O.M.G.
I will be getting married in 74 days.
74 small little tiny days.
And there is still sooooo much left to do.
According to the heart attack inducing theknot.com I have 116 to-dos left! Ack.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
getting ready for passover
this weekend has been such a treat - it's exactly what I needed! Besides just getting to relax and hang out with Neill, we've been getting ready for doing our first mini-seder. I say mini because we are celebrating by ourselves for the first night and, instead of just letting the night go by, we decided to try and make some of the traditional dishes and celebrate together!
passover is my absolute favorite holiday and so I'm extra excited to celebrate with neill. he's come to my family seder for the last four or five years, but this is the first time we are going to actually try and make a seder. So far we have everything we need- although, we are winging it on a few things. For example, we don't own our own seder plate or matzah plate yet, but I figure that having all the accessories isn't really the point of the holiday! We're also taking some help from the store on a few items. Even though I loved my grandma's homemade gefilte fish, we decided to go pre-made this time around :)
For food, we've got the matzah, gefilte fish (which I could eat all year round!), wine, egg, parsley, and horseradish. Although, jewel only had the white kind of horseradish and not the red stuff that i love. Last night we made the brisket, today I'm going to make the charoset, and monday we'll make the matzah ball soup and a vegetable.
We are going to use The Haggadah of Liberation, compiled by New Jewish Agenda (1984). We chose this one mainly because out of the three haddagahs I have, this is the most accessible one for those who don't know how to read Hebrew. (In case you are curious, the other two are The New Haggadah - an old version of this one - and A Passover Haggadah.)
Yay! I'm going to make Neill say the four question too, because even though I'm younger than he is, he has fewer seders under his belt so he needs the practice! :)
passover is my absolute favorite holiday and so I'm extra excited to celebrate with neill. he's come to my family seder for the last four or five years, but this is the first time we are going to actually try and make a seder. So far we have everything we need- although, we are winging it on a few things. For example, we don't own our own seder plate or matzah plate yet, but I figure that having all the accessories isn't really the point of the holiday! We're also taking some help from the store on a few items. Even though I loved my grandma's homemade gefilte fish, we decided to go pre-made this time around :)
For food, we've got the matzah, gefilte fish (which I could eat all year round!), wine, egg, parsley, and horseradish. Although, jewel only had the white kind of horseradish and not the red stuff that i love. Last night we made the brisket, today I'm going to make the charoset, and monday we'll make the matzah ball soup and a vegetable.
We are going to use The Haggadah of Liberation, compiled by New Jewish Agenda (1984). We chose this one mainly because out of the three haddagahs I have, this is the most accessible one for those who don't know how to read Hebrew. (In case you are curious, the other two are The New Haggadah - an old version of this one - and A Passover Haggadah.)
Yay! I'm going to make Neill say the four question too, because even though I'm younger than he is, he has fewer seders under his belt so he needs the practice! :)
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
graduate school hell
as i mentioned in my last post, school has been getting me down lately. I have to say for the last three weeks I've definitely been dragging. I know three weeks probably sounds like nothing to y'all, but I'm sort of wimpy (I guess) so three weeks is enough for me to want to throw in the towel. Unfortunately, i've got five weeks before I can say "i quit" and not actually be a quitter.
if you think about, that equals out to eight weeks or two months of being beaten down with stress and work and having to pull myself through the daily grind. 2 precious months! That's one sixth of a whole year! and then when you add in the two months I spent in graduate school hell last semester - that knocks it up to 1/3! That means that I'll spend 1/3 of this school year (august 09 to august 10) feeling all . . . stressed to the max. This can't be good for my health (or my fiance's health).
recently, i've noticed that even small things are enough to send me to tears. thankfully, my office provides a wonderful private space for crying :)
I think one of my biggest obstacles to living a stress free lifestyle (besides the mountains of homework and lab work that pile up at the most inopportune times), is making time to destress throughout the day. I'm one of those people that constantly feels like there is not enough time for everything and I tend to work myself up over it. Also, then I find myself not eating lunch or going to the bathroom or drinking water or stretching my legs or any of that good stuff because i've convinced myself that there is not enough time to get xyz done so i couldn't possibly take five minutes to heat up my food. Not taking care of myself in that way just makes me feel crappier and more stressed out.
My other obstacle is using the time I do have wisely. All to often I find myself veggin out in front of the television at the end of the day because I'm so drained it is the only activity that I can imagine doing. While I like to tell myself that this helps me unwind, there are probably some things I could do that would be way more effective. I wonder if I would feel better if instead of watching tv, I used that time to meditate, call a friend, or write in a journal.
tomorrow might be a good day to put one of these to work! Door to door, I've got a 14 hour day in front of me. I'll be out the door at 8:30 am and won't be back home till around 10:30 pm. In that time period I'll TA, go to research methods class, have office hours, finish up work for lab, have lab meeting, finish a paper that is due at 6:30 PM, go to neuropsychological assessment class, and hopefully keep a smile on my face!
if you think about, that equals out to eight weeks or two months of being beaten down with stress and work and having to pull myself through the daily grind. 2 precious months! That's one sixth of a whole year! and then when you add in the two months I spent in graduate school hell last semester - that knocks it up to 1/3! That means that I'll spend 1/3 of this school year (august 09 to august 10) feeling all . . . stressed to the max. This can't be good for my health (or my fiance's health).
recently, i've noticed that even small things are enough to send me to tears. thankfully, my office provides a wonderful private space for crying :)
I think one of my biggest obstacles to living a stress free lifestyle (besides the mountains of homework and lab work that pile up at the most inopportune times), is making time to destress throughout the day. I'm one of those people that constantly feels like there is not enough time for everything and I tend to work myself up over it. Also, then I find myself not eating lunch or going to the bathroom or drinking water or stretching my legs or any of that good stuff because i've convinced myself that there is not enough time to get xyz done so i couldn't possibly take five minutes to heat up my food. Not taking care of myself in that way just makes me feel crappier and more stressed out.
My other obstacle is using the time I do have wisely. All to often I find myself veggin out in front of the television at the end of the day because I'm so drained it is the only activity that I can imagine doing. While I like to tell myself that this helps me unwind, there are probably some things I could do that would be way more effective. I wonder if I would feel better if instead of watching tv, I used that time to meditate, call a friend, or write in a journal.
tomorrow might be a good day to put one of these to work! Door to door, I've got a 14 hour day in front of me. I'll be out the door at 8:30 am and won't be back home till around 10:30 pm. In that time period I'll TA, go to research methods class, have office hours, finish up work for lab, have lab meeting, finish a paper that is due at 6:30 PM, go to neuropsychological assessment class, and hopefully keep a smile on my face!
Friday, March 19, 2010
shopping therapy
While I am in school right now to become a psychologist, sometimes the best therapy out there is just shopping. School has really been getting me down lately, so I want to treat myself to something totally indulgent. But, I can't decide what pattern of these nine west flats I like the best!
I want them all!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
st patties what?
i'm going to go against the grain here and just announce that i don't give a fuck that it is saint patrick's day. nope. not a hoot.
but you know what i do care about? saint patrick's day weekend marks the one year engage-iversary for my very best friend in the whole world, Grace, and her loveable fiance, Alex.
Gracie is a wonderful friend and an impeccable maid of honor. I'm beyond excited to return the favor and be her maid of honor in their upcoming October wedding. While lately I've definitely been more focused on me myself and I (hate to admit it), I was struck today on how soon their wedding is! There are officially 206 days until I cry my eyes out and then dance the night away in celebration of their nuptials. Which means I've got to start planning their jack and jill shower!
Cheers to the funniest (and most fabulous) couple I know!
but you know what i do care about? saint patrick's day weekend marks the one year engage-iversary for my very best friend in the whole world, Grace, and her loveable fiance, Alex.
One of the first pictures I have of them together. Taken during our first few days of college
Gracie is a wonderful friend and an impeccable maid of honor. I'm beyond excited to return the favor and be her maid of honor in their upcoming October wedding. While lately I've definitely been more focused on me myself and I (hate to admit it), I was struck today on how soon their wedding is! There are officially 206 days until I cry my eyes out and then dance the night away in celebration of their nuptials. Which means I've got to start planning their jack and jill shower!
Blowing out their birthday candles at their joint birthday party last may (yes, they have the same birthday!)
Cheers to the funniest (and most fabulous) couple I know!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
if i was super funny
i would totally liveblog The Millionaire Matchmaker episode that is coming on in 9 minutes. I love Patti THAT much. But, because I'm pretty sure it would be a total fail I thought I'd do the second best thing and tell you guys about my idea. Is anyone else a fan?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
statistics
statistics homework is oh so boring.
why must we run the same sort of analysis over and over again?
main effects. interactions. partial eta squared. simple main effects. cohen's d. within subjects. between subjects. mixed model design. blah blah blah.
why must we run the same sort of analysis over and over again?
main effects. interactions. partial eta squared. simple main effects. cohen's d. within subjects. between subjects. mixed model design. blah blah blah.
Friday, March 12, 2010
warm weather
Here in Chicago the warm weather is trying to poke out from behind the cold. In celebration, Neill and I had our first watermelon of the season. Yum!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
finally, a nonwedding related post
This week is technically my spring break, but I've got to say - it doesn't feel at all like a break. Maybe I've just got more time to sit around and think about all of the school work I've got, but it feels like I have even more to do this week than last! I'll admit that I'm feeling more than a little stressed out. I'm trying to remind myself to breath and just put one (proverbial) foot in front of the next.
On a bright side, I'm so happy that my mom is back home! She completed her intensive one month training at a Sivananda Yoga Center in Nassau and is now certified to teach yoga! She has been doing yoga since the 60s and I'm so excited that she has decided to make a career out of something that she loves! During her training she kept a vegetarian diet, so to celebrate her return to Chicago we went out to a new vegetarian restaurant that has been getting great reviews - Mana Food Bar in Wicker Park. Yum!
On a bright side, I'm so happy that my mom is back home! She completed her intensive one month training at a Sivananda Yoga Center in Nassau and is now certified to teach yoga! She has been doing yoga since the 60s and I'm so excited that she has decided to make a career out of something that she loves! During her training she kept a vegetarian diet, so to celebrate her return to Chicago we went out to a new vegetarian restaurant that has been getting great reviews - Mana Food Bar in Wicker Park. Yum!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Ketubah Part IV - The Final Reveal
At this point I'm sure you know more details about our ketubah search than you ever wanted to! Thanks for sticking with me :)
In the end, we have chosen to go with Many Moons from New Ketubah. We liked the modern, understated style and that it is handmade. Also, we have chosen the secular text as we liked how this text acknowledged that we are in coming from two separate backgrounds.
I've got to be honest, writing this little series made me question all over again which Ketubah was right for us. As I hinted to, I really do find all of the ketubahs I showed you beautiful and I started wondering if perhaps I liked some of the other ones better that Many Moons. But, after an hour or two comparing the texts available for all of the different ketubahs I am reassured that we made the right decision.
Yippee!
And in case you haven't had enough:
ketubah part one, part two, and part three.
In the end, we have chosen to go with Many Moons from New Ketubah. We liked the modern, understated style and that it is handmade. Also, we have chosen the secular text as we liked how this text acknowledged that we are in coming from two separate backgrounds.
I've got to be honest, writing this little series made me question all over again which Ketubah was right for us. As I hinted to, I really do find all of the ketubahs I showed you beautiful and I started wondering if perhaps I liked some of the other ones better that Many Moons. But, after an hour or two comparing the texts available for all of the different ketubahs I am reassured that we made the right decision.
Yippee!
And in case you haven't had enough:
ketubah part one, part two, and part three.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Ketubah part III
Now that I've shown you guys the different ketubah designs we are thinking of, it is time to move on to our text choices. In case you missed Ketubah part one and part two, a ketubah is basically a marriage contract. Traditionally, the ketubah covered very practical issues in regards to the rights of the husband and wife. But now, there are a lot more options in terms of wording. I was raised reform and Neill isn't even Jewish, so we are going more the lovey dovey route :) We want the text to basically be an extension of the vows we will recite during the ceremony. Both Neill and I liked these two text options available through New Ketubah.
There are so many more options out there though! On ketubah.com, for example, there are literally 23 different types of texts to choose from! Talk about options! For example, instead of just secular or humanist there are two different secular-humanist texts. But honestly, they all start to sound the same after a while!
Anyhoo, I think I'm going to drag this out to be a four parter and unveil our chosen ketubah on the next (and last - I promise!) installment of this mini series.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Ketubah Part II
Lots of sites that sell ketubahs offer the same ketubah in multiple texts or even give you the option to write your own, so we first prioritized finding a ketbuah that we liked the look of. It will hang in our home for years to come after all!
Our Rabbi recommended we check out ketubahketubha to get a sense of what we wanted. They have a TON of options from different artists and you can search my price, text, etc. I must have combed through the website ten times - every time I looked at it, I saw ketubahs that I had skipped over before. Honestly, having so many options was a bit overwhelming! After Neill and I went through every. single. option. together we ended up with ten options on our short list.
Our Rabbi recommended we check out ketubahketubha to get a sense of what we wanted. They have a TON of options from different artists and you can search my price, text, etc. I must have combed through the website ten times - every time I looked at it, I saw ketubahs that I had skipped over before. Honestly, having so many options was a bit overwhelming! After Neill and I went through every. single. option. together we ended up with ten options on our short list.
evening star, papercut - ivory, entwined, life dance I, song of songs, beloved II, momoyama, meant to be, 18 flowers, i'll be there - autumn
Another site we liked was Tsilli Pines's new ketubah. Two of her styles stood out to us as potentials:
sunburst, many moons
As you can see, we ended up with an assortment of different styles! Even looking at them now though, there is something about each ketubah that I find beautiful. Do you have a favorite?
Monday, March 1, 2010
ketubah part 1
I don't know why I've been avoiding this blog. I think I'm starting to have enough of Wedding Blogs - partly because I've come to accept that our wedding will not be like the highly stylized weddings that populate the internets. Our wedding will be wonderful - particularly for Neill and me, since we will end up married - but it will not be perfect. And not every single detail will be special. And probably some people will not have fun and others will be slightly peeved that there aren't enough chairs. And it might even rain. And blah blah blah. I just want to be married already!
Anyways.
I'm not over getting married, so I thought I'd write about something central to the whole getting married part of the wedding - our ketubah! What is a ketubah, you ask? Well, according to this site (here):
I think signing our ketubah and having very important people in our lives act as witnesses will be a really meaningful part of our ceremony. Also, I'm really excited to have something to hang in our home for the rest of our lives to remind us of our vows and how we'd like to live every day.
The complicated part - picking this document! Not only are there aesthetic concerns, but we really wanted to find a text that meant something to us. Let the search begin!
Anyways.
I'm not over getting married, so I thought I'd write about something central to the whole getting married part of the wedding - our ketubah! What is a ketubah, you ask? Well, according to this site (here):
A ketubah is a work of art that uses images and words to express the love and commitment of your marriage vows. While the ketubah has its roots in the Jewish wedding tradition, its beauty has become embraced by couples from all different religions and cultures. It is signed by the bride and groom in a special ceremony at the wedding, publicly declaring their commitment and love, and symbolizing the traditional start of their married life. After the wedding, the ketubah is usually hung in a place of honor in the home, and serves as a daily reminder of the vows they have made to each other on their wedding.
I think signing our ketubah and having very important people in our lives act as witnesses will be a really meaningful part of our ceremony. Also, I'm really excited to have something to hang in our home for the rest of our lives to remind us of our vows and how we'd like to live every day.
The complicated part - picking this document! Not only are there aesthetic concerns, but we really wanted to find a text that meant something to us. Let the search begin!
