feet up on the dashboard

Just thinking about how awesome my life is: seriously.

two halves can make a person whole

Haaaaappppy first 1/2 Birthday to my favorite little girl! Today (Tuesday) she is officially 6 mo old. Abby, can't wait to spoil you growing up ((and share all those crazy fun stories about your parents with you one day!))


 






&&&& Thursday is my nephews 2 1/2 birthday which I will also be celebrating this week. Love both these kiddos and couldn't be happier to be their Aunt Chelsea

6 year anniversary

Happy 6th year anniversary to me and my condo! I do love you Foxcroft, in all of your I need a special love and attention kind of way. Thanks for all the great memories over the years and especially for all the great roommates along the way!

Here's a look at how far we've come .... Before photos are from the day I first looked at it. After are photos in the past 10 months.

DIY in the dark

Finally put all my free time to good use this weekend. I had planned to completely remodel the kitchen cabinets and walls ... apparently Foxcroft had other plans -- like losing power for 3 hours on Friday night, 2 hours on Saturday night, and an hour on Sunday night. So approaching another very busy work week and still have some final touches to do -- caulk, paint a wall and 1/2, touch up trim, those things. (The details that no one likes to do ..).

SOOO, here it is! Oh and did I mention that it cost me under $115! Would have been under 100, but I had to spend the 18.95 on the tile cutter :)

before & after

before and after (minus the caulk and trim)

And of course ... what would any DIY project be with out help? Here's mine ...

sleeping on the job, per usual

And a few more photos of the DIY process just because I have them ((and my internet is fast enough to upload them in a timely manner)) ... ;)

chillin on a dirt road

''memory lane up in the headlights
Its got me reminiscing on them good times
I'm turning off a real life drive and that's right
I'm hitting easy street on mud tires"

Easy street ... hmm .. what a concept. Well, this week was just about anything but easy. This week I saw more patients than any one else in my office, began coping with the 1726 miles from here to Utah, and spent 2.5 days without power, hot water, and my sanity.

So I feel like the lesson of the week is communication & team work. Team work doesn't fly without communication. And communication is a two way street. Communication builds and keeps trust. It diffuses situations before they even pop up, calms anxiety, and definitely promotes happiness. Thankfully, the people in my life that I rely on to be on my team, rock at communication. My co-workers help me keep my sanity when the doctor upstairs slams our office waiting room, my boyfriend -- although he works the weirdest freaking hours -- calls, texts, emails, g-chats, tango's & heytells me any and every chance he gets, my friends for always checking in on me, and errr I guess my cats are good at communicating too? Meow? I mean ... they do tell me when they want breakfast, lunch & dinner ....

Right --- so easy street -- -yes. Not so easy, but rewarding none the less. So what's on the agenda for this weekend to unwind and relax? I'm thinking about working on my DIY project. Stay tuned for the official unveiling. Going to crunch the budget for the scheme tonight and if it's under $150 I'm going for it! 

last mini DIY was the balcony plants .. and my herbs are running amuck! (after they've died multiple times from the summer heat)

totally amazing mind, so understanding and so kind

Insomnia is over rated. So is hip pain. And so are the 1726 miles between here and Utah.

Thus, distractions are necessary. 

Lots of distractions.

Trying to fill my plate for the next couple of weeks to ignore the voids. The calendar is currently filled with things like Comcast appt (ew!), learn to row program rows, USC Alumni socials & holiday parties with friends. 

To start off the week, I went for the culinary approach. I read a recipe this weekend on sausage stuffed red peppers ... so I made my own twist and did bratwurst stuffed orange peppers ... mmmmmmm. I'm not a super amazing chef, but man was it delicious. 

So good -- beer included to dull the hip pain .. it's lightening and can't swim, therefore no endorphins = mass pain

To make my version of bratwurst stuffed orange pepper:

dice your fresh -- and in my case, balcony grown-- herbs (basil, thyme, green onion)
onion
slice and gut out orange pepper
ground or dice your bratwurst

Cook in pan with olive oil until onion caramelizes and meat is cooked. 

Add any other pepper or spice you might want.

I didn't and mine was a little under spiced 

-- next time I'll probably add black pepper and red pepper 

flakes since those are staples in my kitchen.

I might also dice up some wickles into the mix.

Fill gutted orange pepper with all your sauteed goodness.
I then added sharp cheddar to mine.

Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes. 

Did mine at 350, but honestly, 

who know really what to set your oven at!!? 

Add a side and a beverage of your choosing and mmmmm! 

(I cheated and reheated some black beans I had from the 

cuban restaurant Josh's family took me to last week).

Things that I want to do more of to fill my time:

DIY projects (have one in mind ...)

Cooking stranger recipes (next up is chili with a cornbread topping) 

NOT GO OUT OF MY MIND. 

Re-pick up scrapbooking perhaps!? Perhaps not .. who knows. 

Rowing. Get my hip fixed and quit complaining about it. 

Actually get a good night sleep. 

Book a trip to utah.

like a river flows, so surely to the sea

 Friday I was smart enough to take a day off of work to spend entirely with the boyfriend -- In hindsight, I completely wish I had taken more time off, but that'll just be extra hours to spend later.

 
 Woke up early (like every morning because used to being up before the sun) and headed to the lake for the day on Josh's family boat. Spent the day in a cove, met up with some family friends of his and their windless sail boat.


After, we headed home and then out to the VA Highlands for a GT frat reunion of sorts at Neighbor's. It was nice to see some of the familiar faces from back when I met Josh and I hope to keep in touch with a few while he's away.
 
Doesn't sound like anything super spectacular, but 8 hours on Lake Lanier, 1 mild sunburn, a few beers and a ton of teasing, mocking, and witty remarks it made for the perfect day.

The majority of the nights were spent at family dinners with me attempting to eat new foods. Which I'm sure would have and was hilarious for any one that knows me. Some of it was quite tasty -- like the hot 'salad' at the Thai restaurant. Other things, not really my forte, good thing I love veggies.

And so here we are late night on Monday night. I'm here in Atlanta preparing to go to work in the morning and the boyfriend is driving a uhaul with all his belongings to Utah. And not just Utah, Utah, but nowhere, Utah. I'm really excited for him and his job and all the traveling and fun things that we'll be able to experience together by not living in the same state, timezone, or climate patterns, but I'm also pretty sad that we're not living in the same state, timezone, or climate patterns. But, we both have amazing jobs that we love and so the phrase of the month is "we'll figure it out when we get there" ... seriously, I sound like broken record, but I do believe in it and all that interconnected meaning and growing we learn from experiences.

Yup, great week. Great life.

G'night!

A fish won't do anything, but swim in a brook

Thursday night my mom met my at my office to pick me up as her plus one to a private hosted event at the Georgia Aquarium. Had no idea what I was really get myself into, but it said tour, drinks, and dinner. I was in.

We arrive and are greeted with wine at the door followed by a self-led tour of an empty (with the exception of the 30 other people that were at the event) tour of the entire aquarium. No lines, no people, no waiting or rubbing elbows with anyone. It was awesome. Of course I forgot my camera, so bear with the cell phone quality pictures here.

 Was able to see all of the best parts of the aquarium and then sit and have a catered dinner in front of the Beluga Whale Exhibit. It was really neat to see the animals after typical hours .. for example, apparently the dolphins entrainment every evening is mocking the guy that vacuums the carpet right next to his windowed tank.

Please note that my mom and I are the ONLY people standing at this tank!!! 

Beluga whales were the entertainment at the dinner table! It was an incredible chance to see things in a chill environment and it was a great chance for me to hang out with my mom. All in all, a very successful evening!

consistantly, inconsistant

No two weeks are the same. Ever. Some weeks are good, some are slow, some are hectic and stressful, and others are just amazing. Well, this past week falls right above amazing and heads for just about extraordinary ... that is until it had to end. So let's recap a bit huh? 

semi-candid, semi posed at dinner.

LAST sunday I strolled my happy little high heeled self to the airport to pick up the boyfriend. (Yes, don't let me mislead you, you did read the concept of Chelsea, high-heels, and boyfriend in the same sentence. Try to take deep breaths here). After an awesome afternoon of friends, patios, and alligator bites with blueberry lemonade made our way down to Fogo de Chao for dinner. It was amazing ... and as much as I do love red meat, I was certainly craving my veggies for a few days thereafter.

The following Monday and Tuesday I had to work all day, but after work hours on Tuesday he came down to see my office and ended up meeting just about every single one of my co-workers. Went to Tin Lizzy Tuesday's with my typical GNO crowd.Wednesday I worked all day, treated a wicked awesome hand replant injury ((gruesome but completely amazing!!))

Next update: Aquarium. ((Which totally gets it's own post because it was so awesome!))