). So yesterday was pink shoes on green couch day!

Laugh it Up!

Fall Festival 101:
live music ... fresh cider ... train rides ... local art / crafters ... used books ... bizarre movies ... crazy police ... victorian tea??? ...

I'm sensing a trend... we tend to laugh ourselves to the verge of tears prior to pictures. I did deserve it this time. I admit, I'd been poking fun at Dennis most of the weekend. To be honest, my punishment wasn't all that bad (even though he found it highly amusing).

Here we are enjoying the beautiful weather with some beers and sandwiches (after Dennis found me a new Bruce vinyl and I selected the coolest vintage hat!!!).

Camping = Fantastic Weekend

Jim Thorpe was a great time. Dennis, Ali and John proved to be amazing camping partners!

Driving in after dark, we really missed the beautiful scenery. There was plenty of time to play catch up! Not to mention exploring town (it was the local Fall Festival).

We're working our way up to back country camping! I can't wait!?!?!

Instant foot warmer. Evenings were spent around the camp fire for a multitude of reasons:

One - warmth, the temperature dropped at night thus making the campfire essential for warm tootsies.
Two - fun, great company and good times were to be had around the campfire
Three - Beer and smores ... typical campfire fare

A little light please ...

I'm glad to say the travel time North to the campsite was as planned. No random wrecks / power outages to keep me away from mother nature.

Friday night was a rather late start ... After packing and a little Wii, we got on the road.

The evening was spent setting up camp. The usual, tents, fire ... relax!

Technology

Has anyone else noticed that we use about 10-20% of all technology.

Take your cell phone for example ... I rarely use the all the bells and whistles on it. I basically use the phone, alarm and texting features.

How about computer software ... AutoCAD or even something as simple as MS Word. I use the software more than most, but I still only graze the surface of it's capabilities.

We now come to the new telephone system at the office. Brand new, top of the line technology on an analog phone system. I feel like the new phone system has the capability to control my life (why would anyone want to be that connected). Today's technology creates the misconception that once someone sends you an email, or a voice mail to your cell phone they deserve a response immediately (especially with the "follow me" feature). Why should I drop what I'm currently dealing with to handle your non emergency. I always make it a point to complete one thing before moving onto the next (or at least getting to a stopping point). If we aren't careful, our lives can become consumed with a million little things that get interrupted before the last 5% is completed.

Why succumb to technology? I'm not a puppet to everyone else. When I get to your issue, it'll be at the appropriate time. I only check the office email 3 times a day ... that way I'm not even tempted to deal with it until I'm ready.

Everyone working with me knows... if it's an emergency, pick up the phone and call.

Camping?!?!?

So, camping was amazing. Some well deserved R&R after the Thursday evening / Friday morning I had!

Unfortunately, I left my camera in PA... camping pictures will be posted tomorrow! So, stay tuned!

Longest 15 hours EVER!!!

The well planned Trish thought it would be intelligent to travel to PA on Thursday evening. This way I could drop off all camping stuff and take the train to and from town on Friday (thus allowing the group to leave for camping at a more exact time).

BOY WAS I EVER WRONG!!!

I got on 76 at 11:30 and did not get off until 4am! I was just around the bend behind the accident that closed the road until 5 am. I only got off an hour earlier b/c I drove Eastbound in the Westbound shoulder back to the previous exit. This few mile trip started at 2:15 and lasted until 4 am!

To add salt to already tired wounds ... my 1 hour train trip to the city lasted about 4. A tree fell on the lines a few miles ahead rendering all but one of four tracks useless. Let's just say I got to the train station at 9 am and got to the office at 2 pm! The ultimate irony... I was running after a SEPTA deadline in the office.

Wish me luck on my return trip... camping will bring some much needed rest and relaxation!
BTW, I'm seriously considering becoming a hermit, or at least sticking to NJ... where the State Troopers know how to empty a highway. Seriously, in an emergency the State Police dropped the ball big time. There was one local municipality officer moving tractor trailers to the shoulder and telling cars to turn around. The State couldn't pony up a few officers for their road? NO ONE SHOULD SIT FOR 4.5 HOURS ... DIRECT EVERYONE OFF THE ROAD. We were only talking about a 2.5 mile trip!

Yes, I'm cranky and severely tired. Please excuse me.

Look a Little Closer

"Squint your eyes and look closer, I'm not between you and your ambition. I am a poster girl with no poster, I am thirty-two flavors and then some and I'm beyond your peripheral vision so you might wanna turn your head. 'Cause someday you are gonna get hungry and eat most of the words ya just said.

God help you id you are an ugly girl, course too pretty is also your doom. 'Cause everyone harbors a secret hatred for the prettiest girl in the room. And God help you if you are a pheonix and you dare to rise up from the ash. 1,000 eyes will smolder with jealousy while you are just flying past . . . I'm not saying that I am a savior, I just don't wanna live that way. I will never be a saint, oh but I will always say: Squint your eyes and look closer, I'm not between you and your ambition. . ."
>>> Ani

Camping

I'm psyched about camping this weekend. My pack is all set and ready to go... just need to attach my roll and sleeping bag. Food stuff is compiled, tent is ready, got my chair ... fire wood is stacked and packed!!!

Now Friday just has to get here! Mother Nature, here I come...

Home Sweet ... GET OFF MY HOME

This past weekend I enjoyed some quality time with the yard. I plopped down in the grass for a little relaxation, and apparently I chose to lay on someone else's home!

Monday, I noticed my hands were covered in mini bug bites ... even on the palms (I've never had bug bites on the palms of my hands). Ah well, it's a worthy price to pay, to enjoy time outside!

Sunday Fun-day

To be a kid again...

If Big Brothers Big Sisters has taught me one thing... it's that you are never too old to do things that are fun!!!

Sunday was spent hayriding, pumpkin picking, playing outside, getting ice cream and bbqing. What a long but fun day!

Stay tuned for pumpking carving 101...

Book Fair

Saturday was exhausting, but fun fun fun. As usual, the morning was spent in the market. To change things up a bit... I spent the afternoon working the Collingswood Book Fair for the bookstore. It was fun, but standing on the street was straining on the ankles.

Some lovely Diane time was followed by a latin inspired night out. Ana and I got dolled up and ventured out to see Aventura live. It was fun... if not a little misfit.

Preggy Belly

Ok, I know...

It's been 7 months since I've posted a preggy belly picture of the lovely Diane,

Well, here we are. The little guy is growing and about ready to come say HI!!!

I can't wait, and I know Mom and Dad are even more excited than I!

Game 2

Fiasco and a half, but a good time! The fiasco part came with me bringing the wrong tickets. I'd like to thank Bobb for not killing me on the spot. Disaster was averted and we were in our seats prior to the first pitch.

Ummmm...yeah, that's about it for excitement. Them game didn't go as planned, and now that I'm posting this late...I know that was my last game of the season in Citizens Bank Park. Only 5 months until next season begins!!!

Feeling a little better...

1.5 hours until game time!!! The slingbox will get a workout this afternoon!

I can't wait until tailgating tomorrow!!! Post's are short and sweet... just lots of excitement!

The Weather... I'm under it

Slow post for Tuesday. Pain and rest kept my day rather boring.

I must admit the anticipation for the fist baseball game is quickly building to mass proportions!

I've got HIGH HOPES

What a way to start the work week. Vic, Alex and I decided to forgo lunch for the Phillies Pep Rally at City Hall.

There were lots of people, poor sound, lots of cheering (and booing the mayor!) ... It was a good time to be had. The beautiful day made being outside even more pleasureable.






There goes the team on their buses leaving the pep rally!!!

I can't wait until Thursday's game!!!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Sunday was equally as hectic. let's go end to beginning! END: PHILLIES WIN NL EAST!!! Very very exciting, it means Bobb and I have some post season games to go to!

Ever so stunning Diane had her baby shower. She gots lots of fun and much needed things! I can't wait for MR. Baby to make his appearance in less than 2 months!!!

After hanging out with Clara I picked up Diane and ran home to slip into my dress. I have a great cotton dress in a fabulous fall color (it's my greek goddess look).

SIGH: What a weekend, a TON of fun. Exhausting but a great time!

PHILLIES!?!?!?

Tailgating on Saturday was a good time as usual. The game left that typical disappointed feeling in the pit of every Phillies fan's stomach. Little Miss Izzy was cheering the Phils on, but as the game came to a close ... she was showing the frustration we all felt.

Trish / Elizabeth Marathon

Ok... since this weekend was a TON of fun and filled with a months worth of activities, I'm posting extra pictures.

Friday after work and a doctors visit, Miss Elizabeth and I set off for some much needed friend time in NYC. We spent the afternoon in the park catching up (it's been way to long). Then we ventured to dinner ... very very yummy greek food! Post dinner we went to see Chicago. Front row seats (how I love AMEX)! What could be better than great company, great dinner and great show???


A MARATHON DAY. After the show, we impulsively bought I Heart NY t-shirts and some coffee and were off to the car. After driving back home, we decided to catch a little late night King Tut. At 1 am we found ourselves at the Franklin Institute roaming through one of the best exhibits I've ever been to. Bah to everyone that was disappointed (you should learn to read)... I found the show truly amazing. It was everything I had hoped it would be, plus more.

As I lay my head down and gazed at my clock, which read 4 am, I was exhausted but in a blissful state.