wonderful (thursday) wednesday

Oh yikes. I didn't even realize that Wednesday came and went. Once November hits, I want to think life will start to slow down, unfortunately, I don't actually believe that is going to happen. Looks like it's sink or swim, the hell if I'm about to sink.

Some great things happened last week, including the fact that I became 1 year older. With birthday celebrations, music, friends, drinks, and lovely fall weather, my busy life didn't seem too crazy.



1. I love getting mail from best friends... it is one of my favorite things. Thanks M.E.H



2. If you've come to Pittsburgh to visit me, I've probably taken you to Smiling Banana Leaf to eat. It's one of my favorite places in the city. It's BYOB, which is a popular thing in the 'Burgh, so celebrating me turning 24, sitting down with the boy for dinner at Smiling Banana Leaf was the best thing ever!




3. Apple Pie Cookies. Delicious. Absolutely delicious. Who wouldn't want to eat a personal baby pie cookie? Who wouldn't want their kitchen to smell like the night before Thanksgiving, who wouldn't want to share this with other people --- (well, i HAD to.) Honestly, I didn't want to. I wanted to hide them in my house and just eat the lovely little apple pie cookies myself, but I made an agreement in April. Darn commitment to my dessert of the month buyer.
Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for this ah-mazing recipe.

And you're welcome for giving it to you!!





4. Wedding shoes.

I know you're saying, "blah blah, Anna, we are tired of hearing about your stinkin sister's wedding." Well - after next week i'll be done... well, probably not, but it wont be as frequent. Anyway-- my sister is super great and told us we could wear whatever shoes we wanted as long as they were orange. I sent her an email, I wanted shoes with the merlot and orange color.... her response, "baby, you can do whatever you want."

Score.

With the help of Kelly Ann Tobias and the support of Jenna Sue Vanden Brink, my lovely lovely friends, we took on a project of dyeing shoes.

The transformation of the plain white shoes was incredible. It's art. I almost don't want to wear them, but I'm PUMPED to show them off!!!




(you should ignore the blue tape, we were being responsible and didn't want to make a mess!)


So here's to yet another wonderful (thursday) wednesday!!

Lord Help the Mister...

Sisters
Sisters
There were never such devoted sisters



Never had to have a chaperon "No, sir"
I'm there to keep my eye on her



Caring
Sharing
Every little thing that we are wearing

When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome
She wore the dress and I stayed home

All kinds of weather
We stick together
The same in the rain or sun
Two different faces
But in tight places
We think and we act as one



Those who've
Seen us
Know that not a thing could come between us



Many men have tried to split us up but no one can
Lord help the mister
Who comes between me and my sister
And Lord help the sister
Who comes between me and my man




There are moments in my life when these two beautiful women are the only people that make things better. They are the only two people that can answer the random questions that I have. They have been my best friends and my worst enemy. I've cried, hit, yelled, and ran into their arms. We have had our separate lives in different states with different people, but we have always been a phone call, email or text away.

In 2 weeks, two of us will be driving 7 hours to the state of Illinois to celebrate one in a brand new way. With our Merlot dresses, orange shoes and plenty of tissues, we will be standing up next to our sister watching and supporting her in a new promise of love. Watching and crying and laughing and dancing with her as she becomes a Berry.


"Sisters, Sisters, There were never such devoted sisters"

Becoming Berry: The Unbachelorette and Unbachelor Party Weekend

Apparently I steal my sister's blogs all the time...
1. because she writes beautifully.
2. I usually have taken part in the things that I re-post. (except the dog in the vent story)

Buttttttt --

Here's to a Very Merry Unbachelorette/Bachelor Party!
Becoming Berry: The Unbachelorette and Unbachelor Party Weekend: My friend and colleague Danielle asked me if I was having a bachelorette party a few weeks ago. "Sort of," I replied. "AHB and I are goin...

wonderful wednesday.

1. I spent last weekend in the windy city. Yep, that's right. Chicago.
The city of Oprah, the city of shopping (or at least a mile of it), that Chicago style pizza and according to a sign, the City of Bridges? What the CRAP!?! Lies, Chicago, Lies. (after reading to the bottom of the false marketing material, they are the city of MOVABLE bridges?)

Anyway, I was in Chicago to celebrate the Unbachelorette/bachelor party for Molly and AHB. IT WAS AWESOME. A weekend filled with my sisters, her friends, Chicago, delicious food, laughter, and love. I'm a sucker for love.

Whether we were walking the city, laughing on the train, singing in the car, or dancing at a piano bar, my weekend was awesome. (and a little exhausting)


So my lovely friends, here are pictures from my rockin weekend.





One of my favorite pictures from the weekend.... AHB falling asleep on the train - - We walked him to death.




Our drink at the Piano Bar in Chicago -- Howl at the Moon. What an awesome evening!









Chicago, I loved you. You were beautiful with perfect weather for having an Unbachelorette Party.

We are officially starting a countdown for the wedding....
2 weeks from today I will be on the road heading to Columbus for our first stop before Illinois.

wonderful wednesdays.

Wellllll Hello Ladies and Gents!

I hope you are all slowly but surely making it through this week in October. I continue to question what day of the week it is. Partially because I've been so busy the past two days and partially because I keep praying that someone is going to say it's finally Friday. Alas, it turns out to be Wednesday. Which means that I get to also post about things that are wonderful. :) I'm really becoming fond of Wednesday's because of these posts.

This past weekend was one that I needed. It was my only weekend in October where nothing was scheduled. Nothing was on the calendar, nothing was causing me to leave the city. It was a weekend of free time and fun. I was looking forward to sleeping in, looking forward to cooking in my kitchen, looking forward to spending time with friends and then also just sitting on the couch with some football. There were plenty of highlights from the weekend, but one that I loved was sitting on the couch Friday night watching a movie that my sister has been telling me to watch forever and one that Beatle loves. Across the Universe. Such good music.
My weekend was amazing, it was very much needed.

As much as I loved the weekend, Monday evening, I got the opportunity to travel to Cleveland, Ohio to recruit for PULSE at a University. The recruiting went swimmingly, but my favorite part was then jumping in a car and driving 45 minutes to my lovely Hannah's home. You see, Hannah and I met my very first day at Bluffton. She was placed in the room next to me and we've been friends ever since. Hannah married her love August of last year and they just purchased a home in Akron. Oh My Word. It was the best house ever. There are 3 bedrooms, the most beautiful kitchen, back porch, yard.... gahhhh I could just rave about it. I literally squealed and jumped up and down! :)




After my lovely stay with my bestie, I drove to another University and then back to Pittsburgh. There are so many times, when I find myself driving back to the 'Burgh from a few days away, I find myself breathing a sigh of relief when I see the skyline. I smile when I see familiar sites. I think that I get that from my mother. She would always turn the corner of our block the day after vacation ends, and say... "oh good, the house is still there."
So Pittsburgh, I'm always happy to see that you are still here waiting for me when I drive through that lovely tunnel.


And finally, last night I had the opportunity to be a part of an event that I was thrilled to be apart of.

Propelle.
"Helping women entrepreneurs take flight."

The event was a hit and I hope that you take a look at their site. Three incredible women with one big idea!



So here's to yet another Wonderful Wednesday.

Becoming Berry: Broaches from Days Past

Today's post is stolen from my sister's blog.

I loved it.... and her.

Becoming Berry: Broaches from Days Past: Well, hello less than 30 days away. Good to see you. The past few weeks have been full of fun things. I told my friend that it feels like ...

wonderful wednesday.

goooooood morning friends.

It's a wonderful wednesday post coming your way. I feel like I'm holding strong to this idea of posting on Wednesdays. Go me!

Exciting things that happened this past week...

1. October happened. Hello, beautiful fall. I am only a little angry at the fact it went down to low 50s if not 40s in the past few days. That was not fall weather. No thank you. I do not want to turn on our heat yet, but I think hiding under the covers all day isn't acceptable in my office.

2. October happened, which also means Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I loved turning on the tv Sunday and seeing pink running around the football field. I also love Yoplait and Dannon for that reason too.

Thanks for fighting this battle with us.


3. My sister was showered in love this weekend.... she is also 1 month away from marrying AHB. I made her wear a crown and sash around our house on Friday night... She wasn't a fan of it! I was just doing my job... MOH duties


4. I spent Saturday night sitting on a couch with a glass of this delicious stuff..

chatting with my sisters and dear friend Mel. We got to talk about all things wedding.

5. Finally... to go along with a previous post, Bennett has arrived in the BSP2 household. We will see how long he lasts, but we (or maybe just me) are excited to love on him for a while.





Enjoy your wednesday.

thankful.

so i'm pumped to post my wonderful wednesday tomorrow, but because I saw my sisters this weekend, because I fell asleep on my mom's lap, and because I'm emotional from lack of sleep I'm going to post what I'm thankful for at this very moment.

I'm thankful that even though she can't taste anything but "sludge", chemo can be part of the cure for her.

I'm thankful for a boss that let's me turn on a space heater, even though I think he isn't really cold.

I'm thankful for the boy's reasoning.

I'm thankful for the women of #BSP2 (why did i just use a hashtag? no clue).

I guess that after a weekend filled with showering people in love, it's pretty good to see the blessings around you.

Bennett.

Night One:
Terrible. Awful. Exhausting. Sleepless.

You all should know that my sister is getting married. It's been basically all I've talked about for the past billion blogs. My future BIL is a great guy. Quite funny, quiet, and loves my sister. They are a pretty good pair. Anyway, Molls has had her cat Bennett for if I'm counting correctly about 5 years?! We love Bennett, I've always wanted him to snuggle when I would travel to her, etc. It was always this lovely relationship we had. Well, Molls decided to marry the love of her life, who also happens to be allergic to Molly's lovely Bennett. So, the agreement actually happened last October over the phone. It went something like this...

M:"Bug, I have something important to ask you."
A:"Shoot."
M:"I love Alex and to continue to love him, I need him to be able to breathe."
A:"Yes, that would be helpful..."
M:"Will you love Bennett forever and let him live with you when you are done with PULSE?"


Well.... last night was Bennett's first night in the BSP2 house. The car ride to the "Burgh wasn't bad, and getting him all set up was even easier. He followed me like a puppy through the house, but it was after that when everything happened.

You see, Bennett is use to a house full of other animals. He had multiple kittens around to be grouchy too or a dog to smack. At this house, I think he was lonely. I left my bedroom door ajar and had guided Bennett up to 3rd floor multiple times so he knew where I was, however, most of my sleepless night was spent trying to coax him up the stairs, or was spent hiding under the covers because I just wanted sleep.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to keep my lovely Bennett from not screaming in the middle of the night?
(I'm pretty sure I mumbled something about never having kids last night.....)

Oh and a shout out to my mother, who has trained Bennett to wake up at 5:15am for his usual morning treat before she goes to work. I have no treats in this house yet and am sure in hell not getting up at 5:15am just to give him one.

Happy sleepless Monday.